Beyond The System-Chapter 185: Gratitude in Hatred

“Man, you weren’t kidding, it’s just sitting there,” Elric whispered, eyes wide with disbelief as he stared at the apparent dragon descendant coiled near the Dragon Vein. It was just still, sleeping, or at least not cultivating, no energy moving in or out of its body.

And now that I could see it clearly, I finally understood just how massive this thing was. Its length could only just be compared to four full-grown men lined up head-to-toe. Its body had the thickness of a pine tree’s trunk, every coil packed with dense muscle that spoke of strength.

We’d talked about using my Voidseed to bait it out, back when we first started planning, but in the end we scrapped the idea.. None of us knew what might stir if that kind of energy echoed out toward the ocean. So far, nothing had crawled up from the waves to bother us, but that peace felt temporary at best. And then there were the slimes.

One unpredictable monster at a time—that was the consensus.

“Okay, so… Who attacks first?” Thea asked, breath picking up.

I could see the frustration building in Griffith, the man who had specifically told us to stay quiet. That, and the fact we’d gone over the plan several times. But Thea and I had seen the creature up close. We knew the danger. Even her slime had refused to leave the house. A few forgotten details? Understandable.

I summoned my gloves, turned my palm forward, and began forming a needle.

Okay. Don’t kill it. Don’t kill it. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Wyrem? I called silently. Where exactly should I hit this thing?

A brief pulse of energy. Dunno. Leg maybe, I guess. Whole body might be packed with essential organs. Try low.

Low it is.

No way I was aiming at the probably, mostly vestigial side legs. The needle spun faster, its hum sharpening as it cut the air.

Luna.

Yeah, I got it. Just do your part, she said, already watching through me.

I let her take control, spinning the thread of control forward. We were closer than I would've like, but the trees gave just enough cover to prevent a clean view of the creature. And as before, Spiritual Sense was useless when the ambient pressure choked it down.

Still, no problems yet.

I adjusted, aiming at the underside, the central section of the creature, but low enough to avoid anything vital. My heart slowed and grip tightened.

“Got it. Get ready,” I warned, and—

Swoosh.

The needle sliced forward in a blur, leaving a frosty streak behind it.

Amber eyes snapped open a half-second too soon. The creature moved, legs kicking it into the air with a burst of speed I didn’t expect from something that massive.

“NOW!” Griffith barked.

Thea was already moving. So was I.

“Hsssss!” the monster hissed, the needle grazing its lower flank and digging a shallow furrow just above the joint. Not deep, but red blood spilled, and it jerked sideways, instinct firing.

Midair, Thea’s deep violet lightning struck. It cracked the air and speared through the air, slamming into the beast’s scorched side. This time, it screeched, a sharp inhale of pain and rage.

It landed with a booming thud, leaves and debris flying outward like shrapnel.

I surged forward, channeling energy into my claws. Deep-blue ice extended over each finger. The blades were smooth, honed, glowing faintly with violet pulse. They were so cold, so saturated, even the air around them stayed still. No escape of vapor. No warmth.

I can’t touch that, Peter, Luna warned. Use your palms if you want poison to flow.

Understood.

Elric’s blades appeared behind me. Four golden arcs spinning tight, hovering like stars at my back. We struck together.

I slashed down with full speed. Elric’s blades whipped over my shoulder, crashing in moments later.

Shatter!

My claws cracked first, splintering into blue ice shards, scattering in every direction. Elric’s blades slammed into the red barrier that stopped me and bounced, but they did just enough damage to pierce it. A streak of golden light carved into the shimmering shield. One blade bit in just long enough to leave a mark before being repelled.

The red shimmer flickered.

The serpent blinked and hissed. Loud this time.

Its tail came for me in a wide sweep.

Under my feet, the ground shifted, dropping me into a sink just low enough to dodge the swing. Air tore past my hair. Griffith’s work, perfectly timed. We practiced this, or the others did while fighting me. If I swung, the target disappeared. He raised the ground a beat later, pushing me forward again.

But still, that was fast. Too fast. If I got hit there...

Ahead, Elric’s blades spread wide, circling the creature’s head. Three were deflected, but one slipped through and struck the outer lid of its left eye.

The serpent snarled, twisting its neck and slamming its head downward, eyes now tightly shut. The blade hadn’t pierced fully, but it had hurt. The edge lodged between two scales, scraping deep before ejecting.

The slam of its skull cracked through the earth, a thunderous impact that sent a shockwave rolling beneath my feet. The ground lifted in a swelling wave, warping with the force of red energy poured directly into it. I dove sideways, momentum carrying me over fractured stone as the others peeled back in retreat.

Tss.

That heat felt—Holy!

Steam erupted from the newly formed fissures, laced with condensed energy so concentrated it hissed as it coiled against my skin. It spilled across my torso like liquid fire. My muscles seized instantly, every nerve screaming, cramping as I hit the ground harder than I meant to.

But I was where I needed to be, right next to the exposed wound I’d made earlier with the Spiritual Needle.

Just one movement. One reach of my right palm.

That was all it took.

Amid the sound of chaos of rocks hurtling, blades cutting air, and lightning running in the sky, the others doing their part, I had the second I needed. My palm made contact with the raw flesh.

LUNA, I called, already bracing.

But she was ahead of me.

Thorns bloomed from my palm, stabbing into the open wound. The serpent’s flesh darkened on contact, veins spidering with thick, blackened lines as her toxin surged through the bloodstream. The corruption spread like wildfire beneath the scales.

How much did you put in? Wyrem asked, as the creature froze and shuddered.

Luna recoiled into me, folding back into the rose-shaped bracelet. Only half of what I had. It’s huge, and strong, so it should be fine. Right?

I didn’t answer. Just stared, watching as the attacks around me slowed to a halt.

I didn’t want to link to it yet. Not until I was sure it wouldn’t resist. At least not physically.

It blinked.

Once. Then again, and a final third time, with its tongue flicking outward on the exhale. No energy flowed from it now, and then without a dramatic roar, it slumped to the side, eyes closing in slow motion.

Oop, Luna whispered, shuddering in the back of my mind.

Whaaat? Wyrem asked, drawing out the word, already suspicious.

Luna shrank inward, her presence coiling tighter around me. Um… So. I—might’ve. You see—

It’s not dead, I said aloud, cutting her off before she could stumble her way into a confession.

Because it wasn’t. I could feel the faint, deliberate pulse of red energy inside my domain.

Wyrem exhaled in my mind, a ripple of cautious relief.

Try to let me communicate with—

Something in the air shifted before he could finish.

The leaves, once drifting on wind, froze mid-air. The breeze vanished like it had never existed, and time seemed to flow slower, coming to a stop after some moments.

There was the start of a slow shout from behind me, but only the first half of the syllable released before the hum started.

It rolled out of the serpent’s body, like machinery powering on. With True Sight, I saw the red inside the creature thicken, saturating until it bordered on black.

My body didn’t move fast enough, even though everything in me was screaming to run. Not from fear born of battle. From something older. Something primal. My instincts told me one thing.

I couldn’t stay here.

The air boiled, and dark red eyes snapped open—a vertical slit cleaving through them like a door to death. I felt the burns crawling up my arm, searing into the nerves, and without my command, Water Force surged outward, enveloping me. My body had moved on its own in an act of pure survival.

I was already in motion, turning, stepping, mind still caught in a blinding rush of thought. The moment stretched, perception heightening beyond anything I’d ever touched before. But even then, my body lagged behind.

With the second step, the hum shifted, becoming quieter, drawn inward, like the air itself was bracing.

The serpent rose.

Where it had been limp, it now lifted without resistance, as if some unseen hand had pulled it from the earth. Not a twitch, not a jerk, but in a smooth, dreadful ascension. Its scales gleamed, and beneath them, red energy pulsed in veins like magma sliding between cracked stone.

My breath caught. A tremor ignited at the base of my spine, shot up through my chest, and bloomed to the peak of my back until—Boom.

A detonation of power tore through the clearing, a visible dome of Force blooming in crimson and surging outward without pause. Trees snapped, twigs snaped like bone under weight, and rocks wrenched free of the ground and scattered like shrapnel.

I was thrown with the rest of them, glimpsing the others mid-flight, each shielded in the shimmer of their own power. The sky, once morning-clear, dimmed beneath the weight of it.

And when I landed, and looked up, I saw it.

The intelligence of the beast. The hatred and somehow simultaneous gratitude reflected by its gaze from its soul.

In that last moment before death, before Luna’s toxin could claim it fully—It evolved.