Originally, he had been a boy no taller than 1.5 meters, but now, after transforming into a beast, even a fully-grown male lion would seem diminutive beside him. In terms of sheer size, he was comparable to a mature elephant.
His thick, flowing white fur, streaked with ashen brown, gave him an imposing and untouchable air. Lowering his massive head, he fixed a pair of glowing golden eyes upward at Zach, brimming with hostility.
Pacing in calculated circles, his steps shifted subtly as he sought an angle to bypass the stone wall and attack from the flank.
"Ha..." Zach sighed, a mix of exasperation and resignation on his face. Why do they all have to be so cryptic? Not even a word, just straight to life-or-death battles.
This marked the second time he'd been thrust into a situation where the lack of information left him fumbling in the dark, forced to guess at what was happening. The frustration boiled within him, directed partly at the Creator God, whose meddling was a perpetual thorn in his side.
Could this be their handiwork? Zach quickly dismissed the thought. The logic was simple: neither the red ghost nor the beast-like Hu Liet in front of him compared to the monster bosses he had encountered in The Underworld.
The contrast was stark. Those monsters had been catastrophic forces of nature, while these two were merely stronger than average humans. The ghost or the beast? Either would have been obliterated in seconds by a true boss monster—or by Zach himself.
That disparity gave Zach the confidence to remain calm, even casual.
"Are you really not going to say anything?" he asked one last time, his voice carrying a tinge of annoyance.
But Hu Liet didn't respond. Instead, he sprang forward on all fours, claws and thickly padded feet thudding heavily against the ground, producing a rhythmic pounding.
Zach's right arm morphed, the liquid metal stretching outward, elongating and sharpening until it solidified into the shape of a knight's spear.
Hu Liet closed the distance in a heartbeat, but Zach was faster. With a precise thrust, he drove the spear forward.
Puchi!
The tip pierced Hu Liet's chest cleanly.
Warm blood sprayed, a single droplet landing on Zach's face.
Hu Liet instinctively tried to retaliate, swinging his clawed hand toward Zach. Anticipating this, Zach withdrew the spear slightly, only to drive it in deeper with a brutal second thrust. The blade now protruded cleanly from Hu Liet's back.
In pain, Hu Liet abandoned his attack, clutching at the spear with both claws. Planting his hind legs firmly on the ground, he pushed backward, the movement forcing the spear to slide free as he created distance.
"Still alive?" Zach muttered, his eyes narrowing. He had deliberately aimed for the heart.
Could it be like those zombie monsters where the weakness lies in the head?
Hu Liet turned and dashed several meters away, then abruptly halted. Pivoting sharply, he crouched low, claws raking against the ground and throwing up sparks as he executed a near-perfect drift.
Blood spilled in a steady stream from the gaping wound in his chest, staining his white fur crimson as it dripped to the ground in long, twisting trails.
But then, without warning, the bleeding stopped. Completely.
"A self-healing ability? Or some kind of item?" Zach wondered aloud, watching as the beast prepared for another assault.
Zach didn't intend to drag this fight out. He raised his spear-arm high, its surface glinting ominously, and brought it down with a heavy slash.
A wind blade—massive and sharp, three to four meters long—roared toward Hu Liet, cutting through the ground as it advanced. Debris scattered in all directions.
But Hu Liet wasn't fazed. His raised paw fell, and his body was enveloped in a sudden transformation.
Mecha?!
From his head to his tail, metal armor unfurled, encasing his entire body in a gleaming, high-tech exoskeleton. The white fur vanished beneath layers of steel, and his appearance shifted from primal to futuristic in an instant.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The wind blade struck Hu Liet squarely on the head, producing a burst of sparks as it drove his massive form backward. He slid a full twenty meters, his metal claws digging deep into the ground to arrest his momentum.
"So that's your ace?" Zach said with a wry smile.
The intricate design of the mecha confirmed what he had suspected: this beast was connected to the red ghost. Someone was clearly orchestrating these battles, testing him.
But instead of trouble, it felt more like a gift.
Keep sending them, Zach thought. I don't mind free loot.
Hu Liet's metal form looked far more menacing than his natural state, the beastly grace replaced by mechanical precision.
As Hu Liet charged again, the metallic clang of his steps resonated louder and faster.
Zach melted the spear back into liquid and summoned a fiery blade from his system inventory. The flames roared to life, licking the blade's edge as Zach raised it high.
Boom!
As Hu Liet leapt within range, Zach brought the fiery blade down in a sweeping arc. The resulting wind blade was no longer transparent—it burned like a radiant crescent moon in the night sky, its brilliance outshining the stars.
When the blade struck Hu Liet, the impact shattered the mecha like glass, exposing blackened fur underneath. The fur disintegrated into ash, revealing charred bones, which in turn crumbled to nothing under the searing heat.
Boom!
The wind blade continued its path, smashing into the electronic barrier behind Hu Liet and tearing a gaping hole in it.
Hu Liet was utterly annihilated, leaving nothing behind but black dust that drifted through the air like falling snow.
Zach froze, staring at the empty battlefield.
Did I overdo it?
A familiar prompt broke his trance:
[Extraction in progress...]
[Extraction successful! Congratulations! Host has acquired Beast Transformation: Strength +20, Speed +5!]
[Skill upgraded to SSS-tier: Beastmaster Simulation!]
[Summoning successful! Congratulations! You have acquired Mechanical Wolf-Lion!]
"Not human, huh? Just a beast..." Zach muttered, shrugging.
Back behind the screen, the white-haired old man seethed.
"My favorite creation lasted less than two minutes. That guy really is a monster."
Despite the surveillance camera on Hu Liet, Zach had blocked any attempts to view the battle, leaving the old man with only raw combat data to analyze.
"Flames and wind blades, too? Just how many skills does he have?" The old man's brow furrowed deeply.
Tonight, he wouldn't send another challenger. Instead, he would focus on improving his designs—and gathering more materials.
Zach, meanwhile, returned to his RV, restless and unsatisfied. As he opened the Tower of Trials, he muttered, "Looks like my mystery benefactor has finally stopped sending me gear."