Chereads / Divine Beast of Episteme / Chapter 24 - 24. Naked Beast

Chapter 24 - 24. Naked Beast

'What is this!' Tristan exclaimed inwardly, seeing those three men land on their feet again. They turned to him seeing that he now stood outside of the two buildings and was now on the street, his body out in the open.

Stunned by what lay before him. Tristan watched the eyes of those men lose their glow as they turned to look at their leader, worry evident on their faces.

"He's higher than class one to be able to see our movements," one of the three announced, and the leader stepped into the light too.

The streets of that area remained dead silent, even if individuals watched through their curtains. The killer whales were known in that area, but there was suddenly a 6ft tall young man in the fray.

It was public knowledge that times past the hour of 11 were dangerous times to roam, and although the men that made up that group were local champions, they were quite threatening, due to their leader. Russ.

"What was that? How did you do that!" Tristan felt forced to ask when no one took it seriously.

"What the fuck is he talking about?" The leader, Russ asked, suddenly irritated by the naked boy's presence.

He originally planned to let him go after a bit of teasing or a few hits here and there, but now he had to prove himself as the leader of that group. He remained a man of inflated pride. Or rather of low esteem. For good reasons at that.

"Are you one of those academy kids that got lost in this forsaken town?" Russ stepped forward, unsheathing his blade. Tristan had noticed they all had swords and felt somewhat at peace with that reality.

"Academy? What is that." Once again Tristan's confusion revealed itself on his features, and Russ nodded.

"Good. So no one too important knows you… I am Russ. What is your name, young man?" Russ spoke, keeping his blade pointed towards the ground.

"I am Tristan…"

"Well, Tristan… die," Russ commanded in a soft tone, suddenly dashing forward.

Marveling at the sheer speed that man could attain in that short burst, Tristan watched Russ's figure move at a sluggish pace, before eventually deciding to act.

Russ had swung his sword, aiming for his chest. Needless to say, Tristan would not allow that. Still, he wondered why he could see that man's movement at such a pace.

Taking a step to the man's right side, Tristan effectively dodged the slash. Grabbing the man by his wrist he instinctively squeezed it, and to his astonishment, the sound of bones ruthlessly crushing reached his ears. Russ let go of his sword to let out a scream of agony.

Words could not describe the shock that befell the rest of the group. Tristan had turned into a blur to appear beside their leader, crushing his wrist and causing his fingers to pop out.

In those few moments, they reacted by pointing their hands toward Tristan's still-naked figure.

Sensing something within him twist and turn at that event, Tristan once again moved according to how he felt best.

His figure flickered from that position with a powerful bang as he attained speeds beyond the reach of normal humans. Then again, were the humans of that generation normal?

The instant he left that position, twenty blue projectiles in the shape of small balls manifested from the stretched-out hands of those men before speeding forward to punch holes in the ground. Like bullets.

The event slightly lit up their environment, but Tristan's departure had dealt more damage to the ground than their watery attacks.

Frantic as they could not see him, those men began to rain those masses of speeding water all around them as trepidation set in with great intensity.

A person that could put their master down with such ease had to be higher than the second class.

The thought made their legs weak and their breaths grew rough. Suddenly the possibility of dying that night became high. They only just arrived, and no one wanted to return so soon.

Their attacks yielded nothing since Tristan suddenly flickered before the banded group. His body was unhurt. That sight confirmed their suspicions and the only thing they sought to do was one thing.

"Let's get out of here!" One of the five screamed, already moved to tears, unfortunately, Tristan would not let that. Not because he had anything against them, but simply because they held information he desired.

Somehow harnessing the sheer power his body could muster, he ran, causing the wind to blow fiercely at his movement.

The group had been foolish enough to run down the same dark gap, leaving them clustered.

Tristan took advantage of his higher speed to directly burst through their running figures. Two of those men died the moment his body hit them.

Their bones shattered like twigs simply because his running figure touched theirs.

The remaining three were blown away by the force his movement packed. They slammed the walls of the two buildings only to see their mates in deformed positions. Dead. Again.

Needless to say, Tristan came to a stop the moment that event occurred, but rather than pity or sadness, he only marveled at his body.

"What is happening to me?" He asked, staring at his palms.

Ignoring the whimpers and cries of terror and great sadness, he turned towards one of them. They had tried to kill him, so he didn't care about them either.

"Where am I?" He grabbed the man by his collar finding out that he could easily lift him.

Despite the struggling man, Tristan could retain his grip without having to pin him against the wall.

"Get away from me you monster!" The gang member exclaimed, already terrified to death. Although it was a concept he knew of, he didn't want to experience it again. At least not yet.

Furrowing his brows at those offensive words, an idea appeared in Tristan's mind and he moved according to it.

"I did not mean for your companions to die…" He announced, even if he suddenly hurled the said man towards the silvery-lit street they had just left.

The man's figure pulled air as he shot towards the building across the street. Which he arrived at, bursting into a gory mess the moment he came in contact with its solid mass.

A small crater opened on the building and blood splattered everywhere, staining a significant portion of that building and the ground. The body slid from the wall with a sickening slouch, falling into a pool of blood mixed with flesh.

Tristan watched that scene and felt his eyes widen in final realization or belief. He suddenly felt lightheaded and the world around him seemed to spin rapidly.

"When did I get this strong?" He muttered out loud, even if to the remaining two men he had become nothing less than a cold-blooded killer. They froze at the bloody scene of another of their comrade, they dared not defy the naked beast.