As Zimo got close, it was not him, that moved first, but the other side. It seemed she could sense them, and maybe it was all because of her ability that had something to do with Water. Whatever it was, Zimo was not so worried.
Anyway, he had finally gotten a glimpse of her Stats. And she was... well she might be a bit stronger than a human, but she was weaker than Zimo. Which meant that Kivu was going to have a field day.
|————————————
|| Beast Eye: Phoebe || Skills |
—————
Name: Phoebe (Feline)
Level: 5
Resonance: 69%
States:
—————>
Health, Well-Being, Satiety: 87% ++
Energy, Stamina, Vitality: 92% ++
Mentality, Decision-Making, Focus: 72% --
Mana, Casting, Magical Power: 89%
<—————
Physical Stats:
—————>
Dexterity (Agility, Flexibility) → 43
Strength (Speed, Power) → 33
Constitution (Endurance, Health) → 32
Intelligence (Memory, Reasoning) → 16
Charisma (Charm, Persuasion) → 19
Wisdom (Intuition, Adaptability) → 16
Spirit (Mental State, Character) → 17
<—————
Magical Stats:
—————>
Mana (Magical Energy Pool) → 15 (3 * 5)
Arcane Knowledge (Magical Talent) → Rank 2F
Mystic Control (Magical Energy Control) → Rank 1S
Elemental Affinity (Connection to Elements) → Water(E Rank)
<—————
————————————|
|————————————
| Beast Eye: Phoebe || Skills ||
—————
Magical Skills: {1 Skill}
—————>
>> [Tidal Wave (F Rank)]
<—————
Combat Skills: {1 Skill}
—————>
>> [Aqua Slash (F Rank)]
<—————
Support Skills: {1 Skill}
—————>
>> [Phase Control (F Rank)]
<—————
————————————|
Last time Zimo checked, Kivu had almost double for strength and dexterity did she not? Even he could take this Beast on. And then when he noticed the resonance, he narrowed his eyes. It was lower than he remembered it. Why? And what did that mean? How could it have happened?
Zimo removed that from his mind, seeing Phoebe recognise him as he finally came out into the light that was in the surroundings. He had sped forward with Kivu remaining backwards to control the movements of the other Beast. Well, that was fine. Zimo had some unfinished business anyway.
Phoebe struck first. Her massive paw slashed through the air, claws whistling as some waves came out, looking blue and almost freezing the air around them. Zimo dodged, the wind and cold water of the strike brushing his cheek. He remembered that cold so well. he would make sure she felt it too, a different kind of cold of Death.
He retaliated, lunging forward with the knife. The blade found flesh, carving a jagged path across the Beast's eye and releasing some cold fluids out onto his arm. Gotcha!
"Gryaa!!!" the creature screamed, closing the eye and glaring at Zimo with the other one. Zimo knew that this was not the end as he dodged backwards, managing to make it out of the reach of Phoebe. It seemed she had tried to use [Aqua Slash] again, this time meeting nothing but air, and causing her to roar in anger yet again.
Phoebe howled, her voice a mixture of pain and rage as she threw another claw that missed Zimo, who was running around her, using the fact that her legs could not move too much to get behind her. In the meantime, he was giving time for Kivu to come and help him. Phoebe continued to lash out blindly just like that having all but forgotten that another Beast was waiting for her. And then in the next moment, when it was time to see things in the way they were going to make sense of it was also at that moment that they saw things in a way that was going to make sense of things.
Kivu was already moving, her speed otherworldly. Zimo was already fast but Kivu was another thing entirely. It was terrifying to see. She leapt her shadowy form a blur, and sank her teeth into Phoebe's leg, keeping her in place so that she could not bother Zimo or turn and keep up with his movements. The massive cat screeched, struggling to shake her off.
This was it. This was the moment he was waiting for. Zimo made his way back, realising a path to victory. At the same time, he saw from the other end of his visions, that the other Beast was not coming to help. It was running away for some reason. How intense.
Zimo seized the moment. He drove the blade into Phoebe's other eye, eliciting a bloodcurdling scream. The Beast bucked violently, crashing into the cavern wall. Blood sprayed in thick arcs, pooling beneath her massive frame.
But Phoebe wasn't dead yet. She staggered to her feet, her movements jerky, desperate. Kivu was faster. She darted forward, a phantom in the dark, and tackled the cat to the ground. Her claws tore into flesh with ruthless efficiency as Phoebe continued wailing and crying.
But that was not the end of it.
Zimo approached, his breath ragged. He didn't hesitate. The blade plunged into Phoebe's chest, driving deep into her heart and when the blade failed to reach the place he was going, he dug deeper, making sure to reach in and destroy everything in there with his arm, punching into her chest with the knife delivering the sharpest blows at the end of it all.
"Gah! Gah! Gah!!" Zimo graned and shouted as he punched into her chest, ripping out pieces of her heat. At that time it was also up to Zimo to make things happen. After all, there was something about this that was going to make it all come back to him. He had no fear or attention to anything. Even after Phoebe stopped moving, Zimo was completely and utterly focused on everything that was going on with Kivu.
Blood erupted, hot and viscous, splattering his face and hands. The Beast convulsed, a final shudder wracking her massive body, before falling still. And Zimo looked at it, feeling a bit complicated. This used to be a cat that he was now on top of, driving his hand into.
His body was covered in purple blood which was pretty interesting to him. Even more interestingly was the coldness in his heart. After he managed to calm himself down... Killing something like this was not bad at all. It was pretty interesting.
A moment of silence hung heavy in the air, broken only by the sound of Zimo's laboured breathing. He stepped back, wiping his face with a trembling hand. This was the dead body of something that had tortured him, and he had killed it quickly. In a way that was his version of mercy.
"Killing something like this…" He paused, a grim smile tugging at his lips. "It feels… good."
Kivu glanced at him, her expression unreadable. Zimo turned to her, smirking a bit in fear of his capacity to handle situations like these. "Hey, Kivu. How am I changing this much? I just killed a living thing, a Beast but I feel nothing. Tell me, did the Evil Affinity mess me up?"
Kivu did not answer that though. She merely looked at him saying nothing for a long time, before staring at the dead body on the floor. Zimo also turned to the body beneath him. "Can you take it in? It might be useful later on." What do you think?
Then, as if in answer to an unspoken command, she stepped forward. Shadows rose around Phoebe's body, coiling like serpents. The cat's form dissolved, consumed by darkness until only Kivu remained. Zimo thought this was the end of it, but it seemed something was going on...
Her shape shifted, growing larger, more feral, more evil. When she emerged from the shadows. She was now a massive panther-like Beast with glowing green eyes, and it was incredible to see. She was not the size of a human anymore. She was larger, stronger, and seemingly faster.
Seeing some panels pop up in front of him, Zimo smirked. So she had levelled up. Interesting. Their triumph was short-lived. A scream shattered the quiet—a name torn from a throat thick with anguish.
"Phoebe!"
Zimo knew immediately who it was and even when he turned his head to see her standing there in the distance, he smirked. Maya.
She appeared, her figure illuminated by the faint glow of her mark. Her face was a mask of horror, her gaze fixed on the corpse of her bonded Beast. Or rather it was where the corpse was supposed to be. Zimo watched as her knees buckled, her body collapsing.
What was happening? Her Beast-taming mark flared once, then dimmed, leaving her unconscious on the floor. And then in the next moment, as Zimo's eyes went wide, he took some steps towards her position.
Zimo's lips curled into a cruel smile as he looked down at her. "So, killing the Beast hurts the master," he mused. "Good to know. Might be useful in the future."
Kivu's new form loomed over Maya, her presence a tangible force that stood behind him. It was like she was supporting him, and now with her even bigger body that stood at almost three meters, Zimo certainly felt supported.
He gave her a smirk of thanks and then he knelt beside the unconscious woman, his expression darkening. Memories surfaced… Maya's indifference, her betrayal, her torture. She had stood by and ordered his torture, even going ahead and enjoying every single moment of it too. The smile she had shown at that moment was a knife to his soul. And it was something that made him feel extremely interested in seeing what was going on.
"She deserves worse," he muttered, his voice colder than he ever thought possible. She deserved to get her things taken from her, just as his things were taken from him… She had taken from him his livelihood and even attempted to take his life. She... deserved at least that much to her.
Kivu tilted her massive head, her green eyes questioning.
"Can you take her?" Zimo asked. "Alive?"
Kivu summoned the shadows once more. They writhed and twisted, forming bindings that secured Maya's body, raising it from the floor and onto her back. Zimo smirked. "You're the best, Kivu."
After a few more moments, he heard something. A sound came from the distance that sounded like feet running away. Zimo turned to the distance to look and when he did he couldn't help but smirk in interest.
"Would you look at that guy?" Zimo shook his head. Jacques was running away and he was leaving his girl with whom he just had the most 'passionate' sex, to die in Zimo's hands. Wow... and this was the man she was so in love with, was it not?
The coward was running away, his figure barely visible in the gloom. It seemed he and his Beast were pretty much perfectly aligned. They were both cowards.
Zimo chuckled. "Let's go," he said, climbing onto Kivu's back. She took off, her powerful strides carrying them through the outside with ease. Zimo was not going to catch up to them before he entered the building again, but that was not really something he was worried about.
After all, he would soon see his past workmates, those same people who were busy doing things against him, who had watched him all that time, watched as he got tortured. He would confront them soon. How exciting.
Zimo had no idea but it was his eyes that were glowing at that moment, and they were glowing with a fire thing he couldn't see at all.
Jacques was fast, his desperation lending him speed. He burst into the main hall, where the remnants of their group were gathered. Panting, he grabbed a nearby woman, yanking her close. His arm locked around her throat, his knife pressed against her skin.
"Stop, Zimo!" Jacques shouted, his voice cracking. "If you don't, I'll kill her!"
Zimo stepped into the light, his expression calm, almost amused. He recognized the woman. She had once been kind to him, her smile a rare comfort. But kindness meant little in a world like this. After all, wasn't she one of those people who had watched as his limbs got ripped off?
"Do you remember her?" Jacques sneered. "She's the one who used to help you. Too bad she didn't care enough to save you. She had her own man, didn't she?"
Zimo's smile faded. Darkness rippled around him, a physical manifestation of his growing power. "Jacques," he said, his voice low and dangerous. Zimo thought a bit more before he frowned, his fury showing on his face. "If you touch her, I'll kill you."
Jacques laughed, the sound high and brittle. "Oh, I'm so scared," he mocked. "Don't tell me what to do, you bastard!"
The darkness surged, swallowing the light. Jacques' laughter faltered as Zimo advanced, his steps slow, deliberate. Kivu prowled beside him, her massive form a silent threat.
Jacques tightened his grip on the woman, his eyes darting wildly. "Stay back!" he screamed.
Zimo stopped, his gaze piercing. "Do you know what happens to cowards like you?" he asked, his tone almost conversational.
Jacques swallowed hard, his bravado crumbling.
Zimo's smile returned, colder than ever. "They die screaming."
*Slchst!*
"Ahhh!!!!~~"