Chapter 8: The Fine Line Between Evolution and Disaster
Daniel's life had taken a hard left turn into insanity.
One moment, he was mocking assassins. The next, his body was evolving again, and the Crimson Order had just summoned something from a rift that looked way above his current pay grade.
> [System Alert: Mutation Progressing.]
"Yeah, I noticed!" Daniel snapped, stumbling forward as his muscles burned like they were rewriting themselves at warp speed.
Ash didn't even blink. "You need to get it under control."
"Oh, do I?! Because I was totally planning on letting it run wild and seeing if I turn into a kaiju!"
The rift above them twisted, warping like a black hole had just been given an all-you-can-eat buffet. And something massive began clawing its way through.
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Step One: New Body, Same Problems
Daniel's mutation was shifting fast.
His vision sharpened, muscles rippled under his skin, and his claws felt even sharper—which was both cool and absolutely terrifying.
But the worst part?
Everything around him felt too slow.
Ash moved like a blur, but Daniel could see it. The Crimson Order's elites were preparing their next attack, but to him, they might as well have been in slow motion.
"Okay," Daniel muttered, flexing his fingers. "This is either really cool or really bad."
Then the giant horror crawling out of the rift roared, and Daniel decided it was definitely bad.
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Step Two: The World's Worst Welcome Party
The creature emerging from the rift was not friendly.
Towering over the ruins, it was a swirling mass of void energy, jagged armor-like plating, and way too many eyes. Its very presence made the air ripple, distorting reality like a cracked mirror.
Ash exhaled. "That… is a Void Reaver."
Daniel's stomach dropped. "That name sounds important."
"It is. It consumes entire dimensions."
"Oh. Good."
The Crimson Order, instead of freaking out like sane people, bowed toward the monstrosity.
Daniel groaned. "I hate cultists."
One of the robed figures lifted a hand. "Behold, the Devourer of Worlds! It will cleanse this land and bring about the new—"
Daniel shot them in the face.
The cultist dropped.
"NOPE. No speeches."
Ash didn't even flinch. "That was abrupt."
"I don't do dramatic monologues unless I'm the one delivering them."
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Step Three: Tactical Violence (Again)
The Void Reaver let out another screech, and reality shattered around it. Chunks of the ruined city floated, distorting, as gravity itself struggled to exist.
The Crimson Order charged.
Daniel's body reacted before his brain did. His new speed kicked in, and suddenly, he was moving—blurring through enemies, claws slicing through robes and armor like tissue paper.
He caught one of the cultists' flaming swords mid-swing, snapped it in half with a flick of his wrist, and headbutted the wielder unconscious.
Ash was already tearing through the rest like a whirlwind of death.
"Feeling more stable?" they asked, dodging an attack.
Daniel dodged three blades at once. "Oh yeah. I think I like this evolution."
Then the Void Reaver slammed a claw into the ground, and the entire street cracked apart.
Daniel barely blinked in time, warping onto a crumbling rooftop.
Ash landed beside him. "We need a plan."
Daniel eyed the towering horror. "Yeah, that'd be nice."
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Step Four: Poor Life Choices
Daniel wasn't a strategist. But he was an expert in bad ideas that somehow worked.
So he went with the worst plan possible.
"All right," he said, cracking his neck. "I'm gonna punch it."
Ash stared at him. "You're going to punch the thing that eats dimensions."
"Yes."
"…I have no words."
"Look, it's either that, or we let it keep wrecking everything."
Ash sighed. "Fine. I'll cover you."
Daniel grinned. "Knew you'd come around."
And then he launched himself at the Void Reaver.
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Step Five: If It Screams, It Can Bleed
Daniel wasn't sure if this was going to work, but he had momentum and poor decision-making skills, which had carried him this far.
He landed on the Void Reaver's massive arm, claws digging into its shifting energy-flesh. It shrieked, the force of its scream bending reality itself.
Daniel gritted his teeth. "Yeah, yeah, you're scary. Get over it."
He drove his claws deep into its form, void energy colliding with his own mutation.
The system blared another alert:
> [System Sync: Devouring Process Activated.]
The Void Reaver jerked.
Daniel's own void energy surged forward, consuming part of the monster's form. He could feel it—power, raw and unfiltered, flowing through him.
Ash, watching from below, muttered, "That… might actually work."
Then the Void Reaver exploded in rage, flinging him across the cityscape.
Daniel crashed into a building.
"Okay," he wheezed. "Ow."
Ash landed beside him. "You made it angry."
"Good. That means I'm doing something right."
The Void Reaver let out an earth-shaking howl, its form flickering, unstable.
Daniel grinned, wiping blood from his lip.
"Round two?"
Ash sighed. "You're impossible."
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Step Six: The Part Where Everything Gets Worse
Daniel was about to charge again when the rift above them… ripped wider.
"Oh, come on," he groaned.
Something else was coming through.
Something bigger.
Ash tensed. "That's… not part of the plan."
Daniel squinted up at the massive, shifting void portal. "Great. Do we have a plan for this?"
Ash was very quiet.
"…Ash?"
"Run."
Daniel blinked. "Wait, what?"
The rift tore open fully—and something that made the Void Reaver look like an appetizer started to emerge.
Daniel's system went haywire.
> [System Alert: Cataclysm-Class Entity Detected.]
[WARNING: Survival Probability—0.003%.]
Daniel swallowed.
"Okay. So. Slight problem."
Ash grabbed his arm. "We leave. Now."
For once, Daniel agreed.
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Next Time on Ancient Legends: In the Apocalypse With My Dimension Devouring System!
Daniel fights an interdimensional horror bare-handed.
Ash considers murdering him although that is what he thinks inside but is still contemplating it for the greater good..
The Crimson Order panics, but they do not know nor can imagine what is to come....
And something even worse lurks in the rift, and further in the deepest depths,something far worse..