My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 233: All Hail, The Emperor!

After witnessing the poisonous cloud quickly filling up the distance between them, Kace and Grugda knew it was time to run. They did not dare to look back because there was no need to. They could feel the ground trembling as the Hydra charged after them. If they slowed down even a little, there was a solid chance that the cloud or the Hydra would catch them.

As they sprinted down the now clear path, they could feel the intensity of the tremors growing. The broke out in a cold sweat as they understood that the Hydra was catching up to them. A low hiss sounded from close behind Kace, and a sudden breeze swept the back of his neck. He could guess that he had probably been only a short distance from becoming this monster's dinner.

"Fuck that! I'm meant to be eating you!" Kace bellowed in defiance as he suddenly sped up. 

Grugda was gathering mana as he ran, but he struggled to decide on the best course of action. If he used it to create walls to slow the beast down, there was the risk that it could bulldoze them without being affected. At the same time, if he created lances from the ground to attack its belly, there was a chance that they would not develop fast and sturdy enough to do any damage. 

'The cloud is almost on you!' Sylvan warned Kace.

"Fuck! Grugda! Buy us time!" Kace roared to his companion.

Grugda had no idea what he planned to do, but there had to be a reason. The gathered mana was discharged to a spot in front of them to allow the structure the time it needed to materialise. The walls quickly rose up from the earth and reinforced themselves as a simple flat roof began to cover it. To Grugda's credit, he timed it perfectly. 

The pair jumped for the still visible hole in the roof and slipped inside right before it fully closed over. Once inside, Kace could clearly hear the earth shifting to add extra reinforcement to the sealed structure. It reassured Kace that this was the best option that he could come up with right now. They had not planned for how fast the Hydra moved since the reports said that it was meant to be slow. 

"Grugda, hold it off until I'm ready. Try and prepare a tunnel that will take us as far away as underground as possible."

Grugda nodded at the request as the strain on his face showed when the Hydra slammed its heads against the wall. Each strike sounded like a bomb being dropped on their shelter. Kace moved to the far-away wall where Grugda would create the requested tunnel. 'I hope I'm not wrong about this!' Kace had a worrying plan in mind, but ever since his evolution, he had a distinct feeling that he should be able to control it.

[Chimera Racial Talent: Beast Mode Activated]

He screamed in agony as he activated the dreaded ability. He had only used it twice before, once on Ulafor island against Feliks and once when he first received it during his travels to the Island. Both times he failed to control the bestial urges that came with it. Assaulting friend and foe alike!

This time would be different though, he was sure of it! Kace screamed in agony as fell to the ground and began to thrash around. The same process as before took place. New muscles and skin emerged from his body to encase him and his armour. The figure that slowly came into being was completely different from the previous times he had used the skill.

[Randomising DNA from stored chains. Randomisation complete. Forming the Chimera Body.]

The new mass began to deform to reflect the random choices that had been made. His arms and legs elongated into a large bipedal wolf style while keeping a human-shaped chest and face. This time, instead of fur, black scales formed to cover the majority of his body. The scales from his elbows and knees down to his hands and feet were snow white. 

The new figure grew the same style and colour of his hair, while two large curved horns that resembled a demon's erupted from his forehead. A lizard-like tail emerged and slowly grew from the bottom of the spine. A few spikes ran along its ridge, giving it a menacing feeling. The tail adopted the same black colouring on its scales that the majority of his body had. 

Kace slowly opened his eyes to reveal that they were the same as his normal form. He felt mighty at that moment. As if this were his real body and his usual form was just a container. For the first time, he was completely conscious and aware of the changes he had gone through. 'It's like this form brings out different variations of the full potential of my bloodline!'

Kace gasped as he realised the full worth of this ability. In the process of doing so, a small flame escaped from his mouth as he breathed out. He felt as if he had been reborn again. 'Hm, it appears as if it has married my Salamander, Wolf and Human chains to create this hybrid body. The other times Grugda reported only a connection of human and wolf.'

Kace thought about it for a moment and came up with a viable reason behind it based on his recently acquired knowledge. 'It's to do with compatibility! My body probably wasn't strong enough to hold more than two chains in this form before. At the time, it could probably only viably hold a connection between the Wolf and Human chains. Which would explain why both times there was no difference in variation!'

Kace felt as if he finally gleaned some insight into the full capabilities that his body could be capable of in the future. He looked towards Grugda who still had not reacted to him yet. As he stared at him, he realised that each of the eljein's natural movements seemed incredibly slow to his eyes. 'Holy shit! Natural Kinetic Vision! My AP isn't draining at all!'

Kace unleashed a devastatingly oppressive aura with a smug grin. This was his announcement to the world. An Emperor among monsters had been born!