When you carry the power of monsters, every battle is a test. Of strength. Of will. Of humanity.
The city center was in ruins.
Broken glass crunched beneath Jerry's boots as he walked forward, tension rippling through every muscle. His hoodie fluttered in the wind, revealing glimpses of the blackened veins running up his arms — a sign that the Core was stirring again.
Across from him, two monsters moved with unnatural grace.
One was lithe, nearly human-shaped, with limbs that stretched like blades of obsidian. Its eyes were hollow sockets glowing faintly red.
The other was hunched, with a swollen throat that pulsed like a speaker coil, vibrating with sonic frequency.
Civilians had already been evacuated by the time Jerry arrived — or at least, most of them had.
Above him, drones circled silently. Watching. Recording.
The world was beginning to take notice.
"Let me guess," Jerry muttered as his claws emerged from his fingers, glinting with dark energy. "You two came for me."
The shadow-blade monster responded by vanishing — flickering from sight like a glitch in reality.
Jerry's instincts screamed.
He ducked just as the air behind him sliced open, missing his spine by inches. He rolled forward, twisting into a low crouch — only to be hit square in the chest by a shockwave from the sonic beast.
BOOM.
He flew back, crashing through a parked car.
Pain laced through his ribs — not fully healed from his last battle.
He coughed blood, wiped his mouth, and grinned.
"Alright," he thought, rising slowly. "We're playing dirty."
The Core pulsed.
Abyss energy flooded his limbs.
Predator Form.
Flesh warped. Eyes turned pitch-black.
Spines emerged along his back. Claws lengthened, dripping with voidlight.
This time, he didn't wait.
He vanished into the shadows — the same trick the enemy used. Only better.
The shadow monster didn't even see it coming.
Jerry exploded from its blind spot, slamming both claws into its chest and twisting. The creature shrieked — black fluid spraying from its ribs — and tumbled across the street, flailing.
But the sonic one retaliated again.
THOOM.
The street cracked. Windows burst for blocks.
Jerry's body buckled from the force, and he was forced to his knees — blood seeping from his ears.
"Too much sound," he growled.
But then, the Core responded.
Echo suppression unlocked.
Suddenly, everything muted. A black dome formed around him, eating the soundwaves midair.
Jerry looked up, eyes flaring.
Now it was his turn.
He sprinted at the sonic beast, zigzagging through rubble with inhuman speed. The monster screamed another wave, but it died against Jerry's Abyss shield.
He leapt — twisted midair — and drove his claw straight through its throat.
Silence.
Then: BOOM.
The creature's body imploded into smoke and fragments, scattering into the wind.
One down.
The shadow monster — still alive — let out a furious hiss. Its form grew, became distorted. Arms lengthened. Dozens of blade-limbs unfurled.
Jerry breathed heavy, body shaking.
"Alright. Let's finish this."
The fight blurred after that. A storm of blades and claws. Black ichor painting the streets. Tendrils of energy searing asphalt. Jerry fought like a demon — a beast cornered and bleeding, but refusing to fall.
And finally — with one last howl — he ripped out the creature's core and crushed it in his fist.
The monsters were dead.
But Jerry's knees buckled. He collapsed beside a burning vehicle, gasping for breath. Blood poured from his shoulder where a blade had pierced deep.
He was alive.
Barely.
Again.
He closed his eyes as the Core within him settled.
For a moment, just a moment, he felt the warmth of sunlight on his face.
But then... a voice.
"You're stronger than they said," it murmured from the shadows behind him.
Jerry's head snapped up — eyes wide.
A man stepped forward. No monster. No echo. Just a man in a black coat with white hair and no expression.
"But you're still just a child," the man said. "And worse... you're untrained."
Jerry tried to move — but his limbs were heavy, blood loss claiming him.
"I'll give you a gift," the man said. "Consider it... a warning."
He reached out — and pressed a finger to Jerry's forehead.
A vision exploded through his mind.
A burning city. Skies cracked by void rifts. A monstrous titan with six wings tearing through the sky. Emily screaming. His mother impaled on a spike. A world ending.
Then — silence.
When Jerry woke, he was alone. The man was gone.
But carved into the ground beside him was a single word:
"EVOLUTION."
And somewhere, far away... that six-winged titan opened its eyes for the first time in centuries.
The world would never be the same.
(To be continued...)