Velik knew plenty about divine beasts, though he’d had most of the research done on his behalf so that nobody would link his interest back to him. Most of what was out there was speculation, with a lot of claims that they didn’t and couldn’t exist. No one in living memory had ever seen one, as they were barred from existence by the gods themselves.

Obviously, those people were wrong. Velik had known that even before this one had appeared in front of him. He himself had the golden blood of a divine beast while using [True Form], but thankfully, he wasn’t the one who’d had to dig through old historical accounts. He’d just taken the broad strokes, which were that divine beasts, if they existed at all, seemed to have an infinite number of skills, or maybe just a single infinitely flexible skill.

That, combined with unfathomable strength and speed, made them an impossibility, the next best thing to gods. There were no historical accounts of any divine beast ever being killed, only of being forced to retreat at the cost of thousands of lives. Velik didn’t know how much of that, if anything, was true, but from Tesir’s offhand comments, it seemed like the man felt he was beyond the system somehow.

Maybe he is. But what does that even mean?

“Looks like someone’s heard some stories,” Tesir said with a smirk. “Wondering which ones are true? I’ll let you in on a little secret. Most of those stories are guesswork made by whoever wandered onto the battlefield after we were done. It was pretty rare for any of you humans to have a first-hand account of what it’s like to fight one of us. And you want to know another secret?”

Tesir leaned forward and flashed a predatory grin. “I’m the guy who did most of the fighting for our side.”

Meaning of all the divine beasts out there, he’s the one who’s the best in a fight. Well, maybe. Either way, he’s beyond me. Fuck. What do I do here?

The interest was obvious now. Velik’s wolf shape had golden blood, but he didn’t think he was anywhere near Tesir’s level even in that form, and besides, he didn’t have time to activate [True Form]. Then again, this didn’t seem to be a life-or-death battle. Tesir was playing with him. Would he just… give me that time? Just so he could see it?

“You wanted to see my [True Form]. You should have just said that from the start. It would have saved a lot of confusion,” Velik said.

Tesir’s face twisted with a faint look of disgust at the mention of ‘[True Form],’ but he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he just said, “You’re finally going to take this seriously? Go on then. Show me.”

Suddenly feeling like he was about to put his foot in a trap, Velik directed his spear back onto his arm. It settled into place, flat, unobtrusive loops wrapping around his bicep and forearm. He glanced at Torwin, who’d finished off a healing potion and was sitting on the ground, clutching the wounds on his chest to keep them closed until the magic finished up its work.

There was no guidance from that direction. Velik wasn’t even sure the old man was even fully aware of what was happening. He’d taken a nasty hit, one that Tesir had delivered so casually that it left no doubt he’d been capable of ripping them both apart without even trying.

I wish I’d spent more time working on this skill. I’m close to figuring out how to reconnect with all my gear, instead of just one piece.

With thoughts of Tesir’s nails raking through the transformation and shredding Velik running through his head, he fell into the skill. Tesir watched it all, his lip curled into a sneer and his body motionless. A few seconds later, a massive black wolf stood across from him.

“Somewhat better,” he said begrudgingly. “You smell better, if nothing else, but I still think you’re just a failed experiment. Let’s see how you compare to the real thing.”

Tesir blurred forward, faster than anything Velik had ever fought, but not so fast that he couldn’t keep track of the man this time. He responded, his teeth flashing as he bit the hand coming at his shoulder. Teeth sank into flesh, but it didn’t break. Tesir just grinned, and his other hand came around in a fist to punch Velik in the face.

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He stumbled back, keeping his balance more due to the fact that he had four legs now than through any natural resilience. Golden blood seeped down his fur, staining it where flesh had split open from the impact, and Tesir’s eyes locked on it.

“You got that much right, at least,” he growled, but his whole demeanor had changed. Now he was excited, and Velik guessed that probably wasn’t a good thing.

Sure enough, the fight picked up in intensity. Tesir’s speed increased again, but Velik could almost keep up with him. The pair darted around the forest, weaving between trees or crashing through them when they impacted each other. Velik had a weight advantage, but Tesir’s strength was unreal. When he broke a tree in half, he just laughed and leaped away.

The harder Velik pushed, the stronger and faster Tesir got, but he never used anything besides raw physical power to dominate the fight. Mana started flowing through him, visible as vague sparks of light flashing through his body to Velik’s eyes, but he didn’t have the first clue what skill that meant Tesir was using, if any at all.

I can’t keep this up. My regeneration isn’t healing me fast enough, and he’s landing every hit on me. I need to be faster. Damn it, [Apex Hunter], this is your job. Keep track of this bastard!

In a normal fight, he’d have an instinctive sense of his opponent’s movements, clear enough to almost predict an attack before it started. That was how people fought at speeds too fast to react to. It just wasn’t working with this guy, and Velik wasn’t even sure if it was that the skill wasn’t working on him or if Tesir was just so fast that it didn’t matter.

Tesir ripped into him, jagged nails catching on Velik’s flank and tearing two feet down to leave long, bloody furrows. Velik retaliated by snapping his tail up to smack into Tesir’s shoulder. The hit landed, breaking the attack and sending the divine beast staggering a single step. That was all Velik needed to get his jaws around Tesir’s arm.

[Dread Lance] exploded out, enveloping the man with scouring energy carefully shaped to avoid Velik’s own body. He’d learned his lesson with that already, and though [True Form] mitigated that damage, increasing [Dread Lance] another rank helped a lot more. Tesir was bathed in destructive power, so much that Velik felt the man’s arm melt away between his teeth.

Did I get him? Tell me I finally landed a solid hit.

Then the light faded, revealing Tesir standing ten feet away. A chunk of his arm was missing where he’d torn free from Velik’s bite, but even as Velik watched, mana flooded through the man’s body. It concentrated at the edge of the injury and rebuilt the wound as fast as any flesh beast could. Tesir rolled his shoulder once and bared his teeth.

“I’m sure that’s impressive around here,” he said.

Then he was in front of Velik so fast that even with his improved physical and mental helping him track the movement, it was still a surprise attack. Tesir’s nails plunged into Velik’s face, tearing flesh and crushing bone as burning pain took over Velik’s senses.

For a frozen moment that felt like it stretched into eternity, he thought Tesir was reaching for his brain. It didn’t make sense—the man’s fingers weren’t long enough and Velik was already retreating from the attack, but the fear was so primally visceral that Velik convinced himself that was what was happening anyway.

The truth was almost as bad. Tesir’s fingers curled around Velik’s eyeball, then they pulled. The eye ripped free, leaving a bloody, empty socket weeping where the orb had been. He held up the trophy and told Velik, “You rely too much on these. Stop acting like a human or I’ll take the other one, too.”

His wolf form’s regeneration was healing the damage, but he didn’t think it’d regrow an eye. Or maybe it would. He honestly had no clue, but even if it did, it wouldn’t be in time to affect the outcome of this battle. He was just thankful the pain was already fading from blazing agony down to a burning ache.

Suddenly, [Apex Hunter] had something to say. For the first time in the fight, it drew his attention to his left, where he could no longer see. It was the barest whisper of a crackle, and he could clearly see Tesir in front of him, but he instinctively twisted to snap at the sound.

He was rewarded by the taste of flesh in his mouth and golden blood dribbling out from between his fangs as he caught Tesir’s outstretched hand around the wrist. How did he…? How did I…?!

Tesir pulled back, ripping himself free from Velik’s teeth with raw strength. A tooth was left embedded in the wound, but he casually picked it out and flicked it away. “Better,” he said.

Both of them were so focused on each other that neither noticed Torwin until an arrow sank into Tesir’s ribs, piercing right where his heart would be and then exploding into a thousand pieces of shrapnel. Bone, meat, and blood showered Velik, and the divine beast staggered, seeming truly injured for the first time since the fight had started.

Torwin was perched in a tree a hundred feet away, panting and holding his bow in shaking fingers. “Got you, you son of a bitch,” he muttered with satisfaction.