CHAPTER 69: MUTATION

Hearing Robin Hood’s words, Shaan gathered all his courage and tried to prove that he was not afraid at all. Slowly but surely, he moved closer until the corpse became clearer.

"Oh, God."

Instantly, Shaan felt his stomach churn, making him feel nauseous. How could he not? The condition of the corpse was utterly inhumane. Its internal organs were scattered around the body, and its body was covered in wounds from wild animal claws. Not only that, but there was a large hole in its chest that looked like it had been stabbed with a sharp object—something Shaan knew had caused the poor man’s death.

’Come on, Shaan. You can do this. You can do this.’

Trying to suppress the nausea that was growing stronger, Shaan quickly turned his head to the side and closed his eyes. Slowly, his hand felt around the pocket of the uniform the corpse was wearing, then opened the pocket to check what was inside.

’Oh, damn... what... what is this...’

Shaan’s heartbeat quickened as his hand realized something was off. For some reason, he could feel his hand was wet and sticky. It was so sticky that he struggled to move his fingers at times. Damn, he couldn’t have imagined it would turn out like this.

[Shaan, have you found anything?]

"No, I’m not finding anything here. It’s so sticky and —" Shaan fell silent for a moment when his fingers touched something. "Oh, wait, wait a minute. I think I found something."

[That’s great. Just take it out.]

Shaan quickly took the object out of his pocket and walked away from the corpse. He then opened his eyes and saw that his hands were covered in blood. Oh man, so...so the strange liquid he felt earlier was blood from this corpse. "Never mind that, it’s time to see what’s in my hand."

He unclenched his fist and gasped in surprise when he saw that the object in his hand was a key. Frankly, Shaan was initially confused about the purpose of the key, but after he tried to clean the bloodstains covering its surface, he noticed small letters that read "ship engine."

"This is it!" Shaan exclaimed joyfully. "This is the key we’ve been looking for, Robin Hood."

[Good, now it’s time to give the key to—oh my goodness, Shaan, behind you!]

Hearing Robin Hood’s shout, Shaan turned his head quickly and saw a Zerawulf preparing to jump toward him. He tried to grab his dual short swords to block Zerawulf’s attack, but it was too late. The creature leaped over Shaan’s body, causing him to fall to the ground.

[Shaan!]

"Argh, damn it." Shaan tried to move away from the zerawulf’s fangs, which were quite close to his face. "Robin Hood, help me!"

Robin Hood aimed his arrow and fired his attack at the zerawulf. However, the ferocious wolf easily dodged all of Robin Hood’s attacks.

[Hey, Shaan... Are you okay?]

"Yes, I’m okay," Shaan nodded. "Thank you for helping me."

[Hey, hey, thank you later. Right now, we have to defeat this damn creature immediately.]

"Right." Shaan nodded. "Robin Hood, use the Phantom Snare skill to immobilize Zerawulf’s movements," he said, drawing his dual short swords and glaring at Zerawulf with a sharp gaze. "We can’t let this creature attack Chelsie and the courier."

[I get it.]

Shaan dashed forward swiftly, launching continuous attacks at Zerawulf, hoping that the creature’s defenses would weaken as they had before. But strangely, this time Zerawulf easily blocked Shaan’s attacks. This creature was even able to dodge all of Robin Hood’s attacks, which the previous Zerawulf that they had fought before would not have been able to do. Damn. What’s going on? Why this creature...This creature is so strong?

"Oh no, could Zerawulf have mutated? If that’s the case, I have to..."

[Shaan, watch out!]

"Shnk!"

The splash of fresh blood instantly froze his entire body. His face paled, and he was still completely unable to speak as the tip of Zerawulf’s tail pierced Robin Hood’s body, which had appeared to protect Shaan.

[Sh-Shaan....] Robin Hood smiled. [Th-thank goodness, you’re okay.]

"Oh, no... this can’t be. Ro-Robin Hood!’

Zerawulf threw Robin Hood’s body to the ground, leaving him lying weakly on the ground. The creature then turned its head 90 degrees toward Shaan and walked toward him, showing its intimidating gaze.

’No... I... I can’t give up now. I have to defeat this damn creature! I must!’

[Aspira Ignis ability activated.]

[Aspira Ignis power effect remaining: 100%]

Within seconds, the same mysterious energy flow reappeared and enveloped Shaan’s body. Realizing this, he swiftly picked up his dual short swords lying on the ground, prepared himself, and launched a counterattack toward Zerawulf.

’Good, this is what I need.’ Shaan smiled slyly. ’Now it’s time for revenge!’

’Cling! Cling!’

Shaan swiftly launched his attacks over and over again at Zerawulf, slowly weakening the creature’s defenses. However, Shaan wasn’t pleased, because even though he had used his special power, the mutated Zerawulf still wouldn’t die.

[Remaining Aspira Ignis power: 40%]

’This is bad. I’ve already used nearly half of the Aspira Ignis power, but I still can’t defeat this creature,’ Shaan grumbled in frustration. ’Damn it! If this keeps up, I’ll have to change my fighting strategy.’

As Zerawulf launched an attack toward Shaan, this time he didn’t block the attack like he had before. Shaan jumped to avoid the attack, spun his body in the air, and quickly launched his spin strike.

The powerful blow landed directly on Zerawulf’s head, instantly causing the creature to come close to death. Great, this time Zerawulf would die, and quickly he focused all his mana into the surface of his dual short swords, preparing to launch his final attack.

"It’s time to end this—"

Alas, Zerawulf’s tail moved swiftly, appearing from Shaan’s side and launching an attack toward him. Realizing this, Shaan quickly blocked the unexpected attack, but it caused his body to fly backward and crash into one of the trees nearby.

[Aspira Ignis power remaining: 20%]

"Ugh, damn it!" Shaan groaned in pain. "How am I supposed to defeat this creature?"