Chapter 229 – The Beast Form of the Jotun Fox

  Quinn:

  I forced myself to stand, every fiber of my body abze with agony, as I trated the st remnants of my mana into my hand. A flickering blue fme began to form, unstable, as if mirr my broken dition. My gaze locked onto Chloe Evenhart, sprawled on the ground. Her eyes were closed, lips stained with blood, each breath more bored tha. She seemed resigo death—a cruel trast to the fury burning within me.

  "Goodbye..." I murmured, feeling the heat of the fme intensify. I wao end this, to see her body reduced to ashes.

  'ROOOOAAAR!'

  Before I could unleash the spell, a deafening roar tore through the air. The sound was so powerful it felt like a hammer striking my chest. My eyes widened in shock, but before I could react, something enormous and feral sank its teeth into me.

  "AHHHH!" I screamed as excruciating pain flooded every he massive jaws tore into my flesh effortlessly, pierg muscles and bones like they were paper. Each bite was an indescribable torment. The creature's maw crushed my body with brutal force, tearing ks away with every movement.

  My screams turned into a strangled gasp as the beast violently shook me, my body filing like a ragdoll between its jaws. Each thrash sent sharp fshes of pain and panic through me. The sound of bones snapping and splintering echoed in my ears, apanied by the metallic taste of blood flooding my mouth.

  The creature finally tossed me into the air as if pying with its prey. I soared untrolbly, crashing into a stone wall with devastating force. Bones shattered on impact, the wall colpsing as I was buried beh the rubble.

  When I tried to move, a shiver ran down my spine as I registered the state of my body. Looking down, I saw one of my arms was simply goorn away ie. The other hung at a grotesque angle, mangled and useless. Blood gushed freely, pooling around me in a steaming crimson puddle.

  My breaths came iic gasps, eae a grating effort that tore through my lungs.

  "Damn... soul golem..." I mumbled weakly, my mind grasping at straws to uand the attack.

  How is the soul golem still active? She dismissed it...

  Then my eyes focused on the creature, and despair dragged me into a bottomless abyss. This wasn’t Chloe Evenhart’s golem.

  The fox girl... she survived. And she’s one of those rare, special demi-humans...

  In front of me stood a t golden fox, as imposing as any golem yet infinitely more terrifying. Its golden fur glistened in the flickering firelight, and its flowing eyes burned with an iy that seemed to pierce straight through my soul. Six tails swayed behind it, eae radiating a raw, destructive power that sent chills down my spi was monstrous.

  'ROOOOAAAR!'

  Another earth-shaking roar echoed, scattering the debris arouhe beast took a step forward, the ground tremblih its immense weight. Its eyes bore into miheir message unmistakable: I rey.

  The massive golden fox approached slowly, each of its steps carrying the weight of the world arouhe earth quaked beh its paws, and its hot, suffog breath hit my face like a scorg gale. Its grotesque face lowered, four bzing eyes filled with immeasurable rage log onto mine. I couldn’t breathe, paralyzed by terror and the unbearable agony of my mutited body.

  The fox let out a huff, and a yellow glow began to form in its throat. The heat emanating from it was suffog, threatening. I closed my eyes, accepting my end.

  At least it’ll be quick, I thought, trying to find some so the despair.

  But the blow never came. The yellow light vanished, repced by something far worse: the rising fury of the creature. I opened my eyes slowly, and the sight before me was even more terrifying. The fox wasn’t just angry; it looked at me as if I were an io be crushed, but with an added touch of cruelty. Its gaze shifted briefly to Chloe Evenhart, lying on the ground bloodied and broken, and its rage seemed to reach a new peak.

  “Painful… death…” The creature’s voice echoed, deep, cold, and den with the promise of unimaginable suffering.

  Before I could react, the fox lunged, opening its monstrous jaws and seizih its teeth.

  "AHHH!" I screamed as it lifted me as if I were nothing more than a pything. Its sharp teeth pierced my flesh, tearing through muscle and crushing bone. I felt my remaining arm ripped away with brutal force, followed by searing pain in my chest as its fangs tore into my ribcage. Each bite was calcuted, cruel, as if it sought to extend my agony.

  My vision began to blur as my screams echoed through the air, but the fox did not relent. Its teeth ground into my body with deliberate slowness, shattering bones and pulverizing ans with terrifying precision. I felt my skull crader the immense pressure, and the world around me became a haze of pain and darkness.

  It wasn’t killi was destroying me, piece by piece, as if ensuring every moment would be etched into my sciousness. The pain was so overwhelming it seemed eternal, with each sed stretg into an unbearable eternity.

  The fox tinued, relentless, chewing through my mangled body as I drowned iorment. The only certainty that remained was that it would fulfill its promise: my death would be excruciating.

  Kinue:

  As my body sank into the dark, cold depths of the river, the crushiy of my situation began to settle in. The water around me was suffog, pulling me further into the abyss with every movement. The stabbing pain in my stomach throbbed relentlessly, intensified by the explosion that had hurled me into these icy depths. I had tried to shield myself with mana during the impact, but shards of debris had torn through my flesh, leaving my right arm shredded, bone exposed and muscles ripped apart.

  The darkness seemed endless. I couldn’t tell if it was the weight of the water or the grim embrace of death pulling me under, but I felt utterly crushed. The void began ing my mind, and for a fleeting moment, I let myself go. I accepted that this was my end—that my body would be swallowed by the abyss.

  The world arouarted to fade. Yet, in that suffog darkness, it wasn’t faces I saw—it was the sound of ughter, voices as familiar as the beat of my ow. Not images, but vivid, powerful memories. Moments of joy, of trust. They pulled at me, like s of light dragging me back from the brink. I g to those memories, letting them ane.

  Determination ignited within me like a r bze. The st vestiges of strength I had began to verge, fueled by my mana. The agony of my human body started to fade as a transformatioook me. First, there was heat—a searing, overwhelmihat radiated from every part of me. Mana surged through me, reshaping my very essence, unraveling the fragile body of a human and repg it with something far greater, far more powerful.

  My vision illuminated as my human fave way to my other self. My body expanded, and six tails unfurled like a golden fan. Lustrous golden fur covered me, radiating a light that illumihe abyss around me. My size became colossal, and the strength c through me was indescribable, as if the very world trembled under my presence.

  ‘ROOOOAAAAR!’ My roar pierced through the waters, erupting with unbridled fury. The golden glow I emanated reflected off the river's surface, and my now four eyes sed the world with a promise of vengeand prote.

  The ship’s crew, who had been nearby, screamed in terror at the sight of me.

  “A giant monster! A demi-huma!” someone shouted. Water mages raised their hands, readying spells. But as their eyes met mine—burning with pure rage—they hesitated. My gaze paralyzed them more effectively than any physical attack.

  I swam fiercely toward the port, my heart heavy with anticipation. The sight that greeted me was desote: absolute destru. Burnt houses, snow-covered streets, and scattered debris told the story of the battle between Quinn and Chloe, leaving scars that seemed impossible to erase.

  Chloe! The name echoed in my mind, ced with desperation. I tried to call her, but in my bestial form, all that came out was a furious roar reverberating through the chaos.

  I o find her!

  Tearing through the wreckage, I used my massive paws to overturn debris, my breath ing in frantic puffs as I searched for any sign of life. Then, at a distance, something caught my eye—the Soul Golem of Chloe. The t, skeletal creature with antler-like horns was unmistakable. Relief washed over me momentarily, a sign that Chloe was still alive.

  But that hope shattered in an instant. The Golem, like a shadow, dissolved into snow before my eyes.

  NO! My mind screamed, ed by an overwhelming fury. It was a mixture e and despair. My failure had allowed this. Chloe needed me, and I wasn’t there.

  The anger drove me forward. I pushed on with all the strength my monstrous form could muster, ign the screams, the cold, even the pain. I rushed to where the Golem had vanished, and then I saw her. Chloe y colpsed, a fragile and bloodied remnant of the warrior I knew. Her body, riddled with injuries, looked so small amidst the destru.

  Beside her stood Quinn, his hand raised, gathering mana for a fire spell. Everything else vanished for me. There was only him. Only my hate.

  ‘ROOOOOOOAAAAR!’ My roar ripped through the air, and before he could react, I lu him. His words were silenced as my jaws closed around his body. I felt the ch of breaking bohe warmth of his blood filling my mouth. He screamed, a sound that fed my thirst for vengeance. But it wasn’t enough.

  I spat Quinn out, his broken body tossed aside like a discarded toy. Yet, my rage didn’t wane. I charged at him again, my gaze locked on him with uing fury. I wao crush him, erase him from existence. Mana began to gather in my throat, glowing vibrantly with the promise of destru.

  But then, something shattered my focus—Chloe. The fierce glow in my eyes faltered when I looked at her. Her body, sile, so wounded.

  My family… my friend… I’m losing everything again.

  The urge to annihite Quinn, to utterly destroy him, burned like fire in my soul. But something inside me halted that impulsive rage. Killing him quickly wouldn’t suffice. He didn’t deserve an easy end or a swift death. He o feel. He o suffer.

  “Painful… death…” I murmured, the words esg as a decree while my gaze bore into Quinn.

  With a swift motion, I opened my jaws and captured him, trapping him between my teeth. His flesh gave way to the fory bite as his bones she sound of his agony p out in pierg screams. I moved his body slowly, chewing with deliberate cruelty. Each bohat fractured, each piece of flesh torn by the crushing pressure of my jaws, was a testament to the torment he had inflicted.

  The sound of his skull shattering was like musiy ears, a grotesque crack eg like the pop of a wine cork. Warm blood streamed down my throat, mingled with the soft, siing squelch of his brain slippiween my teeth—a visceral reminder of his defeat. I tio grind his body until nothing remained but a grotesque mass of flesh, fragmented bones, and blood mingled with my saliva.

  With disgust, I spat the remnants onto the frozen ground. What was left of him was unreizable—a formless heap, a testament to his insignifi the fay fury.

  I took a deep breath, feeling energy surge through me. Shifting bato my human form would be agony, but what ain pared to what Chloe was enduring? The transformation burned as my body became pure mana, reshaping itself until I returo my humanoid form. The wounds I had suffered on the ship screamed in protest, my entire body a symphony of raw, excruciating pain. But I ig—Chloe needed me.

  I ran to her, my heart pounding like a war drum. Chloe y on her side, her pale face slick with sweat. Each ragged breath seemed like a battle she was barely winning, and blood pooled at the ers of her lips as she coughed weakly. Her skin bore the marks of burns, deep wounds, and dried blood.

  "Kinue..." she murmured, her voice so faint it was barely audible, yet it struck me like a dagger. A weak smile pyed on her lips as her gzed eyes met mihough it was weighted with pain.

  I trembled, my mind a whirlwind of emotions. "Did you... drink the healing potion?" I asked, desperation g my voice.

  "No... my bracelet... it was lost in the river," Chloe whispered, her breaths shallow and uneven.

  Wasting no time, I pulled a healing potion from my own bracelet and k beside her. "Yoing to be fine," I said, trying more to vince myself thailting the vial to her cracked lips, I tried to make her drink, my heart pleading for this to work.

  "I'm gd... you survived," urmured, her voice fragile and barely a whisper. Her heavy eyelids fluttered, and fear gripped my heart.

  "Drink it!" I shouted, tipping the potion into her mouth, willio swallow.

  "I don't think... it's going to work, my friend," she rasped, her words slig through my soul like a bde.

  I held her tightly, shaking her gently to keep her scious. "Chloe, please! Stay with me!" I begged, tears streaming down my face. My trembling hands tinued p the potion, ign how it spilled over her .

  "It was Nikous Wolves... it’s all his fault..." she murmured, her voice barely audible. Her eyelids quivered as she fought to keep her gaze on me.

  Suddenly, her frail hand gripped mih ued strength, her eyes burning with a determination that cshed with her dition. "Tell Nate... it's okay," she said, each word a struggle. "Tell him... I don't bme him... it wasn’t his fault."

  "Chloe, don't say that!" My voice cracked as tears flowed freely, soaking her face. "You’ll tell him yourself! Please, just drink the potion!" I tilted the vial, desperate to make her take it. "You’re my family too! Don’t leave me!"

  Her eyes, already clouded with pain and exhaustion, glimmered o time. "Take care of Nathan... for me... okay?" Her voice faded as her eyelids slowly closed.

  "Chloe! NO!" I screamed, my voice a raw, primal cry of anguish. I clutched her frail body in my arms, shaking her, hoping against hope to pull her back.

  My voice echoed into the void as I held my best friend, sobbing untrolbly. In that moment, the world crumbled around me, leaving me drowning in an endless storm of grief and despair.