Kyoji paused as realization settled in.
Mutants were supposed to be mindless, yet this one's actions were… deliberate.
Frederick, watching Kyoji closely, caught the subtle shift in his expression. His brows furrowed as he followed Kyoji's gaze, landing on the frog-like Dominator Mutant in the distance.
"Courting death, I see," Frederick teased, assuming Kyoji was itching for a fight.
To him, the mutant's behavior wasn't anything special—just a beast acting on instinct.
Frederick figured it was a stray, likely wounded by Major Gareth or the arrival of the Calamity Mutant. It was probably just scavenging the corpses of its fallen kin to regain energy. That's why he assumed Kyoji was considering taking it down since it seemed injured.
Kyoji, however, ignored Frederick's remark, his eyes locked onto the mutant.
He studied its movements carefully, and the more he watched, the more certain he became—this wasn't random. The mutant's actions were intentional. Intelligent.
But that shouldn't have been possible.
Mutants were creatures of pure chaos. Their minds weren't capable of forming complex thoughts. Even a year-old human child had more cognitive ability than them.
Were they evolving?
The thought lingered in his mind, unsettling even for someone like Kyoji, who couldn't feel emotions.
Before his death, he had witnessed something unnatural—a Variant One Mutant, a creature of raw muscle and thick hide, transforming into a Variant Two Mutant. The latter retained its brute strength but had gained the ability to channel Chaos Energy into attacks.
That had never happened before.
At least, not to human knowledge. Or perhaps, not knowledge that had been made public.
And now, after his regression, he was seeing something even more disturbing—a mutant displaying intelligence.
This wasn't normal.
If mutants were evolving, were humans prepared for it?
The thought lingered, but before Kyoji could process it further, a thunderous roar shattered his focus. A mutant was charging straight at them.
Kyoji's eyes snapped to the incoming threat, but Frederick was already on the move.
He surged forward, his blade glinting with an ominous light as he deflected the mutant's claw. A single, fluid slash followed—its head was gone.
Kyoji observed Frederick's movements with calculated precision. His footwork was fluid, his swordsmanship refined—far superior to Kyoji's own. But that was expected.
Frederick was the rising star of the Gilles family, a household that had cemented its place in Coliseum City through sheer combat prowess. He was likely the heir to their current leader.
It would have been absurd if Kyoji's swordsmanship even came close. This was his first time wielding a blade, while Frederick had likely trained with one since childhood.
"Well, that's how it's done," Frederick said with a smirk, flicking the blood off his sword before glancing at Kyoji.
It was obvious—he had already decided Kyoji was his competition.
Kyoji didn't care. There were more important matters at hand.
The Dominator Mutant was on the verge of a breakthrough.
And only he understood the destruction that would follow if it wasn't stopped.
He had no time to waste.
"Hey, look over there. Notice anything strange?" Kyoji asked, pointing toward the Dominator Mutant, which continued hoarding and consuming corpses while subtly retreating into a hidden corner of the temple.
Frederick narrowed his eyes, studying the mutant for a moment.
Then, he noticed it.
The creature wasn't injured, as he had initially assumed. There were no visible wounds. Yet, he didn't find it particularly odd.
Injured or not, it was just a mutant that had strayed from battle and stumbled upon a feast. Consuming corpses to replenish energy was standard behavior.
Kyoji, seeing the look on Frederick's face, immediately knew he wasn't grasping the bigger picture.
Not that he expected him to understand so easily.
The real challenge was explaining it in a way that made him see the truth.
It's hard to explain this in a way that gives Frederick a clear picture without revealing any of his secrets.
But he had to try.
There was no time to waste.
"Look at it. It's been here all this time, loitering around, hoarding beast corpses, and not even once did it engage in combat," Kyoji said.
"Sounds strange enough for you now?"
Frederick furrowed his brows. If what Kyoji said was true, then it was indeed strange.
"Wait, how do you know all this?" Frederick turned to Kyoji, his curiosity piqued.
"Well, I kinda noticed it when it arrived. Its appearance caught my eye for some reason, so I've been keeping an eye on it since then," Kyoji lied smoothly.
This was a well-calculated response. He had already thought about it beforehand, knowing that questions like this were bound to come up.
"Hmm," Frederick muttered, a thoughtful look on his face.
But after a moment, he simply shrugged and said, "It's probably nothing. Maybe it just needs to recover energy or something… or maybe it's scared, I don't know."
Frederick's casual attitude didn't sit well with Kyoji.
"That's not how it works, and you know it," Kyoji said firmly. "Besides, I have a bad feeling about this, and you know instincts like these shouldn't be ignored."
Frederick sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Alright, fine. Let's say you're right and it's acting strange. What exactly are you suggesting? Fight it?"
"Nope, but we need to get closer and see what it's up to," Kyoji suggested.
"What? Are you crazy? That thing could pulverize the two of us with a single sneeze!" Frederick's eyes widened in disbelief at Kyoji's reckless idea.
"That's why we won't let it notice us. We'll stalk it and see what it's planning," Kyoji said, his tone unwavering. Then, with a smirk, he added, "By the way, don't tell me the heir of the Gilles family is a chicken."
"You—!" Frederick looked like he was about to explode before taking a deep breath to calm himself.
"For your information, I am not a chicken. I just know my limits, and I think every wise person should," he said, locking eyes with Kyoji. After another sigh, he continued, "Alright, fine. I'll go along with your crazy plan, but you owe me big time for this."
"Owe you?" Kyoji raised an eyebrow.
"I'm trying to make sure things don't go bad. In a way, I'm saving everybody's life—including yours. Don't think that fancy bracelet of yours is going to save you if things go wrong," Frederick said, pointing at the crude-looking bracelet on Kyoji's wrist.
At first glance, it seemed like nothing special, but Frederick knew better.
It was an energy barrier generator—designed to form a protective shield around the wearer to absorb impact. That was probably why Frederick had been so nonchalant about all this.
But it had limits.
If things went south and a stronger mutant got involved, even Frederick would be in danger.
"Okay, okay… but you owe me a meal at least," Frederick muttered in defeat.
"Well, that's no problem, I guess," Kyoji said with a shrug. "Now, can we go?"
Frederick sighed before swinging his sword over his shoulder like some anime character, then followed Kyoji toward the Dominator Mutant's location.
Navigating through the rubble of the ruined temple, they carefully inched closer and closer to their target.
The mutant, completely unaware that it was being watched, kept moving farther away from the ongoing battle, hoarding every corpse it could find.
"Strange…" Frederick finally muttered after a while. He was beginning to sense that something was off.
Though he hadn't figured out exactly what yet.
But Kyoji knew.
The mutant's energy was spiking. It was approaching the peak of its current rank—on the verge of breaking through to the next.
It was close to evolution.
"Did you notice its energy spiking?" Frederick asked.
"Yeah… it's strange," Kyoji replied, furrowing his brows as if he didn't understand what was happening either.
Frederick's brows knit together in deep thought as he turned back to watch the mutant.
Why was its energy increasing?
Wait…
Don't tell me—
His eyes widened as realization dawned upon him, sending a wave of horror through his body.
# #
[A/N_ Hello, readers! It's your author here. I apologize for the recent irregular chapter releases—it's all due to some real-life circumstances.
Of course, I won't bore you with the details, but I want to announce that things will return to normal starting tomorrow, and the release schedule will go back to two chapters per day.
Also, I feel like the whole beast horde situation has been dragging on for too long, so I plan to wrap it up in the next two or three chapters so the plot can continue progressing.
If you're enjoying the story so far, please don't forget to add the book to your library and support the author with your votes. Your support means a lot to me!]