My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 360

”Haaaa....haaaa....haaaa... that—let’s not go through that again,” Kai spoke mid-pant as the last of the shattered weapon statues crumbled to the ground.

”C-Can we move now?” Chloe asked, casting a suspicious look around the hall as the melody slowly faded into silence.

When the room finally fell dead still, they waited several seconds to see if any remaining debris would lunge at them.

But nothing did.

Ray decided to take the risk.

He lifted a foot, stepped entirely out of his designated musical circle, and waited.

Nothing twitched. Nothing happened.

He took another step forward, testing the room’s reaction.

Still nothing.

Finally, he was completely out of the boundary, and the chamber remained peaceful.

The others stepped forward too, and on seeing that the automated defense system was fully deactivated, they all breathed heavy sighs of relief.

”Nebula, are you okay?” Chloe and Van immediately dashed toward the blue-haired girl to check for injuries.

She nodded, a lingering, vulnerable look on her face. ”Ye-yeah. I’m fine now.”

”That was intense, yeah?”

”Mhm.”

Trisha’s brows twitched violently on seeing the way Chloe and Van were surrounding the girl, acting incredibly protective over her.

She was fuming, a few seconds away from an absolute explosion.

But before she had the opportunity to lash out, Kai was the one who stepped forward, a deep frown marring his face.

”Van... Chloe, what the hell is wrong with you both?”

Chloe lifted a brow defensively.

”Meaning?”

Trisha couldn’t take it anymore.

”Really? We all just saw what happened.

Even though we were in a literal life-and-death situation, we still saw how Ray went entirely out of his way to save you both! I accept that Van is his best friend, but he still saved your life, Chloe! He risked getting killed for you, yet you haven’t said a single thank you. Instead, you’re immediately all over Nebula?! The fuck is going on here?”

”Exactly,” Kai nodded, stepping up to flank Trisha.

”I have been noticing this for a while now. You guys are beginning to act eerily strange. What’s happening to you?”

”.....”

Nebula blinked confusedly, looking small.

”What do you mean by that? They are just concerned about my well-being, and that’s all.”

”Okay, I’m bored with this script,” Ray yawned loudly, instantly drawing all attention toward himself.

”I think you should drop the act now, Nebula. Kai and Trisha have already noticed it, so isn’t it time you dropped the facade?”

”Act? What on earth are you talking about, Ray?” Nebula asked, her face a perfect picture of bewildered innocence.

Ray stared at her deeply, searching for a micro-expression or a slip-up, but the girl was intent on keeping her cover tight.

”Ray....? What’s going on?” Kai questioned, his instincts telling him to trust the Tribrid.

”Yes, Ray. What the hell is going on? And how dare you accuse Nebula that way?!” Van growled angrily, stepping forward to defend her.

The corner of Ray’s lips twitched for several seconds, and finally, a cold frown replaced his careless demeanor.

”Okay then. Since you are intent on playing this game a while longer, I will humor you and meticulously break you down step by step.”

”Ray... what are you doing? Are you losing your mind right now?” Caster asked, his expression hardening.

Ray shook his head slowly.

”Not me. You all. You, Chloe, Van, and Felix are completely out of your minds. You aren’t thinking straight anymore. In fact, you aren’t even yourselves anymore. And that’s all her doing. Nebula has been manipulating you all!”

”....?!!”

”Ray... you are my brother pack-wise, but I won’t stand back and listen to you accuse a pure soul like Nebula,” Felix growled, his eyes flashing as his nails began sharpening into lethal claws.

Ray looked at the werewolf for a few seconds, then let out a sharp, mocking smirk.

”The day we came across you three in the wild.... What you don’t know is that I had already sensed your presences long before we actually saw you, and I decided to scan. Felix, you don’t know this, but I’m not an ordinary werewolf. I’m entirely different from you.”

”....”

”I can perceive the unique signatures of different creatures. Each being emits a distinct energy marker. For example; humans show bright yellow indicators, while werewolves and beasts show distinct purple markers.”

Kai’s gaze sharpened instantly on hearing this, while Ray calmly folded his arms.

”.... But for some reason, I couldn’t see Nebula’s marker at all. In fact, when I initially sniffed the air, I scanned the area to see only your and Caster’s markers.

Yet when we reached your position, there was suddenly a third person sitting there? That single inconsistency led me to two definitive conclusions. Either she isn’t capable of having an aura, or she’s suppressing it totally.

And to be able to do that, one has to be immensely powerful. I haven’t even been able to hide mine yet.”

The more Ray spoke, the more he kept his gaze locked on Nebula, who still maintained a completely neutral look on her face as she listened to him intently.

”... That was when you came for a handshake. I didn’t take your hand. Van didn’t, and neither did Trisha. Only Chloe and Kai shook your hands. I know Chloe is friendly, but all of a sudden, before we even left that spot, she was suddenly all over you. I was suspicious, and Van was too.”

Ray grinned, then walked over toward Kai and Trisha.

He stood right in their midst, placing his hands confidently on their shoulders as he looked ahead at the rest of the group.

”... We left for the cavern. On our way, I watched as Felix—someone who is usually attached to my hip—refused to leave your side while positioning himself in a way that seemed like he was actively protecting you. Same with Caster.

Now, I don’t know much about the legacy in the first place, so I initially thought he was just being a gentleman.

We got to the cavern, and the meat was about to be prepared. While that was going on, we asked about your background, and you spoke about the cave, yeah?”

Ray paused dramatically for effect, letting his words sink into the heavy silence of the Spire, then continued.

”But what I don’t understand is that you claimed you were attacked by wolves, yet I couldn’t see a single injury on you that indicated a struggle, and you claimed to not be a combat fighter?

All through that evening, Van was incredibly suspicious of you—refusing to believe your stories and constantly warning me that something was off about you.

I purposely kept shutting him down for a reason because I didn’t want him to act on his suspicions prematurely and alert you.”

”Okay?” Nebula lifted a brow smoothly, a faint frown marring her flawless features as she stared back at him.

Ray grinned wider.

”I know you knew that I was already onto you. Occasionally, I watched as Felix kept whispering things to you.

Knowing he has incredible werewolf hearing, I didn’t say much and left the cavern. Recall? I said I wanted to go relieve myself?

Haha! But you didn’t buy the story and decided to follow me discreetly. You have an ability.

And since I didn’t know exactly what it was yet, but suspected it had to do with the mind, I kept misleading you by saying different things out loud while keeping the true thoughts in my head entirely secret.

You were in the area, and when I was already heading back to the cavern, you rushed ahead and positioned yourself in front of the entrance, claiming you were just waiting for me.”

”Wait. So that’s why she had left at that specific time?” Kai uttered, the pieces of the puzzle rapidly clicking together in his mind.

Ray’s lips twitched. ”Upon arriving, you quickly pulled me in, and that was exactly when my systems alerted me to what your true ability was.”

Removing his hands from his friends’ shoulders, he leaned forward, narrowing his eyes as he recalled the exact nature of the threat.

”Mind Manipulation. And a very high-tier version at that. The condition to activate it? You needed to establish physical contact with the person.

But unfortunately for you, it didn’t work on me because my mind is incredibly fortified. Not even a god can try to manipulate my mind.

From there, I began watching you even closer. If your ability had to do with manipulating minds, then what’s stopping you from trying to read them too?”

«Oh?! That’s why you kept shutting me down whenever I tried to speak to you?» Elyon muttered within Ray’s mindspace, finally understanding the absolute caution.

”... After we were done eating and everybody wanted to sleep, you suddenly ’tripped’ on a bone, falling directly toward the exact spot Van stood.

Which ended in him catching you, and you lingered in his arms far longer than you should have.

I saw all of these micro-actions but kept quiet. I knew exactly what was going to happen next but chose to stay silent.

Night came, I left the cavern to hunt, and as usual, you followed me so you could observe how I fight and what skills I would display. I showed you exactly what you wanted to see, and you left satisfied.”

”....”

Nebula remained perfectly still, her expression unreadable.

”Returning back in the early hours of the morning, you were the first to be active, and all of a sudden, my best friend Van was all over you as if he wasn’t the exact one suspecting you the day before.

I kept baiting you, kept laying subtle traps for you, but you didn’t even realize it.

Ha! You led us to the cave that you claimed to find, and that was when the truth was revealed to me as clear as day.

You aren’t any Aspirant, nope. You aren’t part of our world. You are something entirely different. Because no true Aspirant would fail to recognize who the Big Four Legacies were.”

Nebula lifted a brow, maintaining her confused innocence.

”Remember? When Caster explicitly revealed his family identity, you weren’t shocked at all. There is absolutely no way a real Aspirant from our world wouldn’t consider standing next to a High Legacy a massive deal.

Let’s not forget when you manipulated information out of Chloe by making her blurt out the truth that I was also a werewolf. Hahaha! I noticed,” Ray chuckled as he placed his palm over his face.

”Th-The cave. What about it?” Trisha questioned, frost beginning to creep up her fingers the more she listened to Ray’s words.

”Oh, right.” Ray snapped his fingers before replying. ”You see those journals....”

”.... What now? You are going to say they are fake? That I wrote them?” Nebula quickly cut him off with a definitive shake of her head.

”Of course not. The journals aren’t fake. But there was something hidden there... The writer said they wanted to leave a clue but didn’t have enough time. Yet, they still left a clue that fitted the absolute last piece of the puzzle for me.”

Ray turned his back to Nebula, lifting a single finger into the air.

”The last entry said, and I quote: ’We-We-We were deceived. Now that I’m in this condition, I can finally see why he didn’t jot this down. Sigh... We were so close but ultimately failed. Freedom was right in front of us but ultimately its trial was just too tough. All I want to say is that don’t tr—’”

Ray slammed his palms together with an echoing crack, spinning around to glare directly at Nebula.

”Key word here: Deceived. The writer could finally see why the first chronicler didn’t jot it down. Which makes one wonder, who or what exactly deceived the previous cohort?”

The corner of Ray’s lips twitched.

He was about to take a step forward but noticed Caster and Felix twitching restlessly, so he paused his movement.

”.... They were deceived by an eighth member who manipulated them using a mental ability, altering their memories and making it so the previous cohort couldn’t even jot down the fact that they had an extra person with them the entire time.

And that last message before it got cut off? It was trying to say: ’Don’t trust her.’ And ’her’ in this case refers directly to you, Nebula. The writer was eliminated before he could finish typing it out.”

Ray smirked, his eyes flashing with absolute certainty.

”And you all won’t guess who finished him off....”

”Nebula....” Kai coldly uttered, his gaze sharpening into an icy glare.

Ray swung his hand through the air like he was letting go of a microphone, then casually rubbed his chin.

”Which begs the ultimate question: Who or what exactly are you?!”

”.....”

There was a long, heavy stretch of silence that seemed to suffocate everyone in the massive hall as they waited for an answer from the blue-haired girl.

”Wow. I can’t believe this. You actually believe all of these wild stories?” Nebula uttered, her eyes suddenly welling up with tears while her body began shaking like someone breaking down in complete distress.

Ray didn’t move an inch, looking down at her with a deep, unbothered frown.

”Yo-Yo-You actually...actually....” She sniffled, sobbing quietly with her head held down.

”... You actually cracked down the whole truth? Hahahahahahaha!”

Nebula’s weeping instantly transitioned into a loud, menacing laughter that began shaking the very ground beneath their boots.

She lifted her head slowly to look back at the group.

Ray, Trisha, and Kai all took an involuntary step back upon seeing Nebula’s changing form.

Numerous crimson eyes were violently manifesting across her face while her physical form began growing in height, dark appendages beginning to protrude sharply from her sides.

She kept cackling loudly like a maniac.

”Guess there are still some smart humans left in this world.”

BOOOM—!

A blinding, brilliant light instantly consumed the entire chamber, enveloping Ray and every single member of the cohort within its depths.

In a flash, the hall emptied out, and they all vanished completely from view.