My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 385

”.....”

Staring at the system screen floating before his eyes, Ray found himself caught in quite the dilemma.

Ever since the problem had appeared, Bruce had already presented him with the obvious solution.

But how the hell was he supposed to do that?

Eat flesh?

The only things surrounding him at the moment were the corpses of dead Carapace Spiders.

And he certainly didn’t have the time nor the strength to break through their thick chitin just to reach the tiny amount of flesh hidden beneath.

So what exactly was he supposed to do?

And even if he somehow managed to crack through their armour...

Was he really expected to eat raw flesh?

The mere thought alone made his stomach churn violently.

The only thing he could even throw up at the moment was blood.

Still enduring the relentless agony coursing through every fibre of his body, Ray expanded his perception throughout the chamber, desperately searching for anything remotely edible.

Then...

Almost as though the heavens themselves had decided he deserved another chance to live...

He sensed something a few metres behind him.

”Ugh....” he groaned through clenched teeth as he struggled to turn his head.

Even such a simple movement demanded every ounce of strength he had left.

His neck trembled violently before finally obeying him.

And then...

He saw it.

Two cocoons lay surrounded by several dead spiders.

’Co—?!’

Ray instantly realized where he had seen them before.

They were the same cocoons used to imprison the humans that had been hanging from the ceiling earlier.

But something immediately caught his attention.

One of the cocoons had already been torn open.

Blood steadily flowed from the opening, forming a crimson pool beneath it while several mutilated chunks of flesh drifted within the thick stream.

’Huh?’

The second cocoon was still mostly intact, though a few dents and cracks could be seen marring its surface.

«What the hell are you waiting for? You have just been presented with a great meal and you’re wasting time? In case you forgot, you have five minutes before the damn gate closes. Hurry up!»

Looking toward the swirling vortex for a brief moment, Ray gnashed his teeth in frustration.

Then his gaze shifted toward Nebula’s enormous corpse, which still lay bound tightly by the golden lasso.

Inwardly dispelling the skill before immediately recalling it, the glowing lasso appeared around his remaining hand.

With a painful grunt, he willed it to form a knot before hurling it forward with every bit of strength he could still muster.

Alas!

The simple motion sent another overwhelming wave of agony crashing through his battered body like an unforgiving tidal wave.

His muscles convulsed violently.

His body trembled uncontrollably like a fish thrown onto dry land.

The reopened wounds across his frame continued widening as fresh blood poured from them.

His HP was rapidly approaching fatal levels.

’Co-Come on....’

Fortunately...

The knot wrapped itself perfectly around a sturdy steel pole positioned above the cocoon.

Instead of pulling the cocoon toward himself, Ray shortened the lasso and allowed it to drag him toward the cocoon instead.

It required far less effort.

Within only a few seconds, he arrived beside it, landing directly in the growing pool of warm blood.

Reaching toward one of the dents in the cocoon, Ray let out a strained grunt before gripping it as tightly as he could.

Every muscle in his remaining arm bulged as he poured every last ounce of strength into pulling it apart.

Crack—! Crack—! Crack—!

The fractured opening slowly widened.

Little by little.

Until...

CRACK!

The cocoon finally burst apart, revealing the lifeless body of a freshly dead woman trapped within its depths.

Ray winced as another surge of unimaginable pain tore through him.

The unbearable heat building deep within his soul had reached its absolute limit.

Then...

It exploded.

It felt as though his very core was being ripped apart from the inside, drowning every inch of his being beneath an indescribable ocean of agony.

His vision blurred.

His ears rang.

His thoughts became sluggish.

Disoriented.

Exhausted.

Barely clinging to consciousness...

He slowly reached toward the woman’s head.

His heart ached.

His trembling fingers stopped only inches away from her face.

He had never done this before.

The time he had eaten a human was when Bruce was in control of his body, and even then, he had been against the act.

But now...

He had been forced into that same position.

Only this time, he was the one making the choice.

His consciousness remained completely intact.

’Survival... She’s dead... but I’m not.... I need to live.’

Holding onto that single thought, Ray lowered his head and began eating like a starving wolf.

Every bite felt heavier than the last.

Each crunch of flesh tightened his chest until it almost became difficult to breathe.

It felt as though every mouthful stripped away another piece of the humanity he had desperately tried to cling to.

Yet he kept repeating the same word inside his mind.

’Survival....’

Again.

’Survival....’

And again.

With every passing second, his body responded.

The gaping wounds across his body gradually knitted back together.

Activating [Celestial Healing] alongside the nourishment flooding his body, the recovery accelerated at an astonishing pace.

Muscles reformed.

Torn flesh sealed itself shut.

Fresh skin spread across his battered frame.

Even the arm that had been blown off earlier regenerated before his eyes with astonishing speed, threads of lightning dancing across the newly forming limb as muscles, bones, tendons, and skin reconstructed themselves.

The blaring warning messages that had been ringing inside his head gradually quietened.

One after another.

Within moments...

Every wound had completely closed.

His missing arm had fully regenerated.

An overwhelming amount of vitality surged through his entire body.

It felt as though every exhausted cell had suddenly been flooded with new life.

Countless system notifications poured across his field of vision.

Ray ignored every single one of them.

He simply collapsed onto his back, breathing heavily as complete exhaustion washed over him.

”.....”

Silence.

Only for a second.

Then...

”AAAAAAAAAAAH!”

A pain far greater than before erupted throughout his entire body.

Ray’s scream echoed across the chamber as fresh agony consumed him whole.

Sharp fangs slowly descended from his teeth.

One eye glowed with a brilliant golden radiance.

The other remained grey, though streaks of darkness gradually spread across the iris like ink staining water.

His screams only grew louder.

A cracked golden halo slowly materialized above his head.

Golden veins pulsed beneath his skin like rivers of molten sunlight, expanding and contracting in rhythm with his racing heartbeat.

Something deep within his chest stirred violently.

Power...

An enormous amount of power...

It felt as though it was desperately trying to burst free from his body.

Then...

Just as suddenly as it had begun...

Everything stopped.

Like a fierce wind snuffing out the flame of a candle.

The halo shattered into particles of golden light before disappearing.

The glow faded.

The golden veins vanished beneath his skin.

His fangs slowly retracted.

Everything disappeared at once.

And with it came—

DING!

[Congratulations Host....]

Ray’s breathing gradually slowed.

Each breath became steadier than the last.

The unbearable pain.

The hellish torment.

The boiling blood.

The crushing pressure.

Everything slowly receded until only exhaustion remained.

[... Evolution Completed Successfully!]

The system almost sounded excited.

Almost proud.

But Ray barely paid any attention to it.

His mind was occupied by something else entirely.

The race evolution.

What had he become now?

What changes awaited him?

Was he even human anymore?

Slowly turning his head, his gaze fell upon the mutilated corpse he had just fed on.

A bitter smile crept across his lips.

’Not after this... am I still human....’

DING!

[Congratulations Host; You have successfully evolved into a Tribrid Master.]