The Psychopathic Beast Emperor-Chapter 82: A Maniac

[Push-ups: 500 Remaining]

Sel swore under his breath when Bahamut moved again. He couldn’t understand what was going on with him. If only he knew he had a timer on him.

Bahamut rolled onto his stomach.

Every movement felt delayed, like his nerves were arguing with his brain about whether this was worth transmitting.

He planted his hands.

Pushed.

His arms collapsed immediately.

He slammed face-first into the floor, teeth clicking together hard enough that Ren flinched.

"...Again," Bahamut whispered.

He pushed.

One.

Two.

Ten.

By fifty, his arms shook harder than his legs had.

By one hundred, his elbows screamed with sharp, grinding pain as microfractures spidered through bone and tendon alike.

Blood dripped from his palms.

Two hundred.

His core failed repeatedly. His body sagged, then forced itself back up. Each repetition looked less like an exercise and more like a man refusing to die out of spite.

Three hundred.

His regeneration was no longer keeping up.

Muscle fibers shredded faster than they could rebuild. His arms felt hollow. His shoulders burned with white-hot agony.

Four hundred.

His breathing turned erratic. Black crept in from the corners, greedy and patient. He could feel his vision failing even though he was blind. The sensation was too strong to ignore.

Ren shouted something.

Sel shouted his name.

Bahamut didn’t hear either.

Four hundred and ninety.

His arms gave out again. His face hit the floor, blood smearing across the wood.

"...Ten," he breathed. "Just... ten."

He pushed.

His arms screamed.

His body broke.

And something inside him snapped, not in failure, but in refusal.

A warmth spread through his chest.

His regeneration shifted.

It stopped reacting.

And started working.

Not repairing damage after it happened, but closing wounds as they formed. Muscle fibers knitted mid-tear. Microfractures sealed before pain could fully register. Blood loss slowed, then stopped.

Not healing.

[Skill Evolution Detected!]

Five hundred.

His arms collapsed for the final time.

The system chimed softly.

[Daily Quest: Complete]

[Regeneration Evolution Detected!]

[Passive Skill Acquired: Self-Healing (Initial Stage)]

Bahamut didn’t smile. He didn’t move. He couldn’t move.

He lay there, broken, exhausted beyond reason, chest barely rising.

Sel was beside him in an instant, kneeling, his hands hovering uselessly because there was nothing left to stabilize.

Ren stood near his head, ears trembling.

"...You’re insane," Sel said hoarsely.

Bahamut let out a weak, breathless laugh.

"Yeah," he whispered. "But I’m still here."

And beneath the cracked floor, beneath the suppressors, beneath the exhaustion that could cripple lesser beings.

Something new had taken root.

Not strength.

Endurance.

The kind that refused to stay down.

...

[Daily Quest Update!]

Meditate for two hours (Yet to Complete)

Time Left: 4 hours!

Note: You are getting there!

...

Bahamut felt like crying as the system sent him the update on the daily quest. It was already evening, and he was broken. He was hungrier than a camel in the desert for 5 years; he was so tired that by just closing his eyes, he would fall into hibernation without a struggle. The good thing was that the pain from his injuries wasn’t there anymore. It seems that after evolving, regeneration, which was now self-healing, was better.

This one healed the pain associated with the injury, unlike regeneration. He didn’t know limits, though.

[Self-Healing:

An evolved version of Regeneration.

It alters the injury from its source, unlike regeneration, which reacts after the damage has been dealt. It is more of a damage denial.

- Continuous low-level restoration while the body is in motion or under stress

- Automatic stabilization of vital systems during extreme exhaustion

- Consumes a huge amount of stamina

...

’So it’s a skill to make me not give up, but it can be overridden.’

Bahamut lay down for a while before, with the aid of Sel, they headed towards the eatery. Hopefully, there would be food, or else he would go crazy.

He was fighting to keep his madness in; he would go on a rampage. His eyes flashed red once in a while, showing that his Brutality was close to kicking out. That even prompted him to check on the Brutality again.

[Path of the BEAST]

[Brutality: a sub-concept of the main BEAST concept. Brutality is the behaviour of a peak being, built from endurance and survival. You know the rest.

Requirements Update!

Brutality requires acts of survival, specifically battles and hunting.

Staying for more than a week without an intense battle or hunting will make you use your mind.]

...

"Sigh..." Bahamut sighed as they finally reached the eatery.

Then the smell hit him. The aroma of the food drifted into his nostrils, causing his stomach to growl so hard and loud that Ren flinched.

"We made it," Sel muttered, relief slipping into his voice as they stepped inside.

Long stone tables filled the hall with disciples crowded, laughing, arguing, and eating like tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed.

They had just thirty minutes to eat and go to their residence before the sect patrol team started their night jobs.

Bahamut took two steps forward, his mind only processing food, but he stopped at the last second. Eight boys stepped into their path as if they’d rehearsed it.

They wore outer sect clothes just like them, but with silver collars; Senior Disciples. Their expressions ranged from smug to outright hostile. One of them cracked his knuckles with a prideful smirk... Typical actions and characteristics of a bully.

The one in front spoke, his red eyes glinting with a malicious light, as his snake tail swayed.

"We’re looking for someone," he said, his voice carrying just enough to turn nearby heads. "Someone who put Hakon and his friends in the infirmary last night."

Sel’s posture instantly changed, his calm exterior vanishing when he realized who they were.

The lowest kind of scum in existence!

"We don’t want trouble, seniors," Sel said evenly. "Move."

The leader’s snake-like gaze slid past Sel and locked onto Bahamut’s blindfold.

"You... Blindfolded kid... You look familiar."

Bahamut lifted his head slowly, his hold on his brutality weakening quickly. He was getting pissed off.

His face was pale with blood still staining the edge of his mouth. His body trembled faintly, the suppressors biting deep. He was exhausted and getting angry.

But his expression was one of boredom.

"Eight of you?" Bahamut said quietly. Then he sighed. "That’s it?"

The leader frowned. "What?"

Bahamut tilted his head, staring deeply and piercingly at them.

"Pathetic idiots."

There was silence as everyone stared at the two groups. Senior disciples against new disciples, who hadn’t even stayed a week in the sect.

The first punch flew. Sel moved.

His fist shot, moving with such force that it tore through the air as he deflected the attack.

One boy’s leg went out from under him, his body slamming into the stone with a crack.

"I don’t know if it’s allowed for just anyone to attack direct disciples of an Elder in the sect, but you are people are fools if you think we will allow you to have your way," Sel stated coldly, his blue eyes flashing green.

Two more rushed in like they didn’t hear him speak.

Sel instantly accessed his staff. It danced; short and precise movements. A jab to the throat, a stroke to the ribs.

"Just stay back..."

They didn’t listen. One slipped past him, reaching Bahamut.

A fist slammed into Bahamut’s side, causing him to stagger, breath exploding out of him.

Another hit followed; his shoulder, then his jaw. He went down to one knee, his hands scraping the floor.

Ren shrieked as he was flung away.

Sel immediately turned, his staff whipping around to block a blade aimed for Bahamut’s neck, but that left his flank open.

They instantly swarmed Bahamut.

Bahamut took kicks to the ribs, a heel to the spine, and someone grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, causing his blindfold to fall off.

They were crippling right in front of the sect, because their leader was someone with a background.

Bahamut, though, was lost in a world of his own. He felt the pain and his self-healing... His vision pulsed red, his heartbeat slowed.

The noise of the eatery faded, replaced by a low, familiar hum.

Bahamut suddenly laughed, his blind grey eyes slowly turning red.

"Sel," he said softly, pushing himself upright as another punch glanced off his cheek. "Stop."

Sel froze for half a heartbeat, processing what Bahamut said.

That was all it took... Bahamut moved.

He stepped forward and drove his forehead into the nearest boy’s nose. The sound of bone crunching echoed.

He ignored the boy holding his bleeding nose, grabbed the second attacker’s wrist mid-swing and twisted it... HARD. Tendons screamed as the boy dropped, shrieking like a pig about to be slaughtered.

A kick came from behind him. Bahamut caught the leg, yanked, and slammed the attacker face-first into a table.

Wood exploded, bowls shattered, and screams erupted around them.

He was no longer fighting... He was hunting, like the brutal predator he was.

His movements were brutal, fueled by exhaustion, hunger, and rage. His elbows shattered teeth, knees crushed ribs. He lifted one boy and threw him into two others like discarded trash.

Blood sprayed all around, some falling on him. He just smiled at it, his eyes glowing a deep crimson.

Sel watched in horror as Bahamut grabbed the leader by the collar and slammed him against the wall of the eatery hard enough to crack stone.

The senior choked, his feet dangling.

Bahamut leaned in close, his eyes boring deeply into the boy’s own. For the first time, Rusef felt dark fear.

"You wanted the one who beat Hakon?" Bahamut whispered. "You found him."

...

A/N:

Howdy, lovely readers!

Hope you are all good. Thanks for the support, as always. Seems we are still low on some things.

Please leave reviews or comments. I want to know if the progress is good and okay.

And as you do, add powerstones, golden tickets, and gifts.

Hehe!