I’m done for! I can’t handle them on my own!

  The second head turned its blood-soaked maw toward the thirty, maybe forty ape-men armed with bows and spears. It roared. Some slowed, others stopped, though only for a moment.

  I spun around and ran as if I had a massive boulder on my left side — one that lived and breathed, loud and malicious. As if I didn’t have enough trouble already, now I had to wrestle for dominance with this beast!

  I heard an arrow whistle past my head, another struck the ground near my foot. I twisted my torso and, for a brief moment, focused all my will to force the second head to lift its snout and look forward. It growled and hissed, but sensing my aura and dominance, it calmed down.

  A pack of bipedal ape-men was chasing me — feral and familiar with the terrain.

  My only chance was the roar which seemed to work when the second head was using it, and the fact that my body reacted faster than ever before. My muscles burned, yet obeyed every single intention.

  Panic overtook me. I trampled ants and anthills along the way. The second head devoured the larger ones, like a dull personality doing whatever it wanted whenever I wasn’t paying attention. Too little time had passed for me to fully subjugate it.

  Every moment of control cost me more than simple fatigue. I felt that if I pushed too far, it wouldn’t be the second head that broke free, it would be me losing control of the body.

  Now everything was clear. Completely taking control of the head consumed something more than strength — something closer to life force. Pure will and aura could only apply pressure and convey my intent as the primary head ruling the entire body.

  Under stress, I sensed something strange. Adrenaline flooded my body, and as I sprinted forward, I felt… as if a second heart was beating in my chest, alongside my own.

  Something utterly inexplicable.

  The ape-men caught up and attacked from the sides. Their crude spears and arrows struggled to pierce my scales, reinforced by Iron Skin, while Bloodlust sharpened my senses and fueled my fighting spirit.

  Both heads bit wildly.

  The enraged ape-men roared as if they wanted to kill me with sound alone. Large, feral, covered in fur of countless colors, they nearly swarmed me so tightly I wouldn’t have been able to escape. Desperate, I used my ability and within two seconds, I understood what that roar truly was.

  A terrifying, thunderous roar that vibrates through the air like a shockwave. A force that instills fear in enemies and strengthens the will of those who stand with it.

  I inhaled deeply and roared as if I wanted to drive away an entire herd at once.

  I sensed blood flowing from some of their ears. Others panicked. Some lost the will to fight altogether. The second head joined in, though more weakly.

  We bit and tore together, pushing forward, away from the ape-men’s territory.

  Some of them shook off the initial shock and resumed the chase. I left the forested area and reached open ground.

  Behind me were enraged beasts. I had wounded only a few; I myself barely ran forward, torn and bloodied. I must have looked like a hedgehog pierced with arrows and spears, drenched in the blood of enemies — and my own.

  There was no choice. Though the second head paled and the ape-men froze in shock and terror, I relied on my human reasoning and stepped into the unknown.

  This was my only chance to survive until tomorrow.

  I had only three options: face over thirty ape-men close to my level, die here of starvation hoping they’d give up, or try to pass through the chasm, perhaps the power sleeping within wouldn’t notice a small fry like me…

  “Damn monkeys. And now I have to deal with that beast too.”

  I glanced at the snarling head on my left, sighed, and without hesitation entered the zone of dreadful aura. I dug my claws into the chasm wall and began descending.

  It felt as if my body weighed half a ton.

  I gnawed into the rock, drove in my claws, braced myself with my tail, using every uneven surface to my advantage, yet I still felt like I could fall at any moment. The second head looked like it was about to lose consciousness.

  If nothing else, at least it wouldn’t shove me off the wall or do something equally stupid.

  About twenty meters separated me from the bottom. I was well past halfway when my strength failed, I lost balance, and slammed into the hard ground with a thunderous crash.

  I survived by a miracle!

  Never before had I felt so weak and drained. Even as a small lizard, I had more vitality. And on top of that — this oppressive aura… I closed my eyes, supposedly just for a moment… then lost consciousness completely.

  I woke to disturbances in the surrounding aura. I felt better. The second head pointed its brown eyes at the ground, as if bowing before someone.

  “Hey, you! I see you!” I heard someone’s thoughts. A strange, raspy old man’s voice boomed inside my head. “I know you can hear me! Come closer!”

  “What kind of voice is that?!” I struggled not to die of fear.

  “It’s my voice, you stupid lizard!” he replied instantly. He was reading my thoughts — communicating directly with my mind!

  “Stand up and approach, or you’ll regret it!”

  I didn’t even think of resisting. I stood up straight and dragged the second head along, which seemed completely paralyzed.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Not that way! East!”

  For a moment, I wondered if this was some spirit haunting the place, playing tricks on me.

  Who could live in such a vile place? Dark, suffocating, lifeless. Only a distorted expanse about two hundred meters wide, with tall walls on both sides. Without flight or equipment, there was no escape.

  The voice fell silent. With every step, the aura grew heavier, as if something pressed me into the ground and squeezed my throat.

  My heart pounded wildly, and the absolute silence accompanying my march conjured the worst horror imaginable.

  I won’t get out of this alive. Something will devour me like a snack!

  Ahead, at the edge of my vision, I saw a strange heap of metal and paper that grew larger with every step.

  I decided to approach.

  With each step, the chasm narrowed. Finally, I saw thick chains made of some strange gray-black metal, plastered with scrolls and papers whose inscriptions I couldn’t read. The mass rose fifty meters high, its top nearly reaching above the chasm. Behind it, I spotted a narrow, slanted slope that could lead me back to the surface.

  The most terrifying thing was that the chains seemed alive, rising and falling like ocean waves. Here and there, white, gleaming fur protruded — as if behind that iron curtain, some enormous creature was breathing.

  “Tiny lizard! You stand before Zod, the last of the Behemoths — an ancient fury before which mortals tremble! One of the Seven Beasts of Cataclysm! Kneel!!!”

  An explosion of aura slammed me into the ground. I felt my scales about to crack, blood streamed thickly from my nostrils. The air itself thickened, crushing me. The second head fainted. I knew I couldn’t give up now — not when I was so close to the exit.

  I had the feeling I stood before something that could kill me by sheer will alone. If six more such beings existed… perhaps it was better to grow old in a cave.

  Brazenly, I lifted my head and stared.

  I saw the clearest inscriptions since my birth — large, thick, pitch-black. I swallowed.

  Species: Silver Behemoth

  Evolution Stage: King of Behemoths / Cataclysm Beast / Lord of Monsters

  Level: 189

  Threat: DEADLY

  Such monsters really exist in this world?!

  “Who are you?! What’s your name?! Why aren’t you running?!” he asked.

  What could I say? I couldn’t exactly tell him I came from another world and didn’t even fully understand why I was here…

  “You’re from Earth?!”

  I froze. I had forgotten he could peer into my mind. How did he know of another planet? How could he possibly know?

  “In my lifetime, I sometimes encountered people summoned from Earth!” he thundered. “None ever matched my might, but many became legends across the continents!!!” He spoke aloud now, his voice echoing through the chasm. He pondered for a long while, and I didn’t dare interrupt. “But very few were reborn as monsters or beasts!!! You are perhaps the fifth case known to me! What is your name?!”

  Oskar Zelek — that was my name on Earth. But I didn’t want to return to that past. Sadness filled me as memories of wasted decades surfaced.

  “Artax!” I said. Making it up on the spot.

  “Artax?! Hm!!!”

  The Behemoth examined me thoroughly, but didn’t question it.

  I felt him withdraw most of his aura. For the first time, I could breathe freely.

  “Where am I? What is this place? Why are you wrapped in these strange chains covered in papers? Even they radiate aura…”

  Zod shifted, made a strange sound, then snorted.

  “The Technique of Ten Thousand Seals and the Hundred Chains of Mountain and Earth!!! A single chain can bind an entire herd of cyclopes for good!!! Pff!!!”

  “Who did this to you?”

  Zod fell silent, then replied in a strangely embarrassed tone.

  “Five hundred years ago, I got carried away and caused too much havoc in the north… My old acquaintance got very angry and sealed me on this cursed wasteland at the southern edge of the continent, to rot here in boredom!!! Pff!!! Can you imagine getting upset over such trivialities?!”

  I’d be furious too if a fifty-meter monster wrecked my lands. Still... What kind of being could subdue the King of Behemoths?!

  The silence after my thoughts suggested that after withdrawing his aura, he stopped eavesdropping on my mind.

  I considered leaving but then thought of helping him escape. He didn’t seem like someone who wanted to kill me.

  Zod quickly showed me my place.

  “Thank you for the thought!!! I see a warrior in you — though a weak one for now!!!” he laughed thunderously, nearly making my ears ring. The second head remained unconscious, though I felt my strength slowly returning.

  “You are one of the few who did not flee from me!!! I respect that!!!”

  It wasn’t entirely true. I had wanted to run. For a moment. But the will to escape this place was stronger than fear. I didn’t see a bloodthirsty monster bent on destroying the world. I saw someone unbearably bored, bound and sealed for five hundred years.

  I knew what loneliness felt like.

  “Will you be my friend?” I asked bluntly.

  “What?! A mere lizard wants to befriend a Beast of Cataclysm?! HAHAHA!!! That… that is commendable!!! I admire such courage!!! I like you!!!” He laughed uncontrollably, the chains trembling with the sound. “I hope you’ll visit me again someday, Artax!!! Head north and don’t look back!!! Don’t let winter catch you in these savage mountains… my friend!!!”

  It was the first time anyone had called me brave.

  We spent many hours talking. Zod told me about the Ancient Dungeon of Light and Sword where I was reborn, and about a civilization that flourished here thousands of years ago before catastrophe struck. He advised me to grow strong quickly and return when I was ready.

  “This is not a world for the weak!!! Here, the will of the strong reigns!!!”

  The words roared in my mind, bouncing off every nerve, every fiber of my body. I could feel the weight of them pressing down, like molten iron poured over my shoulders. And yet… for the first time in so long, I didn’t flinch. I didn’t shrink.

  Eventually, it was time to part. I couldn’t linger here forever — hunger twisted my insides, gnawing at me like a living thing. My tail lashed the ground involuntarily, a restless beat echoing my impatience. I had grown strong, but even strength couldn’t silence the ache of emptiness, the reminder that survival demanded constant vigilance.

  I began climbing the slope, muscles coiling and uncoiling like springs, each step deliberate, each movement precise. But Zod stopped me.

  “Wait!!!”

  The air thickened, charged with a weight I could feel in my lungs, in the scales bristling along my spine.

  “Each of the Seven Beasts of Cataclysm possesses the power to bless one who is worthy!!! It is not easily given!!!” Zod’s voice trembled with intensity, shaking the very stones beneath my claws. “It drains life force, which takes time to replenish! But you… you have endured my aura!!! You did not break!!!”

  Chains rattled, vibrating in harmony with my heartbeat. My claws dug into the slope. My chest heaved. I felt… noticed. Seen. For the first time in a long time, I sensed approval, recognition… a spark of pride I could call it.

  “I deem you worthy!!!” Light exploded between the chains, pure and blinding, pouring over me like molten gold. “I shall grant you my blessing!!!”

  It struck me. Pain, searing and exquisite. Heat, pulsing and alive, crawling along every nerve ending. Power, raw and unrelenting, tearing through my body and filling every hollow I had forgotten existed. My blood roared in my veins, every muscle trembling as if it had discovered a new purpose.

  My body burned from within, as if some divine sculptor was carving itself into me, marking me, shaping me for something greater than I had dared to imagine.

  “From this moment!!!”

  Zod’s voice echoed, vibrating deep inside my skull, inside my chest, inside the marrow of my bones. “You shall carry the Berserker’s Fury!!!”

  I felt it ignite — my blood, my mind, my senses. For a moment every nerve burned with the need for battle, for destruction, for survival. My claws itched. My teeth longed to rend. My very soul screamed!

  And for the first time in so long, I felt pride. Pure, unshakable pride. I thought of every weakling I had once been, every desperate, trembling step I had taken… and now, I felt strong. I had endured. I had survived. And I would continue to survive.

  For a brief moment—

  I felt like I could tear the world apart. Mountains, rivers, forests, armies… nothing would stand before me. My chest swelled with something I hadn’t felt in years: hope. Confidence. The exhilaration of being alive, truly alive, in a body built to conquer.

  Then it faded, the initial blaze of power settling into something steady. Something permanent. Something that would never leave me.

  I stood there, trembling, my heart pounding with exhilaration and awe. Changed. Marked. Alive in a way I had forgotten was possible.

  And bound…

  To Zod, to this path, to this new strength… until the end of my days.