1 The Ravager
In an endless inky black sky, thousands and thousands of stars decorated it like expensive jewels.
Since long ago, a forgotten species pondered over what might be roaming in the heavens above.
They considered the possibility of a lifeform different from them existing on a different planet somewhere.
With no concrete evidence, they allowed their imaginations to run wild, allowing different perspectives of what the unknown could look like.
Some thought they might be similar to them with one head, two arms, and two legs. They thought them to be an older civilization with technology out of their reach.
Some imagined that they would be completely different than them. They imagined them to be made out of a goo-like substance or insect-like.
The rest outright denied the existence of other life forms far away.
The topic of extraterrestrial life forms became a popular topic and they created fictional rumors, cartoons, games, and movies to quench the thirst of their curiosity.
Some might think this might be all pointless. Why were they so fascinated with something they don't even know whether or not they exist?
The reason for that was they couldn't deny it. After all, they existed. Who is to say that others can't exist in this vast universe?
The truth was that there were none.
There were no alien symbiotes, no alien parasites, and no unidentified flying objects.
Why? Why couldn't there be others when there were few planets capable of sustaining life?
The answer to that question is that they are dead.
And he killed them.
***
In a desolate wasteland, a lone figure walked triumphantly
With his hulking figure of 2.5 meters height. Broad shoulders with a length the size of a short person, a head with 4 eyes evenly spread around it to get maximum visibility, sharp fangs that could easily tear off steel, scaly skin, claws sharper than any knife there is, and a lizard's tail, he certainly looked very menacing.
His body was riddled with wounds as it had just hunted down a mighty foe yet it stood tall.
He was aware that was probably the last fight of his life so he didn't want to stop. There was nothing that would surprise attack it anymore.
"Finally, after 258 years of search, I finally found you… and killed you."
The chimera monstrosity spoke an old, dead language. It was the only surviving language left in the world as he was the only one capable of speaking with a flesh body.
His feet sank into the sand as he strived towards the carcass of his unconscious enemy.
He reached it and put his foot on the chest of the corpse before grinning wildly, revealing even more sets of fangs.
"I will take this, thank you."
He stretched his first pair of hands and grasped a good hold on the head of the pale insect-looking bastard.
Then he pulled with all of the strength remaining in his arms, ripping the head off the body.
Green blood trickled down the spine which was still attached to the head. With one clean swipe of his claws, and the spine fell to the ground.
"Another trophy for the collection."
As he made the kill, a newfound energy surged through him.
"Here it comes!"
His reddish-brown scales peeled off as a new pale exoskeleton grew from his skin.
Two antennas protruded from his forehead and more eyes were added to his head.
A pair of pincers grew from his abdomen.
He lifted his 4 pairs of wings and grunted as the 5th pair grew.
The first pair was full of feathers. He had obtained it after killing a giant eagle. It was relatively small for his size but the stingers at the end made for a good surprise weapon.
His second and third pair had scaly red wings that of a dragon as he obtained them after killing one.
His fourth pair had blueish-green scales and it drooped down. It was like fins as it came from a fish. It was his wings when he dived underwater.
The new pair sprouted from the back of his waist, just above his fish wings. It was transparent with red veins all over it. It was the wings of an insect.
He flapped and tested his new wings.
"Hmm, too weak for my weight. Useless."
With that knowledge, he grasped it with his second pair of hands and pulled it without a second thought.
It tore off, letting steamy hot red blood flow out of the wound.
His face scrunched up and he spit on his hands before rubbing it on the wound.
The saliva solidified almost immediately and turned into pale silk.
It was produced from the web glands he obtained after killing a queen spider. It was flexible and tougher than steel so it used to be extremely useful when he first got it.
Nowadays, it is used to bandage wounds instead of combat.
Speaking of wounds, his previous wounds which he sustained from the fight healed.
"My wounds should heal faster while the residue energy from the kill remains." He predicted and stared at the skull in his hand.
He would never have to fight again. He would never have to feel pain again. He would never have to kill.
He felt fulfillment from that.
On the other hand, he will never experience the joy of fighting, analyzing, and vanquishing foes ever again. He would never feel the rush of energy after each successful kill and the upgrades or the downgrades that come after.
He felt pained from that.
But it didn't matter.
He was left alone.
Alone as the sole living being. As the strongest being to ever exist.
That was all he needed.
He gulped down fresh air tainted by the smell of blood.
And let out a scream from the deepest parts of his gut.
A scream that contained every anguish, every pain, every satisfaction, and every euphoria he felt.
A roar that contained everything he felt in his 897 years worth of life.
From the start of it all to the very end.
His roar echoed throughout the desert and took a seat in the form of the corpse under him.
With melancholy haunting his heart, he observed the sun setting down.
He considered ending it right here. He had accomplished what he wanted to do after all. More so, he couldn't get to fulfill his desires anymore. Better to end it here when he clearly knew he wouldn't ever get to experience that sweet exhilaration of murder.
After a while, he got up and left for his temporary home.
His home contained his much favored trophies so it was an important place. It would be a place fitting for his end.
The monstrosity entered his humble cavern.
His home was a giant dome inside a mountain range, a couple of thousand kilometers away from the desert where he had slain the king beetle.
It was a 100-minute leisure walk for sure.
The dome was decorated with a myriad of different crystals as it was a naturally occurring crystal vein. He had done a couple of fixes here and there but it was mostly untouched.
The crystals in the sky glittered like stars in the sky but he did not care about those. He only cared about that little corner of his.
A shelf holding the skulls of hundreds was built there.
"Come to think of it, you are my 1000th trophy."
He placed the skull on the shelf and admired it before spraying it with a chemical that would preserve it nigh-perfectly for a thousand years.
He took a step back and observed all of it.
Ranging from human heads to tigers, absurd fishes, and vomit-inducing insects. The variety was visible.
He let out a small cackle and tried to remember each and every one of them but his faulty mind didn't allow that.
Feeling his mood sour he stepped outside and relaxed for a bit.
He walked over to the edge of a cliff, right next to his cavern.
The cliff could be called Death's cliff as its entire length was more than 7 kilometers.
He took a good look at the environment, the wild nature, before lifting his left leg up and holding it in the air.
The reason why he didn't jump was not because he hesitated, but because his keen ears picked up vibration coming from below.
"An earthquake?"
He was surprised. In his stay of 258 years on this planet, there was never a single earthquake. At least one that was noticeable.
So this sudden event intrigued him, which made him postpone his end.
The vibration got louder and louder. It sounded like something was chewing.
Then, out of nowhere, a giant maw surfaced from the ground, throwing dirt and rock everywhere before closing it.
The ravager was surprised, flabbergasted even.
Almost immediately, the sense of surprise was twisted into bloodlust.
"BWAHAHAHA I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS STILL MORE!"
The maw was long, it was circular with sharp fangs around the perimeter. Its diameter was longer than a kilometer which explained volumes about the size of the creature.
"AND THIS STRONG TOO!" He yelled with his heart's content and jumped into the maw.
"It's better to kill from within when it comes to those as big as this!"
The Ravager plummeted into the dark abyss known as the beast's belly.
"You dumbass! Why did you jump?" A voice reached his ears, causing him to grab from the throat of the beast and stay still.
"It's been a long time since I heard someone else speak that language. WHO ARE YOU?" He yelled as the maw closed.
"That is certainly a good question. Who am I?" The voice continued.
It had a high pitch, the total contrast to his low growl.
Its tone was weird too. It has been a long time since he encountered a tone other than bloodlust. The term for that was… sarcasm? Sass?
"Think of me as your savior because, I, will save us all!
And I need you to die to do that so…
Get digested without resisting please."
A grin flashed on his beastly face. He had recognized the voice of the beast.
It was a human's voice.
"You look monstrous yet you are a human on the inside. I became a monster both through body and soul. Let's see who is stronger!"
