3. Devastation and Predation

The animal— as Clifford thought— stood before him, completely ignoring his existence. It clearly didn't consider him a threat; its foremost attention was on the safety of its offspring. The similarities between it and the victims he had killed a while ago screamed at him.

As innocent as it seemed, no such animal would live in a place with an entrance filled with bones and a bloody smell that permeated the entire area. Furthermore, despite his blood-stained face, the fact that it ignored him screamed danger to his mind.

Just as the beast was about to pass by Clifford and enter the cave,the fear of being killed by it and his greed for power pushed him to attack. Realizing his survival depended on it, he decided to be decisive. Perhaps if he could take advantage of being the first to strike, then he had a chance to defeat it.

Seizing the opportunity, Clifford placed his hands on the beast, surprising it and diverting its attention to him in the process. He then pushed it with all of his weight, driving the beast and thrusting it against the cave walls. Watching it spit a mouthful of blood as it crashed against the wall encouraged Clifford to press on for more.

Aiming for the head, he mustered all the strength he could and proceeded to punch it. The moment the punch made contact with the beast, the force traveled to the wall, causing cracks to spread through it. This action angered the beast, causing it to roar in anger and rapidly transform into its true form.

Completely enraged, the beast shoved the human attacking it with all of its strength. This sent Clifford flying and crashing against the other side of the wall before it charged at him and proceeded to beat him up. The massive fists raining down on him and the resulting pain caused him to grit his teeth as he drowned in agony.

This devastation seemed to comfort him, causing him to develop a new habit as he began to enjoy the pain. Pain meant that what he was up against was strong enough to hurt him. The further it hurt him, the stronger he could come back. This painted a smile across his face, sending shivers down the beast's spine, causing it to step back and halt its onslaught.

As the smile slowly developed into a grin, Clifford started to free himself from the wall against which he was stuck. His will and excitement caused his body to accelerate the absorption of the dark force as he released an overwhelming killing intent, unknowingly falling into a predation state.

His muscles expanded, and his veins bulged noticeably as his fingernails slowly turned into sharp claws, ready to tear whatever stood before him. His crimson eyes glowed brighter as his teeth sharpened, turning into razors ready to cut whatever gets thrown inside. Despite his human form remaining the same, the changes, coupled with the leaking intent, gave him a horrifying display.

The Wendigo drowned in fear as the pressure pressed down on it. The predatory crimson eyes and blood-stained razor teeth made it want to run for its life, but no matter how hard it tried, it seemingly couldn't shake off the fear clouding its mind.

The suffocating, dazed wendigo couldn't stand it anymore and fell to the rough ground on its knees giving into despair as it sensed the predator approaching it. This prompted it to look up, only to witness the firm grip on its right antler.

Although Clifford could easily kill the beast by simply twisting its neck, his current state didn't allow it, as the Predation caused its victim to enter an extremely violent state. Simply killing what stood before Cliff wouldn't satisfy him. This was the result of absorbing dark force while in a state of consensus.

With a firm grip on the beast's right antler, Clifford placed his left hand on top of the wendigo's head, keeping it in place. Then he started to pull the antler slowly, separating it from the head, causing the beast to scream in agony and react in terror.

Despite successfully pushing Clifford away, it couldn't stop him from taking its antler, leaving it with a bleeding wound on its head. As it fell and rolled on the floor, it clutched its head with both arms. The three sharp ends of the antler in Clifford's hand encouraged him to go for the other one, but the uncooperative beast thrashing on the ground made him kick it hard.

The kick brought the beast's attention back to Clifford, causing it to momentarily forget the pain. This prompted Clifford to jump on it and pin it against the floor as he sat on its stomach and thrust the antler deep into its neck. The wendigo started to struggle until its strength began to fade away as it met its demise.

Despite the beast's death, Clifford's onslaught didn't end as he kept punching and stabbing the beast below him using its antler. This lasted for a while until he started to recover from his current state. Finally, he pushed himself up and moved next to the cave walls before sitting down for a break, sighing in relief as he recovered from the battle that left him on the edge.

The previous battle left him injured and tired. Seemingly, the dark force he absorbed didn't heal him back up; instead, it pushed his body to its limits. Despite being a good thing, it had its negative sides.

For example, he couldn't stop attacking the beast even after its death. It felt as if he was venting his anger on a lifeless body. A couple of hours passed, and Clifford was now in a good state; his tiredness faded, but his hunger persisted, prompting him to begin his meal.