The Psychopathic Beast Emperor

Bahamut and Sel’s battle had reached a crescendo. Their attacks had gotten to the point that each hit was going for the kill. Bahamut still had his wide smile, while Sel had his cold face. Faint projections shimmered behind them. Bahamut’s own looked like a beast, and Sel’s own looked like a huge sword. Their blows destroyed the earth they stood on. Their battle had surpassed the level of Tier 1, Circle of Initiation. This battle had no level. All that Apollonia and Ren could tell was that it was a very, very dangerous battle that anyone who interfered would suffer severe consequences.

Unless the person was...

They both turned to look at Elder Silvia. Feeling their gazes on her, she just shook her head and sighed.

"I’m afraid the damage Bahamut has caused this time could warrant expulsion from the sect if there isn’t enough evidence. His victims are not recognizable at all..."

Hearing her speak like that made both of them shiver. Expulsion was worse than a ban in the Shadow Fang Sect. Expulsion was for only criminals, and wanted individuals who weren’t really wanted by the sect. They were thrown into the Dunes of the Ancient.

Getting a ban meant leaving the sect, but an expulsion was a death sentence. It was said that there was once a very powerful prodigy during the time when the sect was just a small town. He was known as the Quest, the one who went on a thousand missions. He was the founder of the Shadow Fang Sect. At that time, he was cultivating the darkness element when he got in touch with a relic of Anubis, but the relic was cursed. This turned him berserk, and he massacred hundreds of members of the sect, including his own wife and six-month-old child.

The elders of the sect at that time sacrificed a lot to open the Dunes of the Ancient to throw him in there. The Dunes of Ancient fully welcomed him, and that was the last they heard of Quest, the first Pharaoh of the Shadow Fang Sect. His name wasn’t mentioned in the sect because he was the first honor and the first disgrace of the sect.

After his defeat, the elders created the rule that anyone who causes a massacre would be thrown into the Dunes of the Ancients. It was a straight-up expulsion. Bahamut’s situation wasn’t that much different or far off from this. Massacring and killing were two different things, and he had done the former.

Elder Silvia stepped forward as Bahamut and Sel clashed, sending a pure wave filled with brutality and sharpness that the very air cracked and collapsed, making Apollonia shiver.

FREAKS!

She couldn’t help but think of what their opponents in the disciple assessment would do if they ever got to know that they would be fighting these freaks who could even give Tier 2 beings a run for their money.

Oblivious to the thoughts of her disciple, Elder Silvia slowly floated up into the sky, her butterfly wings flapping gently. A soft blue light rippled from her, covering the entire place in an instant.

Her antennae glowed softly as a projection appeared behind her. It was very huge, easily the size of a large house. It was a butterfly with only one eye on its forehead. It had six wings and four tails. Its eye glowed with a deep purplish light as it locked onto the two friends trying to kill each other in the distance.

The battlefield trembled beneath the sheer force of their clash.

Bahamut’s claws tore forward with murderous intent, crimson arcs slicing through the air as Sel stepped in without hesitation, his emerald aura sharpening to an almost unbearable degree. Their strikes collided again.

BOOM!

The impact bent the ground inward like soft clay, cracks spreading in all directions as the air itself screamed under the pressure. The projections behind them flared violently. The beast behind Bahamut roared without sound, its presence feral and overwhelming, while the massive, indistinct sword behind Sel pulsed with a cold, ancient authority.

They moved again, faster, and deadlier this time. Both aimed to kill. Sel stepped in, his arm cutting downward, his aura extending like a blade that could sever anything in its path. Bahamut responded instantly, his claws meeting the strike head-on, the collision releasing a violent shockwave that flattened everything within meters. Their eyes locked, neither blinking, neither yielding. And then...

The world... softened. At first, it was subtle, a faint ripple, like a droplet falling into still water. A soft blue light spread across the battlefield, coating the shattered earth, the broken trees, the blood-soaked ground. It moved like water, flowing rather than expanding, gentle yet unstoppable. The air cooled.

The tension... eased. Sel’s next strike slowed, not because he wanted it to, but because something touched his mind. It was soft and cool, like water running through heated stone. Bahamut’s claws trembled mid-swing.

"What..."

His voice came out lower and less sharp. The monstrous grin on his face flickered. Above them, Elder Silvia hovered silently, her wings beating in slow, rhythmic patterns. The massive butterfly projection behind her pulsed with a deep, hypnotic glow, its single eye radiating an otherworldly calm.

The light descended further. It wasn’t forceful and it didn’t suppress. It... soothed, like a tide washing over chaos. Sel felt it first... his breathing slowed. The sharpness of his aura softened, its cutting edge dulling slightly as his mind cleared. The tension in his muscles eased, his stance lowering naturally as the overwhelming drive to fight... faded.

"Elder..." His voice was quiet.

But Bahamut roared. A sudden burst of brutality surged out of him, pushing against the wave.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

His aura flared violently, dark red energy exploding outward as the beast behind him howled in defiance. The ground beneath him cracked again as he forced himself forward, resisting the calming tide, but the wave didn’t push back. It simply... continued, relentless in its gentleness.

It wrapped around his mind, slipping through the cracks of his rage, touching the edges of his consciousness. Memories flickered, voices, faces, Exildra, Sel, Ren, and the warmth of the stream.

The quiet moments, the laughter, and the calm.

"No!"

His voice broke, his claws trembled. The hunger roared inside him, furious, desperate to maintain control, but the soothing presence didn’t fight it directly. It simply drowned it.

Bahamut staggered. His body shook violently as the two forces clashed within him.

"Stop..."

His voice dropped to a whisper. Sel watched, his expression tightening as he lowered his stance completely.

"Come back..."

The beast behind Bahamut flickered. It became distorted, its form breaking apart like mist under sunlight. The red in his eyes dimmed, slowly fading. His claws twitched, then slowly began to retract, the elongated nails shortening. His fingers trembled as they returned to normal. His breathing became uneven... ragged.

"I..."

His knees buckled.

THUD!

He dropped to the ground, his hands digging into the dirt as his entire body shook. The aura around him collapsed inward, fading into nothing as the last traces of that monstrous presence dissolved under the endless, gentle tide.

Silence fell.

The battlefield, once filled with destruction and fury, now lay still under the soft blue glow. Sel stood there, breathing heavily, his aura completely gone. Behind him, the massive sword-like projection faded into nothingness. Above them, Elder Silvia slowly lowered her hand. The butterfly’s eye dimmed, and the light receded, but the calm... remained. Bahamut stayed on his knees, his head hung low, and his body still trembling faintly.

"What..."

His voice was hoarse and broken. "...did I..."

He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t need to. The blood on his hands, the scent in the air, the destruction around him... it told him everything. Sel took a step forward, slow, and careful.

"You came back."

Bahamut didn’t respond, he just stared at the ground. There was no madness in his eyes, just silence. The inside of his mouth tasted weird, and he knew why.

"It happened again..." he muttered with a quiet voice. Sel who had gotten close to him knelt beside him and patted him on the shoulder.

"The good thing is that you survived it. That’s what matters for now."

"But... I’m a monster. I killed and ate people. I can’t even look you in the face. How would I look at Exildra?" Bahamut spoke with a pained tone. Sel’s heart shook after hearing this. He couldn’t experience what Bahamut was experiencing with him, but he could tell what he was going through.

Self Hate. A very strong one at that. Anyone would experience that after doing what he did.

"So what will happen to me now?" Bahamut suddenly asked with an emotionless tone. Elder Silvia and the others had arrived beside him, so they heard what he said.

"Nothing yet..." Elder Silvia answered in her cold voice.

"Please just end me. I don’t want to attack my friends when it happens again," Bahamut said with a determined expression. Even though it was heartbreaking, he would rather reincarnate in a different world with a heavy heart, than stay here and kill someone he loved and cherished with his own hands.

"No," Elder Silvia answered with a simple "No."

"Why? What if I..."

"You won’t."

"But..."

PAH!

"Will you cut it off already?! You are embarrassing yourself!" Ren stood on his hind legs in front of Bahamut, his eyes glowing with a cold light, his tone filled with frustration.

"I just..."

"This is not the Bahamut I know! Or have you forgotten the promise you made to me? Have you forgotten the promise you made to Exildra?"

"I haven’t. I just..."

"Shut the fuck up! Look at me in the face. We are all in this together. You were attacked, and you defended yourself; that is it. If those idiots hadn’t attacked you, your hunger wouldn’t have come back. You’ve been pushing yourself too hard lately. I know you want to get strong faster, but you have friends who are willing to help you. Use that and stop being a dud!"

"Ren is right. And I actually enjoyed this fight. I haven’t gone all out like this in a long time. And don’t worry... If something bad happens, I will intervene," Sel added with a smile, making the eyes of Elder Silvia and Apollonia widen in shock. If he was talking about what they were thinking, then Bahamut had really gotten a backer who cannot be threatened by even the sect.

"Who are you really?" Bahamut asked, slowly raising his head, though his hair covered his face.

"Me? I’m just your friend. Nothing else..."