Heavy Metal

Teral's breath grew louder the moment he saw the baron retreat. Through their connection, Rusty could feel the rage building within his summoner. This was the man responsible for the attack on the elven village, the one who had ordered Teral's parents killed and the rest of the inhabitants slaughtered.

"There, don't let him escape!"

"Don't worry, I won't. Just stay near me and stay vigilant. Some of their knights and soldiers might still be around."

Although the battle seemed to be over, a few humans were still running about. It was clear that the personnel here lacked loyalty, as many guards began to flee once they realized the battle was lost. Some leapt from the high walls to escape, while others tried to force their way through the gate the elven forces had used to enter.

'I wonder what these elves will do. Will they kill them all?'

As he moved to follow the baron, Rusty noticed an elven warrior approach a group that included a maid. The woman and a few others who were clearly just workers trembled in fear as they watched the man advance with a dagger. For a moment, it seemed he would strike them down in vengeance, but before he could, someone caught his arm.

"No, we don't kill the defenseless. We aren't like them."

It was Lethira who had stopped him. At her touch, the bloodlust in the man's eyes faded, replaced by shame at what he had nearly done.

"I…"

"It's fine, brother. We all make mistakes, but we cannot become like them."

"I understand."

The man nodded and lowered his blade before glancing back at the maid. Though they posed no threat, they were still prisoners of war and needed to be gathered before any decision could be made about their fate. For that to happen, Rusty needed to end this and deal with their fleeing leader.

At last, Rusty charged forward in his regular form. The tower doors burst inward under the force of his impact, splintered wood scattering across the polished stone floor. Teral followed close behind, his breath uneven and his eyes burning with rage.

Inside, chaos ruled. Servants ran in every direction, some hiding while others collapsed in terror. A pair of guards tried to form a line, but they barely managed to raise their weapons before Rusty cut them down in a single motion.

"He couldn't have gone far. He must still be up there."

Rusty commented as he focused on the stairs leading up. There did not seem to be any proper escape routes in this place, and the guards were now fleeing on their own, with no one even thinking about helping their leader.

They climbed quickly. The higher they went, the quieter it became. The sounds of battle faded, replaced by something else, a strange muttering. It was frantic and desperate, aimed at no one in particular. By the time they reached the top chamber, the door was already open. Rusty pushed it wider, and the Baron stood at the center of the room.

Gone was any pretense of nobility. His powdered face was streaked with sweat, his fine clothes disheveled, his hands trembling as he clutched a small dark vial. Their attention, however, was not on him but on the two others in the room. Young elven women were chained to a large bed, their eyes glazed over as if they were already dead.

"You bastard!"

Teral shouted, his voice thick with rage. Rusty stepped forward, unable to hold himself back, and raised his blade. The man before him was weak, not someone he would usually concern himself with, yet he was also not someone who deserved to live even a moment longer.

"No… stay back!"

The Baron shrieked, stumbling away. The fat at his neck quivered as he fell back against the bed.

"You filthy creatures… You think you have won?"

Teral moved forward as well, a dagger in hand, intent on claiming the kill himself rather than leaving it to Rusty. Something felt off. The Baron was panicking, yet a strange smile crept across his face as he raised the vial of black liquid to his lips.

"This ends now, you wretched human."

"Nothing ends until I say it ends, you vermin! I am one of the chosen. I have been selected to become an apostle of the great lord. I will not be the one who dies. You will!"

"What is that human doing?"

Rusty frowned, confused by the speech, and his hesitation proved costly. The Baron pressed the vial to his lips and drank. The thick black liquid slid into his mouth, and within it something else moved, something small, like a seed.

The moment it went down his throat, the Baron's body went rigid. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then he screamed.

"Ghh… AAAAGGGHHH!"

His scream tore through the chamber as his body convulsed violently. The vial slipped from his hand and shattered against the floor, its remaining black residue hissing as it ate into the stone.

"What… what did you just do?!"

Teral shouted, instinctively stepping back as the Baron's body spasmed in unnatural ways. His hands bent at impossible angles and his eyes bulged grotesquely. Rusty, however, was focused on something else. Through his mana sense, he perceived a tremendous surge building. Moments ago, the man had been as weak as an F-rank monster. Now his power was rising rapidly towards the peak of D-rank and perhaps beyond.

"Get back, now!"

The transformation began with a series of cracks that would not stop. The Baron's spine arched violently, pushing outward beneath his skin as if something inside him were trying to break free. His limbs twitched, then twisted. His arms lengthened, fingers fusing and splitting into multi-jointed segments. His legs buckled as bones snapped inward, and his lower body collapsed in on itself.

"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOOOOP!"

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It did not stop. His stomach swelled grotesquely, ballooning outward as gray leathery flesh pushed through torn fabric. Veins darkened and pulsed with something foul. His skin lost all human color, turning into a dull corpse like gray.

Just as Rusty raised his shield to protect his summoner, a massive limb shot forward. It struck them with explosive force, blasting them out of the tower as the structure ruptured from within.

Rusty took the brunt of the impact, shielding Teral with his metallic body. They were hurled outside. Teral panicked as he was sent flying, but Rusty remained steady. He twisted midair, securing his summoner in his arms. His legs hit the ground first as he absorbed the fall.

The impact shattered stone, and his metal joints buckled slightly, but he managed to cushion the landing and spare Teral from serious harm. The elves immediately turned toward them, then toward the collapsing tower. Something was emerging from within.

"W-what is that?"

"By the forest… what is that evil creature!"

"Is that the true form of a human?"

The top of the tower crumbled as something vile forced its way out. The elves retreated as a wet tearing sound echoed through the air, followed by a sickening gurgle no human throat could produce.

Then it emerged. What had once been the Baron was no longer remotely human. A colossal gray mass slithered free from the ruined tower, its body segmented like a grotesque caterpillar swollen to an unnatural size. Its thick, leathery flesh pulsed faintly, as though something inside it was constantly shifting. Multiple humanoid arms sprouted along its sides. Some were long and thin, others bloated and misshapen, each one twitching as they continued to change shape.

The worst part was its mouth. It jutted out from the front of its body, far too large, capable of engulfing at least two horses in a single bite. The teeth were not sharp, but almost human in shape, as if the creature were a herbivore. Yet inside were multiple sets of grinding appendages that looked capable of reducing anything to pulp.

"Ghhhh… aaaahhh…"

The Baron's new form tried to speak, but only a warped voice emerged. It sounded like several people talking at once. One voice was high-pitched, another low, overlapping as it finally spoke.

"I… I aM thE c-chOsen, I wiLl d-dEVour…"

"DeVouR!"

At last, it turned toward a nearby human. Without any thought of friend or foe, it hurled itself forward. The man screamed as the creature's mouth swallowed his entire body, devouring him whole. Blood sprayed in every direction as the Baron's grotesque jaws clamped down again and again. The sound of bones snapping and flesh tearing filled the courtyard while the elves watched in horror.

"Stop spacing out. Order your people to use their bows. I'll hold it off."

Rusty was the only one who did not freeze. His frame expanded into his Goliath form. In his left hand, he held his tower shield, slamming it into the grayish, caterpillar-like creature and forcing it back a few steps. It was immensely heavy and tough. He struck its side with his halberd, but even at full force, the blow left little more than a scratch. Still, the creature clearly felt pain.

"GAHHH!"

"Y-yOu… W-iLL… pAy!"

The creature's many eyes shifted toward Rusty. Bulbous, half-formed orbs pulsed beneath its grayish flesh. Some blinked independently while others twitched in place.

Then it moved. Far faster than something of its size had any right to. Its massive body contracted and launched forward. The ground cracked beneath it as it surged toward Rusty with terrifying speed. The tower shield came up just in time.

BOOM!

The impact echoed across the courtyard as Rusty braced behind his shield. The force pushed him back several meters, his metal feet carving deep grooves into the stone. The creature's weight bore down on him, its many arms grasping, clawing, and slamming against his defenses in a frenzy. Even though he increased his weight as much as he could, he was still being driven back.

"Teral!"

"Everyone, take aim!"

This monster was stronger than even his Goliath form, but he was not alone in the fight. The other elves raised their bows and loosed a hail of arrows. Most bounced off the creature's thick hide, but some struck true, hitting the many eyes that seemed to be its weak point.

"yOu lEssEr bEINgs!"

The monster cried out in pain as the arrows pierced its twitching eyes. It lifted its massive, elongated body, trying to shift targets. In doing so, it exposed its belly, and Rusty saw his chance. His halberd shone with twilight and electric energy as he drove it forward in a powerful thrust.

This time, the strike went deeper, piercing through flesh. For the first time since its transformation, the creature reacted with something other than blind rage. Its entire body convulsed as Rusty's halberd sank into the softer tissue beneath its armored exterior. A surge of energy followed, lightning crackling through the wound to amplify the damage.

"GRAaAHhhH!"

The layered voices screamed in unison, warping into something almost unrecognizable. The massive body recoiled, slamming into the courtyard and cracking the stone. Several of its limbs flailed wildly, smashing into nearby walls and crushing anything that stood too close.

Rusty did not pull back. Instead, he pressed forward. He feared the creature's healing ability as he saw its eyes already beginning to mend. With a heavy step, he drove the halberd deeper, anchoring himself against the thrashing mass. His entire frame creaked under the strain, but he held firm, channeling more energy into the weapon along with something else, light.

Through his mana sense, he could feel something within the creature. It carried an alignment with darkness, similar to undead, though not exactly the same. To test his theory, he activated one of his older skills, imbuing his metal with light. Just like the undead, the creature reacted violently to it.

"Don't let up, the monster is faltering!"

Teral shouted as he watched the creature flail wildly, smoke pouring from its body. The halberd buried deep within it was somehow destroying it from the inside.

The courtyard trembled beneath the creature's violent thrashing. Stones cracked, walls splintered, and the air filled with the stench of burning flesh as pale smoke curled from the wound Rusty had carved into its body. Light-infused energy coursed through the halberd, spreading like a slow poison and eating away at the unnatural mass from within.

"Hold it down, keep firing!"

Teral's voice carried a confidence it had lacked before. Vines surged forward as a nature mage acted, coiling tightly around the creature to pin it in place. The other elves kept their distance, shooting arrows while others used long spears to stab at the exposed flesh. In its weakened state, their attacks finally pierced through. The combined assault was working. Its death was approaching.

"STOp… stoP… iT HuRts…"

The massive body recoiled, trying to pull away from Rusty's weapon, but he refused to let go. His metal fingers tightened around the shaft of the halberd as he leaned his full weight forward, forcing the blade deeper.

"Stay still and die."

Rusty's voice carried no emotion, yet there was something cold in the way he spoke. The kind of certainty that came from knowing the outcome was already decided.

The creature lashed out in response. Several malformed arms slammed into him, denting his body, but he did not budge. Instead, he poured more mana into the weapon. Its light shone brighter, illuminating the battlefield and forcing a scream from the monster.

Light burst from its many eyes along with thick smoke. In an instant, the fleshy orbs ruptured, releasing a blinding surge that spilled from its eyes and its tooth-filled mouth.

"nO… i Am… chOseN… i cAnnOt…"

For a single moment, everything stopped. The massive body convulsed once more, far weaker than before. Cracks spread across its gray, leathery surface. Light seeped through them like fractures in a shell.

Then it collapsed. The enormous form slumped to the ground with a heavy, final thud. Its limbs twitched a few more times before going completely still. Silence fell over the courtyard as the monster began to shrivel, its huge form collapsing inward until only a withered husk remained.

No one spoke as the creature crumbled to dust. From within, a strange black seed was revealed. It cracked apart as the last of the body disintegrated, then it too turned to dust.

Everyone stood speechless, unable to comprehend what they had witnessed. None of them had imagined their human enemies were capable of creating something like this. However, victory was theirs, and once the Baron was slain, Rusty received a message confirming that he was finished with the mission.