I focused on Orrick's body.
It was unbalanced—heavy on one side, bulky in an uneven way that looked more brute than refined. Muscle packed wrong. Weight distributed wrong.
Slow.
That was my first thought.
So I took the initiative.
I darted forward.
Orrick roared, the sound rolling across the clearing, and I felt it disrupt the flow of my movement just slightly—enough to notice, not enough to stop me.
As I closed the distance, its larger arm swung.
A massive punch carved through the air and smashed into the ground where I'd been a moment earlier.
The impact detonated stone and dirt outward in a violent burst.
I slipped past it.
Then struck the opposite side—my fist driving straight into its torso.
The punch connected.
I felt the force transfer cleanly, rippling through its massive frame.
Orrick stumbled back several steps before regaining its footing.
But something was wrong.
The area I'd hit began to move.
Plates beneath its skin shifted—locking, sliding, sealing.
Like armor reconfiguring itself.
…It's patching the damage?
I didn't hesitate.
I hit the same spot again.
This time, the impact felt wrong.
The force didn't carry through.
It was blocked—absorbed.
The blow landed, but instead of staggering, Orrick only flinched. Its body still shifted back slightly, but the damage had been… negated.
I stepped away immediately, reassessing.
Does it reinforce the last point of impact?
That means I can't focus on one area.
I'd have to keep switching targets.
That's tricky.
The thought barely finished forming when Orrick raised its smaller arm.
The air around its palm warped—vibrating, pulling inward.
I steadied my footing.
I had no idea what was coming.
Orrick opened its hand.
Then clenched it.
At first—nothing.
Then I felt it.
A light pull.
Subtle.
Then stronger.
Stronger still.
I drove force into the ground, anchoring myself, but the pull kept increasing.
…It's dragging me.
My legs began to slide despite my effort. I forced myself to move only as much as I had to, resisting every inch.
I glanced at its hand.
It tightened.
The next pulse hit like a hammer.
My footing ripped free.
I was yanked off the ground and hurled forward, my body caught and dragged by invisible force.
I flew straight toward Orrick—
—and its heavy arm met me midair.
The impact was devastating.
I was sent flying at a speed I'd never felt before—launched over the gathered monsters and straight into the forest behind me.
Trees shattered as I tore through them, trunks snapping, branches exploding apart under the force.
I finally crashed to a stop, carving a shallow trench through the earth.
I staggered to my feet, dizzy, vision swimming.
…I've never been hit that hard before.
I checked my HP.
HP: 20 / 58
The number stunned me.
Dammit…
Something roared overhead.
The sound tore through the clouds.
Trees collapsed somewhere ahead.
Then I heard it again.
It's trying to kill me.
I moved immediately—leaping up into the trees, sticking my body against the bark as I climbed.
A moment later, a violent gust tore through the forest.
Orrick burst into the area where I'd been, skidding to a stop, earth torn apart beneath its weight.
It looked around sharply.
Wild.
Unfocused.
Hunting.
There was space between us now.
I watched it, forcing my thoughts to stay clean.
I can't fight this the way I usually do.
I need something different.
Then—
light.
The sun broke through the canopy, a harsh beam cutting down through the trees.
Bright.
Focused.
…That could work.
I shifted position.
A thin radiant thread slipped from my stubby hand, latching onto nearby trees and glinting in the sunlight.
Orrick noticed.
It roared and charged, smashing straight through trees instead of weaving between them.
I shot forward, threading myself from trunk to trunk—
and realized my mistake.
My thread wasn't slowing it.
I glanced back.
It wasn't dodging the trees.
It was running through them.
Of course.
What a brute.
Change of plans.
I pushed my speed higher, buying seconds.
Ahead—a massive stone, deeply embedded in the ground.
I wrapped the thread around it.
Then turned and ran straight toward Orrick, releasing thread as I went.
It closed the distance fast.
Its heavy arm swung down, smashing into the ground.
I dodged easily and circled around it.
Then—
its leg stopped moving.
Orrick froze for a fraction of a second, looking down.
Then its other arm locked.
Confusion twisted into fury.
It roared and thrashed, striking wildly at trees and stone.
The threads binding it glimmered under the sunlight.
Now.
I moved.
Fast.
I punched its torso.
As it began reinforcing—
I punched its face.
The reinforcement shifted.
I punched its knee.
The joint buckled.
Orrick dropped to one knee as another blow slammed into its chest.
I didn't stop.
Punch after punch after punch.
Different angles.
Different targets.
Rapid-fire.
Too fast for it to track.
Too fast for its body to reinforce properly.
Then—
it stopped.
Orrick's red eyes flickered.
The glow dimmed, unstable, like its primal drive was burning through the last of its strength.
Its massive body sagged, the threads loosening as the weight gave in.
But I didn't trust it.
Not for a second.
I bound its arms again—tighter this time—and dragged it back toward the center of the clearing.
As I pulled, a thought surfaced unbidden, sharp enough to sting.
I don't want to be a Monster Lord who kills just to kill.
I laid Orrick before its kin.
They approached cautiously, one of them kneeling to check for signs of life.
I turned—aware of the others now.
The monsters around us hadn't moved. They were staring at me, eyes hard and unblinking, stripping the fight apart piece by piece.
Not just watching—judging.
I was still caught in that thought when—
crunch.
I spun.
Orrick had seized one of its own.
The Solar Thread hung in tatters around its arms, roots and flesh torn open where it had forced itself free.
Deep gashes split its hands, blood pouring freely as if pain no longer mattered.
Its eyes flared red again.
With a single violent twist, it snapped the other's neck.
What—?
It snapped toward me, left arm rising in a single, decisive motion.
No.
That won't work again.
I moved instantly—slapping its arm aside as the ability fired.
The force tore outward.
Monsters below screamed as smaller bodies were ripped off the ground and dragged toward it.
Larger ones dug in desperately, claws tearing furrows as they barely held their ground.
Something small came hurtling past my head.
I twisted aside on instinct, the blur missing me by inches—
only to slam into Orrick's chest and bounce off like it had hit a wall.
That was enough.
I lunged through the pull and struck its left shoulder.
The impact disrupted the energy—power flickering unevenly, warping instead of collapsing.
Orrick roared and smashed its heavy arm into the stone beneath us.
I took the opening—splashed onto the embedded limb and surged up its massive arm, my body sticking as I climbed.
I leapt from its shoulder.
Thread stretched between my hands.
I looped it around its neck.
Orrick thrashed violently, roaring, eyes blazing red-hot.
I tightened my grip.
It didn't care who it killed.
Didn't care what it destroyed.
Only forward.
Only rage.
The thread cut deeper than its reinforcement could compensate for.
Orrick thrashed wildly, swinging and slamming anything it could reach, tearing at stone and earth as it tried to crush me—no regard for its own body.
Its movements grew frantic, desperate, each strike fueled by nothing but the need to kill.
Orrick screamed as I pulled harder, the thread biting in, stretching, slicing.
Then—
it stopped fighting.
The struggle faded, like something inside it finally gave up.
Its eyes flickered again.
The red vanished.
What remained was something else.
Matte white.
Not glowing.
Not shining.
Just solid, featureless white—like unpolished stone.
And I felt it.
Sorrow.
Pain.
Anguish.
It felt… different.
Like whatever had been driving it was gone.
But it was too late.
The thread bit and stalled at the last of its neck, plates beneath the skin shifting and locking one final time—
then they went still, and the thread slid through cleanly.
The head dropped.
It hit the stone with a dull, final sound.
Its eyes looked at me once more.
This time—
they were still.
And empty.
I released the thread slowly.
Something sat wrong in my chest.
The way it killed its own kin.
The way it forced itself forward.
That wasn't normal.
I looked at the other Orrick.
They felt different.
Then I looked back at the fallen one.
And a single thought lingered, heavy and unanswered.
Why were you so different?