Just like the other guy all of them seemed to be in a trance. Wait, what was that? There was a smoky black and red thing floating above us. I looked closely and discerned that it was some kind of ghost thingy. It had only a torso, arms, and a head. The real question was if it was with us or against us. I tried willing it to come down and it did… maybe we wouldn’t die tonight. I had the ghost trail behind us and we creeped up to one of the entranced robe people.

We all lunged forward simultaneously, me and me grabbed their arms and kicked them in the balls and gut while the ghost bit their throat and clamped their jaw shut. After a moment of work the ghost got through their neck and we dropped them to the ground. From the corpse smoke began rising until it formed into another ghost. Now it made sense! I was wondering why we even had a ghost in the first place.

We repeated our tried and tested method of jumping one person at a time and made another ghost. We did this until there were five ghosts and then we let them start working on their own.

“It shouldn’t be this easy.”

“Don’t jinx us dumbass!”

“I was just saying.”

“Don’t say, just don’t say shit.”

“Awaken! We have been trapped in the realm of the world destroyer's soul!”

“You fucking idiot! How can you be me yet are still this stupid?”

“He was probably going to wake up anyways.”

“There was a small possibility he wouldn’t have either.”

“Stop arguing, we have bigger problems to deal with.”

“You better not say shit next time.”

“…”

How the fuck were we going to handle this? The ghosts were still in the process of killing people but they were working on one or two at a time and we were completely surrounded. Fuck it! We both ran towards the ghosts and began attacking anyone who got too close. With the barrier of the ghosts we were able to give ourselves a little breathing room but we were already being grabbed left and right. People we weren’t able to get a good stomp on were grabbing our feet and the punches that missed let them get through and grab our arms.

At this point the only available tool I had left was my mouth and even that was about to get restrained. These ghosts had to hurry the fuck up if they still wanted to exist as ghosts. Unfortunately the ghosts were getting beaten around as well. The larger group was still wreaking havoc and rapidly growing but… we were about to fucking die! I redirected all the ghosts to us and had them start biting at anyone they could. Despite all the people attacking us I was surprised to have only received a few bites.

Were these guys this bad at fighting? I had long figured that in a fist to fist fight your teeth were the most efficient killing tools, anyone with common sense would have figured that out. There was one other thing going well for us aside from the ghosts. The blood pouring out from all the necks we had ripped open had made the pitch black floor quite slippery. As long as we stayed in the center people would have a hard time getting over the bodies and past the blood.

Actually these guys should have more blood right? We flipped over people and made the wounds in their throats bigger using our teeth. When I looked back up the direction the robed people were running in had changed, originally they were running towards us, now they were running from us. I felt a little sympathy for all the poor souls who fell over and got stomped on.

“Do not run! Our powers have been taken but our lives have not! Now is the time to make the ultimate decision! We can die by our own choice or be slaughtered! One thing is definite! If this man lives we will not!”

Fuck… that sounded like a motivational speech. But what can they do? I would be powerless if not for the ghosts that conveniently showed up. I shouldn’t have thought that! Through the horde of ghosts a chain pierced through and wrapped itself around me. Countless more chains followed behind and further encased me, my other half was not spared from this treatment.

It was no use calling the ghosts back. The best I could do was hope that they would kill all of them before the chains crushed us to death… it wasn’t possible. I had seen that crowd, it truly was endless. I wouldn’t last longer than sixty seconds, the weight of the chains was already keeping me from breathing. Fuck man. Fuck! I had just gotten the powers I had wanted my whole life. Dying like this was bullshit! I had done everything I could to gain power! I didn’t half ass it like all the other guys who were perfectly happy with simply maintaining their level of strength instead of consistently growing stronger.

At least I had let my mom and sister’s souls rest in peace. I should’ve been there to save them but… fuck… I shouldn’t have even let it happen in the first place. That had been my worst fear, I didn’t fear them dying. I feared them being attacked so viciously that they would never be the same again. In the end I wasn’t as strong as I had thought. I had fooled myself into believing that I was a monster capable of destroying the world but I couldn’t even protect them from petty thugs. I wanted to hug mom again, to joke around with Lily, to work with dad.

How shameful, I couldn’t even stop the tears from escaping my eyes. It felt good to let go though, I was tired of pretending it didn’t hurt. Fuck, I really want to see you guys right now-

***

Endless cries of sorrow erupted, the mourning for brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and children clouded the minds of everyone. But within those dark clouds of despair a ray of hope cut through. Hope for tomorrow, hope for the future, hope for peace and happiness. From now on there would never be the threat of complete annihilation.

“Many of us have fallen! But by the grace of those who have traded their lives for our survival we will rebuild! We will ensure that their sacrifices were not in vain! We will rise!”

In that moment, it was as if angels had descended from the very heavens to bless them. The overwhelming feeling of reassurance, safety, and hope lifted them from the deep pits of sadness and elevated them to an undying happiness. Their roars drowned out any and all wailing.

***

This… truly was unexpected. She had never before experienced a sadness so intense it threatened to consume her. And for it to come from a man who’s entire existence was intended to bring chaos and ruin upon the world… it seemed as if a cruel twist of fate. She had run her blade across his throat moments before but it was fortunate he had not died. A creature so complex should be studied before being disposed of. She collected the tears streaming from his face and kept them in her inner realm.

While doing so his eyes flashed open and his hand darted towards her wrist. She slapped his hand away out of natural instinct and completely disintegrated his arm. His body caught on fire and a breath of flame burst from his mouth. She easily dodged the pathetic stream of flame and restrained him with a soul chain. A small shock traveled along the chain and into her hands but it was negligible.

His resistance would not die anytime soon and neither would he so she quickly cast a sleep spell and sent him back to sleep.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

***

Fuck, she caught me. Fortunately Elaine was kind enough to throw me on her brother's back and not let him kill me. I would have to repay this favor someday. What’s the situation like up there?

We’ve regressed to our original level of strength. We’ve lost access to any of the abilities our soul possesses. But, the ones that changed our bodies are still there.

I’m glad you’re still here.

Me too, I wouldn’t mind if you died though.

Piss off.

“Hey Elaine, what happened to me?”

“Your summon disappeared and you collapsed.”

“Makes sense. How far off are we?”

“About ten minutes.”

I hope they don’t decide to kill both of my bodies at the same time. I was lucky enough to survive despite being crippled.

“Hey Elaine.”

“What?”

“Thanks for not killing me.”

“Sure.”

I laid back down and waited for us to arrive. The forest was just as peaceful as all forests were. The only thing not peaceful about it was that the trees were slowly growing to ridiculous sizes. I had heard about redwoods but- they weren’t red and they were really fucking big. I’m pretty sure I never saw them from the city though…

…

“Wake up.”

I wiped the drool from my face on her brother’s fur and sat up. We passed a wall made of giant trees and were greeted by legions of dark haired people. They all looked at Elaine and her brother with reverence in their eyes, me on the other hand. It was as if I was a piece of trash someone had picked up from a sewer. Through the crowd an extremely manly man pushed through, on my rating scale for manly men he could pass as a fictional manly man. The type that could only exist in a fantasy world.

“Rufus! You’ve returned with your sister! And… who is that man?”

“An acquaintance Elaine met on her travels.”

“Ayo, what’s up big guy! Nice to meet you, I’ve been Elaine's caretaker for the past few days.”

While talking I hopped off of Rufus’s back and walked up to shake his hand. In a flash my body was repositioned a few meters away and my neck had rotated itself a couple of times. Oh, there were also cuts in my face and I was pretty sure I had lost vision in one eye. My neck twisted itself back into place and my vision slowly recovered.

“So darn aggressive you guys. Always attacking first and talking later.”

While my head imitated a plate in a microwave I had observed the gazes of onlookers changing from scorn to fear. Even mister macho man seemed a bit startled.

“What are you?”

“I’m a good guy, definitely not here to infiltrate your ranks and destroy your peaceful village.”

“…What is your purpose here?”

“Well, I heard Elaine's family was in some kind of trouble. So I decided to give her a helping hand.”

“He lies father. He wishes to consume the enemies for their abilities.”

“…Send him to the holding cells.”

“Oh come on man, can’t we just skip this part?”

My complaints were ignored and I was dragged away into a giant bowl shaped building and thrown into a wooden cell. These weirdos better not make soup with me. On the upside, they hadn’t restrained me at all. I had already formulated a new plan to get stronger. In my normal human days I hadn’t been able to train myself in extreme methods due to slow recovery time and ability. But now that I had enhanced regeneration I could train all day long in any way I pleased. In fact this regeneration ability was perfect! According to the law of gym bros, muscles grow back stronger when damaged.

Thwack!

“Fuck!”

Punching walls still hurt as much as usual. Fuck it! It’s just pain anyways, I won’t sustain any real injuries.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

…

In the small holding cell I was kept in I was able to perform striking training with all of my body but running and climbing were impossible. The usual muscle fatigue I normally felt while working out subsided as soon as it came. After training for what could be a few hours or an entire day I had reached the point where my skin could no longer be harmed by attacking the wall. I had been gritting my teeth until they chipped or fell loose, lucky for me those also grew back stronger.

Without the shackles of exhaustion I felt like I could train for an eternity if I wanted to. I had thought about setting myself on fire to take the easy way out for developing muscles but I found out that I had an immunity to fire. When my body had reverted back to normal all the insane musculature I had gained disappeared. However, with the masochistic training I had been doing all the muscles had slowly revealed themselves again.

Every punch I threw shaked the wall and every kick made the wall beg for its life. In my previous body I had been around or slightly below two times stronger than the average person around me. If I had to take a guess now I was around two and a half times stronger now. Progress on strengthening my bones was slowing down because the walls weren’t hard enough to damage them but damage to my muscles was easy to cause. I simply had to attack with all the strength in my body to cause stress on myself.

Even if I pulled a muscle or ripped something it would heal immediately. My other body hadn’t woken up yet but I would check to see if progress was shared between the two of us when it woke up. Perhaps I could achieve an even faster rate of growth with two of us working at once.

***

He truly was a strange being. Even in his weakened and unconscious state his body was transforming and growing. She had studied carefully as his bones hardened and his muscles shifted and grew. His soul was completely sealed and nearly destroyed but he had somehow managed to start training his body instead. If his soul ever managed to recover his power would be unimaginable. She had attempted to kill him multiple times over the course of transporting him back home but nothing worked.

Even direct attacks on his soul didn’t work. Everything that attempted to touch his soul was repelled by the seals or swallowed into an invisible abyss. Even complete annihilation of his body didn’t work, it would just reform in the spot it previously was. She was beginning to have a few notions as to why he was unkillable. Within his blood she had detected cells that were beast-like in nature. Likely a result of splicing them with beast cells. Among the myriad beasts many of them couldn’t be killed in normal methods.

One was even capable of splitting into more clones of itself everytime it died if the original wasn’t killed. If they cycled through every method they would eventually kill him. Home was only a few moments away, mother would find a way.

***

“Come out.”

“Ah yes, finally, freedom!”

Hold on… the exit was that way. Why were we going deeper? Oh nevermind, I could see light shining through. I was brought out into the light and… unbelievable. This was a fucking colosseum! What kind of primitive barbarians even had these? From the other exits I spied more men and women being shoved out. So they were just going all out melee then? No one on one gladiator type stuff?

“My people! Observe carefully and learn what it means to be a warrior! The last one standing in this battlefield will be taken into our ranks and live as a soldier!”

Pretty reasonable I guess. I wouldn’t die anyways so should I just rush straight in? No, if one of them turned into a giant bear or something and swallowed me I would be particularly screwed. Everyone tentatively looked to the competitors to their left and right before picking a side and charging towards each other. I took a seat and relaxed while one of them turned into a wolf and tore my body apart. They were… I mean… yeah, they were somewhat strong. They were having a bit of difficulty tearing through my flesh though.

I released a little electricity into their throat and they collapsed to the ground. I stuck my hands inside and pried their jaws open then spewed a stream of fire straight into their throat. I stopped when I felt them go limp and burned off some fur from their hide so I could get to the meat. Upon taking a bite I was assaulted by a bitter char followed by some overcooked meat, raw flesh, and a hint of blood. Now I should be able to transform, right?

I placed my hands on the ground and willed myself to transform. My body elongated and grew out from my skin. This… didn’t feel right. My body didn’t feel like it was in the right position. It just felt like I was leaning over. I tried standing back up- and I did. Huh? Why was that? All the other shifters in the field were transformed into actual animals, why was I still humanoid?

I tried spewing some flame and found that it still worked. I guess I was just built different. Maybe I had spliced too many kinds of genes into my body. In this form I was somewhat stronger, not by much but any increase was still an increase. Fighting had shifted over to the center and bodies had been left behind so I took advantage of this free food and scampered over to chew on a panther that had been left on the floor.

Immediately after its flesh reached my stomach my fingernails elongated into sharp claws. What else was lying around? Only cats and dogs, over at the center there was also a bear and a large snake fighting each other. After eating the panther I noticed a slight change in my size and strength. If this was the case then… I ran around the edge of the arena taking bites from abandoned corpses and slowly grew stronger. I had taken a bite out of eight more shifters and was now twice as strong as I was in my natural form.

The snake had finished off the bear and the surrounding shifters now and was glaring straight at me. This might be a bit tough, even the big ass bear couldn’t get through its scales.