MHA Paragon

Styx gently flapped his wings as he landed on the ground before hopping to the lake's edge. Picking up his head, Styx looked around, scanning the tree line for a moment before leaning down to sip from the still lake.

 The water exploded in a flurry of movement as a massive crocodile the size of a city bus lunged forward. Its enormous jaws open wide, ready to snap down on Styx and swallow the bird whole. 

But Kenji was faster. There was only a brief black flash as he closed the distance from the tree line to the lake's edge. 

Before the crocodile could close its maw, Thane's cloak flared open, the inside lining so dark that it was impossible to make out its depth. 

Kenji held up his hands as a dagger appeared in between each finger before they flashed out, sending the knives flying through the air and sinking into the crocodile's soft palate. 

The reptile hissed and shook its head back and forth, trying to dislodge the metal shards, but before it could, Kenji snapped, detonating the knives in blooms of purple fire. 

The crocodile collapsed to the shore, smoke still rising from its mangled, scorched jaw, missing chunks of flesh with blackened bone showing in some places. 

Styx let out a victorious screech as he landed on the smoking corpse of the Dread beast and picked at its thick cobalt blue scales. They had proven too tough to pierce through when Kenji and Styx first fought the beast, forcing them to retreat; however, that made the current victory all the more satisfying. 

Walking over to the corpse, Kenji unleashed his chains, and a second later, the several-ton carcass disappeared into his body. Kenji let out a content sigh as he felt the dread beast break down into particles, adding to the reserve that Kenji had stockpiled over the past three days. Though calling it a reserve was a bit of a stretch, after his initial fight with the Buck, finding other Dread Beasts proved more challenging than Kenji initially thought.

Fortunately, there was a simple solution, 'I guess it's time I start making my way to the center.' 

The only reason why Kenji had chosen to stick around in the outer perimeter was to adapt to his new environment and, more importantly, his body. Now, it was time to build on that foundation. 

---

Kenji began to space out after sprinting through the forest for several hours without rest, which was fine as his abyssal body didn't need it. Not once over the past three days did Kenji feel the urge to sleep, drink, eat, or carry out any other biological function. His movements had also changed on a micro level, as Kenji suddenly didn't have to worry about joints or tendons. In all honesty, Kenji was surprised it had only taken a handful of days to break nearly eighteen years of reinforced habits. The change was almost a quirk within itself.

Midstride, Kenji felt his footstep on the ground, only to feel it give beneath his almost non-existent weight. Suddenly, the forest floor came alive, snapping close like a bear trap, as Kenji watched two rows of razor-sharp teeth pierce through the earth. 

The moment he felt the odd texture of the ground, Kenji threw out a fist full of daggers that he promptly detonated, letting the shockwave propel him into the air. Still, Kenji never took his eyes off the threat from the ground, revealing a long worm-like body covered in thick chitinous plates. 

Holding out his hand, Kenji summoned Styx and used the vulture to stay aloft as the wurm's massive maw closed, swallowing a mouth full of dirt without care, and much to Kenji's dismay, the creature's head was heavily armored as well with the plates coming together to form a point. 

In that instant, Kenji almost considered running away from the fight. He could do little against an armored foe as his daggers lacked the weight needed to pierce through such heavy plating. Styx screeched in seeming agreement as the Wurm started to writhe in the air following their passage through the air. 

Just as Kenji was about to command Styx to fly away, he felt the slightest nudge from within his soul. Suddenly, Kenji was reminded of the other prisoner enchained within his soul, a mistake that he had written off and forgotten about, 'You have something to deal with it?' 

The nudge intensified, and despite himself, Kenji felt a smile spread across his face, 'Alright then, come on out.' 

Kenji loosened his chains, and a second later, he felt the grub emerge from his shoulder. It slowly crawled with its tiny but surprisingly strong legs to his neck, where it settled into place, becoming the world's most grotesque neck brace. 

Then, without prompting, the grub's mouth opened, splitting into multiple parts as it spat out a glob of a thick purple substance. Kenji watched the projectile spit arc through the air before splattering onto the Wurm, still tracking them from below. 

The Grub's purple spit started to bubble and steam as it quickly ate away at the Wurm's natural armor. At first, the Dread Beast didn't seem to notice, but the moment the acid reached its flesh, a pitch wail echoed through the air as the Wurm slammed itself against the ground and started to writhe around, no doubt trying to wipe off the acid eating away at it. 

Kenji smirked, 'Could have used that earlier with the crocodile, but I guess later is better than never.' 

Letting go of Styx, Kenji dropped through the air, summoning a single dagger and holding it up to his hood. Fortunately, the grub understood the assignment, and it gently bit down on the metal, covering it with its acidic saliva. 

Landing on the Wurm, Kenji plunged his dagger down with both hands, though the extra help was unwarranted as the knife slid through the chitinous plates like a hot knife through butter. 

Feeling the familiar burning sensation, the Wurm's struggle intensified as it started to roll, looking to squish Kenji against the ground. Snapping as he dismounted the rampaging creature, Kenji detonated the dagger left in the Wurm's flesh, making the beast wail once more. 

Landing on the ground, Kenji was almost immediately forced to run as the Wurm locked onto him despite its apparent lack of eyes, and it slithered across the forest floor with a vengeance. 

As Kenji wove in between trees and fallen logs, the Wurm barreled through them, reducing the plant life to splinters as it continued to gain speed. Realizing he wasn't going to outrun the beast, Kenji lept forward before spinning around to face the Wurm. 

Another glob of acid flew from Kenji's hood, this time landing squarely on the Wurm's head, but the thickened chitin proved too much, so the Wurm continued on its destructive path and slammed into Kenji with the force of a runaway train. This would have been the best-case scenario, but the moment the Wurm crashed into his body, Kenji felt a powerful tremor ripple through umbral flesh as space warped.

Kenji clenched his jaw as pain threatened to overwhelm him, and he crashed through the forest, snapping branches thicker than street poles. Eventually, Kenji came to a sudden stop as he slammed against a tree trunk with enough force that he was embedded up to a foot into the hardwood. 

Letting out a groan, Kenji hauled himself out of the tree and fell a few feet to the ground that trembled, no doubt a sign that the Wurm was closing the distance. 

'I was hoping to save it, but now isn't the time to get stingy.' Kenji quickly returned the grub to his soul before grabbing the stockpile of alpha particles and practically shoving it into the creature's mouth, 'Hope this is enough.'