Chapter 12: Berserk Alpha

Faint footsteps echoed in the distance in the dark and once silent tunnel. A couple critters could be seen scurrying in fright and probably exasperation at having their tranquility disturbed multiple times already tonight.

A couple human figures could be seen approaching in the distance, their outfits looking straight out of a sci-fi movie. A dim glow lit up their path, originating from the multiple glowing parts in their uniform. Despite the near absence of light, they could see just fine as their helmets came equipped with night vision.

"I hate the sewers! So dark, smelly, and full of rats, both big and small." Uttered a feminine voice.

"Rats are quite tasty you know, or so I've heard. I could catch one for Ya and grill it nicely." A taunting voice echoed.

The statement caused the others to shoot Sam a weird look, at least he felt so since their faces were covered by black tinted glasses. He could only cover up the awkwardness with a light cough and a shy laugh.

"These things sure know how to hide, we're been scouring the place for nearly an hour!" An exasperated Minnie uttered.

"They can't be too far, we're still within the area of expected activity." Mark said, his hands gliding over the walls.

They continued to scour through the tunnels at high alert, weapons at hand, for signs and unusual spots. They journeyed for a couple more minutes before they eventually stumbled on some abnormally sized tracks.

"Found something!" Mark yelled, drawing the attention of the team to a couple claw marks.

"Claw marks and quite a number of 'em too." Sam said as he got close enough to examine the marks. And judging by the position, I'd say we're on the right path."

"We'll assume we've entered monster territory, maintain high alert, watch your back and your partner's." Ian said, his voice carrying a sense of authority. "Chris and Minnie, cover our rear. Alright, let's move."

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A wild, savage and bloodthirsty fiery red aura blasted throughout the cave, pushing back a few rats that were too close and absolutely terrifying every one of them. The Alpha stood in the center of the now dimming glow, his form even more monstrous than before. His eyes gave off a bright red glow that drowned others in an illusion of blood, though they looked unfocused but only for a moment as they regained a sense of clarity and zeroed in on a particularly annoying wolf.

"Oh shit!" Daniel cursed as he felt goosebumps staring at the cold, angry, and bloodthirsty eyes of the Rat Alpha in front of him. Its baleful aura made his look less frightening. "How did he unlock berserk mode so soon! This isn't fair dammit!" He cursed again, the situation clearly out of hand.

His Wolf's Howl boosted his base stats by exciting his cells and conditioning his body to work at peak capacity. The berserk form on the other hand worked similar to an adrenaline rush for humans but not exactly the same thing. The beast energy in an Alpha is compressed and burned at an accelerated rate to boost overall stats, so yeah it is basically monster adrenaline but the form is limited only to Alphas as only their powerful bodies could bear the after-effects of the deadly form and betas were simply incapable of compressing enough energy to activate it without killing themselves. Even Alphas have to consolidate their forms first and accumulate enough energy to activate it without too much backlash, making it questionable why a recently evolved Alpha is able to activate it.

Daniel took a deep breath as his fur stood on end in anticipation of a gruesome battle ahead.

"Alright I might still have a chance, him activating it so brutely is bound to hurt and I doubt he can keep it up for long." He muttered to himself. "All I have to do is survive long enough for it to wear off and....."

Sadly he was unable to finish his monologue as a large furry hand grabbed onto his face faster than he was able to react and unceremoniously slammed him deep into the wall, burying his entire form in it. Deep cracks spread throughout the wall, a hint of how much power was in that attack.

"Urgggh." He groaned but was again unable to make sense of anything before he felt himself being slammed into the wall once more, causing deeper cracks to spread.

The Alpha slammed him in one more time before throwing him more than halfway across the cave. Daniel's figure harshly crashed into the ground, rolling a couple of times before stopping. His disoriented form slowly stood up just in time as a punch was already headed his way, clarity returned a split second before the punch hit as he hurriedly crossed his arm in defense which did little as the force of the punch slammed into him and sent him crashing Into the wall behind him. A follow-up punch drilled him deeper into the hole, causing a large plume of dust and multiple rocks to break loose.

The Alpha grabbed onto his throat, pulling him out of the hole and close to his face. Their eyes met for a second and Daniel saw nothing but a maddened beast, a berserk monster that craves nothing more than to cause him pain. He was slammed back into the hole, a punch following a second after and then another and another and another. The Alpha furiously punched out at the non-visible form of Daniel that was long buried in the hole, his groans of pain drowned out by the loud echoes of fist meeting bone.

The assault halted a moment after a powerful punch to his gut caused him to kneel and puke up a mouthful of blood. The glow in his eyes dimmed for a split second before they regained their luster, his right hand clenched into a fist as he pounced on the Alpha only to be countered with a powerful kick to his side that sent him rolling. He slowly stood up, his expression one of anger at the repeated beating and his own helplessness. He slowly took a deep breath, feeling the air rushing into his lungs lightly revitalizing his beaten body. His glowing yellow eyes gazed at the frozen Alpha a couple of meters away, his aura seemed erratic and the glow covering him could be seen fluctuating and on the verge of extinguishing.

Daniel closed his eyes and took another deep breath, his mind roaming his entire body, his fur, hands, claws, nose, eyes, and the subtle yet ever-present movement of the air. His knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists, his nails digging into his flesh sharply stimulating his mind. His eyes sprung open, the glow a little dimmed but nevertheless strong.

Rooooooooooooooooooooooooar!!!

A roar shook the cave again as the Alpha let out another mighty roar stabilizing his aura. The Alpha glared at Daniel, its claws began to glow a dim red and his tail began to slowly sway in the air. The Alpha snarled as he swiped his claws in his direction unleashing five red slashes headed swiftly in his direction, Daniel already expecting this had swiftly dodged the near-instant attack. The slashes continued on their path, cutting through the rats in their path and finally smashing into the wall leaving large deep lines.

The Alpha roared once more and furiously began to unleash red slashes in his direction, He managed to dodge most of them by moving out of the way before the attacks were unleashed but he could only move so fast as some still managed to hit, leaving deep slash wounds and drawing a substantial amount of blood. A slash flew past his face the energy ticking his nose as it sailed past, his expression changed as felt the subtle breeze headed his way. He ducked to his left just in time as a spiked tail smashed the ground where he once was.

"Tch! I have to avoid that tail at all cost, one hit could change things." Daniel said internally as he glanced at the heavy spiked tail in front of him. He glared at the Alpha and let out a roar as he pounced at him. The Alpha countered with an elbow strike which he narrowly dodged by leaning to his right, his left claw struck out in the same instant, drawing blood from the Alpha's chest which healed in seconds. He retreated in a flash, the Alpha's claw missing him by a hair's breadth.

The Alpha pounced upon him, his claws furiously swiping and aiming to draw blood but taking full advantage of the effects of wolf's howl, he managed to dodge just in time. They rapidly danced around the cave, the Alpha furiously clawing and Daniel dodging with the godly ultra instinct of a fly. Using the subtle changes in the air, he was able to sense the attacks before his eyes could register them enabling him to dodge just in time with his amazing speed.

The other rats had long retreated to the far end of the cave with some already fleeing in fright as the battle had long exceeded their ability to interfere. Daniel dodged another claw attack, this time noting the subtle decrease in speed causing his eyes to brighten. Dodging became easier as the Alpha gradually got slower, though his body still accumulated some claw marks, as he couldn't dodge it all and was also admittedly getting tired. He finally managed to get a punch in, his hard fist connecting to the Alpha's lower jaw with a loud bang that knocked him a couple of meters back, his legs digging into the ground.

*Drip* *Drip* *Drip*

Drops of blood slowly dripped from the Alpha's bloodied mouth causing his eyes to widen in surprise or pain as a moment later he puked up a mouthful of dark red blood. The fiery aura surrounding him was barely hanging on at this point, swaying unstably around his body. A loud bang was heard as the floor cracked from Daniel's burst of speed re-appearing a split second later in front of the Alpha, the Alpha only had a split second to cross his arms in defense as a heavy punch slammed into him pushing him a couple of meters back. A flurry of punches descended on him a moment later in maddened fury, a bang accompanying each hit alongside a sharp burst of wind.

The Alpha was completely suppressed once more as the effects of Berserk form was nearly gone and the drawbacks were starting to kick in. A heavy hit to the chest threw him off his feet and crashing into a wall, leaving multiple cracks as he slid weakly onto the floor. Daniel slowly walked closer, his fists slowly dripping with blood. A few rats shuffled closer to their Alpha in a meager effort to assist as they clearly knew they were screwed if their Alpha was out of the fight but even they did not expect what happened next.

The Alpha roughly grabbed onto the nearest rat beside him, opened his large mouth, and chomped hard on its head easily crushing its skull. He opened his mouth wider as the blood and brain bits flowed directly into his throat. This quick turn of events left Daniel frozen, the rats even more as their hearts sank and their expression turned into one of sheer terror. The Alpha tossed the dead rat in his arms aside, but not before gorging out its heart and tossing it into his throat, and grabbed another before it could resist, chomped again, and swallowed mouthfuls of blood before gorging out its heart and swallowing also.

This happened within a couple of seconds, precious seconds that could have been used to attack but Daniel just stood there completely frozen. He wasn't new to the brutality of the world and the even more brutal reality of a monster but for an Alpha to devour its betas was a grievous taboo not to mention the issue of morality.

"Y... you... you killed them?" Daniel stuttered, his mind in a chaotic mess. " They were your betas? members of your pack! Your family!" His voice got louder as he slowly broke out of his trance, a wave of anger he had only felt once before consumed his entire being.

Roooooooooooooooooooaaaaaarrrrrrrr!!!!!

Roooooooooooooooooooaaaaaarrrrrrrr!!!!!

Two loud roars erupted in the cave, as a fiery red aura and a golden yellow aura violently clashed, and for the umpteenth time, violently rocked the poor cave.