Triple Threat

As I stood staring at the beast before me, an unfamiliar figure approach from the darkness of the night. It was a tall, muscular man who exuded an unusual presence, causing the Yeti to quickly shift its focus away from me. I felt a mix of curiosity and apprehension as I took in the stranger's imposing stature. Is he a body builder? I found myself wondering.

"Who are you?" I asked, turning my gaze to the man, but he ignored me and continued to approach the Yeti.

"You're not one of my men are you? You must be a guardian, then. I suggest you leave before you get hurt," the man said, his voice steady and commanding.

"I suggest YOU leave before YOU get hurt," I shot back, my anger rising despite the tension in the air. Seriously! Who does he think he is, giving me orders? "Listen meat head—"

With a loud roar, the Yeti charged at the man, bounding forward on its knuckles. I watched silently as the massive creature prepare to strike.

The Yeti raised both fists in the air, aiming to crush the man beneath its weight. However, the unknown figure deftly evaded the attack with incredible speed, despite his size. In an instant, he was to the behind the beast. He's gonna land a punch, I thought, but instead, the man grabbed the Yeti's leg. In an astonishing display of strength, he lifted the massive creature off its feet and hurled the 10-foot behemoth into a cluster of trees. I watched in absolute shock as the man effortlessly manhandled the beast.

Having witnessed this bizarre display of power, I couldn't help but think about how much of a pain it would be to fight this guy. After spending the day climbing the mountain, I was ready to go home and take a nap. Considering this, I decided to opt for diplomacy instead.

"Stop!" I called out as the man made his way over to the Yeti. "You are the leader of the group of mutants, aren't you?" I paused, expecting him to answer, but the man continued to approach the fallen creature without paying me any mind. "They're under attack by demons as we speak!"

"So..." the man replied, unfazed.

"So, it would be wiser if you went to help them. One D-rank celestial beast won't do much for you anyway, as you seem plenty powerful already." My plea fell on deaf ears as the man continued his advance toward the Yeti.

With a sigh, I charged at him, trying to catch him off guard. But the moment I got close, he swung a perfectly aimed punch at my head. I ducked and planted my claws into his stomach, attempting to rip him open, but my claws became stuck. What the hell? I looked up to see a huge grin on his face—it was a trap. Before I could react, a powerful force struck the side of my head. The impact instantly broke my neck, sending me flying and crashing to the ground with a sickening thud. I must have broken another bone; it felt like my back.

As I lay broken on the ground, I gazed up at the man in front of me. I noticed that my fingers had been torn off and were still lodged in his stomach. What the hell is his body made of? I had pierced the snake's armor scales with ease. As these thoughts raced through my mind, I focused my ability on healing my battered body.

"You're pretty tough for a guardian," the man remarked, a hint of admiration in his voice.

"That's because I am not a guardian," 

"So you're a mutant then, working undercover for the guardians?"

"How did you know?" 

"You're not the first mutant to try that. It all ended badly for them, though. I'm guessing you're planning to steal the celestial beast for yourself?" 

"No, I'm not. They were clever enough to assign an executioner to us in case we betrayed them," I said, my thoughts drifting to Sythe. From the moment I saw him, I knew he had been sent to chop off our heads if we turned against them. The celestial beast was just a nice bait they had set for us. I didn't think the others had figured out Sythe's true purpose, and I hadn't had a chance to speak to them about it.

"It would be good if I brought back the Yeti," That way I could earn their trust. "Will you be willing to let us go?"

"Do you seriously think I would be willing to give up the greatest treasure this land has to offer?" the man replied, his expression hardening.

"You're mistaken! The real treasure is the friends we made along the way," I said, striking a heroic pose in a moment of bravado as I got to my feet. Come at me you dumb meat head. Give me everything you got. But I promise you, you'll get it back ten times worse.

"Are you mocking me, boy?" the man scowled, his patience seemed to be wearing thin.

"No, I am just concerned as I saw your friends getting killed." I need to feel the extent of his power.

The only way to win is to push my ability to the absolute limit. Either my body adapts, or I die. Every mutant ability has a set limit. The more you fight your power grows, eventually reaching your limit. But the celestial beasts allow you to raise the of your limit. Allowing you to surpass your previous strength.

The man rushed at me, throwing a punch that I managed to counter, landing a solid kick to his stomach, which seemed to fluster him a bit. We continued to exchange blows, each hit shattering my body, but with every injury, I healed and grew stronger. Each impact I landed also broke my own bones, but it didn't matter; I knew my body would adapt and improve. No matter how much damage I took, as long as I was alive, I would heal. I just had to will my heart to keep beating. My heart will never stop, even when the world comes to an end. It will be all that remains, forever beating. That's the true nature of a god.

We exchanged blows for what felt like an eternity. It reached a point where the man's attacks no longer inflicted serious damage, while my strikes began to take a toll on him. Finally, I landed a defining blow that made him cough up blood. From that moment on, it became a one-sided slaughter.

I smiled in ecstasy as I dished out my punishment, reveling in the power I felt as beat him to an inch of his life. My body ached all over, but I persisted. I wasn't just throwing wild punches; I aimed each strike at the most sensitive areas of his body. I targeted the gaps between his muscles, landing repeated blows to his solar plexus.

"Enjoying yourself?" the man said defiantly, even as he coughed up more blood. Stubborn bastard! "You really are a monster," he continued solemnly, revealing his blood-red teeth in a grin. "My mutant ability was created to build and reinforce. It allows me to create muscle mass with little to no effort and then reinforce my muscles until they are stronger than steel. You are not the first to beat me! I'll build more muscle and come back much stronger! This isn't the end!" He stared into my eyes without an ounce of fear. This man was just like me; he understood what it was like to be thoroughly beaten. He would rise again, stronger than before. Someone like him could be useful to me—The perfect dog.

"What's your name?" I decided to ask.

After a few minutes of coughing and eventually coughing up blood the man mumbled something barely audible. ".... Ryomen"

I stooped down to meet his gaze. "Okay Ryomen, my name is Banri. Now that I've got your undivided attention, let's make a deal."

"A deal?"

"Yes, you really are a lucky guy, Ryomen"

"How so?"

"You're lucky that I was the one that found you. If it was Sythe, he would have cut you down without breaking a sweat." Their is not doubt in my mind that Sythe would be able to defeat him much more easily than I did. "The way I see it, we both have a common enemy: The guardians. If we work together, we can wipe out the Black Widow guild," The Black Widow guild will be a nuisance if we are to capture celestial beasts.

Ryomen's face, though covered in blood lit up with a nasty smile. "Do you have a plan?" 

Moments later, Sythe arrived, accompanied by Hikari, Alina, and Katherine. Sythe's gaze fell upon the unconscious celestial beast. "You did this?" he directed his attention to me.

"No, we were attacked by one of the mutants. I managed to stop him from killing the celestial beast, but he managed to escaped," 

While maintaining his skeptical look, Sythe asked, "Why did you run off?"

"I was worried they might have found the celestial beast, so I decided to go look for it," I replied, meet his gaze. I must make it seem as if I was just worried about the celestial beast. "What happened to the mutants and the demons that showed up?"

"They're dead," Sythe stated flatly.

"So what now?" Hikari inquired.

"With the mutants now gone, we will head back to the guild," Sythe replied.

"Not much of a thinker, are you?" I commented, making sure to keep eye contact.

"What?!" Sythe exclaimed, no doubt taken aback by my disrespectful remark.

"We haven't been able to locate their leader, and there's still the possibility that more demons will show up. First you leave the celestial beast to interfere in a dispute between demon and mutants, now, you want to leave the defenseless celestial beast again, to go back to the guild. You're forgetting the reason we came here."

"What do you propose we do then?" Sythe asked. His anger apparent but he couldn't deny what I said was the truth.

"I'll go back to inform the guild of what occurred while the rest of you stay here." Thus I left the others to go back to the guild, even though I was on the verge of passing out due to the battle with Ryomen but I must win their trust. It is essential if I'm gonna destroy the Black Widow guild.