Chapter 37: Susanoo Slays the Beast King

"It's not over yet."

Shinji ignored Fubuki completely, his eyes fixed on something far off in the distance.

"You just now…"

Fubuki started to speak, trying to process everything that had just happened, but an explosion interrupted her.

BOOM!!

A building nearby exploded into fragments, and from the cloud of smoke emerged a massive, fully armored Armored Gorilla. Its heavy footfalls cracked the pavement beneath its feet, and its glowing red eyes locked onto its next prey.

Fubuki stared, frozen. The past few minutes had left her too stunned to even get off the ground. She turned her head instinctively, expecting Shinji to be at her side, only to find he had vanished without a trace.

In truth, he'd just been ambushed.

Beneath the surface, [Ground Dragon] had grabbed at Shinji's leg, trying to drag him underground. Rather than resist, Shinji simply let himself be pulled down, eager to handle the pest on its own turf.

Ground Dragon turned out to be nothing more than a giant mole-like creature, and he didn't stand a chance.

[Alert! The host has defeated a Tiger-level monster, "Ground Dragon." Reward: 20 contribution points!]

[Alert! The host has defeated a Tiger-level monster, "Frog Man." Reward: 10 contribution points!]

[Alert! The host has defeated a Tiger-level monster, "Slugerous." Reward: 10 contribution points!]

While underground, Shinji also cleaned up two other Tiger-level monsters, Frog Man and Slugerous, who were lurking nearby as backup. All three had been dispatched by the Monster Association.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Fubuki was starting to panic.

With Shinji nowhere in sight and the armored gorilla charging straight at her, she thought she'd been abandoned. Left alone to face this monster, she gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand.

She had already burned through most of her energy earlier trying to subdue Shinji, but now she had no choice. Bracing herself, she raised her hand and prepared another psychic blast.

"My target isn't you. Get out of the way."

The Armored Gorilla's voice boomed like a tank engine, but it didn't slow down. It charged headfirst at her.

"!"

Fubuki summoned a wall of earth with her telekinesis, but her power was too drained. The barrier crumbled the moment the Armored Gorilla smashed into it, and the shockwave sent her flying backward.

"Gah!!"

She slammed into the ground with a thud, breath knocked from her lungs. Thankfully, her wall had absorbed most of the hit, sparing her from serious injury.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Heavy footsteps shook the ground around her. Fubuki groaned and lifted her head.

What she saw drained the color from her face.

Another monster was approaching. A towering humanoid lion with thick muscles, golden fur, and claws that could shred steel. He dwarfed even the Armored Gorilla.

Her heart sank. Another one? And this one looked even stronger.

What was this place? A monster breeding ground? How were so many powerful beasts showing up back-to-back?

"A woman? Where's our target?"

The Beast King growled, eyes narrowing at the sight of Fubuki.

"Just now, Ground Dragon grabbed the target. Not sure where he went," Armored Gorilla replied.

"Don't tell me that guy ran off to take the credit himself…" Beast King muttered, visibly annoyed.

The two monsters stood there casually chatting in front of Fubuki, completely ignoring her as if she didn't even matter. Cold sweat trickled down her back. She had nowhere to run. No energy left. No backup.

Just when it looked like she was done for,

"I take it… you're looking for me?"

Shinji appeared in front of her, calm as ever.

"There he is! The target showed up on his own!"

Beast King instantly recognized the red-eyed youth as the one Doctor Genus had been after.

"This place is a bit dangerous. You'd better hide for now," Shinji said calmly. Without waiting for Fubuki's reply, he sent her into the Kamui dimension.

Sure, a dramatic princess carry might've fit the moment, cradling the damsel before the big battle, but Shinji wasn't in the mood to carry someone around while fighting two Demon-level threats.

This method was cleaner. Fubuki would be completely safe, tucked away in the Kamui space, and he'd be free to fight without distractions. She could spend that time cooling off and doing some quiet reflection, maybe even reconsider her whole superiority complex.

The only drawback was that, with someone inside Kamui, he couldn't use his intangibility. But against opponents like Beast King and Iron Gorilla, he wouldn't need it.

"Saving a damsel in distress? Don't make me laugh. That'll just make your death even more pathetic!"

Beast King sneered, aura flaring as his golden mane rose like flames.

"Let me show you the power of the Beast King! Lion Slash!!"

He lunged forward with brutal speed, swinging his claws in a wide arc. Five shining slashes of energy tore through the air, slicing apart the buildings behind Shinji like they were made of cardboard.

But Shinji didn't even break a sweat. He dodged easily, sidestepping each strike with sharp, fluid movements and precise awareness. His reflexes were tuned to the finest degree.

"OOOOHHHH!!"

Beast King roared in frustration, swinging again and again, each strike wilder than the last.

Iron Gorilla kept his distance, wisely choosing not to get involved. Beast King was doing the heavy lifting, and considering his temper, jumping in might just get him sliced by accident.

The barrage continued. Blow after blow. Still, not a single hit landed.

Beast King's fury boiled over.

"You won't get away! I'll kill you! This is survival of the fittest! HAHAHA!!"

His muscles swelled grotesquely, chains and restraints snapping as raw strength erupted from his body. His coat shredded off him entirely, revealing his beast-like physique in full.

"Lion Slash Meteor Shower!"

He leapt into the air and unleashed a violent downpour of claw strikes, each one a blur, coming from every direction like a storm of blades.

"Beast King, we were supposed to capture him alive…" Iron Gorilla mumbled from the sidelines, trying to rein him in.

But Beast King was lost to madness, and Iron Gorilla wasn't stupid enough to argue further.

This time, though, Shinji didn't move. He had no intention of dodging. Why? Because…

Susanoo!

In an instant, a massive, blue skeletal ribcage materialized around him, forming a shield against the onslaught. This was Susanoo's initial form, but it didn't stay that way for long.

Driven by Shinji's will, it evolved rapidly. The skeletal structure expanded, arms taking shape, then musculature formed across the framework. Chakra pathways lit up like glowing veins, and finally, the armor wrapped over it all, covering the giant in its radiant, energy-cloaked robe.

Originally, Susanoo was a technique fueled by chakra, the divine defense granted by the Mangekyō Sharingan, known across the shinobi world as the "Power of the Gods."

But the system had modified it for Shinji, transforming it into a manifestation of his spiritual energy. No longer just a visual technique or illusion of power, this was a solid, crushing force made real by the system's rewriting of the rules.

With over 400 points in Physique and a solid reserve of Hashirama Cells, summoning Susanoo was practically effortless for Shinji. Within seconds, it had advanced into its second form, a towering partial body standing between 20 and 30 meters tall, armed with two massive katanas, weapons native to this stage.

The second stage of Susanoo was ideal. It offered a perfect balance of offense and defense, while keeping chakra, or in Shinji's case, spiritual energy, consumption at a manageable level.

"What?!"

Beast King had been fully expecting to rip Shinji to shreds with brute force. Instead, what now stood before him was a colossal warrior wrapped in ethereal armor, dwarfing even his own monstrous frame.

Before he could process what was happening, Shinji made his move.

Susanoo's twin blades descended like thunderbolts, cutting through the air and closing in too fast for Beast King to react. He froze for a split second, wide-eyed, and then,

His enormous body was sliced cleanly into three pieces.

[Alert! The host has defeated the Demon-level monster "Beast King." Reward: 45 contribution points!]

Beast King had been a peak Demon-level threat, one of the strongest under Dr. Genus's command. But even he couldn't withstand Susanoo's might.

Shinji then turned, slowly, to face the remaining monster.

"..."

Iron Gorilla stood frozen, every fiber of his oversized body locked in place. Beast King, ranked second in the House of Evolution and leagues stronger than him, had just been torn apart like paper. And now, that same unstoppable human was looking right at him.

Without hesitation, Iron Gorilla dropped into a deep dogeza, slamming his massive fists and forehead into the ground with a loud thud.

"I-I was way out of line earlier! I sincerely apologize! Please spare me, I'll tell you everything!!"

Gone was the calm, slow-speaking tough guy. In truth, his dramatic speech had always been an act, part of his image. Now, he didn't even dare form a full sentence. Every word came out fast, clipped, terrified that even a moment's pause would earn him a blade to the face.

Seeing the surrender, Shinji deactivated Susanoo. The towering warrior of energy shimmered and faded, leaving only him standing amid the destruction.

"Who sent you?"

His tone was flat. He acted as if he didn't already know.

"It was…"

"Keep it short."

Shinji didn't need a full backstory. He knew this type; once they got started, they'd ramble on all the way back to Dr. Genus's childhood trauma. He cut that off before it began.

"Right! Right, in short: our boss, Dr. Genus, is very interested in your body. He wants to use you for his research, so he sent us to capture you."

Iron Gorilla managed to compress what was probably a five-minute speech into a single, panicked sentence.

"Got it. You're done here."

And with that, Shinji vanished.

In reality, he had slipped into the Kamui dimension, to check on Fubuki and see how she was handling her little time-out.