Hydranomaly

Chapter 20: To Be An Anomaly Hunter

"The hell? Ryujin?" Kenji's voice wavered, his expression contorting as he took a staggering step back. His vision blurred with pain, but even through the haze, the sight before him was unmistakable. Ryujin's once-human form had shifted into something entirely alien-a monstrous, draconian hybrid of sinew and scales. His wings stretched wide, casting jagged shadows in the flickering light. For a brief, surreal moment, Kenji questioned his sanity. "No... no way. He was on the brink of death just a moment ago. How the hell...? Is this why he wasn't Mutated back when we found him?"

Belphie's eyes widened in awe, his jaw slack. His hands trembled-not in fear, but in the pure, electric excitement of someone witnessing a living myth. "Oh, man..." he whispered, his voice trembling with reverence.

Ryujin's feral grin split across his face, revealing rows of sharp, beastlike teeth. His pupils burned like the flames of hell as they locked onto the Mutated Domain, an immense, grotesque amalgamation of limbs, eyes, and flesh. "You two back me up if you can," Ryujin snarled, his voice guttural, deranged, almost unrecognizable. "But leave this bastard to me."

With a violent snap of his wings, he launched himself into the air. His laugh-a raw, maniacal howl-echoed across the battlefield. He dove straight into the heart of the enemy. The first strike was savage: claws rending flesh like paper, flames bursting forth from the deep wounds. The Domain let out a guttural moan, the sound reverberating through the grotesque, fleshy walls of the Mutated Mall. The room twisted in pain, its collective horror manifesting in the swarms of undead-like Mutated rising from the ground like puppets pulled by unseen strings.

Kenji gritted his teeth and steadied his blade. "Belphie, focus up! They're coming for us!" he barked, charging forward with a swift, practiced step. His sword danced through the oncoming hordes, severing limbs and slicing torsos with precision. Catt scurried by his side, turrets blazing as they shredded limbs before they could reanimate.

But Belphie barely moved. His eyes were glued to the spectacle above, where Ryujin tore through the air with a terrifying, savage grace. "Holy shit," Belphie breathed, his voice trembling with childlike glee. "He's flying! He's actually flying!"

Kenji glanced over his shoulder, exasperated. "Belphie! Quit gawking and help me out here!"

But Belphie was already lost in his own world. "Ryujin! Oh my god, is that fire? Are you-are you breathing fire?!" He cupped his hands around his mouth to shout louder. "How strong are those wings? Does it feel different in that form? Do you have extra senses? Holy crap, you're an actual dragon hybrid!"

Ryujin didn't respond immediately. He was too busy obliterating the hordes before him with ease. His claws slashed through one Mutated after another, each strike igniting them in an inferno of ash and embers. But amidst the chaos, he couldn't help but hear the relentless torrent of questions raining down from Belphie.

Between bursts of deranged laughter, Ryujin called out, "You've got a death wish or something, Belphie? Focus! They'll rip you apart if you keep standing there!"

Belphie grinned sheepishly, finally snapping back into the moment as a wave of Mutated closed in. But even as he threw himself into the fray, his enthusiasm didn't falter. "You're so freaking lucky, you know that?" he shouted, punching a Mutated square in the chest and sending it crashing into a fleshy wall. "I mean, just look at you! You're like something out of a damn legend! You're just so cool!"

The words hit Ryujin like an unexpected jolt. Lucky? He had never really formed that opinion of his Hybrid form like that before. To most, it was a curse-a symbol of monstrosity, of everything unnatural that anomalies stood for. Yet here was Belphie, his voice brimming with admiration, not fear.

"You think this is cool?" Ryujin growled, his voice low but tinged with an odd vulnerability beneath the madness. It was an odd mix of his two, contrasting sides that surfaced straight from his heart, both at once. "Heh, no fucking idea what you mean... Can't you see how I'm burning the absolute shit out of these guys?" He yelled out, mixing up the two definitions of the word.