R:IX "Devouring Tyrant "

Ryuxian's body coiled, his breathing shallow, his senses on high alert. The air around him felt wrong—charged with an unsettling tension, like a storm waiting to break.

Then he heard it.

A shrill, piercing screech.

His head snapped up just in time to see a massive bat diving toward him, its wings cutting through the darkness like jagged blades. Its fanged mouth gaped wide, revealing a grotesque, pulsating tongue, dripping with saliva thick enough to glisten in the dim light.

"Ah, crap."

He barely had time to react before it swooped down, aiming straight for his head. Instinct took over—he teleported, flinging himself several meters away. The bat screeched in frustration, banking hard to come around for another pass.

But before he could process his narrow escape, the ground beneath him trembled.

From the shadows, a massive scorpion emerged, its obsidian-black carapace glistening with a sickly sheen. Its eyes were empty voids, its pincers clicking in eerie anticipation. The scorpion's barbed tail rose high, dripping with venom that hissed as it touched the earth, leaving behind smoking craters.

Ryuxian's tongue flicked out. The moment the venom's scent touched his tongue, his mind screamed—DEATH. AGONY. SUFFERING.

"I'm so screwed."

A Three-Way Death Match

The scorpion lunged first, its claws slamming down with the force of a falling boulder. Ryuxian barely dodged, his body skimming the dirt as he rolled away. But the bat, sensing an opening, let out an ear-splitting screech and dove at him again, aiming to snatch him up in its claws.

With no time to think, Ryuxian teleported mid-roll, appearing just behind the scorpion. The bat, unable to stop its momentum, slammed directly into the scorpion's shell with a meaty crunch.

For a split second, everything was still.

Then the scorpion whipped around in fury, its tail striking at the bat in a lightning-fast blur.

The bat screeched in pain, its wings flailing wildly, but the scorpion wasn't done—it grabbed the bat with its massive pincers, lifting it like a helpless ragdoll.

"Hah!" Ryuxian let out a laugh. "Yes! Fight each other!"

Then both creatures turned their heads toward him.

"...Oh."

"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster." – Friedrich Nietzsche

Ryuxian is teetering between survival and something more primal—absorbing power from his enemies, becoming something more than he was.

They charged him at once. The scorpion lashed out with its tail, venom hissing through the air. The bat, bloodied but still furious, darted at him from above, fangs bared.

Ryuxian teleported again, but this time—

Pain.

A sharp, burning agony erupted in his side. His teleport had been a fraction too slow, and the bat's claws had raked across his scales, leaving deep, stinging gashes. He hit the ground hard, his body skidding against the dirt.

The bat swooped in for the kill—but the scorpion, ever the opportunist, lunged forward and seized the bat's wing in its massive claw, snapping it with a sickening crunch. The bat shrieked in agony, thrashing violently as the scorpion tightened its grip.

Ryuxian's vision blurred from the pain. His body screamed at him to run, to hide, to survive—but a deeper instinct whispered back:

Kill.

Adapt

Overcome.

His eyes snapped open.

The scorpion, too focused on its struggling prey, left its underbelly exposed—a brief, golden window of opportunity.

Ryuxian teleported directly beneath it.

Fangs bared.

He sank his teeth deep into the joint between its carapace and its soft, vulnerable underside.

The scorpion convulsed violently, its entire body shuddering, its tail slamming the ground in wild desperation. The bat, seizing the chance, wrenched itself free, beating its one good wing furiously to escape.

Ryuxian held on for dear life, his mouth filled with the bitter, metallic taste of scorpion blood. His body absorbed something, a strange sensation flooding through him. Power. Energy. Something primal and raw.

But before he could process it—

The scorpion, in its death throes, reared up. The movement knocked Ryuxian loose—and sent him plummeting over the edge of a hidden ravine.

The last thing he saw was the world falling away, the glow of the battlefield disappearing, replaced by an abyss of darkness.

Then—impact.

Pain exploded through his body as he crashed onto something hard and uneven. Stones clattered around him, dust rising in thick plumes.

"Pain lanced through his side, a searing brand that threatened to overwhelm him. Focus, he thought, his mind a whirlwind of fear and adrenaline.

Survive."

For a long moment, there was only silence.

Then—a glow.

Ryuxian groaned, his body barely responding. His head lifted weakly, his vision swimming.

The cave around him was unlike anything he had ever seen. The walls hummed with energy, covered in glowing stones that pulsed in rhythmic patterns, like the heartbeat of something ancient. The air was thick, charged with magic so intense it made his scales tingle.

A new hunger stirred within him.

Not for food.

For power.

Lying there, staring at the shimmering cavern, Ryuxian let out a weak chuckle.

"Well… that could have gone worse."

Then darkness took him.

"The only way to deal with this life is to transform everything into fire." – Friedrich Nietzsche

Pain, fear, and survival—all fuel for evolution. Ryuxian is burning away weakness and forging himself anew.