Apocalypse: Transmigrated with an Overlord System
Chapter 128: Meeting the Mutated Tiger

Chapter 128: Chapter 128: Meeting the Mutated Tiger

Liora had finally begun to understand the strange soul power that had been haunting her for some time. The knowledge in the book had settled in her mind like puzzle pieces clicking into place.

Though many of the words were strange and the techniques complicated, something about them felt instinctively familiar. And now, with her thoughts clearer and her confidence growing, she decided it was time to test the power for real.

But first, she needed to find a target.

One thing she had to admit—and was grateful for, even if she hated it—was that the bastard hadn’t dumped her into an area swarming with mutated beasts. At least not right away.

He had given her enough time to breathe, and to read the book, and to think without a monster ripping her face off. That was rare mercy from his side, because she felt like he could be even crueler.

Soon she wandered deeper into the misty forest.

The air was cold and still. Fog clung to the ground like a living thing. Her boots barely made a sound on the damp earth. The trees towered on either side of her, twisted, and the silence was almost too quiet. She couldn’t see much beyond a few feet ahead. And she was nervous, quietly but steadily anxious.

Because she had no weapon to defend herself.

Her mana sword had been broken by him like a toy. She hadn’t found time to replace it and now walked half-blind into danger with nothing but a pistol she had picked up from her inventory. It was a reward from killing a zombie. A low-level weapon. Practically useless against any serious threat, but she couldn’t walk in empty-handed. That would be suicide.

So she kept walking. Further into the fog.

Then, she heard it.

A deep, guttural roar split through the stillness like a crack of thunder. It echoed through the forest, shaking the leaves and making the birds scatter in fear. But Liora doubted that any normal birds were still left in the forest.

Liora froze in her tracks. Her heart jumped. Her breath caught. But only for a second.

Without hesitating, she turned toward the direction of the roar and ran.

The mist parted as she moved quickly through the trees, until she found it.

And there it stood.

A massive white tiger towered in the clearing, easily the height of a two-story building. Its face was unmistakably feline—if not for that familiar tiger’s face, she wouldn’t have even realized what it used to be.

The rest of its body had mutated into something monstrous. Its paws were longer and thicker than tree trunks, ending in jagged iron claws that scraped deep lines into the ground.

Its chest was embedded with twisted plates of metal, like armor fused into its flesh. Two strange black horns curved out of its skull, and its long tail swung behind it, but even its tail was not normal. At the end of the tail, there was a massive round iron ball with spikes on it, and with every swing, it created deep impact on the ground and the nearby trees.

But the tiger was nonchalant to this, and it looked like it was deliberately swinging its tail in a playful manner. But for Liora, it felt more like destruction.

Liora stayed hidden behind the trees with wide eyes, trying to keep her breath steady.

The beast hadn’t seen her yet.

She narrowed her eyes, focused on the tiger’s aura, and tried to tap into her power. She tried to focus and reached toward the mutated tiger’s soul. Her heart was racing but her hands were steady.

Then—pain exploded in her head.

It hit her like a hammer. A violent backlash surged through her chest, as if her lungs were suddenly filled with fire. She stumbled back, gasping, nearly vomiting blood. Her vision spun as she realized her mistake. This fucking mistake was really fatal, if she had not withdrawn in enough time.

She gritted her teeth.

"So it’s true," she whispered, wiping the blood from her lip. "The stronger the beast ... the harder it is to touch..."

She hadn’t even gotten close to absorbing it.

At that moment, the tiger’s red eyes snapped toward her.

It saw her.

Its pupils glowed strangely, and it let out another guttural roar—louder and angrier than before.

Liora cursed under her breath and quickly pulled out her pistol. She aimed and fired. One shot. Two shots. Three.

The bullets hit the creature’s hide but bounced off harmlessly, as if she had thrown pebbles at a mountain.

"Fuck—" she hissed, slamming the pistol back into her inventory.

Why had she even bothered? She knew it wouldn’t work. It had never worked. But for some reason, she had still hoped. She had fired anyway, out of reflex or panic or sheer stupidity. All she had done was piss the beast off.

The tiger snarled and took a slow, threatening step toward her.

Liora took a deep breath and tried to focus on her only last option.

Then she reached inside herself—past the panic, past the fear—into the soul realm. Her fingers trembled slightly, but she clenched them and chanted the word she had used when she fought with the last zombie.

"Emerge."

The earth beneath her feet rippled. A pool of darkness spread out like ink across the ground. Shadows crawled out of it like living things, twisting and rising. The cold wind seemed to stop. The trees bent slightly away from her, as if sensing so many strange presences.

The shadows responded to her call, unlike before when she tried to call them in that small house after waking up. But at that time nothing happened, but now they listened to her wish.

The shadows slithered out like mist, quiet but full of weight, pooling around her feet as if drawn by her will alone. The ground beneath Liora shimmered darkly, rippling as though it were no longer solid but a dark abyss. From the dark puddle, faint dark lights rose slowly, forming into familiar shadows.

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