Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG]
Chapter 163

Chapter 163

Jake charged down the tunnel toward the abomination, morphing his right hand into a smashfist, his second favorite weapon after Claws. He also transformed the fingers of his left hand into long, curved talons. Then he jumped, using the waterlogged floor of the tunnel to propel himself forward and upward with great force.

He soared through the air toward the colossal ex-human like a missile fired from a cannon, crashing into the center of the abomination’s torso a second later. He struck the massive beast with the force of a freight train—or so he thought. Yet, aside from taking a slight step back, the beast seemed completely unfazed by the impact.

Immediately upon hitting the monster’s upper body, Jake plunged the claws of his left hand into the creature’s flesh, anchoring himself. The ex-human’s muscle structure was dense, yet he managed to embed his talons about an inch into it. He attempted to secure himself further by pressing his toes against the beast’s body, but as it turned out, the abomination’s skin was slick with some liquid oozing from all its pores, rendering Adhesive Secretion useless.

Maintaining his grip on the monster’s body with his clawed left hand, Jake drew back his right smashfist and delivered a powerful blow to the center of the beast’s chest. He struck the ex-human with every ounce of strength he could gather, but to his great surprise, the damage he inflicted was minimal. He could feel something break inside the abomination’s body. Perhaps he broke some ribs or other internal structures, but it was hard to tell, given the creature’s bizarre anatomy, which was basically numerous human bodies melded together.

Whatever had snapped inside the abomination left the monster completely unfazed. Jake brought his smashfist back once more and struck again, this time with even more strength than before. However, just like last time, he hardly dealt any damage to his opponent. The creature didn’t even seem irritated by the assault. Jake brought back his smashfist and struck again, feeling more bones snap inside the abomination. He was determined to keep pounding his opponent. Sooner or later, it had to yield results. After all, that was how he had defeated the wood golem—by striking its massive head repeatedly until it finally burst apart.

Just as he was about to strike the monster once more, the ex-human raised its massive hand and closed its enormous fingers around Jake’s body. As they clenched around him, he marveled at the creature’s strength. The pressure clamping down on him was so intense he was surprised he wasn’t crushed. The abomination abruptly pulled its hand away, tearing Jake from its body. His claws were yanked from the creature’s body, leaving deep gouges on the surface. Jake noted that they didn’t start to heal, which indicated that while the abomination possessed incredible strength and resistance to injury, its regenerative abilities were at least somewhat limited. This gave him a glimmer of hope—if he could keep attacking the beast, he would eventually bring it down.

The massive ex-human drew back the hand that held Jake and then flung him forward with tremendous force. Jake soared through the air, reaching the end of the tunnel he had come from, crashing into the brick wall with enough force to break all the bones in his body had he been a human being. He fell onto the flooded floor of the tunnel, splashing dirty water everywhere as pieces of crushed brick fell against his back. He took a second to assess the damage he might have sustained. He had lost some of his HP, but other than that, he was fine.

Jake looked up at the abomination. The colossal beast remained in the same spot halfway down the tunnel, seemingly having not moved an inch after hurling him. It hadn’t lunged for the kill while he lay crumpled on the ground, which took him by surprise. The abomination was the most composed monster he had encountered so far and definitely the strongest. Rising to his feet, he began to make his way back to his opponent. Instead of running, he walked this time, observing the massive creature and trying to figure out a way to bring the giant down.

He stopped about fifteen yards from the enormous ex-human, which had remained motionless all this time. Jake still hadn’t devised a plan to defeat his opponent. He could try to maneuver around the giant and jump on its back, where the monster might have difficulty reaching him with its hands. However, he decided to try something else instead. One of the abomination’s weaknesses was acid, and he possessed a very good ability that could inflict that kind of damage. Maintaining the same distance from his opponent, Jake gave a mental command to use Acidic Spit. He felt some of his mana pull from the mana pool in the center of his body and flow along one of the passageways into his mouth, where it almost immediately formed an acidic projectile.

Opening his jaws, he launched the glob of acid at the massive ex-human. The giant didn’t even make an attempt to step aside as the projectile zipped toward it with the speed of an arrow. When it splashed against the middle of the monster’s torso, acid immediately began to eat away at it, causing visible damage to its surface. The creature’s flesh sizzled and smoked for a few seconds before the acid completely evaporated, creating a small hole in the creature’s flesh. While the damage was not severe, it was undoubtedly a more effective result than what could be achieved by simply battering the abomination with his smashfists.

The colossal beast stirred and growled, clearly irked by what had just happened to its body. Yet, it made no effort to charge at him. Jake sensed that could change after he inflicted more damage on his opponent. He looked at the creature’s oversized head—or what passed for one. It was grotesquely deformed, devoid of any definitive shape. The abomination lacked a neck, causing its massive, formless head to meld seamlessly with its shoulders. The creature’s enormous mouth was closed, and the upper half of its head was scattered with numerous eyes of various sizes. Jake noticed that there were more eyes on the sides of the monster’s head and wondered if there were even more on the back of its grotesque cranium.

He prepared another glob of acid, feeling it form inside his mouth. Slightly adjusting the position of his head, he launched the acidic projectile. Though shooting it out of his mouth wasn’t particularly easy, Jake had used this ability so many times before he’d developed surprisingly good aim by that point. The glob of acid struck one side of the monster’s head and immediately began to eat through it. The creature’s flesh puckered and tore apart as the acidic substance devoured the skin and muscle tissue with surprising efficiency, causing some of the monster’s eyes to burst apart.

That was when the abomination finally erupted in anger. It opened its mouth slightly and emitted a menacing growl, clenching its massive fists and shaking them in fury. The numerous eyes scattered across the uninjured part of the abomination’s deformed face burned with rage as they all fixed their gaze on Jake. Even the numerous faces that protruded from various areas of the massive monster’s body twisted in either anger or pain. The beast raised its enormous fists and pounded on the walls on either side of it, causing the entire tunnel to tremble. Cracks spiderwebbed across the walls and ceiling, chunks of masonry falling and pelting the waterlogged floor, sending splashes in every direction and creating rings on the water’s surface. The tremors shook this part of the tunnel so violently it felt as though it might collapse in on itself at any moment.

However, the abomination abruptly ceased its assault on the walls. It turned its gaze back to Jake, part of its face marred by the acid burn. Jake braced himself to fight back, expecting the hulking ex-human to charge at him. But his opponent did something else instead. Jake saw the abomination use each of its hands to grasp a face that jutted out from its body. The monster then pulled, producing nauseatingly wet, tearing sounds.

What the hell, Jake thought, a mix of disgust and awe washing over him as he witnessed what was undoubtedly the most bizarre scene he had ever seen in this twisted world.