MTLNOVEL Chapter 13: Beastly Roars
The bear beasts gaze was locked on Evan.Its eyes—glowing with an eerie, unnatural hunger—locked onto him with terrifying precision.
For a heartbeat, neither moved.
Then, with a growl that shook the very air, the bear's lips parted, revealing rows of jagged teeth.
The ground trembled beneath Evan's feet as the creature took a step forward, its immense claws scraping against the dirt.
Unfortunately, it was of no use, Evan's body was frozen, as if the weight of the beast's presence had paralyzed him.
'I can't move.' His mind screamed at him to run, but his limbs refused to obey.
The bear's claws flexed, the air around it humming with tension.
Then, in a blur of movement, the creature lunged forward. Evan's mind barely processed the motion before he was flung backward, his body slamming into the trunk of a tree with bone-jarring force.
The world exploded in a burst of light and sound, the force of the impact sending him crashing into the underbrush. Dirt and wood fragments rained down around him like a violent storm.
"Damn it! That hurts!"
The world was hazy, his chest heaving for air, but the crash was far too much from what he could handle.
" How? Why?" He barely registered the taste of dirt in his mouth as he pushed himself up, hands shaking.
The bear—he had to focus on the bear.
He forced himself to his feet, barely steadying himself, his legs shaking with exhaustion.
His vision flickering as he tried to regain control. His clothes were torn, his body covered in dirt and bruises, but he had to move....or he'd be prone to the bear.
'I can't stay here.'
His gaze shot to the bear, which now stood on its hind legs, roaring in fury.
Its eyes gleamed with a malevolent fire, locking onto him once more.
"Damnit. If only that system had actually been useful, maybe I would have had some kind of defence for this....but now...what the hell am i supposed to do now? I'm fighting a god damn bear." Evan muttered under his breath.
Despite the terror clawing at his insides, something stirred deep within him. A strange, almost uncontrollable urge to fight back, more like, an urge to survive. It was as if the very air around him had changed, shifting into something darker, more primal.
"I should run. I should be running away as fast as I can...but I'm not...why? What the hell is happening to me?"
Before he could ponder further, the bear lunged again, its immense form closing the distance between them with terrifying speed.
'I can't outrun it.' Evan thought, his legs screaming for movement.
He spun, his body instinctively dodging to the side, but the bear's jaws snapped just inches from his heels.
The beast's force caused the tree beside him to splinter and crack, the bark disintegrating like dust under the impact.
'I probably can't outrun it… but atleast I can dodge its strikes.'
His body moved without thinking, every instinct locked on survival. The bear's claws swiped through the air, missing him by a hair's breadth. But it wasn't enough to slow the beast down. It was on him, relentless.
The bear pursued, but its lumbering speed couldn't match the fury driving Evan's limbs in his quest to survive this predicament.
Another swing, another miss. The bear collided with a tree once again, shaking the earth beneath them. The beast's roar reverberated in the air, and for a moment, Evan thought he might have a chance, a chance to actually wear the beast down. But then the bear let out a shriek of fury, tearing a massive tree from the earth with ease. It hurled the tree toward Evan with terrifying force as though the tree was a mere bone..
'What the fuck?!!'
Evan's heart stilled as the tree soared through the air. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. He could see it coming. His body froze, his mind screaming for him to move, but it was too late.
The impact was deafening, a resounding crack that split the world apart. The tree collided with Evan, sending him spiraling through the air.
His body crashed into the ground, tumbling across the earth like a ragdoll. He slid several feet, his body screaming in pain with every jagged roll until atlast, he came to a halt some meters away from his original position.
Dazed and disoriented, Evan struggled to rise. His vision blurred, but he could still hear the bear's growl, still feel the vibrations in the air as it stalked toward him.
The pain was unbearable, but there was no time to stop.
He glanced at his arm, where a gash from the bear's claws had opened a fresh wound. Blood oozed from the wound, soaking his torn clothes.
" Just keep moving. Just keep—"
The ground shook again, the bear's claws slamming into the dirt with another earth-shattering roar, right were Evan laid.
Thud!
Evan's heart skipped a beat. It seemed unlikely, but he had been saved from the bears final hit , barely. Taking him just a few meters away from the bear, leaving the bear's claws grazing the air just inches from his face.
Victor.
He appeared beside Evan in a blur of motion, his eyes dark and unreadable as he kneeled, his presence a sudden calm in the chaos. He locked eyes with the bear, his expression filled with utter fear.
"You really know how to bring the danger to you, don't you, Evan?"
Victor muttered.
The bear let out another bone-rattling roar, rising onto all fours. It was enraged, its bloody claws flexing as it snarled at Victor and Evan.
Victor stood tall, as he trembled softly while maintaining his gaze at the monstrosity before him.
The forest held its breath, the air crackling with the promise of violence.
It was just a matter of what was to happen next. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good for neither Evan nor Victor.
Then, just as the bear reared back, preparing to strike, Victor's voice rang out.
"Ready?"