Patience…

An act that is considered very noble, it is fitting for everyone to be patient in dealing with problems. However, everyone has their limit of patience.

Hazel happened to run out a while ago.

"COME HERE YOU BOY, I'LL RIP YOUR DICK OUT!!!" He said in a foreign language that only a small number of people are still able to recognize it.

That roar full of turbulent emotions was something else. Most people left in this world had long since abandoned their old language. The global crisis caused by the monster wave was a major factor. Because of the wall in communication between people with different languages, they decided to create a new language. The language must be easy to understand, quickly understood, and memorized by all ages and groups quickly.

In the end, humans now use a language called 'Ekitisimo'. It became the standard language used by all humans in this day and age. An age where everyone has to support each other at all times, where language differences can get in the way of that.

"Be patient," said Ezigio calmly, he didn't even understand the meaning of the words coming out of Hazel. He knew that it was a swear word from how Hazel shouted it with emotion. "I don't even understand what you're saying."

"Patience? PATIENCE YOUR FUCKING ASS, YOU SATAN!!!" retorted Hazel who was now showing no signs of letting up.

Hazel had already won the previous fight fair and square. Before the boy finally got back up and started another fight by slashing his head once again. Normally Hazel would have handled that with a cool head, but Ezigio had different plans.

Unbeknownst to Hazel, Ezigio had snatched his bag while they were still at the bar. The bag only contained a few Shards and a bag of spices that Hazel had just bought. What Ezigio did was something that Hazel was not happy about, he set it on fire.

He sacrifices his eyes just to trick Hazel into believing that he couldn't fight anymore.

Now that Ezigio used that to light some fires in Hazel's head, it proved to be very efficient. By igniting his volcano-like rage, Hazel should have a hard time thinking clearly. The only way for him to win this fight was to lower Hazel's concentration and regeneration ability.

'This should work... right?' He thought it was ridiculous if he failed with this one. There was no guarantee that he would be able to return home unscathed. Worst of all was the possibility of not being able to see Polvkrat again.

'I'm gonna die.'

"How about we start the game again? This time I'll set my prize with certainty. How about it, do you agree?" An offer came back from the yellow boy hovering above him. Just like before, the aura aimed at him was different from the previous one.

It was full of confidence and typically came from a teenager. Hazel would normally ignore such a thing, it was just that thanks to the previous incident and he felt that it only added embers to his head.

But he quickly extinguished the fire in his head, anger only obstructing his thoughts. He was not a battle-crazy person but, right now he had no other choice. All of his salary this month was gone, he couldn't buy any more spices at all.

'After all, this is the only way to make this fuck head stop acting up.'

"Alright... if I win, I want you to give me spices for free for one year." He replied resignedly, this was sickening to him. It wasn't worth it to him, he knew that and he didn't care about it.

"In that case, if I win... you will become my slave," he replied without any guilt.

'He wants to enslave me....'

If he could, he would like to throw a few Molotovs at his arrogant face. It would probably be a valuable lesson for him, so he decided to try tearing his face off later.

To ratify the agreement, both parties had to shake each other's hands as a show of trust. Ezigio descended from the sky and approached Hazel like an angel who would give him a blessed light. As before, the agreement was made once again by both dissatisfied parties. After the treaty is made and the handshake is done, the next thing to come is bloodshed.

"Kid..."

"?"

"Do you want to die?"

"Of course not, after all"

A warm handshake instantly turned into the start of a fierce, violent fight. Hazel tightened his grip and slammed the reckless kid mercilessly to the ground. In response, Ezigio detonated the Sun's Screamer that had been kept in his left hand in case of moments like this came his way. The blinding light made Hazel release his grip and let Ezigio escape from him.

"Wow, that was close..."

"You bastard!"

One fist with extra anger in it came quickly. Hazel didn't even wait for his vision to recover as he pulled out the fist. Ezigio easily dodged it but he staggered a bit from the impact.

While he kept a safe distance from Hazel, he used the roll of red bandage given by Hazel to cover his left eye. After that, he summoned his four swords that still survived although one of them was slightly cracked. He took out a key-like object shaped like a cross from his pants. Then without any hesitation, he inserted the key into the hole in his chest. One turn clockwise and a click sound came out, two turns and a bell is ringed, a third turn in the opposite direction and a rumbling sound started the explosion of light.

A shower of divine light began to cover his battered body, healing him slowly. The golden aura that mixed with the divine light, wrapped around his body and created an elegant set of armor. His four swords also began to transform into swords of light ready to annihilate his opponents. He turned into a warrior of light, a knight illuminated by divine light.

But he was too late.

"You're only using it now? It's too late, you had the chance to use it earlier. You could have beaten me earlier if you had pulled out that ace of yours sooner." He said with disappointment. Not only was he making the same mistake as Hazel before, but he was also even doing this as if to insult him. Giving the enemy time to prepare was a form of foolishness and arrogance.

This was the irony, where right now he had lost his temper, there was only anger in his heart.

Ezigio did not say a word and began to walk towards the fiery Hazel. A pair of golden wings with sharp, crystal-like feathers burst out from his back. The sight left Hazel slightly stunned as well as feeling nostalgic for some unfortunate reason.

'Those golden wings... impossible. There's only one person who has them, don't tell me if this boy is...'

Several memories of his deceased teammates pierced his heart with a sense of sadness. It was a gloomy memory for him, an event that changed the way he looked at his family as well as the world.

A long time ago, when Hazel and his team members were still complete. There was one of them who often suddenly disappeared while they were on missions. She was a meek, tomboyish girl with blonde hair who was loved by everyone who considered her a hero. Azelia was the most skilled swordswoman Hazel had ever met. She was also his first team member who was forcibly recruited by him through the annual tournament.

For him, it was the perfect decision as well as every drop of sweat he sacrificed was worth it. Azelia was also the first woman he was comfortable around besides his family, and then Groove came in second. Her position in the team served as the main damage dealer against the target. Roughly speaking, she was given the 'Warrior' class by the Guild for her abilities.

Hazel had a very strong family relationship with his team members. Although he was always at odds with Azelia, it was just a joke between them. It was also no exaggeration that she was the strongest human he had ever fought, it took more than 3 of his atomic blows to bring her down.

She was the sister he always wanted... then she disappeared for good.

One day, she resigned from her position abruptly. Leaving behind only a hastily written letter of apology. Before that, Hazel knew that the girl was hiding things from him but he never bothered.

Until finally, the sad news reached his ears. On that very day, he spilled a lot of blood to vent his frustration. The death of a career friend whom he loved like his own family, made him realize how negligent he was in protecting his family.

From that day on, he began to slowly isolate himself from his family.

However...

'She has a child? But when and with whom?'. In his entire life, he had never seen that girl get close to anyone. Except for the fact that she always disappeared suddenly and returned with a different aura.

Now that he realized it, the boy had a lot of similarities with the girl. Perhaps that could explain the comfortable feeling the first time he met him, even though it ended badly.

'Damn... is it right for me to beat up that girl's child?' Doubts and indecision began to fill his mind. He didn't expect that his dead best friend would have a child and on the other hand, he wanted to beat the crap out of this rascal.

'Well, I'll be damned. I'm sorry mate, but this kid of yours is a fucking autistic bastard.'

The four sword floated behind their master. They merged into one larger sword and Ezigio grabbed one of them. He pointed it right at Hazel's chest, a sign that he was ready.

"The biggest mistake you and I made... was that we both gave our enemies time to get ready." A tinge of red aura exploded from his heavily beating heart. The outer layer of armor that had previously covered his body began to peel off and dislodge on its own.

The sound of a beast roaring leaked out from Hazel who was increasingly losing his humanoid form. His body shape was already almost unrecognizable due to how quickly he mutated. One of the problems that always discouraged Hazel from using his fighting mode was excessive cell mutation. As time went on and how severe the injuries he received were. In addition, he also experienced the problem of very wasteful energy usage the longer he was in this mode, plus the burnout effect after stopping would make him very vulnerable.

His current form would scare people who saw him into mistaking him for a demon from hell. The black sheep horns on his head practically radiated a large amount of heat. The layer of energy that became his armor as a whole fused completely with his skin. The shape of his face also changed and became sharper, the previously existing bug-like helmet shape was now replaced with the face of a fiery monster. His posture became very hunched, making it difficult to walk normally, and had to use both hands to crawl. His gauntlet also became one with his hands and gave him a protective plate that spread up to his chest.

To complete his monster form, a red and hot aura was generated by him. Every vein and thorn in his body was ignited by the flames of rage and destruction that were ready to be unleashed.

There was a reason why it was called 'Catastrophic'.

* * * *

It was a day that was a little different from the previous ones. The view over the walls of the city of Brenkas was both breathtaking and terrifying at the same time. The view of the squalid interior of the city would normally make any gatekeeper uneasy. But when compared to the view of a giant oyster scampering toward you, the view of the city is much more refreshing.

"Hey, Rox. Did you see it?" Asked one of the guards who was standing next to his partner. They were both wearing the usual city guard armor, consisting only of chain mail and blue plate armor. The plate armor was also equipped with several supporting features such as sensors and several communication devices.

"Yes, Zour. I saw it too, should we report this to the commander?" The other guard replied in a worried tone.

"No, there's no need to bother doing that. The only thing we need to do is leave this place... NOW!!!"

The sound of an extremely loud boom echoed throughout the city. The city wall, which was designed to withstand monster attacks, was hollowed out with ease. Many of the wall guards were injured from the shock caused, but some of them managed to escape safely.

The day before, a flash of golden light could be seen from the top of the city wall. The gatekeepers then reported it to the Guild for an explanation of the phenomenon. The Ever Drag-On was the strongest and most famous Guild in existence. They were a Guild that had many achievements in producing many talented Hunters.

It was also the Guild where Hazel first registered himself as a Hunter. The place where a Legendary Hunter was born.

The guards asked for confirmation of Hazel's involvement with the Phenomenon. Everyone living in this town knew exactly how to identify Hazel's presence in their daily lives. It was all done for obvious reasons, for safety. When Hazel fought, he would usually release a heat wave that alerted citizens who happened to be nearby. That way, residents could evacuate themselves when it happened.

No one wants to be near a nuclear bomb that could explode at any time.

After confirmation with the Guild, the army and a few Hunters were actively patrolling the city. They were deployed in case Hazel approached the city, they were ordered to immediately evacuate the citizens and themselves if that happened.

Now, the dreaded thing had happened.

Hazel was slammed hard against the city wall and made a rather large hole. He had been fighting with Ezigio for quite some time, but he honestly admired that kid. If he compared him to his mother, his battle with Ezigio was much harder than it looked. His super-fast reflexes were not fast enough to touch Ezigio who moved like a rubber ball bouncing wildly. The terrain in the previous place also gave Ezigio plenty of places to perform surprise attacks that were effective for him. Now he just had to find a way to immobilize that bastard. But for now, his current state was not much different from dying monsters.

Speaking of monsters...

"Aaaah, monsters!!!"

"Oh my..."

As he expected, his current form was so easily mistaken for a monster by the gatekeepers. Hazel got up and cleaned his body from dust and debris in a hurry. As he thought about the boy, he could only think of the rubber ball. The reason was, that Ezigio was currently darting from buildings and obstacles and bouncing like a rubber ball. He used the momentum from his movement to deliver a fast and hard attack on Hazel.

Earlier the boy gathered enough momentum to knock Hazel to the city.

"Well, it should take him a few minutes to get here."

While Hazel was busy assessing the hole he had made, the previous guard had already fled quite far away from him. The guard happened to cross paths with some Hunter who was guarding the area and called for help.

"The longer I'm here, the more complicated things get."

Hazel recognized this area well, it was very close to his home. Before the guard returned with reinforcements, he quickly ran away from the place.

"There it is over there! Quick, call the others!!!" The shouting voice signaled trouble for him. If he wanted to avoid such trouble, then he would have to send some people to the hospital.

'It's a good day for a mass rampage.'

With that, he began to scale the walls of the building to avoid some of the other guards on patrol. Jumping from one building to another, it took a lot of effort to remain undetectable. Hazel moved rather awkwardly due to his hunched posture, he had to use her hands as a counterbalance as he ran with his feet. This made him look more and more like a demon that had just escaped from its cage, and the residents started to get scared.

'Yup, shouldn't be running on top of other people's houses.'

He quickly regretted his silly idea. After all, what person wouldn't notice if a 4-meter tall monkey and praying mantis hybrid demon was running like a chicken on top of their house?

Especially if the demon kept making horrible wailing sounds at all times.

Not long after, Hazel found himself surrounded by Hunters and guards. Hazel thought about jumping over them, but several destruction drones were also guarding the airspace. There was no other choice for him but to break through by force. After all, there were no high-level Hunters here and he was grateful for that.

'I'm sorry guys, I think you're going to spend 2 weeks in the hospital after this.'

Although the Hunters and guards had stern expressions and were strict, they could not hide their fear and worry. Hazel could use that to instill terror in them, and he hoped that he wouldn't hurt too many people.

'The cost will be very high...'

"Take down that monster! Don't let it enter the residential area!!!"

The shouting voice, filled with bravery and authority, caught his attention. It was a rare thing for him to be able to see some authoritative figures in this age, an age where people tore their brothers and sisters apart for power and authority. He fixed his gaze on a well-built but short man wearing blue armor. Everything about the man's face reminded Hazel of his favorite mythological race, the dwarves. The bushy red beard, the long hair in a ponytail, the fierce, authoritative face, and the small, highly muscular body fit the description of a dwarf perfectly.

Hazel stepped forward and broke through the barricade of guards who were trembling in fear. His current body was almost impossible to harm, thanks to his exoskeleton armor. He easily knocked away the guards and shattered their spears and shields. Some of the Hunters who specialized in ranged attacks began to attack him in unison while keeping their distance. Most of them only used rifles, arrows, spears, and daggers, but some threw solid energy projectiles. Hazel ignored them and just focused on the destroyer drones following him behind, it wasn't like the attacks from the Hunters could scratch his armor.

But the explosions from the multiple projectiles fired from the drone bothered him greatly. With his current form, it was very prone for him to slip if he accidentally chose the wrong footing. He was running like an ostrich, but unlike ostriches that had wings to keep their balance, Hazel could only rely on his heavy hands for that. Plus, he also had to deal with several Hunters who tried to attack him up close.

After a while of running, he could see his house not far away. Now all he had to do was figure out how to take them all out. Fighting them all at once was risky. He could accidentally kill one of them in the frenzy of the fight. But as always, Hazel had a few tricks up his sleeve.

"FUCK YOU ALL!!!" he shouted angrily, a shout that also made several Hunters freeze and fall.

Hazel condensed the energy inside his body quickly, so quickly that he also felt nauseous from it. After a while, he immediately released that energy as an extremely hot shockwave. It would burn their skin for sure, but Hunter and the guards were very different from ordinary humans. So, it would only stun them for a few hours. This shockwave can also cause energy disruption to living things and technology, it can shut down electronic devices very easily. So far, no device can counteract the effects of his shockwave.

He tried to use this trick to immobilize Ezigio back then, but somehow he was immune from it.

But unlike what Hazel expected, there was one person who was still standing after the wave. Hazel had thought that the person had fainted while standing, but he was wrong. So, he approached him slowly so that he wouldn't scare him too much.

"W-what... did you do to them? M-monster... demon?!"

The dwarf man stood up with difficulty, he was using the battle axe in hand as a support. His body trembled with fear as Hazel approached him menacingly.

"You're a strong man... you're not from this world are you?" Asked Hazel, he was having trouble speaking clearly for obvious reasons. His voice was very distorted and slurred at the same time, so he didn't expect too many answers from the dwarf in front of him.

"How y-you know... I-"

The dwarf fell on his back before he could finish his question. The disruption caused by Hazel's shockwave had already proven to be effective if it was about how it disrupted the flow of energy in a living being's body. But unfortunately, it was not very effective in dealing with abyssal monsters, they were different kinds of beings.

However, at least Hazel knew that this little guy was a dwarf.

Because one of his best friends wasn't from this world either.

"Well, I'd better hurry. Before that crazy boy gets here," he said with a worried tone. It was not good to be too relaxed when the person he was fighting was someone who could move faster than a blink of an eye.

He could not enter through the main door with his current body, so he took the alternative route through the roof. Fortunately for him, he had installed a large door on the roof of his apartment. Thus, he did not have to forcefully punch a hole in the roof, and also, the door was originally installed for emergency purposes. After he entered, he immediately rushed to find something in his room. After a while of searching, he finally found the object he was looking for under his mattress. It was an iron box bearing a warning in some local language which meant "Horse Penis", not sure why he put up the warning.

Due to the small space of the apartment, Hazel could only move around while looking down. He even accidentally nudged some of the furniture, but luckily nothing was damaged. He managed to get out of the apartment without damaging anything, except for a few scorch marks from the heat generated by his hands.

"Well, now let's see if this thing is still usable." He opened the metal box by splitting it in half, it was the only way to open the box. Inside was a square piece of black silicon with many runes engraved on it. The rune engravings were also colored with a dark blue-purple color that glowed when Hazel rubbed it.

Without further ado, Hazel threw the piece into his mouth. In a short period, the piece immediately melted into a lump of blue substance and seeped into the inner lining of his mouth. A stinging and piercing sensation hit Hazel instantly, no matter how resistant he was to pain, this one would always be painful to him.

"Well, now we can do business fairly... can't we?"

Although he had found the item he was looking for, he still felt that something was missing. He went back inside and rummaged under his mattress but still found nothing.

"Gosh, where did I put my other gauntlet last time? Come out, Fornix!"

Not long after that, a rhythmic knocking sound came from behind him. There, Hazel could see what looked like a dog-sized blue scorpion robot moving quickly toward him. Without further ado, Hazel let the robot jump onto his left hand. The robot gripped his hand tightly, and then the tail of the thing pierced his elbow.

Unlike Hazel's other gauntlet, this one had a striking metallic blue color. The design this gauntlet is also designed for a luxurious futuristic design, not forgetting to mention that this one is equipped with more advanced features. On the back of his palm, there is a light blue gemstone which is the main feature of the gauntlet.

"Fornix, change your idling location after this fight." He commanded the security system that was embedded in the gauntlet. He carefully crept back out of his apartment, sweeping the surrounding area for any sign of the boy.

To answer that a blinding beam of light in the sky told him everything. Hazel deftly dodged the lightsaber that was thrown at him. Then he immediately entered a defensive pose and parried the second attack which was a fist from Ezigio himself.

But something was wrong.

Just as his fist hit Hazel's left hand, a shockwave hit him suddenly. He looked at Hazel's left hand which now is wearing an elegant blue gauntlet. The gem on the back of his hand occasionally emitted electric sparks, shooting out something that blinded his eyes.

"A mistake..."

One punch was already launched.

What follows is destruction...

Unlike before, Ezigio was frozen in place, unable to move or see at all. He could only feel the horror of the destruction directed at his chest. Hazel's right hand mutated with each passing moment and was now covered with spiked protective plates that were ready to tear him.

"Good luck with this."

Those would be the last words Ezigio heard.

With all the Catastrophic Energy that Hazel had condensed in his arm in a short time, a devastating attack was created. An attack that focused on a single point, yet inflicted its famous single-target damage.

It was a very simple attack, Hazel only needed to pack some Catastrophic Energy in his fist. After that, he only had to trigger a reaction similar to a nuclear fusion reaction which would then trigger an explosion.

"[Tectonic Strike]."

On that very day, a powerful boom echoed throughout the city of Brenkas. It was also followed by the rumbling sound of one of the walls in the city collapsing. Because the townspeople had evacuated earlier, casualties were avoided.

"Now... what should I do? Oh right, rip his face off." He muttered it while he didn't even pay attention to his crumpled right hand.

Hazel was just glad it ended with a happy ending.

Being a little worried about the boy's condition, Hazel quickly rushed over to the boy. The distance from the outer wall of Brenkas City to the interior was about 70 km away. But thanks to his current form, Hazel could cover that distance in just a few minutes.

After all, this was Hazel's longest record of wearing his fighting mode. He couldn't stop worrying about his condition after he finished using this mode. He had used the fighting mode for a long time before, at which time Hazel vowed to never use this fighting mode for too long again.

That was very ironic, considering that his current form was his true original form.

Hazel reduced his speed as he began to see some debris from walls scattered around him. He walked slowly down the street only to be greeted with a scene of utter devastation. As the centerpiece of the pile of rubble, Ezigio lay weakly, he can say that he was dying right now. Hazel had previously been worried about his condition, but now he relaxed a little after seeing that the boy was still alive. He carefully climbed the pile to prevent it from collapsing, one careless step and the boy would die.

After a few moments of struggling with his own body, Hazel crossed over to Ezigio and descended safely. As usual, due to his unfamiliarity with the strange shape of his hands, he almost dropped Ezigio several times. Once Hazel reached the bottom, he searched for a safe place that he felt was suitable to perform his operation.

"Hello? Are you still alive, child?"

"...."

There was no reply, as one would expect from someone whose lungs were crushed. The blow Hazel delivered was devastating. There was a huge hole in his chest, both his arms and legs were brutally ripped out of place, and the only thing still intact from this kid was his face.

He's not worried as much as earlier, this kid was though.

After all, it wasn't a full-scale attack.

Why was he still alive? Those were the first words that would come out of the mouths of people who saw his current condition. The answer to that question is very simple, he is not a human anymore. This child has two hearts, one of which is the main heart that regulates the flow of energy in his body, and the other is a heart that, just like any other human, pumps blood throughout his body. Since the child has so many artificial organ implants in his body, it makes him a very high vitality compared to humans.

However, upon further observation, Hazel realized that he had damaged the other heart. It's kinda unnerving that he was still able to survive.

"You know son, you're the most stubborn person I've ever known. Seriously, what person would make a deal with the same person who just taught them so much? Do they think in their heads, if they fight the same person twice then they will win? I don't think so."

'I even had to use that makeshift weapon to stop this kid.'

The Frozen Disk was one of the secret weapons that were rarely used by him. It could only be used by him, by absorbing it he could gain the disk's ability. It could inflict an effect of absolute paralysis on a target just by touch. It was a very expensive and time-consuming item to make, which was also another reason why Hazel rarely used it.

"A-a..."

Only a mumbling sound came out of his mouth, Ezigio endured the pain he felt with all his might. His current condition reminded Hazel of fish coming out of the water, only able to flop around as they began to die from suffocation.

"I appreciate your efforts, analyzing that first battle and planning a counterattack afterward. But... do you know why you're losing now?"

"...."

There was no reply, but Hazel felt as if he saw the boy shaking his head.

"Meh, no particular reason. It's just that for one thing, you're too much of an asshole."

With that, Hazel grabbed Ezigio's face and immediately tore his skin brutally. Ezigio, who could barely move at all, was only tormented by the pain. If he could cry and scream, he would do so at the top of his lungs right now.

"You should stop talking like a jerk. Stop talking about other people's families, especially if you never had them..." He said in disgust, leaving the dying and tormented Ezigio alone.

"From now onwards, I will give you a chance to improve yourself. Tomorrow, come to the Ever Drag-on Guild. Tell the receptionist this code, 'PejoeKoeda.'" He explained hurriedly, doing this out of compassion for his comrade's son.

However, he was not the type to torture people to death, especially if he had no intention of killing the child. Hazel spat on the surrounding area with his hot saliva, it would be his version of an SOS sign. He knew that the boy would still be alive, considering how stubborn he was. But just in case, he also placed some of his concocted healing potions near his body.

His saliva is more than enough to make weak monsters stay away from him.

"Ah... I guess I really will retire after this. It would be nice if I-"

"Hello, sir."

A somewhat familiar voice instantly sent goosebumps all over his body for no reason. He looked back and found the yellow butler he had met before. But this time, there was something slightly off about his presence.

"What are you doing here? I will never sign that petition, ever!!!" He snarled with churning emotions. The bad memory of his previous encounter made him nauseous whenever he recalled it.

"Take it easy, Mr. Hazel. That paper is just our little joke. We just wanted to get your signature of approval. There's nothing suspicious about it, is there?" Replying coldly, he handed him one more piece of paper.

"You must sign the contract, Mr. Hazel. Even if you don't want to sign the contract, we will continue to force you to do so." He explained in a cold tone, everything about this butler made Hazel's instincts flare up.

"Force? Are you forcing people to attend your banquet events? Why is that, I don't recall it working like that?" He asked suspiciously, he could have refused him by force and used violence instead.

But for now, his instinct told him otherwise. It told him to run away as fast as he could.

"There is nothing unusual about the way we invite guests, Mr. Hazel. It's just that this is a tradition of our family. From long ago, we always kidnapped people and forced the chosen ones to join us. Afterward, we will have a banquet to celebrate."

It was a statement full of question marks, but somehow it felt very convincing to him. There was something in his heart that forced him to believe him, and it went against his instincts.

"Is that so? Then don't bother to kidnap me. I'll come no matter what." Hazel, who was darkened by his gluttony, signed the contract without hesitation. He had already read the contract back and forth, it only read the agreement that guests were not allowed to leave the banquet as long as the event was not over.

"Thank you very much for your cooperation, Mr. Hazel... this way, your destiny is sealed." He said quietly, and instantly the scroll burned to ashes.

"Yes yes, my destiny is... wait, what, what does that mean my destiny is sealed?"

The butler disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving gold dust everywhere. Then, a yellow portal not much bigger than him appeared behind him. The panicked Hazel automatically jumped away from the portal. However, he became even more hysterical as tendrils made of yellow gems shot out from the portal. Each one of those tendrils pierced his body with great ease, and the worst part was the fact that they were multiplying every second. Hazel tried to force himself free, but all his efforts were in vain as the tendrils were indestructible.

Realizing he was getting entangled and starting to be dragged into the portal, Hazel did everything he could to escape. He tried to bite it, tear it, punch it, and use his shockwave. However, no matter what he did, all his energy would be sucked away by the tendrils.

Nothing worked, he was finished.

"No, this is impossible... NO!!!"

Never in his life did he think he would die like this.

With that, he was dragged into the portal so cruelly. Leaving Ezigio terrified of the horror he had just witnessed.

****

Darkness...

There is nothing but infinite eternal darkness.

That's what I thought until it appeared before me, something that could be called a celestial being. It's just a gigantic yellow crystal giant eyeball staring at you with an aura of fiery judgment.

There's nothing strange about that... is there?

"Are you awake?"

No, this is a dream, isn't it?

No matter all the weird things I've experienced in my life, this is something different. It's like you live your life every day, then the next day you die.

I know that's a bad analogy, but that's how hard I can explain this moment. I mean, what would you do if you were trapped in an endless void with a giant crystal eyeball?

True, normally we would panic... but this time I would cry.

"Thank you for participating in the banquet that will be held soon. Before we proceed with the procedure, it would be best if you calmed yourself down first."

I knew he was talking, but there was no sound coming into my ears. It spoke directly into my brain, no sound was projected. However, that thing did not have a mouth from the start. So this should be a natural thing, but not for me.

"How about this? Are you more comfortable with this?"

It was the same voice as before, a heavy voice full of the authority of a leader...

Shit.

But at least it was better than the tense silence.

I tried to move my limbs, but there was nothing unusual other than the fact that I couldn't see them. I didn't feel numb, it was just that being in a vacuum made me feel that way. Besides, my mind didn't bother to process the amount of information, it was too much to absorb.

"Who are you, where am I?"

Use polite language, we don't want to be cursed by a celestial being just because of trivial things. For example, the fact that he can read minds easily.

"Who am I? For now, you don't need to know. Besides, we don't have much time to spend."

"Don't have much time?"

Now that he brought it up, I think I'm currently still in fighting mode. No matter how much I try to ignore the pain, it will only kick my head harder than before. The tearing sensation that was typical whenever I used this form, slowly began to worsen. I could hear my bones being cracked and forcefully rearranged in this frenzy of mutation madness.

Why…

Is this thing painful?

Only a real man can endure this pain.

Wait...

No

No man can stay sane if they feel how bad this feels. What would you do if all your bones, muscles, flesh, and internal organs were forcibly stretched simultaneously?

Scream out in pain.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Does screaming hysterically help? Not really, but it does distract you a bit from this nonsense.

It goes on and on for minutes. Seconds? Hours? I don't know... I lost count when the sensation crashed into my head just like that.

This self-consciousness... slowly began to blur.

Am I going to die?

If yes, then please do it gently... if not, then I'll be damned.

"I don't want to die-"

****

"W-was... what was that?!"

A rather feminine screaming voice that was somewhat hoarse, held out in the endless void. From what was previously just darkness, it now turned into a small cabin room. There was only a giant yellow crystal eyeball and Hazel inside.

"Are you done?"

"Done? What's done?!!!" He shouted in confusion, it took a while for him to realize what was wrong with him.

First was his voice, it was a rather deep but melodious voice that was also feminine. The second was his body, unlike before, he felt that his body now felt very light. The third was his body shape, he felt his body shape and realized that he was still in his original form.

'The pain is still here.'

"Here, use this mirror." The eyeball was offered to him kindly. Hazel was still a little dazed by what was happening to him, the attention the eyeball gave him only made him more panicked.

The mirror in question was a metal plate that reflected his reflection very clearly. There he could see that his form hadn't changed too much, except...

"Wh-what the hell!!! Why do I look like this, what are you doing to me!!!"

He has turned into a female.

Her current form was no different from the previous one, that is if you ignored her curves that resembled a woman. At first, she thought that this was just a joke made by celestial beings to mortals like her, but after thinking about it she felt that her thinking was wrong.

Her face was now the same, instead of a hideous face with no eyes and a wide jaw full of canines. It now looked like the face of an expressionless innocent girl, like a cute doll. Overall, her body was still as full as before. It was just that it was reduced to a slim body, her muscular body that she had always been proud of had disappeared completely. But the most important thing is, it's not there.

It's gone, reduced into atoms.

Or worse, turned into something else.

Disgust, fear, confusion, and nausea began to appear one by one in her heart. Immediately, Hazel punched the mirror with great force. She expected it to shatter into pieces, but in fact, it was still intact and only pushed back slightly.

It stood firmly, taking itself as proof that reality could not be changed.

"Why, what happened, what HAPPENED!!!?"

"Shut up."

"Why did I become like this? Did I just do something despicable?!!! I'm a deviant!!? Did I-"

"Shut up."

A pair of large palms tightly locked Hazel's fussy mouth. While one of them locked Hazel's mouth, the other palm tried to calm her down by gently stroking her head. After a while, Hazel finally stopped resisting and cowered in fear in the giant hand.

"No need to worry, buddy. I'll explain it slowly, so you can understand it easily." He explained in a gentle tone.

"What... is going on with me? Why do I look like this?"

"That's easy, you're fucked up."