Divine Heritage: Only I Can Judge The gods-Chapter 15: Beast in the Winter

'Maybe I actually need a taste because what the hell is this?!'

It was hard to describe what Ark was seeing. The monster in front of him was gargantuan, standing at an enormous 8 feet tall, its eyes protruded slightly out of its skull and its claws resembled sharpened knives, gleaming even in the dark cave.

But that was not the only weird thing about this monster.

It had a thick furry coat, probably an adaptation to the cold but it did not resemble any monster Ark knew of.

Instead, it was like a combination of many.

It had the snout of a polar bear, a body that was as straight as an eraser, and eyes that looked better fitted for the skull of an owl.

And of course... webbed feet.

Platypus-like feet to be exact.

There was nothing natural about it and yet Ark could not tell if it was an apocalypse beast or a weird natural abomination.

The creature let out its low guttural growl, it had not attacked. It was simply watching him, as though it was trying to determine if he was a predator or dinner.

'Maybe it is blind?'

Ark tried silently moving to the side but the creature's eyes followed his every movement.

'Nope, definitely not blind!'

Ark slowly pulled his sword out of its sheath, but just as the entire sword was revealed, the beast lunged at him, Its claws outstretched as though to pull him to a bone crushing bear hug.

Ark had already clumsily dodged to the side. He quickly steadied himself and held the blade up.

Just like most things Ark carried, the blade felt light in his hands, he did not need to use both hands to support it so he pulled out his dagger as well.

He had never handled a sword before but it couldn't be that difficult right? Just brace and swing... that was all that occupied his mind.

He could try to run for it but something told Ark that this creature was very proficient in the snow...

Not only would seeing the creature be hard, but he would also be fighting against the cold as well.

He had to somehow drive the beast out of the cave.

With a mighty thrust, the beast's adamantium claws collided with the blade causing his bones to rattle.

But there was one thing he discovered, the beast was not much stronger than him... in fact, he could bet that he was stronger.

Strength alone was not going to get him out of this though, he was severely underweight, meaning—

As the beast struck once, swiping from underneath, Ark had placed the sword in time but he was suddenly tossed into the air.

His head bumped against the cave ceiling just before he fell clumsily.

'Noted, that is a horrible way to block...'

Even if he had inhumane strength, the beast could still easily toss him around due to their weight difference.

Ark took a step back and then rushed forward, his body bent slightly, managing to evade a forward swipe that would have normally ripped his flesh open.

Once he got close enough to the beast he swung the steel blade forward managing to cut slightly into the creature's hide, and yet—

There was no blood, Ark had made no contact with flesh simply because he had underestimated how thick its coat was.

The creature let out a growl, the sound reverberating round the cave walls and producing eerie echoes.

Ark felt the blood pumping round his body, his heart was beating fast and the constant thumping felt like multiple tiny drummers were having their field time in his ears.

His breathing was slightly elevated.

His eyes locked on the beast, he was calculating, watching and anticipating its next move.

Strangely, it felt good!

He had always spoken of how he would do anything to leave his current situation and yet there had been little chance to prove himself.

Now that he faced death one on one, his actions would prove if he was really driven enough to succeed.

To him, this was a test.

The Snow beast barreled forward with both arms outstretched, it balled its fingers into a fist, retracting its claws and then threw itself at Ark.

Like a boxer, the beast launched blow after blow with Ark only managing to escape by the skin of his teeth.

Soon, there was nowhere else to go, he had reached the end of the cave.

The creature extended its claws...

Boom!

The wall behind him was caved open and multiple cracks spread through the wall. The creature had lodged its claw into it and was now desperately trying to pull its claw out.

With the Ark right in front of it.

He could feel its hot breath wash against his face, if he reached forward he would feel its thick fur.

Using the momentary distraction he rolled to the side just as its other claw dug into the wall, nearly taking his head off.

He was now at the back of the creature and had only a few seconds before it would be free.

He returned the dagger to its shears and swiftly held onto his sword with both hands.

'Brace and swing...'

He quickly lifted the sword high up, and then summoning everything he had, Ark struck forward.

A rush of air whispered past his ears as his legs left the ground. At that point all his muscles were drawn taunt, each one pushing to cause utter carnage.

There was the nerve racking whistle of metal cutting through air as he pushed his body to move even faster, to apply even more deadly force.

Whoosh!

He had not realized that he closed his eyes when he struck, a rookie mistake. But when he opened them, the right arm of the beast lay on the floor, a bloody stump.

"Yes!"

"Shit—"

The creature let out an earth shaking screech, its voice a vile mix of bear, owl and something else in between.

Ark was momentarily disoriented.

The claw flew out of the cave seconds later like a whip, blurring as it cut through the distance between them.

There was nothing Ark could have done to avoid its blow.

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Boom!

His body collided against the cave wall with frightening force, his legs gave out and he slumped to the floor.

He let out a shaky breath, it felt as though he had been hit by a truck.

His legs felt light from the pain and his back was throbbing sharply, yet he had to move.

But he found no strength to do so, he had to catch his breath first.

Ark felt something warm slide underneath his shirt but did not have the courage to look, instead he kept his eyes on the beast.

The clean white fur of the snow beast had been stained red with blood and its shoulder was bleeding profusely, each second draining its life away.

Then something strange happened...

Its body vibrated suddenly with such intensity, its fur pulsing from the turbulence.

It reminded Ark of the way wet dogs would often dry themselves but on a far greater scale.

The snow beast was in no hurry to finish him off, instead, it continued, shaking as though dancing to some occultic beat.

Realization was slowly setting in for Ark, chances were that he could not beat this creature, he had not awakened and as such was lacking the natural strength they had.

The creature was also far larger than him and was supremely adapted to the weather condition.

There was only one logical choice—run.

And so he did.