Interstellar Beast Master-Chapter 16: Unshakable! II

Big Mom.

A titan of a woman.

When she stepped out, she raised a massive hammer glowing with streaks of purple black light.

Cheers and roars erupted from the audience packed around the arena, some screaming at the top of their lungs.

"You can hug me to death if you want, Big Mom!"

"Mom! Mom! Mom!"

The voices were chaotic and overwhelming, drowning out any applause Damian might've gotten.

His gaze remained calm as he studied the heavy hammer in Big Mom's hands.

Yeah. He'd really prefer not to get hit by that.

Not even with the augmentations Kitsuul had given him did he want to test just how thick his skin was now.

The little beast on his shoulder? She was staring up at the towering woman in awe, then glanced at the other women in the crowd and compared, and eventually, she shook her head like as if saying- nope!

In the middle of the rising noise, as Big Mom stomped into the arena, the voice of the Hostile Arena Operator crackled to life.

"Now, now—we know this matchup might not seem fair. I mean, who expects the glorious Big Mom to do anything other than squash Little Therion like a bug, right? So, to make things a bit more exciting—and let you addicted freaks bet even harder—the stakes have been raised to TEN! Whoever wins gets their current Credit Wins multiplied by ten, not three! And the odds on bets have been adjusted accordingly!"

...!

The announcer's voice was sharp and filled with gleeful malice. A new roar surged through the arena, louder than before.

Damian didn't need to turn around to know Anastasia's eyes were shining like crazy. She'd probably bet every last coin she had on him with those new odds.

She had to.

If he didn't win, he was dead—and everything they'd come here for would be dust.

"Ladies and gentlenuts, ARE. YOU. ENTERTAINED?!"

HAO's voice boomed as drones zipped wildly above the arena. Big Mom stepped fully into view.

Damian tuned out the noise, focusing only on her.

Her Multi-Optic Scanner Unit overlapped her pupils—her eyes glowed red. With that implant, she had thermal vision, night vision, facial recognition...probably more.

Her forearms were thick, massive, and housed piston boosters for brutal melee strikes.

This towering woman was coming right for him.

Her crimson eyes sparked with electricity as she rumbled through the noise:

"Little boy, come to Mommy..."

Her eyes shimmered with menace as her thick, piston-reinforced arms looked ready to crush anything in her path.

And that hammer? Enough to fold a car!

Damian looked at the whole package and very calmly decided that being within meters of her was a terrible idea.

He steadied his heart.

Reminded himself why he was here.

Why he couldn't lose.

He still had to make sure a certain person died—the one who took his wife away and left him drowning in this endless dread and fury.

That thought hardened his gaze.

He gripped the spear in his right hand and spoke to Kitsuul in his mind.

"Can you give me a big strength boost? Just like before?"

The little beast blinked, then nodded.

Energy bubbled in his body as her six tails pulsed with light.

He really didn't want to be anywhere near the incoming 1,200 pounds of reinforced steel as he planned to-...!

VOOM!

As if someone flipped an engine switch, Big Mom surged forward with unreal speed—speed that absolutely did not match her size or cybernetic frame.

Somehow, she was already in front of him before he could react. Her massive hammer thundered down, pistons in her arms churning and pulsing. The hammer left a trail of purple light as it crashed down to smash him to pieces!

...!

Brutal. Merciless.

Big Mom wasn't here to play games as that swing was meant to kill!

The hammer was as big as Damian. It loomed like a steel cloud above him—then came crashing down.

In that life-or-death moment, his blood ignited. The furry little beast on his shoulder had her tails flash with silver light as she let out a piercing little roar.

And suddenly...he felt light.

Feather-light.

He took a single step to the left and—

BOOM!

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Big Mom's hammer slammed into steel—not flesh and bone.

Because of how light he felt, that one step had pulled him just inches outside the hammer's path. He watched the reinforced arena floor dent—then shatter.

BZZT!

Purple light. Gears grinding. Pistons firing.

His mind screamed at him, working in overdrive.

Even while steam hissed from Big Mom's monstrous form, he had just enough clarity to act.

He swung his spear with every ounce of strength in his right hand, aiming for her nearest massive arm—the one gripping the hammer that had nearly flattened him.

A flash of red and purple.

CLANG!

Something heavy hit the floor.

A massive arm, pistons buzzing...was half-cut.

At its end was a hand still clutching the hammer.

Damian's strike had cleaved through steel, bone, and muscle.

The whole thing had to be a meter thick.

Silence fell across the amphitheater.

Even the annoying voice of the arena operator cut off, mid-word.

Big Mom stared at the stump of her severed arm.

Her crimson eyes flared.

Her jaw opened with a thunderous roar as her remaining hand lunged at him—intent on crushing him into meat paste.

But Damian's mind was a storm of strategy and raw survival.

He couldn't die.

Not yet.

Not until the man who took his wife was dead at his feet, blood pouring from his body.

So his other hand moved.

Fueled by the strength of his Interstellar Beast, he raised his shield just in time to meet Big Mom's piston-powered punch—

While his spear whipped in a clean, horizontal arc aimed right at the neck connecting her massive head to her equally massive body.

BOOM!

His shield met her blow.

The impact sent fractures spiraling across the metal.

SAA!

The spear met synthetic fiber and dense flesh...

And then sliced through.

Time felt like it froze.

One second later...

Her massive head, locked in a look of fury, shock, and horror...slid off her neck and hit the floor!