CHAPTER 72: METEORBORN RAVAGER (MRAVAGER)

The warehouse air was thick with gunpowder, blood, and panic.

Theo stepped deeper into the shadows just as a figure stumbled from behind a stack of crates. It was a man dressed in a torn security guard uniform, blood soaking through his shirt. His face was pale, eyes wide with fear, one hand pressed tightly over a gruesome wound on his neck.

"You-! You have to run," the guard gasped, staggering forward. "Thieves, they broke in, somebody mutated. It-"

He didn’t finish. As he tried to pass Theo, a hand suddenly shot out and grabbed his arm, halting him. The guard flinched in confusion. But when he looked up, the expression on Theo’s face wasn’t concern. It was... a smile.

A small, crooked smile.

One of Theo’s eyes gleamed faintly gold.

The grip tightened.

Theo leaned in, eyes on the chunk of torn flesh at the guard’s neck. His voice dropped to a low, calm murmur that felt too casual, too collected for the situation. "...and you’re already infected, buddy."

The guard’s breath hitched. "W-What?"

Theo’s smile widened.

"Sorry, but you must die now. Allowing you to go outside would risk the infection spreading to other areas. We can’t have that."

The man opened his mouth, whether to plead or argue, Theo didn’t care.

Without another word, Theo gripped the man’s collar and slammed his head against the metal wall with brutal force.

Once. Twice.

A sickening crack silenced everything. Blood smeared across the steel.

Theo let the body drop. His voice was soft as he looked down.

"...Better to die as a human, right? Before you become a monster."

"You wouldn’t want that. Like our dear Kael... though Kael was at least a UMS, so I was able to salvage the meteorite core inside him through experimental conversion. Too bad you don’t have one. Not really my fault..."

He turned away without remorse, golden eye flickering. Inside his mind, the dark system purred. "Efficiency. Precision. Supremacy.

Theo walked on, deeper into the warehouse, toward the chaos. And this time, he didn’t feel the need to question anything at all.

"Now..." he murmured, voice low, almost gleeful, "...let’s see how many rewards and bonuses we can get here."

His fingers twitched at his sides, anticipation buzzing through his veins. The golden glow in his eye pulsed once, sharper.

Theo’s boots echoed softly as he entered the warehouse. He could hear shouting, someone barking orders, another voice cursing in pain. Gunfire rang out again, this time closer. Followed by a deep, guttural snarl that didn’t sound human.

His smile widened.

"Six UMS," he whispered, as if savouring the words. "And one MRavager."

The MRavager, a grotesque, mutated hulk of muscle and bone, staggered, one leg barely hanging on. Its core, still glowing faintly at its center mass, pulsed with unstable energy. The six UMS survivors, battered and bruised, circled it like vultures, determined to land the final blow.

Three of the UMS were critically wounded, one bleeding heavily from the gut, another dragging a mangled leg, and a third barely holding his weapon upright. The fourth had taken a shotgun blast to the ribs, probably from an unlucky dead guard at the corner who’d managed to get a shot in before dying.

Only two UMS remained capable of fighting at full strength.

Just as one raised his blade, desperate to land the final blow on the collapsing MRavager-

Click.

A sharp metallic sound echoed behind them. From the broken shadows, Theo stepped forward.

The emergency lights behind him flickered, casting his long silhouette across the floor. One of his eyes shimmered faintly gold, the other darkened, unreadable.

He began clapping slowly. A small, twisted grin curled at the corner of his lips.

"Ah... sorry to interrupt," he drawled, voice light, playful, but laced with something colder, something off.

The six UMS froze in confusion.

The MRavager wheezed, its oversized body staggering on unstable legs. The active meteorite core embedded in its chest pulsed erratically, seconds away from collapse.

Theo tilted his head as he walked forward casually, voice almost bored. "You all worked so hard... but this? This one’s mine."

He moved. In a flash, shadows whipped from his feet, launching him forward like a slingshot. The air cracked around him. Before anyone could blink-

Boom!

Theo’s fist, coated in a swirling black-violet aura, slammed directly into the MRavager’s chest.

CRACK.

The ribcage caved in.

SQUELCH.

The meteorite core ruptured as Theo’s arm plunged straight through flesh and bone.

The MRavager let out one last strangled roar then collapsed like a felled titan, eyes rolling back, twitching before going still.

The core, still faintly glowing in his bloodied hand, slowly turned into pure energy.

[Ding! MRavager with active meteorite core eliminated]

[EXP Gained: +10,000]

[Gold Coins Gained: +1,000]

[Initiating Meteorite Core Absorption...]

[Extraction Complete. New ability and power acquired.]

Theo blinked as his fingers trembled slightly, heat crawling up his veins, sinking into his bones. His breath hitched then steadied. A new sensation surged under his skin: raw speed, savage rhythm, a feral tempo.

[You have acquired: Ravager Stride Meteorcore]

Grants user burst-speed dashes and aggressive momentum in combat, enabling first strikes and increasing agility and power with each consecutive hit, evolving into a relentless predator state.

[New Mutation Powers Unlocked:]

Predator Rush

A burst movement ability that allows an explosive dash toward a locked target. Increases speed by 400% temporarily. Grants double strike damage if the target is bleeding, stunned, or infected.

Blood Tempo

A momentum-based passive combat boost. Every successful strike increases Agility and Ferocity for a short duration. Stacks up to 5 times. Resets if the user stays still or pauses between attacks

*

Theo let out a low chuckle, flicking off the monster’s blood from his hand. His golden eye shimmered brighter now. He looked back at the stunned UMS with a grin.

"Thanks for keeping him busy, gentlemen." He cracked his knuckles. "Now... who’s next?"

One of the injured UMS sneered, "Who the hell are you?"

Theo ignored him. His eyes lazily scanned the four barely standing UMS. He clicked his tongue. "Hmm... should I kill the four of you now?" he mused aloud.