Doomsday Gluttony: I Level Up by Eating

Chapter 9

Ryatt’s POV

The air in the plaza tasted like copper and pulverized stone. Easton lay in the dirt, his pride leaking out of him in dark, rhythmic spurts, while the gargoyle loomed over him like a monument to his failure. It was time. If I waited any longer, the creature might finish him and find a second wind, or worse, Easton might somehow wiggle out of the grave he’d dug for himself.

"Hey! Over here, you overgrown lawn ornament!" I shouted, my voice cutting through the heavy silence of the ruins.

The gargoyle’s head snapped toward me, its neck grinding like tectonic plates. Before it could react, I was moving. I didn't have Easton’s bronze light or Miller’s brute strength, but I had the Master Firearm Proficiency burning in my mind and a body that didn't feel like it was dying for the first time in years.

I lunged forward, closing the distance while its focus was split. I didn't use the rifle—not yet. I swung a heavy piece of reinforced rebar I’d scavenged, channeling every ounce of my new strength into a two-handed strike.

CRACK.

The metal slammed into the creature’s wounded side, right where the fissures were glowing dimmest. A spray of black ichor hissed against the hot metal. The gargoyle let out a screech that rattled my teeth, stumbling back a full three paces.

"Yeah, that hurt, didn't it?" I spat, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Look at me, you bastard. I’m the one you should be worried about."

The creature’s glowing red eyes locked onto mine. It forgot about the broken man at its feet. I had its full, undivided attention now. It crouched low, its wings flared out in a tattered, threatening arc, and let out a low, guttural growl that vibrated in my chest.

"Ryatt?" Easton’s voice was a wet wheeze from the ground. "You... you stayed? Help me... get me out of here and I’ll... I’ll make you a lieutenant..."

"Shut up, Easton," I snapped, never taking my eyes off the beast. "You’re not in charge of anything anymore."

The gargoyle charged.

It was fast, but not the blurring speed it had shown at the start of the night. It limped. Its left wing dragged, leaving a trail of filth on the pavement. I stepped to the side, feeling the rush of air as its claws whistled past my throat.

"Too slow!" I taunted, pivoting on my heel.

I brought the rebar down across its snout as it overextended. The sound of stone splintering was the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard. The creature swiped blindly, a desperate, wide arc that I easily ducked under.

"Is this all the 'Zone Boss' has left?" I asked, my voice tight with adrenaline. "Easton’s team really did a number on you. You’re practically falling apart."

The creature lunged again, snapping its jaws inches from my shoulder. I felt the heat radiating from its throat. I punched upward, the metal rod catching it under the jaw, forcing its head back. I could see the cracks in its hide widening with every movement. It was a war of attrition now, and I was the only one with fresh lungs.

"Ryatt, listen to me!" Easton called out, his voice stronger now, laced with a frantic edge. "Keep it busy! Just hold it there! I can... I can get to the perimeter!"

I glanced toward him for a split second. Easton was shivering, pushing himself up on his elbows. He wasn't looking for a weapon. He wasn't looking to help. His eyes were darting toward the alleyway, the coward’s exit.

"You’re going to run?" I yelled, dodging a heavy tail-swipe that shattered a nearby concrete pillar. "After leading your people into a meat grinder, you’re just going to leave?"

"They’re dead anyway!" Easton screamed back, his face contorted in a mask of desperation. "I’m the one who matters! I have the gift! I can rebuild! Just keep it occupied for ten more seconds!"

He didn't wait for an answer. With a pained grunt, Easton scrambled to his feet. He stumbled, his legs nearly giving out, but the terror gave him a final burst of speed. He turned his back on the fight and bolted toward the shadows of the crumbling buildings.

"You coward!" I shouted.

The gargoyle’s ears—or whatever those jagged growths were—twitched. It heard the retreating footsteps. It saw the motion. In its predatory mind, a fleeing target was an easy target.

The beast didn't even look at me as it coiled its powerful, wounded legs. 

"Easton, stop!" I yelled, though I didn't move to intercept.

The gargoyle launched. It was a clumsy, heavy leap, but it covered the distance in a heartbeat. Easton looked back over his shoulder, his eyes widening until the whites showed all the way around.

"No! Get away! RYATT, HELP ME!" Easton shrieked.

The gargoyle’s weight slammed into Easton’s back, driving him face-first into the jagged ruins of a storefront. I watched, frozen for a second, as the creature’s massive claws sank into Easton’s shoulders. The Captain let out one final, high-pitched scream that ended in a sickening, wet crunch as the gargoyle brought its weight down, crushing his chest into the pavement.

The bronze light that had defined him flickered one last time and then extinguished. Easton’s body went limp, his head lolling to the side, eyes staring blankly at the dirt he thought he was too good for.

"Well," I whispered, my grip tightening on the rebar. "So much for the Captain."

The man who had tried to treat me like a disposable tool, who had planned to let me rot while he ascended, was finally a corpse. But I couldn't celebrate yet. The gargoyle was hunched over him, its back turned to me, its breathing coming in ragged, wet bursts. It was distracted. It was tired. It was mine.

"Hey!" I barked, sprinting forward.

The creature tried to spin around, but its movements were heavy and sluggish. It tried to lift its claws, to defend the kill it had just made, but it was too late. I didn't give it a chance to reset.

"This is for the 'weak' survivors!" I roared.

I swung the rebar with everything I had, aiming for the massive, pulsing crack in its chest where Easton had landed his last hit. The metal drove deep into the glowing fissure. The gargoyle let out a strangled, gurgling cry, its wings flapping uselessly against the ground.

I pulled the rod out and jammed it in again, and again, screaming with the effort. 

"Die! Just die already!" 

With one final, desperate thrust, I felt something inside the creature shatter. A burst of cold, dark energy erupted from the wound, throwing me back several feet. The gargoyle stood tall for a second, its stone limbs trembling, before it collapsed forward, hitting the ground with a thud that shook the entire plaza.

Silence rushed back into the area, heavy and suffocating.

I stayed on the ground for a long time, my chest heaving, gasping for air that didn't feel like it was burning my lungs anymore. My hands were shaking, coated in a mixture of black ichor and grime. I stared at the massive, unmoving heap of stone and flesh. 

I did it. I actually did it.

A translucent red light flickered in the corner of my vision.

[NOTIFICATION: ZONE BOSS DEFEATED.]

[LEVEL UP!]

[OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: SURVIVE THE INITIAL COLLAPSE.]

The words hung in the air, glowing with an eerie, triumphant light. I had won. I was alive, and the man who had threatened me was gone.

I pushed myself up, my muscles aching but feeling strangely revitalized. I looked at the gargoyle’s corpse. The system had given me the notification, but I knew how this worked now. The real prize wasn't a floating message. It was hidden inside that hulking, twisted frame, waiting for me to take it.