Chapter 13: The Brutal Purple-Eyed Mystic Rats

Within an instant, lightning-fast thoughts whirled through Odin's mind as he stared down at the purple-eyed giant rat.

In the prophetic vision, he'd witnessed immensely powerful undying zombies and fiendish beasts destroying human civilization within a year of the apocalypse. A prominent bunch within the ranks of those monsters was a group of four rat emperors.

Whenever the beasts attacked humans, the group of rats would appear mysteriously in the epicenter of cities before starting a grand feast of slaughter. Not even the high walls and the fortified defenses could stop their advance due to their bizarre meta-powers. They were definitely among the most troublesome monsters Odin had witnessed in the vision.

"Screeeeech..."

The giant white rat suddenly squeaked loudly, breaking Odin out of his moment of reverie. Its beady purple eyes glanced left and right as if it was assessing the occupants of the living room. Then it seemed to come to a decision, and its fierce gaze zeroed in on Odin, who was closest to it.

Danger!

The sharp, fierce glare seemed to contain a mysterious power that chilled Odin down to the spine. His heart started pounding so hard as if about to burst out of his chest. At that moment, he knew that he had to act immediately as the rat seemed to have chosen him as its first target. Otherwise, he might meet his maker right there and then.

"Aunt Lucy, step back now!"

He pushed his adoptive mother away before picking up one of the smaller wooden side tables beside a nearby sofa. He noticed the feds standing up out of the corner of his eyes. But he didn't spare them any attention. Nothing else was on his mind at that moment, aside from how to neutralize the threat before him.

"Screeeeech..."

The rat squeaked again, rapping its front limbs on the oak floor. With a slight sway of its body, it then bounded forward like a white flash.

Whoosh!

Everything happened in what seemed like an instant, and Odin saw the three-eyed monster appear before him. Its ferocious jaws were wide open, showcasing the gleaming four sharp incisors that lined the front of its mouth. They flashed forward with a savage and menacing impetus, bringing forth a blast of pungent air that immediately assaulted Odin's senses.

"Damn!"

Odin's yelled out loud as all his muscles grew tense. While breathing in, he swung the small wooden table down at the approaching rat with all the strength he could muster. Time seemed to slow down as his improved dexterity exploded to generate a fierce wind with the swing.

"BANG!"

It was a home run hit. The table collided straight-on with the head of the giant rat, pushing it a few yards back. However, Odin felt his arms grow numb from the sheer rebound generated by the impact. An even more frustrating fact was that the small table had splintered into three pieces.

"Odin! Are you okay?"

Aunt Lucy's worried voice sounded from behind him. However, he couldn't spare her any attention. The giant rat's ferociousness hadn't lessened even after taking a hit to the head. Once again, it rushed towards him before he could take a breather.

Another smashing sound reverberated the next moment as a piece of the small wooden table collided with the rat. Odin had again managed to intercept its charge by relying on his incredibly-fast reactions. But he understood that he couldn't last long as his arms were already sore.

"Beast!"

Suddenly, the taller fed went into action and pointed his gun at the giant rat. His eyes exuded an intense chill as he rushed toward the mutated rodent with steady steps.

"Screeeeech..."

The rat reacted by squeaking loudly before turning its beady gaze towards the FBI agent. Its three purple eyes glowed brighter while its silky white fur started oozing with an ethereal luster. Then, just suddenly, its silhouette vanished from the space before Odin as the sound of a gunshot thundered across the house.

"What the fuck?"

Odin gasped as his eyes widened with surprise. He was sure that the giant rat had teleported away right before the fed fired his gun. The monster had freaking spatial powers, and that's why it'd mysteriously appeared in the house. But where had it teleported to that time around? Odin's mind filled with questions as he tried to suppress his dread.

"Aaahhh!"

A stifled groan soon resounded across the living room, clarifying his doubts. He hastily pivoted his gaze onto the FBI Agent, and what he witnessed chilled him to the bones.

The giant rat had teleported beside the fed before sinking its sharp incisors into the arm that held the gun. With a single chomp, it nipped off the arm from the elbow, going down.

However, its brutal actions didn't stop at that. It seemed to have gone completely berserk and continued wrestling the injured FBI agent until it threw him to the floor.

Before his colleague could run forward to help, it again plunged its sharp teeth into the soft tissue of his neck and gave a vicious tug. What followed was blood spewing out of the open wound like a geyser before staining the woolen carpet in the living room.

"Beast! Go die!"

The shorter FBI Agent growled as he fired his gun at the fiendish rat covered in his partner's blood. His semi-automatic service weapon spewed forth two bullets within an instant that flashed forward like streaks of lightning tearing through the void.

"Screeeeech..."

The next moment, the giant rat screeched in agony when one of the bullets found its mark. It'd tried to dodge to one side but failed due to the sheer velocity of the bullet. All its efforts had been fruitless, and the powerful shot had eventually punctured its abdomen.

"BANG! BANG!"

Two more gunshots sounded as the FBI agent tried to take down the three-eyed creature. However, none of his shots hit home as the rodent had already teleported beside him.

Although it was seriously injured, it was still as fierce as before. Without allowing the man any time to fire the third shot, it opened its maw wide and sank its incisors into his neck. The single bite was so powerful that it sent the head rolling like a soccer ball on the cold floor.

Madness!

Two FBI agents were dead.

Violent shudders ran wild through Odin's body as he watched the gory spectacle that seemed to have transpired in only an instant. But he forced himself to calm down the next moment before racing towards the dropped service weapon of the first agent.

"Odin! Don't go! It's dangerous."

Aunt Lucy's trembling voice sounded. However, Odin gave it no notice. Time was of the essence as he had to get his hands on a weapon. Otherwise, he would perish that very day with all his close ones.

"Screeeeech..."

The rat discarded the agent's bloodied corpse and let out another squeak after it noticed his actions. However, that time around, Odin could tell that it was weaker. It seemed like the injury was affecting the three-eyed beast. But that didn't prevent it from teleporting right beside Odin's neck the next instant.

"Damn it!"

Odin let out a terrified shout and ducked to the side. The creature flashed towards him repeatedly for the next few seconds, giving him no time to rest. But each time, he managed to evade the menacing jaws of the rodent with simple motions. He was amazed as the simple movements of his body allowed him to escape the ferocious chomps of the rodent time after time.

Odin grew more confident as his improved dexterity was working wonders. His actions became more refined and swifter as he repeatedly avoided and sidestepped the relentless attacks of the freakish rodent. Soon, he covered the six or so yards before picking up the service weapon from the floor.

But by then, the giant rat had grown listless, especially after expending a lot of energy on its repeated assaults on Odin. Moreover, its injury seemed to be acting up. It just lay there—motionless on the floor, letting out agonized hisses. It was clearly on its last legs.

Odin didn't show any mercy. He stepped forward and pointed the Glock semi-automatic pistol at the head of the giant rat. With repeated slight tugs at the trigger, he fired three bullets from point-blank range to shatter its skull. The giant rat which had killed the two feds was finally dead.

However, Odin wasn't happy as the Origin Order's E-grade mission was far from complete. He had to kill two more purple-eyed mystic rats before averting the threat. So, he couldn't relax his vigilance since the beasts could appear the next moment.

"Aunt Lucy..."

Odin was about to step forward and console his adoptive mother, who was obviously terrified out of her senses. But just then, glowing lines of dark red text once again manifested before him without warning. So, he could only stop in his tracks for a second or two while glancing at the notifications.

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[Killed One Pseudo-Type-I Creature]

[Origin Points +5, Current Origin Points: 5/20]

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[Special Core Meta-Genes beneficial to Host detected within the body of the slain creature]

[Whether to absorb??]

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