OP: AMP Ch. 203

Marcus stared at the Goatman form the Shichiseiken had transformed into.

This had nothing to do with the original Goatman. That thing had been horrifying. You could've dropped it into a horror movie as the final boss and nobody would've questioned it.

But this?

The transformed Shichiseiken had facial proportions that were surprisingly... human. Big eyes, a perky nose bridge, small lips, and goat horns that actually looked kind of cute.

But the details were all wrong. Inside those big eyes were horizontal goat pupils. The nose was distinctly animal. And those small lips had tiny slits running through them. Every goat feature had been blended into human facial structure, creating something that was neither fully one nor the other.

And weirdly enough, it worked. There was an odd charm to it. But that was just the face. The body was almost completely human in shape, except it was covered entirely in white downy fur, like wearing a full-body wool sweater.

His first thought was that it looked like some kind of anime character design gone wrong. Or maybe right? He couldn't quite decide.

He shook his head, trying to clear the confusion. It wasn't that the form looked bad. The problem was that it definitely wasn't human anymore.

"What's wrong?"

Marcus looked at the Shichiseiken. "So this is your beast form?"

The Shichiseiken nodded, then looked down at her own body to examine herself. She couldn't see her feet when looking straight down, but when she bent forward to get a better angle. She tugged at the white fur covering her body.

"Why is my entire body covered in fur?" She picked up her sword form, using the jewel embedded in the blade as a mirror to examine her wooly appearance.

Her mouth fell open as she processed what she was seeing.

"I have a human shape but no human face!" The Shichiseiken's voice was filled with dismay.

"You think I'm ugly too, don't you? You regret it now, don't you?"

Tears began forming in her eyes.

"You're not ugly."

The Shichiseiken plopped down onto the cloud surface in a sulking crouch, tears streaming down her face. Against the white clouds, her snow-white form should've blended in. Instead, the clouds somehow looked dark compared to her wool.

"Actually, you kind of remind me of the Mink Tribe."

"The Mink Tribe?" The Shichiseiken's expression immediately soured as old memories surfaced. "Those dirty, smelly creatures?"

"You know them?" Marcus was surprised, though it made sense when he thought about it.

The Mink Tribe couldn't have always lived on Zunesha's back. During the Shichiseiken's time as an empress, she must've encountered them.

"To think I've become like those people..."

Her eyes went hollow, as if falling into self-loathing. Before Marcus could say anything to comfort her, she simply melted away, the transformation reversing until only the sword remained.

He scratched his head. He poked the sword, trying to reestablish communication.

Nothing. The Shichiseiken had completely shut down, going dark and unresponsive like a computer that had crashed.

He sighed. What a fragile ego.

He'd been planning to test whether the transformation came with any combat bonuses. After all, it was a Mythical Zoan, it should have some powerful abilities beyond just changing shape, right?

But now...

Whatever. There was plenty of time to figure it out later.

---

Meanwhile, on Shiki's flying islands, Indigo had successfully created another Goatman.

The creature went through the same developmental stages as the first: starting in a confused, dazed state before quickly turning violent and aggressive. It showed the same innate hostility toward living beings, emitting a shrill screech from its throat that echoed directly in the mind, triggering primal fear responses.

Those with weak willpower would freeze in place, unable to move. Those overwhelmed by terror would simply faint.

After being fed the corpses of people who'd died in earlier experiments, the Goatman grew stronger at an alarming rate.

But it didn't display that previous ability, the one where it suddenly emitted black aura all over its body and let out that roar that could plunge people into nightmares.

Even after consuming four bodies, that particular power never manifested.

Shiki raised an eyebrow, his floating form drifting closer to examine the creature. "You sure you followed the same procedure?"

Indigo scratched his head, equally confused. "There's no reason it shouldn't work the same way... unless it has to kill living people itself? Maybe the corpses don't trigger whatever mechanism unlocks that ability?"

Was this thing strong? If they were ranking the synthetic beasts by tier, Scarlet wasn't actually the strongest among them, but he sat comfortably around Tier 1.5.

The real powerhouses, the Tier 1 and Tier 0 creatures, were usually massive in size or possessed special abilities like electrical discharge.

Scarlet's position near the top came from its Beast Roar ability, which allowed it to command other beasts. Even Tier 1 and Tier 0 creatures would obey its orders.

As for this Goatman's strength after consuming four people, it was probably around Tier 1. If they kept feeding it, it might reach Tier 0. But compared to other beasts, if this were a human with a bounty... it'd be worth maybe 40 to 60 million berries at most.

Of course, how powerful it could become with feeding remained unknown.

But if it could achieve that nightmare-inducing form like the first one, its value would jump to at least 80 million berries, potentially with no upper limit. After all, that form didn't just enhance physical strength, the roar carried an effect similar to Conqueror's Haki, capable of plunging people into nightmares.

The effects lingered even after victims woke from the nightmares. They'd fall into a dazed state, sometimes panic attacks, developing severe psychological trauma around anything sheep-related. Some had panic attacks so bad they'd seize up completely.

Once someone got hit with it, there was basically no recovering. No second chances at beating the fear.

This was way stronger than Conqueror's Haki intimidation.

Conqueror's Haki could still fail against people with strong willpower or serious combat power. You could push through it if you had the guts and the strength. But that mist-shrouded Goatman state? Even powerhouses like Shiki got affected, seeing hallucinations that messed with their heads.

It was approaching the realm of supernatural abilities rather than just physical intimidation.

That was what made Shiki curious about the Goatman in the first place.

Without that nightmare ability, it'd just be another decent combat beast with some potential. Special? He'd seen hundreds of "special" creatures over the past twenty years. Most turned out to be garbage.

That was why he'd been ready to leave earlier, the thing hadn't seemed worth his time until it pulled out that nightmare trick.

"Strange... why isn't it working?" Indigo muttered, watching the Goatman struggle violently against its restraints.

This one was way more aggressive and mindless than the previous specimen. The first Goatman had shown intelligence, it could tell who it could mess with and who it should avoid. It had displayed tactical thinking.

But this one? It was like a rabid animal with no brain, running purely on feral instinct despite having identical physical capabilities.

"Could the formula be wrong?" Indigo scratched his head, reviewing his notes.

His assistant was dead, killed during the Goatman's initial rampage, but the man's research notes were solid. Comparing them to his own memory, everything checked out perfectly.

Was there some other factor? Did it have to feed on living people specifically?

He glanced toward Shiki.

Using live humans as beast food was something even the Golden Lion wouldn't tolerate. The previous deaths had been different, those people died performing their duties, killed because they were too weak to handle the job. Dying on the job was just part of being a lab assistant in this place.

And more importantly, those had been their own people.

But outsiders? Prisoners or captured enemies? Letting the beasts loose on them might be acceptable.

Shiki gave no indication either way. He simply floated away, leaving Indigo to figure it out himself.

Indigo felt deflated for a moment, but then looked at the restrained beast, his eyes lighting up with an idea.

If humans wouldn't work... what about beasts? After all, he had plenty of reserve beasts sitting around doing nothing.

He called over the newly assigned security detail, guards who'd replaced the ones that died. These men were encased head to toe in metal armor, clearly elite troops. They didn't even flinch when the Goatman's roar echoed in their minds, carrying out orders without hesitation.

Soon the Goatman was hauled into a vast hall that resembled a gladiatorial arena.

This was where they tested beast combat effectiveness. It also served as Scarlet's training ground, he spent hours here practicing his Beast Roar command ability.

After depositing the Goatman in the center, they selected its opponent: a tiger over five meters tall and more than six meters long.

This beast was a simple creation, just a regular tiger scaled up massively. It didn't follow commands, or at least it refused to obey Scarlet's Beast Roar, which made it useless for field operations. But with its size and strength, it had become a permanent resident of the arena. After all, watching beast combat was entertainment, wasn't it?

Goatman VS Giant Tiger.

Once freed from its restraints, the Goatman didn't immediately go berserk like Indigo expected. Instead, it seemed sluggish, almost confused. When the iron cage opened, it didn't even move.

The tiger approached, radiating malicious intent. Still no reaction from the Goatman. Not until the tiger's massive paw swiped at it did a low growl finally rumble from the creature's throat.

The moment that sound entered the tiger's mind, it froze. Every hair on its body stood on end.

"ROOOAR!"

The tiger opened its jaws wide enough to swallow the Goatman whole, rancid saliva spraying everywhere as it roared.

Normally, the roar of the king of beasts would make animals tremble or flee. But right now, the tiger's roar sounded more like a warning. Don't come any closer!

The Goatman, however, had already marked the tiger as hostile the moment it got attacked. No amount of roaring would change that designation.

It charged forward without hesitation.

Both hands clamped onto the tiger's upper and lower jaws, every muscle in its body twitching as it applied pressure. The tiger tried to bite down, but discovered its massive jaw strength couldn't overcome the grip. This small, weak-looking creature was generating force that shouldn't be possible.

But the real horror was just beginning.

As the tiger tried to pull back in panic, blood erupted from its lower jaw.

The Goatman was tearing its mouth apart.

The intense pain made the tiger shake its head violently, trying to fling the creature off. But no matter how much force it used, the Goatman didn't budge, only tightening its grip further.

The tiger swung its massive forepaws desperately, trying to smash this beast away from its face. But the blows landed with no effect. If anything, the attacks only drove the Goatman into greater frenzy, increasing the pressure on the tiger's jaw.

Riiiiip.

Muscle fibers tore apart. Blood sprayed across the arena floor.

The Goatman didn't stop. Like a thing possessed, it followed the torn muscle straight into the tiger's body, ripping and tearing as if trying to burrow inside the beast entirely.

By the end, blood covered the Goatman from head to toe.

The tiger's body had been torn into countless pieces. Bathed in gore, the Goatman began to feed. Everyone watching swallowed hard. The brutality was difficult to process, even for men who'd seen plenty of violence in their lives.

Savage. Terrifying. Those were the words that defined the Goatman.

Indigo wondered if consuming beasts would trigger the same transformation as the previous specimen.

"Continue," he ordered.

"Yes!"

One by one, powerful and uncontrollable beasts were thrown into the arena. Without exception, they all died.

The Goatman slaughtered every single one.

It took damage during the fights, naturally. Claws raked across its flesh, fangs tore chunks from its body. But as it fed on the corpses, those wounds regenerated at an alarming speed.

"It can heal by eating anything?" One of the armored guards was trembling now. He stood closest to the arena and had heard that mental roar countless times, been affected by it over and over.

Even with his iron will, watching these brutal scenes was taking a toll. He was no stranger to violence, hell, he'd done plenty of cruel things himself, but this was different. The bodies of the beasts that fell to the Goatman were reduced to torn limbs and scattered organs. The stench of blood had spread through the entire hall. The smell was unbearable.

"Recovery speed, growth potential, explosive strength, keen danger awareness, all excellent traits," Indigo muttered, taking more notes. "But... why does it always wait to be attacked first?"

It was true. Every single time, the Goatman had been attacked first by the beasts that were released. It never initiated combat.

This contradicted his initial assessment that the creature would attack anything on sight.

Then it happened.

As if crossing some critical threshold, the Goatman suddenly "saw" the group of observers behind the one-way glass.

"ROOOOOAAAAR!"

Its howl pierced through the reinforced glass and slammed into everyone's minds.

The watching scientists and guards went pale. No matter how many times they heard it, that roar echoing directly inside their skulls was truly unbearable.

"Should we continue?"

Indigo raised a hand, stopping them. "No need. I think I've figured it out."