My Childhood Friend Turned Yandere in the Apocalypse

Chapter 267: Ch 267: Chosen Calamity

I’ve only corrected grammar, word usage, and a few awkward phrases while keeping your style and sentence structure intact.

Rin narrowly ducked beneath the flaming claw before he retaliated with an upward slash. His blade scraped across the calamity’s arm, sending sparks flying everywhere, but it barely left a wound.

The calamity let out a distorted laugh as it swiped at Rin once more.

Its attacks looked crude and lacked any real technique, but they were overwhelmingly powerful. Every swing carried enough force to crack the ground beneath its feet.

Rin quickly jumped backward before another claw slammed into the earth where he had been standing a moment ago.

The impact sent chunks of stone flying through the air.

"Tsk..."

He clicked his tongue before creating several ice spikes around himself. They shot toward the calamity from different angles, hoping to limit its movements.

Unfortunately, the creature simply released another burst of flames.

The surrounding temperature rose sharply, causing his ice to melt before it could reach the calamity.

’This is troublesome. My abilities are being suppressed because of the attribute difference. If this keeps going, I will run out of mana before I even get close to its core. Should I just...copy its ability?’

Rin did consider it for a moment before changing his mind. As much as he wanted to copy the calamity’s ability, he had a feeling fire would not be too useful against it.

The calamity suddenly lunged toward him again.

Rin barely managed to twist his body sideways before the claws grazed his shoulder, tearing through his jacket and drawing blood.

Pain spread through his shoulder, but Rin ignored it.

He planted his foot on the calamity’s arm before pushing himself upward. Using that momentum, he leaped over its head and landed behind it.

The shining core inside its chest briefly came into view again.

’There!’

Rin thrust his sword toward the glowing light. But just as the blade was about to reach its target, the calamity twisted its body in an unnatural way.

Its torso rotated almost one hundred and eighty degrees.

The sword missed the core completely. Instead, it pierced through the creature’s shoulder.

The calamity roared in fury before grabbing Rin by the arm.

"Oh no..."

Rin’s eyes widened as he noticed the calamity calculating its next move.

And then, with a swipe of its claws, it threw Rin aside.

Thankfully, there did not seem to be any serious damage, and what little he had was instantly healed by the potions he carried.

Rin did not get long to recover after that. The calamity had already located him, and it burst through the damaged wall with another roar before swinging both claws downward.

Rin immediately rolled to the side, avoiding the attack as well.

"Rin!"

Someone shouted his name from outside.

He briefly caught sight of Shelly trying to rush toward him.

But Collin stopped her before she could get any closer.

"Miss Shelly, please stay back. You might hit Young Master if you try to attack now."

Shelly bit her lip.

"But Rin—"

"You can join the fight as soon as Young Master gives us enough space to do so."

Collin’s tone remained calm, but even he looked worried.

Rin appreciated the decision.

If anyone entered the battlefield now, he would have to divide his attention between fighting the calamity and protecting them. That would only make things worse.

Rin felt like he was on the back foot. He was fighting a losing battle, but he could not afford to lose this fight.

[Rookie.]

The system suddenly spoke.

[The synchronization rate is increasing. If it reaches one hundred percent, the core will fuse completely with the calamity. After that...retrieving it will become several times more difficult.]

Rin frowned.

’How much time do I have left?’

[Approximately three minutes.]

Rin tightened his grip on his sword.

Three minutes.

That was all he had left to finish this battle.

Otherwise, the settlement would be facing a fully awakened calamity instead of the incomplete one standing before him now.

Thankfully, it did not take long for others to join him, and the first one to arrive was Teressa.

"Rin, I will hold it in place for a second. Do what you need to do and quickly take this calamity out."

Teressa had gotten stronger. She could even hold the calamity in place with her powers now.

Unfortunately, there was no time for Rin to admire her progress. Not when he had to deal with the calamity as soon as possible.

"D-Don’t...y-you fools..."

The calamity yelled, trying to gain the upper hand. But Rin decided he had enough and drove his hand into the calamity’s body.

He made sure to grab the core and tear it out, but not before leaving one last "surprise" inside the calamity’s body.

"I hope you have sweet dreams."

He whispered without any emotion before allowing his body to fall back.

The calamity roared in anger, but it started to break apart before it could even reach Rin.

"Y-You...cannot...I am...the chosen...one..."

The calamity collapsed, and Rin looked at the core in his hand.

[Rookie, there is no time to waste. Absorb the core and acquire its power.]

The system told Rin what he needed to do, and he mindlessly obeyed before realizing that he was no longer questioning the system at all.

"Rin, are you alright? You should have left that calamity to us. We would have taken care of it one way or another."

Shelly ran to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. She looked genuinely upset that Rin had not allowed her to help.

Rin shook his head before letting out a tired sigh.

"I am alright. I just...did not want to risk anyone else getting hurt. If something had gone wrong, then I would have regretted dragging all of you into this."

He admitted honestly, causing Shelly’s expression to soften.

She wanted to argue with him, but the exhaustion on Rin’s face stopped the words from leaving her mouth.