Lord Of Beasts

”You’ve made decent progress, boy.”

The Blood Demon’s lips curled slightly as it stared directly into his soul.

”But don’t get comfortable yet. For a Lord’s Vessel, you’ve barely scratched the surface of your full power.”

Ethan’s eyes widened.

”Lord’s Vessel? What does that even-”

Before he could ask further, the demon continued.

”And like you were before, I’d be a little more careful with those abilities of yours.”

The blue-eyed man’s expression became serious.

”...Why?”

The Blood Demon smiled.

”Because you’re starting to draw attention. The wrong kind. From beings who actually know what your Title is.”

A chill crept down Ethan’s spine.

”Who? Holt?”

The Blood Demon burst into laughter.

”That mutt of a man? Hahaha...”

It wiped an imaginary tear from its eye.

”No. Not him.”

Its amusement quickly faded.

Instead, its gaze became unusually serious.

”Just watch yourself. And keep my host close. Not only to protect her, but to protect yourself.”

Ethan didn’t respond immediately.

He’d already planned on staying beside Elara, not because someone had told him to, but because she’d become someone he genuinely couldn’t imagine leaving behind.

Unfortunately, the Blood Demon had no intention of elaborating further.

Its expression suddenly twitched.

”Tch. Looks like she’s fighting back already.”

The crimson glow faded, and just like that, the figure’s demeanour changed entirely.

Elara blinked, then looked around in confusion.

”What...”

Her eyes landed on Ethan immediately.

”D-Did it do?”

There was genuine concern in her voice.

She believed she was finally beginning to understand the Blood Demon. After everything it had taught her inside the Gate and the strange partnership they’d developed, she thought she’d reached the point where she could stop it from taking control.

Apparently not.

It seemed like, if it truly wanted to, it could still seize her body whenever it pleased.

And even worse, this time she’d remembered nothing and couldn’t see, or more importantly, hear, what it was saying with her body. It had completely shut her out, trapping her in a dark corner of her own mind until she finally managed to break free.

Ethan shrugged and answered honestly.

”It just took your watch off, too.”

Elara looked down.

”Then it said some bullshit about vessels, but once again never explained it properly or gave any details. But it did say ”us” which means whatever I am, you might be too...”

”Oh...”

She didn’t seem to know any more than he did, and could see that Ethan was deep in thought, trying to piece things together. Leaving him be, she gathered another set of Ethan’s clothes that she preferred to her own, savouring the scent that made her feel close to him at all times.

Then she headed into the bathroom to clean herself up, having no idea what craziness she was going to witness soon...

-

Elsewhere, high above New York, Harold sat alone inside the top floor of Association Headquarters. His spacious penthouse office overlooked almost the entire city through floor-to-ceiling windows.

Reports covered his desk, and his work never ended.

That’s when two notifications appeared on the holographic display beside him.

”Association Device Connection Lost - Device Destroyed”

Seconds later, an identical alert appeared.

Harold sighed.

”Those two again.”

Ethan Crowe and Elara Veyne were starting to become troublesome Titled. He’d already received reports about the stunt they’d pulled after taking one of the motorcycles, joyriding around the city, and parking directly outside Headquarters like they owned the place.

Despite that, he still approved an additional bonus for them and overlooked the stolen motorbike. He even instructed the black suits and authorities to leave them be as long as they didn’t cause any harm to the public.

They earned it for putting their lives on the line in Gates, and ultimately, they were superhumans who should be treated as such.

Harold’s calm green eyes reflected the city below.

”The stronger they become, the harder they are to control.”

There was no anger in his voice, simply accepting the truth. Powerful Titled rarely liked being managed, especially those like Ethan. Still, the old man leaned back comfortably in his chair.

”It’s fine. As long as they stay on humanity’s side, I need every capable Titled I can get.”

His fingers tapped lightly against the desk.

”And besides...”

A knowing smile returned.

”I’ve got far more ways of keeping an eye on them than a couple of watches.”

With that, he instructed the black suits not to act and to keep observing from a distance as the lights of New York continued shining into the night.

-

Meanwhile, the Blood Demon’s words lingered in Ethan’s mind long after Elara had disappeared into the bathroom. He sat there in silence, absentmindedly turning the broken Association smartwatch over in his hands.

’Lord’s Vessel... Beings who know my Title... What the fuck are they talking about?’

The words themselves made sense, but Ethan wasn’t sure what they were alluding to. But at least he got two things from the conversation. First, the Blood Demon didn’t seem to be his enemy, as annoying and cryptic as it was.

And the second was the most important.

’I gotta get a whole lot stronger, and with 7 S Rank Beasts and being an S Rank myself, I could even take over the world if I wanted to.’

There was no slowing down until he cleared the entire Tower Of Beasts and reached the pinnacle of his power. Then no matter who or what was watching, it wouldn’t matter.

Power solved everything.

The more powerful he became, the fewer people could threaten him. And right now, he was itching to get back into the tower and blitz through floor after floor with his newfound strength.

But before doing any of that, there were a few things he wanted to check.

The first thing he searched on his phone was the names of the insect beasts they’d fought in the gate, or at least the ones he remembered. He butchered the spellings, but they all came back as scientific orders of insects.

”So that’s what they are...”

The System had taken ordinary insect species and twisted them into gigantic monster races.

His next search was far more interesting.

’What is a Fenrir?’

Ethan had recognised the name upon evolving his beast, but hadn’t been able to put a finger on what it was. The page loaded almost instantly, and he leaned forward like a grandpa as he read.

”A monstrous, gigantic wolf in Norse mythology... known for incredible strength, cosmic hunger, and its role as a harbinger of the apocalypse.”

He whistled softly.

”Damn...”

His eyes drifted toward the tattoo on his chest.

”So you’re some giant apocalypse wolf.”

Ethan continued reading.

”And apparently, you’re the son of Loki, some kind of God that ancient pagans used to believe in.”

He laughed.

Whether Norse mythology had been inspired by an ancient Fenrir, or the Tower had produced a beast based on the mythology, he had no idea.

Nor did he particularly care.

All he knew was that he had acquired an incredibly powerful beast race, and that was enough for him. Then, after satisfying his curiosity about Wolfy and what they had fought, he opened up the System to check on the last thing.

’Let’s see how many Evolutionary Shards I got...’