Lord Of Beasts

Ethan never expected things to get that out of hand.

The very instant Storm’s evolution was completed, he felt their bond stabilise and immediately dismissed the beast back into Beast Space. Fenrir’s evolution hadn’t been anywhere near this explosive, so he couldn’t have anticipated something like this.

’Remind me only to evolve beasts inside the Tower... unless I have absolutely no choice.’

The entire basement looked like it had been struck by a lightning storm.

And it literally had.

Black scorch marks spread across every wall. Thin arcs of electricity still danced across the concrete floor before fading away, leaving intricate branching patterns burned permanently into the ground. The smell of ozone lingered heavily in the air, mixing with smoke and burnt wood.

It wasn’t just the room that had suffered.

If Elara hadn’t reacted instantly, Mark would’ve been killed.

The moment Storm lost control, she’d thrown up a crimson mana barrier around him without hesitation. Bolt after bolt slammed into the construct, dispersing harmlessly instead of reducing him to ash.

Ethan was genuinely thankful.

Though he couldn’t help shooting her an unimpressed look.

"Couldn’t you have shielded me too?"

He had been shocked multiple times and had been prancing around trying to evade the erratic blasts of electricity.

Elara smiled innocently.

Then she signed back while trying not to laugh.

*It was your mess. You should deal with it.*

Ethan opened his mouth... then he closed it again.

"Fair enough."

He really couldn’t argue with that.

Thankfully, Mark hadn’t completely lost it.

Not yet, anyway.

The barrier around him dissolved into crimson particles, revealing him still standing exactly where Elara had left him. He hadn’t moved an inch and simply stared at where Storm had been summoned, his gaze then drifting to Ethan.

It was even more stunning because it was the man he had grown up beside, and considered a brother, who spawned a mutated insect capable of controlling lightning. Moreover, he had watched the creature evolve before his very eyes.

One second it had been a pitiful slug-like larva, the next a massive dragonfly crackling with enough electricity to plunge an entire city into darkness.

How exactly was he supposed to process that?

"..."

He couldn’t.

Ethan casually walked over to one of the beds and started patting out the small flames still burning through the blankets. A few seconds later, he looked around the destroyed basement and gave a wry smile.

"At least we’ve got more than enough money to fix it."

That much was true.

The damage looked dramatic, but it could’ve been infinitely worse.

There were dozens of bottles of alcohol stored upstairs, not to mention all the people who were drinking and the bartender who could have been shocked to death. If even one of Storm’s larger discharges had reached the bar, the entire Black Howl might’ve gone up in flames.

Compared to that, this almost felt fortunate.

But the commotion had been too large to ignore, as heavy footsteps echoed from above. At first, they assumed it was the people above evacuating the bar, rightfully so. But Ethan quickly realised that it wasn’t the case.

’Those damned black suits.’

He sighed.

With his keen senses, even without physically seeing them, he could understand what was happening through his hearing and smell alone, especially while still assimilated with Wolfy. Black Suits flooded into the bar alongside the ones already stationed outside.

Naturally, the enormous surge of mana and city-wide blackout had triggered every alarm imaginable.

Even they couldn’t ignore something like that.

The agents moved cautiously; after all, the two Titled supposedly responsible happened to be an A Rank and a freshly promoted B Rank. Nobody wanted to provoke either of them, or at least most of them.

One of the agents reached the basement first and didn’t bother knocking...

Bang!

The door flew open.

His eyes immediately widened.

The basement looked like the aftermath of a thunderstorm, with two charred beds, walls covered in scorch marks, and the concrete floor etched with jagged trails left behind by lightning.

Then he noticed the people inside.

Mark, a mountain of a man, was currently hiding behind a comparatively tiny blonde woman. Which made perfect sense, considering she was an A Rank.

On the opposite side stood Ethan.

Dark fur covered parts of his body, while sharp claws protruded from his fingers. His beastly red eyes glowed faintly beneath messy black hair. The scorched circle between them almost made it look as though they’d summoned some ancient demon.

The Black Suit swallowed, realising the mistake of his hastiness.

"W-We were sent to-"

He never got to finish before Ethan disappeared.

All it took was a single leap, and the beast-like man landed directly in front of the startled agent, forcing the man to stumble backwards.

Ethan had apparently decided to channel his inner Riot Valkyrie.

He pointed a clawed finger straight at the man.

"Fuck off."

The Black Suit froze.

"And while you’re at it..."

Ethan gestured toward the destroyed basement.

"...tell the old man to send some people to fix this place."

The agent blinked.

"Y-Yes."

"I’ll... I’ll get that sorted immediately, sir."

He backed away so quickly that he nearly tripped over the stairs, urgently signalling for every other Black Suit to retreat. There was absolutely no reason to make things worse, and he was already coordinating repairs for the Black Howl.

Watching them scatter, Ethan couldn’t help smiling.

He turned back toward Mark.

"They should have this place looking brand new in no time."

"So... No harm, no foul?"

Mark nodded absent-mindedly, though it was obvious he wasn’t really listening.

’I knew they were Titled, but seeing this stuff in person is completely different. And to think they just do as he says...’

His eyes drifted across the scorched basement once more.

Finally, he spoke.

"You scared off all my customers and probably my new hire, too."

Ethan scratched the back of his head, but it also didn’t seem like a big deal to him.

"Just take whatever you would’ve made today from the stash."

He genuinely meant it.

Money wasn’t an issue anymore.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t really the point as Mark headed upstairs and looked around at his ruined bar. The Black Howl wasn’t just a business; it was something he had built with his own hands, money, and sweat.

It represented years of work, his independence, and his pride.

Just like the battered old car he’d stubbornly refused to replace, he was attached to the things he worked for. And this bar signified the change he made in his life, and without intending to, Ethan had just belittled that.

But he also didn’t dwell on it.

He was too excited and climbed onto his scorched bed without another word.

Despite his exhaustion, which would’ve caused most to collapse, he wasn’t going to sleep in the traditional sense. He was ready to throw himself straight back into another battle, and now with a new B Rank Beast.

His blue eyes shifted toward Mark and Elara.

"You two can handle everything, right?"

Neither of them had time to answer as he reached toward the translucent interface that only he could see.

{Enter the Tower}

The world around him faded, his body went limp, and just like that...

’I’m back!’