Lord Of Beasts

Kaela enthusiastically recounted how she’d flattened the entire crew of rogue Titled, acting out several punches with far more force than necessary as she spoke. Every few sentences, she’d interrupt herself to take another long swig straight from the vodka bottle before continuing the story with even greater enthusiasm.

"And then the idiot tried stabbing me with their daggers..." she laughed, waving the bottle around. "So I sent them flying through concrete."

She pointed the neck of the bottle at Ethan.

"And Beast Man over there fought their leader after I dealt with all the weaklings."

Ethan sighed.

"Are you going to keep calling me that?"

She nodded, laughing, as Mark and Elara joined in teasing him again.

"Oh, yeah..."

Kaela glanced at Ethan.

"What was that psycho’s last words about anyway?"

Ethan shrugged.

"Some bullshit about a messiah coming. And he didn’t get to finish."

She frowned for a second.

"Huh."

Another drink.

"I thought it’d be something more interesting."

Then, before Ethan could recount his fight against the B Rank rogue, the television interrupted them once again.

"This afternoon, another major development occurred."

The broadcast switched to aerial footage of a closing Gate as the news anchor’s voice grew noticeably more animated.

"A B Rank Gate has reportedly been cleared by a single individual..."

An edited photo of Elara appeared on screen.

"The Blood Demon!"

Everyone instinctively looked toward her, and she became the new centre of attention. Previously, that might have made her shy, but she smiled and quietly explained everything she had experienced.

"After you guys left, I registered for a gate clearance alone..." she began.

Then she described the Orc Civilisation, the giant mountain fortresses, the Orc Boss and its berserk army, and then the strange feeling after killing their ruler. She also highlighted their intelligence, with them even submitting to her.

Ethan and Kaela seemed puzzled by Elara’s guilt.

"They’re fucking monsters," was the Riot Valkyrie’s blunt and dismissive reaction.

But Ethan somewhat understood where she was coming from.

’They are somewhat humanoid creatures, even if they’re giant and green. And seeing that they had sentience must have made things more difficult.’

"This is war," he continued aloud. "And if you hadn’t done what you did, the orcs would have massacred thousands of humans and destroyed a large part of the city."

Elara nodded.

It was the harsh reality of things, one she had to come to terms with.

"You don’t have to enjoy the fighting and death, but just know you are fighting for a good cause."

She nodded again, but Kaela had to go and ruin the moment.

"Stop being a wimp. You gotta be a lunatic like Beast Man and I - we fucking love killing beasts, monsters, people. Anyone can get!"

Elara didn’t take her words to heart and just laughed.

"Whatever, you alcoholic cow."

Kaela’s eyes widened.

"I never knew you could be so feisty. I like it."

She smiled before standing up and walking to Elara’s chair.

The red-eyed woman naturally tensed and prepared herself for a confrontation with the A Rank. A repeat of their last fight now, when both had gotten stronger and improved, would level even more of the city and kill who knew how many people in the process.

But Kaela didn’t approach her for a confrontation.

Quite the opposite.

She placed her enormous chest on top of Elara’s head and laughed.

"Are these things why you called me a cow?"

Elara laughed and relaxed, while Mark wasn’t sure how to react.

As for Ethan, well, he almost seemed jealous.

’Is it because I want those things on my head, or because she’s flirting with my girl?’

He smiled.

’Probably both.’

After that, Kaela grabbed another bottle from behind the counter, and Elara continued talking about her experience inside the Gate.

"It wasn’t a normal B-Rank Gate," she finished softly. "It felt closer to a B+."

’To think she cleared such a gate by herself in less than an hour without relying on the Blood Demon...’

Ethan was both impressed and proud.

’I still haven’t fought a monster yet, but an Orc sounds fun. If all the Gates I enter are taken over and I have to fight more beasts, I’ll just wait for a Gate Break to happen.’

That was quite the deranged thought, one he was better off not voicing aloud.

But as they continued eating, there was a knock at the door.

Mark frowned.

"Who..."

He certainly wasn’t expecting visitors, but after walking over and opening the door, his eyes widened.

"Mom?"

Standing outside was Clarissa, and beside her stood Adonis, holding her hand.

Ethan immediately rose from his chair.

"Aunt Clarissa?"

For a moment, he genuinely thought he’d mistaken her for someone else. Clarissa almost never left the house, not because she didn’t want to, but because she couldn’t. Her body had always been far too weak, and even walking around the house for too long exhausted her.

A trip outside usually meant spending the following day in bed recovering.

Yet here she was, standing comfortably, breathing normally, and smiling without her usual jitters.

She looked amazing!

Her sickly paleness had disappeared, her posture had straightened, and even the lines on her face seemed softer. She somehow looked years younger, and more importantly, she looked healthy.

Clarissa laughed happily.

"I haven’t felt this good in years."

She looked around the refurbished bar before blinking.

"Oh my... When did this place get fixed up?"

Mark smiled awkwardly.

"It’s been a busy couple of days."

Clarissa shook her head in disbelief before continuing excitedly.

"You wouldn’t believe what happened. A whole group of people came to my house earlier today. They said they were sent by the Association. And they used magic on me. I swear..."

She laughed again.

"I feel like a spring chicken! And they said this was only the first treatment. They’re coming back every single week, and they even gave me a number to call if I ever need anything. I think the man’s name was..."

"Greg?" Ethan finished for her.

"Yes, that’s it. Did you send him, Ethan?"

The blue-eyed man smiled.

"It was thanks to all of us," was his response.

But beneath his smile and the joy of seeing the woman who raised him doing so well was a deep unease...