Lord Of Beasts

As Elara stepped back into the real world, the same Black Suit was already waiting. The timid young woman nearly jumped when she saw Elara emerge.

"I-It’s been less than an hour... and she’s already back."

Moments before Elara’s return, the Gate had already begun shrinking, a clear sign that its Core had been destroyed. Even so, seeing the person responsible calmly walk out of it was difficult to believe.

Over the coming hours, the shimmering entrance would continue shrinking until the connection to the Orc world disappeared completely.

"M-Miss Veyne..."

The Black Suit quickly straightened herself.

"Are we... alright to send in an extraction squad?"

There hadn’t even been one waiting since nobody had expected a Gate of this scale to be cleared so quickly, especially not by a lone Titled. That was only a feat someone like Titan would be able to pull off.

Elara simply gave a small nod.

"Go ahead."

Before the woman could say anything else, Elara vanished.

Blink!

She didn’t feel like talking and headed straight back toward the bar she called home, her thoughts still lingering on the kneeling Orcs and the Blood Demon’s question.

Behind her, the Association quickly mobilised.

Extraction teams entered the dying Gate to recover Orc corpses, monster materials, rare ores, magical resources, and anything else that could be studied or repurposed before the Gate vanished forever.

Not that she cared, wanting to return to what had become her safe space.

-

Ethan, Kaela, and Elara returned far sooner than Mark had expected.

Honestly, too soon.

He’d watched the three of them disappear earlier that day, fully expecting them to be gone until evening. Instead, only a short while later, the front door opened again as though they’d simply gone out for a quick errand.

They arrived moments after each other, and none of them appeared injured.

There were no torn clothes, blood, or visible wounds.

But knowing them as well as he did, especially Ethan, Mark knew better than to judge by appearances.

’They definitely got themselves into some craziness again.’

His gaze lingered on Ethan and Elara.

Unlike Kaela, who looked as energetic as ever, the pair wore obvious signs of exhaustion. Ethan’s movements were a little slower than usual, and Elara’s complexion was noticeably paler, as though she’d pushed herself to her absolute limit.

Neither looked physically hurt, just drained.

Kaela, meanwhile, marched straight for the drinks cabinet without so much as a greeting.

"Finally."

She pulled out a bottle of vodka with the enthusiasm of someone reuniting with a lifelong friend.

"I was starting to get sober."

Mark sighed, to which she just grinned.

While Kaela busied herself pouring a generous glass that quickly became the entire bottle, Ethan and Elara remained unusually quiet.

Both stood in silence and seemed lost in thought.

Elara’s crimson eyes stared absently toward the floor. She couldn’t stop replaying everything that had happened inside the Gate, and the Blood Demon’s words refused to leave her mind.

’Who’s the real monster?’

It made her question everything she thought she knew and made her feel less like a hero and more like a demon. For the first time since becoming a Titled, she genuinely wasn’t sure what she was fighting for.

Beside her, Ethan was equally distracted.

Not by guilt, but by the transformed rogue’s final words.

’What Messiah is coming? Jesus? And what will they do? The kangaroo fucker just had to die before finishing his sentence.’

As crazy as the man seemed, he definitely believed in what he was saying. And this supposed cult, blessings, and those drugs. Whatever organisation stood behind all of this, it clearly ran far deeper than a handful of Titled crooks.

Ethan had the feeling that today’s mission was just the start of uncovering something bigger.

Thankfully, the smell of freshly cooked food dragged both of them back to reality. Their stomachs growled almost simultaneously.

"Time to eat," Ethan muttered.

Elara agreed quietly.

Neither of them had eaten properly in over a day, and their last meal had been at Mark’s family home after exiting the insect gate. Since then, Ethan had been in the Tower, then out as an Enforcer.

Elara hadn’t eaten either.

She’d been staying by his side while he was seemingly asleep, then she immediately threw herself into clearing an entire Gate alone.

Both of them were starving.

And Kaela, well, she was always hungry.

Mark wasted no time piling food onto the table, having prepared all kinds of dishes with the new equipment installed by the black suits.

"Enjoy and let me know what you think."

There were burgers, pizza, fries, sandwiches - basically everything on the new menu he had put together for the Black Howl.

The three Titled began devouring everything in sight.

Kaela somehow managed to eat with one hand while casually washing everything down with enormous mouthfuls of vodka.

"That can’t be good for your liver," Mark muttered, and that was coming from a man who made a living selling alcohol.

"I’ll be fine," she said between mouthfuls, flexing her impressive biceps before stuffing her face again.

Mark just laughed, flicking on the TV to pass the time while the others feasted on his hard work.

A dramatic theme played as footage from earlier that day appeared across the screen. Association vehicles, police cordons, and a series of detained rogues at a construction site across the city.

The smiling news anchor looked almost excited.

"Following today’s unprecedented announcement from the Association, the newly formed Enforcement Unit has already begun operations."

Images of Kaela flashed across the screen.

Then Ethan.

"Due to the secrecy surrounding the Enforcers, little information has been officially released. However, eyewitness reports have identified two members, one of whom has a new nickname."

Ethan immediately frowned.

"Uh oh."

The anchor smiled brightly.

"Known members currently include the Riot Valkyrie..."

Kaela raised her drink proudly.

"and her partner, and the leader of the Enforcers..."

A dramatic pause.

"The Beast Man!"

Ethan suddenly stood up.

"The Riot Valkyrie and Beast Man are on the lookout for Titled crime, and are two of our country’s strongest Titled."

He slowly turned toward the television.

"What the fuck is that?!"

The room exploded into laughter, and Kaela nearly spat out her drink.

"HAHAHAHA!"

"Oh my god!"

"Beast Man!"

She pointed at Ethan so hard that she almost fell off her chair.

"I love it!"

"It suits you!"

Ethan looked horrified.

"No, it doesn’t!"

"It absolutely does," Elara said with a small smile.

"I think it’s cute."

"Cute?!"

"Well, it’s better than Attack Dog."

Ethan smiled, recalling all the times he’d lied and said that was his Title.

"Fair enough."

Even Mark couldn’t hold back his laughter.

For several minutes, Kaela refused to address Ethan by anything except Beast Man, which was definitely a downgrade from Boss. But eventually, the conversation shifted toward how everyone’s day had gone and what was next...