Starting Out As The God of Beasts

When consciousness returned to Roy, it didn’t arrive with the soft warmth of morning light or the heavy ache of mortal exhaustion.

It returned with a sudden, violent surge of raw, liquid-gold energy flooding every meridian of his soul origin.

His eyes snapped open.

He wasn’t lying on a bed in the royal palace of Varania, nor was he resting on the cool earth of the forest border.

Above him, dark mahogany beams stretched into infinity, framing vast ceilings adorned with drifting, luminescent scrolls and floating crystal tablets.

Pale blue algorithmic data hummed in the air like a serene, quiet stream.

Sitting in a plush armchair nearby with his legs crossed, holding a floating mug of steaming celestial tea, was Telvanus.

The God of Information looked over at Roy, a broad, lopsided grin pulling at his lips.

"Well, well," Telvanus chuckled, taking a slow sip. "Look who finally decided to join the living. You really turned the Heavens completely upside down out there, didn’t you, beast king?"

"Telvanus?" Roy groaned.

Roy sat up slowly, running a hand through his golden hair as he calibrated his divine senses.

The suffocating emptiness in his core was gone, replaced by a dense, pulsing wellspring of energy.

"How long was I out?" Roy asked, his voice still carrying a faint rasp.

"Three full days in mortal time," Telvanus answered, waving a casual hand through the floating data streams. "Which is honestly impressive. You are still a divine spirit operating in a mortal world, yet you burned your Divine Essence down to the absolute atom.

Normal entities would have suffered a permanent core collapse."

Telvanus set his tea down on a floating table and grinned. "Lucky for you, your Gluttony authority didn’t just sever Damascus’s neck—it gobbled up his remaining divine essence before his connection snapped.

That residual fuel is what healed your core while you slept."

Roy heaved a long, deep sigh of relief, feeling the rich, golden divine force circulating smoothly through his system.

The risk had been immense, but the payoff was undisputed.

"And the Heavens?" Roy asked, his eyes narrowing as he leaned forward. "How did the pantheons react when Damascus was forced into slumber?"

Telvanus’s smile shifted, turning into a sharp, glinting expression that immediately signaled trouble.

"Ah. That’s the best part," Telvanus said, dropping the bombshell with absolute nonchalance. "Damascus didn’t just fall into slumber when his mortal vessel died. His true, hibernating body back in the higher realms was left completely defenseless, right?"

Roy nodded slowly.

"Well," Telvanus continued, leaning back, "the God of Justice found Damascus’s unconscious main body yesterday morning... and executed him on the spot. Right in his divine sleep."

Roy’s gold-flecked irises widened slightly.

"Justice executed a sleeping god?"

"Oh, absolutely. Justice doesn’t care for honorable duels when dealing with the Death Faction," Telvanus laughed softly, though his eyes remained sharp. "And because of that single strike, the tentative peace is officially dead. The Unorthodox Factions are screaming for blood, accusing the pantheons of cowardice, while the Orthodox Gods are celebrating the purge.

They are entering a total, full-scale stage of war."

Roy absorbed the news in quiet calculation.

The death of a True God wasn’t just a local event; it was a cosmic earthquake.

"Who leads the Orthodox Faction?" Roy questioned.

"The God of Light," Telvanus replied smoothly, his tone dropping all hint of levity for a microsecond. "One of the Ten Absolute-tier True Gods.

A being who views the entire cosmic order as his personal chessboard."

A heavy silence settled over the celestial library as the sheer scale of the looming conflict washed over Roy.

His single battle in the Hudeii Desert had inadvertently lit the fuse for a war spanning dimensions.

Roy turned his gaze toward the God of Information. "And what about you, Telvanus? What do you plan to do next while the heavens burn?"

Telvanus’s grin returned, wider and far more enigmatic than before.

He picked up his mug, taking a lazy sip as he tapped the armrest of his chair.

"Now, now," Telvanus whispered, his liquid-gold eyes flashing with ancient, dangerous knowledge. "I don’t think I can tell you that just yet. But don’t worry... once the time is right, you’ll figure it out yourself."

Before Roy could even open his mouth to press the issue, Telvanus snapped his fingers.

Snap.

The divine library, the mahogany shelves, and the streaming blue data instantly dissolved into blurred streaks of light.

Spatial gravity seized Roy, pulling him backward through the void at blinding speed.

Gasp!

Roy shot straight up in a soft, feather-stuffed bed.

The muted morning sunlight streamed through the tall, arched windows of his private bedchamber inside the Varanian Royal Palace.

The scent of sweet incense and fresh linen filled his nose, completely replacing the metallic odor of burnt ozone and divine ash.

He was back in the mortal realm.

"This is my bedroom" Roy mumbled.

He stood beside his bed, inhaling deeply as the rich, familiar air of Varania filled his lungs.

The heavy, suffocating scent of ozone and divine ash was entirely gone, replaced by the faint perfume of dried lavender and polished mahogany.

His body felt fully restored, his divine sea pulsing with a steady, quiet vitality.

CRACK.

The sharp, loud splintering of wood shattered the quiet of the room.

"Huh?"

Roy turned his head immediately toward the corner of the bedchamber.

Alisa was scrambling off the floor, surrounded by the shattered pieces of a heavy wooden armchair.

Her hair was slightly rumpled, her eyes wide with unadulterated shock.

She had clearly been sitting vigil beside his bed, falling asleep from sheer exhaustion, only to lose her balance and tumble backward the exact second she opened her eyes and saw Roy standing on his own two feet.

"Ah—! I—Master Jarden!"

Alisa scrambled up, her face flushing crimson as she frantically brushed wood dust and splinters off her robes.

She immediately dropped to one knee, bowing her head so low her forehead nearly touched the carpet.

"Forgive me, my Lord! My clumsiness is unacceptable—I... I was merely..."

A soft, low chuckle cut her off.

Roy shook his head with a warm, relaxed smile, stepping forward to gesture for her to rise. "Stand up, Alisa. There’s no need to bow to me over a broken chair."

Alisa raised her head slowly, looking at him with a mix of embarrassment and intense relief.

Seeing him upright, healthy, and smiling seemed to lift a crushing weight off her shoulders once again.

"It is good to see you restored, Lord Jarden," she murmured, standing straight and adjusting her posture back to that of a high official.

"I feel better than ever," Roy replied smoothly, his gold-flecked eyes sharpening as his focus returned to the mortal plane.

He smoothed down his tunic and looked toward the large double doors of his chamber.

"Inform High Priest Croak and the Dukes. I want a full council meeting scheduled in the grand hall in one hour."

Alisa snapped to attention, all traces of her earlier embarrassment vanishing into total efficiency. "At once, my Lord. I will assemble everyone immediately."

With a swift bow, she turned and hurried out of the room to carry out his divine mandate.