Lord Of Beasts

Far behind Ethan and the A Rank in the tunnel, Jared’s body gave way, and he was overpowered to the ground. The ant beasts all attacked his giant frame at once.

Jared took on all their attacks.

The ground was soaked in green gunk and the blood of his fallen companions. He had killed more of these ant beasts than he could count, but there were still too many.

And that made them perfect for what he had in mind.

Every hit he endured, every bite, every strike, every crack in his armour built power within him. He let it stack without releasing it, and the more he gathered, the more strain he put on his body.

But what did he have to lose?

His breathing grew heavier, and his body trembled as blood poured from beneath his armour.

Jared wasn’t shaking from fear, but from the sheer amount of force he was containing. It felt like his body was on the verge of exploding, and it literally was...

Despite that, he grinned through the blood.

’If I’m dying here...’

His muscles tensed, every fibre in his body screaming.

’Then I’m taking you bastards with me.;

”I-Iron Rebound...”

His voice dropped, low and final.

”Full Release!”

For a split second, everything went still, as if time itself had paused.

Then...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The explosion was monstrous, sending a giant shockwave that tore through the tunnel like a raging beast.

Stone shattered, walls collapsed, and the ground split apart.

Everything was consumed by the force rippling outward through the entire underground structure.

It shook the entire Gate itself.

Jared had unleashed something far beyond his limits, and it even felt like the attack of an S Rank. But after it, nothing of him remained, apart from a pile of ash and the remnants of the shield he had discarded earlier...

-

Ethan felt it instantly.

There was a giant explosion that left his ears ringing as the ground beneath his feet shook violently.

”What the-?!”

Before he could even react, the shockwave slammed into them like a physical force. The tunnel trembled, cracks spreading across the walls and dust raining down from above.

Beside him, the A Rank’s eyes widened in pure shock.

Deep down, both could feel what it was; the inevitable had occurred, but they couldn’t worry about others. They were about to feel the worst of the aftereffects of the explosion since they were the closest to it.

However, it was still far better than the predicament of the other groups...

-

Elsewhere, the three other groups also faced similar predicaments to Jared’s group in their tunnels.

And similarly, they fought for their lives and lost.

The first to fall, even before Jared’s, was Rina’s group; she was the bow-wielding C Rank.

It was utter chaos, and the tunnel was a storm of movement. Wind sliced through the air as arrows flew from her grip in rapid succession. Rina stood at the back of the group, drawing her bowstring again and again.

Her Title was the one that Ethan knew the least about, simply because she spoke about it the least.

But according to Rina, her Title was Wind Mark, and she could form arrows from compressed air. How that worked, he wasn’t entirely sure, but it wasn’t like most Titled abilities obeyed the laws of physics.

Each arrow she fired carried compressed currents, accelerating them to lethal speeds.

”Keep moving!” she shouted.

Her team formed a loose defensive line, but unlike the other groups, she wasn’t at the front, nor did she plan to be.

She had sharp green eyes that were calculating and watching.

And within minutes of the beast swarm appearing, her expression dropped, and she no longer shouted out commands to her group.

”We’re can’t keep this up.”

”There’s too many-!”

”Rina? What do we do?”

She didn’t hesitate or explain herself; she simply turned around and ran.

”W-Wait! Rina! Don’t leave us here!”

They called out to her desperately, but she didn’t stop or look back.

Behind her, it was a matter of seconds before her team shredded gruesomely. Without her ranged support, they were helpless.

Their screams were short-lived.

And yet, her expression was calm.

’Survive first, regret later’

-

Then there was Lena’s group.

She was more up close and personal, covered in beast gore as her twin daggers flashed like streaks of light. Her movement was erratic and spring-like, unpredictable as she bounced around the tunnel in explosive bursts of speed.

It was impressive, and her speed made her lethal with her daggers.

Her Title allowed her to rebound off surfaces, twisting and launching herself in impossible directions. The more momentum she built, the faster her eruptions.

She danced through the swarm of ant beasts, cutting, slashing, and killing.

”Stay tight!” she shouted.

Her team struggled to keep up and picked off any beasts that managed to slip past her onslaught of attacks. They were doing well as a group and fought hard, but one thing was quickly becoming apparent to Lena...

’We can’t win.’

With that thought in mind, she planned to retreat, even if that meant abandoning her group like Rina had.

But that’s when it happened.

Jared’s suicidal explosion shook the entire gate suddenly.

The tunnel her group had entered was nearest to Jared’s; as such, its effects were felt the most, after Ethan and the A Rank, of course. Coincidentally, it hit moments before she was about to make a break for it.

She lost her footing slightly while bursting off the ceiling and fell to the ground, and the Ant Commander she had been facing capitalised on it instantly.

Its mandibles slammed down on her leg just as she was scrambling to her feet.

Crack!

”Aaagggghhh!”

The bone was shattered instantly, and her ability was made useless.

”Lena!!”

Her group rushed to help her, not out of care, but because she was the strongest in their group and the leader.

But it was too late.

The swarm descended upon her as she swung her daggers wildly at them to no avail. Without her speed, she was nothing more than a sitting duck for the ant beasts to feed on.

Her group watched as the Ant Commander decapitated her before ordering the Ant Troops to continue their charge forward.

The rest fell one by one.

Screams filled the tunnel, blood painted the walls, then all that remained was silence.

-

The last group was Marcus’s.

Rina used her group as a barricade to attack behind, Lena was a storm of attacks that fought alongside her group, and Jared was a shield for his group.

Marcus sat somewhere between Lena and Jared.

”Fall back!” he shouted after being faced with the beast swarm.

His giant gauntlets slammed into an ant, crushing its head instantly. He was an older man, likely in his early forties, but with it came more experience and level-headedness.

He saw it immediately.

The moment the Ant Commander appeared, he knew it was over for them.

Taking on just the Ant Commander alone as a group might have been feasible, but not with an army of ant beasts at its disposal.

His expression hardened as he turned to the others.

”Run.”

His order was simple.

”What do you-?” one began.

”I said fucking run!”

They hesitated before turning around one after the other and bolting it down the tunnel back down the way they came.

”I’ll hold these overgrown pests off as long as I can.”

His reinforced fists ignited with force as he charged forward, straight into the storm. The longer he could keep them here and the more of them he killed, the better the odds for the rest of his group.

This was the only solution the veteran could think of.

Behind him, the others ran desperately, but Marcus was only able to hold them back for a couple of minutes. He died before Jared’s final attack, but after Rina’s group.

His last words were sad, tears streaming down his face as he was ripped limb from limb.

’I’m sorry, Sophie, Daddy isn’t coming home today. But he was a hero even in his last moments.’

At least that’s what he tried to convince him, but deep down, he knew that the others were also done for. Within a minute after darkness consumed him, the ant beasts had already caught up to the others.

Ultimately, his sacrifice was for nought.

But amidst the chaos, there was one man who managed to fight through a beast swarm and survive...