Lord Of Beasts

Among the Titled crew, there was one figure who stood out.

He stood leaning against a pillar behind the group with his hands inside his jacket, not moving. His detached calm was telling and instantly caught the attention of the two so-called Enforcers.

’Interesting...’

The others immediately formed a loose defensive line ahead of him, planning to face off against the intruders. One of the D Ranks stepped forward, and his arms rapidly transformed into thick slabs of stone.

”So you’re the Association’s dogs?”

Another drew twin curved blades coated in green mana.

One woman ignited both fists with orange flames. A muscular man slammed both palms together as metal plates erupted from the concrete floor, wrapping around his body like armour. And the last of the D Ranks possessed elongated claws.

The four C Ranks clearly stood above the others.

One condensed unstable mana into glowing explosive orbs, hurling them like grenades that detonated on impact with tremendous force. Another could enlarge his body at will, dramatically increasing both his mass and raw physical strength until he resembled a towering giant.

The third possessed the ability to drastically reduce the weight of anything she touched, allowing her to effortlessly hurl abandoned cars and other massive objects as though they weighed almost nothing. And the last secreted a thick dark green slime from his body that could bind opponents, anchor him to surfaces, or rapidly coat the battlefield in sticky traps.

They were hardly weak.

Against ordinary most Titled, this would’ve been an extremely dangerous group.

But that’s when they finally recognised Kaela, her purple eyes piercing through the cloud of dust around them.

”Wait...”

”...That’s...”

The man’s face went pale.

”The Riot Valkyrie!”

The atmosphere changed instantly.

Several members instinctively took a step backwards.

”No way.”

”Why’s an A Rank here?!”

”We are totally fucked.”

”And who’s the guy beside her?”

Kaela smiled.

”You’ll see his face a lot on the news during TV time when you’re locked up.”

Then she disappeared.

Boom!

The concrete beneath her feet exploded, and her target, the stone-armed Titled, barely managed to raise both fists.

It was too late.

Her punch landed squarely against his crossed forearms.

CRACK!

Both arms shattered instantly.

The force launched him through three parked cars before embedding him halfway into a supporting pillar. He immediately lost consciousness, and was lucky that the blow hadn’t killed him.

”One.”

Kaela counted happily.

The woman covered in flames rushed forward, twin fireballs erupting towards Kaela’s face.

She simply walked through them.

The flames washed harmlessly across her regenerating body.

”What-?!”

The woman didn’t even finish speaking.

Kaela grabbed her wrist, spun once, then casually threw her like an Olympic hammer. She smashed through the bonnet of an abandoned SUV hard enough to completely flatten it.

”Two.”

The remaining seven, excluding the man who seemed to be their leader, immediately attacked together. They attacked with everything they had, and in an instant, the underground garage erupted into chaos as explosions thundered through the enclosed space.

But none of it fazed Kaela, who laughed louder with every passing second.

”That’s more like it!”

The enlarged C Rank stepped forward.

His muscles bulged as his entire body expanded, growing until he towered over everyone else. Every footstep shook the underground garage, cracks spiderwebbing across the concrete beneath him.

He swung a fist larger than Kaela herself.

She caught it one-handed, a shockwave rippling through the garage.

The giant stared in disbelief.

”No way.”

Kaela grinned.

”You got bigger.”

She tightened her grip.

”But not much stronger.”

With a single pull, she dragged the massive man forward before driving her forehead into his.

CRACK!

The enlarged body instantly shrank back to normal as they collapsed unconscious.

”Three.”

The woman with the weight manipulation ability slapped the side of a nearby SUV. It instantly became almost weightless, and she lifted it overhead with one arm before launching it straight at Kaela.

Another followed.

Then another.

Three abandoned vehicles came hurtling across the garage.

Kaela planted her feet.

The first car slammed into her shoulder.

She stopped it cold.

The second bounced off her back.

The third she simply caught overhead.

”Seriously?”

She laughed.

”I’ve always wanted to try this.”

She spun once before throwing the vehicle straight back.

The woman barely managed to dive aside as it smashed into the wall behind her. Before she could regain her footing, Kaela was already standing over her.

A single flick to the forehead.

She folded instantly.

”Four.”

The slime user seized the opportunity.

Thick, dark green slime erupted from his arms, spreading across the floor faster than spilt oil. It climbed pillars, stretched between vehicles, and shot toward Kaela like living ropes.

The slime wrapped around both her arms.

Then her legs.

More and more followed until she was cocooned in sticky crimson restraints.

The man smiled.

”Got her!”

Kaela blinked.

”That’s gross, dude.”

Purple mana exploded from her body.

The slime stretched, groaned, then tore apart all at once as if frightened by her presence alone, flinging the user off his feet. Before he even landed, Kaela appeared above him.

She grabbed him by the ankle, then casually swung him like a club into the remaining D Ranks.

BOOM!

The armoured Titled had just finished reinforcing himself with thick metal plates when the slime user slammed straight into him. Both men flew across the garage, but only the slime user was taken down by it.

”Five.”

The clawed Titled roared and lunged.

His elongated claws carved through the air in a rapid flurry.

Kaela stepped inside his guard and punched him in the stomach. The man folded around her fist before sliding unconscious across the floor.

”Six.”

The dual-blade user rushed in next, green mana coating both curved swords as he unleashed a whirlwind of slashes.

Kaela caught one blade between her fingers.

The second struck her shoulder, cutting her, but the wound immediately closed.

Their wielder froze.

She smiled.

”My turn.”

A simple backhand sent her spinning through two concrete pillars.

”Seven.”

The metal-armoured Titled charged like a battering ram and wrapped both arms around Kaela from behind.

”I’ve got her!”

”No...”

Kaela laughed.

”You’ve got yourself.”

She reached behind her, grabbed his ankle despite the metal armour, and swung the fully grown man like a baseball bat. His body crashed into the final standing D Rank before both disappeared beneath a collapsing section of concrete.

”Eight.”

”Nine.”

Within less than a minute, bodies littered the underground garage, either broken or unconscious. Only one person remained standing, their leader, who had calmly observed the entire massacre.

”Figures.”

He sighed.

”I knew bringing those idiots together was destined to fail.”

But unlike the others, he hadn’t been looking at Kaela, but was more focused on Ethan. Or more specifically, on how relaxed he looked, which somehow made him seem more dangerous.

Anyone could see Kaela was monstrously powerful.

The real danger was the man casually smoking while letting his partner dismantle everyone alone.

Without another word, he turned and ran, which was the smartest thing he could do. He was fast and headed straight towards an emergency exit leading deeper underground.

Kaela looked ready to chase.

But Ethan stepped forward instead.

”I’ll take this one.”

His cigarette dropped to the ground, and he crushed it beneath his boot with a smile.

’Partial Assimilation...’

A pulse of emerald mana surged across his body.

’Talon!’

Green feathers spread briefly across his arms before dissolving into glowing energy.

His vision sharpened instantly, and the world almost seemed to slow. Every movement became clearer as his fingers lengthened into razor-sharp talons. The faint outline of spectral wings shimmered behind him for a split second before fading away.

’He’s fast.’

He wasn’t Seraphina-level, but far quicker than any Titled Ethan had fought so far, and his mana signature was stronger too. Though he didn’t feel overwhelmingly powerful like Kaela and the like.

’Definitely the B Rank.’

The man glanced backwards, and their eyes met for a moment.

A chill ran down his spine seeing Ethan’s smile.

Then the man burst after him, about to begin the real fight...