Lord Of Beasts

It was starting to get old watching Mark get back up.

Every time Ethan thought the fight had reached its limit, Mark’s body adapted and came back stronger.

But this time, something was different.

Mark’s body expanded one final time after Kaela’s last attack.

Then it stopped.

He stood roughly twenty metres tall, upwards of 65 feet, towering over the ruined compound like a living building. Yet his proportions remained surprisingly close to his original frame. He wasn’t bloated or grotesquely distorted.

He was simply massive.

His shoulders were incredibly broad, his arms thick with tightly packed muscle, and his torso was heavily built. A dense metallic sheen covered his skin, reinforcing his flesh without changing the basic shape of his body.

He looked like Mark had been scaled up tenfold and turned into a living weapon.

Kaela stared upward.

”He finally stopped growing.”

Elara’s eyes narrowed.

”Maybe his body reached its limit.”

Ethan studied him carefully.

’Or maybe it reached exactly what it needed.’

Mark took a step.

Boom!

The ground cracked beneath his foot.

Then he moved.

Despite being twenty metres tall, he accelerated with terrifying speed.

Kaela barely avoided his foot.

BOOM!

The stomp obliterated the ground beneath her.

Her eyes widened.

”He’s fast!”

Mark turned.

His movements were no longer those of a lumbering giant.

He was frighteningly quick.

His enormous body shifted with surprising agility, every movement powered by muscles that had been reinforced through their entire battle. And rather than surviving and adapting, the monster was now on the hunt.

Kaela grinned despite herself.

”Now that’s more like it!”

She charged, and Mark swung.

Kaela ducked beneath the enormous fist and slammed her own attack into his abdomen.

BOOM!

Mark barely moved.

Instead, he turned and swung his other arm, swatting her out of the air like a fly. She was blasted backwards, skidding across the rubble before catching herself.

”Okay...”

She looked up at him.

”He’s way stronger than before.”

Ethan’s expression remained serious.

’He’s ten times bigger, but he’s much more than ten times stronger.’

In his current state, he could demolish a city.

Mark’s adaptations had compressed and reinforced everything - his muscles, bones, skin, and even the way his body generated force. He was approaching the power of an A Rank monster through nothing but his strength.

And his speed made him even more dangerous.

Ethan clenched his fists.

’If he keeps growing, we’re going to have a serious problem on our hands.’

Kaela and Elara exchanged a knowing glance.

The playful atmosphere was gone.

They had been holding back because this was Mark, their friend whom Ethan cared about so much. Their objective was to take him down without killing him or seriously hurting him, but the giant standing before them was making that increasingly difficult.

Kaela cracked her knuckles.

”Guess we’re done playing.”

Elara nodded.

”We need to put him down quickly.”

Mark roared almost as if in response to their renewed motivation.

The sound shook the ruins.

Then he charged.

The three fighters collided.

BOOOOOOM!

Crimson and violet mana exploded across the battlefield as Kaela struck Mark’s chest while Elara attacked his flank. Mark absorbed both blows and retaliated almost instantly, his enormous fist tearing through the space between them.

Kaela vanished, and Elara ducked.

The punch demolished another section of the compound, and the shockwave alone crushed everything in its path.

Mark turned with impossible speed.

Kaela appeared behind him.

”Too slow!”

She struck the back of his knee again.

Mark staggered.

Elara followed with a crimson-coated punch directly into his jaw.

BOOM!

His head snapped sideways.

But he remained standing, as they had expected, having already adapted to that kind of attack. However, that was also their plan: to make use of what should no longer affect the monster.

”He’s not growing anymore.”

Elara nodded.

”But he’s not going down either.”

Ethan watched the exchange.

’Smart. Without any new attacks, he won’t evolve further, and they can break him down.’

He was impressed by how well the two A Ranks worked together, and wondered if these two were to fight together against Titan again, who would win.

’Let’s just focus on Mark for now.’

The giant suddenly charged again, and Kaela and Elara moved together.

Their attacks became faster and more forceful, intending to end the battle soon before things got any more out of hand. Mark fought back with monstrous physical power that made Kaela look feeble in comparison.

Every punch shook the ground, every step cracked concrete, and every movement sent debris flying. And despite his enormous size, he moved with enough speed that even two A Rank Titled couldn’t afford to lose focus.

Ethan watched from above.

’He’s basically a giant A Rank monster.’

Maybe he lacked skill and finesse, but in raw physical ability, he was frighteningly close.

And the sky seemed to be the limit for the giant man.

That’s when Mark suddenly froze mid-strike, as if God had pressed the pause button only on him.

His enormous body swayed.

Kaela and Elara also stopped, but couldn’t help but be confused.

Ethan blinked.

”What?”

Mark stood motionless for another second, then his head dropped. His massive chest rose and fell, then his knees buckled, and the mutated giant collapsed into the ruins.

Boom!

The battlefield fell silent.

Kaela stared.

”...Did he just pass out?”

Elara slowly lowered her hands.

”Yes.”

Ethan descended through the smoke.

The flames surrounding his body began fading as he struggled to remain assimilated with Spark. He landed beside the two women and stared at Mark’s enormous unconscious body.

After everything, the ending felt almost absurd.

Kaela stomped her feet like a child throwing a tantrum.

”We were finally getting serious...”

She looked at Mark.

”...and he just collapsed like that?”

It was definitely anticlimactic, but it was equally relieving, especially for Ethan, who cautiously approached the giant figure he struggled to recognise as his friend.

”He’s breathing.”

His expression immediately softened.

That was all that mattered.

Mark was alive.

Whatever he had become, whatever those drugs had awakened inside him, his friend was still breathing.

’Maybe he really is one of us now.’

The thought carried a strange amount of hope.

If Mark had truly gained a Title, perhaps his body had simply manifested it in the strangest way possible. Perhaps the drugs hadn’t destroyed him and had just awakened something buried inside him.

Or maybe he hadn’t taken them at all.

Either way, it was hard to imagine his life would go back to being normal. Ethan had no way of being sure of anything, not until Mark regained consciousness, but only time would tell what his friend had truly become.

Elara looked at the enormous, unconscious figure.

”So...”

She glanced toward Ethan.

”How are we getting him out of here?”

Ethan stared at her, then he looked at the destroyed compound, then back at Mark.

”Fuck knows.”