Lord Of Beasts

A realisation began to settle in for Ethan as their exchange continued.

‘I’m losing…’

He refused to accept it.

Not to Mark, not to anyone, and especially not now.

He hadn’t gone all out by summoning his beasts or using his ultimate attacks. If he had used his full arsenal and aimed for the kill, the situation would have been very different.

But that wasn’t the point.

He was currently assimilated with Fenrir, and that should have been more than enough to make up for the difference in raw strength. Ethan should also have been the more skilled fighter.

Yet Mark was besting him in both areas.

‘How the hell did he get this strong?’

Ethan stepped forward again, and Mark met him immediately.

Their next exchange was shorter, with Ethan striking toward Mark’s ribs only for the metallic coating to harden over the impact. Ethan changed his angle, but Mark adjusted with him before countering with a punch that caught Ethan across the jaw again.

Ethan couldn’t remember the last time he had suffered such dizzying strikes.

It was like being struck by a sledgehammer.

The dark-green aura around Mark flared again, and his metallic muscles tightened as his body seemed to gather even more strength.

‘Shit.’

Mark appeared directly in front of him.

A fist came toward Ethan’s face, forcing him to raise his arm.

The punch smashed into his guard and pushed his entire body backwards, but Mark didn’t give him a chance to recover. Another punch came, followed by a third that forced Ethan farther across the training area.

The next strike slipped through his guard and slammed into his chest.

Ethan stumbled.

Mark stepped forward.

For the first time since the spar began, Ethan couldn’t immediately think of a counter.

Mark had him.

His body had adapted, his instincts had sharpened, and his strength had increased. More importantly, he was beginning to control the monster inside him instead of simply allowing it to react.

And despite clearly being overpowered, Elara and Kaela didn’t even consider intervening. They had seen Ethan go all-out, and this definitely wasn’t it, while they also respected him enough to let him handle his own fight.

Ethan’s lips curled into a reluctant smile.

‘He’s actually doing it.’

Mark pulled his fist back, and Ethan braced himself for the next attack.

Then Mark froze.

His entire body suddenly stiffened as the dark-green aura flickered violently around him before briefly disappearing. His expression changed, and a strained sound escaped his throat.

“Ah…”

Ethan’s smile vanished.

“Mark?”

Mark’s hand shot toward his chest as his breathing became ragged.

“Wait…”

Ethan immediately moved toward him.

“Mark, stop.”

“I…”

Mark’s face twisted in pain.

“I can’t…”

The metallic coating across his body flickered violently, and the dense muscles around his body tensed uncontrollably.

Mark dropped to one knee and clutched his chest with both hands.

Ethan rushed forward.

“Mark!”

Mark’s breathing came in short, desperate gasps.

“It hurts…”

Ethan crouched beside him.

“Where?”

“My chest.”

Mark pressed both hands against it, his fingers trembling.

“It feels like something’s trying to…”

He suddenly stopped, his eyes widening.

Ethan leaned closer.

“Trying to what?”

Mark swallowed, his face twisting with fear and pain.

“…Get out.”

Just as it was becoming clear that Ethan was losing, things suddenly took a turn.

Mark’s body convulsed violently.

The dark-green aura surrounding him exploded outward, filling the training room with oppressive energy before flickering violently around his body. It surged three times before suddenly vanishing completely, as though someone had simply switched it off.

Mark collapsed forward.

Ethan caught him before his head could strike the floor.

“Mark!”

Elara and Kaela rushed over immediately.

“What happened?” Elara demanded.

“I don’t know.”

Ethan lowered Mark carefully, keeping one hand behind his back as he examined him.

Only moments ago, Mark had been overpowering him.

Now Mark was barely breathing.

His hand remained clutched tightly against his chest, his fingers trembling as though he were desperately trying to keep something inside his body from breaking apart. His face had gone pale, and he was clearly in excruciating pain.

Ethan’s expression hardened.

‘This isn’t exhaustion.’

It was almost like Mark had suffered a heart attack in the middle of his transformation.

Something inside his body had pushed itself too far.

And whatever was happening inside Mark, it was far from over.

“It’s happening again.”

Elara’s voice was tense.

She immediately went on high alert, watching Mark carefully for any sign that the monster side might suddenly take control again. Kaela shifted her stance as well, ready to react if Mark’s body changed.

“This is starting to get old,” the purple-eyed woman complained.

And Ethan couldn’t help but agree.

Despite that, he remained calm, though his attention never left Mark.

In his assimilated form, his senses were far sharper than normal. He could hear Mark’s shallow breathing, the sounds of his muscles tearing, and most importantly, the unnatural rhythm of his heartbeat.

‘He’s alive.’

That was the most important thing.

Now they needed a solution.

They had been going in circles ever since Mark had consumed Blessing at that compound. They had tried helping him learn to control it then they tried banning him from its use, but neither actually addressed what was happening inside his body.

‘We need a sustainable solution.’

As much as this was getting repetitive, they were most of all concerned for their friend who was twisting in agony. They needed to find a way to help Mark stabilise his condition and get rid of that dark instinct for good.

‘We can’t rely on Greg or that weird scientist they told me about.’

And even if he decided to trust them, there was no guarantee they could do something in time before…

Ethan didn’t even want to think about it and shifted his eyes toward Elara.

Maybe there was something else they could rely on.

“Sir Demon, would you be so kind as to lend us your assistance?”

Ethan spoke aloud, directly addressing Elara.

But he wasn’t actually speaking to her.

He was speaking to the powerful entity living within her.

Elara sighed.

She clearly wasn’t thrilled about what Ethan was asking, but desperate times called for desperate measures. It was clear that if they didn’t act soon, Ethan might just lose the person who had stood by him most of his life.

After a moment, she closed her eyes and allowed the demon to take over her body.

When her eyes opened again, the expression behind them was completely different. The demon took a deep breath and stretched Elara’s body as though it was savouring the feeling of having a physical body again.

“It’s been a while since she let me free like this.”

But the question was, would it actually oblige, and even if it did, what did helping Mark entail?