Interstellar Beast Master

Chapter 72: Fallout II

Serena stood frozen, her eyes locked on Damian as he stepped through the Rift- calm, powerful, as if the apocalyptic chaos hadn’t touched him at all.

And all she could think was: she’d almost jumped in after him.

Into that roiling vortex of death and madness. Like someone who had forgotten the weight of her unfinished vengeance. Forgotten that there was still a Guardian who needed to pay.

Why had she nearly done it?

"..."

She didn’t have an answer.

Because it damn well better not be because she felt like it was the right thing to do. That it was a good thing to do.

In this world, there was no good.

Good men died. Good women died.

And all that was left behind...

She turned to look at Guardian Sludgeborn and his yellow visors.

All that was left behind were those out for themselves and their own interests.

But...

Her gaze turned back toward Damian.

And she only had one thought.

How the hell had he survived?

And she was not the only one with this thought.

"What happened in there, Trial Guardian?"

The cold voice of Guardian Sludgeborn echoed out as his massive, slimy Frog Interstellar Beast moved forward.

And Serena looked at Damian, someone she knew as Therion, and was astonished.

He patted the head of Lyra, which was a whole other thing to be understood, why these two, who had just met yesterday, were this close, but what he did next was what astonished many.

He looked toward a genuine Symbiotic Resonance Interstellar Beast Master with calmness, even coldness, without an ounce of fear as he replied:

"The Entropic Beasts went crazy attacking each other. I sneaked out during the chaos."

...!

"What?"

Guardian Sludgeborn’s yellow visors squinted at this, and Damian simply nodded as he looked at Lyra and Serena.

"These two saw it too. All of a sudden, the Lightning Drake that killed Guardian Flameborn’s Beast was attacked by another, saving us from death."

He spoke of what happened earlier.

And Serena nodded as she remembered this.

Lyra also nodded as she wiped her tears away, looking toward Guardian Sludgeborn as she took Damian’s hand while heading toward the Bullet Train that brought them here.

"You’ll be hearing from my father for what happened here today."

...!

Her words carried a threatening tone as the official Guardian in the distance pulsed while a sneering voice echoed from him.

"Oh, will I? And who will I be hearing from?"

Lyra’s gaze was cold as she replied without looking back.

"ZENTHRA’s Director of Operations, Manager Park."

...!

The yellow visors of Guardian Sludgeborn buzzed.

And he didn’t say a word after that.

Even Serena was astonished at the backing behind Lyra as she also began to walk toward the Bullet Train, her Void Snake wrapped around her as she went.

Guardian Sludgeborn had a difficult expression as he called out grimly after them:

"You still need to be debriefed about everything that happened in there. Today’s case is not closed..."

He tried to maintain his air of power and dignity, but Lyra did not even turn around.

With one hand pulling Damian, she raised the other hand as her middle finger actually rose up to flip off the official Guardian.

It was a daring act that even the ZENTHRA employees saw, as an immense quiet settled in the surroundings.

And the three of them went into the Bullet Train that soon hummed to life and began to move.

Back in the underground area...

Guardian Sludgeborn began to give commands coldly as ZENTHRA employees got to work, seeking to figure out how exactly things had gone wrong to the point that an official Guardian was almost dead, and multiple Trial Guardians perished.

—

An hour later.

In the ZENTHRA Beast Corporation.

150th floor.

Lyra, Serena, and Damian were linked onto monitors and wires inside one of the official Trial Guardian rooms, the two women looking toward one man who was currently...staring outside of the room at the throngs of ZENTHRA employees and Beast Masters who were busily moving about while occasionally staring toward them.

Damian just looked.

Watched.

Wondered who among the ZENTHRA employees were the ones in charge of covering everything up.

His mind reflected back to the Entropic Rift, that after Kitsuul had stopped her devouring of Entropic Energy, no more changes occurred.

With her Entropic Energy Values far exceeding anything else in that Entropic Domain, she had shredded the Lightning Drake and all others apart as Damian...had a similar level of power to her as he did the same.

Similar.

Not exactly the same.

Since there was a 100% Resonance between them, he had 100% of her Entropic Energy Values.

But...her body was still that of a fantastical species of an Interstellar Beast Master, as the power she could express was immense.

She had ripped apart everything in that domain before she opened her jaws and released a pulse, a pulse that caused the Obsidian Entropic Soft Crystals from all fallen Entropic Beasts to gather toward her and be devoured into her jaws right after.

After that, there was nothing left for them to do.

So Damian communicated with her to see if she could revert to her old form, and the most that she could do was return to a small nine-tailed fox Beast.

Due to the change, he allowed his Entropic Energy Values to display 750, as this could explain how he was able to survive against throngs of fighting beasts that had...gone insane, as the story was currently.

As he thought of this, he focused on the now extremely solid bridge of connection between him and Kitsuul as words appeared in front of his eyes:

Kitsuul (Beast Partner)

Species: Umbra-Kitsune

Basal Form: Small, fox-like creature of the Umbra-Kitsune species with six glowing tails, soft gray fur, and silver eyes.

Advanced Form: A silver Winged Starmoon Shadow Fox with nine tails.

Unlocked Unique Trait: Veilshift – Undetectable by other Beasts and Beast Masters. Can make the Beast Master completely invisible and undetectable by any senses.

Unlocked Unique Trait: Phase Pounce – Can teleport short distances and phase through different states of matter.

The words were grand to see.

She had gone from her Basal Form to her Advanced Form of a Winged Starmoon Shadow Fox, as her power could rank above many Symbiotic Resonance Interstellar Beasts.

She was even stronger than Guardian Flameborn’s now-dead Beast, as Damian could do many more things with her...especially with her new capability of...Phase Pounce.

Teleportation and phasing through places in one.

If they could go invisible...was there now any place they could not get to?

It would be time for him to go absolutely anywhere he wanted to, as...could he not go and see what secrets were hiding wherever the Drunken Butcher called home?

Could he not enter ZENTHRA’s secret vaults and steal as much as he wanted?

"..."

His eyes burned brightly.

The killer.

And the one who covered things up.

He would not forget about either of them, as right now, all those emotions of rage mixed in with...the responsibility for the deaths of multiple Trial Guardians and their Beasts.