Lord Of Beasts

Amidst the chaos, where all the groups fell, there was one man who managed to fight through a beast swarm and survive.

Darius Cole.

The B Rank known as the Explosive Spear, and for good reason.

As soon as he was faced with the beast swarm, despite being alone, he was calm. His spear pierced forward expertly, then detonated.

Boom!

An ant was obliterated instantly, but Darius didn’t slow down in the slightest. With incredible precision and control, despite wielding a long weapon in a narrow tunnel, he was unstoppable.

With every calculated thrust and step, an ant beast fell.

Then the Ant Commander lunged, and this was the first beast he didn’t eliminate in a single attack. His fist dealt some damage, then Darius followed it up with an even more powerful blow.

Explosions formed at his feet as he burst forward, driving his spear that then erupted as it made contact with the C Rank Beast.

BOOM!

The Ant Commander’s body was torn apart in a violent explosion. It was a beast that all the other groups struggled with massively, yet to Darius, it was just another literal ant in his path to squish.

Then the swarm followed.

He took them on one by one in a relentless but efficient onslaught of attacks. Then, after minutes of intense action, Darius stood alone, surrounded by scorched and mangled corpses.

"That was tough."

That was all he said between steady breaths.

But then a real explosion reached him, a distant shockwave that caused a tremor beneath his feet.

His expression froze.

"Jared..."

He instantly knew what that was and was the only one who truly knew the ultimate ability of Iron Rebound.

That wasn’t just an explosion, that was death - the ultimate sacrifice.

His grip tightened on his spear.

"...Was it my fault?"

The thought slipped out before he could stop it.

"We shouldn’t have split up..."

His jaw clenched.

"If we stayed together... I could’ve protected them."

Only silence answered him.

He exhaled slowly.

Then shook his head.

"No."

Emotion or regret wouldn’t help - not in this gate, or any for that matter.

"It’s probably safe to assume I’m the only one left."

His eyes hardened.

"Then I must survive."

He turned, facing deeper into the tunnel.

"Time to find this damned Boss Beast..."

His voice dropped, low and cold.

"...and get out of this sick Gate."

-

Back to Ethan and the A Rank.

The shaking of the tunnel intensified, as cracks raced along the walls.

"Move!" Ethan snapped.

They sprinted even harder, but it was too late.

The ceiling collapsed, and stone crashed down around them, blocking the path ahead of them.

"Shit-!"

His head swung back the way they came.

’Maybe the explosion dealt with most of the beasts,’ he considered.

But before he could even decide what to do and which direction to go, the ground gave way beneath their feet.

"...You’ve got to be kidding me."

It crumbled completely, both of them dropping instantly.

As they fell into the dark unknown, the tunnel above collapsed entirely, leaving Ethan with one single question.

’Where the hell are we going to land?!’

They had been helpless to react in time, and the ground had literally vanished beneath their feet. One second, they were standing on something solid; the next, there was nothing.

Jared’s final release tore through the entire underground structure.

Ethan’s mind raced instantly.

’Should I summon Talon?’

He considered it, but it was too risky, and he didn’t want to put his beast in harm’s way needlessly. Though it may be able to carry him if it pushed itself, with all the debris falling and the tight space they were in, it didn’t make sense.

It was the same with his other two beasts.

’I guess I’m on my own.’

Well, Ethan wasn’t entirely on his own.

He looked to his side and suppressed a laugh as he watched the A Rank flailing wildly as they descended into the darkness.

’My eyesight is pretty good,’ he couldn’t help but comment, still able to see quite clearly in the dark.

But that’s when the thrashing began.

They didn’t just fall; it felt more like they were being thrown around.

It was like they had become part of a chain reaction of collapsing tunnels, one that they were unable to stop or slow down.

"Tch!"

Ethan twisted mid-air, trying to control his descent, but the angle shifted suddenly.

His shoulder slammed into jagged rock.

"Fuck," he groaned under his breath, pain shooting through his body as he was flung sideways into another slope.

The A Rank wasn’t faring any better.

He caught glimpses of her.

Her body tumbled, scraping as it was thrown violently against the uneven stone. She tried, just as he had, to stabilise herself, but it was to no avail.

They slid.

Then dropped again.

Then slammed into another incline.

Their bodies were dragged downwards through the collapsing structure like debris in a landslide.

Stone tore at Ethan’s clothes and skin.

His arms burned from friction.

His back screamed in pain as he bounced and scraped through narrow rock passages.

"How deep does this shit go?!"

Of course, there was no answer, just the sound of crumbling Earth, falling debris, and the sounds of their own ragged breathing.

They descended what felt like hundreds of metres in a matter of seconds, then suddenly they hit something.

Splat!

The impact was... wrong.

There was no bone-crushing force or sharp pain, like he was bracing himself for. Instead, there was a strange, cushioned resistance, like falling onto something thick.

Something... organic.

As if it wasn’t confusing enough, the surface beneath them gave way, collapsing under their weight.

Pop!

A wet, disgusting sound echoed beneath them.

Then another.

And another.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

A thick, slimy substance burst outward, splashing across Ethan’s body. It was warm and sticky, clinging to his clothes and skin.

"What the fuck did we-?"

Ethan froze, because before he could finish, a series of familiar notifications flashed in front of him...