Lord Of Beasts

Upon locking eyes with the A Rank that was now like the incarnation of Satan himself, Ethan thought his life was over.

But all she did was wink at him, and just like that, it was gone.

He wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed at how underwhelming it was or relieved that it hadn’t crushed him like an ant. The ant part was ironic, considering the swarm of ants that was still chasing after them.

Thankfully, his legs kept going throughout, running as fast as they could.

Just as suddenly as the A Rank had been possessed, that dark entity within her suddenly disappeared.

Her eyes returned to normal, as normal as red eyes were. That domineering presence vanished, and her expression softened.

The timid A Rank was back, and she glanced at him, confused.

*What are you staring at?*

Her hands moved quickly as she signed while running.

That was genuine confusion, and there was no trace of what had just happened.

’She actually doesn’t know that the thing inside her came out.’

Ethan stared at her for a moment longer, then he laughed, a short, disbelieving chuckle.

’I knew there was something off about her...’

’But what the fuck was that?’

There was no time to think or process what had just happened, but he would definitely be coming back to this if they both survived this gate.

He stole a glance back, and the situation had only gotten worse.

Ants were excellent communicators, and now there were hundreds of them. With his enhanced vision, he also spotted larger and stronger beasts pushing through the swarm.

’Great, just what I needed. Ant Commanders chasing after us.’

And they were catching up quickly.

"We might be fucked."

But it was hard to regret or fret when those notifications didn’t stop.

{Beast Eliminated!}

{Beast Eliminated!}

{Beast Eliminated!}

’Wolfy and Spark are putting in work, but they gotta speed it up.’

He could feel them, without even checking the system, he could gauge their positions and conditions. It was like he had a connection with them, tugging at the back of his mind.

Ethan could almost feel them fighting, tearing through eggs, and feeding. There were likely other ant beasts chasing them around now, but they seemed to be faring well.

He also didn’t have to worry about being too far from his summons, since there didn’t seem to be a limit on distance. As long as he provided enough MP, they could move, hunt, and kill independently.

But when it came to summoning them, that still required proximity, and at a stretch, he could summon them as far as he could see.

Not that it mattered right now.

His eyes flicked to his Evolutionary Shard count, which he kept open on the System Interface.

{Evolutionary Shards: 854}

Even while looking at it, he could hardly believe it.

It had risen so fast, weeks of effort in a matter of minutes. And most importantly, it was getting close.

’If I can just get one to C Rank, this would all be worth it. And I might not end up dying here.’

Everything was happening too quickly, and enough people had lost their lives already.

A like this this, before the system’s interference, would have been comfortably cleared in a matter of hours. With their large group and experienced Titled, it would have been quite easy too.

But now there were endless ant beasts and no clear way out.

Ethan sighed, but continued running.

’I’ll figure it out like I always do.’

The A Rank also kept pace, still silent and strange, but she was clearly starting to lose hope. Just like Ethan, she was pushing herself to keep this speed up.

They were seconds away from gassing out, and even if they weren’t, the faster Ant Commanders were hot on their tails.

That’s when it finally happened.

{Evolutionary Shards: 1001}

’I have enough!!!’

Without hesitation, Ethan navigated to the Beast Tab, and there was now an evolve option beside all Spark and Wolfy who had C Rank Beast Potential.

Unfortunately, Talon’s was only D Rank, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

Though Spark’s MP and Skill were useful, they wouldn’t save him in his current predicament. What he needed was speed to get away from these beasts, and his next best option after Talon was Wolfy.

Little did he know, it would end up being even better than he could have imagined...

-

Ethan didn’t overthink it, pressing on the translucent panel that floated before him.

’Evolve Wolfy to C Rank.’

There was a flash of light, then a series of notifications.

{Evolution of Wolfy has been successful!}

{Congratulations on completing the Objective: Evolve one Beast to C Rank}

{Reward: Race Crystal (C)}

Ethan immediately had a bunch of questions, remaining naturally inquisitive even in the tensest of situations.

’Since it highlighted that the evolution was successful, does that mean there are instances where it won’t be?’

He hadn’t paid much attention to it when he evolved his beasts to D Rank, but the system always had a way of wording things that left room for him to be shafted.

’And what is a Race Crystal?!’

Ethan couldn’t afford to stop and read the description; he’d likely trip over and end up beast food. But from the name, it seemed like it might be exactly what he needed to help with the progression of his beasts.

’I’ll check after I get out of this fucking place.’

Because even with a C Rank Beast, which he couldn’t risk pausing to check the stats of either, it didn’t change the immediate problem.

More ant beasts than he could count were chasing him, and they were very seething. Not to mention, in the direction he was running, the tunnel ahead was giving him a bad feeling.

There was a palpable tension in the air.

The same oppressive presence from before, which had been overshadowed by the change in the A Rank, had caught his attention again. But turning back wasn’t exactly an option, with an Ant Commander literally metres away and rapidly gaining on him.

Ethan was stuck between a rock and a hard place, but now he had a small saving grace: a C Rank Beast that might just be able to save him from being ripped to shreds like the rest of his group...