Lord Of Beasts

Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, Wolfy sped up as much as it could. It had begun struggling, and the ant beasts were gaining on him, but the loyal creature silently endured.

As they reached the ledge, Ethan’s eyes sharpened as he peered over.

Despite his unshakable bad feeling, he immediately felt relieved by what he saw in the giant opening. Within it stood a single man clutching his spear.

"Darius!"

For a moment, Ethan almost laughed.

’Never thought I’d be this happy to see any dude.’

It was a giant cavern, identical, or at least very similar to the one they had spawned into. But even before what was within it came into view, Wolfy leapt into it without hesitation.

The Ulfen didn’t have much of a choice.

Its massive body soared out of the tunnel before landing cleanly below with a heavy skid, stone cracked slightly beneath its weight.

Snap!

A series of massive mandibles slammed shut right where they had been a split second ago.

"That was close."

Now on solid ground, Ethan got a proper look at Darius.

With his spear in hand, he was covered in green gunk and ant blood, a lot of it. His clothes were torn and his light armour shredded, but his posture was steady and his presence still sharp.

He had clearly fought his way here.

And to think he had done so alone, facing dozens if not hundreds of these giant ant beasts.

Ethan’s respect for him rose even more.

’Even for a B Rank... that’s insane.’

Darius turned instantly, his spear snapping toward Wolfy as flames ignited in his hands. He was clearly ready to strike, but he paused after seeing two familiar individuals climbing off its back.

"...?"

That surprise didn’t last long; his expression hardened again.

"Where are the others?"

He was straight to the point, but so was Ethan.

"Everyone died, and we ran."

Darius didn’t flinch or react much at all, already surmising that was the case after Jared’s final explosion. If anything, he was more surprised that there were any survivors at all.

He also couldn’t fault them for running, and even if he could, now wasn’t the time for it.

Instead, his gaze shifted to Wolfy, sharp and assessing.

"What’s this beast?"

Ethan answered without missing a beat.

"It’s part of her ability."

He jerked his thumb slightly behind him.

"She summoned it so we could escape."

Darius raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

His gaze lingered on the wolf.

"That’s odd... I thought she was a useless A Rank."

A pause.

"Even still, this beast is only C Rank."

Ethan smirked internally.

’He can tell that easily, quite impressive.’

Behind him, the A Rank smacked his shoulder hard.

*That’s not-!*

She started signing aggressively, but Ethan just smiled and turned around, ignoring her completely.

"I think it’s just us left," Darius said after a moment.

Then his expression darkened slightly.

"But something’s wrong."

Ethan nodded slowly in agreement.

’So he can feel it as well.’

They looked over, and the ants that had been chasing him didn’t exit the tunnel. Not a single one stepped into the clearing, simply watching them from the opening above.

Ethan frowned.

"That’s weird..."

They glanced around, and within the other tunnels that lined the cavern walls, they saw other ants appear. Leading them were C Rank Ant Commanders, watching and waiting.

But even still, none of them entered, just watching.

"Guess we’re stuck here."

Ethan wasn’t sure if they were blocking them in or waiting to attack, but either way, he couldn’t help but feel on edge.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the air suddenly shifted...

Something was coming, and whatever it was made everything else feel insignificant. All the ant beasts that they could see from the dozens of tunnels lowered their heads.

"Yeah," Ethan muttered under his breath, his voice low and tense. "That’s not normal."

Darius didn’t respond immediately, but his grip on his spear tightened slightly. As for the A Rank, she shifted closer behind Ethan, her fingers brushing against his back as if confirming he was still there.

They were surrounded.

Not in the way of being overwhelmed by a swarm, but contained and boxed in like prey being held in place for something greater.

"This is a trap," Ethan whispered.

Darius nodded once.

"Which means..."

Before he could finish, the ground shook violently.

A deep rumble tore through the cavern, vibrating up through their feet and through their very bones. The ceiling above began cracking before bursting open.

"Move!" Ethan snapped.

Massive slabs of stone crashed down from above, smashing into the ground with deafening force. Dust exploded into the air, obscuring vision instantly.

Ethan didn’t hesitate.

The first thing he did was undo his summoning of Wolfy, the Ulfen vanishing instantly. Then he lowered slightly and prepared to evade as needed.

’Beast Assimilation: Talon.’

His body lightened instantly, and his vision sharpened as he darted between falling debris, weaving through chaos with precise, calculated movements.

To the side, the A Rank trailed closely behind him, quickly and almost as fluidly.

"Come here!"

They both stopped and darted over to him. Of course, they hesitated and were confused by his sudden, odd order, but what he was doing amazed them.

Darius stepped forward, planting his foot firmly as he spun his spear above his head.

The speed of the spinning picked up incredibly, so much so that bright flames ignited around it. They wrapped around the spear in spiralling arcs, forming a rotating shield of fire.

Crash!

All the debris that hit was knocked aside, shattered and blasted away by the rotating force of his weapon. Chunks of stone deflected outward, never reaching them.

Ethan blinked.

"Well, that’s convenient."

The two of them stood beneath his arms, like they were sharing an umbrella in a storm of falling rock. Darius didn’t even look down at them, his focus on maintaining the flaming spear.

But he still noticed it.

Ethan’s speed and movements were definitely not those of your average E Rank. He also seemed to be the one who dismissed the summoning of that wolf-like beast, not the A Rank.

But there was no time to question it.

Because as the shaking stopped and the debris settled, something much worse arrived...