Lord Of Beasts

Ethan stepped into the giant building through its grand, revolving doors.

He immediately hated them.

’Why can’t they just have normal doors?’

Ethan continued into the reception area wearing his usual outfit of a hoodie and sweatpants, his cigarette still resting casually between his fingers. He took another drag as he walked through the lobby, completely ignoring the looks he received from the employees and visitors around him.

A security guard quickly stepped forward.

"Sir, you can’t-"

The man stopped when Ethan turned his head.

His eyes widened slightly as recognition dawned on him.

Ethan Crowe.

The B Rank Titled who had been appearing all over the news lately and was the head of the Association’s Enforcement Unit. He immediately looked far less confident about stopping him.

Ethan took another slow drag from his cigarette before casually asking, "What floor’s the big man on?"

"He’s, um-"

Before the security guard could finish, a receptionist suddenly approached.

She was an attractive middle-aged woman dressed professionally, and Ethan couldn’t help noticing that one too many buttons on her shirt had been left open.

"Mr Crowe, please follow me."

Ethan raised an eyebrow but simply nodded.

"Sure."

He followed her across the reception area and toward a private elevator.

The doors opened, and Ethan stepped inside.

She entered after him and pressed a button, and the elevator immediately zoomed upward. He glanced at the display as the numbers continued climbing, taking them directly to the highest floor of the building.

Ethan leaned against the wall, casually smoking as he waited.

He had no idea what kind of man Victor Crowe was, or why the man had contacted him after all these years.

’He must want something.’

For all Ethan knew, this entire meeting could turn into a complete disaster, but there was no turning back now.

Eventually, the elevator slowed to a stop.

The doors opened.

Ethan stepped out, looked toward the corridor ahead of him, cigarette still between his fingers, and took a slow breath.

’Here goes nothing.’

-

Back at the Enforcement Unit’s base, not long after Ethan had set off, Elara received another call.

She answered it with a tired groan.

"Another Gate?"

It had gotten to the point where she could practically predict what every call was going to be about. The Association had been relying heavily on her lately. As one of the most effective A Ranks in the country, Elara was both powerful and incredibly efficient.

She was practically a one-woman clearing squad.

On most days, she cleared at least one B Rank Gate before most Titled had even finished preparing to enter their own. She had even cleared four gates in a single day, but they were lower ranked.

The work was good for her training, and it was even better for her bank account.

Unfortunately, that didn’t mean it wasn’t getting tiring.

The woman on the other end gave her the details of the Gate and then mentioned several additional incentives they were willing to provide for handling it.

Elara sighed.

"Okay, I’ll handle it."

Before the woman could respond, Kaela suddenly snatched the phone out of Elara’s hand.

"But she has a condition."

There was a long sigh from the other end.

The woman sounded even more drained and overworked than Elara.

"What is it?"

"I’m going to be entering the Gate with her, as well as a buddy of ours."

The woman didn’t even ask who Kaela was or what buddy she spoke of, having a pretty good idea. And surprisingly, she didn’t even need to seek approval from anyone else.

"Go ahead, Miss."

Kaela grinned.

"Being an Enforcer is amazing. I should’ve taken a bullshit role like this earlier. We don’t even have to do anything and get all these perks."

The Riot Valkyrie was used to getting things her way, but this just made it easier to do so. Still, Kaela had a feeling that the lack of work to do wouldn’t last forever. Ever since the Blessed had made their announcement, things had been strangely quiet.

Far too quiet.

It felt as though the organisation was preparing for something big, and it was the Enforcers who would be on the frontline of dealing with it. But that was something they could worry about when it actually happened.

For now, there was a Gate to clear.

"Who’s this buddy of yours?" Mark asked nervously.

Kaela turned to him with a mischievous smile.

"We’re going to break your Gate virginity today."

Mark wasn’t exactly excited by the prospect, but he wasn’t completely against it either.

He hesitantly nodded, as if he had any choice in the matter.

Kaela had already decided she was dragging him along, so whether or not he agreed, he was going into a Gate today.

"Did you really have to put it like that?" Elara asked.

Kaela laughed.

"You wouldn’t know a lot about virginity anymore, would you?"

Elara’s eyes widened.

"What? You? How? Who said Ethan was my first?"

Kaela’s grin widened.

"So you admit you two are fucking?"

She had only been teasing her, but Elara’s sudden, adorably flustered reaction spoke volumes.

Even Mark couldn’t help himself from laughing.

Elara let out a defeated laugh of her own, eventually joining them.

Once the laughter died down, Kaela looked toward the red-eyed woman.

"So, where are we off to this time?"

She was already ready to go, itching to unleash some of the energy she hadn’t been able to use against Wolfy.

"Canada."

Kaela blinked.

"Canada? I thought we worked for the USA Titled Association?"

"Well, it seems they need some help with a Gate that they don’t currently have enough available Titled to deal with. Since we apparently have a good relationship and alliance with them, we’ve been sent to help."

Most of that explanation didn’t register with Kaela.

She only cared about one thing.

"If they can’t handle it, it must be a fun one."

Elara shook her head.

She could already imagine the craziness that was coming their way. Still, she would be lying if she said it wasn’t reassuring to have Kaela on her side. The Riot Valkyrie was reckless, unpredictable, and occasionally a complete pain in the ass.

But when things got serious, she was someone Elara could rely on.

’Mark, on the other hand...’

Elara looked the large man up and down.

’As long as he doesn’t go on a rampage, or at least doesn’t attack us, he might be useful.’

He clearly had no intention of sitting this one out.

And just like that, another group of people in black suits arrived.

Several SUVs pulled up outside the Enforcement Unit’s headquarters, their doors opening one after another as the group prepared to leave.

Elara, Kaela, and Mark climbed into the vehicles.

There was no time to waste, and they were about to enter an insane Gate in the country just North of them. As they did, Ethan was about to have one of the most important conversations of his life...