Lord Of Beasts

The moment Elara and Kaela stepped through the Gate, they found themselves somewhere that was completely different from what they had expected.

It was insane, even crazier than that insect Gate they had been trapped in.

A vast, distorted landscape stretched in every direction, with enormous chunks of rock floating through the air as though gravity had simply stopped working. Rivers of glowing red energy flowed through deep ravines below them, while towering stone structures rose from the ground at impossible angles.

The sky was dark and filled with swirling clouds of crimson and black mana. Lightning occasionally flashed through the clouds, but instead of thunder, each strike sent a pulse of mana through the entire Gate.

Even the ground beneath their feet felt wrong.

It trembled constantly, as though something enormous was moving far beneath the surface.

Elara immediately understood the problem.

This wasn't an ordinary B Rank Gate.

While Ethan was currently exploring a floor of the Tower that was equivalent to a B Rank Floor, the Gate they had entered was closer to B+ Rank. And unlike Ethan, who could spend as much time as he wanted inside the Tower and leave whenever he pleased, they had to clear this Gate today.

Not only had they been paid to do so, but the Gate was already showing signs of instability.

Now that they were inside, it was even more obvious.

'No wonder their scouts didn't make it out of this place. They should have left as soon as they saw how fucked this was.'

The entire place seemed to be coming apart at the seams.

'And if this thing breaks...'

Elara's expression hardened.

A Gate Break of this size, even in a remote part of Canada, would be a massive disaster. It wasn't exactly their problem, but if the Gate broke while they were inside it, they would certainly be blamed for failing to clear it.

She also wasn't sure what would happen to them if that happened.

And there was another problem.

"Mark? You good?"

Elara slowly approached the man.

Mark stood unnaturally straight and hadn't moved since entering the Gate.

His arms hung loosely at his sides, his head tilted slightly downward, and his entire body appeared unnaturally rigid.

Elara frowned.

'Something's wrong.'

Mark's heartbeat wasn't simply getting faster anymore, but was getting louder and more powerful

Each beat seemed to shake his entire body.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

It was all Mark could hear.

The sound drowned out everything around him as his heartbeat echoed through his mind like a war drum.

Then something inside him awakened.

'Kill.'

Another beat.

'Kill.'

Another.

'Kill.'

The words repeated themselves inside his head.

This wasn't the instinct of a beast; it was something far more primal...

The instinct of a monster!

Over the past week, Mark had slowly begun learning how to use his strange body. He had discovered that his flesh could adapt to threats, that his muscles could change, that his skin could harden, and that his body was capable of becoming stronger when pushed.

He had thought he was learning how to control it.

But the dense mana saturating the Gate had made it almost unbearable, and his body was learning something else.

How to control him.

Mark's muscles suddenly expanded.

Then, without saying a word or responding to Elara, Mark suddenly burst forward.

He ran.

The speed was absurd.

Mark tore across the landscape as though he were chasing something only he could see. His feet smashed into the ground with every step, sending cracks through the stone as he accelerated deeper into the Gate.

Elara's eyes widened.

"Mark!"

She immediately prepared to chase after and stop him.

But before she could move, Kaela stepped directly into her path.

Elara's expression changed.

"Kaela?"

The Riot Valkyrie's fist suddenly shot forward.

Elara instinctively activated Physical Augmentation and raised her arm.

BOOM!

The impact exploded between them.

Elara was forced backward several metres, her shoes scraping across the ground.

"What the fuck are you doing?!"

Even Elara couldn't maintain her usual composure.

As if throwing Mark into the Gate wasn't enough, Kaela now seemed to have completely lost her mind.

Yet when Elara looked into her violet eyes, she saw no madness.

Kaela was completely herself.

"The dude wants to explore," she said casually. "Let him be free."

"Are you crazy?!"

Elara stared at her in disbelief.

She and Kaela had grown much closer over the recent weeks, even being considered one of the most fearsome duos by many publications. They had fought together, trained together, and trusted one another.

But this was too far.

Kaela smiled.

"I've been wanting a serious rematch with you since we first fought at that UFC."

Her violet aura began to rise.

"One without that demon inside of you saving your ass."

"This isn't the time for that, Kaela!"

"Oh, yes, it is."

Her purple aura exploded outward as she locked eyes with her opponent.

'She's crazy.'

But Elara couldn't ignore what she had just seen.

Mark had run deeper into an unstable B+ Gate while something monstrous inside him was taking control. She needed to follow him and help, but Kaela was standing directly in her way.

Kaela charged, and Elara met her head-on.

Red and violet energy collided as the two women slammed into each other.

Elara's movements were precise and controlled despite her frustration. She seamlessly combined everything she had learnt from the demon - Physical Augmentation, Mana Constructs, and Instant Displacement - switching between them without hesitation.

One moment she was attacking with an enhanced fist.

The next, a blade of condensed mana formed in her hand.

Then she vanished.

She reappeared behind Kaela and struck.

Kaela twisted around and blocked with her forearm.

The impact sent a shockwave through the surrounding area.

Kaela barely seemed to notice.

Her body possessed absurd physical power, but that wasn't what made her truly dangerous.

It was her instincts.

The woman fought like a natural-born warrior, reacting to attacks almost before they happened. Every movement was aggressive and unpredictable, and wounds that should have slowed her down began closing almost instantly.

Elara's eyes narrowed.

Kaela's regeneration was keeping pace with the damage.

"The man you're worried about can handle himself," Kaela said, blocking another attack. "Relax."

"He's not himself right now!"

Elara disappeared.

Blink!

She reappeared above Kaela and drove a mana-augmented kick downward.

Kaela raised both arms.

BOOM!

The ground beneath her cracked, but she simply grinned through the impact.

"You're worried about me too, aren't you?"

Elara's expression tightened.

"Of course I am!"

Kaela laughed.

"Then stop."

She surged forward.

Her fist slammed into Elara's mana construct, shattering it instantly.

Elara barely avoided the follow-up strike, disappearing and reappearing several metres away.

Kaela's violet aura continued to grow.

She wasn't fighting because she wanted to hurt Elara or just for the sake of it, but because she wanted to get stronger.

For a while now, Kaela had begun to feel stagnant.

She was an A Rank Titled, one of the strongest people in the country, yet everyone around her seemed to be progressing. Ethan was constantly discovering new powers, Mark's body was evolving, and Elara was unlocking more and more of her latent abilities.

Even Gates were becoming stronger, yet she wasn't.

Kaela wanted to develop too.

'And what better way to get stronger than by fighting one of the strongest Titled in the country?'

Elara suddenly appeared in front of her.

A red aura erupted around her body as she attacked.

Kaela blocked.

Another exchange.

Then another.

Red and purple energy tore across the strange landscape as their battle intensified.

Despite Kaela's overwhelming physical abilities and near-instant regeneration, Elara was clearly the more capable fighter. She controlled the battlefield with her mana constructs and instantaneous movement, attacking from impossible angles while using Physical Augmentation to make every strike count.

Kaela, however, simply kept coming.

The Riot Valkyrie was a warrior who simply refused to stay down.

Knowing that better than anyone, Elara continued trying to reason with her throughout their clash.

"Kaela, I need to go after Mark!"

"Then go."

Kaela grinned.

"If you want to help him so badly..."

Her violet aura exploded around her.

"...just get through me."

Elara stared at her.

For a moment, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Then she clenched her fists.

Kaela really was crazy, but if a fight was what she wanted, Elara would give her exactly that. And somewhere deep within Elara's mind, she could almost feel the demon within her egging her on.

It was feeding her more mana and silently urging her forward.

Elara's crimson aura intensified.

"Fine."

Her eyes sharpened.

"I'll force my way past you."

Kaela's grin widened.

"That's what I wanted to hear."

The two women collided once again, this time unleashing even more power.

Meanwhile, somewhere deep inside the unstable Gate, Mark continued running toward whatever his awakened instincts were calling him toward...