Starting Out As The God of Beasts

The damp, heavy chill of the underground transit tunnel clung to Eurenia’s skin as her consciousness slowly returned.

With a sharp gasp, her eyes flew open.

Panic immediately seized her throat, and she scrambled backward against the jagged stone wall, her fingers clawing frantically into the dirt.

She looked up, expecting to see the heavy iron blade of the Ogre General coming down to end her life.

Instead, the dim purple light of the mana cores revealed the familiar, hollow cavern.

Everyone was still there.

Nurex, Ivon, and Yuri stood rigidly in the shadows, their expressions dark and completely silent.

Alisa stood near the edge of the circle, her daggers sheeted, her head bowed in an uncharacteristic gravity.

And in the center of the tunnel sat Roy.

He was in his crimson furred Wolf-form, his long crimson hair cascading over his black coat, his dual-colored eyes staring calmly into the dark.

A sudden wave of pure terror gripped Eurenia’s heart.

It wasn’t the fear of death, but the fear of Roy’s absolute wrath.

She had lost control.

She had let her personal madness ruin a vital mission, and because of her, every single beastman slave they had been sent to rescue was dead, buried under the collapsed ruins of the cavern.

Trembling violently, she dropped to her knees and pressed her forehead against the freezing stone floor.

"Master... I... I failed," she choked out, her voice cracked and shaking. "Please punish me."

"I ruined everything."

Roy didn’t unleash a storm of pressure. He slowly rose from his seat, walked over to her trembling form, and knelt down on one knee.

With a calm, measured movement, he reached out and gently placed his hand on her head, his long fingers soothing her tensed ears.

"Calm down, Eurenia," Roy said softly, his voice steady and grounding. "Tell me, why did you let your power run so completely wild?"

Hearing the unexpected gentleness in his tone, Eurenia’s composure completely broke.

Tears mixed with the grime and dried blood on her face as she looked up at him. "That Ogre.... the one in the bolted armor... it was him." she sobbed.

"He is the Ogre General. A few months ago, he led the armies that raided my pack. He butchered my father right in front of my eyes while he laughed."

"When I smelled his mana... everything went white. I couldn’t see the slaves. I couldn’t see the exit. I just wanted to rip him apart."

She took a shaky breath, looking down at her torso.

To her surprise, her bones had been perfectly mended. "How... how did I even get back here? The last thing I remember was his blade coming down."

"I intervened," Roy answered flatly, his hands sliding back into the pockets of his coat. "If I hadn’t stepped in to pull you out, you would be a corpse right now."

Eurenia’s eyes widened slightly as she processed the depth of his intervention.

Then, a sharp, bitter realization crossed her features. "Then... the Ogre General... you killed him?"

"No," Roy smiled, a cold, calculated glint flaring deep within his golden-crimson eyes. "I shattered his weapon and left him breathing. I spared him for one specific reason, Eurenia."

"His life does not belong to me." he exhaled a deep sigh, "You are the one who is going to stand over his body, and you are the one who will personally take his head when the final walls fall."

Eurenia’s breath hitched.

A profound wave of gratitude washed over her terror, and she bowed until her forehead touched his boots. "Thank you, Master. I will not fail you again."

"Good" Roy smiled, "But your role here has come to an end" he turned his gaze, "You failed your mission, remember?"

"B-But....Please give me another chance" Eurenia begged.

"No" Roy shook his head, "You are to return back to Tempest City alongside the secret agents deployed by Mandraxx"

"That is an order" Roy stated.

Eurenia gulped hard, she bent her head in shame, "By your will"

"Eurenia" Roy inhaled deeply, "When I return back to Tempest, you’ll be punished but for now, you must prepare"

"War is coming faster than i expected" he stated.

"War?" Eurenia asked.

"Yes" Roy smiled, "You see, the Troll King is quite enraged, it won’t let this slide at all..."

"But this is exactly what I need" Roy’s eyes flickered for a second, "If the Troll King declared war when he wants..."

"It means he has gotten what he needs, victory will be his. But now, he will be declaring war because we crossed him"

"Return back and prepare the Crusade for war!"

***

Meanwhile....

Upstairs, within the colossal, ice-rimed audience chamber of the Grand Frost Sanctum, the atmosphere was thick enough to suffocate a mundane creature.

The heavy stone floor was lined with the elite of the western army.

The high Troll Generals stood like frozen statues, their hands resting on the pommels of their massive frost-halberds.

Beside them, the towering frame of the Ogre General Ryokan stood out, his expression dark, his empty hands twitching where his shattered greatsword used to rest.

At the base of the throne, the Troll King’s Right Hand—a sleek, white-skinned Troll advisor—bowed deeply as he delivered the report.

"Great King, our inner security has been violently breached within the last two hours," the advisor spoke, his voice echoing sharply off the high pillars.

"The traitor Rabbit-kin, Elijah, has been found assassinated inside his personal chambers, his throat severed. Simultaneously, the secret subterranean ritual site was completely invaded."

The air tensed up as the advisor continued.

"Our outer guards were dismantled, and twelve of our elite sentries were systematically executed."

The Troll King sat perfectly still upon his throne of permafrost, thick plumes of freezing mist pouring from his tusked jaw.

The ambient temperature in the room plummeted, causing frost to rapidly crawl up the stone pillars.

"Who did this? Was it the remnants of the spies?"

The Ogre General Ryokan stepped forward, his heavy iron boots clanking loudly against the floor as he bowed his head.

"Your Majesty, I engaged the primary invader myself in the ritual site. It was a beastman female—the daughter of the Alpha I slaughtered a few months ago on your orders." he reported.

"She fought like a rabid animal. I had her entirely defeated. Her ribs were crushed, and my blade was descending to finish her."

"Then why does she still draw breath outside my city?" the Troll King rumbled, his voice like grinding glaciers.

"Because an outside force bypassed our security," the Ogre General Ryokan bowed in fear, his yellow eyes burning with a mixture of rage and lingering humiliation.

"Right before my blade landed, a powerful, crimson-furred wolf man materialized out of thin air.

His presence was suffocating, flashing with absolute power." he gulped hard, "With a single flick of his bare fingers, he shattered my iron greatsword into splinters and vanished with the female before I could even raise the alarm."

The mention of the powerful crimson-furred wolf man caused a furious murmur to ripple through the Troll Generals.

They knew that description.

It was the legendary guardian signature associated with the high leadership protecting the northern beastman stronghold.

Saint Jarden Rome.

The Troll King slammed his massive, blue-skinned fist onto the armrest of his ice throne, shattering the stone into a cloud of sharp crystals.

He rose to his full, monstrous height, his frost-white eyes blazing with an unholy wrath that filled the entire sanctum with a terrifying gale of cold wind.

"Tempest City," the Troll King roared, his voice detonating through the rafters like thunder.

"They dare send their highest hidden masters to fracture my inner sanctum? They dare touch my ritual grounds?"

"They have finally forced my hand."

He raised his massive arm, pointing it directly toward the southern plains.

"Assemble the armies! Sound the war horns across every mountain keep! No more skirmishes, no more border delays."

"I formally declare open war upon Tempest City!"

"We march to erase them from the desert!"