Lord Of Beasts

The silence that settled over the floating islands felt heavier than any battle they had fought.

For the first time since entering the endless Gate, nobody was talking.

Nobody was joking.

Nobody even looked capable of it.

Ethan slowly looked around at the squad, and what he saw did little to reassure him for the final upcoming Boss Beast.

They had won every battle so far and defeated four terrifying A Rank creatures.

But they looked as though they had lost a war.

Seraphina sat with her knees pulled to her chest, breathing shallowly. She had always been on the slimmer side, but now she looked genuinely sick. The pink-haired speedster’s cheeks had hollowed out, and every burst of speed throughout the day seemed to have consumed another piece of her body. Her usually energetic movements had slowed considerably, her legs trembling whenever she stood.

"You alright?" Ethan asked.

She forced a smile that fooled absolutely nobody.

"I’ve... been better."

She laughed weakly before coughing, not even able to speak at her usual insane speed.

"I think moving this fast all day has finally caught up to me."

Ethan frowned.

Her ability clearly came at a cost, a terrifying one.

Not far away sat Rowan.

Or rather...

Something that looked only partly like Rowan.

The skin around his body had become rough and brown, resembling the bark of an ancient tree rather than flesh. Thin cracks spread across the hardened surface, giving him the appearance of someone slowly transforming into living wood.

His breathing was steady, but he was definitely feeling the strain.

He noticed Ethan staring.

"Don’t worry."

He raised one bark-covered hand.

"It goes away eventually."

"...Eventually?"

"I hope."

Despite the joke, Ethan could tell Rowan was not entirely certain.

Overusing his abilities clearly exacted a very different toll than Seraphina’s, and both of them were also running low on mana, no longer able to restore themselves.

Nearby, Dave sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.

Normally, the strange monk recovered mana faster than anyone Ethan had ever met. But now he looked exhausted, with sweat dripping down his face despite sitting completely still and floating above the ground.

His normally brilliant white eyes remained dull.

Liora didn’t look much better.

The Barrier Bastion had long since stopped maintaining any unnecessary constructs, and she even hesitated to create platforms to move across islands. Hours of continuously shaping mana into intricate structures had exhausted both her body and mind.

She rubbed her temples.

"My head feels like it’s splitting apart."

Darius remained the quietest of them all.

The veteran sat with his back against a stone pillar, clutching his flaming spear tightly even while resting. His eyes remained closed like he was trying to sleep, but his body constantly twitched from accumulated pain.

Between every battle, he had forced himself forward despite probably being in the worst physical condition out of everyone present.

Yet he had not complained once.

Then there was Kaela, the woman who normally seemed incapable of injury. Her healing factor had been pushed to its limits, and cuts that normally vanished instantly still lingered across her arms.

But that had happened after her battle with the Lightning Dragonfly, and she had gone on to fight multiple battles. What was most concerning was that the vibrant violet glow within her eyes had noticeably dimmed.

She caught Ethan looking.

"What?"

"I didn’t think you could get this tired."

She snorted.

"Neither did I."

For once, there wasn’t even any arrogance behind her words.

Just honesty.

Even Ethan himself felt dreadful.

His Beast Recovery skill had carried him further than anyone else, and eating beast meat had restored incredible amounts of energy. But his muscles ached, and his mana core felt stagnant, as if it refused to store any more energy.

Every movement reminded him that his body had been pushed far beyond what he could withstand, and that this wasn’t the Tower where he could reset his condition by waking up.

Then his gaze shifted toward Elara.

She stood silently beside the edge of the floating island, her crimson eyes remaining focused ahead. From the outside, she looked almost perfectly composed, but Ethan noticed the tiny tremors in her hands.

Even with infinite fuel, engines eventually began falling apart if they ran without stopping.

The only person who genuinely looked rested was...

The Bulldozer.

The massive, grey-skinned man scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"What?"

Everyone looked at him.

"Why’re you all staring at me?"

Nobody answered, though their eyes spoke volumes.

Apart from helping with some of the beetle creatures, where his brute strength was somewhat useful, he had contributed very little. Against flying enemies or during ranged combat, there simply had not been much he could do besides protect Dave whenever necessary.

The silence lingered.

Finally, Ethan pushed himself upright despite his body protesting.

"We only have a couple of hours left."

Everyone looked toward him.

"So we need to find the last beast base and finish this quickly."

Kaela groaned dramatically.

"What if we don’t?"

She lay flat on the ground.

"What actually happens if we don’t finish within twenty-four hours?"

Ethan slowly shook his head.

"I honestly don’t know."

His expression became serious.

"But I don’t think we want to find out."

Nobody argued.

Whatever entity controlled this Gate had already demonstrated power far beyond anything they understood. It was something capable of taking over Gates, manipulating entire dimensions, and spawning islands and beasts...

None of them wanted to imagine the consequences.

Darius stood next, his spear digging into the ground as he used it to support himself.

"Then we keep moving."

One after another, the others followed.

The finish line being within sight gave them one final surge of determination.

Before they left, however...

"There is something you all need to know," Ethan said.

Everyone stopped.

"The last Boss Beast is going to be butterflies."

"Butterflies?"

Kaela blinked.

"Seriously?"

She looked genuinely confused.

"That’s supposed to scare us?"

Dave immediately stiffened, and beside him, the Bulldozer paled.

Kaela noticed immediately.

"What? You’ve fought them before?"

Ethan sighed, having already told her all the beasts they had faced, so she clearly hadn’t been listening. Dave, on the other hand, was curious as to how the blue-eyed enigma who had stolen his trousers even knew that.

"How-"

"That doesn’t matter."

Ethan interrupted him.

"What matters is that I’m certain."

He took a slow breath.

"And we need to be extremely careful."

As they continued walking, Ethan and Dave explained everything that had happened during their encounter with the Dreamveil Monarch in even more detail. Highlighting that it made them attack each other and trapped them inside their own minds while their bodies remained helpless.

The Bulldozer attempted to interrupt several times, like a child wanting attention.

"It happened to me."

Nobody acknowledged him.

"I was there too..."

Still nothing.

The giant man’s shoulders slumped, and he quietly fell to the back of the group, looking thoroughly defeated.

Moments later, after hearing the full story, even Kaela’s confident grin disappeared.

"So..."

She scratched her head.

"I’m pretty good at smashing things."

She shrugged.

"But mental attacks... That’s beyond me."

Darius looked toward Liora.

"You think your barriers can stop something like that?"

She considered it carefully.

"Honestly, I don’t know."

Ethan nodded.

"Then that’s still our best option."

Everyone looked towards him.

"We stay behind Liora’s barriers as we approach carefully."

"And?"

"And we avoid looking directly at them."

Kaela stared.

"So, let me get this straight."

Everyone turned to look at her now.

"We’re supposed to fight butterflies we can’t look at while having no real idea how their abilities actually work."

She sighed dramatically.

"Sounds like a flawless plan."

Nobody laughed simply because none of them had a better one.

And so, without any further preparation, they continued deeper into the endless world of floating islands while drained, injured, and mentally exhausted. Toward the final Boss Beast, where they were going to live out their worst nightmares.

Literally...