Lord Of Beasts

Far outside the insect-infested gate, Harold finally returned to his office atop the Association Headquarters. His brief appearance at the press conference felt like it had happened days ago.

Now, stacks of reports covered his desk: maps, casualty projections, gate activity reports, internal communications.

"With all this tech, and we still use this much paper," he groaned.

Being responsible for coordinating Gate defence across one of the world’s largest and most heavily infested countries meant there was never a shortage of problems.

Gates of varying ranks appeared every day. On top of that, rogue Titled constantly required monitoring, foreign Associations demanded cooperation, and military coordination never stopped.

Most crises he could influence.

But controlling gates themselves, that was beyond him and anyone else.

His Association device suddenly chimed.

"Sir."

The voice sounded urgent.

"It has now been nineteen hours."

Harold immediately stopped writing.

"The unstable Gate continues deteriorating."

A new projection appeared on the holographic display.

"At its current rate... It is expected to undergo an A Rank Gate Break within approximately five hours."

The room became silent.

"And Titan?" Harold asked.

The answer came immediately.

"We still cannot establish contact."

Harold slowly leaned back in his chair, rubbing a tired hand across his weathered face.

"I had no choice but to lie to the public."

The officer remained silent while Harold sighed heavily.

"I needed them calm. If panic spread... The situation would’ve become even worse."

He looked toward the city skyline outside his office window.

"But if the clearing squad fails..."

His jaw tightened.

"We’re going to have a disaster on our hands."

The surrounding districts had already been evacuated, military forces waited nearby, and every available Titled capable of responding had been positioned around the Gate.

Even so...

It wouldn’t be enough, not against an A Rank Gate Break.

Even if they eventually dealt with whatever monsters and beasts came out of it, thousands would still die, and the entire city would be destroyed, leaving them with billions in damages.

And most importantly, public trust would collapse.

In times like these, trust was almost as valuable as strength itself, and they needed to maintain the illusion that the association had everything under control. In reality, gates were becoming more numerous and powerful, and they still barely understood how they worked or the source of Titled abilities.

Harold slowly closed his eyes.

There was nothing more he could do, and he had already committed every available resource. The rest depended entirely upon the people trapped inside.

"Let’s just hope..."

His quiet voice barely filled the office.

"...they have enough left to clear it."

Emergency preparations quietly continued, while inside the Gate, a handful of exhausted Titled unknowingly carried the weight of an entire city upon their shoulders.

-

Another two hours passed.

Two long, exhausting hours of leaping from floating island to floating island while looking for the Final Boss Beast.

At first, none of them thought much of it.

The previous Boss Beast bases had all taken time to locate. Each had only appeared after they had travelled what felt like an unreasonable distance across the endless abyss.

This time, however, something felt different.

They had travelled farther than before, much farther, yet there was still nothing.

Only an endless sea of floating islands stretching in every direction, separated by vast empty skies that seemed to go on forever. Even Ethan, who had been keeping everyone’s spirits up for most of the expedition, found himself growing irritated.

’The damned, twisted System.’

His jaw clenched.

It was impossible to prove, but he could almost feel the intelligence behind the Gate Takeover watching, waiting, and calculating.

The system knew they were exhausted and that time was running out.

And as if to use that against them, it felt as though it had deliberately placed the final Boss Beast farther away than the others, forcing them to waste precious energy simply reaching it.

That would leave them with less mana, stamina, and time, so that they couldn’t retreat if needed.

’So you’re making this our final battle, whether we like it or not.’

If they didn’t complete Phase Three in time, they were done for and would probably be trapped in this place.

And if they were killed, well, they were dead.

’Do or die... Perfect.’

Though looking at his companions, they didn’t exactly make him feel confident.

Nobody complained aloud, but Ethan could see the fatigue growing heavier with every jump. Kaela no longer bounded between islands with explosive enthusiasm. Darius relied even more heavily upon his spear for movement.

Seraphina breathed harder after every landing, looking so frail her bones might break at any moment. Rowan’s bark-covered skin had gotten darker and spread across his face. Even Elara’s movements had slowed ever so slightly.

She still walked with perfect composure, but Ethan noticed the tiny hesitation before each Blink.

Nobody was in good condition anymore.

Still, they kept moving.

’What other choice do we have?’

They jumped from one island to another.

Then another.

Then another.

But there was still nothing.

Kaela sighed, slumping to the ground.

"I’m starting to think this thing doesn’t even exist."

Ethan scanned the horizon while assimilated with his Griffling, his eyes becoming hawk-like.

"There should be something. There has to be."

But there wasn’t.

Only endless skies and floating rocks with ancient ruins.

Hope slowly started slipping away, with the others also planning on resting on this island they found themselves on.

That’s when they found it...

Or, more correctly, it found them.

Without warning, the space ahead of them rippled, the empty air distorting like heat rising from a desert.

Everyone instinctively froze.

The distortion grew larger and larger until...

An enormous floating island materialised before them, one that none of them had seen coming. One moment it simply had not existed, the next, it stood directly ahead, towering over every previous base they had encountered.

Silence fell.

"I guess we found it."

Kaela let out a tired laugh, struggling to her feet.

At the centre of the island rested a colossal cocoon, one that dwarfed giant buildings. Layer upon layer of shimmering silk wrapped around it, glowing faintly beneath the dark sky.

The entire structure radiated mana.

It was dense, pure, and overwhelming, unlike anything they had felt before.

"So much for approaching carefully," Ethan muttered, their plan thrown straight out of the window.

Beside him, Dave shivered.

"I..."

He rubbed both arms.

"My whole body’s tingling."

Every hair on his body stood upright.

Even someone with almost no affinity for mana could feel it; the sheer pressure made breathing difficult.

But it wasn’t like they could run away now.

Both because they didn’t have time and because they had been noticed by what was within...