Lord Of Beasts

The woman’s smile never left her face under her mask, clear from her eyes.

Even after Ethan had openly stated that he intended to get answers from her through force, she didn’t appear particularly concerned. There was no fear in her posture, no hesitation in the way she stood before him, and certainly no indication that his threat had made her reconsider her position.

If anything, she looked amused.

Her slitted eyes remained fixed on him as she slowly tilted her head, studying the flames dancing across his eyes and the faint sparks of mana crawling over his transformed body.

"So..."

Her voice was quiet, almost silky as it slipped through the warehouse. She had a little accent, one he didn’t recognise, but her speech was eloquent, and she was clearly well educated.

"You intend to make me talk?"

Ethan smiled.

"That’s usually how these things work. But you can always save me the effort and just tell me what I want to know."

The woman’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"And if I refuse?"

Ethan’s smile widened.

"Then it’s back to plan A, and I beat the shit out of you."

For several seconds, neither of them moved.

The warehouse seemed strangely quiet despite the chaos unfolding outside.

Gunfire occasionally echoed through the walls, followed by the distant sounds of shouting and explosions. Every so often, the entire metal structure rattled from some particularly violent impact, while somewhere outside, Kaela’s laughter could be heard between the sounds of battle.

Yet inside, everything felt still.

It was almost as though the two of them were standing in a completely different world from the one outside.

The woman eventually raised one hand, and a faint shimmer passed across her eyes.

Ethan immediately felt something brush against his mind.

It was subtle, almost impossible to notice, but his instincts screamed at him the moment that foreign influence touched his thoughts.

His eyes narrowed.

’She’s trying it again.’

The woman’s lips curved upward.

Then she moved so quickly it almost seemed as though she had vanished.

Her body shot forward in an instant, one hand extending towards Ethan’s throat while her other arm remained pulled back, ready to strike the moment she reached him.

Ethan didn’t wait to see what happened next.

’Flare Drive.’

Boom!

Flames erupted beneath his feet.

Ethan disappeared sideways in a burst of fire, leaving the woman’s fingers to slice through empty air where his neck had been only moments earlier.

She stopped.

Her eyes widened slightly.

Ethan landed several metres away, his shoes scraping against the floor as he slid backwards before casually straightening himself.

A grin spread across his face.

"Nice try."

The woman stared at him for a moment.

Then she laughed softly.

"Interesting."

"What?"

"A Beast Man that can use fire..."

Her eyes followed the fading flames around his feet, studying the remnants of his technique with obvious curiosity.

"And has that much energy in their body."

Ethan shrugged.

"I’m pretty cool, right?"

She tilted her head again, ignoring his sarcastic response, her gaze continuing to examine him.

"But you’re not using your full strength."

Ethan’s smile widened.

"Neither are you."

That earned him silence.

For the first time since their conversation had begun, the woman’s expression became slightly more serious. She lowered her hand and watched him carefully.

"If you were actually trying to kill me, you wouldn’t have used such a basic attack and tried to grab me."

Her eyes narrowed.

"And if you were trying to kill me..."

She glanced towards the flames still fading around his feet.

"...you would have used that beast-summoning ability of yours."

Ethan’s smile disappeared for the briefest moment.

’It’s on record somewhere in the Association, so I guess it’s accessible information. And if she’s behind this tech and those drugs, it makes sense she can get her hands on it.’

Not that it made it any less unnerving.

"Who are you?"

She didn’t answer, but Ethan also knew more about her than she expected.

"You’re obviously not one of these dumb fucks outside."

His eyes briefly moved towards the warehouse doors, where the distant sounds of the battle continued to echo through the compound.

"The Aryan Brotherhood."

His expression became increasingly amused as he looked back at her.

"You’re using them."

The woman’s eyes flickered.

"I mean, let’s be honest. They’re racist scumbags..."

He gestured towards her.

"And you’re a woman who doesn’t look white to me, yet they are somehow listening to you."

Ethan took another step closer.

"So..."

His eyes remained locked onto hers.

"You’ve used whatever you tried to use on me to control them. The perfect cover to get what you need from this gate, and they’re the perfect guinea pigs."

But there was only so much he could deduce.

"What is your cult after? And where you fit into it?"

The woman’s expression remained unreadable.

"You ask too many questions," was her blunt and dismissive response.

Ethan pointed towards himself.

"Investigating shit is kinda my job now."

"Is that why you killed one of our brethren, you infidel!"

He wasn’t expecting such a sudden outburst from the woman who appeared so composed.

"That bouncy dude killed himself with that drug you guys created." Ethan laughed before adding, "But I did lowkey cut one of his arms off, so maybe I would have ended up killing him if he-"

Before he could finish, she burst forward again.

This time, there was no warning.

She crossed the distance between them almost instantly, her body becoming a blur.

Ethan raised his arms, not able to evade in time.

Her fist slammed into it.

BOOM!

The impact sent Ethan skidding backwards.

His shoes carved two long lines through the concrete floor as the force of the blow pushed him away.

He looked down at his arm.

Then back at her.

"Huh."

He smiled.

’She’s fast and stronger than she looks.’

It wasn’t overwhelmingly so, but enough that Ethan immediately adjusted his assessment of her physical abilities. The woman rushed him again, and he activated Flare Drive before she even got close.

Flames exploded beneath his feet.

But rather than evading, he burst straight towards her, his fist already driving towards her face. She twisted unnaturally, bending her body just enough for his punch to narrowly miss, and her leg immediately swept towards his head.

Ethan barely ducked in time.

Her foot passed over him.

He countered with an elbow.

She blocked.

The two exchanged blows in rapid succession.

Punch.

Block.

Kick.

Dodge.

Counter.

Their movements became a blur inside the warehouse, each of them constantly adapting to the other as their attacks collided and missed by fractions of an inch. The woman moved with frightening precision and wasn’t fighting like someone who relied entirely on supernatural abilities.

She knew how to fight.

Every movement was deliberate, and every strike was aimed at something vital. She didn’t waste motion, and whenever he created even the smallest opening, she immediately attempted to exploit it.

But Ethan was simply on another level, and this was while assimilated with the physically weakest of his beasts...

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