Jayden read through the information with awe. "The Great Phoenix?" he whispered, his mind struggling to process it all. "What is..."
[It’s an Ancient Beast Deity] Luna interrupted, her voice tight with barely controlled panic. [The beast deities are a trio force of special god-like creatures that existed centuries ago. The Phoenix is one of them. And sohow, this Sabertooth Flare has obtained a fragnt of its power]
"Phoenix huh?" Jayden chuckled. "I guess that’s why the Flare ca back covered in flas. Cause Phoenix rise from their ashes," he muttered in a playful realization.
[Now’s not the ti for jokes, Jayden] Luna scolded. [You need to get out of here. This beast is now an ancient beast. You can’t defeat it]
"Ancient Beast?" Jayden raised a brow.
Luna sighed. [Listen carefully] she said urgently. [Just like Galactic Beasts are ranked F through S, certain beasts can grow so powerful that the universe itself recognizes them and grants them a title. These beasts are then ranked separately through: Rare, Ancient, Epic, and Legendary. The Winter Wolf is a perfect example of a rare beast, while that Sapphire Sonic you t is a Legendary... the highest rank there is]
Jayden took in everything Luna had said and quickly made an hypothesis. "Okay, so if the Winter Wolf is a Rare beast, and I beat it when I was much weaker than I am now," he speculated. "Then surely I could stand a chance against an Ancient..."
[NO!] Luna cut him off. [The ranking isn’t like normal beast classifications] she explained. [An Ancient Beast is approximately TWENTY TIS more powerful than a Rare Beast. Epic is thirty tis more powerful. And Legendary is fifty tis more powerful than Epic. You don’t stand a chance at all]
Jayden’s mind reeled. Twenty tis more powerful? The Winter Wolf had nearly killed him, and he’d only won through luck and desperation. If this thing was twenty tis stronger than that... his chances were truly slim.
But he couldn’t just leave, not after everything he’d done to get there. And not to ntion the rewards promised by the system. He couldn’t just throw all that away.
He was still contemplating whether to engage the beast when....
ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!
The Flare unleashed a roar that made its previous vocalizations sound like whispers.
The sound was apocalyptic. It seed to co from everywhere at once, resonating in Jayden’s bones, in his teeth, in the very core of his being. The trees around the clearing shook, their branches trembling. Birds exploded from their nests in panicked flocks, flying away from the source of that terrible sound.
But the roar didn’t just carry sound.
Heat erupted outward in a visible wave, distorting the air as it expanded. The temperature in the clearing spiked so dramatically that Jayden felt like he’d been thrown into an oven. No... not an oven. It felt like the sun itself had descended to Earth.
The grass beneath the Flare’s feet instantly ignited, becoming a circle of fire that spread outward. The leaves on nearby trees turned brown, then black, then simply disintegrated into ash. The very air seed to catch fire, creating dancing flas that consud oxygen and left behind only choking heat.
Jayden threw his arms up instinctively, but it did nothing to protect him from the wave of heat and power that slamd into him like a physical force.
His lungs seized. The air was too hot to breathe... it felt like inhaling molten tal. His chest tightened, trying desperately to pull in oxygen that wasn’t scalding his throat and lungs.
But worse than the heat was the aura.
The Ancient Flare’s fully released presence crashed over him like a tsunami. It was more than just intimidation, it was a fundantal recognition of the predator-prey dynamic being established. This wasn’t a creature he could fight. This wasn’t even a creature he could challenge.
At least not in his current form.
Jayden’s legs wobbled. His knees began to buckle, his body’s survival instincts screaming at him to run, to accept defeat... or die.
He caught himself before he fell, one hand slamming into the ground to keep himself upright. His fingers dug into earth that was already beginning to bake hard from the heat.
His breath ca in short, panicked gasps. His heart hamred against his ribs so hard it hurt. Sweat poured down his face, evaporating almost instantly in the oppressive temperature.
And in that mont, staring at the Ancient Beast that towered before him like a god made flesh, Jayden felt sothing he hadn’t felt in a long ti;
Fear.
True, existential, all-consuming fear.
The Ancient Sabertooth Flare took a step forward, its massive paw leaving a crater of molten earth where it landed.
Its crimson eyes fixed on Jayden, and in their depths, he saw sothing that made his blood run cold.
Recognition. Intelligence. And hunger.
The beast opened its mouth, revealing those massive fangs, and spoke... not in words, but in a rumbling growl that Jayden could clearly interpret as:
"You’re Dead"
But Jayden wasn’t fazed. Even as fear threatened to overwhelm him, even as his instincts scread at him to run, another part of his mind was already working. The tactical part. The part that had kept him alive through every impossible situation he’d faced.
And after a while, he made his decision.
"I’m going to fight it," he declared.
[What?! No. Are you out of your mind?] Luna’s voice cut through his thoughts, sharp with desperation. [Do you have any idea how powerful that thing is]
Jayden exhaled. "No, but I’m willing to find out," he muttered. Then without hesitation... he activated the Partial Lupine Form.
The transformation rippled through his body instantly. His muscles expanded, cords of enhanced strength weaving through his fra. His face elongated slightly, becoming more bestial, more predatory. Fur sprouted across his arms and chest in silver-black patterns. His claws extended fully, each one deadly sharp and capable of tearing through steel.
His senses exploded outward... every sound beca crystal clear, every scent distinct, every movent in his peripheral vision sharp and defined. The moon’s power surged through him, amplified by his Lunar Empowernt, making him faster, stronger, more dangerous than he’d ever been.
But even with all that power flooding his system, even transford, Jayden could feel the difference between himself and the Ancient Beast before him. It was like comparing a candle to a wildfire.
[You stubborn, idiotic— Gah!] Luna started, but stopped herself with a frustrated growl. [Fine. If you’re going to do this, at least be smart about it.*
Jayden smirked. "I will."
Then he settled into a battle stance, his clawed hands raised defensively, his weight balanced on the balls of his feet. His amber eyes, now glowing with lycanthropic power, locked onto the Ancient Flare.
The beast saw the challenge. Recognized it. And responded with a deep, rumbling growl that made the ground vibrate beneath Jayden’s feet.
Jayden flashed a grin. "Ready when you are, Simba," he said, his voice deeper and more gravelly in this form.
The Ancient Flare’s eyes narrowed. Its lips pulled back from those massive fangs in what might have been a snarl... or possibly amusent at the quip.
Then it charged.
The impact of its paws against the ground was like thunder. Each step cracked the earth, leaving craters of molten stone in its wake. The heat radiating from its body created visible waves in the air, turning the clearing into an inferno.
It moved with an impressive speed for sothing so massive, closing the distance between them rapidly. The red flas of its mane stread behind it like a war banner, and its eyes burned with predatory focus.
Jayden didn’t move. He stood his ground, watching the beast approach, calculating, planning.
[What are you doing?!] Luna demanded. [MOVE!]
But Jayden remained still. His plan was risky... insane, even. But it was the only shot he had. He needed the beast to commit fully to an attack. Needed it to leave itself exposed for just a fraction of a second.
One strike. One perfect strike infused with every ounce of strength he could muster and the most potent poison his ability could produce. Aid directly at the beast’s core where its heart would be.
It was all or nothing.
The Ancient Flare was twenty feet away. Fifteen. Ten.
The heat was unbearable now. Jayden felt his skin blistering, his fur beginning to singe. But he held his ground.
And when it was just five feet away, the beast leaped, its massive body launching into the air with impossible grace. Its flaming paws extended, claws outstretched, aid directly at Jayden’s head with enough force behind them to decapitate him instantly.
At that mont, Jayden activated Poison Secretion, channeling everything he had into his claws. But this wasn’t the normal green-tinged toxin he usually produced. This was sothing more concentrated... and deadly.
The poison that coated his claws was deep purple, almost black, and even he could feel the potency radiating from it. It was corrosive enough that his own claws began to smoke slightly from the contact.
He pulled his arm back, coiling his entire body like a spring. Every muscle in his transford fra tensed, ready to unleash everything in a single, devastating strike.
The Ancient Flare descended toward him, its claws inches from his face, heat washing over him in suffocating waves.
Ti seed to slow. And Jayden could see the opening... the beast’s chest, exposed in mid-leap, where its heart and core would be most vulnerable. He acted imdiately, his poison-coated claws driving upward toward that critical point.
But right before Jayden or the beast could land a hit on one another...
FWOOOOOOOM!
A beam of green energy scread across the clearing from sowhere in the forest and struck the Ancient Flare mid-leap with the force of a missile.
The impact was trendous. The beam hit the beast square in its side, and for just a mont, the entire world seed to flash green. Then the Ancient Flare was hurled sideways, its massive body ragdolling through the air like it weighed nothing.
It crashed into a massive oak tree thirty ters away. The tree, easily five feet in diater shattered on impact. Wood exploded outward in a shower of splinters. The trunk splintered completely, and the entire tree toppled sideways with a groan of tortured wood, taking several smaller trees with it.
The Ancient Flare disappeared into the destruction, buried under tons of timber and foliage.
Jayden stood frozen, his strike incomplete, his mind struggling to process what had just happened. That beam... the force behind it was incredible. To send the Ancient Beast flying like that... what kind of weapon could do that?
But more importantly: where did it co from?
Then, he suddenly felt four distinct presences, moving through the forest with military precision. Evolved humans, all of them, and powerful ones based on the energy signatures they were giving off.
"Shit," Jayden thought. He couldn’t be seen like this. Not in partial Lupine form. Not by anyone official.
Without thinking, he turned away from the direction the beam had co from and pulled up the hood of his leather jacket to shadow his face. Then he deactivated the partial transformation.
The change rippled through him in reverse. Fur receded back into his skin. His muscles compacted, returning to their human proportions. His face restructured, becoming fully human again. The claws retracted, leaving only his normal fingernails.
Within seconds, he looked like an ordinary teenager. Injured, burned, exhausted, but human.
He kept his head tilted downward, letting the hood and shadows conceal most of his features. His heart hamred in his chest, but he forced himself to appear calm. Just a kid who’d gotten in over his head. Nothing suspicious. Nothing worth rembering.
Footsteps approached from behind him, moving with the confident stride of trained professionals.
"Hey!" A familiar voice called out... male, mature, and carrying authority. "Kid, are you okay?"
Jayden turned slowly, keeping his head angled down, his face partially hidden by the hood. He raised his eyes just enough to see who was addressing him.
Four n erged from the treeline into the clearing. All of them wore identical tactical gear... black from head to toe. The suits were covered in pouches, holsters, and equipnt that scread military grade. And their chest plates had the monogram: ’EVA’ written on them.
They were clearly EVA agents.
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