It escalated quickly.

The street that had once remained quiet, despite the chaos spreading across the entire world, was now filled with animalistic growls and roars, mixed with the guttural screams of teenagers as they were gradually torn apart.

All the teenagers who had joined the group, including the naked one they had rescued from the giant goblin.

Every single one of them had been devoured.

The street was littered with pools of blood and heaps of corpses, a strong and pungent odour spreading through the air and clinging to the walls.

Yet despite the destruction, the monster horde was still unending.

The three friends fought with everything they had. Their only mercy came from the level ups they gained during combat, brief bursts of strength and stamina that barely kept them standing before being quickly exhausted once again.

Ashton's aether reserves had long since been depleted.

His only support now was the blade clenched in his grasp and the endurance training he had undergone back at the academy.

Lyra was no different. She breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling as her dagger slashed lazily through the air, her movements losing their sharpness.

Logan remained standing. He was mostly unaffected compared to his friends, but the same could not be said for Blitz.

Sharp cuts covered the beast's massive body, along with several bite wounds left behind by feral monsters.

Yet its claws still swung with force despite the pain. Its determination to protect its master burned stronger than ever.

The three of them had questions.

But none could ask.

The situation had drained them so completely that even speaking felt like a burden they could not afford.

So they simply continued.

Minutes blurred into more minutes, and eventually, another hour passed.

Ashton's movements had grown so sluggish that his feints were now so obvious they could have been perceived and avoided even by a five year old.

Lyra's stealth weakened further with every breath she took.

Blitz's injuries worsened, exhaustion dragging it into a dangerous state, and Logan finally ran out of aether points needed to sustain his tamed beast.

While the three of them struggled desperately just to remain alive, they noticed something strange.

None of the monsters were actively trying to kill or devour them.

For reasons unknown, they were holding back.

Claws swung at a sluggish pace, strikes that should have dealt ghastly wounds instead leaving only shallow cuts.

Maws clenched instead of fully opening.

They could feel it clearly.

The monsters were restraining the full lethality of their attacks.

It was the only reason they were still alive.

Not their power.

Not their determination.

But the mercy of the monsters, or rather, the mercy of whoever was controlling them.

Breathing heavily, Lyra stabbed her dagger into the torso of a serpent.

It hissed violently, twisting its long body before suddenly lunging its head forward at terrifying speed.

Yet just a few centimetres away from her face, the speed was forcibly held back.

Only the breeze of its movement brushed past her skin.

She felt no pain.

Her eyes twisted into a strange and unsettled expression.

Beside her, Ashton had dropped to one knee, utterly exhausted.

Several giant rats with glowing red eyes surrounded him, drool dripping from their open mouths.

Goblins stood nearby with wide grins, gripping crude weapons.

Wolves, foxes, serpents.

They all circled him.

But none attacked.

They simply stared.

Like predators watching a caged prey they were not allowed to reach.

The same was true for Logan.

But it was different for Blitz.

The horned beast was continuously attacked.

Stabs.

Spells.

Bites.

All forms of attacks struck it relentlessly.

The horned wolf cried out, its voice filled with agony as it fought back with everything it had left.

After enduring the merciless assault, the massive beast finally collapsed, half dead and barely breathing.

"Noooo…"

Logan cried out.

His only tamed beast was about to meet its end.

His hands stretched forward helplessly, eyes wide, mouth agape, his expression filled with desperation and despair.

The same emotions he had been forced to witness as the beasts swarmed Blitz mercilessly, tearing into its flesh.

A single notification flashed across his retina.

Blaring.

Red.

Dangerous.

It announced the death of his pet and the breaking of the soul contract that bound them together.

Logan's eyes reddened as tears streamed down his face.

His knees gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.

Ashton and Lyra watched in silence.

They were not Blitz's direct owners, but in the short time they had spent together, a bond had formed.

Both of them clenched their fists.

Ashton forced himself up using his blade for support.

In one swift motion, he swung and decapitated a nearby goblin.

Fueled by raw emotion, he attacked furiously without technique, cutting down nearby monsters.

Yet unlike before, they did not retaliate.

Their comrades did not seek revenge as monsters naturally would.

They only watched.

The same restrained hunger burned within their gazes.

Lyra stabbed the serpent near her and killed it.

Nearby serpents hissed, their eyes glowing, not with rage, but with hunger they were forbidden from satisfying.

Logan, consumed by grief and a suicidal rage at the loss of his pet, lunged at a nearby demonic wolf.

He wrapped his arms around it, strangling it with the little strength he had left.

But the wolf did not resist.

It did not struggle.

It stood still, its expression eerily calm, as if Logan were strangling a corpse.

Yet his rage refused to fade, and he did not loosen his grip.

The three friends finally realized the abnormality and took advantage of it despite their exhaustion.

Ashton targeted the stronger monsters, gaining more experience points.

Eventually, he reached a bottleneck.

[ You've reached a Breakthrough Moment ]

[ Your first breakthrough trial will now begin. ]

[ Please select a difficulty ]

He ignored it for the moment.

Pausing mid swing, he surveyed the street.

Hundreds of monsters surrounded them from every direction.

None moved.

They stood still, watching like puppets awaiting commands.

Looking toward Lyra, he saw her dispatching a group of serpents with ease.

He turned and saw his best friend strangling a goblin that made no attempt to fight back.

It felt strange.

Like a dream.

Or perhaps a nightmare.

But it was real.

He knew it was real.

Ashton returned his focus to the notification.

Four difficulty levels were displayed.

He selected three star.

His body vanished in a golden glow.

Only Lyra noticed his disappearance.

She knew exactly what it meant.

A golden glow signified a three star difficulty.

She summoned her own status mentally and checked her level.

She was level thirty as well, only a few experience points away from her own bottleneck and breakthrough.

She glanced at Logan, hesitated briefly, then continued fighting.

After killing three serpents and an especially ugly goblin that irritated her, she reached her bottleneck and chose the three star trial as well.

Logan remained lost in his vengeful rage.

He had no true attack of his own.

Only his physical strength and enhanced stats, which, while superior to a normal human's, were still limited.

This was one of the flaws of those who awakened beast taming talents.

Without their tamed beasts, they possessed little power of their own.

With the death of one, they became discardable and weak.

Logan did not notice the disappearance of his teammates.

He continued attacking monster after monster, venting his fury on their puppet like bodies.

"Interesting…"

Seated casually atop a nearby roof, the Aurax, the cause of the current horde state, grinned to himself.

His eyes followed Logan's movements, noting how emotion had completely overtaken him.

This was exactly what he wanted.

To observe the emotional maturity of the chosen one's friend.

"Your friends left you because they think you are safe…"

He mused quietly.

"How would they feel when they return and find you in a different state?"

His grin widened further.

Then he placed a finger against his jaw, pretending to contemplate.

His eyes lit up suddenly, as if struck by inspiration.

"Meeting your corpse would not be interesting at all."

"Let us do something more fun."

The Aurax clasped his hands together like a child who had just thought of a new game.

Then he stretched his slender, pale hands forward, aiming toward Logan's direction.

Logan remained unaware of the plot unfolding above him.

He continued his blind rage, striking without concern for his own life.

"You ate Blitz!"

"Damn you!"

"Damn you!!"

His voice echoed repeatedly across the street.

Then suddenly, his words caught in his throat.

A strange sensation spread through his body.

Numbing.

Heavy.

Slumber claimed him, overwhelming his senses as the world darkened and his perception of everything around him faded away.

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