God-Level Dominance

Chapter 002

"Where is the beast?"

Herald's harsh voice rose up with himself from the floor as he quickly gathered the broken fragments of his memories ready for a fight.

He could still feel the thick trial of fear, the dark stare of the God Tier Beast that paralyzed him even without doing nothing. 

Even though he could no longer feel the aura of the beast, the fear that it brought still lingered and he could only think for his group with the fact that he had the highest grade combat skill among them and the only one with an immortal core.

But when he looked around, the squad were just scrambling off their feet, some barely standing, and some members supporting the others.

And the beast, it laid there dead, its core coiled out like nothing.

But just a little pick at it was enough to make a person's heart shift out of place.

And something wasn't right.

His feet stopped as his eyes glazed over the beast.

The kill that ended the life of this terrific beast, it was clean, and almost impossible. 

Over the years going for rides right from a tender age, Harold knew exactly what a beast kill should look like.

Multiple slashes and woods, splattering blood everywhere. But whoever made this kill, it was more like they were slicing through butter.

He looked around, searching for an explanation. 

The only one that seems not to be affected by this was their friend and employer, the one that they were supposed to protect, Mia.

Everyone gathered around Mia, waiting for an explanation and the more she thought about it, the more her frown deepened. 

"Mia, how did you kill the beast?" They were still stunned at the miracle before them.

"Did you receive outside help? Is that why the beast doesn't have a core?" Multiple questions flung at her from every direction all at once.

"I wish that was the case!" She snorted.

"The beast ambushed us from the eastern flank," she replied, drawing a deep breath. "It broke through our formation before we could set up properly."

"And the finishing blow?" Herald's eyes didn't move from the wound.

Mia's jaw tightened. She could feel the stares of the others already burning into her back.

"A slum kid," she forced the words out. "Prideful little rat. He wandered into the zone and struck it while the beast was already dying."

"But he claimed to have done it all by himself and would not share the essence with us!" She explained with a hint of vermin in her tone.

"A slum rat took down an advanced armored beast? That's rich."

"I definitely didn't believe him when he made such a claim!" Mia hissed out her lungs.

"The beast must have bled out from your fight," another quickly added. "The kid probably just swung a stick at a corpse and got lucky."

"Yeah," someone else agreed. "Those slum vultures always show up when the real work is done. It's what they do."

A few of them chuckled. Even some of Mia's own squad looked relieved that someone had given them an easy explanation.

Mia nodded along. "Exactly. He just got lucky with a dying monster. Nothing more."

Herald crouched beside the beast. His fingers hovered over the cut without touching it.

An advanced armored beast, even a dying one, still had shell protection that could stop most channeler weapons. His own squad would need coordinated strikes to get through this cleanly.

This wasn't just a quick hit, it was a perfect kill with a killing intent. Like someone who knew exactly where to hit.

'A dying beast doesn't soften its armor.' He kept the thought buried.

A large lump went down his spine. Whether it was the slum kid or not, whoever killed this was the monster and not the beast itself and it would be a beast if they avoided any troubles with them.

"We should be glad we are alive, in the meantime, we will cook up a story to tell the board of channelers for now, and clean up this mess..." Herald ended quickly and everyone nodded.

Mia's blooded over as she watched them carry off her injured squad members.

She hadn't risked her life and brought her elite team into this death zone for routine monster hunting. She had come for that core. That specific advanced core.

Prince Edward was coming to the arcane academy in three days and a welcome party was going to be hosted for him.

That core was supposed to be her ticket to grab his attention and make him hers. 

Her way to stand out from the crowd of desperate nobles throwing themselves at the crown prince's feet.

Now some sickly nobody had walked away with her future tucked under his arm.

'If I ever see that ragged rat again,' she swore silently, 'I will personally tear him apart with my bare hands.'

******

Riley's feet were still making that annoying cracking sound with every step.

He was taking the northern route back, the long way that barely anyone used.

This his first time in the city and he never realized his first meeting was going to be with an ungrateful brat.

"But she's kinda quiet!" He smiled to himself. 

He was doing his mental calculations for the third time, trying to figure out how much he could get from the core in his bag and possible ways to absorb most of its essence, when the ground started shaking.

Horses, lined in rows strutted with dignity towards him, but what stood out most were the men on them.

Their robes lined with gold linens and their pulsing aura all spelled raw dignity. 

However, the old un-assuming man at their center caught Riley's attention as he instantly sensed his God Tier essence core.

Riley's face hardened instantly. 

The man stopped right before him and helped the old man off from his horse and their eyes interlocked. 

His aura was stronger than before and only his stance spelled wealth and power.

“I don't believe I know you!” Riley's stance remained glued to the floor as he surveyed the old man deeply. 

"I'm sorry if I startled you sir!" The man instantly dropped to his feet, his face woven deeply with a mixture of fear and reverence that carved confusion into the faces of the other men.