Lunar Legacy: Rise Of The Beastlord-Chapter 275: First Responders

The four agents walked toward Jayden, their boots crunching against the scorched earth. As they got closer, Jayden’s eyes widened beneath his hood. The leader at the front... tall, broad-shouldered, with an air of command—it was Fred. One of the two EVA agents who had tried to interrogate him after the intraschool tournament.

Jayden’s mind raced, trying to process the sudden turn of events. Him being alone and hunting in the forest was enough to raise suspicion. And if Fred found out who he is, it would only make things worse.

But luckily, Fred didn’t seem to recognize him. The hood from Jayden’s jacket cast deep shadows over his face, and he kept his head angled down, using the darkness of night to his advantage. His heart pounded, but he forced himself to remain still, to appear like nothing more than a scared teenager.

"You okay, kid?" Fred asked, his voice carrying both authority and genuine concern. He stopped a few feet away, his sharp eyes scanning Jayden.

Jayden nodded, keeping his voice shaky and uncertain. "Y-yeah. I’m fine."

"We were sent here as soon as we detected the beast’s presence," Fred said, his gaze sweeping across the destruction around them... the toppled trees, the scorched earth, the lingering smell of ozone and burned flesh. "What happened here? What did you see?"

Jayden’s mind raced. The EVA only responded to B-rank threats or higher... it was standard protocol, a waste of resources to deploy field agents for anything less. Which meant the Sabertooth Flare was now registering as at least B-rank, maybe even stronger. The Ancient Beast designation must have pushed its energy signature high enough to trigger their sensors.

"I was just hunting lower rank beasts," Jayden said quickly, his voice trembling in what he hoped sounded like genuine fear. "Training, you know? But then I heard this... roar. It was so loud, so different from anything I’d heard before. I followed the sound and it brought me here." He gestured vaguely at the clearing. "That’s when I saw the beast. It looked like it was going through some kind of evolution."

Fred’s expression shifted to one of understanding. "That explains the energy spike," he said, more to himself than to Jayden. "The beast must have just ranked up. That’s why our radar caught the sudden surge in this area." He focused back on Jayden, and his frown deepened. "But why didn’t you run? A beast mid-evolution is extremely dangerous. You could have been killed."

"I... I don’t know," Jayden said, keeping up his terrified kid act. "I... my feet couldn’t move. It was like I was frozen in place. The beast’s presence... it was overwhelming. I’ve never felt anything like it. And when I finally snapped out of it..." He swallowed hard. "It was too late. The beast was already coming at me. I thought I was going to die... until you showed up."

Fred’s expression was skeptical, but he seemed to be buying Jayden’s story. For a moment, Jayden thought he had pulled it off, but then Fred’s eyes narrowed, and he took a step closer.

"Something about you feels familiar," Fred said, his voice low and menacing. "But I just can’t quite put my finger on it."

Jayden’s heart skipped a beat as he realized that Fred was onto him. He knew he had to think fast, to come up with a way to deflect Fred’s suspicions. But before he could respond.....

ROOOAAAARRRR!

The Sabertooth Flare rose to its feet, its roar echoing through the forest. It had fully recovered from the earlier attack.

The agents reacted instantly, years of training kicking in. They spread into a tactical formation, weapons coming up, bodies shifting into combat-ready stances. No panic, no hesitation... just smooth, practiced efficiency.

"The beast’s recovered," Fred said sharply, his entire demeanor shifting from investigator to commander in a heartbeat. He turned back to Jayden, already pointing toward the forest. "Kid, you need to leave the forest and get to—"

He paused mid-word, his finger still extended.

Jayden was gone.

Fred blinked, his eyes scanning the immediate area. Nothing. No retreating figure, no sound of footsteps, no disturbance in the underbrush. The kid had simply... vanished. Like he’d never been there at all.

"What the...?" Fred thought, a chill running down his spine. "I didn’t even detect him leaving."

"Captain!" one of the agents called out urgently, pulling Fred’s attention back to the present. "Sir, we’ve got a development here!"

Fred pushed aside his confusion and jogged over to the agent... a younger man holding some kind of scanning device. "What is it?"

The agent stared at his screen, his expression a mixture of confusion and disbelief. "The scanner, sir. According to this, the beast isn’t B-rank." He looked up, meeting Fred’s eyes. "It’s C-rank."

Fred’s eyes widened. "That’s impossible. A C-rank can’t output this much energy. The potency alone is something else."

"I know, sir," the agent said. "I’ve triple-checked the readings. But that’s what it’s showing. C-rank classification, but it has an energy output equivalent to a mid-level B-rank."

Fred’s mind raced. A C-rank beast with B-rank power? That was completely unheard of. Unprecedented. It went against everything they knew about beast classification. But standing here theorizing wouldn’t help them. There was a massive, angry beast that needed to be put down, and the "why" could be figured out later.

"Doesn’t matter what rank it is," Fred said firmly, his voice taking on the hard edge of command. "Mission remains the same: We take it down. Standard formation. Anderson, ready that cannon. Martinez, Chen, you’re on containment. Keep it busy while the cannon charges. I’m going in close."

"Yes, sir!" they responded in unison.

The beast roared again and charged, its massive paws leaving molten footprints with each thunderous step.

Martinez and Chen moved to intercept, their fire-resistant tactical suits allowing them to get dangerously close to the flaming beast. Martinez formed metallic constructs with his ability, creating barriers and spikes to redirect the Flare’s attacks. Chen moved with enhanced speed, darting in to land strikes before retreating.

Fred circled to the beast’s flank, his hands beginning to glow an ominous red. His ability was devastatingly effective in close quarters. He waited for his opening, then lunged forward, slapping his palm against the beast’s shoulder.

BOOM!

The shoulder exploded on contact with Fred’s palm. Flesh tore apart, blood sprayed, and the beast shrieked in pain and fury.

Meanwhile,

Fifty meters away, hidden in the dense canopy, Jayden crouched on a thick tree branch. He hadn’t left... not really. He’d simply repositioned to where he could observe without being seen, using the darkness and his enhanced agility to move silently through the trees.

He watched the fight unfold below, his mind working through possibilities and strategies. His plan was simple: wait for the agents to kill the Ancient Flare, then swoop in and claim the corpse before they could process it. Risky, yes, but the rewards made it worth attempting.

The fight raged on below. Martinez and Chen worked in tandem, one creating openings while the other exploited them. Fred moved like a predator, landing devastating explosions whenever he made contact. And through it all, Anderson... the fourth agent, had pulled out a large handheld cannon, nearly as long as he was tall. Green energy began gathering at its nozzle, building with an audible hum that grew louder with each passing second.

Jayden leaned forward slightly, his enhanced vision focusing on the weapon. That was definitely what had fired the green beam earlier... the one that had sent the Ancient Flare flying and interrupted his own attack. He wanted to see it in action again, to understand its full capabilities.

Fred noticed the cannon’s charge reaching critical levels. Without breaking his rhythm, he made a series of quick hand signals to Martinez and Chen.

Both agents immediately shifted their tactics. Instead of trying to deal serious damage, they began to deliberately anger the beast. Martinez’s constructs stabbed at its legs in annoying but not crippling strikes. Chen moved in rapid, taunting patterns, landing hits that stung but didn’t seriously wound.

The Ancient Flare roared in frustration, its attention fully locked on the two dancing agents who were making it look foolish.

"Quick. Lure it in!" Fred called out.

Martinez and Chen worked together with the seamless coordination that came from years of partnership. They herded the beast with calculated strikes and movements, slowly but surely guiding it into the optimal firing solution. The beast, too enraged to notice the manipulation, followed exactly where they wanted it to go. And soon, the cannon had a direct lock on the beast.

"Target positioned!" Fred shouted. "Clear out!"

Both agents immediately disengaged, leaping backward with enhanced speed to put safe distance between themselves and the firing line. Fred followed suit, his boots barely touching the ground as he created twenty meters of separation.

"Anderson!" he called out as soon as he saw the opening. "Fire!"