After hearing the thunderous roar of the creature in the barn, Luke looked into the building and saw a huge bear, which made the barn look as small as a mere doghouse. Instinctively, the half-wolf jumped back with Bastet on his lap.
The bear ran outside, destroying everything in his path. When he roared again, intimidated by the half-wolf's presence, Luke could feel the death breath coming from inside the animal. It was easy to see that there were still pieces of human flesh left in the creature's teeth, such as arms, legs, and heads.
In addition, the bear had dark brown fur and had many spears stuck in his back, but they didn't seem to cause any pain.
At that moment, the guard, who should have been staying watching over Atom, appeared and was startled by the second roar of the beast.
"Hey boy, get out of here!" Luke shouted, as he calmly walked away because if the beast had indeed killed the ten-man troop as everything indicated, there was nothing the inexperienced knight could do to help.
Dumbly, instead of retreating calmly, the boy tried to run scared, and because of his metal boots, he slipped on some dirt. This slip cost him his life because upon sniffing the guard's fear, the bear ran towards him and swallowed him before Luke could find a way to save him.
Subsequently, Bastet managed to free herself from Luke's lap by becoming intangible again and started running towards the bear.
"What a boring cat..." Luke complained while starting to run to get the Summoning.
While still chewing the knight, the bear turned back and saw an inoffensive-looking feline running towards him, but in compensation, there was a powerful half-wolf right behind. That way, the animal roared again, throwing forward some body parts of the young Kingsguard that were left in its mouth.
Luke knew he could quickly kill the bear because the bear's movements were as clumsy and easily predictable as any other animal, but Bastet was blocking his way.
However, soon Bastet surprised not only Luke but also the bear, proving to both that he was not just a cute kitten. After a sudden explosion of black smoke, which dissipated as quickly as it appeared, Bastet became double the typical size of a lion.
Now, the Summoning's entire body was encased in a black armor that appeared to be his own skin. The feline's claws were now the same size as daggers, and an iron mask reversed his face, further accentuating his fangs.
Bastet reached the bear in moments, and although the bear was still bigger, the feline managed to push it back with his monstrous strength.
Luke didn't know how to react, because he never even considered the possibility of this happening. After being stunned for a few seconds, Luke ran to the fight, which was knocking down pine trees all over the farm.
Bastet was dominating the fight with a considerable advantage, leaving the bear more injured in a few seconds than the ten knights of the Cardinal Kingdom managed to do until they died.
Bastet's gaze was different now, too. The eyes in the feline's mask glowed in an orange-red, much like the strange lantern that had hung around his neck.
Luke could hardly believe his eyes because Bastet's tail alone was the same size as the little lion was less than two minutes ago.
However, Luke could still see traces of a cub's inexperience in his Summoning, which left him relieved.
Although the bear managed to attack a few times with his powerful paws, they did no damage at all to Bastet's natural armor.
When the Summoning attacked, it was something a level above ordinary beasts because the feline instinctively already knew his opponent's weak points. Hence, his metal claws tore toward the animal's joints.
At one point, Luke thought about taking advantage of the two creatures' fight to finish the bear and avoid even more damage to the property, but Bastet finally managed to find the space he needed and tore the bear's jugular with one of his front paws.
After that, the Summoning retreated with a leap backward. The bear staggered for a few seconds until he finally fell dead on the ground.
Bastet turned back to his master, walking proudly and showing off his dense metallic mane.
"Oh! Bastet, you are very powerful!" Luke praised him, holding his arms out to receive Bastet with affection as the Summoning always liked the half-wolf to do.
At that time, the smoke explosion occurred again, and in a second, the Summoning had returned to the fluffy form of a few minutes ago. This made Luke realize that Bastet had not evolved forever, but rather that his ability seemed to be a voluntary evolution. Anyway, the half-wolf wasn't disappointed; after all, the Summoning wasn't scratched, and Luke didn't even have to fight once. Besides, it was only a matter of time before Bastet got even stronger, gaining experience.
When Luke was nearly ready to go back to the gate of the Cardinal Kingdom to warn the guards, he found them near the farmhouse exit. After showing the body of 'The Beast', the head guard gave Luke a letter to take his reward at the guild building, and the three city gates were opened.
The coachmen, merchants, peasants, and guards, who doubted Luke's ability that day, were embarrassed and, after a few more days, had a guilty conscience when they discovered that Luke was the current Champion of the Tournament of Legends.
Similarly, to how the news about the half-wolf becoming Champion was slowly spreading throughout the Empire, the news about 'The Beast' finally being killed also began to spread, reaching the ears of the First Servant within a few weeks.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! That little wolf bastard just gets in my way!" The First Servant shouted, irritated, as he pounded on the table. "Calm down... Calm down... Everything is going according to plan. Everything." He tried to calm himself, placing his metallic hand over his pale and dead face.
"Sir, if you need me to kill him, just order me." Lizz spoke. She was on her knees in front of him and wearing the same clothes as when she accompanied Jean Pollo.
Only at that moment did the First Servant remember that this woman was there. Noticing her presence that was irrelevant to him, the Demon smiled mischievously and walked over to Lizz. When he approached, he touched her chin and dragged his hands up to her neck. Suddenly, he lifted the woman by the neck with enormous ease.
"I don't need your suggestions. I know what I am doing and when this half-wolf will die, he will die by my hands properly. It doesn't matter if they got in our way when they didn't publicize the existence of our race, or when we tried to spread the word of the Chaos Followers even further, after all, the course of Chaos is unique and unchanging. Sooner or later the Broteforge Empire will fall, and nothing will change that."
"Yes, sir. Now I understand..." Lizz spoke with a hoarse voice from shortness of breath.
Soon after, he dropped her to the ground on her knees and spoke:
"Now do something useful and go back to the Broteforge Empire. Leaving Bukavac alone is not a good idea. He doesn't know how to be discreet."
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