Chapter 14: Unauthorized Engagement

Grey’s voice crackled through every agent’s comm device as they geared up. “Attention all agents, the breaches have S-Class threats. I repeat, threat levels are S-Class. Prioritize citizen evacuation. Do not approach the threats directly.”

The warning announcement was, in truth, for the agents below the tier of S. Kent was strapping on his tactical gear when he looked up. “What about Quinn?”

“She’s already been informed. She’ll rendezvous with you,” Grey replied, adjusting his headset. Kent head out and immediately afterwards, a familiar voice cut through the communications channel.

“Director, Agent Liam speaking. Are you there?”

“Yes, go on.” Grey pressed his mic.

“I’m heading for the breach at Melle Bisle Park. I’ve got this zone covered.”

Grey froze. “Are you fucking insane?” He knew Liam had grown stronger, but this was an S-Class threat. Normally, it took two to three S-tier visors to handle one S-Class monster, and his only available S-tiers were already heading to the other breach. He’d been hoping a nearby faction would step in for the second breach.

“Listen to me—that’s an S-Class threat. It’s different from whatever you’ve been dealing with. You do not have permission to engage!”

“Like I said, chief, I got this covered.” The comm went dead. Liam had disconnected, yanking out his comm and flinging it aside.

“Fuck! This kid!” Grey slammed his fist on the console. “I need visuals, fast!”

“Working on it, sir!” An analyst’s fingers flew across his keyboard.

Liam arrived at the breach within minutes, breathing a sigh of relief when no other factions were in sight. Well, they were probably weighing their options against an S-Class threat. People scattered in every direction as Liam walked toward the magnificent magical energy he sensed. Once he caught sight of the creature, he paused. “Woah…”

System notifications cascaded across his vision:

[Alert → An Ancient Has Been Detected]

[New Quest → Make the Ancient Submit]

[New Quest → Enter a Contract with the Ancient]

Ancient? That’s new. But the real question is… can I even get that thing to submit?” The beast roared, each sound sending magical pulses that chilled him to the bone. It was massive, with dark blue-gray fur and prominent ivory tusks and horns protruding from its heavily spiked head. Sharp teeth filled its broad, intimidating face, and its powerful limbs all had terrifying claws. It also had defensive spikes and ridges covered its imposing form.

Thankfully, most of the crowd had already evacuated from the park entirely. Liam considered calling his summons but quickly dismissed the idea, this was way above their pay grade.

“Alright, let’s do this!”

[Skill Active → Contract Borrowing]

Two bone daggers materialized in his hands—Lazark’s blades, from his recent contract with the ice-elf. He’d never actually used them before.

[Lazark’s Blades: +10 Attack Power/Effects → Paralysis & Bleeding/Target moves slower and loses 0.5% health per second while bleed effect is active]

“Good thing I didn’t get hit with these,” he muttered as silvery-blue lightning coursed through his body, his muscles swelling.

[Skill Active → Muscle Boost]

The monster’s gaze snapped to him, drawn by his magical energy usage. It charged at insane speed, each step creating craters in the ground. Liam disappeared into a streak of light, avoiding the direct hit. He reappeared floating above the beast and unleashed his authority.

[Authority: Beast Tamer]

The beast roared in response, shockwaves rippling outward as it broke free from his hold. Liam’s eyes widened in surprise. “That didn’t work?” The last time his authority had failed was against Kai Egnis.

“Dammit!” Liam became a blur of motion, striking the beast’s back, ankles, and arms. He looked like lightning incarnate as blue streaks of lightning traced his movements while he carved cuts across its body. When he reappeared in front of the beast, it released a shockwave roar that sent him flying backward, with his arms crossed defensively. The cuts only made it angrier, and none of Lazark’s blade effects seemed to take hold.

The Ancient slammed its clawed fists into the ground, causing cracks that webbed toward Liam’s position. He dodged with lightning-fast movement, reappearing at a safe distance above. Before he could plan his next move, a massive arm swiped at him faster than he could dodge. He managed to block, but the momentum still swatted him down like a fly.

[Passive Skill Active → Aegis: -20% Physical Damage Taken]

Even with Aegis and Muscle Boost active, blood trickled from his head as he struggled to stand. “What was that speed?” The monster charged again, bringing down its clenched fist. Liam barely managed to cross his arms overhead to block but the sheer impact drove his legs into the ground like a nail being hammered.

“Fuck!” he muttered as the weight pressed down on him. Without pause, the beast swung again, sending him flying through several arcade structures in the park.

[HP 650 → 450]

[Skill Active → Regeneration]

Pain, wounds, and bruises began healing as Liam pulled himself from the rubble. “How is something that big so fast?,” he muttered to himself.

Liam’s form then began expanding as he borrowed Ragar’s gigantification abilities, growing from 5’10″ to at least 7 feet. His chest widened, frame more pronounced, his upper body clothing tearing as it could no longer accommodate his hulking shoulders and muscles. Lightning coursed through his body again and his arms received a black scale coating—the Colossal Serpent’s ironskin feature.

The beast roared at him. Liam, harnessing an 80% increase in output from his authority, growled back, “Come, bitch!”

They charged at each other simultaneously, leaving craters at their starting points after which their right fists collide, creating a shockwave that rippled through the air.

Back at USOV, satellite footage transmitted the live battle to headquarters. Grey’s mouth hung slightly open, too shocked to speak.

“Director, it seems Mr. Liam is contending equally with the mythical creature,” an analyst observed.

“Yes, I can see that,” Grey replied sarcastically, then immediately asked, “What monster is that? I haven’t seen it before.”

“Looking up the archives now, sir!” The analyst clicked on keyboards to dig up a response.

Grey muttered to himself, “You better win this, Liam Velmont.”

The fight continued for several more minutes—a flurry of punches, quick dodges, and lightning-fast speeds that were hard to follow. Each of the beast’s punches created shockwaves, though Liam managed to avoid direct contact with his face. After multiple exchanges, they both leaped back to opposite sides. The reprieve was short-lived as the monster opened its mouth, and a dark purple energy orb formed within. Liam reacted quickly, stretching both arms out while lightning energy condensed into a silvery-blue mass before him with streaks of lightning radiating through the surrounding area as he charged his own technique.

The monster released its energy blast in a wide-range attack that shaved everything in its path. Liam simultaneously released his lightning wave, and when they clashed, Liam’s attack overwhelmed the beast’s magic, enveloping and overpowering it. The resulting explosion tore through a quarter of the park. When the smoke cleared, the beast lay damaged and stunned, its body twitching from the lightning attack’s aftereffects.

Liam stood on the other side, huffing heavily. His upper body bent forward as he rested both arms on his knees, having drained significant stamina and mana

[MP 1100 → 650]

[STA 1310 → 780]

Grey watched from his office, nodding in amazement and approval, even smiling.

On the battlefield, Liam finally stood after using his regeneration skill—which restored more than just wounds, bringing his body back to optimum condition.

Notification screens appeared after taking down the monster:

[You Have Leveled Up]

[You Have Leveled Up]

[You Have Leveled Up]

[+11 Available Stat Points]

[You Have Obtained a Skill Upgrade]

Ignoring the expected notifications, he walked slowly toward the fallen beast to complete the Quest objective given to him by the system. As he got closer, his danger senses spiked, causing him to leap back instinctively. It happened so fast, he didn’t even realize he’d move.

Back at USOV’s control room, one of analyst stared in belief at the screens. “Director, there are new readings coming in…”

Purple energy surged from the Ancient as it slowly floated upward. Its body began shrinking, undergoing a transformation. The final result was a humanoid demon with coal-black skin as tough as armor. It had a terrifying skull-like face, enormous bat-like wings spread wide, and a muscular, spiked body covered in natural bone protrusions and jagged edges. In its grip was the hilt of a broad, double-serrated longsword.

“…the threat level just escalated to Titan-Class,” the analyst completed, as Grey watched the transformation with widened eyes.

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