Lunar Legacy: Rise Of The Beastlord-Chapter 94: Merciless

The leader boiled in anger. "You’ll pay for this!" he roared, energy bursting out from under his finger tips, conjuring a massive swirling sphere of water the size of a car.

"DIE!" He hurled it forward with a scream.

The sphere surged forward with terrifying speed, leaving a trail of dust as it approached Jayden.

But Jayden didn’t move. The wave roared toward him like a tsunami ready to consume him whole. And just when the sphere was a few inches from slamming into him...

It stopped.

Frozen mid-air, trembling like it had hit an invisible wall.

Jayden had caught it with his telekinesis, leaving the rich man and the leader in shock.

The water sphere hovered, pulsating like a heartbeat caught in time.

Penelope’s eyes widened. Even she hadn’t expected that.

"Telekinesis..." she finally put the pieces together. She had seen Jayden move the glass into that guard’s back, earlier. She had seen how he pushed himself forward with shockwaves. But she considered it to be wind manipulation.

But now, there was no doubt about it... that power was psychic in nature.

Jayden stared at the huge ball for a while, then he tilted his head slightly, and the orb shattered instantly. Turning into harmless water, splashing across the ground at his feet.

He raised his head at the leader, frowning.

"Was that the best you could do?" he asked, his voice sending chills down the leader’s spine. "I’m not impressed."

Then...

BOOM!

He vanished.

Then reappeared an inch from the leader’s face with his fist raised towards his chin.

BANG!

A savage uppercut rocketed the man skyward, blood and teeth flying in arcs.

The man crashed to the ground, coughing, groaning, eyes spinning in his skull.

"P-Please.." he stammered.

Jayden’s smile faded. A cold expression took its place. "I begged you first, remember? I asked you not to disappoint me... and you did." he said in a cold tone, walking slowly toward the man, who scurried backward, panicking, his legs barely moving fast enough.

Penelope stifled a laugh. The irony was just too ironic... the predator had become the prey. And the prey was a grown man... who was running from a teenage boy.

Jayden sighed in dissapointment. He really expected more from the man. "Well, guess I was wrong about you." he muttered, then took a single step forward.

WHOOSH!

He appeared right in front of the man.

The leader gasped in shock and dismay. But before he could speak...

SHLKK!

Jayden’s claws drove into his gut... carefully not to hit anything fatal. The man convulsed, eyes rolling back, blood oozing from his mouth as he passed out.

Thud.

Jayden let the body slump to the ground, blood pooling beneath it.

Alright," he said, brushing dust from his jacket, eyes rising to meet the rich man’s. "Your turn."

FLASH!

In an instant, Jayden stood nose-to-nose with the terrified billionaire. The man screamed like a child, flinching, nearly wetting himself.

Jayden smirked and raised his claws... then he brought it down, aiming for the man’s head. But before it could strike...

SNATCH!

It was caught mid-air.

Jayden frowned and turned to face the person that stopped him, baring his fangs.

It was Penelope.

She stood by his side now, her grip firm but calm, her eyes unreadable.

"That’s enough, Jayden," she said softly. "I think he’s broken enough."

Jayden stared at her.

Then slowly... the tension in his shoulders dropped. The fangs shortened, his face returning to human, his claws retracting with a soft metallic shink. His breath was steady now, but his eyes... they looked tired. Like he’d just snapped out of a trance.

He nodded and dropped his hand.

The rich man collapsed to his knees, wheezing like a fish out of water, his life had flashed before his eyes.

Penelope looked at Jayden and smiled wrly. "You okay?" she asked softly, her voice like the moonlight after a storm.. gentle, but searching.

"Yeah..." he muttered, voice low and heavy. "I’m fine."

Penelope raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "You still feel like fighting?"

Jayden shook his head slowly. "No. It’s passed. We can go now." His voice was calmer, quieter.. like someone waking up after a blackout, heart bruised by memories they hadn’t meant to make. It wasn’t guilt, not really. But he looked... sobriety-wrecked. Like he’d gone beast-mode and just now realized the wreckage left behind.

But the difference between this and when he went actual beastmode was... He was in complete control.

Penelope’s lips curved into a soft, knowing smile. "Okay. Let’s go. But first..." she turned toward the trembling rich man still slumped nearby, bloodied and stunned, "...I have something to take care of."

She took a step forward, and with a flick of her fingers, her wig came off. Her golden hair spilled out like a sunlit waterfall, cascading down her back with regal power. Then she released a bit of her aura.

The air shifted instantly. Heated. Choking.

Jayden blinked, even he felt it. This release in aura was even more stronger than on the day they met at that restaurant. The shift in energy wasn’t subtle. It was volcanic.. and suffocating.

The man’s eyes widened in horror as recognition clicked. His lips trembled. "D-Duchess Penelope..." he gasped, his voice barely more than a breath.

"Yes," she said coldly, the fire in her voice matching the heat in her aura. "And you’re lucky I’m in a good mood. Because if I wasn’t..." she narrowed her gaze, "...you’d be crawling home without a spine."

The man collapsed to his knees, hands up, face drenched in sweat. "I’m so sorry, please! I didn’t mean to accuse you. Please forgive me.. I didn’t know it was you, I swear!"

Penelope crossed her arms, tilting her head slightly, as if she was judging whether or not he was worth the air he was using to beg. "Didn’t you want to throw me out of the restaurant earlier? All high and mighty with your nose in the clouds?"

"I—I was stupid. Blind. Please, Duchess. Show mercy." he begged, sweat trickling down his face. He looked even more terrified than he was when he saw Jayden’s transformation. Jayden was a beast, yes. But Penelope was a goddess.

She tapped her chin playfully, then flicked her wrist. "I’ll let you live. But only if you promise to forget everything that happened tonight. The fight. His form. All of it. It never happened."

The man nodded like his life depended on it... cause frankly, it did. "Yes, Duchess. This never happened. Please.. i promise not to tell a soul."

"Good." Penelope muttered. "If anyone asks.. you saw a C-Rank beast. Nothing more, nothing less. That’s your story now. Is that understood?"

"Yes! I swear—I’ll never speak of it. None of us will."

She leaned in slightly, her eyes glowing purple. "If you do, I’ll know. And I’ll come back to finish the job myself."

The man whimpered and nodded violently.

She smirked. "Very good. Now... apologize to Jayden."

The man turned his face to Jayden and bowed low. "I’m sorry. Please forgive me."

Jayden just nodded coolly, the fog in his mind beginning to lift.

Penelope smiled, dimming her aura as she slipped the wig back on, restoring her casual look like the whole world hadn’t just been flipped upside down. She began walking away.

But halfway through, she paused. Glanced over her shoulder.

"Oh, right. One last thing," she said casually, flicking invisible lint from her coat. "If you’re gonna claim it was a beast... well, it won’t make sense if you’re the only one unharmed."

The man’s face drained of color. "W-Wait, Duchess, I don’t think—"

Shlkkk!

A blazing spear of fire shot from her palm, slicing through the air and slamming into his thigh. It ripped through the flesh like molten lightning.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The man howled, crumpling as fire and pain exploded through his nerves, the scent of burning skin rising.

Penelope didn’t even flinch. "That’s for interrupting my date," she said coolly, and turned to Jayden with a flick of her hair. "Come on. I’m feeling sleepy."

Jayden followed, still reeling. Not from the fight, but from how close he’d come to blowing his entire cover. The lupine form... his eyes... his abnormal aura. If Penelope hadn’t thought of this and acted. He could be in deep trouble.

Jayden climbed into the passenger seat, eyes distant, thoughts swirling like smoke.

Penelope glanced at him. "Don’t overthink it, Jayden," she said, her tone gentle again. "He got what he deserved. They all did."

Jayden looked at her and nodded faintly, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Yeah..." he smiled.

Then, as Penelope started the car engine, something flickered in his vision. The system screen.

*Hidden Quest Complete:

[Defend your sugar mummy and defeat the eight bodyguards with any of your werewolf transformations]

*Rewards:

[You have received 50 exp]

[You have received 10 stat points]

Jayden blinked. Then scoffed.

"This system never fails to humor me."