Ethan didn't wait around to see how the fight ended.
The moment the Ulfens and the Bear were fully engaged, he turned and ran - stumbling, limping, half-blind in the dark, but moving all the same.
Survival didn't care about pride or curiosity.
He put distance between himself and the clearing, then more distance, then more, until his lungs burned and his legs threatened to give out. Only then did he collapse behind a fallen log, curling in on himself as quietly as he could.
His MP was empty, and his body felt like it was being held together by stubbornness alone.
He stayed there, barely breathing and listening to his surroundings.
The forest was alive.
Beasts roared and shrieked somewhere, howls rose and fell, branches snapped, and screams cut through the night like knives.
There was conflict everywhere and beasts in every direction.
This wasn't just dangerous anymore; it was wild.
'The objective is to survive,' he reminded himself. 'That's it. Just survive.'
He glanced at the faint, ever-present timer in the corner of his vision.
11:56:23
11:56:22
11:56:21
"I've got this," he whispered hoarsely. "I would rather die than go back to living without this Title."
But even as he said it, he knew deep down it was going to be tough, especially since something had clearly changed.
It was like the trial, or even the entire twisted tower, had flipped a switch the moment night fell. Everything resembled a game, and so did the sudden changes in difficulty.
However, unlike a game, he wasn't in control, and his life was actually on the line.
Hard Mode - that's what it was now.
Even without Beast Assimilation active, he could feel them now.
Not just one or two.
Dozens.
The forest crawled with hostile intent. There were many more beasts than before - stronger, wilder, and more aggressive. And unlike during the day, most of the beasts seemed to be predators that were much more dangerous and suited to killing.
Under the thick canopy, moonlight barely reached the ground as Ethan strained his eyes uselessly. His breath was still unsteady from the escape, but despite his condition, he was relieved.
'I can't believe that actually worked.'
He forced himself upright and staggered forward, putting one foot in front of the other, moving without direction, without plan - just away. Staying still unnerved him when surrounded by so many beasts and still near the conflict he had sparked.
After a while, he stopped again to catch himself, bent over with his hands on his knees, chest heaving.
"How did I even get here?" he muttered.
The words spilt out before he could stop them.
"I was just drinking. Wondering what the fuck to do with my life. And now I'm fighting beasts, bleeding out in a forest, and apparently I'm the so-called Lord Of Beasts…"
He let out a weak, hysterical laugh.
"That's if I survive this shit."
The forest almost seemed to respond to him, though he wasn't a big fan of what it was.
Four pairs of glowing eyes blinked into existence ahead of him.
Ethan froze, and his blood went cold.
They stepped forward, one by one, silent as ghosts.
'Ulfens...'
There were fewer than before - the remaining survivors. Their fur was matted with blood, some of it not their own. One limped, another had a torn ear, but their eyes… their eyes burned brighter than ever in the moonlight.
They hadn't won cleanly, but they beat that thing.
'I guess numbers win in the end, especially when it's a pack of oversized wolves.'
Ethan swallowed hard.
'They didn't run,' he realised. 'They fought because they couldn't leave each other behind.'
Wolves didn't abandon their own, and the only reason they'd fought the bear in the first place was that they'd thought he was one of them.
The realisation sat heavily in his chest.
He wasn't guilty, not in the slightest.
Ethan was... afraid.
Because now, whatever illusion Beast Assimilation had created was gone.
His MP was still empty, his body was broken, and he had no weapon.
But unless he had some sort of firearm, he doubted he could face even one of these fully grown Ulfens, even in their condition.
'This is the worst possible scenario,' he thought dimly. 'I couldn't be more fucked if I tried.'
The Ulfens lowered their bodies.
Growls rolled through their throats, low and vibrating, no longer uncertain. They were accusatory and intelligent, clearly understanding that they had been tricked.
Ethan took a step back.
"I-" he began, but there was no taking his way out of this.
In an instant, he went from possibly one of their own to prey they had a vendetta against.
They lunged at him.
Ethan turned and tried to run, but it was pointless. He was exhausted beyond belief, and even if he wasn't, his chances were slim to none against four of these beasts.
If anything, all he had done was give them his back as their claws tore into him. They knocked him forward into the dirt, one of the large Ulfens pinning him under its weight.
He screamed as pain exploded through him.
"I'M NOT DYING HERE!"
He trashed wildly, struggling from under it and scrambling to his feet from sheer desperation and adrenaline. Ethan then went wild, flinging his fists and kicking wherever he could manage.
Fighting with everything he had left - rage, fear, denial - it didn't matter. They were faster and stronger, the full moon above driving them into a frenzy.
Their attacks were ruthless and coordinated: teeth sank into Ethan's arm while another raked at his leg. Eventually, his body gave in, and no amount of adrenaline or willpower could help muster the strength to keep fighting.
Even after falling to the ground, he tried to crawl away, but a paw slammed onto his shoulder.
Another pinned his leg.
Another clamped down on his wrist.
The Ulfens held him there...
That's when they began slowly eating him alive.
It was torturous - they picked at his flesh, gnawed on his bones, and watched as he writhed in agony, almost as if paying him back for their fallen brethren.
Ethan screamed until his throat burned raw, until tears streamed down his face and his voice broke into nothing but hoarse gasps.
Pain drowned everything: thought, time, hope.
Above him, through blurred vision and moonlit branches, the timer floated calmly, with almost half the time still remaining. That's when the helplessness and reality sank in.
'I guess this is it…'
The thought came achingly as all the hope and ambition he had came crashing down.
'This fucking trial was impossible from the start,' he cursed whatever sadistic bastard created this place as he began succumbing to darkness.
'It's not like I'll be missed...' was his last thought before a series of notifications flooded his mind and fading vision.
{Failure to meet objective.}
{Death in Tower Of Beasts will result in the destruction of the soul and death in reality.}
{999th candidate has failed in completing the trial to receive the title Lord Of Beasts.}
{Error!}
{Error!}
{Error!}
The messages stacked, overlapping, flashing faster and faster.
Something was clearly wrong, not that Ethan had time to think about it.
Everything went black as his far-from-pleasant life flashed before his eyes. The last thing he registered was the series of error messages as the system bugged out, unusually. Then there was...
Nothing.