Chapter 23: When Beast Gods Fall
"Worship is just fear in better clothes. Strip it down, and every beast kneels."
—Kael Draven
Location: Skyfang Domain — Beast God's Arena, 8th Immortal Province
The arena roared.
Massive platforms floated in concentric rings over a bottomless abyss. Each platform bore sigils of ancient beast contracts, carved by claw and blessed by fang. Here, beast tamers from across the immortal provinces gathered to test dominion over chaos.
At its center towered a marble coliseum surrounded by thunderous howls —
And inside stood the last of the immortal beast-tamers: Grandmaster Ferun of the Skyfang, bonded to seven beast gods, including the Azure Howler Titan and the Jade Serpent Queen.
His title:
The One Who Tames What the Heavens Fear.
That title ended today.
Because Kael Draven had entered the arena.
Not with beasts.
Not with contracts.
Just a black scroll tucked into his sleeve—and an expression like he'd already won.
The Challenge
"State your bloodline, your beasts, and your wager," Ferun said, leaning on his obsidian spear.
Kael walked forward slowly, boots tapping sacred marble.
"Bloodline: Forgotten."
"Beasts: None."
"Wager: Your gods."
The arena laughed.
So did Ferun.
"You came without a beast and dare challenge me?"
"You misunderstand," Kael said, stopping at the challenge circle.
"I don't need to tame beasts. I just remind them what they truly are."
Beast Battle Begins
Ferun summoned the Azure Howler Titan, a 60-foot blue-furred colossus whose roar shattered stone.
Kael stood unmoved.
The titan charged.
Kael lifted a single finger and spoke a word — not aloud, but into the beast's memory.
Its charge stopped.
It fell to its knees.
"You bound it with chains of pride," Kael whispered. "I freed it with a mirror."
Ferun roared in rage and summoned two more: the Jade Serpent Queen and the Crimson Sky Roc.
They attacked together.
Kael vanished.
Not physically. Not spiritually.
He vanished from instinct.
The beasts lost the idea of him.
They tore at air, at illusions, at each other.
Then Kael reappeared — between them — and placed his palm on their heads.
Scripture bled into their hides.
Their eyes turned black.
They bowed.
"Even beasts know the taste of truth."
Taming by Corruption
The crowd chanted Ferun's name.
He unleashed his last resort:
The Spectral Wyrm Pact, summoning a divine draconic construct born from thousands of beast souls.
It writhed in pain as it formed—part spirit, part will, all hatred.
Kael watched.
"You forced them to fuse."
"I'll teach them to sing."
He released the scroll.
It floated.
Words spilled from it—not on paper, but into air.
Each syllable entered the Wyrm.
It stopped writhing.
And began to purr.
Then it bowed.
To Kael.
"They were never yours," Kael said to Ferun. "Only borrowed. Until I gave them a name worth remembering."
Collapse of Ferun
Ferun fell to his knees.
His beasts surrounded Kael like guardian lions.
His authority shattered.
The arena trembled—not from combat, but from belief.
The tamers in the stands began whispering Kael's name.
Some knelt.
Some wept.
Some scratched their own beast contracts off, screaming in liberation.
"We were slaves to pride!"
"The Beastfather speaks truth!"
System Update
[Skyfang Domain Subjugated: 2/9 Immortal Doctrine Nodes Corrupted]
[Title Gained: Beastfather of the Black Fang]
[Aura +2.1M | Divine Beast Loyalty Matrix Unlocked]
Final Image
Kael sat upon the Azure Howler Titan's head, flanked by the Jade Serpent and Wyrm.
A new banner unfurled from the arena's highest spire:
A black lotus devouring a collar.
"You don't tame the wild. You remind it that it was never meant to kneel."