The shattering of the pod almost instantly set off a series of different events and reactions all around the world.

One of which was that all the beasts within the Forest of Shadows, the weak and the strong, could all feel their existence being suppressed. It wasn’t necessarily a forceful suppression, but of one that was meant to be there, as if it was missing all this time. It seemed to demand reverence and seemingly mandatory obedience. As if they had no choice but to be subservient. To those in the know, this would come as no surprise. Why was the Forest of Shadows called as such? Every single beast in the forest uses shadow essence in some way and only one race could truly claim dominion over such things.

The Umbra.

Although the experience of suppression only lasted a fleeting moment, it was still there and the memory of being suppressed wouldn’t simply vanish. Instead, all the beasts, particularly the stronger ones could still very much feel it. A feeling one of the strongest creatures in the Forest of Shadows absolutely abhorred. A feeling that caused it to instantly set off in the direction of the temple, seeking to immediately kill the being that dared to disrespect it in such a manner. Its fury becoming corporeal and crushing everything in its path as it moved with devastating speed.

Such was the fury of a rank 8 being.

At the same time as the suppression of the beasts, various powerhouses around the world felt the exact same thing at the exact same time. Something that could threaten them just came into being. None knew exactly who or what it was that caused that feeling, but it was something that couldn’t be faked or misinterpreted at their level. This caused various emotions in the beings that stood at the pinnacle. Some were happy and excited while others were angry, neutral or even annoyed at this feeling. While some outright directed the massive kingdoms, empires, or organizations under them to find out what happened. One singular birth set off a multitude of happenings all around the world.

The last thing of significance that took place was the event that happened to every single member of the Umbra race. All of them, young or old, simultaneously felt a very faint pull and a connection to their very souls in the direction of their ancestral lands.

The pull lasted briefly, soi brief it didn’t even cause any member of the Umbra race in the midst of any activity to falter or miss a step in what they were doing. In fact, most members of the race even questioned if they even felt what it is they thought they felt in the first place. That was the majority, but the strongest members of the race were all sure of the feeling and the possible reasons for what might have caused such a feeling. Of course, one particular reason stood out in most of their minds more than the rest… Did their lord finally come to them?

It was during all these things that the being who was the sole cause of all these happenings finally stood up.

Standing at six feet and five inches was a towering man whose muscles seemed to have been sculpted for the purpose of war. Covering these muscles was a steely greyish skin tone much like the other members of the Umbra race. He had eyes that seemed to be perfect imitations of the moon. The sclera that his moonlike pupils sat in was pitch black, making anyone who stared into his eyes experience the feeling of looking into the night sky itself. Of course, all of these features were tied in together seamlessly with his chiseled face and shoulder-length hair that flowed with the wind and seemed to be darker than the night.

After he stood the very first words the Royal Guards who were keenly listening with heads still bowed heard the Lord of the Umbra race utter was “It seems a beast has forgotten its place.”

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But before they could understand his meaning, he simply vanished from the temple and immediately appeared in front of Laiya with his back facing her and the team.

A naked back at that.

Before Laiya, Rykos, and Jace could even begin to understand why a giant naked man had teleported in front of them, a pressure that would simply kill them under normal circumstances washed over them for barely a second. The rank 8 beast had arrived, and it was seeing blood.

At the exact same time of arrival as the rank 8 beast, the five royal guards arrived as well and they immediately surrounded their lord ready to fight to the death with the beast in front of them, a rather normal-sized hawk. The being currently filled with rage and enough power to cause unprecedented levels of destruction, was just the size of a regular hawk.

A hawk whose feathers were pitch black, which made it very clear that seeing this beast at night was impossible. A hawk who now grew slightly weary as it stared into the moon-like eyes of the man standing before it.

The hawk was no fool.

Most if not all beasts get far more intelligent as they rise in power, and with the hawk being so far up the totem pole of power it was more intelligent than most humans, in fact it was even capable of speech. Which is why it decided to speak instead of the initial plan of killing any and everything that surrounded the temple. As the man standing in front of it, felt somewhat threatening. Yes, the Lord who had only just recently been born, felt threatening to a rank 8 being.

“Was it you who dared to disrespect me?” Kneel and apologize and you may have a chance to live.” A calm yet fury-laced voice sounded from the small hawk.

While the hawk did feel threatened, it still had the pride of a rank 8 being. A level of power close to the peak of this world.

Upon hearing the words of the hawk, the royal guards nearly jumped at it for the hawk’s disrespect to their lord, even though they all knew this hawk was a rank above and definitely much stronger, they were confident in being able to kill it even at the cost of their lives.

Maybe if the Lord himself weren’t present, or was still awaiting his birth from the pod, they would’ve immediately launched at the hawk. But in his presence, they would wait for the order to do such a thing.

It was then their Lord spoke.

“Kneel..?….protect them.”

The second part of his sentence was directed at his royal guards, who immediately did as told and shifted their attention to the still-shocked team of three, none of which seemed capable of forming concurrent thoughts at the moment.

Then with a speed imperceptible to anyone with a power level below rank 8, and even within the weaker rank 8 beings, the Lord vanished for a moment only to reappear once again in the same spot.

Only this time within his grasp was the neck of the hawk firmly clasped upon, and he spoke once more.

“Since when did a shadow beast gain the right to speak to their Lord with such authority?”

The hawk had alarms blaring inside of its head, as it squirmed, screeched, and struggled within the grasp of the Lord.

‘HOW?! IS HE RANK 9?!! 10??!!! IMPOSSIBLE I WOULD BE ABLE TO FEEL IT!! HOW DID HE MOVE FASTER THAN WHAT I COULD PERCEIVE?! WHY CAN'T I ESCAPE FROM HIS GRASP?! I CAN FEEL HIS STRENGTH!!...HE IS….”

It was then the aura of a peak rank 8 being descended in the surrounding lands.

If it wasn’t for the protection of the royal guards, Laiya and her team would have long since been dead. How can the screeches and cries of a rank 8 being be normal? The shockwaves of such a thing could easily decimate cities. Not even counting the pressure the Lord was giving off.

A pressure that was mostly focused on the hawk or otherwise even his royal guards not to mention Laiya, Rykos, and Jace, would all be on their knees. Of course, the latter three still found it a little hard to breathe properly and form thoughts at the moment

Especially when you consider that from the point when the Lord appeared with his royal guards, to then him grasping the neck of the hawk, not even a minute had passed.

The hawk nearly lost all reason, every fiber of its being was screaming to kneel and lower its head in the presence of this aura. Its blood was quite literally reeling in fear and reverence. How can a beast from the shadow bloodline dare raise its head while in front of the Ruler of Shadows? Wasn’t that simply foolish?

The Lord of the Umbra was no simple title. It was a birthright. It was the law to all beings carrying shadow essence in their veins. It was the title of a born ruler. Something many more beings other than this hawk will soon come to find out.