Beast Enslavement: A Failure's Path to World Domination

*TATATATA

The sound of Arc leaping through the forest from tree to tree with Princess Selene in his arms and onis hot on their trail.

"Faster, faster, faster" he thought, pushing his stamina to the limit as the orgres were gradually closing in on them. They knew this forest like the back of their hands and had much more experience traversing through the trees. In addition, their physical abilities were superior to humans so capture was all but inevitable.

For every step Arc took, they stepped two or even three. What seemed like a huge headstart when the chase began had vanished, with Arc within eyeshot of them now.

*Bzzzt, swiiing, bruuughhh...

Long range attacks from multiple directions, all aimed at Arc. He nimbly dodged each with a hairs breadth while jumping from tree to tree and approaching the light at the end of the figurative tunnel of trees.

As Arc leaped out of the forest, a flash of lightning struck him from behind, it's origin far behind the other onis. He knew instantly that it was the same person who shot Selene earlier...as well as the fact that oni was strong.

Sure, not as strong as Maya or the other Ragnarok members but still formidable in his own right, "probably Specialist 3 or so" Arc surmised.

"A-Are you okay?"

Selene cried, apparently worried about the child who just shielded her.

"D-Don't worry..... I'm fine"

Twelve ogres touched down several meters behind him on the open space, fortunately, the thirteenth was taking his time. This was good for Arc, since the cave before him was exactly where he was heading in the first place.

[Name: Kitsune. Race: Crimson Firefox. Costs 500 coins to enslave]

The tier 17 Crimson Firefox was sleeping in the cave— It's a nimble and sneaky creature with a ferocious bite and mastery over magma

"Enslave!"

[Coins: 520—> 20]

[Enslavement Complete. Added to Stables]

"Step away from the girl, kid. Or this will get ugly"

One of the ogres growled while pounding his fists together. Arc got up, standing his ground then looked back on Selene, smiling softly

"I'll treat your wounds soon so just hold on a little longer"

"Do you really plan to take on all of us, little man?!"

Another one of the ogres interjected.

"I'll have you know I'm still growing! and.... This will be over quickly"

Suddenly, molten magma erupted beneath their feet, scorching the orgres. A couple seconds earlier, Arc had Cammy sneak up underneath them then sent Kitsune through his shadow to Cammy's where it unleashed it's firepower.

The magma melted through their study exterior and Arc seized the opportunity. He charged in and had Spike fire poison needles then comboed with punches meant to drive the needles through the oni's skin.

He repeated this system, swiftly taking down a few onis while leaving the rest for Kitsune and Buster. Three mage-type onis were left, one of which was the ice mage he faced earlier.

"Why you little brat!"

The guy growled, infuriated. A staredown between Arc and the mages ensued, each waiting for their opponent to move.

One of the mages began activating a spell and Arc quickly moved in with Kitsune to neutralize him mid chant. However, Buster swooped in at Max speed pulling Arc back to Selene's side.

Arc realized Buster's motive a fraction of a second later, after witnessing that area getting struck by multiple lightning bolts.

"You guys are seriously having trouble with one little brat?!"

The voice which emerged from the shadow of the woods was the thirteenth ogre. He seemed to be in his mid teens with a slender build and mean-spirited gaze giving off the "impulsive hothead" impression.

Still though, he was undoubtedly the strongest of the thirteen.

"Y-You attacked your own comrades?"

"Huh?"

The oni looked around to see his comrades a little charred from the lightning. He placed his palms together

"Hahaha, I'm really sorry about that guys. Please.....rest in peace"

"WE'RE NOT DEAD, YOU IDIOT!"

The ice mage who was the only one still conscious retorted.

"Hahaha, I knew you'll be able to block it, Yuki"

"But now I've used up all my ygg protecting everyone.... you're on your own in this fight, you better not lose, Rei"

Rei pounded his fist together screaming "leave it to me!". Arc assumed a fighting stance preparing for his final enemy.

HOWEVER—

Right after Arc blinked, Rei's fist was a couple centimeters from his face. Arc didn't even have time to react as Rei's lighting fast punch sent him crashing into the cave. Rei charged up multiple lightning bolts firing them all at the cave reducing it to rubble.

*BZZZZTTT...

"THUNDER.... SPEAR!!!!"

. . .

"And... That's game!" Rei cried triumphantly

"Don't let your guard down, idio—"

Yuki's warning was a second too late as Kitsune was at point blank range behind Rei with a magma fireball charged up in it's mouth.

Any other oni would've gotten hit by that attack without question but not Rei. Effectively utilizing his quick reflexes, he nimbly turned round and intercepted the molten ball with a lightning coated fist.

The shockwave blew both back but they landed on their feet.

"Boost ×2!"

[Coins: 20—>0]

Arc activated his new skill, boost—for every 10 coins he uses, his beast's stats increase by 10 percent. He just spent 20 on Kitsune and was ready for round two.

"Kitsune, molten drive!"

Emerging from beneath the rubble, Arc issued his command to the beast, after which it's whole body turned to magma and it started circling Rei in incredibly high speeds.

"You're pretty fast, aren't you? Guess I should respond in kind"

Rei coated his entire body in lightning and circled at highspeed to stop Kitsune. They clashed again and again, matching each other's speed with neither giving an inch.

Admist the commotion, Arc ran over to Selene in other to perform first aid on her leg.

"If I take out the controller, the beast will stop, wouldn't it?!"

Rei screamed a few centimeters from his face, he had dodged Kitsune's last attack and used the opportunity to try finishing off Arc. Kitsune jumped out of Arc's shadow however, biting into Rei's stomach while pushing him into the air.

"Ultimate skill....MOLTEN EXPLOSION!"

Kitsune's body was covered in magma which appeared to be contracting rapidly, drop by drop.....the energy was released a second later resulting in an explosion with Rei at the center.

*GBOOM!

"Phew....now then, let's get you treate—"

*WHIRRRRR

The hairs on his skin stood on end as he heard the whirring sound. Once he turned round, he could visibly see the ygg in the air converging to Rei's right hand. Not only that, it was being converted to a form of lightning Arc hadn't seen before, purple lightning

"You pissed me off, you brat... And now, you're going to pay"

Rei was standing and even worse, the long purple lightning blade in his hand was a technique far greater than the rank of specialist. With a single swipe, the shockwave zapped numerous trees behind him into pure ashes..... and—

[Kitsune is dead. Removed from stables]

[KITSUNE ADDED TO DEADMAN'S FORGE]

The shockwave annihilated a tier 17 easily.

"That's impressive.... but it's a double edged sword, literally"

Arc commented, pointing at Rei's gradually charring right hand. Apparently, he was incurring damage while holding it.

"He He He..... You're wrong about that. After all, this isn't a sword"

Arc watched Rei assume a stance like he was about to throw a javelin and knew what it was instantly

"BUSTER!"

He summoned his eagle right in front of him to charge in at max speed, however—

"THUNDER SPEAR.....KAI!"

Rei launched the spear before Buster could reach and it was headed right for the bird. In the last second, however, buster dodged the lightning, heading straight for Rei's face.

"A double KO, huh? Nice try!"

Rei tilted his head, dodging the eagle with pinpoint accuracy while the lightning spear Kai was a hairs breadth short of Arc's face.

"It's over", both young men thought at that moment, each anticipating their own victory.... However, only one could be correct.

And that was Arc

"Shadow Warp!"

By creating a shadow gate with the entry being his face and the exit, buster, the lightning spear went through, exiting Buster to strike Rei dead on his cheek.

*BOOM!

The blow sent Rei flying and Arc seized the opportunity. He leapt into close quarters, summoning Spike while Buster made a beeline for the sky.

"Spike, ultimate skill... rapidfire!"

The poison porcupine's spikes grew twice in size and turned purple indicating a drastic increase in poison concentration. Then, the porcupine fired them at Rei like a gattling gun.

*WHACK, WHACK, BOOM, BOOM

Arc comboed with a barrage of punches, each one driving the spikes deeper in Rei's skin before finishing with a kick that sent Rei flying back a couple meters.

"Big mistake, brat!"

Rei was still conscious by sheer power of will with a charging lightning bolt in his fingers. Arc was out of shadow warps for five minutes and at that range, he won't dodge in time. So then...

"BUSTER! LUMINOUS!"

Buster's ultimate skill allowing him to speed up beyond maximum, reaching near lighspeed as it descended from the sky.

With enough speed, even something as harmless as a bullet can kill people. The eagle was descending hundreds of times faster than a speeding bullet while scorching like a rocket on re-entry.

All that power concentrated to it's beak to slam Rei's skull, the young oni didn't stand a chance.

The shockwave sent debris flying everywhere including stones, Spike and Arc. He hit the pile of rubble injured but still alive.

He opened his eyes and saw a figure in the debris, pointing at him with bloodlust.

"No way, even that didn't beat hi—"

His caution was unwarranted. The oni was out cold on his feet and Yuki knocked out by the previous shockwave.

"*Huff huff huff.... It's....over"

Arc hurriedly rushed to perform first aid on the girl who collapsed from blood loss then carried her piggyback, running through the forest without much concern for his own injuries.

*Pant pant pant, step step step

He ran for a while, eventually reaching a small village outside the forest.

[MISSION COMPLETE]

[COINS: 0—>100]

"A-Are those?"

He noticed several uniformed people fratically searching the village. The definitely weren't hunters so....they must be Selene's guards.

He moved towards them, limping with the last ounce of energy he had.

"P-Princess Selene!"

They noticed him carrying the princess on his back and ran towards him. Although...

*WHACK

He was hit by one of them and fell to the floor. The man who hit him growled with disgust.

"You insolent wretch, how dare you kidnap the Princess!"

"N-No I.."

"SAVE IT!"

Another soldier screamed as she unleashed an attack spell on Arc. The others followed suit, blowing off steam with the twelve year old boy till he fell unconscious and they were satisfied"

"THE PRINCESS HAS LOST A LOT OF BLOOD, HURRY HER TO THE CASTLE DOCTORS IMMEDIATELY!"

"YES SIR!"

The soldiers chorused in unison.

"What about the boy?" The female soldier asked "...Should I kill him?"

"Hmmm....take him to the torture room"

The main said, his cold, piercing gaze on Arc

"We'll make him spill his guts about his fellow companions. They'll rue the day they thought they could kidnap the Princess and get away with it!"