"A true S-Rank beast has a mana beast core, and when that core cycles, its base strength can double instantly."

"I'm aware," Bale replied. "Which is why, if he kills it, he'll be awarded one hundred thousand points. And no recruit will object. The recruits should understand, since all of them would fight and see how weak they're against the nerfed S-Ranked I pit against them, which is even multiple times weaker than an actual S-Rank beast."

Lucen lowered his head. "Understood, sir."

Bale let out a long breath, rare for him. "This trial is not what I expected. It's deviating from the intended format. Instead of a normal progression curve, we're watching outliers rewrite the pace entirely. Even the average recruits aren't performing at baseline. Nearly everyone passed one thousand points within two days."

"And Sophie… her behavior isn't what one would expect from a Reign, is it?" Lucen asked.

Bale's mouth twitched. "She stopped at exactly one thousand on purpose. I don't know what's going on in that mind of hers."

The hologram dimmed slightly.

"Prepare the override. When the lion reaches Phase Two, authorize the core release. Let's see if Bruce can handle a real S-Rank."

"Yes, sir," Lucen replied.

Bale ended the call. The hologram vanished.

Lucen stared at the empty space for a few quiet seconds, then turned and walked back toward the doors. They slid open again, and he stepped inside the pod room, where every recruit, those dead in Br but alive in the real world, was still glued to the screen showing Bruce and the Lion locked in battle beneath the moon.

And none of them knew the next phase was about to begin.

****

Then, in the middle of the clash, something changed.

The Golden-Maned Lion suddenly stopped moving, not out of hesitation, but as if a switch inside its body had been flipped. Its flames dimmed for a moment, only to return in a completely different form!

The entire beast began to shine, not just its mane but its entire body, taking on a radiant golden hue that looked less like fur and more like polished jade brought to life.

The glow didn't stay gentle. It intensified, brighter, hotter, expanding like a rising sun. The light swallowed the savannah in a blinding radiance, turning grass, stone, and sky into a single field of gold. Anyone else would have been forced to look away, but Bruce stood there, eyes narrowed, gaze steady. Even through the blinding light, he could still see perfectly.

It was like Golden jade, alive, burning, divine, swallowing the moonlight while...

And then....

The eruption hit!

An S-Ranked aura exploded out of the lion's body, raw and overwhelming, shaking the air as if reality itself recoiled. And because every ounce of that rage was focused on one target, the pressure was magnified far beyond what a controlled S-Rank release should be.

Bruce's coat whipped violently in the wind. His hair snapped backward. The force crashed into him like a physical weight, sinking into his bones, crushing down with the instinctual authority of something higher, something that existed above him.

His knee hit the ground.

[You're affected by S-Ranked Suppression!]

The suppression didn't just push him down. It pressed into his mana, into his core, forcing his existence itself to acknowledge a higher lifeform. His A-Rank aura shrank instantly, instinctively retreating like prey before a predator.

Then...

[You've healed!]

His body surged. The suppression shattered. The aura that had cowered moments ago recovered, surged, and expanded, no longer A-Rank in presence, but matching the S-Rank pressure pouring from the beast.

Bruce rose to his feet again, completely steady, as if nothing had happened.

The lion's fierce golden eyes widened. It had expected broken bones, crushed spirit, forced submission. Instead, Bruce stood there with calm amusement, not just enduring the suppression, but matching it. Healing through it. Nullifying it.

The beast's flames rose higher, its fury intensifying, its authority growing even more suffocating and instinct-driven. But Bruce remained still, analyzing it like he was watching weather instead of death.

"I've felt S-Rank suppression before," he murmured, voice calm. "So this is the one Sophie talked about back then."

The lion growled, the sound vibrating the ground. Its Golden Mane Authority, which had already been terrifying before, now burned several times stronger, far beyond the stage when it first activated Sin of Pride.

But Bruce had no fear. He had no reason to be afraid. The Golden-Maned Lion before its evolution was one thing, but the creature standing in front of him now was something entirely different. Its existence had changed. It wasn't fighting upward, Bruce was fighting upward.

The lion's intent was simple. 'You don't feel fear? Then I'll make you.'

It was an S-Ranked lifeform. Its presence alone demanded submission. And until Bruce strengthened his own existence, until he obtained an S-Ranked mana core in this VR, matching it would always require adaptation.

'…it'll be hard to match up without adapting…' Bruce sighed

Then...

BOOOOM!!!

[Fear has been induced on you.]

[You feel fear!]

[You are filled with awe at the magnificence of the beast in front of you!]

The feeling hit Bruce before he could even process it. It wasn't a normal emotion. It wasn't panic, instinct, or hesitation. It was something deeper, older, like his body had remembered something his mind never learned. His breath hitched. His pulse spiked. His muscles tensed, not from choice, but from a command carved into the bones of every lesser creature that ever lived:

Submit. Bow. Do not offend the higher lifeform.

Bruce exhaled sharply as the weight slammed into him again, this one mental, spiritual, existential. A strange hollowness expanded inside him, a pressure that said:

You are beneath me.

You are lesser.

You do not belong on the same battlefield.

***

AN:

Sorry for releasing this rate... I hope you guys are enjoying the read as much as I'm enjoying writing this. I can promise you guys, this Bruce Vs Gold Maned Lion would be very interesting, it will show you the strength of actual real life S-Ranked beasts of Velmora. The S-Ranked Hyena Bruce killed was barely 5% of an actual S-Ranked beast!

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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