Moments before Phase Two began, Ethan was unnerved and confused.

’So far, the gate has been, dare I say it... easy.’

For something that had supposedly been escalated to A Rank, Ethan had expected immediate chaos, overwhelming pressure, something that screamed impossible. Instead, what they had faced up to this point felt more like a brutal filter than an outright slaughter.

Two C Rank beasts.

Strong ones, sure, with the second more dangerous than the first.

But still...

"That can’t be it?" Ethan muttered under his breath, crouched low on the edge of another floating landmass, eyes scanning the endless expanse of drifting islands around them.

For a gate of this calibre, those beasts were barely even Common Beast equivalents in the tower.

He exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulder where the Rupture Hopper had clipped him earlier.

"Something’s off."

Behind him, the grey-skinned man snorted.

"You’re telling me. That beetle nearly killed me."

"You nearly killed yourself," Ethan replied dryly, not even looking back.

His attention shifted slightly as he glanced toward the third member of their strange little group, who remained floating cross-legged. He had asked both Dave and the Bulldozer about the beasts they had encountered earlier, and one detail stood out more than anything else.

They had all been insects.

’What is it with the system and insects?’ was his immediate thought.

In the last gate he entered, it had been ants, endless swarms of them organised by their commanders and controlled by their queen.

Here?

It was different.

So far he had seen a cricket and a beetle, and Dave and the Bulldozer even claimed to have fought some kind of stick insect and moth. All of them were distinct and were carrying structured, almost scientific classifications that didn’t seem random.

That just made him more uneasy.

’Bear Drylls didn’t teach me anything about whatever the fuck those beasts were called.’

But before he could dig deeper into what they might suggest, that voice resounded throughout the gate again. And, inversely, the next phase starting comforted him.

"Now it’s getting interesting," he had said.

But he would soon come to regret those very words...

-

{Gate parameters adjusted.} 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

{Phase Two initiated.}

The changes hit like a storm crashing into reality itself.

A violent surge of energy rippled through the entire gate, distorting space and shaking the floating islands beneath their feet.

Ethan’s eyes snapped open wider.

’What does that even mean?’ he questioned internally.

He quickly found out the answer, and when he did, he wasn’t exactly a fan.

The second phase didn’t arrive quietly, and around the gate appeared a series of beasts. All kinds of insects, scaled to monstrous proportions, surged across the floating islands.

Wings buzzing, carapaces clashing, and limbs skittering.

It was like an entomophobe’s worst nightmare.

Beetles the size of trucks, wasps with blades for stingers, and centipedes that slithered like living nightmares. Worst of all, the beasts were coordinated and targeted every Titled within the gate.

And for Ethan’s group, three beasts singled them out, almost as if there was one for each of them.

The first beast landed heavily on the ground.

It was a massive beetle-like creature, even bigger than the previous one they had faced. Its thick, armoured shell gleamed with a dull metallic sheen, while its legs dug into the earth with crushing force as it lowered its head slightly.

Its status hovered about its head.

{Coleoptera Beast}

{Race: Steel Scarab

Growth Stage: Mature

Beast Rank: B

Strength: 75

Speed: 53

Stamina: 62

MP: 37/37}

Ethan’s expression hardened.

"That’s a fucking unit."

Before he could even process further, a loud, wet buzzing sound filled the air.

The second creature descended from above.

A grotesque, oversized fly.

Its bloated body pulsed unnaturally, its compound eyes reflecting everything in warped fragments. Its wings vibrated at an almost nauseating frequency.

{Diptera Beast}

{Race: Rotwing Fly

Growth Stage: Prime

Beast Rank: B

Strength: 64

Speed: 80

Stamina: 43

MP: 52/52}

Ethan’s first reaction was to pinch his nose, a revolting stench following it.

Then something softer joined it.

It was graceful, beautiful, and deeply unsettling.

A giant butterfly drifted down slowly, its wings shimmering with hypnotic patterns, scattering faint particles into the air like glowing dust.

{Lepidoptera Beast}

{Race: Dreamveil Imago

Growth Stage: Mature

Beast Rank: B

Strength: 31

Speed: 62

Stamina: 52

MP: 83/83}

Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

"That one’s the problem."

Its high MP hinted at it having dangerous abilities.

’Probably some kind of status or illusion ability,’ he surmised, his instincts screaming at him to look away from it.

Three B Rank beasts all at once.

"I don’t think I want it to be interesting anymore," Ethan mumbled under his breath.

"This is insane!" the Bulldozer barked, instinctively stepping forward, his body already beginning to tense.

Even Dave’s eyes opened fully, white light already charged and ready to fire.

That alone said enough.

Ethan exhaled slowly.

They were all on a par with creatures he would normally only face as boss monsters on a C Tier Floor, and now there were three of them.

His mind sharpened instantly.

’Even one of these would be a tough fight if we worked together...’

The two beside him came to a similar conclusion, but it wasn’t like they could pause and exit the game. Running away wouldn’t help them either, and who knew what horrors awaited them if they did now that they were in Phase Two.

That was even if they could get away from these things.

As such, they mutually understood the only way to survive was to take them on.

The Bulldozer cracked his neck, stomping the ground repeatedly as his breathing deepened.

"I’m still not fully recovered..." he groaned, though his voice carried a rising edge of aggression.

Ethan glanced at him briefly.

"Stop being a bitch."

The angrier he got, the stronger he became, so he was just trying to help; not that the grey-skinned man shared the same sentiment, suppressing the urge to charge into him.

Dave slowly uncrossed his legs mid-air, lowering slightly, his voice quiet but steady.

"Three threats. We’re going to have to take one each."

"Yeah, no shit," Ethan replied, still not missing an opportunity to joke despite the predicament.

His eyes flicked between the three beasts, calculating rapidly.

The beetle was durable and stepped forward to act as a frontline. The fly was fast and disgusting, so it would harass them from above. And the butterfly was unique and would offer some form of ranged support.

But something concerned him deeply.

"They’re working together," Ethan muttered.

That terrifying realisation made his stomach tighten slightly and only confirmed it to him.

’This definitely isn’t random...’

Across the gate, other battles had begun.

Faint explosions echoed in the distance, with each of the A Ranks already clashing with their own overwhelming threats.

’...and nobody is coming to save us.’

Despite that, Ethan was calm and stretched casually like he was about to start gym class and not fight for his life.

"Alright," he began with a faint grin on his face.

"Just don’t die."

The Bulldozer growled, "That’s fucking obvious."

Ethan just laughed in response.

Dave, on the other hand, said nothing, but the glow in his eyes intensified.

And that’s when the three beasts made their move.

The beetle charged first, its massive body slamming forward like a living tank. Simultaneously, the fly burst forward, and the butterfly’s wings pulsed with energy.

Ethan’s eyes sharpened instantly.

"Here we go."

And just like that, the real fight began...