All Beasts Pay Homage
"Mom!"
"The family sent word..."
"You have to come back with me!"
Evan Blackheart’s face was dark and grim as he shouted.
Selena didn’t respond.
Her Purple eyes were distant.
Lost in thought.
"You’ve brought shame to the entire Blackheart family!" Evan’s voice grew colder. His face grew increasingly dark. His fury barely contained.
The Blackheart family was a well-respected name in Aurelia City.
And his own mother had become someone else’s beast-girl?
Where was the Blackheart family’s dignity in that?
"Evan, what did you say?" A teacher who hadn’t known the truth widened his eyes in disbelief. His voice trembling with shock. "Leon’s beast-girl is... your mother?"
"Mother, you can’t be so willful anymore." Evan ignored the others. His tone deep and brooding. "Come back with me now!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the entire scene exploded into chaos.
Everyone who didn’t know Leon’s beast-girl was Evan’s mother was stunned.
"My god, who exactly is Leon? He actually contracted Evan’s mother as his beast-girl?!"
"This is absolutely insane! Evan’s mother is a legend in the Blackheart family. A powerhouse in the business world. And now she’s been reduced to being someone’s beast-girl?"
"Leon is one lucky bastard!"
Voices rose and fell. A cacophony of shock and gossip surging like a tidal wave.
Amidst the noise, Leon seemed completely unfazed.
He stood there.
Arms crossed.
Smiling.
Selena’s heart pounded.
She looked at her son.
The anger in his eyes.
The shame.
The hatred.
She opened her mouth to speak.
But nothing came out.
What could she say?
*I’m sorry?*
*I didn’t choose this?*
*I was forced?*
None of it mattered.
The contract bound her.
Leon owned her.
She was his beast-girl.
His property.
His plaything.
Evan’s words cut deeper than any blade.
*You’ve brought shame to the entire Blackheart family.*
The Blackheart family.
She had married into that family.
She had given them a son.
She had served them for years.
And now?
Now she was nothing.
But then—
Leon had finally had enough.
The argument had already gone on far longer than he cared to tolerate.
Family drama.
Old grudges.
Raised voices.
One accusation after another.
It was exhausting.
Leon slowly exhaled.
His gaze shifted toward Selena.
She was standing quietly nearby, saying nothing.
Her expression remained calm, but Leon could tell she was being dragged into a mess that had nothing to do with her.
He had no interest in watching it continue.
"Enough."
His voice wasn’t loud.
Yet somehow, everyone heard it.
The arguing stopped.
Leon lowered his eyes slightly.
"System."
The familiar interface appeared inside his mind.
[Target: Selena.]
[Evolution conditions satisfied.]
[Ding! Initiating evolution sequence for beast-girl: Selena]
[Current Form: Thunderclap Tiger (S-Rank)]
[Target Form: Divine Beast White Tiger (SSS-Rank)]
[Initiating Divine Beast White Tiger evolution.]
Leon didn’t hesitate.
"Activate it."
[Confirmed.]
[Evolution process beginning.]
Leon glanced at Selena.
"You’ve listened to enough nonsense for one day."
Selena’s eyes widened slightly.
"Leon..."
He gave her a faint smile.
"Don’t worry. This won’t take long."
Before she could respond, an overwhelming force suddenly erupted from her body.
A pillar of brilliant light shot into the heavens.
Boom!
The ground trembled.
The air itself seemed to buckle.
The entire area fell silent.
Every voice disappeared.
Every argument was forgotten.
Everyone’s attention turned toward Selena.
The pillar of light continued rising.
Higher.
Higher.
Until it seemed to pierce the clouds themselves.
The radiance was almost impossible to look at directly.
Evan’s expression changed instantly.
"What..."
He took an involuntary step backward.
His face turned pale.
His mother’s body was completely engulfed by the light.
"This... this is an evolution?"
His voice came out strained.
The pressure spreading from Selena became heavier with every passing second.
It wasn’t merely spiritual pressure.
There was something ancient hidden inside it.
Something wild.
Something that made the instincts of every beast-soul master present scream at them to submit.
Students nearby stumbled.
Some fell to their knees.
Others desperately tried to remain standing.
Teachers reacted almost immediately.
"Everyone, stay back!"
"Don’t approach her!"
"Get the students away from the area!"
But even the teachers found themselves struggling.
Their chests rose and fell heavily.
Sweat appeared on their foreheads.
One teacher stared at the pillar of light in disbelief.
"What kind of evolution produces pressure like this?"
Another teacher swallowed hard.
"I don’t know."
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"But I’ve never felt anything like it."
Outside the school grounds, the reaction was even more terrifying.
Beast-girls throughout the surrounding area began reacting to Selena’s evolution.
Flying beast- soul girls stopped in midair.
Some circled above the city without understanding why they had gathered.
Others lowered themselves toward the ground.
Their bodies trembled.
Low growls escaped their throats.
It was instinct.
Something deep within their bloodlines recognized the presence rising from the pillar.
The sky gradually changed.
Brilliant white radiance spread across the surroundings.
It swallowed the ordinary daylight.
For one brief moment, it seemed as though the entire world had been covered in white.
Evan stared upward.
His face was filled with disbelief.
"No..."
He clenched his fists.
His teeth ground together.
"How could this happen now?"
He couldn’t accept it.
He had spent years believing that he understood his mother’s limits.
He had been proud of her strength.
But this—
This was something entirely different.
A teacher beside him whispered,
"All Beasts Pay Homage..."
Evan’s head snapped toward him.
"What did you say?"
The teacher didn’t answer immediately.
He was staring at the sky.
His eyes were wide.
His lips trembled slightly.
"That phenomenon..."
He took a slow breath.
"I’ve only read about it in ancient records."
Another teacher looked toward him.
"You’re saying this is really..."
"Yes."
The first teacher’s voice became quieter.
"The All Beasts Pay Homage phenomenon."
The words spread through the nearby teachers and students.
Shock followed.
Then disbelief.
Then fear.
"That’s impossible."
"Isn’t that supposed to be something from legends?"
"I thought only the strongest divine beast bloodlines could trigger it."
"What exactly is she evolving into?"
No one had an answer.
Then—
ROOOOAR!
A thunderous roar exploded from within the pillar of light.
The sound shook the sky.
Several students covered their ears.
Even the teachers felt their hearts jump.
Evan’s pupils contracted.
Inside the pillar, an enormous silhouette slowly emerged.
A tiger.
A massive white tiger.
Its body was powerful and graceful.
Its fur was pure white, almost resembling carved jade beneath the brilliant light.
Golden eyes opened.
They seemed to contain an ancient majesty that made the surrounding beasts instinctively lower their heads.
The tiger’s claws extended.
Sharp.
Cold.
Fierce.
Then it raised its head.
Another roar echoed across the city.
The pillar of light began to contract.
The enormous white tiger slowly dissolved into countless streams of radiant energy.
The energy poured inward.
The massive beast gradually shrank.
Its outline changed.
Its limbs became human.
Its body took shape.
And finally—