CHAPTER 62: NEWS THAT COULD ROCK THE FEDERATION

"None of you will know this due to your lower status, but the Federation has just released some groundbreaking information to us, as well as every other Sanctuary leader in the Beast Domain."

Dido’s voice entered the ears of every member of the War Beasts, and the Radiant Slayers who were present.

Naturally, Nick wasn’t spared of this either.

But as he looked around at the bystanders on the Sanctuary wall and those further away, a confused and shortly after enlightened expression crossed his face.

Half the bystanders seemed confused, while the other half seemed disappointed.

They couldn’t hear a single word of Dido’s at all!

’Sound suppressing Beast Armament! That’s from a Rare Collossal Bat Radiant Beast! There isn’t a single one of them anywhere near here, not for tens of thousands of kilometres!’

As someone who always dreamed of owning a Radiant Beast Armament of his own, Nick naturally knew of the rarer and more popular ones in the Federation.

This Sound Suppressing Beast Armament was a special type, as it allowed the user to completely isolate any sounds from exiting or entering a certain area of their specification!

For something like this, they usually went on the market for over 10x the price of a more common Beast Armament, like weapon types...

’Her wealth and influence is truly unfathomable...’

Nick couldn’t help but feel awe at Dido, despite owning two Radiant Beast Armaments of his own.

She was just that almighty in the War Beast Sanctuary.

In fact, Nick would bet that she was in the top 10 of the entire first layer of the Beast Domain in terms of strength and potential.

It was only after realising this peculiarity surrounded them, that Nick realised why Beast Slayer stayed silent, letting Dido speak on behalf of the both of them...

It’s because Dido could control who or what could make sound in this ’Sound Suppression Domain’ of hers, and so she muted Beast Slayer as a power play!

The two of them were still enemies, despite this unusual gathering, and so this was the least she could do.

Though it was the farthest she’d go in terms of hindering Beast Slayer.

Sure, they had enmity between them, but they both knew that it had to be placed aside for the news they were about to deliver to their people.

Dido paused only briefly to let everyone settle in and get used to the sound suppression that surrounded them.

The Radiant Slayers and the War Beasts all were completely silent, listening with the kind of focus reserved for life and death moments.

Her eyes scanned the gathered Altered, stopping on Nick for a brief moment, before returning to her natural, distant gaze.

But she failed to hide the increasing unease beneath her gaze.

Then, she spoke again, with her voice as clear as fresh water.

"The Federation has revealed to us that a Star Rank Beast has been discovered in the first layer."

’...’

Silence.

A full second passed.

Then—

"WHAT!?!?"

"IS THIS FOR REAL!?"

"No way..."

"Star Rank!?"

Murmurs and shouts erupted like a chain reaction, Nick included.

Even Beast Slayer, usually composed to the point of indifference, narrowed his eyes sharply as he gazed off towards huge expanse of forest in the distance with disbelief.

He still remembered when he received the call from his father, which he was rather annoyed with at first, but quickly washed away when he heard those enchanting words.

Nick, for his part, felt a wave of shock hit his brain like a sledgehammer.

’That’s impossible!’

Star Rank Beasts were the stuff of legends.

Mutant Beasts were already feared by most ordinary citizens of the Federation, and Radiant Beasts were terrifying in their own right, with only the elites daring to challenge them.

But Star Rank?

They were on a whole other level, literally.

Nick still barely managed to wrap his head around it.

Star Rank beasts weren’t supposed to exist in the first layer of the Beast Domain, or at least that was what was previously thought.

But now, that clearly wasn’t the case.

Hell, the Federation had been exploring the Beast Domain for over fifty years at this point, and they had only discovered the existence of Star Rank beasts in the third layer and above, and it had stayed that way up until today.

And still, after fifty years, nobody had ever managed to hunt one...

They’d only even managed to find out the name of this new rank after a lucky fellow chanced upon a death battle between two Star Rank Beasts and had god practically shine his luck down on him, with both beasts dying in the battle, allowing him to pick up the scraps and absorb their beast cores.

Today, that man was the current president of the Federation, and officially the strongest human!

In fact, they hadn’t even been discovered in the second layer, but with the news that they were in the first layer starting to spread, there was naturally going to be an upsurge of elites and powerhouses going out to try and search for any clues of them.

It wouldn’t make sense for there to be Star Rank beasts in the first layer, but skip the second layer, and only appearing again in the third and beyond...

Which meant there had to be some in the second layer as well!

For this moment, nobody moved from their position, and everyone was too stunned to do so anyway.

Their eyes were darting between each other and Dido, still trying to process the implications.

Dido gave them only a second longer before continuing.

"The Federation only confirmed it this morning. Its location is classified, but they are 1000% sure it is a Star Rank beast due to its impossibly powerful strength!"

Nick’s throat felt dry after hearing such groundbreaking news.

He didn’t even flinch or grunt in disappointment and annoyance at the news that any details about it being classified like the War Beasts and Radiant Slayers did.

Because he knew, that if one of them existed, then there were sure to be others!

Not that he was even going to consider trying to fight one though.