Legendary Beast Master: Starting with Contracting SSS Rank Dragon-Chapter 89: Report of Anomalies

In a bright hall, Cardinal Rhaenor was sitting on a golden chair and reviewing the reports he had received from all the Lightwatchers.

The hall shimmered with divine radiance, reflecting off marble pillars etched with celestial inscriptions. The faint aroma of incense lingered in the air, and the sound of flickering flames in the golden braziers gave the place a serene, holy ambiance.

A man clad in bright golden armour knelt on one knee before him. His armour bore the crest of a morning sun rising from the depths of darkness, and a bird with seven white wings was witnessing the miracle with a dazed look in its eyes—etched across the breastplate with divine precision.

He was Micheal, the Head of the Lightwatchers and also the Head Prosecutor of the Church of the Dawnfire Goddess.

In his right hand, he held a jade stone the size of a child’s fist. It was carved with numerous runes he couldn’t begin to understand, yet he knew its purpose well. Everyone in the Church did.

It was a communication stone—one that allowed them to transmit thoughts and voices through the Astral World, bypassing physical limitations and significantly reducing the chances of interception or magical tracing.

Micheal had just finished listening to the reports of his subordinates through the jade stone and sighed heavily.

"Your Excellency, the results are the same," he finally spoke. "Even after combing through the entire Valdon Wilds, we didn’t discover anything unusual."

He paused for a moment, glancing up to see if Rhaenor reacted in any way. The Cardinal, however, remained expressionless, his eyes calmly skimming over the scroll in his hand. Seeing no change in his superior’s demeanour, Micheal hesitated for a moment, then spoke again.

"May I ask... why we are carrying out this seemingly meaningless operation?"

Micheal was well aware of how thorough their search had been. They had deployed nearly all Lightwatchers across the region. It was, by all accounts, overkill. And still, they had uncovered nothing.

After all, an organization capable of opening a Labyrinth and convincing the wild beasts to cooperate would surely know how to hide their tracks. It didn’t make sense otherwise.

And as for the sign of the Labyrinth’s opening? That was something no one could truly conceal—not unless a higher divinity was involved. That sign alone had forced their hand.

This entire operation was one destined to fail. Micheal knew it. That’s why he couldn’t understand the reason behind deploying such overwhelming manpower.

"Because it is happening in beast territory," Rhaenor finally spoke, his cold voice cutting through the silence like a blade. "I don’t want them to have even a sliver of a chance to rise."

He lifted his head slightly, his gaze sharp as a sword. "They are blasphemers who deserve to die a cruel death."

Micheal lowered his head in understanding, knowing all too well about the deep-rooted enmity between the Church of the Dawnfire Goddess and the beast races. Even he harboured no love for them. But unlike the Cardinal, he didn’t believe they posed any real threat anymore.

Their era had long passed.

Still, Rhaenor’s words triggered a new train of thought in Micheal’s mind. The beasts couldn’t grow stronger on their own. That was a fact. But... what if they had help? What if another race was supporting them from the shadows?

That would change everything.

Even if it seemed absurd—who would lower themselves to aid such savage creatures?—he couldn’t completely rule out the possibility. People had turned to madness for lesser reasons.

So perhaps, this operation wasn’t about results. Perhaps it was a message.

A warning.

This wasn’t just a search for the Labyrinth. It was a demonstration of power. A show of force. A signal to any potential allies of the beasts that the Church was watching and ready to crush anyone who dared stand beside their enemies.

If they dared support the beasts, then the Church of the Dawnfire Goddess would ensure they never saw the light of day again.

By deploying all Lightwatchers in the Valdon Wilds, they had already spoken louder than any result ever could.

"Forgive my intrusion," Micheal said solemnly, bowing his head lower. "I did not think it through properly."

He now had a deeper understanding of how the upper echelons operated—how they saw the bigger picture.

Just then, a soft hum echoed from the jade stone in his hand. Another report. Micheal instinctively brought it closer to his ear. At first, he didn’t think much of it. He expected more of the same: no results, no findings.

But as the report continued, Micheal’s eyes slowly widened. Surprise flickered across his face, and by the time the message concluded, he looked visibly shaken.

Rhaenor instantly noticed the change in his expression. The Cardinal raised a brow, interested. This... was unexpected.

’They actually discovered something?’ he thought, a flicker of suspicion forming in his heart. ’Is this a trap? Or are they simply too weak to hide themselves?’

Micheal licked his lips and stood up straighter. "Your Excellency," he began, his voice steady, "one of my subordinates, who was tasked with observing the Great Storm Tree region, reported certain... anomalies."

He paused briefly, then began recounting everything.

The human spy had detected a strange man fleeing from the area near the Great Storm Tree. The man had been emanating unstable mana fluctuations—wild and chaotic. He was clearly trying to suppress it, but not doing a great job.

If the spy hadn’t been equipped with specialised Artefacts, even he might not have even noticed the man’s situation at all. The mana was being contained on the surface, but its influence in the Astral World was... unusual.

According to the report, the spy had detected a faint anomaly in the Great Storm Tree’s projection within the Astral World. It was enough to suggest that this man had either interacted with the tree—or had been wounded by it.

Then came the strange part.

The man had run directly toward the spy’s position, apparently unaware of him. Perhaps due to focusing on stabilizing his Mana, he hadn’t sensed the spy’s presence at all.

The spy had prepared to intercept, to alert others but was rendered immobile.

By something horrifying.

He hadn’t seen what it was. It seemed to come from the man himself, an overwhelming wave of power that numbed his limbs and thoughts.

The Artefacts had confirmed it, the man’s control over his own body and soul had momentarily collapsed, allowing immense mana to descend into him from the Astral World.

That was likely the reason the spy had been paralyzed—caught in the aftershocks of that phenomenon.

By the time the spy came to his senses, the man had recovered and escaped deeper into the Wilds.

But the final part was the most striking. The spy mentioned seeing the man use wind to push himself in the final moments. He also caught a glimpse—elongated ears, golden hair. If not for the sudden surge of mana, he wouldn’t have seen them. They had been hidden too well.

The report ended there.

Micheal fell into silence, processing the implications. After a moment, he raised his head and asked quietly, "What are noble Elves doing there?"

"They’ve always been obsessed with that tree," Rhaenor replied, his voice calm and steady. He didn’t look surprised.

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