The Golden Lord has a perverted SSS-rank summoning system!-Chapter 67: Beast of the Night (01)

[You have received a new quest: Beast of the Night]

[Quest: Beast of the Night

Description: A corrupted mana beast appears to have descended from the Eternal Mountains and is now prowling the vicinity of Goldenveil. It will kill merchants, travelers, and hunters who come near the settlement.

Reward: 5x Premium Gacha Tickets, 15x Common Gacha Tickets, 100% XP

Warning: Goldenveil will not receive merchants or Pops while the beast lives.]

Ethan’s eyes widened as the system notification appeared before him, nearly causing him to spit out the water he was drinking.

It wasn’t the description that caught his attention, nor the XP, nor the tickets.

What completely consumed his thoughts was the final line: the beast would kill merchants and travelers who approached.

In practice, this meant one thing: if the creature remained alive, they wouldn’t receive the expected merchant’s visit in two months, and worse yet, no new citizens would arrive in Goldenveil.

The settlement needed to keep growing so he could elevate it to the level of a small village and complete his next mission, at which point he would gain another skill from the Golden Lord’s Ring.

But with that wolf slaughtering everything in its path, how on earth could Goldenveil continue to grow?

Ethan’s eyes grew cold.

He stood up slowly, and just then a scream tore through the distance.

"My lord! My lord!"

Ethan left the mansion immediately, watching the panting guard come running up. A single glance was enough to make his heart sink.

Something had happened.

"Calm down." Ethan gripped the man’s shoulders firmly. "What happened? Where is Doran?"

"He’s fighting a giant corrupted wolf! He told me to call you!"

following the guard’s words, a howl erupted on the horizon, loud and ravenous, carrying a hunger so raw that even the toughest of men felt a chill crawl down their spine.

The entire population of Goldenveil fell silent.

Workers stopped and even the sharp ring of a hammer striking metal in the blacksmith’s shop froze in the air, and for a breathless moment, nothing existed but the fading echo of that sound.

"Damn it..." Ethan clenched his teeth, checked the fit of the sword at his waist, and broke into a full sprint toward the forest.

The guard tried to follow, but was quickly left behind. Keeping pace with a second-stage warrior of Ethan’s base stats was simply not possible.

Fortunately, Doran wasn’t far, just three kilometers west of Goldenveil.

When Ethan finally burst through a shrub and found Doran standing there, unharmed, a breath of relief escaped his lips.

Doran was one of the most vital men in the settlement. Losing him would be a devastating blow to the Goldenveil guard.

His strength could be replaced over time, but his knowledge and experience could not.

"What happened?" Ethan exhaled slowly, steadying his breathing. "Who is this?"

"A corrupted mana beast, my lord. A giant wolf." Doran briefly shifted his gaze to the man lying on the ground. "It seems he led it here."

Feeling the weight of both men’s stares, the stranger visibly shuddered.

"I-it wasn’t on purpose!" he said, his voice cracking with terror. "We were passing through on our way to the Kingdom of Burning Ice when that beast attacked us! I was just running anywhere I could, I didn’t mean to cause trouble!"

"How many of you were there? Where are you from?" Ethan asked.

He was irritated, but he kept his voice steady.

The fact that the beast had descended from the mountains and struck so close to Goldenveil made one thing clear: one way or another, it would find the settlement. Especially with a wolf’s keen nose.

For now, he was relieved the creature had revealed itself by attacking outsiders rather than his own people.

"We where f-five, my lord." The man replied, still trembling. "We’re from the Graygrass city, about two hundred kilometers west of here, right on the border of the Great Plains and the Eternal Forest."

"Hm..."

Ethan turned to the ten guards who had arrived, already forming a perimeter around the area.

"Take this man to the barracks and give him water." He pointed to one of them. "The rest of you, follow me and Doran. We’re recovering the bodies."

"Thank you, my lord... thank you so much..." the man repeated as the guard led him toward Goldenveil, his voice still breaking between breaths.

He hadn’t fought long or run far enough to justify the state he was in, yet he looked utterly exhausted, his heart still seemingly on the verge of giving out.

"Did you fight the beast? How strong was it?" Ethan asked as Doran cleared a path through the undergrowth with his sword, following the tracks back to where the attack had begun.

Mana beasts were dangerous not only for their intelligence, but because at equal level, they far outstripped humans in raw power.

A level-thirty warrior would hardly stand a chance against a mana beast of the same rank in direct combat.

A creature like that loose near Goldenveil could cause catastrophic damage if they weren’t careful.

Fortunately, the wolf had stayed cautious, unwilling to attack Doran without certainty of an easy kill.

"Stronger than me, though it’s hard to say by how much since neither of us committed fully." Doran replied, clenching his fists. "The moment it sensed it couldn’t win without taking damage, it ran away."

"hm... I’ll speak with the hunters. A beast is still a beast, and if we lure it into a trap, taking it down won’t be difficult." Ethan said as his footsteps stopped.

Before him, what remained of a corpse lay scattered across the ground. The torso had been largely devoured, leaving only the head, arms, shoulders, and legs behind.

The smell reached him before the sight fully registered, thick with blood and entrails, heavy in the still air.

"Gather the other bodies," Ethan said, his voice firm. "We bring all of them back to Goldenveil and give them a proper burial. Then we prepare to set a trap."

He looked at the remains a moment longer.

"In seven days, I want that beast dead."

"Yes, my lord!" Doran answered, and together with the guards, began organizing the transport.

The people of Goldenveil already knew what had happened by the time Ethan returned. They had gathered quietly at the gate, watching their lord’s arrival with heavy eyes.

There was fear on their faces, yes, but also confidence. For they knew their lord would protect them.