EP.105 Beast, King of Beasts, Human - 1
As the scent of blood reached Nabi, Nabi thrashed as if scorched by fire. Even though the mana herbs, made by processing catnip and the leaves of the World Tree, filled the surroundings, it jerked its head up and looked around.
Its appearance seemed as if it was terrified, or perhaps anxious.
"Nya-ah?!"
I urgently grabbed Tir and stepped back. Nabi, who had been sniffing for a while, approached the corpse. Having checked the Colonel's death several times, Nabi trembled as it looked down at the corpse.
"N-no, nya. The servant, the servant's servant is dead, nya."
Of course, it didn't seem to be angry because the servant died. Just as a drug addict doesn't mourn the death of a dealer.
"N-nya's tribute, there's no one left to give it, nya."
It was merely regretful.
The paper box was open, and the mana herbs were scattered all around, yet Nabi writhed its body like someone who had lost their drugs forever. It frantically touched its face with its hands, screaming without even realizing its claws were scratching its skin.
"Nyaaa-! Nyaaa!"
Ah, as expected.
I tried to be careful, but
cats do as they please.
Even if it's a real cat that can't beat a human, that's one thing, but the King of Cats has no reason to strictly follow human orders and receive mana herbs one by one as 'tribute'.
As the saying goes, if Nabi attacked the human holding the mana herbs and stole them, how could we stop it?
It can't be stopped by force. There is only one way to stop it.
Naturally, by taming it.
I made it learn, killing a few people in the process, the fact that just stealing the mana herbs would never allow it to obtain them.
When the stolen mana herbs ran out, Nabi would return and throw a tantrum. I tormented the violent King of Cats with the tiny remaining mana herbs, gradually, little by little, eating away at its body and mind with the drug. Every time Nabi stole the mana herbs.
How many times did I repeat that? Instead of harming the manager of the mana herbs, Nabi came to follow human orders.
Deceiving itself, calling it a price and tribute.
I was suspicious of the cat obeying orders, so I read about Ebon Major and barely found out the truth. This was why I was wary of the scent of blood spreading.
Tir muttered, highly tense.
"...The condition of the King of Cats is strange."
"Well, even a human would act a bit strange if they were a drug addict."
This must be one of the reasons why Ebon Major entrusted the Colonel with such an important item like the mana herbs instead of managing it directly. Killing the manager—that would act as a trigger for the King of Cats to go on a rampage.
...Though there was a slightly different reason as well.
The Colonel's death—Nabi reacted to it as if it were broken.
"Nyak! Dead, nya! The stupid servant's stupid servant is dead, nya!"
Creak, creak. Nodding its head, Nabi's pupils were unfocused.
"Nya, no, nya. Nya, nya's tribute, nya's happiness..."
Little by little, its tail twitched and its body twisted bizarrely.
"Nya, two, three, four... N-no, nya. With four, it's far from enough, nya. Tomorrow, by tomorrow, it'll run out, nya..."
Its breaking appearance,
even instilled anxiety in the viewer.
Like a mad cat, no, a cat truly driven mad by drugs. The appearance of the King of Cats, who was originally intelligent, playful, and exceptionally fastidious, was as unnatural as a mismatched puzzle.
Against it, Rallion snorted and stepped forward. Tir also, reading this ominous air, pulled me back.
I didn't resist that touch. Even I thought I looked the most dangerous.
I suggested.
"Now, let's slowly back away while making eye contact with Nabi, okay? Like dealing with a wild animal..."
"Kyahahahak!"
Nabi's pupils flashed vertically. The fur all over its body stood on end at once, and its hidden wildness charged at me.
"Damn it!"
I can't read a beast's thoughts. Moreover, the opponent is the King of Beasts. An opponent I could absolutely never rival with my measly strength. Even if I choked it with a rope, a single shake of its head would snap my body to pieces like it was put through a thresher.
Death approached me. Then, Tir wrapped around me and shouted.
"Rallion!"
"[Puhihihiing!]"
Boom, a horse with blood-red hooves blocked my way. As the heavy hooves targeted it, Nabi leaped up and dodged.
A neighing sound threatened Rallion.
"Tir, I take back what I said about you getting weaker! Rallion alone is more than enough for one serving!"
"Stop your nonsense and get out of here! Leave this place to me!"
"No, to solve that right now...!"
It was when I briefly averted my eyes.
Nabi appeared faintly before me. It was so stealthy that even the Blood Demon and Tir noticed too late.
A cat's stealth is that of a hunter. It instinctively pierces through the prey's opening.
"Ah."
Damn it, this is why I hate felines. A mind reader getting caught by a surprise attack, does that make any sense?
I quickly raised both arms, but it would be useless. Sharp claws approached, targeting me.
In front of that, a being with yellowish-brown fur leaped in.
"Woof!"
That's right, this is how Aji should be!
With the sound of rattling chains, Aji charged at Nabi. Its sharp teeth clamped down, aiming for the flying Nabi.
A surprise attack within a surprise attack, but the moment the chains rattled, Nabi was already reacting. Nabi twisted its body and thrust its front paw toward Aji.
Aji also tried to respond with its front paw, but.
Clank.
The chain clanked, and Aji's eyes shook along with it. At the end of the chain, Callis's neck was tied.
Instead of swinging the chain with the human attached, Aji hurriedly turned its body and received Nabi's front paw with its back.
Thwack! The cat's front paw struck the dog's back. Unlike dogs, felines are much more adept at using their front paws.
Aji, who allowed the strike without even being able to defend, howled in pain.
"Yelp!"
Aji's body rolled on the ground. Even then, Aji stretched its arms out so the chain wouldn't be pulled by any means. If the chain were to wrap around its body, Callis would die.
But the impact was unavoidable. Callis's body, connected to the chain, was thrown about.
"Kyah...! Cough, cough!"
Callis gagged as her neck was choked. Aji looked down at the chain and howled urgently.
"Awoo! Awoooo!"
"Kyahak!"
"Grrr...! Yelp!"
It was a much more serious penalty than having one arm tied. If it swung too hard, the human's neck would fly off. To protect the human, the King of Dogs had no choice but to hold back its strength.
However, Nabi, who was also a King of Beasts, could absolutely not be defeated while holding back.
"Kiiiiing...!"
It was busy just blocking the swinging front paw with one arm. Boom, boom. Every time Nabi relentlessly slammed its front paw down, Aji's body shook violently. Its skin tore and bled, and its entire arm turned blue with bruises.
But rather than counterattacking, it couldn't even block with its other arm. If the chain accidentally got caught on Nabi's front paw, at that moment the human's neck would fly off.
"Kyahahahak!"
Nabi's front paw flashed. Its trajectory was as if it aimed for it—there was the chain caught on Aji's arm. Aji instinctively moved its body and blocked that attack with its entire body.
"Yelp..."
Bang. An impact that rattled its entire body. Aji couldn't withstand it and rolled on the ground. Blood gushed from its mouth.
It was when Nabi approached the fallen Aji. Tir shouted.
"Rallion! Help the King of Dogs!"
"[Puhihihiing!]"
Rallion charged, making the floor ring violently. The charge of the house-sized Blood Demon was a threat even to Nabi. Nabi hopped left and right to deflect the attack, then ruthlessly clawed at Rallion with its front paw.
Defeat was imminent. That wasn't just my thought. Tir shouted more urgently than ever before.
"Hugh! Let's leave through this opening!"
"Wait! To catch Nabi, we need Aji! That chain!"
"Just step back for now! I'll handle it!"
"That chain will be incredibly sturdy, can you cut it?"
It's Level 4 Alchemical Steel. The maximum strength of steel obtainable through conventional means in the Military Nation. Vampires aren't the type to have strong single strikes.
After a brief consideration flashed by, Tir's eyes glowed red.
"Does it necessarily have to be the chain that you cut?"
Aha. So you're going to pull out Callis's neck, the stake, instead of the chain? If there's no neck, there's no collar, right? Wow, what a rational yet ruthless statement.
...We can't do that!
"That's a bit dangerous, isn't it? Aji at least has the intelligence to deduce the causal relationship of death! If the human dies because of it, it will be utterly demoralized! Then it'll be just as useless!"
"Then what should we do?"
"We need to untie that chain! Could you perhaps drop me off over there?"
"Right into the middle of that?"
Nabi was in the midst of butchering Rallion's entire body. Rallion was desperately blocking Nabi even as its flesh burst and hooves were ripped off, but Rallion had been pushed to the defensive even against Aji. It didn't seem like it could properly block Nabi, who was rampaging even more fiercely than then.
In the middle of that, Aji was staggering to its feet, and Callis was staggering from the consecutive shocks.
"No. I cannot send you there."
Tir shook her head firmly.
"I would rather do it. I won't die, so you stay in a safe place in the meantime. Please..."
"It seems like it'll be hard for you to pick a lock or untie a knot."
"I will try somehow. With my control over Blood Art, I'll try to govern that chain and force it open..."
In Tir's eyes, as she muttered that, a presence that shouldn't be there was reflected.
It was Nabi.
Nabi, baring its sharp teeth, glowed its vertical pupils and raised its front paw, targeting me. Leaving behind Rallion and Aji, who were fighting.
Having instinctively caught the weak point at the right moment, it turned and launched a surprise attack.
Ah. This is why I hate beasts.
"Hugh!"
Tir urgently shouted and blocked my way. Nabi's front paw targeted both Tir and me. Outwardly, it looked like a little girl's tantrum, but Nabi was the King of Beasts. The immense power contained within it was enough to dig up the ground and tear a house-sized horse to shreds.
When I sensed death.
To block the flying attack, Tir reflexively raised her arm.
However, that arm was as frail as a candle before the wind.
'She can't block it.'
The Progenitor, Tircanjaka, was an aggregate of power. She created familiars with blood, strengthened her kin, and was a commander who led an immortal army.
The Black Knights with surging red blood energy, the thirteen Elders including the Blood Demon Rallion. The thousands of vampires they led.
The Progenitor of Vampires who created plagues out of thin air, and the Queen of Shadows. The owner of power comparable to a nation was Tircanjaka.
'However, my true body... is exceedingly frail. I am immortal, and because of that, I was negligent with my body.'
It's a body that won't die anyway.
Even if I take my heart out, it's not a big deal.
Instead of breathing with my lungs, I can drain blood out of my body and put it back in.
Actually, there's no need to even feign that. She's perfectly fine even without breathing.
The Blood Art, which had reached the realm of the gods, instead stripped away the fierceness of life from her.
'Given that, now that even Blood Art won't listen to me... I am only powerless.'
She won't die, but the man behind her will. Whether she blocks or not, the outcome is set.
Even so, Tir blocked Nabi's path.
'Still, I cannot let Hugh die.'
If Blood Art is in this state, I can't even resurrect him as a vampire.
The man who is always cheerful, fun to be with, and gifted Tir his heart... A man as precious to her as her own heart.
The life she regained after 1200 years, perhaps even more desperate than that.
Maybe, perhaps... This emotion is...
Recalling the emotion, Tir drew out everything she had.
I must save him. He must live.
'By any means, even if I have to draw out everything.'
With that single thought, Tir thrust her arm forward.
Towards the irresistible strike of the King of Cats.
Crack. Tir's arm burst. Blood splattered in vain. Following the trajectory of Nabi's front paw, her flesh turned into blood. Against the unstoppable force, Tir's fragile body shattered like a wave crashing against a rock, aiming at me behind her....
However, the event of Nabi's front paw shattering Tir and reaching me.
Such a thing did not happen.
Because, even though that arm was destroyed, it was not destroyed.
Blood Art is a type of Qigong. Qigong is mainly used to strengthen one's own body.
Even the Returner, when he learned Blood Art, utilized it to return his own blood or momentarily accelerate his blood flow.
However, Tir, who had died and whose boundary with the world had become blurred, could radiate such Qigong to all things in the world. She dominated and strengthened them with the brand of fresh blood, and could even resurrect the dead as Homunculi.
If magic is the external manifestation of one's own world, then the Progenitor's Blood Art is dividing oneself and scattering it across the world.
Extremely magical, yet different from magic.
A Demon God.
But now, having reclaimed her heart and clearly distinguished her boundary from the world.
Blood Art, all her authority to manipulate blood...
headed inside Tir's body.
Grab.
Tir grabbed Nabi's front paw. Crunch. Along with the sound of bones crumbling, Nabi's front paw twisted.
Clearly, her arm had shattered and burst. The dress turned to rags proved it. The scattered blood, the exploded bones and flesh had torn the clothes apart.
But in the blink of an eye, it was restored to its original state.
Blood Art, which had now clearly distinguished her own world, the inside and the outside, did not allow her body to scatter. The flesh that had become fragments was reconstructed as if it were a lie.
Nabi's eyes widened. Sensing a crisis, Nabi struggled, but the firmly grasped hand didn't budge.
Now that the authority of Blood Art was fully directed inside her body, Tir's power was rather enough to overwhelm Nabi.
"Nya, ah?"
"So this is what it was."
Tir, who realized her power only after wielding it directly, opened her mouth.
"I've never fought in such a brute-force manner before..."
It's not just grip strength. It's Blood Art that dominates every single drop of blood in her entire body.
Using that Blood Art perfectly without waste, she 'moves' the blood inside her body.
Then, through Tir's distinguished body, that immense power is exerted upon the world.
"To protect him, it can't be helped."
"Nyanya?!"
Tir's clenched fist struck Nabi's chest.