The King of Beasts represents beasts, he does not rule them.
However, beasts that form packs naturally follow strong individuals. And the King of Beasts is a powerful existence with innate leadership. It is only natural for a pack to arise that takes the King of Beasts as its leader.
The wolf pack was formed that way. The pack led by the Wolf King, an enemy of humans born with ferocity, was hostile to all humans.
But the Wolf King is now the King of the Pack. Both the gentleness of a dog and the ferocity of a wolf belong to Fenrir. Fenrir, having become an ordinary King of Beasts instead of an incarnation of malice, lost the reason to burn himself and fight humans.
And if there is no absolute reason to fight, fighting is not a very good option. The human army is too powerful to fight even at the risk of death. Wolves were just an exception; beasts originally prefer to flee rather than let their entire pack die.
The wolf howled. Lifting its head toward the sky several times, it let out a pitiful howl filled with pain and fear.
The wolves began to retreat. The wolves that had been isolated in the collapsed ground fled as soon as they dug tunnels to escape and heard the howl.
It was the dog's victory.
Blanca Baskerville also heard Fenrir's howl. As a dog beastman, she roughly guessed what had happened to the Wolf King.
"...My. It seems our king has been defeated. Do wolves eventually die even in lands close to the wild?"
Before the lamenting her, the Regressor holding Tian'ang was aiming Tian'ang at her, bearing light wounds.
He dropped Jizan to use Ground-Collapse. Just as the Regressor, who had consumed his stamina, was about to join the Fenrir hunt, Blanca Baskerville intruded.
The Wolf King is powerful. Without a powerful Principle or Relic, one cannot end its breath. And the Regressor holding Tian'ang was the enemy they had to be most wary of.
Right after he used a great technique, she targeted the weakened Regressor and charged in together with the Baskerville elites.
However, the Regressor focusing on defense is like Mount Tai. Thanks to Tian'ang, which controls space itself, and the Tianban Jing, an invincible defensive qi-gong, the Regressor was able to protect the loop while facing the Baskerville family's close-combat arts.
As too much time was delayed, Blanca Baskerville sensed defeat.
"I should have at least killed you. Ah, I ended up failing again. What should I do now."
"Do what? Fenrir is dead too, so your long-awaited king is gone, right? Go hide somewhere and just cling to your life."
"I can't do that. I already threw away my life a long time ago. If I don't use it somewhere, won't it just vanish in vain?"
"Yeah! Just vanish in vain! Don't mess up the world!"
Even the cries filled with sincerity do not reach those standing on opposite sides. Because they were in positions too different to communicate through words.
"You won't be able to understand. The wish for the world to rather end."
"Understand? Understand? How, how am I supposed to understand you?!"
Always getting hurt, surviving crises of death, and even when facing a miserable death after being defeated by a great enemy in the end. The Regressor, who returns to save the world, cannot even make an effort to understand Blanca.
"Abandoned by humans? Yeah, that's sad! Betrayed? Yeah, that hurts! Want revenge? Yeah, I get it! But why do the humans of Ende have to die! Why does your despair have to lead to their deaths?!"
"Have you ever buttoned a button?"
Blanca Baskerville asked an abrupt question while fiddling with her shirt button.
"When buttoning up, sometimes you realize too late that you buttoned it wrong. You failed to put the first button where it should go. Then, no matter how annoying it is, you have to unbutton everything and button it again from the beginning."
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Blanca's hand, which had been fiddling with the button near her neck, slowly moved down from top to bottom.
"The button is not at fault. But, it can't be helped. It was buttoned wrong from the start, and it can't be fixed without unbuttoning everything. If so... I have no choice but to unbutton it all."
Pop, pop, pop. Blanca unbuttoned from bottom to top. The tightly fastened shirt opened, revealing the bare skin sleeping within. Vivid white skin and the terrible scars drawn on it like a canvas were revealed.
No one could dismiss those wounds as an accident. The scars, carved one by one, were clearly made with viscous malice. Blanca gathered her shirt with one hand again and muttered.
"It's the same for the world. If the result of building, building, and building the tower of civilization... went completely wrong. You have to tear it all down and build from the beginning."
"Even if the people living inside get hurt and die?"
"I didn't think that far seriously. But, even if everyone dies... I don't think it would hurt or ache. Woof."
Blanca Baskerville turned around. The Wolf King. A king with endless ferocity, and a useful tool. But Fenrir was defeated, and Blanca failed.
It was somewhat expected. Originally, because the Wolf King was hostile to humans, no one but beastmen could hang around him. Furthermore, packs made of beasts had too low strategic utility, so they easily disintegrated even when fighting a weaker army. Like now.
But... it was something Fenrir had to do. Because the wolf's ferocity had been fully conveyed.
"Let's not see each other next time. If I see you, I feel so bad that all my fur might fall out."
Blanca Baskerville left dejectedly. The Regressor, who had sufficiently caught his breath, looked at the place where the Baskervilles disappeared and gave an answer she couldn't hear.
"Same here."
Fenrir, who had come to possess a complete crown, disappeared somewhere. Grull seemed to regret something, but he didn't argue further about a matter that was already concluded. After discussing it with me, he stepped forward to wrap things up, shouting that he had defeated the Wolf King.
Now the situation changed from war to mopping up remnants and relief activities. Kito's inherent magic path saved human lives but did not give them freedom. The Obelisk and Beast Faction warriors worked together to pull out rocks and rescue the trapped humans.
I went under the trap, retrieved Jizan, and said to Azi, who was standing blankly, having lost his crown.
"Azi."
"Woof?"
"Are you okay? You won, but you ended up handing over the king's position."
Azi, as if waking up from sleep at my voice, answered vigorously.
"Woof! I'm okay! Me, top! Wolf, bottom! Took the top spot!"
"Is the king just a rank? So you can push it off to someone else?"
"Woof!"
I guess so. You'll do. Fenrir is also Azi's other half.
The King of Beasts is not as good a position as it sounds. The King of Beasts is an existence of concepts. Whether he likes it or not, he has to follow the stereotype of beasts. Well, there are probably few Kings of Beasts bound by promises and concepts like Azi. Azi might have wanted to escape all those constraints and promises.
But... what is an existence of concepts that has lost its concepts?
"Then what happens to you?"
"Woof? Ru?"
"I guess. How would you know when even I don't."
Does he disappear? No, seeing as he's still here, it doesn't seem like it. Does he just lose the crown and duties and remain as is? That's too convenient a story.
Does he become like me? Hmm. That seems the most likely possibility.
Huh? Then?
"You bastard. You've been bragging about being a bit strong until now, right? Throwing tantrums if I don't play with you. Running far away and hovering around when I try to scold you."
"Woof?"
"A gentleman's revenge is not too late even after ten years. Experience for yourself how much an ordinary existence is oppressed and suffers."
Until now I was weak, so I was dragged around here and there, but now that Azi has weakened, this is the chance. I'll firmly establish the hierarchy. I flicked Azi's head.
"Mung!"
"Haha. How is it. Do you now understand my pain... Ack!"
At that moment, Azi clenched his fist and struck my head. He didn't reveal his claws, but hitting me with some huge furry mass made my head go numb. I came to my senses late and shouted.
"N-Now a dog is beating a person!"
"You take it too!"
"Even if I hit you, you shouldn't hit me! You're a dog!"
"Reciprocity!"
"Don't use words like an international treaty here!"
Huh? Wait a minute.
Azi was originally strong. And with that strength, he acted as he pleased, but he never directly hit or bitten me. Shoving me to save me was the most powerful violence Azi had ever done.
But right now, no matter how not serious it is, he hit me?
"Hughes!"
The Regressor suddenly poked his face out from above the trap. I wondered why he came so late, but still, seeing an ally's face in this mess made relief surge up. To think I would miss the Regressor. This is why they say comrade, comrade.
"You defeated Fenrir, right?"
"Yes. While Mr. Shei was playing around."
"I wasn't playing around! The Baskervilles kept me from helping! More importantly, what happened to Fenrir and Azi?"
The Regressor, who lightly landed at the bottom of the pit trap, looked at Azi and asked. I answered on Azi's behalf.
"After bringing Fenrir to near death, when we were about to finish him off, Azi handed the crown to Fenrir. Fenrir escaped with the complete crown."
"The wolf and the dog became one?"
"Something like that."
"Hmm..."
It didn't seem like the crowns becoming one was a very surprising fact. The Regressor looked at Azi, who was sitting there perfectly fine, and fell into thought.
'Before the regression, the crown also became one. But at that time, I heard Fenrir... ate the King of Dogs. Does the result change depending on who wins?'
The crown became one? If a similar thing happened in the previous iteration, I should ask what happened then.
The only one who can directly tamper with the concept of the King of Beasts is the Holy Emperor's Court. And the Regressor has an ability with the same resonance as the Saintess, and in the previous iteration, he had a close relationship with the Holy Emperor's Court.
In the end, I have no choice but to ask the Regressor to find out what happened to me and Azi, and what happened to my power. The Regressor will be the only one who can tell me the answers the Holy Emperor's Court has.
After a brief silence, Grull's voice echoed into the pit.
"Hey. You guys. You can use Earth Art with that club, right? Help out! It'll take more than a week to clear the debris so the trapped people don't get hurt!"
Still, I have to finish the Ende business first. I handed Jizan to the Regressor.
"Here. Mr. Shei. Go clear some rocks. It's the ground you collapsed."
"You use Jizan. I'll do it with Tian'ang."
"I'm hurt from fighting Fenrir, so I don't even have the strength to lift Jizan."
"You're hurt? You look fine to me."
"I look fine. An ordinary person like me wanders the verge of death even with this kind of injury?"
'Did he get hurt? Sounds like whining. It's just some dirt and a little blood, isn't it?'
That's because you're looking over the clothes. Underneath is a total mess. Ligaments stretched, bones creaking, arms lengthened, I've practically become a new species of humanity.
The Regressor, who was looking at me with suspicious eyes, sighed and took Jizan.
"Sigh. Alright. Rest eas... Kyaa!"
The Regressor's body sank below the ground as if he had fallen into a trap. It was because Jizan, who had lent power to the Regressor just a while ago, now refused to be held in his hand. Looking at Jizan, which fell nonchalantly to the ground, the Regressor made an expression of disbelief.
"W-why, Jizan? Is it because of the Ground-Collapse? That couldn't be helped! It was to protect the people!"
"My. That's why you should have cherished it normally. You asked the Demon God of Earth to break the ground, after all."
"You agreed to this operation too!"
"Normally, the mastermind stays hidden and the field worker takes the insults. Just like how the Holy Emperor's Court pulled the strings from the shadows but still has a good public reputation."
In any matter, the one who steps forward gets beaten, and the one following a step behind picks up all the credit. That's why the world praises pioneers. Because they need someone to step forward in their place.
"Hehehe. It's okay, Mr. Shei. I'll use Jizan well. You just hold Tian'ang and watch."
"Jizan...!"
Wow. His eyes are tearing up. He's genuinely sad about Jizan's betrayal. I want to tease him so much about this.
At that moment, Grull's urging came from above.
"Are you magicians? Stop talking and start working! At this rate, hundreds of people are going to end up having dinner underground!"
"...Hey. Jizan. Wanna just make up?"
Working is annoying, whether it's Jizan or whatever.
Jizan's mood will improve eventually, but it seems like it'll refuse the Regressor's hand for a while. I ended up having to work too. Without even getting a proper rest after the historic battle, me, Azi, and the Regressor struggled out of the pit.
But an unfamiliar guest was waiting for us.
"Lord Shei. So you were here."
A man wearing a purple cloak walked out smoothly. He was draped in luxurious fur unseen in Ende, and wore so many accessories that there was no space left on his body. Should I say he had a different color scheme alone? Looking as if he was wearing several houses on his body, he bowed deeply to the Regressor.
"I am Muir, the Head of the Purple Merchant Guild. I congratulate you on the victory you achieved in Ende, and we plan to begin the 'Route' connecting to Ende as per our contract."
"Keep the contract for sure."
"The Merchant Guild does not betray trust. The contract will be fulfilled with truth."
In the Empire, there are seven merchant guilds permitted to cross borders. From Red to Purple. The Seven Merchant Guilds, named after the colors of light, are under the Empire's protection and control the economy with immense wealth and organizational power.
And each merchant guild 'sponsors' a vassal state.
Logistics, economy, currency, and so on of the vassal states. They manage everything, making them equal to or greater than the vassal states. The most durable, yet at the same time, the most comfortable leash the Empire handed to the vassal states.
The Head of such a sponsoring merchant guild came to visit in person.
"...However. Before that. There is one matter I must announce."
Head Muir revealed the reason why such a big shot came in person.
"One of the Five Tiger Generals of the Lilac Vassal State is marching toward Ende."