The tiger descends.
With a single roar the sky tears, with a single step the earth quakes, with a single breath the flora trembles—the Mountain Lord descends. The undisputed king of beasts, who makes all creatures deeply terrified, cover their eyes, bury their heads, and whimper at a single strand of her fur, flicks her tail and shakes the valley.
Even the king residing in a majestic palace orders that he not be called "Your Majesty" when climbing the mountain. For if one is careless, the tiger might think it is being called and casually come down.
If so, what of the Mountain Lord, the king of tigers?
Humans should be thankful that the Mountain Lord occupies only a single mountain. If not, humans could never have dared to falsely claim to be the dominant species of the earth.
A beast against which the species calling itself the dominant species of the earth cannot guarantee victory. Even kings who throw a fit when another king besides themselves appears use the term "Mountain Lord" without hesitation.
But why is the Mountain Lord here?
No presence could be felt from the king of tigers. Such immense power is right before my eyes, yet it is eerily quiet. Even real tigers walk silently contrary to their size; the Mountain Lord in human form has seemingly bitten the very concept of a presence to death.
But I know. My mind-reading reads humans accurately. In other words, a human who cannot be read properly is not a proper human.
Let alone the dangerous sensation echoing in my mind. Like looking at a harrowing mural drawn in blood by humans who didn't even know letters in the distant past. I don't know what it is, but only terror containing awe is conveyed.
In contrast, the other humans had not yet felt as much vigilance as I did. Especially Marquis Laphaeno, who had been provoked by the returnee and had his righteousness challenged by Sapien; though it didn't show, his head was running hot.
Moreover, the Mountain Lord's appearance was, for now, a feline beast-kin, beast-kin were usually on Ende's side, they were Marquis Laphaeno's enemies, and they were the beast-ears he despised. Marquis Laphaeno committed the worst blunder.
"What is this now. Do you want to see the dead wolf that badly?"
No, can that even be called a blunder. That is simply absurdity. Discussing foolishness in a human facing absurdity is an illusion that humans are such grand beings. No matter how much they reach logic, no matter how much they are forged as the pinnacle of civilization. If they are not an existence that can turn the world upside down, they will simply be crushed to death by the world's absurdity.
"Answer my question truthfully."
"If you wish to see it that much, I will kill you."
Marquis Laphaeno thrust his rapier toward the girl before him without a sliver of hesitation.
He had already issued a kill order. If he stopped his hand just because she had the mere form of a girl, he would have to hesitate every time he killed someone from now on. Let alone, killing a few beast-ears to set an example meant nothing. From the marquis's standpoint, it was a rational judgment.
The mercy of wanting to end it in a single breath was his only emotional part, but even he probably didn't know it would become the worst possible choice.
A single strand of the Mountain Lord's whisker twitched. The action the Mountain Lord took in the face of a Master's strike—
Was waving her hand.
As if waving a brush through the air. Did she dip her foreleg's fur in ink and swing it? The Mountain Lord's sweeping brushstroke intervenes in the trajectory of logic.
And a black mark swallowed everything. As if rubbing out a drawing on canvas. The absurd force crushed the slash and advanced.
Marquis Laphaeno felt a bizarre sense of loss. He had clearly thrust his rapier, but not only the qi he had imbued in it, but even the rapier itself had vanished without a trace. Without any significant shock to his hand.
"...What?! A Master? A Sorcerer?"
He didn't know what it was, but something that seemed to deviate from logic had occurred. Marquis Laphaeno stepped back quickly in caution.
When facing the returnee or Grull, he had immediately recognized what kind of power it was. But he couldn't even fathom what kind of power the girl before him had used. That fact alone was enough to make Marquis Laphaeno tense.
...Without even realizing that the sharp hostility was gradually grating on the Mountain Lord's nerves.
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"General! The Black Tiger Seal is ready!"
"The timing is perfect!"
Marquis Laphaeno welcomed the news that came just in time.
The Black Tiger Army was the vassal state's elite unit. A Qigong Master unit led by a Master, their main fighting force. If the opponent had no Master, they were powerful enough to be nearly invincible, but if that was all, their role would be no different from a simple infantry unit. It would be an act that renders an invincible unit useless.
That was why elite units like the Black Tiger Army possessed another 'mystery'. Powerful relics and Innate Magic Paths accompanied them so that enemies could never sit back and watch.
Since it wasn't such a major matter right now, no sorcerer was deployed, but the relic, the Black Tiger Seal, still remained. And the adjutant, wary of Kito's Innate Magic Path, had already taken out the relic.
The marquis ordered.
"Stamp it!"
"Yes, sir!"
The adjutant brought the Black Tiger Seal down with force. Then, an intangible energy fell and crushed the Mountain Lord. The crushed wind pushed forward, carrying dust. Crack, crack. Rocks were crushed, as if an invisible stamp had pressed down on the earth like paper. A tiger pattern was carved into the ground.
A relic is a trace left in the world by an Innate Magic Path. When a sorcerer dies, there are cases where the unfolded Innate Magic Path does not disappear and remains. Such an Innate Magic Path remains as a 'relic' with simply power dwelling in it, without any will.
And when only power remains without will, it often becomes a bit stronger than the original Innate Magic Path. Like the Black Tiger Seal.
The Black Tiger Seal, which was once merely an ability to stamp multiple places simultaneously, now exerted a tremendous pressure over a radius of 30 meters. The space crushed by the intangible pressure trapped even the flow of wind. Marquis Laphaeno moved lightly within the domain where gravity seemed to have increased hundreds of times.
The Black Tiger Seal is a stamp. If one knows the engraved pattern, they just need to move along its path. Marquis Laphaeno could move through the maze drawn by the Black Tiger Seal even with his eyes closed.
'I didn't want to bring out the Black Tiger Seal, but that thing is dangerous! If she sides with Ende, we might truly be defeated. I will kill her with full power from the start!'
Instead of the vanished rapier, he drew a main gauche with a pitch-black blade. The black main gauche looked short, but it was a treasured sword with a hidden, invisible blade. It was a surefire move to pierce the blind spot of an enemy accustomed to the length of a rapier. The marquis unreservedly unleashed his logic and aimed for the beast-kin girl's neck with the main gauche.
'Chain Slash Sword, Secret Art! Fortissimo!'
The secret art Marquis Laphaeno had honed for years was unleashed. The past slash and the present slash overlapped. While slashes cannot occur in the same space, logic is an absolute imposition where common sense does not apply. An infinitely renewing irresistible strike targeted the Mountain Lord.
However, absurdity renders both human relics and human qigong meaningless.
The Mountain Lord growled low.
"Grrr."
No one saw it. Therefore, I too did not witness it. The process disappeared, and only the result remained.
The marquis disappeared for a moment. Only after turning my head could I recognize the marquis's blurry figure flying away, folded in half. Shattered sword fragments kept him company so he wouldn't be lonely.
And a beat later, thousands of slashes shattered like glass.
Marquis Laphaeno's Chain Slash Sword, the slashes left in the air, all shattered. The remnants of qigong sparkled like shards of glass glittering under the sunlight. Amidst the pouring light dust, the Mountain Lord shook her body as if annoyed. With just a simple shake of her head, the shattered slashes flew in all directions like throwing stars.
Marquis Laphaeno's Chain Slash Sword leaves slashes behind. However, even if they are slashes, they are merely 'force' swung with qigong on a sharp blade. If struck by a much stronger force, theoretically, those slashes can also be broken.
Even so, that's easier said than done; it's a force that could easily tear through steel. Let alone the move unleashed at the final moment, a strike where past and present connected. Even the king of beasts would not be able to withstand that strike, or so one would think.
The opponent was the Mountain Lord. The king of tigers.
Having torn everything asunder with fangs and claws, the Mountain Lord aimed for her next prey.
"General! Ugh, the Black Tiger Seal...!"
The moment the adjutant lifted the Black Tiger Seal again, a giant foreleg instantly approached and covered the adjutant's face. That was the last sight the adjutant saw. His neck snapped, his skin stretched, and the adjutant's head pushed away, leaving his body behind. Crunch. Crushing the head entirely into pulp, the Mountain Lord dusted off her hands.
When the guarding adjutant died, the soldiers recoiled in terror.
"Adjutant!"
Perhaps because the adjutant died so quickly and unrealistically, or because the Black Tiger Army were elite soldiers accustomed to death. Even after seeing the adjutant's gruesome appearance, they rushed in looking at the relic on the corpse.
"Recover the relic! We cannot let it fall into the enemy's hands!"
The Black Tiger Seal was a relic, a national weapon even more useful than a sorcerer. The Black Tiger Army faced the Mountain Lord with the conviction that even if a few were sacrificed, the relic had to be recovered. It would have been better if they had just fled.
The Mountain Lord turned her head. With hundreds of humans approaching with weapons drawn, she opened her mouth with an expression of displeasure. Huuu. A tiger about to hunt takes a deep breath. A tiger's inhalation is akin to the souls of those whose breath will soon be cut off. A faint mist formed in her mouth.
The Mountain Lord opened her maw wide and roared.
[ ]
It was a bolt of lightning surging from beneath the heavens, and an earthquake erupting upon the earth. A fatal curse and a deadly cry let out by a beast that makes all creation its prey.
Even though it was directed at the Black Tiger Army, the aftermath alone shook my entire body. It felt as if fear was tearing my body in half to run away with it. A ringing echoed in my ears. Even I almost lost my mind, but I barely held on by entrusting my ego to the returnee.
Among the beast-kin beside me, some fainted just from hearing the sound. There were even fewer people standing in their right mind. Literally, their souls flew and their spirits scattered. The Mountain Lord's roar possessed the power to scatter a person's spirit in disarray.
...Even.
"Hah!"
Even the beast-kin behind the Mountain Lord lost consciousness and collapsed. Yet the Black Tiger Army, who took that roar head-on....
"...Ah."
Their spirits were completely gone.
Dead? Alive? I don't know. Even when I read them with my mind-reading, I couldn't hear any sound. The Mountain Lord's roar twisted qi and blood, shook senses, and stripped away the mind. A situation no different from a comatose state. Faced with absurdity, the only way to survive is a miracle. A few Black Tiger soldiers who miraculously avoided a direct hit flopped down in fear.
"Since wild beasts have come to me, I shall pity the wolves who seek to take upon my ferocity."
However, even that miracle is only possible if the Mountain Lord stays her hand.
'An Innate Magic Path... no! It's strength! An overwhelming power surpassing humans! This, don't tell me... the King of Beasts...?!'
Thanks to qigong and protective gear, Marquis Laphaeno, who had miraculously survived, stumbled to his feet. But before he could even fully straighten his knees, he swallowed a groan upon seeing the Mountain Lord appear like a ghost before his eyes. Violent eyes pierced straight through Marquis Laphaeno.
How could someone facing death be fine? Marquis Laphaeno felt extreme fear and trembled violently.
'No. I... I, the Black Tiger General of the Lilac Vassal State and the Master of the Chain Slash Sword, cannot die so meaninglessly...!'
Before he could even open his mouth to beg for his life, the marquis's shoulder slumped from the Mountain Lord's strike. The momentum was so intense that his right arm dangling below his shoulder snapped on its own and flew off. His spine twisted, his pelvis collapsed, and the marquis's limbs were torn off and scattered in all directions.
Marquis Laphaeno of the Chain Slash Sword, who had been an absurdity to others, met an absurd death.
"I have come to keep my promise."