The Key to Victory Lies Within Memory
“Ugh….”
My ears are ringing. The sound is so piercing it feels like my head is about to split open.
What happened?
I clearly remember swinging my hammer at that tiger cub.
Kanglim struggled to open his eyes.
“Finally awake?”
A woman with an orange lion-like mane appeared before his eyes.
“I thought you might be dead, but you’re as lucky as ever.”
Tie. The leader of the Tiger tribe, and the woman who would become the turning point in whether Kanglim escaped his ruinous ending or not.
Tie looked down at Kanglim with a triumphant posture.
Though she had many scratches here and there, they were nothing compared to Kanglim’s condition.
“Good. Now I can negotiate with those bastards.”
“Nego…tiation?”
To Kanglim’s question, Tie replied.
“I intend to use you to get back the warriors they’ve taken prisoner.”
Tie had won. She had beaten the tyrant who tried to turn the beastmen into slaves to a pulp.
She had beaten him to a pulp, but the battle to retake Rabbit Island had ended in failure.
“They were elite soldiers I begged each tribe to give me.”
It was a battle that should have been won.
“I bowed my head, asking them to send their warriors so we could strike back at those pirates. I persuaded them, saying there would be no problem as long as I, Tie, was there. They all hesitated, but in the end, they trusted me and lent me their soldiers.”
Just as Tie said, it was a battle that should have had no issues.
“I never imagined they would be wiped out like this.”
It was a battle that had to be won, yet they were defeated.
The warriors were annihilated, and the fleet was sunk.
Tie’s plan to retake Rabbit Island and execute the traitor Levi had ended in a massive failure.
“At the very least, I have to bring the warriors back. Only then can I save some face.”
“….”
“So, you. Help me out.”
It was over, but there was still a chance.
“Shout to your subordinates. Tell them to spare you. Tell them you want to live, so they should release the prisoners immediately.”
“….”
“Oh, and tell them to provide a ship for escape, too. I can’t stay trapped on this island.”
If she used this piece of trash called Grid, she could escape with everyone.
If she could escape, she could plot for the future.
That was why Tie had chosen the secondary option.
She had ambushed Grid to take him prisoner.
She had almost lost to him, but in the end, Tie had emerged victorious.
“Since I’m taking things, I’ll take your ship, too. I’ve always wanted that fortress.”
For a tiger who had lost the battle, she had far too many demands.
“Where on earth did you get that fortress? I, Tie, have seen many human warships, but I’ve never seen a ship made entirely of iron.”
“….”
“How did you get it? Huh? Huh? Huh?”
“…Hey.”
Kanglim, who had maintained a consistent silence, finally opened his mouth.
“It’s noisy. Shut up.”
“…What?”
“Why are you babbling so much? You, the one who lost.”
The more he heard, the more absurd it was.
Why was she acting like the winner when she had lost the battle?
If you’re a loser, you should be groveling—why are you talking so much?
He should have stayed quiet since he was a prisoner, but she was so noisy that Kanglim couldn’t just sit still.
“Why don’t you just surrender? Even if you go back, you’ll just be told to step down from your representative position, right?”
“Ridiculous. If I, Tie, am not there, who will….”
“You stupid idiot. You still think you guys are holding out well.”
Kanglim revealed a secret that even Tie didn’t know.
“I get dozens of letters a day.”
“Letters?”
“Yeah. Who do you think is sending me letters?”
The look in Tie’s eyes as she watched Kanglim changed.
“Shall I guess what kind of letters they are… ugh?”
Tie stomped on Kanglim’s chest.
“How dare a piece of trash run his mouth.”
Tie glared at Kanglim with eyes that looked as if she were viewing a filthy insect.
It was a stark contrast to her playful demeanor from before.
“I kept you alive to use as a prisoner, but you must be incredibly bored.”
“Aaaargh!”
“Let’s break a few ribs. Then you’ll be quiet.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Tie kicked Kanglim.
With a heavy thud, Kanglim was sent flying into the distance.
“Ugh….”
“Ho, you hold up well.”
Tie grabbed the fallen Kanglim by the hair and lifted him up.
-Thud, thud, thud, thud!
She punched him while holding him up.
Only after seeing a few of Kanglim’s teeth fly out did Tie lower her fist.
“You’d better watch your mouth, trash.”
Tie warned him.
“Keeping you alive is entirely for the sake of my warriors. If they hadn’t been taken prisoner, I wouldn’t be doing this annoying chore.”
To show him what she would do if he ignored her warning, Tie raised her fist.
“If you get on my nerves again….”
Tie threw a punch.
“I’ll really kill you.”
It was a simple straight punch, but its power was immense.
The punch that grazed Kanglim’s head instantly leveled the trees behind him.
“So, stay quiet.”
“Ugh!”
As Tie let go, Kanglim collapsed.
“D-damn it….”
Kanglim gritted his teeth.
‘I thought I could end it….’
He thought he could turn the tables.
Once he started seeing Tie’s movements, he fell into the delusion that he might win.
Lost in that delusion, he hadn’t noticed that Tie had a hidden ace up her sleeve, which led directly to his defeat.
If Kanglim had been a bit sharper, the situation might have been different.
‘I, I can’t stay like this.’
He had to fight. He couldn’t let Tie go like this.
If he let her go here, he didn’t know when he would be able to capture her again.
He had to make her a slave before the Anti-Grid Alliance was formed.
Otherwise, he didn’t know what kind of ruin awaited him in the future!
Then how?
He could follow Tie’s movements with his eyes, but he could get hit just like before.
He had to overwhelm her. He needed a martial art to overwhelm her.
Since he had lost his hammer, all he had left were his bare fists.
He had to subdue Tie with his bare fists.
But Kanglim was a beginner who had never even had a proper fight in reality.
No matter how much he possessed the body of the final boss, as long as the owner was a beginner, he was nothing more than a sturdy punching bag.
He would end up beaten to death while having a grand time.
‘I need to find a way to turn the tables. A way to take her down.’
But he had to find it.
Even if his hammer was broken, his face was smashed, and his body was screaming, he had to find it.
He had to find a way to take down Tie.
If only he could properly recall the technique he learned back then….
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, Kanglim’s eyes snapped open.
‘The technique I learned back then?’
What technique had he learned? Had Grid learned something?
Kanglim slowly racked his brain. He racked it and racked it, and finally, he remembered.
-Haaah!
He saw the image of Grid training. He was sparring with a master who seemed to be a formidable woman.
Grid, who had lost every day at first, started to overwhelm his master at some point.
-Haa, haa, haa, come at me, you bastards!
He saw the image of Grid surrounded by a gang.
Anyone would think Grid was in a crisis, but that wasn’t the case.
Behind Grid’s back, there was already a mountain of miserably smashed-up men.
Seeing that scene, Kanglim could remember.
The martial arts Grid had honed through his master since childhood.
The martial arts he had been forced to learn because the heir to the family had to be strong were inputted into Kanglim’s brain.
It didn’t even take a few seconds for the input to finish.
“….”
Kanglim stood up without a word.
Seeing that, Tie was startled.
“Hmm? What, you can still stand….”
That was the moment.
-Thud!
Suddenly, her vision flashed.
She felt like she was floating in the air.
Tie, not realizing what had happened, only realized she had been hit by Kanglim’s fist after rolling on the ground.
“You bastard….”
Tie’s face, realizing blood was flowing from her nose, twisted hideously.
“I told you nicely, so, you….”
-Thud!
“Aaargh!”
Tie was hit again by a straight punch flying in a straight line.
The moment Tie tried to lift her head, she was sent flying into the distance by a roundhouse kick from Kanglim.
“H-how….”
How could a guy who was half-dead have such strength?
In front of the bewildered Tie, Kanglim sneered.
“Thank you very much, you tiger.”
Kanglim took a stance with his fists clenched.
His body was still screaming, but he tried his best to ignore it.
He had finally seized the momentum, so how could he listen to trivial screams?
Kanglim smiled naturally at the fact that he could now overwhelm Tie.
“Because thanks to you, I’ve regained what I lost.”
“R-regained what?”
“You don’t need to understand.”
“Ugh?”
Kanglim threw a jab.
Tie quickly tilted her head to dodge it and threw a jab of her own.
Kanglim tilted his head to dodge it just the same.
“Because you’re going to be my slave.”
“Don’t make me laugh!”
Thus, the second round began.
●●●
‘W-what is this guy?’
How could a guy who was half-dead have such power?
Tie quickly ducked her head to dodge the fist flying toward her.
She threw a punch to counterattack, but Kanglim dodged it as if it were laughable.
He dodged, grabbed her left arm with both hands,
And threw her.
“Ugh?”
Thanks to barely maintaining her balance, Tie didn’t fall.
‘This guy is dangerous.’
She didn’t know why he had suddenly become strong.
He had clearly used some method, but Tie didn’t know what that method was.
There was only one thing she knew.
He had become a more terrifying opponent than anyone Tie had faced until now.
‘Did he use some wicked trick?’
She had heard rumors. That these pirates had the power to turn even upright warriors into clowns.
Could it be that he had used that power to become stronger?
And was that why she had been reduced to prey?
It was hard for Tie to understand what on earth had happened, but,
‘Still, it’s not bad.’
Rather than fear, she was filled with the exhilaration of being able to fight a formidable opponent.
‘I’ve met a proper rival.’
It was worth fighting. There had been no one among the beastmen who had excited her this much.
Tie was overjoyed at the fact that she had met such an existence.
She wanted to clash.
Even if her flesh was torn and her bones were broken, she wanted to clash with all her might.
Didn’t the previous leader say so, too?
That one could only become strong through bloody battles with the strong.
Tie realized that such an existence was right before her eyes.
However, there was a part that Tie hadn’t realized.
“Ugh?”
That in the face of an overwhelming difference, exhilaration or whatever else was all meaningless.
Kanglim, who had dug inside, threw a knee strike.
As he relentlessly threw knee strikes toward her chest, Tie couldn’t hold out and spat out vomit.
“Ueeeee… kugh?”
Kanglim then struck Tie’s back hard with his elbow.
The moment Tie was about to collapse,
“Kugh?”
Tie was sent flying into the distance by a kick from Kanglim.
“Ugh… damn it.”
To think that a moment of carelessness would be this painful.
Tie, who had barely managed to stand up, groaned as she saw Kanglim rushing toward her.
She rushed in to respond in kind, but,
“W-what is this?”
Tie closed her eyes at the sudden dust.
Kanglim had prepared in advance and sprinkled the dirt he held in his hand.
Tie hesitated, and Kanglim didn’t miss it.
He pushed her without mercy.
“Aaargh!”
He blew her chin away with an uppercut.
“Kugh!”
He hit her face with his fist, knocking her teeth out.
“I, I can’t be defeated like this… Aaaaaargh?”
He grabbed both her arms and snapped them backward.
“A-at least Tie-nim still has her legs… Aaaaaargh!”
He stomped on both her legs, making it so she could never walk again.
“Augh, ugh….”
The fight, or rather the one-sided beating, was over.
Kanglim, who had grabbed the neutralized Tie by the hair, lifted her up just like that.
Perhaps because it was so painful, Tie’s confident face was now covered in tears.
“Thank you, you tiger.”
Kanglim whispered.
“Because thanks to you, I’ve awakened to something new.”
“Ugh… y-you….”
“So, I’ll give you a gift.”
What kind of gift was he going to give her?
Even though she had ended up being dragged by Kanglim, Tie couldn’t understand.
“I don’t want it, I don’t want it, I don’t want it! I, Iiiiiii!”
By the time she realized the true nature of that gift, it was already too late.