[Artria in Crisis]
"Tie is attacking Fox Island?"
Before receiving the report, Kang-rim had been worried that something had happened on Fox Island. Even though more than six days had passed since his ship sank, Artria hadn't sent a single rescue ship. She hadn't even sent a single carrier pigeon.
Iris was in the middle of a conquest campaign, and since Kang-rim himself had ordered her to prioritize that objective, it was understandable that she was late. However, Artria was not under the same constraints as Iris. Kang-rim had only entrusted her with the governance of Fox Island; he hadn't given her any orders beyond that. Therefore, if she had known he was missing, she would have taken action immediately.
She wasn't restricted, so why hadn't she shown any sign of action? Other than sending a letter to Iris, who was busy pummeling the alliance, asking her to look for Kang-rim, why hadn't she done anything else?
Why hadn't she? Had something happened? Was it a situation where she couldn't send a rescue team even if she wanted to?
If not that...
Could she have been plotting a rebellion? Such a suspicion even crossed Kang-rim's mind.
'No, that can't be it.'
Kang-rim immediately denied it.
'Would Artria really do something like that?'
Even if she looked like a mastermind, she was a secretary who would give her life for Grid. If that weren't the case, she wouldn't have even used black magic to save Grid when he was on the verge of death, poisoned and teetering between life and death.
Would a woman like that suddenly betray him? There must be some reason. He truly hoped so. If Artria betrayed him, things would get complicated in many ways.
That was why, when he was told that a report he needed to hear had arrived, Kang-rim had no choice but to leave Croker's training to Sua and Iris. Confirming whether his suspicion about his secretary was false took precedence over training a crocodile.
Fortunately, the disastrous scenario of Artria betraying him did not come to pass. A far worse scenario had simply appeared before Kang-rim.
"Explain in detail what happened."
"Yes, understood."
The Turtle tribe warrior, still on his knees, told him everything he had seen. His shell had wounds as if scratched by massive claws, and blood was flowing from various parts of his body. Immediate treatment was urgent, but the warrior put it off for later. Stopping Tie, who had turned into a great catastrophe, was the top priority right now.
"When we reached the vicinity of Fox Island, the flagship had been destroyed, and the soldiers guarding the beach had been massacred."
"That giant tiger... Tie did that?"
"Yes, there is no doubt."
"Damn it."
Kang-rim grimaced.
'I never imagined she would go to Fox Island.'
Fox Island was being invaded. It was being devastated by Tie, who had transformed into a monster. Kang-rim finally understood why Artria couldn't dispatch a rescue team. Even though the reason was the worst possible one.
"But, Tie's appearance was strange."
"Strange?"
Tie had become able to transform into a giant tiger through [Beastman Transformation]. She was the one who had turned into a monster at will and cornered them. Had some misfortune befallen such a Tie? As Kang-rim tilted his head, the Turtle tribe warrior told him what he had felt.
"Her color should have been orange, but the Tie I saw was black."
"Black?"
"Yes, she was a black tiger. The energy radiating from her body was also an ominous black."
"No way..."
Hearing that, Kang-rim wore an expression of disbelief.
'Could it be that Tie took that drug?'
If what this Turtle tribe woman said was true, there was a possibility that Tie had taken that drug. Unless she had taken that drug, there was no way she would become a black tiger instead of an orange one, and no way ominous black energy would emanate from her body.
'A drug that is hard to find even in the game?'
A forbidden potion developed by humans who had built a brilliant ancient civilization. It was created to deal with monsters that humans could not handle with their own strength alone. Those who gained immense power through the drug were able to protect their lands, but ironically, because of that power, they ended up destroying the civilization they had built.
Currently, the drug no longer existed, but the manufacturing method remained. If there were enough materials and time, it was possible to restore the forbidden drug.
How could Tie have taken that drug? How did she secure that drug, which could only be obtained through hunting even in the game, and had an abysmal drop rate? Who on earth gave that drug to Tie?
He didn't know the truth. However, he could say this much for certain.
'If she really took it...'
He would have no choice but to give up on capturing Tie and shift his direction toward eliminating her. Right now, Kang-rim had no way to detoxify that drug, nor any way to turn back Tie, who had become a monster after taking it.
"What is the situation on Fox Island right now?"
"It is the worst."
The Turtle tribe woman replied to Kang-rim's question.
"All the ships have sunk. Tie has landed on the island, and Artria is rallying the soldiers to resist, but they won't last long."
"I have one thing I want to ask..."
While listening to the story, Kang-rim, who suddenly had a question, asked.
"Why are you the only one?"
"..."
"I heard Akelon sent about four or five people..."
Five Turtle tribe warriors were dispatched. However, only one returned. What did this mean? He knew, but Kang-rim prayed it wasn't so. However, expectations always betray.
"Everyone was killed in action."
"..."
"We were caught by Tie..."
"Damn it."
Kang-rim could not hide his unpleasant feelings at the fact that they had died.
"Cardian."
"Yes."
At Kang-rim's call, Cardian, the female captain with a ponytail, answered. She had become the temporary person in charge of this flagship, replacing Iris, who was playing with Kang-rim. Kang-rim gave instructions to Cardian.
"Full speed to Fox Island."
Meanwhile, at that moment, Fox Island was—
-ROOOAAAR!
It was being ravaged by a giant black tiger. Every time the tiger swung its front paw, every time it lashed its tail like a whip, trees and houses were blown away. This monster, shaking the heavens and the earth, was killing everything that moved before its eyes.
-ROOOAAAR!
It swiped its front paw, blowing away the human soldiers throwing spears at it. It did the same to the human soldiers firing arrows at it. Countless soldiers were torn to shreds by the claws swung by the monster. Blobs of blood, unrecognizable in form, were scattered everywhere. The ground where they had stood had become red earth, soaked with their blood.
It was a sight that could hardly be called a fight. It was merely a one-sided massacre. The soldiers who had one-sidedly pushed the beastmen were now in the position of suffering that fate themselves.
No, they probably didn't know. Because they had no reason. Because they couldn't even think about something. They had been remodeled to be that way. There was only one thing in their heads. Obedience. To give their lives for their master, Grid. To give their lives to defeat the enemy. For this, it didn't matter how strong the opponent was.
Even if a few, dozens, hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands were sacrificed, they would defeat them. Even if they had to pile up countless corpses into a mountain to defeat them, they wouldn't stop. Even if they were driven to the brink of annihilation by the monster right now, they wouldn't stop attacking.
If only this sacrifice weren't meaningless,
-ROOOAAAR!
Unfortunately, they couldn't even leave a scratch on the giant tiger.
-BOOOOM!
Even when hit directly by a lightning strike from the mage unit pouring out all their magic power, the black tiger, Tie, didn't even flinch. Artria, watching this scene, bit her lip.
"Damn it. It has no effect at all."
Artria, wearing bronze armor, had come out to the battlefield herself to command the soldiers. Originally, the standard procedure would be to defeat Tie using the ships left behind for the defense of Fox Island, but she couldn't. Because every single one of them had been smashed to pieces by Tie.
'If she was the culprit, I shouldn't have sent them...'
Kang-rim, who should have returned, did not return. She had expected that Kang-rim would return to Fox Island after visiting the islands occupied by [Desire Empire] in order, and after returning, implement the Kumiho tribe restoration plan. She had predicted that Kang-rim would return to Fox Island at the latest in three days. But then, the news was cut off completely. If there had been a problem, he would have sent a carrier pigeon immediately, but not a single carrier pigeon had arrived. Artria, thinking something was strange, requested Iris, who was in the middle of a war of conquest, to find Kang-rim's whereabouts, and she herself sent two escort ships to search for the missing Kang-rim. And the two escort ships that had gone out lost all contact.
Artria, thinking it strange, sent one more new escort ship, but that escort ship also lost all contact. What had happened? To investigate, Artria led the flagship herself, and she saw the wreckage of the ships destroyed by Tie floating in the sea.
'I never imagined that she would be the culprit...'
Who on earth had attacked the ships? What kind of monster had smashed a ship made entirely of iron? In this era, there shouldn't be any sailing ship in this world that could face an iron ship head-on.
Artria, judging that she couldn't recklessly dispatch a rescue team until she found the culprit, focused only on the defense of Fox Island. Did that mean no more ships were destroyed? No, there were. Every night, one ship sank. She couldn't properly grasp the cause of the sinking, nor who the culprit providing that cause was. Fox Island, having lost all its ships like that, became like a prisoner trapped in a prison called the sea.
Taking advantage of this, Tie invaded Fox Island. Due to Tie's fierce attack, most of the troops stationed on the island were massacred. Artria was resisting using the remaining troops, but—
"Ugh!"
In the end, Artria was trampled under Tie's front paw.