Chapter 204
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 204
Chapter Title: The Legend of the Guardian Divine Beasts
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43rd Floor Expedition End.
Though they had suffered defeat, a small feast was held to console the warriors.
The Rat Clan's warriors all wore dazed expressions.
Their whiskers drooped limply, and their characteristically narrow, mouselike shoulders seemed even narrower.
The Rat Clan had lost their chieftain and Twelve Successors overnight.
There were a few reserve successors slated to inherit in the future, but only three or four at most.
They hadn't anticipated total annihilation, so most of their messenger arts had been lost in battle.
"It's like a damn funeral parlor."
Huwon downed his liquor in one gulp.
From the Rat Clan's seats came low, mournful singing.
It was a dirge for the warriors now joining their ancestors in the sky.
While funeral songs echoed from the Rat Clan's side, the opposite corner buzzed with boasts of heroic deeds.
It was the Wolf Clan's table, celebrating their feat of slaying one of the Ten Great Dukes.
Successors from various clans came to pay respects to the new wolf head.
He was Gonghyeok, descendant of the Wolf Heart Public Executioner.
Everyone took interest in this reliable male wolf who had slain a demon archduke and guarded the rear alongside the Dragon God.
'He stood out even before that. Right in the middle of the conference hall, he suddenly beheaded three of the Rat Clan's Twelve Successors, demanding blood price...'
Up until then, he'd been seen as a mad dog running wild without regard for the heavens, but now those acts had transformed into the exploits of a hero.
Some suspected the wolf head's involvement in the massacre of the Rat Clan's successors, but warriors from both clans had vouched for his honor, testifying that they had seen him facing off against tens of thousands of human soldiers.
The communication channels linked by the Rat messengers and Wolf successors confirmed it, and with only one body, Gonghyeok couldn't have both battled the human army and assassinated the Rat successors.
'In the end, they were probably massacred by the humans during the retreat.'
Even so, it was bizarre that not a single one of the Rat Clan's stealth-renowned Twelve Successors had escaped.
Huwon scratched at his burn scars and downed more liquor when Kisua approached.
Huwon looked at her curiously.
"Hm? It's a rare celebratory occasion. You should be receiving more greetings from the clan elders. What's up?"
"Where's the Tiger Head?"
"That old man's recovering after getting done in by some Ghost King or whatever. Why?"
"I'd like to see him if possible. Could you pass along my regards?"
"Is it urgent? They need you to introduce the new wolf head."
"It's urgent."
"Well, if you say so."
At Kisua's firm tone, Huwon finished his remaining drink and stood.
Gonghyeok, chatting in one corner, didn't miss the exchange with his sharp eyes.
* * *
Late into the night.
Dr-r-rk—
The door slid open, and Kisua entered the Tiger Head's chambers.
"The Wolf Clan's daughter, Kisua, comes to pay respects to Elder Jian."
"Yes, Kisua. I lack the face to show after missing the feast today."
Blood still seeped from Elder Jian's shoulder as he sat.
It made the usually fierce old tiger look even more pallid.
As Kisua's face hardened, Jian chuckled hoarsely and lifted his pipe.
"Don't mind it. You're badly wounded yourself, yet here you are up and about. It's I who should be ashamed for not living up to my age."
"No, Elder."
Ordinary spells or talismans had little effect on a Tiger God's wounds.
It was undoubtedly tainted by the Ghost King's powerful curse.
Jian puffed on his pipe without showing it, propping his chin on his palm.
"So, what brings you here? You must have had your hands full today."
"It's..."
Kisua sat and slowly bowed her head.
"I'm sorry, Elder, but there are many listening ears around."
"Right you are."
The Tiger God tapped the floor twice with his pipe.
The elite guards waiting nearby immediately stepped away.
"Uncle Jian, you're hurt—quit the pipe already."
"Miss Su-a, no liquor either, absolutely. I trust only you, my lady."
With the Tiger Head's escorts gone, pipe smoke swirled in thick rings around the room.
It was a technique to seal the air and vibrations from leaking out.
"No more eavesdroppers now. Speak your mind freely."
Kisua raised her slowly bowed head.
She met Jian's eyes with calm ones of her own.
"Please tell me about the legend of the Guardian Divine Beasts."
"...Guardian Divine Beasts?"
"Yes. Excluding the late Little White Matriarch, you're the only one said to know the oral tradition of Guardian Divine Beasts unrecorded in the chronicles."
Jian stroked his white-furred chin.
"Is that so? Has time flown that far already?"
Few legends of the Guardian Divine Beasts were known to the public.
Long ago, they brought rain in droughts, aided travelers in peril, and granted enlightenment to ascetics seeking the martial path.
Vague tales of divine emissaries appearing when calamity struck the beastkin race.
Even the chieftains' chronicle, the Twelve Branches Codex, offered no details.
The Tiger God scratched his chin in silence before speaking.
"...It's a tale of those long extinct. What good is knowing it?"
"So they truly existed?"
"They were a race too. Like the Kirin Clan or Lion Clan exterminated a millennium ago... Just another tribe that faded away."
The Tiger God suddenly shot to his feet.
Ignoring Kisua's startled jump, he shoved aside the screen behind him and pulled out a hidden flask of liquor.
"Elder, the liquor..."
The Tiger God chugged from the flask with both hands.
He wiped the liquor from his whiskers with the back of his hand and continued slowly.
"The Guardian Divine Beasts existed. As recently as a century ago."
"A century ago?"
"Back when Little White Matriarch was an active Twelfth Successor, and I was training as successor under my father."
Kisua's hands trembled.
A century ago—undoubtedly the Hybrid Rebellion.
That chaos had cost the Wolf Clan their chieftain, Kimiul, and ten successors, sending them into decline.
The Tiger God peered into the empty flask and said,
"Eight factions lost their chieftains then, including your Wolf Clan. The Guardian Divine Beasts' lineage was severed completely, and the surviving chieftains forbade passing down the oral tales."
"Then..."
"Strictly speaking, I shouldn't tell even you this story."
Yet the Tiger God continued evenly.
"But you deserve to hear it. As heir to the wolf who bore all the blame."
"Please, I beg you—tell me."
Kisua bowed her head politely.
"It's in your Wolf Clan's Twelve Branches Codex, right? The tale of the righteous wanderer, Wolf God Kitam, who repaid a cup of cold water with his life—how he lost an arm and eye to the Dragon God."
"Yes, though it doesn't specify why they clashed..."
"The gaps were filled by oral tradition. The feud between Wolf God Kitam and Dragon God Yahuhon. Why the Wolf Clan became the Dog Clan. Why South and North Sects split."
"Really?"
"It'll be a long tale. But yes, we start there."
The Tiger God looked up toward the sky.
But no sky was visible—only the flickering lantern-lit ceiling.
He recalled the ancestors' handed-down story.
"God created a hundred kinds of beasts. Then He decreed He sought the finest to become His body. The hundred beasts competed to become the world's most benevolent, strongest, and wisest."
* * *
There was an era of the Hundred Beasts.
All vied to be chosen by God.
What qualifications befitted Him?
The Crane Clan deemed it propriety and virtue.
Thus they established duel etiquette and societal foundations.
The Bear Clan saw it as endurance and physique.
Thus they forged their bodies endlessly, laying basics for training methods.
The Turtle Clan sought to transcend mental limits to reach God.
Thus they elevated martial arts—mere killing techniques—into the realm of the Dao.
Time passed, and the beasts fought on and on and on.
The most benevolent Kirin Clan went extinct.
The bravest Lion Clan went extinct.
The wisest Whale Clan went extinct.
Whether from complacency in their natural gifts or envy of their strength, the vanished races were silent.
They were culled.
Centuries passed; many clans fell, while a few waxed strong.
The most promising twelve clans.
They strove desperately to be chosen by God.
'Not long until one is chosen by God.'
Eleven clans remaining.
To cull all other races, each honed itself to extremes.
Salvation as God's clan was nigh.
God's voice rang out.
"My tribe is decided."
The plain's creatures prostrated, awaiting His final oracle.
Among them, Dragon Clan and Tiger Clan brimmed with confidence.
They inwardly assumed they would be chosen.
And God's oracle came.
"Stout and mighty tiger. My valiant creation."
Beaming with glory at the divine words, the tiger bowed repeatedly.
God bathed the Tiger Clan in radiance.
"Your boldness and manliness stir my heart deeply."
"No, no."
"But your hot temper runs wild at the sight of blood, heedless of virtue—that is your flaw."
The tiger hung its head.
The light then turned to the Dragon Clan.
"Dragon child. My wise and benevolent creation."
The Dragon Clan raised its head as if expectant.
"You sought my will with deepest thought, drawing closest to me."
"Indeed."
"To come so near— even I cannot hide my awe."
"As it should be."
But God's voice darkened abruptly.
"Yet upon realizing your nearness to my will, you fell to folly. Noble to the point of arrogance, you lost righteous intent."
The Dragon Clan exchanged uneasy glances.
God continued conveying His will to the plain's creatures.
"Even with the hundred beasts dwindled so, I could not decide easily. You are all precious creations touched by my will. How to choose among you?"
Dazzling radiance descended from the heavens, touching the plain.
"Thus, I have chosen."
All heads lifted.
There stood an unfamiliar beast with divine horns.
It resembled a kirin, a dragon, a tiger, even a lion.
The divine beast descended and uttered its first words.
"You each had parts to earn my admiration, and lacks to draw my sigh. Thus I gathered your finest traits to forge 'me.'"
The divine beast gazed upon its creations with loving eyes.
"From you, I learned much. Henceforth, I shall govern you by my Dao. I will bear offspring and merge into you; you shall walk with me and realize God's virtue."
The plain's creatures fell silent.
At last, instinct bade them worship the "Beast of God."
Thus ended the era of the Hundred Beasts; the era of the Divine Beasts dawned.
But.
One dragon longed to rise and shout.
'God! Why not me!'
'You know it! That I'm utterly unlike those inferior beasts!'
One tiger yearned to roar.
'Among us, if we fight to the end, I win!'
'Fight to the death! I'll claim it all! I'm the strongest, damn it!'
Other beasts swallowed their own cries.
'We were most loyal to you!'
'How much our clan has suffered till now!'
'To be chosen by you, how much we...'
'Better death than rejection!'
God could not fathom His creations' hearts.
The creations could not fathom God's heart.
Their unextinguished struggle had not yet ended.