Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 186
Chapter Title: Before the Finals
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Before the finals began.
"Crimson Horn Lion! The winner is the Little Palace Lord's Crimson Horn Lion!"
The showdown between the Palace Lord and the Little Palace Lord had everyone on the edge of their seats, gripping their hands in suspense.
A man seated in one section of the audience watched the spectacle with bated breath amid the feverish excitement.
His name was Su Jahong.
He was the lowliest foot soldier of the Southern Frontier Beast Palace, having just come of age.
"So the Little Palace Lord takes the win."
Before the fight even started, he had been certain the Black Tiger would prevail.
But the unprecedented beast the Little Palace Lord brought along savagely tore into the Palace Lord's Black Tiger.
As if it knew no fear.
'The outcome's clear.'
From this day forward, the future of the Southern Frontier Beast Palace was very likely to fall into the Little Palace Lord's grasp.
Of course, he hadn't won the tournament yet.
"...No way the Eldest Lady's leopard could beat that thing."
The leopard's prowess in the previous bout had been impressive, no doubt.
But the ferocity of the just-concluded fight had utterly overshadowed it.
No matter how many scenarios he ran through his head—dozens, hundreds—not a single one ended with the leopard victorious.
Su Jahong glanced toward the Little Palace Lord, seated in the distance.
He was chatting animatedly with those around him, a satisfied smile on his face.
Confirming this, Su Jahong turned away, lost in thought.
'Is the Little Palace Lord's era upon us?'
The Palace Lord and Little Palace Lord had been at odds for quite some time, but Su Jahong knew little of the details.
Power struggles like this played out in the palms of the palace's elite.
Lowly soldiers like him simply followed orders from above.
Even if the leadership changed, he had no idea what differences it might bring.
As he drifted into vague musings—
Tap tap.
Someone patted his shoulder and spoke up.
"Your turn."
"Yes, sir. On my way."
He was currently assigned to guard duty along the palace walls.
Shifts rotated every few hours, so he hurried out of the arena.
It was a shame not to see it through, but he'd caught all the highlights.
He'd figured the timing would force him to leave midway, but the one-sided matches wrapped up faster than expected.
Thanks to that, he'd even witnessed the Palace Lord versus Little Palace Lord bout—a stroke of incredible luck.
"Shift change. Rest easy."
As the lowest of the low, he bowed politely to the soldiers he was relieving.
Soon enough, he took up position atop the walls, scanning the jungle beyond the Southern Frontier Beast Palace as he began his watch.
As he kept vigil—
―Waaaaaaaah!
A massive roar erupted from the arena behind him.
The walls were quite a distance from the arena, yet the sound still reverberated that powerfully.
'Looks like the Fierce Beast Tournament has reached its conclusion.'
The champion beast had been decided.
And it was undoubtedly the Little Palace Lord's Crimson Horn Lion.
The Southern Frontier is in for turbulent times ahead.
Su Jahong didn't know the Little Palace Lord well, but he knew one thing: his temperament was utterly unlike his father's.
Where Palace Lord Suritae ruled through brute force and intimidation of beasts, the Little Palace Lord ensnared people like a serpent and wielded beasts as tools.
Who was right? Su Jahong couldn't say.
All he knew for sure was that the Southern Frontier would never be the same.
'Though for an ordinary grunt like me, it might not make a difference.'
His job was just standing watch—what real change could there be?
Shaking off needless worries, Su Jahong chuckled wryly.
Then—
Rumble rumble rumble—
The ground began to shake violently, as if an earthquake had struck, accompanied by a deafening roar.
"Wh-what the hell?!"
Su Jahong panicked, and his fellow guards nearby adopted defensive stances with shocked expressions.
But Su Jahong, with his sharp ears, quickly realized it wasn't an earthquake.
The source of the earth-shaking tremors.
Upon identifying it, sweat poured down his cheeks.
"N-no... impossible..."
His comrades turned to him.
"Come to think of it, you're the one with the good hearing, Su."
"Hey, what's making that noise?"
Half-dazed, Su Jahong slowly turned his head.
Then, with a voice heavy with resignation, he replied.
"...You'll know soon enough."
"...?"
As puzzled murmurs spread among them, the roar grew louder, drawing nearer.
By the time terror washed over the guards' faces—
Kuoooo!
Spotting the origin amid the dense jungle, they collapsed to their knees.
It was the thunderous charge of tens of thousands of beasts barreling toward the Southern Frontier Beast Palace.
'That sound...'
Hyeok Mulin extended his senses at the rumbling echoing across the Southern Frontier Beast Palace.
Confirming what they detected, he smirked.
"Ho."
Not dozens, hundreds, or even thousands—but tens of thousands.
Tens of thousands of diverse beasts were charging ferociously toward the palace.
Given the circumstances, Suma Geon must have summoned them with his flute.
The arena crowd was already scattering in panic.
Feeling the beasts' auras, Suritae glared at Suma Geon with bulging eyes.
"What the hell have you done?"
"Didn't I tell you? I'm stepping down from Little Palace Lord."
Suma Geon flashed a leisurely smile and continued.
"I've simply decided to take the Palace Lord's seat instead, as of today."
"You bastard...!"
As fury filled Suritae's gaze—
Bam!
A sudden ambush struck from behind.
He twisted away, barely blocking the attack.
But the shockwave sent him tumbling into the arena.
Regaining his footing, Suritae spotted his attacker and gnashed his teeth.
"Choi Kang, you dare?!"
The man who had launched the surprise assault from behind was none other than Choi Kang, captain of the Palace Lord's guard and his closest confidant.
Choi Kang looked down at the fallen lord with cold eyes.
Moments later.
Step step.
Dozens of warriors appeared behind Suma Geon.
Seeing them, Suritae's pupils trembled.
Until now, he'd believed the palace's power struggle split the leadership down the middle between factions.
He was wrong.
Eighty—no, ninety percent.
Most of the palace's high-ranking warriors were already in Suma Geon's pocket.
Even the guard captain, sworn to protect only the Palace Lord, had defected.
"Hah, haha, hahahaha..."
Suritae knew Suma Geon excelled at politics.
But this overwhelming margin went beyond mere scheming.
"What tricks did you pull, you snake?"
To Suritae's icy question, Suma Geon lifted one corner of his mouth.
"I merely promised a brighter future for the Southern Frontier."
Suma Geon sighed lightly and went on.
"Wouldn't it have been ideal if the Fierce Beast Tournament ended smoothly? I didn't want things to come to this..."
Suma Geon glanced sidelong at Hyeok Mulin nearby.
"But an unexpected interloper forced my hand."
He shot Hyeok Mulin a brief glare before turning back to Suritae.
"Even so, I have no desire to strike down my own father."
Suma Geon spoke to him with feigned regret.
"So I beg you—step down from the throne of your own accord. Do that, and I'll halt the chaos and calm the beasts at once."
Suritae bent at the waist at the thinly veiled threat.
"Haha."
Straightening slowly—
"Kuhahahahaha!"
He threw his head back and bellowed with mad laughter.
His guffaws alone echoed through the arena.
When he finally stopped, he spoke calmly.
"Time has flown too far."
He fixed a piercing gaze on Suma Geon and his followers.
"Have you all forgotten how I rose to this seat? You think your mob can take me down?"
Suma Geon sneered.
"Clinging to the past is why you have no future, Palace Lord."
"Fine. Then let's test it now."
Rooooar—
A savage aura whipped around Suritae's body.
Just brushing against it felt like it would shred flesh from bone.
"Let's settle whether your pie-in-the-sky future prevails, or the legacy I've built."
"Very well."
Suma Geon nodded and glanced behind him.
Several warriors promptly leaped into the arena.
Looking down, Suma Geon pondered.
'A fight we can't lose.'
The Palace Lord was formidable, but he'd prepared for this moment for years.
Dealing with him posed no issue.
The real problem was—
Swish—
'Him.'
Suma Geon shifted his gaze to Hyeok Mulin and stared.
Hyeok Mulin smirked.
"I'm no one involved with your Beast Palace. Can't you handle your family squabble yourselves?"
Suma Geon shook his head.
"Of all times, you visit now. Bad timing."
The Cult Leader had already rejected his offer.
Even if accepted, he'd have discarded him once used up—but the sharp one had refused.
Only one conclusion remained.
"Sorry, but you'll have to die here."
Killing intent gleamed in the smiling Suma Geon's eyes.
With a nod to his surroundings, five warriors leaped from all directions toward Hyeok Mulin.
Three from the front.
Two from behind.
More than enough to claim one life.
Yet Hyeok Mulin stared blankly at the oncoming attackers, unmoving.
Then—
Slash—
A massive cleave erupted from the front.
The three warriors charging head-on were bisected at the waist.
Man Ho.
He'd swung his greatsword, producing the carnage in one stroke.
But two still approached from behind. Hyeok Mulin showed no sign of moving.
Nor did Man Ho.
As questions arose—
Crack!
A warrior appeared out of nowhere and seized the heads of the two rear attackers, smashing them together.
No chance for death cries—their skulls shattered like fruit, brains splattering.
He tossed the limp bodies aside and strode forward.
The perpetrator of the gruesome scene.
Ji Wolhon positioned himself slowly beside Hyeok Mulin.
With Man Ho and Ji Wolhon radiating unyielding auras on either flank, Hyeok Mulin finally spoke.
"Do you know?"
He intoned to Suma Geon in a voice deep as the abyss.
"What I'm pondering now is whether to erase the Southern Frontier Beast Palace from history."
That alone.