King of the Demon Beasts
King of the Demon Beasts
A burnt smell rose from Jiz's charred feathers.
The Upper-level Monster, struck directly by lightning and fallen, still had breath left in it. It flapped its wings, which were grotesquely bent from the impact of the fall.
As Anna moved, the dust was pressed down, opening a path before her.
She stood right in front of Jiz's nose.
She reached out her hand.
Just as the Water Spirit flowed down from Anna's fingertips, tearing into Jiz's wounds to kill it painfully,
"Kkieeeek!!!"
Jiz screamed and spat out some words.
Upper-level Monsters are monsters that possess intelligence and have strengthened themselves. Their roars, which sound like ordinary cries, contain their words.
The spirit understood those words and conveyed them to Anna.
A mere human...
Humans should be playing in the palm of my hand.
There shouldn't be any more humans like that black-haired human.
I will crush you with overwhelming power!
The roar, imbued with magic, was layered with Jiz's mental imagery and embedded itself into Anna's mind.
Burning walls.
Collapsed piles of stone.
The misery of the battlefield viewed from a high altitude.
A swarm of countless monsters was rushing after someone.
At the head of the monster swarm, a black-haired man was running.
A back wearing a hunter's cloak over worn-out armor.
Just by seeing that back, someone recognized him.
Three years had passed, but Dane's appearance hadn't changed a bit from when they first met.
He sprinted through the castle, luring the monsters.
Monsters that stepped on the traps he had set in advance became obstacles for other monsters, and some of the monsters crushed that way even met their deaths.
The traps installed throughout the castle, predicting the walls would collapse, caught, mangled, and killed dozens of monsters.
It was different from a struggle to survive.
His movements and path seemed like he was acting as bait to buy time for someone to escape, prepared for death in the end.
Jiz looked down at that human from high in the sky and waited for an opportunity.
And in an instant, it descended to the ground, and Dane's face could be seen caught between its talons.
Dane's lips were mumbling something, but Jiz's memory couldn't capture it.
Jiz's memory cut off there.
"Dane..."
Anna's hand trembled.
He wasn't dead.
At least until the moment Jiz last saw him, Dane was alive.
And he had been caught by Jiz's surprise attack.
"I won't let you die just like that."
Anna's hand fell onto Jiz's forehead.
The Water Spirit gathered the blood Jiz had spilled and tore through its body.
"Kkieeeek!!!!!!"
Jiz twisted its body in agony.
It's alive.
"I have a favor to ask."
The spirit stared at Anna's face.
Vitality ignited like a candle flame in Anna's empty eyes.
Having caught a glimpse of the survival of her benefactor, whom she thought was dead, Anna gripped her umbrella tightly.
"Help Dane."
The spirit shuddered.
To the spirit, Dane wasn't a special existence. Anna was precious, but Dane was just a human Anna cherished. There was no reason to protect him to the extent of leaving its territory.
However, the spirit could not defy Anna's resolute gaze and desperate emotions.
Anna looked down coldly at Jiz, whose thrashing was gradually weakening.
"If Dane dies, I will cry."
The Water Spirit left Anna and flew far away.
"Thank you."
Pushed by Anna's gratitude, the rain clouds began to flow far away toward the Lord's castle.
"Let's go too."
The Earth Spirit hoisted Jiz's corpse and returned to the village.
The sword slipped in the sweat gathered in my palm.
Every time I inhaled, I was out of breath.
Inhaling air mixed with the scent of beasts, I looked back at the predators surrounding me.
I was surrounded.
Everywhere I turned my head, crimson gazes flashed toward me.
The collapsed outer wall of the castle.
I tried to escape, but ultimately failed.
The retreat route had been blocked long ago.
Even when I was caught once by the eagle monster that ambushed me, it knew I would try to escape and had sent subordinates to ambush the retreat route in advance.
There were at least twenty of them.
"They're going through so much fucking trouble just to catch one person."
Among the monsters baring their teeth and growling, pieces of armor were stuck in their teeth.
Each and every one of these was a high-level monster capable of facing a knight.
It was amazing that I still had breath left in me even after being ambushed by guys like these. And they possessed intelligence on top of that.
There's a reason they kept me alive.
Grrr.
Just then, a huge shadow walked through the pack, splitting them apart.
A giant wolf covered in gray fur.
It was a Direwolf.
It was a monster that looked exactly like the one that attacked the village three years ago, but the spirit radiating from its body was on a completely different level than the one I saw back then.
The Demon Beast King's army has five military forces gathered under the Demon Beast King.
The 1st Army led directly by the Demon Beast King.
And the Upper-level Monsters called the Four Heavenly Kings, composed of monsters second only to the Demon Beast King.
That Direwolf was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Beast King's army, leading the 4th Army.
The Direwolf bared its teeth and growled, then pressed its snout against my head.
I thought it was going to eat me after sniffing me, but it licked my face with a tongue the size of my body.
The intent to bite my throat was nowhere to be seen, and it stepped back and left the spot.
"What the..."
Since we can't communicate, I have no idea what the Wolf Four Heavenly King wants.
"[It caught a familiar scent from you.]"
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
As the monsters retreated further, a massive lump of magic reached right in front of me.
A ripple that hammered human speech directly into my brain occurred, forcing tension into my head.
"[You severed Dia's bloodline. Even though you are a weak human, it acknowledged your strength.]"
As the monsters retreated out of sight, a certain monster appeared before me.
Its form was a lizard, but it had wings and horns, and above all, its aura was different. The level at which it stimulated my instincts was on another dimension.
The ground shook as it made heavy footsteps.
The shadow of a being that monsters fear was cast over the forest.
"I've lived long enough to see a dragon."
At this rate, I'll even see a god.
The dragon's golden pupils contained wisdom deeper than any sage.
A predator's gaze hidden within gentle eyes.
"[Human.]"
The dragon spoke human language.
The dragon's words rang in my head.
"[Did you say you are Dane?]"
"Absurd. They said if you reach the level of an Upper-level Monster, you can communicate in human language."
Even ordinary animals can understand human language and communicate, but the environments in which pets and monsters live are completely different.
Even if they possess the intelligence to understand human language, vocalizing it is a different realm.
The dragon did it without any effort.
The dragon looks down at me.
It was evaluating me.
"[You are not afraid.]"
"Maybe I've lost my mind because I'm on the verge of death."
"[If it changes just because you've lost your mind, can that be called instinct? It seems your uniqueness is not solely due to your will.]"
The dragon grasped the outline of my uniqueness just by seeing me once.
I feel like I've been hit right on the mark.
"[You killed fourteen of my subordinates and severely injured twenty-five.]"
"14."
"Does that mean I've taken out 39 if I include those I forced to retreat from the front lines?"
"Not bad."
"[You have killed more of my subordinates than the Lord.]"
Since I had a long time to prepare, that kind of result came out. And it must be thanks to the knights who finished off the monsters caught in the traps.
The dragon was seeing it as entirely my doing.
Its thinking brain was quite extraordinary.
"[Human. I will spare you.]"
I glared at the dragon with surprised eyes.
"[Come under me.]"
It was an unexpected proposal.
"[I will give you a crown. I will set you up as the king of the humans who will gather under my command.]"
"...What?"
"[You must know human history. How the founder of the Empire established a human kingdom and rose to become an Empire. Wasn't it by being acknowledged by a dragon like me and bestowed with the throne?]"
The dragon's sharp eyes scan me.
"[If you look back at human history, my proposal shouldn't be that strange. If you come under me, I will not exterminate humans from the surface.]"
The dragon stepped closer.
"[Your thoughts did not consider humans to be the only intelligent beings. In the traps, you understood us and indulged in our way of thinking. I took note of your strategy, which went beyond habits and understood us as an intelligent entity.]"
It was a gaze that recognized me while also looking at me threateningly.
"[Become the king of humans. There is no reason to refuse, is there?]"
I closed my eyes.
Every word was logical, making me wonder why dragons are called wise beings for no reason.
If I become a king under it as the dragon said, there would be no more successful life for me.
Even just looking at the situation I'm in right now, the dragon could kill me with just its gaze.
"[Your contemplation is long. Let me ease your worries.]"
The dragon raised its head toward the sky.
"[My army, listen! Stop all killing and subdue those who resist! Rescue the incapacitated humans and gather them in one place!]"
The dragon's roar covered the sky.
At that moment, the screams of slaughter that had been ringing throughout the castle died down.
Monsters began to rescue humans who were dying in the collapsed castle and burning mansions.
A monster that received the dragon's instruction bit someone and placed them in front of me.
"Her Highness, the Lord's wife..."
The Lord's wife had barely managed to keep her life amidst the intensification of the war.
However, the monster had torn her clothes to make her easy to eat, and she was in a state just before being eaten.
The dragon looks down at me gently.
"[Will you accept?]"
"...."
I pushed my body, which felt like it was about to break, forward and bowed my head to the dragon.