Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Harvest Festival (3)
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Reverse King Ban was truly a king who embodied all the strengths and weaknesses of the beastkin—no exaggeration.
Survival of the fittest. Following the logic of power and possessing formidable martial might was undoubtedly an advantage.
However, everything else was a disadvantage. At least as a king lording over them from above, he sorely lacked the qualities.
But he himself never considered that a problem. Naturally.
[I'm your leader, and I'm stronger than all of you. Obey my commands. Otherwise, I'll kill you all.]
Certainly, as a beast, it was an excellent declaration faithful to instinct.
The problem was that beastkin weren't mere beasts—they were intelligent beings endowed with intellect close to that of humans.
When the intent to use them blatantly as meat shields was so obvious, would they just die willingly? Of course not.
A king without followers was destined to fall. Ban was no exception.
"Gaaah!!"
"A-An ambush! It's an enemy ambush!"
"Traitors! Our own kin betrayed us!"
Pitch-black darkness had fallen over the night. At this gathering to discuss their future, the foretold downfall began.
All tribes except the Bear Tribe and Tiger Tribe had revolted. Of course, he could certainly suppress something like that.
The Cat Tribe and Ox Tribe were somewhat troublesome, but the Snake Tribe was nearly nonexistent, and the rest were utter weaklings.
However, the real problem was that they had allied with the Empire, no less.
The Empire's elite knights, who had perfectly concealed their scents with magic, began massacring the Bear Tribe and Tiger Tribe.
At this utterly unimaginable betrayal, the rage of Ban—the second-generation Beast King—surged skyward.
"Even you dare ally with the trash who killed our king?! Can you still call yourselves beastkin after that!!"
His eyes turned a chilling crimson, blood vessels burst from sheer fury.
Soon, his merciless claws tore through his kin in an instant.
The title of Reverse King was no empty boast—the rebelling beastkin couldn't even come close to matching him.
"Tsk tsk... Still brutishly strong as ever."
"Fox King. Was it you who started this farce?"
"And if it was?"
"Tell me the reason before you die. What exactly am I lacking that you revolted?"
"Are you seriously asking that?"
The Fox King was dumbfounded. Who would choose this life of chains out of love for it?
No beastkin wanted a life like collared livestock, bred and raised.
But at least surviving that way was a hundred times better than dying, so they had no choice.
"How can we follow a king who ignores those beneath him and swings his power around in a drunken haze...?"
"If you're aggrieved, you should have been stronger than me. Crushed me with force like the Beast King did! Because you can't, you resort to this filthy trick?"
"That's precisely why you lack the qualities of a king, Reverse King Ban."
"Shut up!!!"
Ban couldn't contain his rage. With all his might, he lunged to tear the filthy traitor before him apart.
But unfortunately, his savage claws never reached the Fox King.
An Empire knight standing right beside the Fox King had easily deflected them.
"Not bad at provocation."
"Thank you, my lord."
"...The title of lord is enough."
"You bastard...!!!"
The man with black hair and black eyes. The man who killed our king.
Cain Blackguard was here now. In truth, the king being killed wasn't much of an issue from Ban's perspective.
The Beast King had simply been weaker than that man. So he just personally despised him.
The lamentable part was that, far from revenge, his own kin had chosen to bow to the king's killer.
"Have you thrown away even your pride as beastkin!"
"Ridiculous! Look around! Where has your Seven Kings led us? All that's left is blood and an uncertain future!!"
"Better to die proudly than live in shame!! Why don't you get that!"
"Is that so."
Cain, having no interest in watching the argument between the Fox King and Ban, intervened immediately.
Unable to dodge the flash-like speed, Ban instinctively threw a punch.
Slash!! Thanks to that, Ban's right arm was severed. But had he not, his neck would have been.
Stepping on the bleeding arm rolling across the ground, Cain issued a cold command.
"Then die."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Advanced Expert wasn't quite Master level, but it could easily crush any realm below it.
And Reverse King Ban was a warrior who had reached Advanced Expert with a beastkin's body.
Thus, he ranked at the top among typical Advanced Experts.
Yet that Reverse King was being overwhelmed. Even the battle-loving Ban couldn't help but panic at this absurd situation.
'This is on another level from our last clash! It's like fighting a completely different person!'
Ban had clashed with Cain before. Not directly, but just facing him had been enough to tell.
Yet that fledgling had returned as an overwhelming predator in a mere few months.
An illogical situation by any common sense—and with his arm severed by ambush on top of already being at a disadvantage, now he was being utterly dominated.
"You... how in the world?!"
"None of your business."
"You filthy trash...!!"
Despite the provocations, all Ban could do was bellow. Anything else meant death.
He had to admit it, loath as he was: his opponent had become a monster that overwhelmed him.
As such, Cain now possessed the power to easily overwhelm even a Reverse King.
'No need to use the Eyes of Death... Even without them, I see it all. His movements, his intentions—everything plain as day.'
All the gaps were visible. It was so easy it was almost pitiful for his foe.
Naturally, Cain had no hobby of toying with opponents, so he immediately unleashed his aura in attack.
In response, Ban drew up his mana and clashed with full power. At least his courage was undeniably impressive.
"Your defeat, Second Beast King."
"......"
"Any last words?"
His chest deeply gashed, Ban knelt while bleeding. Even in that state, he tried to rise,
but his body refused to respond. In the end, he couldn't stand.
Unfortunately, the Bear Tribe and Tiger Tribe couldn't be saved even if they surrendered.
The war with the Seven Kings had cost many lives. Thus, scapegoats to bleed and take responsibility were undoubtedly needed.
'And the Bear Tribe and Tiger Tribe will fill that role.'
They couldn't kill the beastkin who had already surrendered, so the Bear and Tiger Tribes would shoulder their sins and die in their place.
The silver lining—if it could be called that—was that the Bear and Tiger Tribes had never intended to surrender in the first place.
They would vanish according to the law of the jungle, the survival of the fittest, that they themselves desired.
"No last words. I just regret not tearing you apart with my own hands."
"Incomprehensible. Was the Beast King such an ideal king to you?"
"He was soft, sure. He suppressed his instincts and rejected the logic of the jungle... But he had every qualification to do so."
"I see."
"He wasn't a king to lose his life to the likes of you."
Cain was baffled by Ban's fierce, murderous glare.
Who had attacked first, anyway? They were the ones who struck at us initially.
Of course, the grudge between the wyverns and beastkin was understandable... but then they should have won from the start.
"Cut the tendons in their wrists and ankles, then bind them. We'll offer them up in a public execution to bring glory and herald the start of the Harvest Festival."
"Understood."
He had initially planned to kill him outright. But as a king of sorts, letting him die like this felt wasteful.
In medieval times, executions served as both examples and a form of entertainment. And it was no different in this fantasy world.
Especially since the victim was a major figure: the second-generation Beast King of the Seven Kings. It was bound to be quite the spectacle.
"Just kill me. You think I'll play your entertainment?"
"Didn't you say it yourself? Survival of the fittest by the logic of power. If you're aggrieved, you should have been stronger than me."
"You...!!"
His cooled blood began to boil with rage once more, but Cain acted far faster.
He seized Ban's head firmly and poured in his death force, absorbing every drop of mana flowing through the body.
Caught by the sudden ambush, Ban let out a pain-filled scream and fainted on the spot.
"...Now it'll be a bit quieter."
Cain looked up. Beyond the horizon, the dawn was slowly chasing away the pitch-black darkness.
Dawn was breaking.