The Beast King (2)

I seized Amulie as she scrambled to get away and forced myself into her, working my hips hard to drive her corruption higher.

An hour of that later…

GROOOOOAAAAAR—!!!!!!!!

A furious, bestial howl tore through the dungeon from the entrance.

The Beast King had arrived.

A guest shows up, you go out and greet him.

"I'll go alone."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Don't worry. I'm not planning to jump straight into a fight. I'll start with a war of words. If he looks like he's about to come at me, I'll bolt right back here, so just sit tight. We're going to have to fight him either way, so get ready for combat. Oh — and those two might try something, so just knock them out cold."

"Don't worry about that. And be careful, Alan."

"Goes without saying."

I shrugged off Canisia's worried look and headed for the dungeon entrance. Two rooms later, I spotted the Beast King walking straight toward me.

He was a powerfully built man, about six-foot-one, with brown hair that fell to his shoulders.

Status window.

Oh, fuck. I'm completely screwed.

One look at Pygris Toneo's status window — the man they called the Beast King — and I knew I was in deep shit.

He wasn't even a maxed-out 6-star Master at Level 120. So why the hell was he this strong? Traits, stats, skills — the Beast King didn't have a single weak spot. Those skill levels told me everything. Unlike the usual kings who got lazy the second they sat on a throne, this bastard had kept grinding.

Montblanc, you fucking human toilet! You matched me against this guy?!

The only reason I'd gone after the Beast King in the first place was because the mission Montblanc had handed me was to kill him. I had a grudge against her, sure — but personal feelings aside, I had to admit she was a capable, formidable woman. So I'd assumed she'd matched me with someone I could actually take down.

I was wrong. The Beast King was far stronger than I'd expected. Way stronger.

Hah… I'm so fucking tired. Suddenly I just want to quit everything.

I had to fight that monster. My head already hurt just thinking about it.

Current gems… 10,000. Better top up another 10,000 just in case.

Before he got any closer, I quickly converted 100 million Gold into 10,000 gems. That brought my total to 20,000 — enough to fire off Molt twenty times.

And the Beast King hadn't come alone. Five more Fairies stood behind him. Christ, how many Fairies did this guy have?

Gems converted, I checked their status windows next. One 6-star, two 5-stars, three 4-stars — and every last one of them had pushed their physical stats, Strength and Agility and the rest, right up against the cap. A pack of monsters.

Heh heh heh… this is getting interesting.

Up until I'd captured Rodica, this had been Easy mode. Now the difficulty had spiked overnight. This was Hell-tier, wasn't it?

But it was too late for regrets. There was no way out. I had to fight the Beast King, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠period.

Not that I actually regretted it.

Sure, I'd been caught off guard by how much stronger the Beast King and his Fairies were than I'd expected. But I didn't regret a thing. I couldn't keep picking easy fights forever. This world was crawling with people stronger than me — thick as grains of sand. If I wanted to survive in a world like that, I had to learn how to fight people stronger than me and win.

The Beast King was a powerhouse. Killing him would net me more than I could count.

Before we got down to business, I opened my mouth.

"So you're the Bea— huh?"

"GRAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"What is wrong with this lunatic?!"

The rumors about the Beast King's rage issues were true. He charged me before I could even finish the sentence.

I threw myself backward. His fist slammed into the spot where I'd been standing.

KRA-BOOM!

The floor cratered with a blast like a grenade going off.

"How dare you come after me?! I'll kill you, you trash!"

"Hah hah hah. Yeah, this bastard's got anger issues, all right."

Spitting fire, the Beast King came at me again. I couldn't keep dodging forever, so I charged him right back.

I threw a punch. He didn't bother to slip it — he threw one of his own.

WHAM!

"Ghk!"

"Tch!"

Both our heads snapped to the side at the same time. A notification bloomed in front of my eyes.

I'd taken the Beast King's punch instead of slipping it, and Hard Counter kicked in. It was a Rare-grade trait: land an attack without blocking the enemy's, and your Strength goes up by 3 points until the fight is over.

And I'm still weaker than him.

Even with the +3 from Hard Counter, my Strength was still one point short of the Beast King's. And he hadn't even used Beastman Transformation yet — the Beastman-exclusive ultimate. That skill boosted physical stats by 1 point per 10 levels. His was Level 40, which meant Strength, Agility, Vitality, and Durability would all jump by 4. Taking him down before he popped it was the best-case scenario, but…

"Die, you trash!!!!!"

"Not happening."

He threw another punch. I swung right back. What followed was a mindless brawl — no defense, just two idiots trying to beat each other to death.

Fuck, this guy is disgustingly strong!

Every time his fist buried itself in my body, I felt it in my bones. It hurt like hell. But I didn't back down. I'd walked my own road through hell to get here, thank you very much.

WHAM!

"Fuck!"

Still hurt like a bitch, though!

"Hah… hah… you small-fry piece of shit. Your nose is bleeding, you bastard."

"You trash dare to…"

We broke apart, both of us gasping. I'd thrown defense out the window and gone all attack, attack, attack, so I looked like I'd been put through a meat grinder. But I wasn't the only one. The Beast King was in just as bad a shape. While he'd been working over my whole body, I'd focused everything on his nose. It had swollen up like a grapefruit, and a double nosebleed painted his philtrum and chin a bright, ugly red.

I locked eyes with the Beast King and fired off Molt. Every cut closed. My drained vitality snapped back to full. My body felt brand new.

"Done resting? Then let's fight fair and square, you animal."

"Ha! Fair and square?"

The Beast King snorted. His swollen face had settled almost instantly, so he knew I'd used some kind of healing skill. And here I was talking about a fair fight. Of course it pissed him off.

But so what? This was a fair fight, as far as I was concerned. If he didn't like it, he could go ask Ouroboros for an Incarnation class of his own. He'd just have to tithe three thousand gems a month. No — six thousand.

Fuck, just thinking about six thousand gems pisses me off all over again. Even Iron Man said I love you 3000. Who the hell does she think she is, shaking me down for six thousand?

The six thousand gems Ouroboros peeled off me every month sent a fresh wave of rage through my chest. And I intended to dump every last drop of it on the Beast King.

"Master. Let us help."

One of the Fairies who'd been watching from behind spoke up. They were going all-out from the start — animal ears of every kind had already sprouted from their heads, and matching tails flicked behind them.

Hmm… one against seven is a bit much, even for me.

One-versus-seven would have been ugly on a good day. The fact that every single one of them was a Beastman made it worse. Even with my bottomless stamina, this was going to be a squeeze.

"Forget it. I'll kill this trash with my own hands."

Beastman Fairies backing him up would have made this a complete stomp, but the Beast King waved them off himself. He had a different order for them.

"Go inside and get Rodica and Freevy out."

For the record, Amulie was my Fairy now. The soul bond between them had snapped, so the Beast King assumed she was dead. But the bonds with Rodica the wolf Beastman and Freevy the squirrel Beastman were still intact, which was why he was sending the others in to extract them.

I'd rather that 6-star didn't go in there.

The rest I could live with. Beastman was a mid-to-high-tier bully of a class, sure — but I hadn't raised my party to be pushovers either. They could hold out until I put the Beast King down. As long as that 6-star Fairy stayed out of it.

"Yes, Master."

The order dropped, and the Fairies broke into a run. Not one of them entertained the slightest possibility that the Beast King might lose.

"Not a chance!"

I cut them off as they tried to get past me. Six of them — no way I could stop them all. But I only needed to stop one. The 6-star. Keep her here, and my party could handle the rest.

"Hmph!"

The 6-star Fairy — the rabbit Beastman, Bunny — snorted and launched herself into the air. A rabbit Beastman through and through. The jump was absurd.

I said you're not going.

I snapped off Black Barrage and hurled a volley of black orbs at the rabbit Beastman hanging in midair. I'd been fighting the Beast King on raw physicals alone, so my Magic Power was sitting pretty.

BANG!

"Kh!"

Even airborne, Bunny twisted with ridiculous agility and slipped most of the orbs — but she couldn't dodge them all. One caught her clean and knocked her out of the sky. The rest of the Fairies, though, all made it past me and disappeared deeper into the dungeon.

"You arrogant piece of trash! You dare take your eyes off me?!"

"Ghk—!"

In the split second I'd spent tagging Bunny, the Beast King had closed the gap and driven a fist into my solar plexus, roaring with rage. The air left my lungs in a rush and I went flying.

"GAAAAAH! You fucking bastard! You're dead today! I'm going to fucking kill you!"

"You're the one who dies, trash!"

"Ah, fuck!"

I hurled myself sideways.

KRA-BOOM!

His fist punched a hole in the floor where I'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just been. He had the Boxing Champion trait — massive damage boost on punches — which explained why he never used his legs. Fists only, every single attack.

He came at me like a charging bull, swinging without pause.

I slipped his punches and fired Will-o'-the-Wisp at the same time.

"Kh?!"

I'd popped it point-blank as an ambush, and he couldn't get out of the way of the wisps swarming around me. All thirty-one fireballs sank into his body. Burn effects bloomed across the skin under his armor.

"HAAAAH!"

The Beast King staggered — and Bunny came at me in his place. Unlike her Master, who only used his fists, her specialty was her legs.

"Kh!"

I got my arms up in time to cover my head, so her foot didn't crack my skull — but the impact still sent me tumbling sideways.

"You trash… you dare pull cheap tricks?"

"Trying to take on the Master and me at the same time… you've got some nerve."

The Beast King snarled like an animal. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Bunny stood at his side and mocked me.

I pushed myself to my feet and fired Molt again. Every ache in my body vanished like it'd been washed away.

As long as I could fight while chewing through gems, I was never going to lose.

What, too cheap? Then go get yourself a mythic-grade class.