Chapter 303
Chapter 303
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 303
Chapter Title: Sky Mountain Range (9)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It stood about three meters tall.
The beast looked like an exquisite fusion of a leopard and a bull.
It had the sleek body of a cat, mismatched with a pair of crude horns.
Fast yet strong, flexible yet sturdy, its footsteps shook the ground.
“……”
The moment I saw the black beast emerge from the thick fog, I knew instinctively.
‘It’s strong.’
Stronger than any beast I had ever faced.
[M-My child.]
Vega’s anxious voice reached me.
I wanted to put on a brave face and tell her not to worry, just to reassure her.
But before the glowing red eyes of the black beast, even a boastful bluff was hard to muster.
“Huhu! This is Behiring, nyang!”
Felice stood naturally on her two feet despite her feline form, arms crossed.
Behemoth walked to her side, its eyes glinting menacingly as it crouched, ready to leap and tear out Oh-jin’s throat at any moment.
It was far too ferocious to be given a cute nickname like ‘Behiring’.
Oh-jin bit his lip, transforming Dantalian into its spear form.
“Hmm? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of fighting Behiring, nyang?”
Did she expect him to tremble at the sight of Behemoth and surrender to being her butler?
Oh-jin smirked, aiming the spear in his grasp at Behemoth.
“I told you, didn’t I? I have no intention of becoming an Apostle to some ‘Satellite’.”
“……”
At the word ‘Satellite,’ Felice’s expression twisted viciously.
She sharpened her claws and scratched the floor irritably.
“If you didn’t smell so good… I would have just killed you, nyang.”
So that meant she didn’t intend to kill him just yet.
That was a relief to hear.
If Behemoth came at him with the intent to kill, I wasn’t confident I could last long.
“Behiring! You can just reattach his limbs later, so go teach that punk a lesson, nyang!”
“…Are you sure you’re trying to get a butler?”
It’s not like he could magically reattach severed limbs. What was this crazy cat thinking?
“Grrrrrrr.”
Behemoth glared at me, letting out a savage growl.
As I stared into its blood-red eyes, a chilling fear crept up my spine.
This wasn’t the first time I had faced a ‘Spirit,’ a being that inherited a part of a Constellation’s soul.
Riark, for one, was a Spirit just like Behemoth.
In terms of actual ‘rank’ between Spirits, Riark was likely stronger than Behemoth.
However.
‘Riark can’t use his full power because of the laws’ restrictions.’
Behemoth, on the other hand, was probably unrestricted by the laws and could use its full strength.
If a Constellation could use a ‘Sanctuary’ outside of a Sanctuary and remain unharmed, there was no way a Spirit, who faced significantly fewer restrictions, couldn’t use its full power.
[I shall grant you my bless—]
“Don’t.”
Vega couldn’t use her blessing right now due to the backlash from the last time she’d granted it.
If she forced it, she might be bound by the chains of light again, just like before.
[B-But!]
“It’s fine. She said she doesn’t plan to kill me.”
As long as I don’t die, I can get back up.
Even if my arm is severed, even if my leg is shattered.
I can fight.
[W-What nonsense are you spouting!]
“Vega.”
Oh-jin grinned and walked toward Behemoth.
“You know me.”
Though some of it was nothing more than a swindler’s lies.
Not everything she had seen of him was false.
Oh-jin stood before Behemoth, spear in hand.
Just looking into its fiercely burning red eyes made his legs tremble.
And yet.
For that very reason.
“Come on.”
He had no intention of backing down.
“Grrrrrrrrr!”
*CRASH!*
The ground shook.
Before the sound of the earth splitting could even register, a dull impact slammed into my body.
“Keuk!”
What I faintly saw was a black wind.
Even though I hadn't let my guard down for a second, I couldn't follow Behemoth's movements at all.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Oh-jin was sent skipping across the ground like a stone on water.
Did that last blow break my ribs?
A sharp pain constricted his chest.
“Exceed!”
Ignoring the pain, he forcibly contracted his mana circuits.
The flow of mana from his stigma quickened, granting him a momentary burst of explosive power.
“Grrrrrr!”
Once again, a black wind surged.
‘Hound of the Weaver.’
Lightning spread out in all directions, flooding his mind with information about his surroundings.
If he couldn’t see the movements with his eyes, he would have to track them with his other senses.
The tremors in the ground, the subtle shifts in the air, the approaching scent of the beast.
‘To the right!’
He dropped low, rolling across the ground.
He felt a massive paw graze past him, just above his waist.
*Crackle!*
He imbued the tip of his spear with the energy of Explosive Lightning and swung it upward from below.
A blast of blue lightning erupted from the spearhead as it touched Behemoth’s belly.
“Kuaaaargh!”
Behemoth hastily retreated.
It hadn’t pierced its hide, but he had succeeded in dealing damage.
But there was no time to relax.
Behemoth, having backed away, was now baring its teeth with an utterly enraged expression.
“Grrr!”
A black aura enveloped Behemoth’s body.
It lowered its head until it nearly touched the ground, aiming the sharp horns on its forehead at Oh-jin.
It kicked off the ground violently, charging straight forward like an enraged bull.
The movement was simple, but it was too fast.
*Shred!*
A chunk of flesh was torn from his thigh.
Oh-jin endured the pain shooting up from his thigh and fired a wire, wrapping it around Behemoth’s horn.
“Ugh!”
His body was lifted into the air by a terrifying force.
Using Lightning Step on his mangled thigh, he focused lightning into both hands.
‘Charge!’
*Crackle!*
Blue lightning condensed in his fists.
When six charges had layered on top of each other.
“Discharge!”
*KRRRA-KRAKRAKRAK!*
A torrent of blue lightning flowed through the wire.
“Kuaaaaaaah!!”
Behemoth began to rampage, writhing in agony.
Oh-jin’s body, connected by the wire, was mercilessly slammed into the ground.
A heavy pain spread throughout his entire body.
“Keuk!”
Its strength was so overwhelming that even the word ‘brutish’ felt inadequate.
It would be one thing if it was just strong.
But even as it thrashed in pain, it shrewdly aimed a back-kick at Oh-jin.
*Whoosh!*
He kicked off the air with Lightning Step, narrowly avoiding the kick.
*Srrk!*
He severed the wire and slid across the ground to create distance.
“Hmm, you’ve got the skills to back up your big talk, nyang.”
Felice, who had been observing the fight between Behemoth and Oh-jin, watched with sparkling eyes.
She had witnessed countless battles, but few had ever fought so evenly with Behemoth.
“But that’s all it is, nyang.”
It wasn’t that there were none who had fought evenly with Behemoth, just that there were few.
And all of them…
Ended up as cold corpses, trampled beneath Behemoth’s feet.
“Behiring! Put some more power into it, nyang!”
Behemoth glanced back at Felice.
The black beast nodded slightly as if to say it understood, then bared its teeth ferociously and charged at Oh-jin.
The black winds overlapped, becoming a massive storm that began to rage.
“Keuk! Ugh!”
Oh-jin groaned as he desperately fought back against Behemoth’s onslaught.
But the outcome of the battle was already clear as day.
“……”
Vega watched Oh-jin get sent flying, coughing up blood, her fists clenched tightly.
“Hmph, not going to help, nyang?”
Felice approached Vega, as if to taunt her.
“You act all high and mighty as the Polaris Constellation, but in the end, you can’t do a~nything but watch, nyang?”
Felice cackled, mocking Vega.
She was excitedly jeering at Vega as if she’d seized a golden opportunity, but in truth, she knew.
As long as the laws’ restrictions were in place, all Vega could do was watch.
Of course, she could use her power and accept the consequences.
“Was he not that precious to you, nyang?”
What kind of insane Constellation would gamble their very existence to save a single human?
The responsibilities and duties placed upon the Polaris Constellation were immense.
The disappearance of a faint ‘Satellite’ star would be no issue, but if Polaris were to vanish, the entire Sanctuary would be thrown into great chaos.
Though she had never seen it herself.
The Vega that Felice knew was a Constellation who would never make such a choice.
[…No.]
Vega calmly shook her head.
“What do you mean, no, nyang?”
[That child is precious enough to protect, even if it means my own existence is extinguished.]
“Hnyang?”
Felice snorted as if to say, ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
“All talk and no action, nyang!”
All Constellations were the same.
They clung to empty honor and deceived others with honeyed words.
A frustrating bunch of old-timers.
Felice wore a venomous sneer as she watched the battle, which was rapidly approaching its end.
“Grrrr!”
Oh-jin’s body was sent flying back as if flung by Behemoth’s paw.
The damage his body had accumulated was already substantial.
A deep claw mark was etched across his chest, deep enough to expose his ribs, and his left leg was torn off below the knee.
He was so grievously injured, it would be no surprise if he died on the spot.
“That’s enough, nyang!”
Judging that any more would kill Oh-jin, Felice stopped Behemoth.
Behemoth, which had opened its mouth to tear off the fallen Oh-jin’s arm, froze in place.
“Grrr.”
Licking its lips with regret, Behemoth closed its mouth.
Felice looked down at the bloodied and collapsed Oh-jin and smirked.
“Feeling like becoming my butler now, nyang?”
“……”
“What, nyang? Did you pass out, nyang?”
Her excitement fading, Felice turned her head back toward Vega.
“If you don’t want to see your child get hurt anymore, you should give up too, nyang!”
“……”
Vega silently looked down at the fallen Oh-jin.
“Hmph! Ignoring me again, nyang?”
[…Ah.]
Vega let out a short gasp and nodded.
[I see. So this is what it meant.]
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
“…What, nyang?”
[Did you say you took a liking to my child?]
“I just picked him as a butler because he smells good, nyang.”
[His smell… huhu.]
Vega covered her mouth and chuckled softly.
Felice frowned at her incomprehensible behavior.
“…Why are you laughing, nyang?”
[No. It’s just that now I know for sure.]
Vega turned to Felice, a cold sneer playing on her lips.
[You truly know nothing about my child.]
“What’s that supposed to mean, nyang?”
*Grrrrr!*
Just then, Behemoth’s urgent cry was heard.
Felice turned her head to where Behemoth was.
Oh-jin, who she thought had collapsed unconscious, had somehow propped himself up, grabbing Behemoth’s mouth and horn with both hands.
Holding Behemoth’s head, Oh-jin leaned in close and opened his mouth wide.
“What are you trying to—!”
Felice’s eyes shot open.
Before she could finish her sentence.
*CRUNCH!*
Oh-jin’s teeth sank into Behemoth’s red eye.