Chapter 108: Beast, the Beast King, and Human - 4
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 108: Beast, the Beast King, and Human - 4
I read the wind.
As I quietly read someone’s mind with my flowing thoughtsense, their desires linger within me for a moment before vanishing, leaving only an echo. Most desires simply pass by like that.
But sometimes, a desire will swirl violently within me before it can flow out the window.
Whether it is wicked, dangerous, or audacious, it is the fate of a mind reader to be unable to ignore a desperate wish, even if I try.
It can’t be helped. I read thoughts, after all.
When the wind flips the pages of a book, rustling words fill the empty spaces below. At first glance, it may seem chaotic, but watching the story continue, however precariously, always fills me with a sense of solemnity.
Imagine a beautiful epic poem before you—one woven more tightly than stacked bricks, more intricate than interlocking gears, a complete whole in which every single letter holds its own small meaning.
It would only be natural to anticipate what might be written in the margins.
And always…
A sentence that wishes to continue, a book that gazes beyond the final period—that is what truly shines.
A book that seeks to end, to conclude, to find the most perfect final punctuation, paradoxically prepares only the worst of endings.
For there is no perfect life in this world, and to feign perfection is to be riddled with lies and contradictions.
That is why I hate obvious lies. Especially if they are lies meant to deceive even oneself.
A commotion arose from outside. It was the sound of the Regressor suddenly clashing with Nabi.
They must have been fighting close by, as I could clearly hear the Regressor’s flustered voice.
“This bastard! Gripping a mana herb in his severed right hand…!”
Lieutenant General Ebon, pretending to be consumed by madness, had charged the Regressor, only to sacrifice his right arm instead of attacking. The arm was cut clean off by the Regressor’s counterattack, flying uselessly through the air.
Taking advantage of the Regressor’s surprise, he fled at a furious pace. As the Regressor gave chase a moment too late, Ebon’s severed right hand opened.
In its palm was a mana herb. Cinders clung to it, and thick smoke billowed out, scattering toward the Regressor.
At the same time, Ebon exhaled a cloud of mana herb smoke he had been holding in his mouth as he ran. A paper-wrapped mana herb might have been different, but the intense aroma of the burning smoke was more than enough to provoke Nabi.
Nabi, left with only her instincts, followed the scent and came face to face with the Regressor.
The two of them flowed seamlessly into battle.
From feigning a fight to the point of revealing the shame of his beastkin nature just to lure his opponent into a false sense of security…
To enduring the pain of holding a lit mana herb in his mouth when he could have simply smoked it.
It was a thriller, meticulously crafted from the very bottom up.
If all this had been an effort to live, I would have given it a standing ovation.
However.
If all this was just the desperate struggle of a man trying to deceive himself, if what I was reading was nothing more than the self-consolation of someone chasing a false goal…
Then the more fiercely it was constructed, the more its meaninglessness made the whole thing feel hollow.
“The Cat King is here! Stop him before he does something!”
I heard the Regressor’s shout from a distance, but he had already done something.
And now, he was about to do something more.
The claw that had pierced Callis’s abdomen, running from back to front, silently dripped with blood.
“The Dog King… does not manifest the Star of the State. Because the Wolf took all the ill omens for itself.”
Lieutenant General Ebon let go of the claw. In his hand was a chain—the very one Callis had thrown off.
He was a catkin and knew how to approach his prey in secret. Callis, distracted by the appearance of the Undying, hadn't noticed his approach. Not that it would have mattered if she had.
Her opponent was, after all, one of the Stars of the Military State. Even for a lieutenant colonel, the gap in power was immense.
Ebon wrapped the chain around the claw’s handle and tied it tight. The claw was the anchor, the chain its rope.
Having gutted Callis with it, Ebon muttered grimly.
“But there is a time when the Dog King manifests the Star of the State. It is not when it faces its own death. It is… when it has killed a person. When a human loses their life as a result of the Dog King’s actions. That is when the Dog King manifests the Star of the State.”
Ebon’s gaze followed the chain. At the other end was Azzy.
The chain was still tied around her front paw.
Callis had managed to undo the chain from her neck, but Azzy, busy fighting Nabi, had not had the chance.
“Even if it was not of its own free will…”
Because it’s not that a dog doesn’t kill a person. It’s that a thing that doesn’t kill a person is a dog.
If a dog is made to kill a person, if a human makes the Dog King kill a human…
The ancient promise between dog and man wavers, and the line between wolf and dog begins to blur.
That is why Azzy cannot intervene, even as humans kill other humans. Because no one must die as a result of her actions.
She closes her eyes, covers her ears, and retreats into a corner.
“Attacking your own side. What are you trying to…? Huh?”
While Tyr reeled in shock, unable to process the sudden turn of events, Ebon rushed toward Azzy. Azzy, who held nothing but goodwill for humans, offered no resistance as he approached, raised his sharp nails, and seized a fistful of her hair.
Then, Lieutenant General Ebon broke into a run.
“Yelp! Woof woof!”
Azzy’s eyes widened as she was dragged by her hair.
Not from pain, but from the understanding of what was about to happen.
The other end of the chain on her paw was attached to the claw embedded in Callis’s body. If Azzy was dragged any further, the chain would pull taut, and the claw, with its hook-like curved blade, would tear out all of Callis’s muscles and organs.
The wound was already fatal. If the claw was pulled out now… Callis would die instantly.
Even if it wasn't by Azzy's own power, a person would die because of her.
Since Azzy wouldn't be killing a person with her own strength, the foundation of the promise wouldn't be shattered, but rampaging with the Star of the State active now would also be dangerous. This was the isolated Abyss.
If she so much as broke the ground, they would all fall.
“Woof! Woof woof woof! Let go! Ruff!”
Azzy struggled desperately. Even as she was being dragged, she dug her claws into the ground and walls, resisting with all her might.
But Azzy herself wasn't very heavy, and the lieutenant general was a powerful Qi practitioner in his own right. More importantly, the concrete walls and floor were too weak to fully withstand her strength.
There was only one way to escape.
“Go on and rampage, Dog King! But to stop me with your power, you’ll have to kill me! That would be fine by me, too!”
“Whimpeeeer…!”
But that was an even more impossible option.
The distance to death was about fifteen meters. Azzy was digging her claws into the ground, holding on for dear life, but the time she bought was measured in seconds.
If this continued, Callis would die, and Azzy would rampage. Even if she didn't try to kill any humans, they would have to subdue her to protect this place.
Such incredible obsession. A chilling malice billowed from him.
No one but me could read the depths of his scheme. Then again, who could have imagined it? To use his own life as a hostage to shackle another with the chains of death.
But I read it.
And the moment I did, I was already running.
Callis was dying, and she would be dead soon. The moment this chain ran its course.
The instant the claw pierced her abdomen, she knew she was going to die.
‘I wanted… to live. But I guess it was too much to ask. I’ve made so many wrong choices. It’s too late now.’
This was the end she had reached after all her struggles. And at that end, what Callis felt was a sense of relief.
She had done everything she could, and with what little strength she had, she had achieved something, however small. She had regrets that she hadn't acted sooner, but that was a trivial feeling everyone experienced.
‘…I hate beasts. Even before my father died, I hated them. Filthy, unclean things. They don’t make any effort, just live their carefree lives. We all die… the same way….’
As a member of the Human Regime, she had some knowledge of the Dog King. In her fading consciousness, she vaguely understood what Ebon was about to do.
And the fact that she would be the sacrifice for the Dog King’s rampage.
‘…Even if I die, I won’t be killed by some dog.’
With a trembling hand, Callis reached back and grabbed the handle of the claw. She tried to pull it out with all her strength.
In the distance, she could see Rasch running toward her. Callis thought she was glad to see him in her final moments.
Perhaps this would be the last act of nobility she, a woman full of mistakes, could perform before she died….
“I prefer this story better. Even if both sides are desperate, if one side’s desperate resolve is built on a childish lie… it feels a bit empty, you know?”
I am the one who listens to the wind.
To those who wish for an ending, a perfect conclusion.
To those who wish to continue, a blank page to write upon.
The impossible is impossible.
But if it is possible, I make it so.
‘That laborer! When did he get over there!’
I heard Lieutenant General Ebon’s thoughts. When, you ask? From the moment I read your mind, I was already running. While you weren't paying any attention to me.
I stood behind Callis, flexing my fingers one by one before placing them on the chain’s knot.
As expected, escape magic requires an assistant.
“Just a second! I'll get you free! I used to be quite the lockpick back in the day!”
I shouted confidently as I pulled at the knot in the chain.
Clank, clank.
The chain rattled uselessly. The knot only produced a metallic clinking. After fumbling with it for a moment, I let out a flustered sound.
“Huh? Huh? W-Why won't it come undone? That's strange.”
‘Fool! That knot was made by twisting a Level 4 alchemic steel chain with sheer force. Do you think you can undo that in a matter of seconds!’
Lieutenant General Ebon sneered at me as he reached the chain’s limit. Azzy’s claws carved long gashes in the concrete as the slack in the chain gradually disappeared.
‘Now, I just have to pull the Dog King! And because of the Dog King, the lieutenant colonel will die!’
“Ah! Th-this thing! Just a minute! It should work!”
Clank, clank. The metallic sound, as if something wasn't catching, continued. The lieutenant general, sensing his victory, put his full strength into it.
‘Let them all sink to the bottom of the Abyss! Until I return to collect their corpses!’
He gave Azzy’s hair a sharp tug. Just as she was about to let out a terrible scream…
The chain pulled taut. The lieutenant general’s strength transferred through Azzy, into the steel chain, and reached the handle of the claw, and then…
With a soft thunk…
The handle of the claw broke off.
That is, only the handle, leaving the blade behind.
Ting, ting.
The handle, still tied to the chain, bounced uselessly on the ground.
There was no sound of flesh being torn apart. No horrific scream. The claw remained embedded in Callis’s abdomen, staunching the flow of blood.
Only the ‘handle’ of the claw, tied to the chain, rolled across the concrete floor.
In an instant, everyone's expectations were shattered, the minds of those who couldn't grasp the situation bleached white.
Yes.
I love this silence, this blank space that follows the end of a magic trick. Unable to contain my surging delight, I spread my arms wide and exclaimed.
“Su~rprise! Ta-da! Escape, successful!”