Chapter 111: Beast, Beast King, Human - Finale
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 111: Beast, Beast King, Human - Finale
Rasch the Undying didn’t much care if someone harmed his body. That remained true even in his weakened state within the Abyss.
Therefore, Rasch the Undying didn’t much care about Ebon’s condition, either. The fact that he was half-dead was not a consideration for the Undying. Nor was the fact that three forefist strikes would be fatal to him.
In a way, it seemed both fair and unfair, but the fairness of the same situation under different premises was also of no concern to the Undying.
He simply, seriously, and sincerely struck three times with all his might.
As a result, Ebon’s face was mangled.
The first blow shattered the protective Qi he had gathered. The second knocked him unconscious. The third extinguished the last spark of life that remained in him.
His nose was broken, his teeth sent flying. Blood streamed from every orifice on his face. When his claws, unable to withstand the force of the Undying’s power, shattered, Ebon staggered and collapsed to the ground.
Wow, and he was going to hit me like that? After I used my right arm a little, he told me to take just one hit?
He’s a genuine madman. If he’d hit me, I would’ve died instantly.
While I was shaking my head in disbelief, the Undying who had just beaten a man to the brink of death spoke with a hint of regret.
To me.
“Teacher, my apologies. It seems he’s in no shape to answer any more questions.”
Look at him, apologizing to me of all people. As far as he’s concerned, he threw his three punches, and Ebon’s state is no longer his problem.
“Ah, it’s fine. I wasn’t expecting an answer anyway.”
Because I can just ask his thoughts.
As I approached Ebon, the Undying asked.
“Do you require any assistance?”
“I’m terribly sorry, but could you please cover your ears? I’m about to discuss some sensitive matters regarding Lieutenant General Ebon’s personal life.”
“My ears? Alright!”
Despite the unusual request, the Undying complied immediately. He plugged his ear canals tightly with his fingers and shouted.
“They’re covered! Converse as you wish! However, I will keep watch, just in case!”
“Wow, he’s actually doing it.”
“What was that? I can’t hear you!”
I gave him a thumbs-up and walked over to Ebon.
Sensing his end, Ebon clenched his trembling hands in a futile gesture. His fingers scraped against the ground, but the concrete floor offered nothing to grip.
The sharp claws that symbolized his birthright merely scraped off a fine powder of concrete.
Ebon coughed up blood and murmured.
‘Humanity’s great desire… It was a chance to achieve it. I had to find Him. Find Him and….’
“You wanted to be acknowledged, didn’t you? As a human, not a catkin.”
Ebon Crimsonwilde, the catkin.
During the kingdom era, when hatred for beastkin was rampant, he fell into self-loathing and threw himself into the military, going so far as to cut off his own ears and tail. Aside from a select few, no one ever noticed he was a catkin.
Was it a misfortune or a blessing? ‘Someone’ noticed Ebon’s true identity and highly valued his resolve. With ‘someone’s’ support, Ebon’s career flourished.
But flourishing didn’t mean an easy path. Ebon’s life was a series of hardships. In the kingdom era, the military was little more than a bootlick for the knight orders, treated like weapons to be taken from an armory. One knight even discovered Ebon was a beastkin and blackmailed him. Ebon was forced to live like their slave, stripped of his money and merits.
His hatred for the kingdom grew by the day. He took a leading role in the coup d'état, and using the sharp senses of a catkin, he helped hunt down the remnants. The knight who had blackmailed him paid his debt with his life.
And so, after enduring such hardships, Ebon became a general of the Military State.
Of course, it wasn’t just time and experience that elevated him to the rank of general. Endless effort and contemplation, training so harsh he coughed up blood, and meticulously planned operations—all of it piled up, leading him to become a general.
When Ebon, now qualified, came face to face with the true nature of The Human Regime.
When he realized the true, hidden purpose behind the childish, superficial goal of gathering the Beast Kings to weaponize them.
Ebon decided he would see it through to the end.
Ebon the catkin became an executive of the radical human-supremacist group, ‘The Human Regime.’
The true purpose that had so captivated him was…
‘Him… In the end, I couldn’t find him….’
“Why are you trying to find Him? Is it because you think He’s the only one who can acknowledge and understand you?”
Ebon’s faint gaze turned to me. Even as his focus blurred, a question surfaced in his eyes.
‘…What is this? What… do you know… about us….’
“Mr. Ebon. Why do you need such a grandiose being to define your own nature?”
‘You don’t even know… who I’m looking for….’
He plans to keep silent even on his deathbed.
I have no choice. To see his deepest, truest feelings, I have to tell him.
“The being who vanished from history after humanity became the undisputed rulers of the surface. The one who marked the beginning and end of the Year One. A true king with the ability and right to rule humanity, unlike all the false kings.”
After humans, among the many beasts that roamed the earth, became the undisputed rulers of the land, the Beast Kings took on human form.
However.
There was a fact people often forgot.
Humans, too, are just one of the beasts.
“—Did you really need the King of Humans so badly?”
Some humans might vehemently deny it.
Others might feel disgust, as if a shameful secret has been exposed.
But humans were, are, and will always be beasts.
Therefore, a Beast King existed for humans as well.
Not some false king with paltry power, followed by a mere few hundred thousand, a few million, or a few tens of millions.
Ebon was searching for a true king, one who represented all of humanity.
“Even though the King of Humans hasn’t appeared once since the Year One began.”
Humans will serve a king of their own choosing.
Therefore, the King of Humans is not needed.
After that declaration, the King of Humans vanished.
After the Year One, in the era of kings, humans developed by serving their own kings, even without their true one.
Humans were superior, strong, and special. The elephants did not advance beyond the jungles and wastelands, and the tigers became masters of their mountains but could not drive out the humans.
Humans were, in name and reality, the dominant species of the surface.
Therefore, no one questioned why the Beast Kings took human form, and no one cared that the King of Humans didn't exist. They had too many kings to miss the one they had lost.
However.
Some in the kingdom, sick of all the kings on earth, sought to find the one true king who could unite them all.
Their reasons for seeking the true king varied. But Ebon’s reason for seeking the King of Humans was singular.
“I am not the one you’re hoping for, but.”
He wanted his humanity to be affirmed.
You are not a catkin, but a true human. You are my kin.
He wanted to hear it directly from the King of Humans, the one with the right and ability to say it.
“I will affirm it for you.”
‘How… dare you…! A mere laborer!’
As his life faded, he glared at me with his last ounce of strength.
I calmly made a declaration for him.
“Ebon Crimsonwilde. You are human. I guarantee it.”
‘What does the likes of you… know…!’
“That intellect, which meticulously lays out plans from the ground up, whether for good or ill; which executes them, learns from failure to aim for the next goal, and uses everything it has accumulated to achieve its objective. That will, which casts aside even one’s own life for a higher purpose—that is something that can only be conceived and function as a human.”
I am just an ordinary person who happens to read minds.
“What I’ve seen is but a fraction, but it’s more than enough. You are, in name and in reality, unequivocally, human.”
Therefore, I speak on their behalf. Lieutenant General Ebon is human.
“Even if you are a beastkin, you are a human who has inherited only a fraction of a beast’s traits. It’s just that your distant ancestor committed a terrible sin… well, to call it a sin is a bit much. It’s more like they were caught in a shameful spectacle they couldn’t boast about to others. Such traits are merely secondary. Your ears and tail do not define you.”
Having read him, I calmly comforted Ebon.
“The resolve to achieve your goal, even if it meant cutting off your own ears and tail, paradoxically reveals your humanity. You’ve worked hard, Ebon the human.”
‘…No way.’
Though my words were uttered without any authority, they were enough to satisfy Ebon. In his final moments, the words he needed had found him.
Born a beastkin, raised under constant persecution, he had helped destroy the kingdom that was the source of it all. He had fought his entire life for a cause no one would ever acknowledge.
The hatred of beastkin that didn’t change much even after the kingdom fell, the hateful remnants of the kingdom in the resistance, the fickle and difficult Beast Kings, and his own slow progress despite his efforts.
His hardships, his sincerity, his efforts. No one had ever recognized them. Until he met me today.
Just as he, having found a small measure of comfort from me in his moment of death, was about to close his eyes in peace—
Not so fast.
I can’t let you go yet.
“Besides, creatures like cats are too insignificant to even be grafted onto humans. You didn’t actually think they suited you, did you?”
At my single remark, the gold plating on his humanity peels away.
“Does having a pair of ears and a tail make the great reason of humanity disappear? No. Those ears and tail are like the faint moonlight obscured by the sun, no, like starlight whose traces can’t even be seen. You may have had ears and a tail, but you still became a lieutenant general through brilliant reason, endless perseverance, effort, and study.”
I affirm the human and deny the beast. I go beyond that and insult the beast.
But is this truly what he wanted?
“Think about cats. They chase sewer rats yet pretend to be clean and noble. Pathetic beasts that couldn't survive if they weren't cute, yet they're ill-tempered beyond their station. They're just needlessly tenacious. Even if you throw them out, they cling to life, surviving by roaming the back alleys. Do you share even a speck of similarity with those filthy furballs?”
He doesn’t. Of course not. Even as a beastkin, his way of life is human. He is an eternity away from a real cat. Even if Lieutenant General Ebon is a catkin, he cannot empathize with that.
And yet.
He cannot be happy.
“Perfect timing. Listen.”
I raised a finger to my lips, then cupped my hand to my ear.
And from far below, the roar of a beast echoed.
‘The King… of Dogs.’
Azzy’s roar. Immediately after, the sound of her leaping off the ground. Followed by Nabi’s scream.
Crack. The sound of something breaking reached all the way up here. Thud, thud. Something heavy was slammed into the ground a couple of times. The vibrations were so powerful they reached the rooftop, shaking the Abyss.
‘…The Cat King is no match for the Dog King in terms of power…. If they fight without a human’s intervention, defeat is certain.’
Just as Ebon predicted, it wasn’t long before—
“Nyaaahhh….”
A fading groan, like a life being extinguished, drifted up.
Azzy, having thrown off her chains, was now passing judgment on Nabi, who had tormented her until now.
By the merciless law that governs beasts.
“Wait! Azzy! Stop! If you keep shaking her like that, she’ll die…!”
Oh? It seems there’s been an interruption. Looks like the Cat King won’t be dying just yet.
Well, it doesn’t matter.
Ebon’s eyes were trembling enough.
“You see? They can barely cling to life unless a human shows them mercy. The Cat King might make a fuss, but she’s nothing compared to a dog. As a beast, or as a king. She’s on a completely different level. That’s why you tried to secure Azzy, and why you always had someone watch them when you left Azzy and Nabi alone.”
For a fleeting moment, Ebon was furious. Then, he couldn’t find the reason for his anger.
He was a catkin but had tried not to be a beast, abandoning his instincts and cutting off his ears and tail. As if that wasn't enough, he had even joined The Human Regime to be fully accepted as a human.
Ebon wanted someone to affirm that he was human.
However.
In truth.
“And the Cat King, driven mad by drugs. My goodness, has there ever been a Beast King so pathetic and miserable? Isn’t it astonishing? She should have just died. It’s a wonder catkin even exist, you know?”
“Stop… it!”
Even on the verge of death, Ebon burned away his life force to shout. Further words would only shorten his lifespan, yet he resisted violently, spitting up streams of blood.
“…Do not, insult… me! I’d rather…!”
“But I was insulting cats?”
“Damn… you…! Don’t lie…!”
“Haha. Finally being honest, are we?”
Why is he angry? The reason is simple.
“You never wanted to become human.”
He could never completely separate himself from the cat within.
“You just wanted to be accepted for what you are—a catkin.”
By none other than himself.
“That’s why you couldn’t give up your claws, and your fighting style strangely resembled a cat’s. You pitied the Cat King even as you despised her, so you kept her close to at least watch over her.”
He couldn’t bear to abandon the cat part of him that had been with him his whole life, and he wanted to be accepted for it.
But he couldn’t endure the persecution beastkin faced, coupled with the inferiority of beasts he learned of while part of The Human Regime, so he sought to be acknowledged as a pure human.
“Liar. You never even wanted to become purely human.”
His true desire pointed out at the very end, Ebon’s eyes widened.
“Farewell, Ebon Crimsonwilde. You, the half-baked human who cut off his ears and tail but could not give up his claws. You, the avenger who hated cats, but hated the kingdom that made you hate them even more. You, the pitiful servant who despised his king, yet could not abandon her until the end.”
‘Was that… it? Was I….’
“You tried to cut away a part of yourself and became a monster. Because you were already human, just as you were.”
‘…Maybe I didn’t hate it that much after all.’
A faint smile lingered at the end. And then.
With a soft finality, Ebon closed his eyes.
His had been a turbulent life, and he fought fiercely to the end. He hadn’t descended into despair, nor had he fallen due to blinding ambition. From start to finish, he had sprinted toward his goal.
Even if he had become severely twisted along the way.
Still, it’s a relief he found his way in the end.
I savored the small afterglow for a moment, then stood up and shouted.
“Mr. Rasch! It’s over! Let’s go down now!”
There was no answer. The Undying, whose body was made of a mud-like substance, had blocked out most of the sound by plugging his ears. Even reading his mind, I could see he hadn’t even registered my voice.
I faced the blankly staring man and mouthed my words exaggeratedly.
“Mr. Rasch! I said it’s over!”
“What? I can’t hear you!”
It seems he can’t hear a thing.
Wait, in that case.
“Hey, you dumbass undying son of a bitch! You were gonna hit me with a punch like that and told me to just take one? Just because you can’t die, you think no one else can? You’re a thug with no conscience! Stop plugging your damn ears and let’s go…!”
Around the time I said that, the Undying had already half-removed his fingers.
Our eyes met. I spoke awkwardly.
“You said you were going to keep your ears covered.”
“It seemed like you were done, judging by the atmosphere!”
“…You didn’t hear that, did you?”
“I didn’t hear all of it.”
Ahaha.
An awkward laugh passed between us as we faced each other. After a moment, I scratched my head and said.
“Darn, I talked for so long the ‘door’ closed. Still, I found a clue for our escape, so let’s head down.”
“Alright. But.”
The Undying raised a fist.
“Can I hit you just once? I’ll be gentle, really.”
“No. I’ll die. Really.”