Chapter 511: Human to Human
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 511: Human to Human
“Whew. It feels great causing a scene. Though the thought of cleaning up the mess is daunting.”
“What? You actually think about cleaning up? You always go all out, so I thought you never had a plan.”
“Since coming to Ende, I've been way more strategic than you!”
With everyone gathered in the clearing, Ende felt unusually deserted. The Regressor and I walked through the empty streets, talking.
“To be honest, I don't really care if we go to the vassal states. There's no reason to consider Ende's situation at this point.”
‘Stopping the Wolf King was much easier in the vassal states than in Ende. When Ende fell, the vassal states would gather all their forces to fight the Wolf King. Wanting to fight him in Ende is just me being stubborn.’
And that stubbornness is ridiculously persistent. Is it because she's a Regressor? In situations she knows nothing about, she's aggressively proactive, but once she's experienced something even once, she becomes quite meticulous. Seeing her connect with the merchant guilds, contact the higher-ups, and bring in the Beast Faction in Ende really makes me feel like she's regressed.
…Then again, maybe it's just her routine. In any case, I understand that the Regressor wants to resolve Ende's problems as peacefully as possible.
“You're not going to abandon Ende, are you?”
“Only because you said you have a way. I don't know what else will happen here, but I mean that going to the vassal states is still an option.”
“That won't be necessary. I'm done with the pig beastkin. I've shown them that they, too, were human. A wish that has been granted must now be let go.”
Primal desire is nothing to be ashamed of. What's strange is being unable to call a natural thing natural.
I want to live better. I want what they have. Isn't that natural? But then you have some who claim humans are inherently superior to beastkin, and others who say everyone is equal so they should just hand things over. It's a complete farce.
I just want to strip away the wrapping paper they use to dress up their beastly desires. I'm telling them to go back to being beasts.
The Regressor looked at me with suspicion.
“…You have a way of saying 'human' that sounds subtly derogatory, you know?”
“If you think I'm being derogatory, Shei-ssi, it's because your expectations for humanity are set too high. My attitude has always been consistent.”
“Well, even if they're not expectations, I can still demand a common-sense reaction, can't I?”
“But even that 'common sense' differs from person to person.”
“That's true, but it's called common sense because there are parts that are the same.”
“The moment you admit there are different parts, something's already wrong. Eventually, someone has to 'fix' those different parts. And that's what a fight is.”
Refuted, the Regressor tried to say something more, but just let out a grunt.
“So? What can we do to knock some sense into those idiots?”
“For now, Shei-ssi, you just keep causing a ruckus like you always do.”
“How should I do it?”
“No need to think about it. If you just do whatever you feel like, Shei-ssi, that's a ruckus by definition.”
The wild-caught is different from the farm-raised. No matter how much I rack my brain, I can't keep up with the Regressor. So I'm telling her to do as she pleases.
The Regressor narrowed her eyes and shot back.
“You've been subtly insulting me this whole time, haven't you?”
“Of course not. They're here!”
No sooner had I shouted than several horse beastkin appeared before us. They were fast, it seemed. It hadn't been long since we'd escaped the clearing on the wind, yet they had already found us.
“Found them! Here! Over here!”
“That thing is…!”
“Phu-hing? I'm just a scout!”
As the Regressor unleashed her fierce aura, the horse beastkin fled with his tail between his legs. He was only using the most basic Qi Art to enhance his running, but that alone was enough to make us lose any will to chase him.
“It'd be easier to kill them than to catch them. Not that we need to!”
Right after the horse beastkin vanished, several other beastkin rushed to the spot. A cloaked beastkin who spotted the Regressor and me shouted.
“Report to Chief Grul! We'll hold them here!”
“The Beast Faction?”
There were few in Ende who could match the Regressor's power. The reason I say "few" is because of him.
Grul. The pig beastkin who has reached the Axiom. The Regressor gripped Chun-aeng, her body tense.
‘Why the Beast Faction? Have they decided to side with Ende completely this time?’
The Regressor possessed overflowing Qi and had mastered exceptional Qi Arts, but even so, she was slightly inferior to a Qi Practitioner who had reached the Axiom. It was a difference in split-second judgment and instinct that couldn't be explained by simple power or speed—in other words, a difference in talent.
She has Chun-aeng, Jizan, and countless other treasures and powers. A fight doesn't mean a guaranteed loss. But.
‘It's a pain in the ass! Fighting an opponent when you don't know if you'll win or lose!’
The Regressor raised her Qi and yelled.
“Get out of my way!”
Skyblade Art, Meteor Shower.
Broken debris and chunks of rock were swept up in a storm. As the Regressor, cloaked in wind, brought her blade down in a wide arc, hundreds, thousands of fragments rained down upon the Beast Faction warriors.
She had intended to neutralize them quickly, but the warriors of the Beast Faction were not so easily dealt with.
“Cloaks!”
Seeing the downpour of debris, the warriors immediately shielded themselves with their leather cloaks.
Thud-dud-dud, thud, thud.
The leather cloaks sounded like beating drums. The debris, repelled by their Deflection Qi, fell powerlessly to the ground. Having deployed their Deflection Qi, they had easily weathered the Regressor's attack.
The warriors personally trained by Grul were no less impressive than those of Obeli. They formed Heaven and Earth (Geon-Gon) with their Qi, and though they hadn't grasped Water (Gam), they had instead tempered their tough beastkin bodies. Comparatively, they were on the level of the Military State's Generals. Their mastery of Qi Arts might be lower than a General's, but unless it's a fight between humans, the refinement of a technique isn't much of a factor.
The same was true now, as the Regressor was the type to rely on power more than Qi Arts.
“Tch! It would've been easier if they'd just gone down with that!”
The warriors of the Beast Faction gritted their teeth against the heavy impacts and shouted.
“Don't cross blades with her! She's an expert. Use the water buffalo hunting formation—push and pull!”
“Thanks for calling me an expert!”
Without anyone needing to tell her, the Regressor instantly charged forward. Watching her cause a scene just as I'd told her to, I quietly glanced at Azzy.
“Azzy. Shall we go?”
“…Woof.”
Azzy nodded weakly, as if deeply disheartened by what had happened earlier.
Here's the plan. No, it's more a matter of my own mindset.
I've granted the wish of the Okma. They've earned the human-like right to ruin things for themselves, and they're abusing it with abandon. If they want to handle it themselves, who am I to interfere?
Now, I want to check on another wish. Granting that one might just save the city.
“Huh? You're—!”
The moment a pig beastkin pointed at me, recognizing me, I grabbed his finger and broke it. I seized him as he screamed from the sudden pain and slammed him into the city wall.
My strength isn't enough to break stone walls, but Earth Art made it possible. The wall caved in exactly as much as I pressed him into it. The pig beastkin was embedded perfectly, as if he had been one with the wall from the start.
I glanced around, looking for my next victim.
“Next.”
“Uh, uh… In—!”
Before he could finish the word 'Intruder,' I threw a card.
Swish.
The electrified card embedded itself in the pig beastkin's shoulder. Blood spurted out. For a beastkin of Ende who lived a rough life, it was a mere scratch, but the problem was the spool of lightning that traveled through his blood. The pig beastkin convulsed as the electricity coursed through his nerves and collapsed.
“The hand is quicker than the eye. Not the right time for that phrase, I guess.”
I dusted off my hands and opened the gates to Obeli.
With Obeli's leadership temporarily absent and the Regressor rampaging in the heart of Ende, Obeli's defenses were weaker than ever. And within Obeli lay a tempting prize that everyone coveted.
“Woof woof woof woof!”
“Rescue the Public Citizens!”
The dog beastkin, including the Obeli guard dogs, took this opportunity to attack Obeli. The proud and solitary Obeli suffered the humiliation of being conquered twice in a short time. Not that Obeli itself would feel anything.
The dog-humans attacked the pig-humans as if to unleash all their pent-up resentment. The pig-humans, who seemed to have been hastily recruited just to fill the ranks, were cut down helplessly.
A coup at such a convenient time. It wasn't exactly planned. This, too, was bound to happen someday. To be the victim of a coup… they're the same in that regard. It means they're human, right down to their downfall.
“Magician… I'm not forgiving you! I'm only letting you be because you're with the King!”
“…Woof.”
“No, King. I wasn't yelling at you, Your Majesty… Tch, whatever! We'll meet again!”
One of the humans shouted, leading the others. High on momentum, the humans ran through the neat streets of Obeli, throwing open the gates to every house. If they found a Public Citizen, they rescued them; if they found a human, they threw a punch. Those fists didn't discriminate between men, women, or children. The only thing they distinguished was whether someone had pig ears.
Either screams or cheers echoed through the streets. In terms of bloodshed, it was even worse than last time. Back then, only the Public Citizens were targeted, and the humans who led the coup hadn't even used violence against them.
“This is no place for the likes of piggies!”
“Felt good playing the master, didn't you?”
But against humans with different ears, no such restraint was shown. On the contrary, they only carried out more brutal retribution.
“…Awoo, awoo.”
Azzy squeezed her eyes shut. From her perspective, the last time was probably much better. At least then, humans weren't the ones suffering.
Well, I'm thinking the same thing. Aren't they getting a little carried away?
The one with the real power is someone else, after all.
“Kyeaaahk!”
The desperate screams of the dog beastkin echoed. In front of Obeli's prison, in an alley where a significant number of Public Citizens were confined, the dog beastkin who had swarmed to liberate them were swept away like fallen leaves. Seeing their comrades beaten to a bloody pulp, the Obeli guard dogs faltered and backed away.
“What's wrong? Didn't you say this was no place for the likes of piggies?”
A massive pig beastkin walked calmly toward them. Overwhelmed by the intense pressure, a dog beastkin with its tail tucked between its legs shouted in desperation.
“S-Stop! Didn't you hear what I said? Any more resistance will be considered treason against the vassal states…!”
“Try me.”
The Beast Faction refers to the nomads who wander the Enger Plains. A mix of all sorts of tribes, races, and origins, they belong to no nation. Crying 'treason' on behalf of another country is hardly a threat to them.
In the first place, threatening a powerhouse who has reached the Axiom with treason was a pathetic bluff. Grul scoffed and raised his fist.
“Frightened beasts are just noisy. Stop barking like dogs and show me your strength.”
“Urk…!”
As all the surrounding dog beastkin faltered and retreated, I, who had been standing still, was left relatively in front. Grul spotted me amidst the chaos and spoke as if he had been expecting me.
“I've been waiting for you, Magician.”