The Weakest Beast's True Nature
The weakest beast, Narkhan, surprisingly reacted to the returning slash.
The explosive surge in his beastly senses and physical abilities, granted when he was chosen by the flames.
But even though he'd clearly dodged it perfectly, the slash sliced into Narkhan like a lie.
"Cough...!!"
What the hell!
Narkhan couldn't comprehend this situation at all. The slash he'd thought he'd perfectly evaded had come back around.
But Narkhan was called the immortal beast. A wound like this was nothing to his regenerative powers.
"......"
It should have been. Yet, unbelievably, the healing wouldn't come.
Gah, an Authority...?
Narkhan's mind began spinning rapidly. Right, demons wielded Authorities. So he needed a 'law' to override it.
Narkhan pulled a potion from thin air.
Relic
Heals wounds
"Heh."
Narkhan wasn't a dumb beast. He trusted his abilities but never thought himself invincible. Naturally, he'd prepared relics for situations like this.
Narkhan uncorked the healing water and poured it over his wound. As expected, the injury began to knit closed. Narkhan grinned vilely, baring his teeth.
"Now it's my turn."
The moment the words left his mouth, Narkhan unleashed all his mana. It was the full release of everything he had—his fangs grew sharper and longer, his body swelling to over twice its size, like a baobab tree come to life.
Flames erupted from his mane. But Yi Han-su's reaction was stoic.
......?
Narkhan couldn't understand why Yi Han-su stood so confidently even after he'd released all his mana. No fear, no emotion at all—just watching with mild interest.
"Hey, looks like you're misunderstanding something."
In that instant, flames began bursting from Narkhan's body.
ROOOAAARRRR!!!!!
It was Yi Han-su's flames. Far hotter and fiercer than expected—like hellfire that could burn the world to ash.
"Grah!!! Cough!!!"
So intense that flames spewed from his mouth instead of blood. Narkhan's eyes widened. This was... the flames every Light Priest possessed.
"Then!!!"
He'd just overpower it with even stronger flames! Narkhan summoned his fire with all his might.
ROOOAAARRRR!!
Flames hot enough to melt the surroundings—like ones that could incinerate the world.
But...
Those weren't Narkhan's flames. His fire couldn't consume Yi Han-su's. It felt fundamentally different, from the root.
Why! Why! WHY!
Desperation flooded Narkhan's face. The arrogant confidence vanished, leaving only the expression of a groveling beast—like back in his monster days before gaining intelligence.
I'm gonna die.
Death. The most terrifying thing in the world. What every living being fears.
Even as hotter-than-hell flames poured from him, Narkhan felt cold.
So... cold...
So cold his body shuddered uncontrollably. His beastly instincts sensed the death looming before him. And they screamed.
Bow down and beg right now. Beg for your life. That's your only path to survival.
"Sp... spare me."
Narkhan begged the man looking down at him like an insect. Maybe... just maybe he'd be spared. Despite appearances, he was the leader of the hardliners. He had power to offer. Surely he'd be useful.
Narkhan blurted it all out, but the response wasn't affirmative.
"Oh, Narsatbi... you're under some delusion."
The voice was ice-cold.
"I'd say anything to help you out, but that doesn't change who you are. You have to believe in yourself, Narsatbi. You know relying on others is pointless."
"...Spare..."
"That's not it. Sometimes feelings and facts are totally different, Narsatbi. But you need to tell if you're giving up because it feels impossible, or if it's actually impossible and you have to quit, Narsatbi."
Out-of-nowhere words of wisdom. Narkhan couldn't make sense of what to do. He pondered their meaning.
"......"
No way that's possible!!! Is he telling me to deal with these flames? If I could, I'd have done it already—I wouldn't be begging like this.
"Chad! I can't! I can't survive these flames! I was wrong! Please, withdraw the fire!"
Narkhan screamed in agony. He was really going to die. How... how had he survived this long...! He couldn't die here!!
"......"
"I... I'm worthless! Have mercy, please!"
As Narkhan whimpered pathetically, Chad's face twisted in disgust.
"Gal(喝)!"
A sharp rebuke rang out. Chad crossed his arms and yelled at Narkhan for real.
"Stop thinking. Self-pity's no good! Look at what you did today! Even if it's small, you've changed! That's it! Keep pushing forward day by day without stopping! That's the immortal beast Narkhan!"
Narkhan reflected on his actions that day.
'Please spare me! I'm the demon of the goblins!'
'Die, you demon bastard!'
A strong demon taking out his fear of the top demons on a weak one. No matter how strong he got, he couldn't challenge the apex. That was the demon-monster dynamic.
'Grrr... keng keng!'
'Heh, disobey Narkhan-sama and you'll face big trouble.'
He'd forced a speechless priest to do evil deeds. He didn't know when it started, but his eyes kept drifting to a fellow monster-origin priest. When rejected, he'd compelled her by force...
'Narkhan-sama, look at my creation!'
'Another piece of garbage like this!!!'
Crash!
'Waaah!'
There was always that sculptor priest. She'd pick up stones and carve them, proudly showing off. But Narkhan never looked closely—just smashed them on the floor. He thought such things were beneath him.
"......"
Narkhan realized it. He hadn't changed at all from his mindless monster days. His gaze shifted through a large hole in the wall.
Caw caw! Chirp! Two crows savagely attacking a sparrow. The sparrow could only take the beating without resistance.
......
"Heh......"
A laugh escaped. What he'd done proudly as a Light Priest—overwhelming the weak with violence, thinking it the greatest act.
But... wasn't that exactly what those crows were doing?
He'd wanted to escape being a beast, but he'd never truly done so. What he'd seen as the pinnacle was just mindless birds' behavior. How pathetic.
He wanted to change. He didn't want to end up like his unintelligent kin.
Look at those monsters. Dumb, repulsive, weak. Crawling on four legs, unable to speak, just howling. He despised his own kind.
Like a chimp taught sign language despising its family. The others seemed stupid and incomprehensible because they couldn't communicate.
But... he hadn't been smart from the start. Just like that chimp learned from humans, he'd gained intelligence from 'His' flames.
I was...
Just a monster, huh. Monsters are evil—that's common sense. But even with a chance to change, he'd chosen the monster path. Himself.
Narkhan lifted his fading body and looked up. A single man in a red demon mask gazed down.
Demon? Human? Unclear. But... but...!!!
"Hey, Chad. What am I?"
The question piercing Narkhan's life—and he couldn't answer it. He knew the truth but couldn't accept it.
"Wrong."
A quiet word. Narkhan chuckled bitterly.
"Hey, you bastard. What am I?"
Maybe... gods don't exist. Just a delusion. Maybe he'd just worshipped monsters like himself as gods.
"You're a monster."
"...I see."
The expected answer. Narkhan bowed his head. Just a monster after all.
"But."
But...?
"Do you know the two ways to piss someone off?"
"What?"
"First is trailing off mid-sentence."
"Got it. And the second?"
Sssshhh...
But Narkhan never heard the second. Overwhelming flames consumed him entirely. As he turned to ash, he wondered.
What was the second way to anger someone?