Tail
Tail
The old beastman alternated his gaze between the orichalcum dagger in my hand and the dispersing black smoke, muttering to himself as if truly astonished.
"Hwanmong is the main body's ability... yet you dispelled it so easily. You... are strong."
The main body's ability?
I couldn't grasp exactly what he meant, but the energy he was giving off proved he was no ordinary opponent.
The old beastman, leaning on his cane, slowly looked my body up and down.
"Just from the energy I sense, I can't even begin to gauge how grueling your training must have been."
At his praise, I inwardly swallowed a hollow laugh.
The training where I ran laps around the training ground for days and got beaten to a pulp by Romanike until I was covered in dust was certainly grueling.
But the old beastman's admiration didn't stop there.
His two eyes, buried deep in wrinkles, suddenly shot wide open with an eerie gleam.
The chilling madness hidden within his murky pupils burst forth explosively.
He hideously bared his white fangs and tore the corners of his mouth wide.
"How entertaining! Entertaining!"
That bizarre laughter had barely begun to linger in the air.
-Paaht!
The old beastman's figure blurred hazily from my vision, and without even a moment to blink, he had already reached the tip of my nose.
I sucked in a breath.
'Again. Just like when he first appeared earlier, this harabeoji has absolutely no presence whatsoever.'
There was no sound of him kicking off the ground nor any noise of cutting through the air.
It was an unsettling movement, as if a ghost had skipped across space.
With no time to think, I instinctively raised my left arm fitted with the orichalcum gauntlet.
The old man's gaunt fist slammed down toward my forearm.
-Kwaang!!
With a tremendous roar, the earth beneath my feet split apart, screaming out.
Dust exploded upward in all directions.
I clenched my teeth against the heavy impact transmitted through the gauntlet, refusing to slide backward as I planted my feet firmly on the ground.
'Crazy... What's with this destructive power?'
His build was small, barely reaching my waist at best.
And yet, I couldn't begin to fathom how such absurd destructive power came from that scrawny frame.
If it weren't for the orichalcum equipment, my arm would have been shattered to pieces long ago.
The old beastman, blocked by my defense, immediately pulled his body back without hesitation, widening the distance.
Landing lightly on the ground, he opened and closed the fist that had just struck my gauntlet, as if gauging something.
Soon, he muttered quietly.
"Huhuhu... As I've aged, I wondered if I'd lost some strength, but I hadn't. Your armor is sturdy indeed."
The old man's eyes began to darken with deeper hostility.
"It's been a while since I've exerted myself. Keukeukeu..."
Along with his unpleasant laughter, a dark purple smoke began coiling up like a snake from beneath the old beastman's feet.
The surrounding air quickly sank into a cold, sticky stillness.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at that sinister energy.
The situation was bad.
Judging by the power that harabeoji was giving off, if we clashed at full force here, it was obvious that not only this shabby warehouse but the entire vicinity would be reduced to a wasteland.
And above all, right now behind me were the little ones who had just woken up and needed rest and stability.
Fighting in this cramped space was the worst choice for both me and them.
I had to relocate.
I quickly shouted toward Romanike, who stood firm behind me.
"Romanike-ssi! I leave things here to you!"
As soon as I confirmed Romanike nodding with a hardened expression, I kicked off the ground fiercely and launched my body at full speed toward the forest far away from the village.
"Where do you think you're running to!"
Just as I intended, the old beastman's gaze was fixed solely on me.
The waves of Aura had apparently properly stimulated his hunting instincts.
Without a single glance at the collapsed beastman children or Prodi's family on the floor, he began fiercely chasing after me toward the forest, emitting dark purple smoke.
The old beastman and I entered deep into the forest, covered by trees so large they blotted out the sky.
The old beastman, glancing around, clicked his tongue and spoke to me as if disappointed.
"A clear and strong energy with excellent equipment to boot is perfection, but your experience is lacking. To walk into a death trap of your own accord."
No sooner had his words ended than the dark purple smoke flowing from the old beastman's body thickened considerably.
With every step he took, the surrounding earth, thick tree roots, and even solid rocks blackened and rotted away.
It was a vicious energy that decayed every living thing it touched.
"From what I see, you seem unaccustomed to handling Aura. Choosing such a dark place under those circumstances... how regrettable, how regrettable."
Twisting the corner of his mouth upward in mockery, his form melted smoothly into the darkness as if dissolved in ink.
His presence vanished completely.
And the next moment.
-Peok!
A heavy fist flew in from behind my back.
It was a completely unexpected timing.
With no time to even defend, my body allowed the blow fully, rolling across the ground and sliding back helplessly.
"Huh... I didn't know there was something that could maintain its form while bathed in my energy. How entertaining! Entertaining!"
The old beastman's exclamation came from within the darkness.
But the admiration was brief, followed by a one-sided beating.
The pitch-black forest in all directions was entirely his stage.
Being struck left and right by an enemy with zero presence made my insides churn even while wearing sturdy armor.
If this continued, there would be truly no answer.
Whenever he appeared, revealing his presence from the darkness, I recklessly cast skills.
[1st Form: Sunset]
Golden sword aura slashed through the empty air and struck the earth.
As I continuously drew upon Aura, pain surged through me as if boiling lava had been poured into my blood vessels, searing through me.
The old beastman seemed momentarily surprised by the destructive power of my skills, but that was the extent of his reaction.
"Flailing about like that, you'll have a hard time hitting even when you want to be hit... Time to finish this. It's been enjoyable."
Along with his voice echoing all around, dark purple energy began whirling fiercely into his right arm.
The old beastman, about to launch his attack, stopped moving.
Sensing something strange, he glanced around.
The dark forest that had densely obstructed the view was now clearly opened up.
The indiscriminate attacks I had recklessly thrown out hadn't been aimed at him.
My true goal had been to cut down all the massive surrounding trees.
Standing in the middle of the now-open clearing, his figure came clearly into my sight.
"Aren't you being too careless?"
I whispered lowly from behind the old beastman.
The orichalcum dagger, held in reverse grip, traced a smooth yet sharp arc.
As it cleanly sliced off his right arm, the arm, losing its strength, spun through the air and plopped to the ground.
But it was strange.
Even with the arm severed, there was no blood... not a single drop of blood.
It was as if I had cut a lifeless model arm from the start, the cross-section completely hollow.
"......!"
The face of the old beastman, laughing leisurely just moments ago, instantly contorted hideously like a demon.
Soon, he kicked his severed right arm, stained dark purple, sending it flying toward me.
Just before it touched my body, the right arm burst with a popping sound, transforming into a toxic dark purple smoke that engulfed me.
"It seems you're the one who was careless... No matter how sturdy your armor, it's hard to block smoke. The poison I make is quite effective. It was enjoyable, young one."
His sour voice, convinced of victory, came through the fog.
But before my eyes, an indifferent blue notification window appeared.
[You resist poisoning.]
I steadied my breathing and pulled up my Aura.
Cutting through the poison fog, a horizontally stretching golden line was drawn.
The trajectory of the orichalcum dagger precisely grazed past the old beastman's neck.
A thin line slowly drew across his neck, and soon his head plopped off, rolling onto the ground.
I exhaled roughly and reviewed the battle moments prior.
If I hadn't had status effect immunity, I would have had my bones and flesh melt away and my breath cut off inside that terrible poison smoke.
It was as I was patting down my chest in relief.
"Hahaha! A complete defeat. You've won."
The old beastman's head, rolling on the ground, writhed grotesquely and burst into hearty laughter.
The severed head stared straight at me and continued speaking.
"But the next time we meet, I won't be defeated so easily like this."
With those final words, the old beastman's head and torso crumbled like bone-dry sand and scattered into the air.
Among the remains reduced to ashes, something tinged with pink was left lying alone on the ground.
"A tail...?"
Approaching closer to examine it, it was a pink tail.
The tail lying on the ground was whisked away somewhere as if drawn by a magnet, instantly disappearing into the void.
I stared blankly down at the empty ground.
What on earth I had fought until just moments ago, what that bizarre tail's identity was— I couldn't begin to understand at all.
A palace so vast and wide that even the smallest breath echoed and reverberated heavily.
At its distant end, atop a splendid jade throne, a fox beastman with long, flowing pink hair was sprawled out.
She let out a long yawn, chin resting in her hand with a languid expression as if everything in the world was boring to her.
It was then.
Cutting through the silence-filled void, a single pink tail shot in like an arrow.
It was the very same bizarre tail that had vanished into thin air in the forest moments ago.
The tail slid smoothly toward the sleek, white curve of her waist where she lay on the jade throne, then gently attached itself as if it had always been in its rightful place, merging into one.
Her lazily half-closed eyes lifted, as if with interest.
"Hoh... to think the 1st Tail would lose..."
She let out a small exclamation of admiration and closed her eyes gently.
Through the tail just reconnected to her main body, vast fragments of memory began flooding into her mind like a crashing wave.
The fierce offense and defense that unfolded in the dark forest.
The indifferent gaze of the man who had withstood the terrible poison fog emitted by her avatar as if it were nothing and, tracing a dazzling golden arc, cleanly severed its neck in a single breath.
Having watched every process of the battle that the tail had experienced without omission, she slowly pushed open her closed eyelids.
Between her red lips curving into a smile, sharp fangs gleamed chillingly.
A deep emotion of play whirled and blazed within her eyes that had once been filled with apathy.
"An interesting fellow has come up, hm?"
Rising from her jade throne, her enchanting yet chilly laughter echoed eerily throughout the empty palace.