A Divine Beast Is a Divine Beast
The presence pouring off that colossal white tiger was overwhelming—a terror of death no living creature could fail to feel. With that fear closing around her throat, she felt dying more vividly than she ever had in her life.
"Hahk... ghk... haah."
Unable even to draw a proper breath, she raked her hands roughly down her own arms, which had broken out in gooseflesh from head to toe. In a lifetime spent as chieftain, her legs had never once given out beneath her. Now they shook as wretchedly as grass trembling in the wind.
...So that's... what those bastards meant by a Divine Beast?
Despair filling her eyes, she looked up at the white tiger's form, so vast it seemed to pierce the heavens.
Honestly, she had underestimated it. She had hunted beasts they called Divine Beasts, Spiritual Beasts, more than a few times. Even after hearing the words "Divine Beast," she had dismissed it as just another animal. In this moment, she understood to her bones how foolish that arrogance had been—the arrogance of writing it off as a mere beast cub.
That thing was a god itself.
Softly, she unfurled a hand that would not stop shaking and looked down at the Black Scale the man in the robe had given her.
I'm supposed to... stick this on that monster myself?
A mad little laugh slipped through her lips.
"Those lunatics... they actually thought walking up to a monster like that and slapping this thing on it would be possible...?"
So as long as they could attach this scale, it wouldn't matter if every last one of them died?
No. There was no point thinking about that anymore. The war had already begun. How many lives had already been burned in this war... She had to answer for the warriors she had sent to the afterlife in the name of chieftain.
I looked down at the barbarians flattened beneath my paws, shaking like leaves. Huh. So even berserkers get scared, I guess. No matter how far they'd lost their minds charging in, it seemed they still felt fear. If they'd just surrender on their own like this, nobody would have to bleed. That'd be nice.
"WAAAAARGH!!"
Some of the barbarians who had been flattened on the ground started screaming, eyes bloodshot, snatching up their weapons again and shoving themselves back to their feet.
What? Why are those guys getting up again?
I tilted my head, baffled by the sight of them. They'd been shaking that hard, and now they wanted to charge again? They didn't look stupid enough to confuse courage with suicidal stupidity.
I scanned the surroundings for the cause of this and locked eyes with one particular human. A woman with red hair and copper skin, as if she'd been baked under a harsh sun. The moment she raised a massive axe in a trembling hand and made some kind of signal, the barbarian warriors who had frozen in place started moving again.
That's their king, then.
The aura rolling off her was on a completely different level. Someone that strong... even Kailian might be in a bit of trouble. The fighting spirit pouring from her entire body, and the scars carved into her skin, were proof enough of her strength.
I'd found the head. Smash it, and the rest of them would be finished.
I narrowed my eyes and immediately lifted my right front paw high toward that red-haired woman.
Grrngh... I won't kill you.
BOOOOOOM!!!
I brought the paw I'd raised crashing down on the earth without a shred of mercy. In an instant the ground heaved like a tidal wave, splitting open with a deafening roar. That single blow, bursting the earth itself, sent hundreds of barbarians flying into the air at once.
"GRAAAAGH!!"
"Ghhk......!"
The barbarian warriors took the shockwave full-on, coughed up blood, and collapsed unconscious, rolling across the ground. A single strike had swept away more than half the front line. At that nightmarish spectacle, the barbarians who had barely been clinging to their wits felt terror close around their throats all over again.
"Do not fall back!! Warriors who do not fear death!! Cut that monster's throat!!"
The red-haired chieftain's veins stood out as she seized her warriors' spirits once more.
Yeah, that woman really is the problem.
As if answering that fierce cry, the terrified barbarians rolled their eyes, steeled themselves for death, and came charging at me like madmen.
I don't actually want to kill people, though.
"WAAAAARGH!! Kill it!!"
"For the chieftain!!"
"If we can't get past this, we're dead anyway!"
Wow. They really are relentless.
By this point, you'd think they'd just give up—but they started burning their lives all over again.
I clicked my tongue at the sight of them and drew up the chill I'd inherited from Grandpa. A low hum rolled through me. Deep blue stripes blazed across my white fur as Frost Aura began to settle into my body.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
The Frost Aura erupting from my body in a single burst swallowed the charging barbarians whole. The ones who had been screaming in a frenzy froze solid on the spot, mouths still hanging open, transformed into grotesque statues of ice.
"Kh..."
"...M-my body."
The battlefield, which had been boiling with blood, went cold in an instant. I walked at a leisurely pace through the barbarians who had become sculptures of ice.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
I headed for the place where the red-haired chieftain still stood, still watching me.
"Hahk...... haaahh......"
She gasped for breath as she watched the white tiger that had turned her warriors into ice statues in a single moment draw steadily closer. Realizing her hands were shaking, she clenched her teeth in humiliation.
She had lived her whole life without ever showing her back. Monster or not, she was not going to freeze to death looking this pathetic.
SLASH!
She dragged the blade of the massive axe she was holding roughly across her own palm. Crimson blood dripped, and a ripping pain slammed through her skull. That sharp agony cleared the terror crushing her mind in a single instant.
"HRAAAAAAAAH!!"
She smeared the blood flowing from her palm thickly over the axe and howled like a beast. A weak dog has to bark. Her scarlet mana blazed terrifyingly along the axe's edge.
"Die!! You monster bastard!!"
She kicked off the ground, leapt, and brought the axe wreathed in red mana crashing down toward Blanc's head without a shred of mercy.
Grrrrngh...
But Blanc, looking almost bored, watched her fly in with his eyes half-lidded and opened his mouth.
KRAAAAAANG!!
"Kh—khhk...!"
With a single roar, the strike she had staked her life on shattered—and at the same time, even the massive axe in her hands couldn't withstand the sonic force of that roar, crumbling to powder in midair.
"Ghhk......!"
Swept up in Blanc's roar, she went flying backward like a scrap of paper and slammed into the ground.
Thud.
Blanc approached the woman where she had fallen and pressed his enormous right front paw down on her chest. He lowered his head and brought his sharp fangs right up to her face. The icy breath rolling from Blanc's mouth hit her dead-on—the gaze of a predator that looked ready to crunch her skull and swallow it at any second.
"Ghk...... ghhhk......!"
The instant she came face to face with Blanc's teeth, she finally couldn't hold on. She coughed up a handful of dark blood, her eyes rolled white, and she went limp, unconscious.
It's over. Kind of anticlimactic.
I glanced down at the chieftain passed out beneath my paw, then slowly lifted my head and swept my gaze around. The remaining barbarians had watched their chieftain get put down by a single roar of mine. On the faces of the ones who, moments ago, had been about to charge in out of their minds, fighting spirit had been replaced entirely by terror.
Looks like it's really over now.
The instant their eyes met mine, they froze as if they'd made a pact. To finish the battlefield, I lifted my head toward the sky and let out one last long roar.
KRAAAAAAAAH!!!
Clatter. Thunk.
The moment my roar ended, the barbarian warriors threw every spear and sword they were holding to the ground. Then they dropped to their knees, pressed their heads into the dirt, and offered a wordless surrender.
"WAAAAAAAH!!!"
"We won!! The Divine Beast has defeated the enemy commander!!"
The imperial soldiers who had been holding their breath on the walls screamed themselves hoarse, throwing their arms around each other.
Ah, I'm tired. This actually burns a surprising amount of stamina. I rolled my stiff neck and drew back the Divine Power I'd been radiating.
A burst of light—and my body, which had been like a great mountain, popped back to its original tiny size with a puff.
"Kyaaawm......"
I stretched out a yawn right where I stood, then gave my dirt-caked front paws a rough grooming, licking the pink jelly pads with my tongue.
Lick. Lick.
Gotta get the front paws clean. Otherwise dirt gets in my mouth when I eat snacks later.
"Blanc!!"
That was when Kailian leapt down from the walls, armor clattering, and came sprinting toward me at full speed.
"Kyaung! Kyau!"
Butler, I took care of everything. Hurry up and tell me I did a good job.
I lashed my tail wildly, scampered over, and hopped toward Kailian. Naturally, I expected her to scoop me up, pet me, and shower me with a torrent of praise.
Grab!
"Kya—kyauep?!"
Far from hugging me, Kailian seized both my cheeks in her hands and stretched them out like taffy.
"You—you little brat!! I told you not to jump in without my permission!! You ran out there by yourself and fought them yourself?!"
Kailian's face was flushed red—whether from anger or because she was on the verge of crying from worry, I couldn't tell.
"Who said you could go down there on your own!! What if you'd taken an arrow?!"
"Kyau! Kyaauuung!!"
That hurts! Let go! I even caught their leader for you, why am I getting scolded!!
I flailed with my cheeks stretched out like squishy rice cakes, pouring out my sense of injustice. This is so unfair! I stepped in, nobody got hurt, and I won the whole thing! She can't even thank me, and she's pulling my cheeks?!
"Kyaung...... kyuuu......"
I really fought so hard, though...... I hate you, Butler......
The moment I drooped my ears and my eyes welled up, Kailian's fierce gaze wavered.
"Haa...... seriously."
In the end, Kailian let go of my cheeks, let out a deep sigh, and crushed me against her chest in an embrace so tight I thought I might break.
"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm just glad you aren't hurt...... You nearly gave me a heart attack, you idiot."