Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 67
Chapter Title: Beastkin Assault
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"Hahaha, nothing you can't do, huh?"
Was it because of the Latent Dragon Squad's impudent response that struck her as so absurd?
Tia let out a hollow laugh.
What kind of race were the beastkin?
Even in the north, overflowing with fierce steppe warriors, there weren't many humans superior to the beastkin.
In the long history of the beastkin, the number of humans acknowledged by them could be counted on one hand.
Yet here they were, being disrespected by mere greenhorns from the southern continent.
"Well... we haven't shown ourselves to the world in far too long. Who would've thought brats who haven't even grown their peach fuzz would dare treat us with such utter contempt."
Killing intent began to mix into Tia's words.
"Oh, right. You said you're from the Lichtenauer Martial Clan, didn't you? That explains it."
Thud!
"Pissing and shitting yourselves while throwing a tantrum like frogs in a well. You get treated like some big shot martial clan in this puny kingdom, so you think you're hot stuff?"
Tia stepped forward, extending her hand.
"I'd love to chop you up into cube steaks right this instant... but sadly, we're short on time too. Our boss has a finicky personality, you see. So, I'll give you one chance."
Suppressing her killing intent that seemed ready to erupt at any moment, Tia offered a conciliatory gesture.
"Put down Princess Isabel on your back nice and easy and slink off to the corner, and I'll let you live. How about it?"
Neither Tia nor Adam had imagined they'd waste so much time dealing with just one novice princess.
If this dragged on, getting surrounded by the Aslan Kingdom's knight order and guards rushing in would only be a matter of time.
"Ah, this is a rare opportunity, you know? I'm not usually this nice."
Thus, she swallowed her rising anger and extended mercy.
But what came back was only scorn.
"Are you insane?"
"You must think we're the kind of trash soldiers who'd abandon our kingdom's princess so easily. Not that there's any reason we'd do something that crazy, but if we did... we'd end up dead by our captain anyway. And besides."
Swish!
Ralph slowly drew the halberd from his back and leveled it at Tia with a growl.
"I don't care who you are... but aren't you the ones looking down on the Lichtenauers?"
The martial clan, Lichtenauer.
The strongest family on the southern continent, steadfastly guarding Aslan Kingdom's foremost line against the inhuman demonic realms and great calamities.
The pride that glorious name inspired was no less—no, greater—than that of the beastkin.
"...Tch. Some idiots always beg for the stick even when you offer them candy."
Shururuk! Shruk!
Tia began unwinding the translucent silver threads coiled around her arms.
"If dying like that is your wish, then I'll make it come true!"
Screeech!
As negotiations broke down, Tia swung both arms through the air as if she'd been waiting for this.
At the same moment, ten strands of silver thread shot toward the Latent Dragon Squad.
It would be a mistake to dismiss them as mere threads.
The cat tribe's silver threads were lethal weapons that tore flesh and shattered bone.
Enemies who foolishly underestimated them while responding inevitably suffered fatal wounds.
But the Latent Dragon Squad was different.
"Hup!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Ralph began spinning his halberd at high speed.
The increasingly rapid rotations soon formed a massive barrier.
Perhaps because the space between buildings wasn't wide.
The barrier created by Ralph's long halberd covered the entire front of the Latent Dragon Squad.
Like a single shield.
Ting, ting! Tingting!
Tia's silver threads, blocked by the halberd's curtain, bounced off in all directions.
No, it didn't end with just bouncing.
Whiririririk!
Several strands, unable to escape the shaft's rotational force, were instead wound around Ralph's polearm.
As if sucked into an antlion pit.
"Wha—what?"
Wobble!
As the threads tangled on the halberd, the silver strands shortened in an instant.
Tia's once ample threads pulled taut, shaking her body from afar.
In this situation, Tia herself would be dragged in instead.
"Kuh!"
Snap! Pluck!
Tia hurriedly severed the threads and widened the distance again.
A faint flicker of panic appeared in her eyes.
The cat tribe's silver threads, wielded freely, were undoubtedly threatening weapons.
However, neutralize the threads, and cat tribe warriors posed no further threat.
Thus, blocking the threads was always the top priority in combat against them.
But it was a fact unknown to those unfamiliar with fighting cat tribe.
'How does that brute know this...? No, it must be a fluke.'
Tia forcibly calmed her startled heart.
As she had moved, Adam was now advancing from the rear.
So it wouldn't be too late to move again once the rear collapsed.
Kwaaaang!
A punch from Adam echoed from behind.
The bear tribe Adam's fist was no joke for ordinary humans, so Tia had no doubt the rear would crumble soon.
What happens when a human fist clashes with a blade?
It was common sense even a passing child knew.
Naturally, the fist would be pitifully severed by the sword.
That was the general rule.
Human bone and flesh couldn't be stronger than metal, after all.
But.
Sometimes, such common sense shattered.
Like right now.
Kwaaang! Kwaang!
Ryu An Pallkion's greatsword clashed with Adam's fist, unleashing a thunderous roar.
If there were a fist harder than metal, this is what it would be like.
"Not bad for a young punk!"
Smack!
Even as he met Ryu An's greatsword head-on, Adam showed no intimidation and pressed forward to break the rear.
Or tried to.
Pipipipit!
Adam, who'd been pushing Ryu An, suddenly jerked his head back.
The moment he did, hidden weapons grazed past the spot.
Sylvia Clonen, right behind Ryu An, had thrown them to support him.
"Watch out, Ryu An."
"Yeah, thanks to you, I'm alive."
Thanks to Sylvia, Ryu An caught his breath, recovered his sword, and reset his stance.
"......"
Adam, head raised, licked his lips.
A warm, fishy taste of blood spread across his tongue.
Even as he ducked his head, blood trickled from a long gash on his cheek.
"Poison... interesting."
Adam's eyes, which had been playful, turned serious.
The bear tribe literally possessed the strength and hide of bears.
Naturally, their defense was incomparable to ordinary humans.
But every strength had its weakness.
Though they had a bear's power and skin, unlike true bears, the bear tribe had a fatal flaw.
They were vulnerable to poison until becoming a true "bear-like" powerhouse.
One could tell from how his fist, unscathed by Ryu An's sword, tore open from a mere child's toy-like dart.
'No way it's coincidence.'
Once could be luck, but twice was no accident.
Glance!
In the distance, Ralph—who had ensnared Tia's silver threads—slowly stopped spinning his halberd.
"Urgh... this woman's weapon is just thread, but why does it sting so much? Not a spot untouched."
Behind the halberd's shaft, Ralph's body was covered in cuts everywhere.
The entangled threads had lashed back at him.
"Well, still... just like the captain said. Neutralize her threads, and she's manageable."
Groaning, Ralph unwound the threads one by one from the vibrating shaft and tossed them to the ground, asking Ryu An.
"Ryu An, how's the bear over there?"
Gurgle, gurgle!
Ryu An, calmly pouring a vial from Sylvia onto his sword, replied flatly.
"Leave this one to me."
Clang!
He tossed the empty vial aside and adjusted his stance.
"I'll take responsibility and handle him."
Swish!
Behind the confronting Ralph and Ryu An, Dane and Sylvia naturally took position.
At the center, Helena checked on Princess Isabel while holding her bow, ready to support at any moment.
This was the surefire formation Ian had taught the Latent Dragon Squad before leaving the Shurton tavern.
And Tia and Adam recognized its meaning as well.
The stuff poured on that sword was surely poison.
No doubt a lethal one.
"Tia, be careful. These guys... they seem to know how to handle our tribes."
The beastkin were a race whose existence was barely known even in the northern continent's Krohoka.
Yet among the rare humans who did know, a tiny fraction of veteran hunters mastered the optimal ways to fight them.
"Heh..."
Shruk! Shuruk!
Tia drew new silver threads to replace the severed ones, her eyes gleaming coldly.
Their formation reminded her of the damned hunters who'd tormented her kin for ages.
"So you do have something to rely on... not nothing at all. Though I wonder if it'll go as you expect."
Swish!
Without shifting her gaze, Tia shouted to Adam in the rear.
"Handle it yourself, Adam. I'll focus here."
Wiping the blood from his cheek, Adam grinned fiercely at Tia's words.
"You focus too, and don't drag me down."
The beastkin knew the hunters' tactics as well.
In that case.
The fight would come down to who outmaneuvered the other.
Flash!
Adam and Tia charged at the Latent Dragon Squad simultaneously.
Shrieeeek!
A heavy iron staff laden with rotational force swung.
The motion targeting Ian's torso center carried lethal intent.
Kiiing!
The black sword and white blade crossed to catch and deflect the staff aside, but perhaps the power fell short.
It wasn't enough to fully dissipate the immense force.
Kwaaaang!
Slightly off-course, the iron staff smashed into the building wall.
Rumble!
Cracks raced up the building in an instant, causing it to collapse.
Tremble...
Even just a slight deflection sent unspent shock rippling through Ian's hands.
But this was merely the beginning.
Whirirarak!
The man spun the staff viciously and swung again at Ian's feet.
Thud! Thunk!
Ian dodged using Blood Cloud Step, but the iron staff dug into the hard ground like soft mud.
No need to mention a direct hit; even a graze brought a chilling dread of torn flesh and shattered bone from the spin, knees weakening on instinct.
"Dodging like a rat!"
The man, frustrated by Ian's slippery evasion, swung the staff even more ferociously.
But Ian gazed at the familiar staff arts with nostalgia.
'Indeed, the wolf tribe's staff techniques. Their fearsome power hasn't diminished.'
It had been the same in the past.
The wolf tribe.
Alongside the tiger tribe, they boasted the beastkin's strongest martial prowess, a valiant clan.
Once they shared a cup of trust, they never betrayed it... a magnificent tribe.
Thus, Lucas had sought to walk together with such wolf tribe under the empire's umbrella.
If this moment were.
A chance encounter with a wolf tribe warrior while visiting the northern continent.
A place to witness their martial arts after so long.
Ian would have faced it with great joy.
But here and now, confronting wolf tribe staff arts filled Ian only with bitterness.
It had to be that way.
Taerang, the tribe's leader.
He was one of the few true friends who shared Lucas's will.
"Brother, Hegemon who will rule Agena. Never give up... survive to the end."
Taerang had transcended human-beastkin divides to share brotherhood.
The Taerang in Ian's memory was a man who, after Lucas's death and the Alexandor Empire's fall, would wrap things up and retreat to remote lands.
No other human could shelter the beastkin, he'd declared.
Not just Taerang.
The cat tribe king White Cat, bear tribe king Hegemon Bear.
All had broken tribal tradition—isolating from the world, backs turned to one man, Lucas—to step into this world.
Beastkin cherished their kin like children and parents, bonds thick as blood.
If Taerang chose seclusion, not just wolf tribe but other beastkin would vanish from Krohoka too.
Yet...
Despite Lucas's death, beastkin still roamed the world openly.
He didn't want to think it, but there was only one reason.
They'd accepted another 'friend' besides Lucas.
And the one they'd accepted was surely.
'Siegfried Dupel, that bastard.'
Siegfried Dupel, hailed by the world as a hero, had taken everything from Lucas.
His life, nation, talents, status.
And... even his friends.
Grind!
Was it because he faced a friend's trace in this unwanted way?
Clang!
Ian's swords, gritting teeth as they clashed again with the wolf tribe man's staff, seemed to wail in sorrow for some reason.