VOLUME 11: CHAPTER 16

VOLUME 11: CHAPTER 16

[Talverton Stronghold]

After the demons retreated, under the command of Vaungur and the surviving officers of Talverton, the beastmen started fixing the stronghold’s defenses. They recovered the bodies of their dead comrades scattered about, and those who were injured were taken to the infirmary.

Although Lark had healed and cast protective spells on their bodies, the sheer number of demons caused numerous casualties on the beastmen’s side.

The infirmaries located inside the still intact towers were quickly filled to the brim, and the goat beastmen, who were renowned for their medical knowledge, were forced to set up their tents outside. The image of injured beastmen lying on the ground, groaning and sweating from fever, became a ubiquitous sight.

“We need more hands here!” shouted a goat beastman.

Along with the shamans from minor tribes, goat beastmen were heralded as the best healers in the United Grakas Alliance. The Goat Tribe lacked military prowess, but their medical knowledge granted them a relatively high status within the Alliance.

“We do not have enough medicine left!”

“Prioritize the critically injured patients first!”

“Over here! Move them to that tent!”

Frantic shouts were heard as the able-bodied beastmen, regardless of gender and age, moved those who were injured to their beds. Some pitched new tents, some boiled water, and some grounded medicinal herbs.

Van Bucky, the black rabbit Protector, watched everything anxiously as he roamed about the stronghold.

“It’s no good! The walls to this side had taken too much damage! It’ll be faster if we just replace the entire part of that barricade!”

“Move the stones over there!”

“One, two, three! Pull!”

“Make way! Make way! We have a critically injured warrior here!”

If the Talverton Stronghold was like this after surviving the demon army’s attack, Van couldn’t bear to imagine the current state the Iron Mountains was in right now.

According to the Falcon Shifter, most of the beastmen in the Iron Mountains had been killed by the demons already. The demons’ slaughter didn’t discriminate between warriors, foremen, and slaves. Without remorse, they massacred everyone, even those who’d surrendered and put down their weapons.

“Still looking for your brother?” said Hatch.

Although the chances of finding the person he was looking for here was low, Van roamed all of the remaining defensive lines in search for his little brother. Under normal circumstances, it would have been nearly impossible for a slave to escape the Iron Mountains. The slave collar aside, they needed to bypass the security of the Foremen and Rocky Fort if they wished to reach Talverton Stronghold.

Still, Van looked through all of the injured beastmen in the stronghold. He didn’t want to simply stand here and do nothing. Even if he couldn’t find Fior here, it would still confirm that the strategist rabbit still hadn’t escaped the Iron Mountains. It would significantly reduce the scope and radius of his search.

“It feels shitty, doesn’t it?” said Hatch.

The whale beastman still carried his massive battle axe on his back as he followed Van around.

“Although we won…,” said Hatch as he looked around. “We hardly look like winners.”

After the demons retreated, the entire stronghold burst into cheers and was in a festive state. But after hours had passed, reality started sinking in, and the euphoria of surviving the demons’ onslaught faded away. Now, they were confronted with the reality that they’d lost more than half their warriors. Furthermore, a large number of those that survived were injured.

With the current state of the towers and walls, if another demon army attacked them now, Hatch was sure that they would lose.

“Growing up, I’ve been indoctrinated by my tribe of how awful humans are,” said Hatch.

Van and Hatch continued roaming the destroyed walls and stone towers, looking through infirmaries and tents in the hope of finding the black rabbit’s little brother.

“My uncle told me of how the humans took away the Aden Region from us,” said Hatch. “How the war with the Tyrant King of Lukas caused a spiral of hunger and death within the Alliance. And it’s not only the Lukasians. The Dukedom of Mauko, The Kingdom of Thornforge, the pirates of Mullgray Islands.”

“But—” Hatch paused, as though unsure if the next words he was going to say were right. “—If that human… no, King Lark.”

For some reason, there was a hint of respect within Hatch’s voice when he uttered the name of the human king.

“If he hadn’t warned us about the demons’ invasion. If he hadn’t personally come here as a reinforcement,” said Hatch, “the Talverton Stronghold would have already been gone by now.”

Van understood what Hatch was trying to say.

After the Rocky Fort fell, the Talverton Stronghold was the last remaining defensive line in the South. Originally, these two military bases served to block the advance of the monsters from the Wasteland. But now, they served the purpose of stoppering the demons pouring out of the portal.

Had King Lark not warned them regarding this predicament, the demons would have long destroyed the Talverton Stronghold, and thousands of demons would have already reached the villages and other nearby territories by now. The scope and damage would have been too large by then, and even if they mobilized the massive army stationed in Magna City, it would have been too late to contain.

Hatch doubted if even his Whale Tribe would be able to survive if those demons started encroaching and attacking their land. After all, even the Talverton Stronghold, defended by over twenty thousand veteran warriors, almost fell overnight.

This was no longer something that could be stopped by a single tribe, no matter how powerful they were. This was a plight that needed the entire Alliance’s might and cooperation.

“Ironic, isn’t it,” said Hatch, smirking. “The humans my uncle warned me about ended up saving us. I don’t know about the other Lukasians, by their new king doesn’t feel so bad.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Even Van agreed with the words of Hatch.

“We’ve already searched through this place before,” said Hatch. “How about going back to where Lord Urza is? He promised us that if he finds any clues regarding your little brother’s whereabouts in Talverton, he’ll inform us right away.”

Reaching a dead end in their search, the two decided to go back to the place where they started.

The two continued walking, and they eventually arrived at the nearly destroyed stone tower of the Fourth Defensive Line. Maybe because this was the place where the Beast King and King Lark first arrived at, it had the least number of injured warriors.

Outside the tower, around two hundred meters from its entrance, the seven-headed creature silently sat. Five of its heads were slumped on the ground, sleeping, while the remaining two heads attentively looked in the direction of the Iron Mountains. Sitting on top of its body were a female redhead and a tall man with golden hair – the two disciples of King Lark.

Hatch and Van looked at the Scylla and King Lark’s disciples for a moment, before they started climbing the rampart. And through a winding staircase, they reached the stone tower’s top.

On top of the stone tower, three familiar figures were having a discussion: The right hand of the Beast King, Vaungur. The former finalist of the War of the Three Gods, Urza. And the officer of the Fourth Defensive Line, Gril.

Urza was the first to notice Hatch and Van’s arrival.

“You’re back. So, how is it? How did the search go?”

Van shook his head in dismay. “We didn’t see him.”

By now, all of those who came to the Talverton Stronghold from the Magna City knew the real purpose of Van joining the tournament. They also heard that the black rabbit was the Protector of the Rabbit Tribe, and the former strategist of the Third Legion was his little brother.

Since the Beast King didn’t seem to care that Van was looking for strategist Fior, even the Royal Guards and Vaungur no longer prodded into this matter. Van’s contribution during the defense of Talverton was significant enough that it seemed they even planned on turning a blind eye if he rescued his little brother from the Iron Mountains.

“Is that so?” said Urza. “Hmmm… What a shame. Then, he’s probably still there, huh?”

Hearing this, Van clenched his jaws. Rage and resolve glimmered within the black rabbit’s eyes.

Urza decided to give him words of advice.

“Boy, if you plan on going there, we won’t stop you,” said Urza. “But even if you go there, what can you do? Things will be different if you’re the Beast King. But seeing the extent of your strength, although you’re strong, it wouldn’t be enough to survive the demons in the Iron Mountains.”

Van glared at Urza. He was so desperate that madness started seeping through his eyes. During the War of the Three Gods, he was calm and composed, and he didn’t unnecessarily fight back even when he was being taunted and ridiculed by the other participants.

But after hearing from the human king that demons had started pouring out of a portal in the Iron Mountains, and after seeing with his own eyes the state of Talverton Stronghold, Van could no longer hold himself back.

“What do you know?” spat Van angrily. “They said that you’re a veteran who’d won the tournament before. But now, all I see is just a coward.”

Gril, a fellow bear beastman, growled, “This damn rabbit! How impudent! Can’t you see that Lord Urza is doing this out of concern for you!”

“Concern?” scoffed Van. “The two of you can say those words since none of you have a family member stuck in the Iron Mountains.”

“Hey, calm down,” said Hatch. “Lord Urza said those words since he didn’t want you to die, Van.”

Seeing that the atmosphere around them had started deteriorating, Hatch decided to change the topic. It was ironic that the so-called Bloody Whale was the one defusing the fight.

“Lord Urza, we’ve roamed nearly the entire stronghold,” said Hatch. “But we’ve yet to see His Majesty.”

Hearing that question, Urza and Vaungur looked at each other.

“His Majesty isn’t here. He chased after the retreating demons,” said Vaungur. “Particularly, he’s looking for the demon with the flute.”

“W-What?” Even Hatch was surprised by this revelation. “Isn’t that too reckless? What if they notice him and he gets surrounded? What if he falls into a trap? Even if it’s His Majesty….”

“No. The Beast King is incomparably powerful to us,” said Urza. To his left, Vaungur nodded in agreement. “I agree that it’s reckless. But it should be possible to pull it off, if it’s the Beast King.”

“And besides,” added Urza. He looked at the seven-headed creature sitting silently outside the tower below. “It seems that the king of the Lukasians followed after His Majesty.”

Hearing this, Van and Hatch finally realized the reason why the seven-headed creature was sitting there outside like that. It was waiting for its master, the King of Lukas, to return.

They’d seen how the human king fought before. He was unbelievably powerful, to the point that they even doubted if he was truly a human.

None of them wanted to openly admit this, but the mere fact that King Lark followed after the Beast King put them at ease.

“Well, if we’re lucky, we might get to hear about the current state of the Iron Mountains once the Beast King and the human king return,” said Urza.

Van’s long ears twitched. “Is, is that true?”

“Yes, but don’t get your hopes up too much, boy,” said Urza. “It’ll be possible only if the Beast King remains unnoticed by the demons.”

Van clenched his fists. He prayed to the Three Gods that the Beast King would return with information regarding his little brother.

“Lord Urza,” said Vaungur. Through the parapet, he gazed at the Scylla below. “Doesn’t it look familiar to you?”

Urza also gazed at the seven-headed creature. “You thought so too?”

Vaungur slowly nodded his head. “The number of heads and the size is different. But that creature the King of Lukas tamed… it bears uncanny semblance with the Black Salamander.”

The Black Salamander was the creature that ruled over the monsters of the Wasteland. Well, to be exact, it was the monster that ruled over the Iron Mountains, before the territory was conquered by the United Grakas Alliance.

After the Beast King defeated the Black Salamander in his younger years, the beastmen moved the southern frontier and built the Rocky Fort, increasing the Alliance’s territory in the process. Afterwards, they also secured the tunnels of the Iron Mountains by annihilating the monsters living in it.

Whether or not there remained monsters as powerful as the Black Salamander in the Wasteland – the beastmen weren’t sure. Only the Beast King had ventured into the deepest parts of the Wasteland before and successfully returned alive.

“Doesn’t it look like an adult Black Salamander?” said Vaungur.

“That’s what I also thought, too, when I first saw it in Magna Coliseum,” said Urza. “But the number of heads…”

“The Black Salamander only has three of them,” said Vaungur.

Reptilian head. Black iridescent scales. And two pair of bat-like wings.

Urza and Vaungur had participated in the Black Salamander subjugation before, and they could still vividly remember what the ruler of the Iron Mountains looked like. And for some strange reason, it bore striking semblance with the monster that had been tamed by the King of Lukas.

“It’s moving,” said Urza.

The seven-headed creature, which remained stationary until now, started to move. The five sleeping heads opened their eyes and rose, and its tail started wagging as it expectantly looked in a certain direction.

“H-Hey, watch out!”

“Move away!”

Several beastmen, who’d been on their way back after recovering the dead bodies of their comrades, jumped out of the way after the Scylla’s tail started wagging left and right. Although there was no killing intent behind it, the mere size and weight of the Scylla’s tail was more than enough to kill or gravely injure a beastman, if it were to hit them.

Soon, the reason why the Scylla suddenly rose from its slumber was seen.

Two figures were seen approaching the Stronghold – Lark and the Beast King.

In draconian, the Scylla shrieked, “Welcome back, God Evander!”

The beastmen also said in excited voices:

“It’s His Majesty!”

“It’s the Beast King!”

“But why is he coming from there?”

The beastmen below shouted in glee upon seeing the Beast King. To the beastmen, the Beast King was someone almost akin to a deity. The strongest existence, the invincible guardian, and the absolute ruler of the United Grakas Alliance.

Although most of them didn’t know why he was coming from there, just seeing him boosted their morale.

“H-Hey, doesn’t it look strange?”

“Oh, Heavens! T-The Beast King! What, what happened to him!”

“Q-Quick! Call the healers!”

After the Beast King and Lark arrived at the Talverton Stronghold, the beastmen finally saw the current status of the Beast King’s body. The seemingly invincible White Lion was filled with numerous injuries. One of his shoulders had its flesh torn off, and there were four large piercing marks on his chest.

The injuries the Beast King had sustained were so severe that even his ridiculous regeneration rate didn’t manage to completely heal it. Looking closely, they saw that the Beast King was even slightly limping.

Vaungur, Gril, and Urza were horrified upon seeing this. Immediately, they went down the tower to check on the Beast King’s condition. Curious about what the Beast King found out during his reconnaissance, Van and Hatch also followed suit.

The healers were quick on their feet. By the time Vaungur’s group arrived, two goat beastmen were already examining the Beast King’s body.

“P-Please come this way! We need to treat those injuries right away!”

“I said I’m fine,” said the Beast King to the healers. “Use your energy to treat the other warriors instead.”

“H-How could you be fine! Look at you! Oh, God Nin’ Ka! If it were an ordinary beastman, they would have been long dead by now!”

The healers were so horrified upon seeing the wounds of the Beast King up close. One of them was even started bursting to tears, since the Beast King stubbornly refused getting healed.

“Your Majesty! Please come inside the infirmary!”

“We’re begging you!”

Even Vaungur and his group joined the healers in persuading the Beast King.

The Beast King clicked his tongue. He knew how much damage the Talverton Stronghold had taken after that clash with the demons. He was adamant of not using the already limited number of medicines in their inventory to heal his body. He deemed that it would be better to use them on the other injured beastmen, since his wounds would eventually heal on their own with time.

Lark affectionately patted the snouts of the Scylla, one by one. He chuckled, “How cruel. They’re already crying. Why not let them treat you, Your Majesty?”

The Beast King frowned. Even he found it uncomfortable seeing those healers begging him to be treated, with tears rolling down their eyes. Moreover, even his right-hand man was aghast after seeing the current state of his body.

“Blackie,” said Lark.

“God Evander,” the Scylla replied in draconian.

“You still have some potions with you? Give me one.”

The Scylla realized Lark’s intentions. Although it found it a waste to give the potion to the Beast King, it complied with Lark’s orders regardless.

“As you wish.”

Using wind magic, the Scylla opened the compartment located underneath the golden throne on top of its body and took out a vial.

After receiving the middle-grade potion from the Scylla, Lark handed it to the Beast King.

“Here,” said Lark.

“This is?”

“Healing potion,” said Lark.

Seeing the Beast King’s hesitation, Lark smiled and said, “It’s not poison. Just drink it.”

After being saved from the Pathfinder’s trap, the Beast King came to the conclusion that the new king of the Lukasians was a trustworthy ally. He opened the vial and drank its contents in a single gulp.

“What….” mumbled the Beast King in surprise. “…What’s this?”

The Beast King felt indescribable heat surge through his entire body as his wounds healed at a rapid pace visible to the eye. Within seconds, the smaller cuts on his skin healed, and within a full minute, the torn flesh on his shoulder had been regenerated.

The goat beastmen, who’d been begging the Beast King to get treated in the infirmary, fell silent.