Ch.187IF. Saint Eric (3)

On the third day of infiltrating the beastkin territory.

Hero Gang Hannah faced her greatest adversary at what seemed like too early a timing. She hadn’t even grown accustomed to the stench and bloody smell emanating from the beastkin.

“That’s far enough, Hero. And your minions too.”

Just before raiding a fairly large Lizardman tribe settlement, the Beast King flew in on a massive wyvern, blocking the Hero’s party.

‘Can I win?’

Hannah had heard about the Beast King’s combat prowess.

Gwon Heejin. He was a bastard even in Korea, but in this world, he was a disaster incarnate. The Beast King was said to be the one who brought down that human trash.

Of course, Hannah knew she was stronger than Gwon Heejin. This wasn’t baseless confidence but a fact that Saintess Erick had confirmed before.

– Hero. I’m sorry to even mention this, but your achievements are far superior to Gwon Heejin’s. It might be expected, but… honestly, it’s quite remarkable.

– Was Gwon Heejin that untalented?

– It’s hard to even discuss talent. It took a week just to teach him one sword technique. Usually, I spent time forcibly listening to Gwon Heejin’s nonsense.

– My goodness.

– I wanted to die.

By comparison, Hannah was a very exemplary disciple according to Erick. It didn’t seem like he was making things up just to flatter her.

In fact, even to her, the Hero’s powers seemed unfair. She felt like she could demolish a building with her bare hands if she wanted to.

She was a petite girl who had never done any serious exercise in her life, but now she possessed monstrous strength.

However, facing the Beast King, she couldn’t guarantee victory.

‘I have to fight that?’

A body three or four times her size. Immeasurable energy. And they said he could even use magic.

Most threatening of all was that killing intent. She could read his will to kill everyone even at the cost of his own life.

What was strange was that he was glaring not at her, the Hero, but at the other party members.

“You didn’t run away this time. Do you remember my kin that you massacred?”

The party members exchanged glances while licking their lips at the Beast King’s question. They seemed calmer than her, the Hero.

Eventually, Saintess Erick stepped forward.

“We did dispose of some nuisances when we went to arrest Gwon Heejin. We couldn’t exactly persuade beastkin to clear the way.”

“Dispose, you say?”

“Yes. And this time, we disposed of hundreds more to lure you out. They all rushed at us without even knowing we were the Hero’s party and died.”

“I know. …Anyway, this time you didn’t manage to escape.”

“We never ran away before either. We just left without delay because we needed time to deal with Gwon Heejin properly. I acknowledge your power, but don’t mistake that all humans fear you, Leoneo.”

The tone was dry, but this was clearly provocation.

It seemed to work as the Beast King was visibly enraged. Though it was hard to discern expressions on his reptilian face, one could feel his hostility intensifying. It wouldn’t be surprising if he lost his reason and charged right now.

‘Saintess. Why are you doing this?’

Hannah looked at Erick with a sense of helplessness. She wondered why he needed to provoke the Beast King’s anger when they would have to fight anyway.

Of course, Hannah had no intention of avoiding the fight.

She was just worried about Erick’s safety. What if that enraged lizard attacked with the determination to kill Erick at all costs?

Stop it. She kept glancing at Erick, but he didn’t budge. Instead, he suddenly turned to the party members as if he’d just remembered something.

“Ah, everyone. The Saintess and Hero will handle the Beast King.”

“Will you be alright?”

“Yes. Instead, I want you to deal with the beastkin surrounding this area and attack the Lizardman settlement over there. Kill them all. The Beast King is particularly sensitive to the sacrifice of his kind, especially adults, so his attention will be divided during our fight.”

“……”

“That alone will be a great help to the Hero and me.”

A moment of silence followed Erick’s calm instructions. Even the Beast King stopped growling and hesitated.

‘Ah, so that’s it.’

Hannah finally understood Erick’s intention. He hadn’t provoked the Beast King out of boredom.

“Move now.”

The party members, mostly middle-aged and older, turned with grim expressions to carry out the orders.

After blessing them, Erick turned back to the Beast King.

“Leoneo. If you want to reduce your kin’s casualties, you’ll need to subdue me and the Hero quickly. Though that’s impossible, of course.”

“You filthy bastard!”

This is it.

Hannah bit her lip hard and gripped her holy sword, while Erick took up his favorite iron mace.

Despite being the Hero’s swordsmanship teacher, Erick used a blunt weapon. But his combat prowess hadn’t diminished.

Though far from the identity of a Saintess, that made him more reliable. He wasn’t one to obsess over reputation.

“Don’t worry, Hero.”

Right after Erick’s quiet encouragement, the Beast King roared and rushed toward the two of them.

*

It was fierce—no, “fierce” was inadequate to describe the battle.

The Beast King unleashed relentless violence with his formidable strength. Even withstanding his strikes was difficult.

When the Hero and I attacked together, he seemed to be pushed back, but in moments of crisis, the Beast King would cast magic without incantations, threatening us in return.

It was hard to believe that a mere lizard possessed such absurd power. If novice Hero Hannah had faced him alone, she would have certainly died.

But I was by her side.

“Hero!”

In the moment when the Beast King’s form temporarily faltered. Hannah swung her sword at him as I shouted. The holy sword, wrapped in brilliant light, struck his shoulder, and his thick arm flew off like a rag.

It would be best to finish this together.

Crack, thud. After terrible sounds hit our ears, the Beast King finally collapsed. It was the moment when the being who had single-handedly supported all beastkin fell. More accurately, he was mangled rather than collapsed.

It was amazing the Beast King was still alive given how broken he was.

Severed right arm, legs twisted at bizarre angles, left eye socket caved in from the mace. Even his one intact eye had lost focus.

‘I could kill him now.’

Though beastkin were known for their tenacity, there were limits. However, I had no intention of killing him immediately. I needed to verify if he had any value.

Just then, our party members were returning, exuding killing intent. They had massacred the tribe as instructed.

“Saintess… sir? What now?”

Hannah asked shakily, exhausted from battle. I cast a holy spell on her before approaching the Beast King.

“Leoneo. How would you like us to dispose of you?”

“Wh…at.”

“You can’t bring yourself to ask for a clean death, I see. …But the beastkin have killed too many border citizens. The damage to the Papal State needs no mention. Can you imagine what catastrophe will befall the beastkin after your death?”

“……”

The Beast King mumbled something while writhing his massive body. I could read his will to survive somehow.

“My companions have already annihilated one tribe. They said the resistance was fierce. They probably believed you would help them. …We intend to continue our expedition for several weeks, reducing the beastkin population.”

“Sain…tess…!”

“The Demon Lord’s main forces won’t come to help the beastkin. If they were that cooperative, you wouldn’t have fallen like this, fighting alone.”

“……”

“You know better than I how poorly beastkin are treated. You’ve probably clung to the Demon Lord because you had no other choice. …But the Demon Lord won’t respond to your requests. He hasn’t so far, and he won’t in the future.”

The Beast King sobbed pitifully at my words. There was even a faint moisture in his eyes.

I might be the first to witness the tears of an active Tetrad member. Having pushed him to the edge, I decided to offer him a choice.

“I could spare your life.”

“Kkeuk!?”

“I’m serious. However, I’ll take the arm we’ve already cut off. We can’t have you attacking the border with an intact body. …Still, even with one arm, you should be able to protect your kin. You’ll maintain at least a minimal position within the Demon Lord’s army.”

I wasn’t offering to spare him for free.

What I wanted was for the Beast King to become my pawn.

With his intelligence, he must have already figured out what I wanted in return. Yet he didn’t readily submit.

Perhaps his resentment toward humans exceeded his distrust of the Demon Lord’s army. His hatred for the Hero’s party that had just massacred a tribe would be even greater.

But the Beast King’s deliberation didn’t last long.

Woof woof-!

The sound of canine beastkin howling from afar. There seemed to be feline ones mixed in too. They were probably rushing to save the Beast King, knowing it was futile.

The Beast King knew what tragedy would unfold when they arrived. We would struggle terribly too, but in the end, it would be the beastkin who died.

“What will you do?”

When I casually showed him my mace and asked, the Beast King coughed up blood and finally submitted. He asked, in slurred speech, what I wanted.

“Beast King. From now on, you are forbidden from any invasions of the border. Also, you must communicate with us regularly. That’s just the beginning.”

I planned to implement conciliatory measures later, but that wasn’t something to mention now. When I pressed for an answer, the Beast King finally chose submission.

It was the moment when the new Hero party’s first expedition ended in victory.

We did some terrible things, but a victory is still a victory.