Ch.334When Five Shapeshifters Gather

Screech-!

In the deep dawn when everyone was asleep.

With the grating friction of steel, the firmly locked prison door scraped across the ground as if sliding open.

A mysterious visitor had come to the cage holding the snow tiger.

With the torch behind them, their appearance was indiscernible, but they were a large Werebeast who didn’t look like an ordinary warrior.

It was strange. Oleg’s prison was a place strictly forbidden to enter by order of Champion Arseniy. Who would dare set foot in such a place?

Especially at this late hour when others were fast asleep.

If discovered, the punishment would be far more severe than a light sentence.

The Werebeast let out a light sigh and flung the prison door wide open.

The keys to the restraints clutched in his right hand jingled as they collided with each other.

“Are you still alive, Oleg?”

The ears of Oleg, who had been hanging his head in a battered state, perked up.

—-

“…You’re late.”

Oleg lifted his head.

His voice was close to a murmur due to his depleted strength, but his tone itself was surprisingly calm.

“I almost fell asleep.”

Instead of a face contorted with pain, a satisfied smile hung on the tiger’s blood-stained face.

As if the moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived.

The Werebeast who stepped into the prison silently observed Oleg.

“Well? Wasn’t I right? I repeatedly told you they would betray His Majesty at the first opportunity. Do you believe me now?”

“…Yes. Now I believe you.”

The Werebeast who sat down in front of Oleg began to remove the restraints securing the snow tiger’s neck and body.

The removed collar swung heavily, flashing its silver blade.

“As you said, when I mingled with them and went along with their ways, they revealed their plans and asked for my cooperation. It was surprising. To think they had been hiding such treasonous intentions all this time…”

Freed from his restraints, Oleg cracked his liberated neck left and right.

He still had no strength at all, but that was a problem easily solved by eating something suitable.

“I’m just as surprised. I didn’t know you could act so well. You certainly don’t look the part.”

Moonlight streaming through the prison window illuminated the face of Oleg’s long-awaited collaborator.

“-Maksim.”

The rhinoceros Werebeast who had been playing the traitor smirked.

—-

‘Among the Champions, there are traitors who seek to harm His Majesty.’

Four months before crossing the mountains to attack the human empire, Oleg met with Maksim and left those words.

With an atmosphere somewhat different from his usual reputation as a violent warrior who knew nothing but fighting.

At the time, Maksim thought those words were excessive worry. At least, when he first heard them.

While there might be some among the Champions who had submitted to Rurik’s power who harbored discontent, it seemed impossible that they would openly rebel.

Their king, the Winter Wolf Rurik, had been defeating Champions of all kinds of clans with his strength alone even before obtaining his current transcendent power. To oppose him now would only bring death.

The other Champions surely knew this as well.

However, Oleg’s attitude was so serious that Maksim eventually began secretly investigating the Champions, subtly displaying an attitude of dissatisfaction with Rurik’s actions.

If traitors truly existed, this would allow them to approach him.

Surprisingly, Oleg’s words were true.

Shortly after their king departed on an expedition with his seven most loyal Champions, three Champions came to him, asking if he would join them.

Arseniy, Lavrentiy, Yevgeniy.

They longed for the glory of the old days when they were leaders of their own clans, not mere subordinates.

Therefore, they wanted to overthrow Rurik, who reigned as the absolute ruler of the snow, and become joint rulers of Baryachrus as in the past.

Considering Rurik’s strength, it was absurd… but not entirely dismissible nonsense.

They scoffed at the idea that conquering the human empire would be as easy as claimed, and Maksim couldn’t deny this.

Their great invasions had always failed.

Not just the great invasions. Since the birth of the Empire of Karl Las and its subjugation of all non-human races, the empire had never lost a war.

They might lose local battles, but the empire always had the last laugh. After the northern wall was built, they couldn’t even cross into the northern part of the empire.

No matter how strong the Winter Wolf was, no one could be certain of victory against the empire.

Their plan was simple.

If Rurik defeated the empire? Then there was nothing more to discuss.

A king who finally brought down the empire after eight hundred years of struggle. How could anyone overcome such power and authority?

If things went that way, they would simply forget they had ever considered rebellion.

But what if he couldn’t win?

That would be the opportunity they had been waiting for.

Considering Rurik’s character of always being at the forefront of battle, he was unlikely to emerge unscathed from defeat.

If he died at the hands of humans, that would be the best outcome; if not, he would likely be critically wounded beyond recovery.

In that case, they could eliminate the king themselves and seize control of the chaotic Baryachrus.

Though not an elaborate plan, its chances of success were not low.

After hearing their explanation, Maksim nodded readily while concealing his true thoughts.

He couldn’t refuse anyway.

If he had voiced refusal on the spot, Maksim himself would have been the first to be eliminated.

Perhaps it was thanks to his continued act of subtly showing antipathy toward Rurik. Or perhaps because Maksim, like them, was originally a clan leader.

The three didn’t even question his joining.

Maksim observed the situation while playing along with the three traitors.

He couldn’t tell others.

He couldn’t distinguish between those at the frontline base who had sided with the three and those who hadn’t, and there was no guarantee that the remaining Champions were without treasonous thoughts.

In fact, the lioness Werebeast Kseniya joined them shortly after.

And then,

Not long after, Oleg returned.

With news that the main force that had set out on the expedition had been defeated without crossing Faelrun Castle.

The news he brought lit the fuse.

The fact that Rurik was requesting reinforcements, almost abandoning the defense of their homeland, meant he was in a desperate situation.

What happened next didn’t deviate at all from Maksim’s expectations.

The four traitors tried to bury Rurik’s request for help by either persuading or excluding Oleg, rather than organizing reinforcements, and Oleg resisted.

At that point, battle was unavoidable, so Maksim also swung his hammer at Oleg.

He had no choice.

Even if Maksim himself had sided with Oleg and fought the traitors, the power difference was four to two. The outcome was uncertain.

Maksim chose to side with the traitors to subdue Oleg and then secretly rescue him, rather than engaging in a battle with uncertain victory.

Oleg seemed to have noticed his thoughts, as his attacks aimed at Maksim were somewhat weaker in power compared to those directed at the others.

He would have to endure serious injuries, but not to the extent of requiring immediate treatment.

After an intense act, Oleg was finally subdued and restrained, and Maksim, who had personally bound him, headed to the underground prison with the keys as soon as he confirmed the other Champions were asleep.

To free His Majesty’s loyal servant, Oleg, and discuss what to do next.

‘I was lucky.’

He had thought persuading the other four not to kill Oleg would be the biggest challenge, but for some reason, Kseniya agreed, making it easier than expected.

“—That’s all the restraints removed. I’ve also taken out all the silver spikes that were embedded in your limbs.”

“Thanks for that. They’ve been aching all day, but I couldn’t pull them out myself. As you can see, I have no arms.”

Maksim handed a large chunk of meat to Oleg, who was making light of the situation.

Oleg ravenously tore into the piece of meat as big as his thigh. His entire body was crying out with fierce hunger as if there was a hole in his stomach.

It didn’t take long for the entire chunk of meat to disappear.

“Haa… now I feel a bit more alive.”

“I brought what I could… but looking at your condition, recovering with just that meat will be difficult. First, we need to escape this prison, and you’ll need to hide until your wounds regenerate.”

Although freed from restraints, Oleg’s condition was still miserable.

With his strength completely depleted, his severed limbs had been left with silver spikes embedded in them.

The blood that had flowed formed a small river on the prison floor.

“No, there’s meat right there.”

Oleg nodded toward the entrance of the underground prison.

Indeed, there was meat.

And it was enormous, measuring several meters.

“You’re going to… eat that…?”

Maksim pointed at the prison entrance with a trembling hand, unable to hide his shock.

The body of the guard Maksim had assassinated to quietly free Oleg lay collapsed there.

“Yes. It won’t taste good, but that amount should be enough to regenerate my arms and legs. Don’t you think?”

“But to eat the body of a fellow clansman, what kind of…!”

Maksim was so dumbfounded he could barely speak.

“What fellow clansman? A traitor is no clansman. I don’t know about your clan, but our clan doesn’t discriminate when it comes to prey. Eating enemies is nothing unusual for us.”

“Well…”

While sighing, Maksim brought the guard’s body next to Oleg as requested.

Setting aside psychological aversion, he couldn’t deny this was the best option.

Soon after, the sounds of bones breaking and flesh tearing filled the air.

While Maksim turned his head away from the disturbing sight, Oleg’s limbs gradually began to regrow.

Though not at Rurik’s level, it was at a considerably faster rate compared to other Champions.