The Beast King’s stats had grown since we last saw him. He looked different, too. His hair stood on end, framing his face in a mane. Black rings surrounded his eyes, and his fangs extended past his lips. He looked like a lion in its full glory.
He’s evolved…
The Beast King was using his Awakened form, just like Zehmet had when he fought Fran.
“Now, what kind of idiot would go against my orders like that?”
“Urgh…”
“Well, time to put you out of your misery.”
The Beast King gathered fire in his right hand. Fran didn’t hesitate.
“I’m going, Teacher!”
She didn’t even wait for my answer before leaping into action. She grasped me in her right hand and equipped the instant-kill sword, Death Gaze, in her left. She cast a spell to accelerate herself, and sped towards the Beast King like a bullet. But she kept quiet, suppressing her murderous aura. Fran wasn’t in a blind rage. This was a calculated effort to take the Beast King’s life.
His Sense skills were good, but not as good as Dias’. Considering he was an S-Rank, they certainly could be better. Fran could have shouted to stop him from killing Zehmet, but it would be a bad move. Zehmet would die if it didn’t work, and it would strip Fran of the element of surprise. This was her only chance. She had to take the initiative. There was a high likelihood that this would end badly one way or another, but Fran had made her choice.
She would try to decapitate him with one strike. Fran wasn’t thinking about the potential consequences: becoming a fugitive of the beastman nation or the political scandal that might arise from an assassination attempt. Her only priority was saving Zehmet’s life.
Besides, the Beast King’s Bracelet of Sacrifice would save him from instant death. As bad as an assassination attempt would look, an actual assassination might throw the world into war. The Bracelet of Sacrifice probably emboldened Fran. He would die, it would activate, and the time it took to raise him from the dead would be enough to save Zehmet.
If I was thinking only of Fran’s safety, I would teleport us out of here and let the Beast King have his way. I knew that was the best option. But I also knew that Fran wouldn’t be satisfied with that. If her safety was my only priority, I would’ve stopped her from becoming an adventurer in the first place. I wanted to go adventuring with her. I was her guardian as well as her sword. My job was to protect her while carrying out her will. If she wanted to jump off a cliff, my job was to make sure she landed safely. I had Fran’s back, for better or worse.
Fran crossed her swords as she charged towards the Beast King’s back. She focused her mana on the blades, which looked like a pair of giant scissors. Surely this would penetrate the Beast King’s defenses, no matter how powerful he was. She closed her menacing shears on the Beast King’s neck.
“…?!”
The blades didn’t even scratch him. Fran couldn’t believe it. She looked at me in utter shock.
“No!”
“What? And who are you supposed to be?” At least her attempt on the Beast King’s life had distracted him from Zehmet, although his full attention was now on her.
Fran couldn’t answer. Her face was pale as she stared at me.
Death Gaze had broken in the assault, and so had I. The only things left were my hilt and handle.
Fran couldn’t understand it. However, as the offended party, I knew exactly what had happened. The golden flames wrapped around the Beast King’s body had melted me and Death Gaze as soon as we touched them. The fire was hot enough to boil cold steel. I suspected that the only reason it didn’t raze the place where the Beast King stood was because of one of his skills.
“Teacher!” Fran called out in her panic.
“Teacher? Who are you talking about?” The Beast King looked at her quizzically.
Calm down, Fran. I’m all right. Switch to Telepathy for now.
Thank goodness…
Fortunately, the damage wasn’t anything I couldn’t recover from, although regenerating from a literal meltdown took a lot of mana. Good thing I had Self-Repair.
Death Gaze was probably a goner. I couldn’t detect any mana coming from it. Fran’s Black Cat Cloak wasn’t repairing itself from the peripheral burns, either. Maybe it was still fixing itself, but it was definitely taking longer than usual.
How do we get past those flames…?
They were dangerous, and not just because of their destructive power. The flames reacted even when the Beast King had his back to us. It was a powerful automatic shield. How much stronger would it be if the Beast King actually directed it? Dodging it would be difficult; blocking downright impossible.
“You this Blue Cat’s disciple?”
“…”
“Answer me, kid.”
“What…did you do to Zehmet?”
Fran glared at him. The Beast King shrugged in response. He didn’t seem pleased with her attitude, but his eyes were grinning with delight. I knew those eyes well. They were as battle hungry as Fran’s.
“Heh. You’re not supposed to answer a question with another question. Manners wouldn’t kill you, Black Cat.”
His condescending tone made Fran grind her teeth. She suppressed her anger and asked again. “Why are you killing him?”
“You hard of hearing or something? Fine. Disciplinary action against an unruly subordinate, that’s why.”
Unruly subordinate… So Zehmet was one of his men. Did he go against the Beast King’s orders? Zehmet was for Black Cats and the Beast King was against them. Was that it?
“Anyway, you seem to be chummy with him. Can’t imagine why, what with you being Black and him Blue.”
“Hm…”
“Hang on, did your sword just fix itself? Neat.”
Instant Regeneration brought my blade back quickly, but it was probably useless against him. Keeping our distance with spells was the better approach. Frost and Water were our best bets against Flame. Putting points into those two magicks seemed like
