Chapter 44
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Chapter 44
'Why is it so quiet?'
I felt as though I'd ventured far deeper than I should have.
The memory of getting lost in the mountains not long ago came unbidden to mind.
I was about to rise and tell Baek Gahyun we needed to leave when it happened.
A sudden chill.
Without warning, goosebumps erupted across my skin in a wave of dread.
Jeok Soya froze in place, turning her head slowly.
"...!"
Her body went rigid. A man wearing a black mask locked eyes with her.
A man with a black mask covering his face stared directly into her eyes.
"How troublesome. I thought I'd concealed all traces of my presence."
The man muttered in a bewildered tone, as if he hadn't expected to be discovered, and pulled down his mask.
"Fascinating. Do you perhaps possess some ability to sense dark arts? I really must examine your spiritual core."
'That person...!'
At the sight of the revealed face, Jeok Soya flinched and stumbled backward.
'It's him. The one who tried to kill me in the Southern Lands....'
The man bore a distinctive tattoo—a three-legged crow stretching from his cheek to his neck—and was someone Jeok Soya had encountered before.
'But Sayeon said he defeated that man....'
Her crimson eyes trembled violently as she stared at him.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, little miss. I am.... Hmm? Why do you look at me with such eyes?"
The man tilted his head curiously at Jeok Soya, then touched his own face and smiled wickedly.
"Ah. You fear this shell, do you? Tsk. Why do humans always obsess over what they see with their eyes?"
The man drew a pitch-black blade from his waist and approached Jeok Soya slowly.
"Do not be so frightened. I won't kill you immediately. There is something I must confirm with you first...."
That was when it happened.
"Stop! Don't come any closer!"
Baek Gahyun stepped in front of Jeok Soya, drawing his sword and leveling it at the man with fierce eyes.
"Brother!"
Jeok Soya cried out in alarm.
The man was a full-grown adult, towering a head and shoulders above Baek Gahyun.
The difference in build was staggering.
Yet Baek Gahyun held his sword steady, its point unwavering as he addressed the man.
"I am Baek Gahyun, second son of the Baekho Family, divine beast of the Western Lands. Who are you?"
"How troublesome. A young master of the Baek Family, no less. This is becoming quite inconvenient."
The man exhaled a sigh of exasperation.
"However...."
A sinister grin spread across his face.
The man staring at Baek Gahyun's face suddenly stretched his lips into a grotesque smile.
"Your shell looks rather fine as well. Perhaps I should take it for myself."
"What...?"
At the incomprehensible sound, I furrowed my brow.
"It's dangerous, brother!"
The man lunged at me without warning.
*Clang, screech—!*
I immediately drew my blade and deflected the incoming attack.
The palpable bloodlust made my hands tremble involuntarily as I gasped for breath.
Born and raised as the second son of the Baekho Family, I had trained with the sword since childhood until it became an extension of myself, yet this was my first time clashing blades with a genuine opponent intent on killing.
But there was no time for such weakness.
The man's blade came hurtling toward me again immediately.
*Clang—!*
*Clang, clang, clang—!*
Steel rang out sharply as our blades collided repeatedly.
Despite the difference in build, I held my own against the man's swordplay.
Then, in an instant.
*Crash!*
As the man's blade flew far away, my sword came down upon his head.
*Screech—!*
The man's body collapsed.
"Huff, huff...."
I caught my breath, staring down at the fallen man.
"It's over...."
Just as I was sheathing my blade with that thought.
"...Indeed, you live up to your reputation as a young master of the Baek Family."
"...!"
"...!"
At the sound from the man we thought dead, both Jeok Soya and I turned to look at him in shock.
"I thought this shell would last longer, but it's broken again. Well, since I've already found a new one, there's no use lamenting."
The man laughed eerily as he struggled to his feet.
"What, what is...!"
*Crack. Crackle.*
Following the path where my blade had cut, fine fissures began spreading across the man's skin.
Then, immediately after.
*Crackle—!*
The man's flesh tore open, and from within burst a massive, pitch-black monster.
'Not... human?'
It was a demonic beast with the face of a beast and the body of a bear.
Its pitch-black face had neither eyes nor ears.
Instead, a gaping maw at the center of its face drooled saliva as it smacked its lips hungrily.
"A Calamity Beast, Hondon...."
Recognizing him, I muttered in a hollow voice.
"Hehehehe. Now that you've seen my true form, there's no helping it. I'll have to dispose of both of you right here."
Hondon burst into a murky laugh, his voice grating like metal as he spoke.
"Of course, I never intended to let either of you leave alive from the start."
Skreeeeeeeee―!
As Hondon's mouth gaped wide open, dozens of serpents erupted from within like writhing vines.
"Soya!"
I immediately pulled Soya into my arms, but couldn't evade the incoming serpent vines.
Whack!
As the serpent vines left a long gash across my arm, both our bodies tumbled across the dirt ground.
"Ugh...."
"Brother!"
Soya cried out in shock, staring at my bleeding arm.
But I quickly rose to my feet and positioned myself in front of Soya....
Boom!
I transformed into my beast form, becoming a pure white Baekho.
"Grrrrrrrowwwl...!"
I roared powerfully, baring my sharp fangs.
Soya's eyes widened at the sight of the enormous white tiger.
Until now, the only tigers Soya had seen were small, adorable tiger cubs in their infancy, like Baek Gayul and Arang.
The Baekho, having completed its first growth phase, possessed a body larger than an adult human.
'Is that...a tiger...?'
I lunged directly at the demon beast.
Roaaarrr!
Boom!
I pinned Hondon down with my massive front paws, crushing him.
Just as I was about to tear into his throat.
Skreeeee!
Dozens of serpents burst from Hondon's mouth like vines, coiling tightly around my body.
I thrashed to break free, but the more I struggled, the tighter the serpent vines constricted around me.
"Grrrrgh...!"
"Brother!"
Soya grabbed the fallen scabbard from the ground and rushed toward me.
"Take that...!"
Soya gripped the scabbard tightly with both hands and swung it at the serpents coiling around my body.
The black serpents shattered upon contact with the scabbard.
Taking advantage of the loosened grip, I severed all the serpents wrapped around me.
"Done!"
"Is that so?"
Hondon, who had refrained from attacking us until now, chuckled darkly and asked with sinister meaning.
"Ugh...!"
In an instant, my body crumbled.
"Brother!"
A crimson, blood-tinged venom spread across my front legs.
Moments before, I had been bitten by one of the serpents Hondon had unleashed.
"P-poison...."
"No, this can't be happening, brother!"
"Soya, you at least, ugh, you need to get away...."
I coughed blood, struggling to speak. My pristine white tiger fur was staining crimson with my own blood.
"Don't worry. I'll make good use of your shell."
Hondon approached Soya, whose eyes glistened with tears, step by deliberate step.
"The second son of the Baek Family—surely the lord will be satisfied with that. Besides, my master has held considerable grievances toward your household."
"Stop!"
Soya trembled violently as she positioned herself in front of me.
"If you have business with me, then target only me! Don't you dare touch my brother!"
"Brother, she says."
Hondon burst into a cruel laugh directed at Soya.
"How absurd. How could a tiger and a winged beast ever become family?"
Soya flinched at those words, but then she recalled what I had told her.
[I want to become real family with you, Soya.]
[Regardless of what form we take—whether you're a winged beast or a land beast—I want to protect you and cherish you as true family.]
[I promise you, I'll be an unchanging shelter for you for the rest of my life. I'll be your true brother.]
He, who had sworn to become my "true brother," was keeping that promise even as his entire body was being torn to shreds.
"You said a tiger and a winged beast could become family. You said you'd be a shelter that protects me for my whole life."
So now it was my turn to protect my "true family."
"That's why I'm going to protect my real family too."
Despite my small body trembling instinctively, my voice as I glared at Hondon remained steady and unwavering.
I knew the truth. There was no way I could defeat that demon beast.
But still, because we were family.
True family that never abandoned each other, no matter the circumstances.
So I wouldn't run away alone.
Even if it meant a meaningless death, I would protect my brother.
"Hahaha! Then let's see you try."
Hondon's black maw split wide in laughter.
A massive serpent erupted from that dark mouth, hurtling toward Soya.
'I'm going to protect him...!'
It was the moment Soya raised the scabbard she gripped in both hands high above her head.
Flash!
The sky suddenly blazed with brilliant light as lightning descended....
Rumble!
Horim Mountain began to tremble.
"Wh-what is this...!"
Hondon, who had been crying out in panic, suddenly froze like stone.
It wasn't just Hondon.
The black serpent lunging toward Jeok Soya, Baek Gahyun coughing blood and losing consciousness—
As if time itself had frozen, even the leaves rustling in the wind and the gentle murmur of the Spring fell silent.
In that profound stillness, within that frozen moment, only Jeok Soya's lips trembled as she drew shallow breaths.
"How is this... possible...?"
It was then that Jeok Soya glanced around in bewilderment.
Kurrrrrrrrgh!
A colossal spirit beast wreathed in white light appeared alongside a roar like thunder.
'An illusion beast?'
For a moment, Jeok Soya thought it was an illusion.
It was cloaked in white light just like the illusion beasts Sayeon conjured with his illusory arts.
―So it was you who awakened me.
At that crystalline, ethereal voice that seemed to resonate from within her mind, Jeok Soya's eyes widened.
'No, it's not an illusion beast. This is...'
Jeok Soya swallowed hard, staring at the pure white spirit beast.
Somehow, she felt she knew what this was.
Because the spirit beast before her resembled Baek Gahyun's beast form from moments ago.
Pristine white fur and azure eyes. Though unlike the tigers Jeok Soya knew, it was neither small nor cute.
'There's no doubt.'
An ancient divine beast—Baekho.
Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org