Comment and Coupon Givers, Thank You All. Episode 151
49. The Magical Beast and the Heart of the Abyss 150 – The Magical Beast and the Heart of the Abyss #2
The blazing sunbeam hit my eyelids, making it impossible for me to stay asleep any longer.
“━You’re awake?”
As I opened my eyes, a glossy brown and black raccoon was peering down at me, looking as clueless as ever.
I couldn’t help but gasp, “━Ah.”
The cozy interior of Leaf’s treetop house in the Ancient Nest unfolded before me.
Rubbing my sore head, I slowly sat up.
“━When did I fall asleep?”
In reply, Raccoon Leaf offered me a red fruit he was holding.
“━You just nodded off without a word yesterday. Did you have a bad dream? You were mumbling a lot. I almost woke you up, but you looked tired after that intense hunting yesterday.”
“━Bad dream…”
Now that I thought about it, I did have a dreadful nightmare, but as soon as I opened my eyes, I couldn’t remember a single detail.
That’s the nature of dreams, after all—generally trivial stuff that vanishes when you wake up.
‘But I feel like I definitely had an important dream…’
Just as I was squinting and trying to think back, Leaf piped up, “━Let’s go outside. We’ve got a lot to prepare today. We need to meet Witch Eve too.”
The Raccoon patted my shoulder and wiggled his rotund rear as he scurried down the tree house’s entrance.
I followed him out, emerging into a world piled high with fruits and the meat of various beasts.
“━Wow, what’s all this? Can we really eat it all?”
As I gawked at the bountiful spread, Leaf tilted his head and purred in amusement.
“━What’s with the surprise? We’ve eaten this much every morning. Hey, where are you guys? Stop playing around and come eat!”
Clap! Clap!
With a few sharp claps of his black front paws, Leaf caused the bushes to rustle.
I squinted suspiciously at the moving foliage, and unexpected little beings sprang out.
“━Karuk.”
“━Karurur.”
They turned out to be round, adorable little four-legged critters resembling small puppies. Their fluffy white bodies had tiny horns on their heads, making them undeniably youthful…
“━They’re Behemoths! What are these?”
I trembled at the sight of the pint-sized legendary beasts. Meanwhile, Leaf looked at me with a furrowed brow, clearly confused.
“━They’re your kids! What do you mean, ‘What are these’? Are you still half-asleep? You gulped down World Tree sap last night. Are you still buzzed?”
“━My kids?”
“━Karuk.”
They clung to me, tugging at my fur and playfully pulling my ears and tail. Clearly, they were mischievous little rascals that looked just like me. I was at a loss for words, feeling a mix of shock and confusion.
“━Okay, let’s say they’re my kids. But who’s their mom? There must be a mother who gave birth to them.”
“━Their mom? Are you going to insist they aren’t yours? Anyone can tell they’re your kids. That one with the feathers on its head is definitely born from a Harpy, and the one licking its tongue like that—its mom must be the terrifying Snake Witch Kaah.”
Chomp, chomp.
One of the small beasts stuck out its snake-like tongue and licked my face. I picked it up awkwardly and forced a smile.
‘Well, they do resemble me. I’ve caused a ruckus everywhere, so those traits pop up here and there.’
I thought I was indulging in a carefree night, but the responsibilities of parenthood hit me like an army draft notice crashing down from my homeland.
“━So what’s the deal with that one? The only one with a black face…”
I pointed at the last Behemoth, which was tugging at my tail. It was a cute little creature with a white body and only its face and limbs colored black, almost like a Siamese cat.
“━Do I have to say it out loud?”
Leaf wriggled around shyly, and I could feel my head spinning with confusion.
“━Just tell me it’s a joke.”
“━I— I already told you that’s not allowed…”
“━It’s the offspring of a beast. I’m really a beast’s offspring! How could I have a little one like you…!”
“━Hey, don’t beat yourself up so much. You were super wasted back then.”
“━Ugh, AAARRRRGH!”
I was bouncing around, clawing at the ground and trees in frustration. The pent-up rage inside me could only be satisfied by causing a ruckus.
The raccoon just shrugged as he watched my dramatic antics.
“━And I’m not a kid anymore.”
“━You’re fourteen!”
“━What are you talking about? When was that even?”
Whoosh.
Leaf produced a small cloud of mist around himself, revealing his pure white body.
“━See? I’m really an adult now. Why are you talking about when I was fourteen like it was yesterday?”
“━I— I guess you’re right. You’ve grown up nicely.”
In my mind, the Raccoon—no, suddenly appeared in front of me, a captivating woman, looked shyly as she gestured between her legs and chest.
The Leaf I remembered was a mere sprout, but the woman before me now would rival Eve in terms of curve and allure. I didn’t want to admit it, but setting aside Leaf, she was incredibly attractive.
“━Once you change to a human form, it takes a while to revert back.”
Leaf grumbled as he slipped on a white dress hanging from a nearby branch. I stared blankly at his pumpkin-colored hair and the collarbone peeking through.
‘Really…?’
“━Anyway, hurry up and eat breakfast. The forest lords will be here soon.”
“━Huh? Forest lords?”
I replied, perplexed, and Leaf shot me a look that screamed, “Why are you acting like this today?”
“━It’s the regular feast day when the forest lords gather. They agreed to meet in the south this autumn, so they’re coming here. Did you forget your own rule?”
“━My rule?”
“━Yes! You’re the lord of the Southern Forest! Ugh, just because you drink World Tree sap, you forget everything. Didn’t I say to stop drinking it? You’re not even recognizing your own kid.”
“━Ah…”
I couldn’t wrap my head around this.
So I had suddenly become the lord of the Southern Forest?
I was curious about what had happened to the original lord, Yan-Mite, but the way Leaf was grumbling made it hard for me to muster the courage to ask.
The day of the lord’s gathering feast.
It was supposedly a celebration to honor the alliance made after the twelve mythical creatures and I ended our long fight.
All kinds of beasts flocked to Leaf’s hut and the clearing in front, feasting on the mountains of fruits and meats while enjoying the sap of the World Tree.
The owner of the Bewitching Forest, the red-furred monkey, Judah, patted my shoulder and laughed heartily.
“━Back then, Alpha scratched O Kong’s neck with his claws. It was quite the blow!”
Judah praised my non-existent exploits, but I didn’t recall any of it. A celebration in my honor. A birthday party where I was the protagonist, but honestly felt more like a neighbor’s uncle who just dropped in.
“━Oh, here comes the lord of the Western Forest.”
Judah pointed to the swaying bushes as he was babbling. Out stepped a tiger with yellow fur and black stripes.
“━Hey! It’s been a month! Salome will arrive soon!”
It turned out to be Mao, the daughter of Lao-Hoo, the big cat. She immediately pounced on my shoulder and started licking my face.
“━Hey, stop that! Don’t lick me!”
I struggled to shove the hefty cat away with my front paws. She responded as if thrilled to see me again, wagging her tail and bouncing excitedly.
“━Wait, you’re the lord of the Western Forest now?”
“━Right! I got my revenge on my dad by defeating Suka. Don’t you remember you helped?”
“━Umm…”
I stroked my chin in disbelief. Everything seemed too good to be true.
“━Alpha, here’s a fish I caught from the lake today.”
“━Alpha, this is an egg I just laid. Squee!”
Various animals bowed their heads and offered food to me, each praising my fur and worshiping my strength.
“━Isn’t life just wonderful these days?”
Leaf, sitting beside me, smiled as he observed me. Though Leaf had matured, whenever he smiled, it carried that same innocent curiosity from his childhood, making me feel a bit nostalgic.
As I hesitated to reply, Leaf spread his arms wide toward the lavish feast with all the animals.
“━Just accept it. It’s all the result of your efforts. You fought like crazy to earn this. Are you still stuck in the days of bloodshed?”
“━The results of my efforts…”
“━Yes, just enjoy yourself.”
“━Enjoy. Enjoy… So, this is all mine, huh?”
A grin spread across my face as I chuckled. Leaf beamed and shouted even louder.
“━Exactly! You’re the king of all, the Alpha! Isn’t that right, Alpha?”
“━You’re calling me Alpha?”
“━Yeah, Alpha.”
“━Who do you think you are?”
“━Huh…?”
Leaf tilted his head like something was off, and I slowly let my smile fade as I regained my composure.
“━You never called me Alpha! No matter how much I knocked your head, you always pulled that silly name out and talked a lot!”
“━W-What are you saying? Why are you acting all weird?”
“━I see now. This is all a lie. It’s all fake. I didn’t wake from a nightmare; this is the nightmare!”
The realization that I had been so badly deceived ignited a fiery rage within me.
“━This is all a lie!”
I poured out the rage bubbling up inside me, unleashing it. Blue flames erupted from my mouth, igniting the forest and trees, turning everything pitch black.
I awoke again after everything had burned away. As I regained consciousness, something plopped right in front of my face.
I thought it might be Yingyi squirming, but it was far too slippery and most importantly making disgusting sounds.
【SQUEEEEEK!】
“━What the heck is this?!”
It clung to my face with a sharp screech. I used my front paw to angrily shake it off and tossed it to the ground before stomping on it.
“━What’s going on? I can’t see a thing.”
I peered into the surrounding darkness, frowning. As I groped around the floor, I felt something giving way beside me.
‘This is Usir’s bag.’
I rummaged through it and pulled out a small stick.
After shaking it a few times, it burst into a dim light.
The stick emitted a surprisingly strong glow, but in this thick darkness, it barely lit up my feet and front paws.
“━Geez… where did everyone go?”
I shook my pounding head, attempting to clear my thoughts.
‘I came to the underground tower called Sumer to break the seal of Azidahaka and shatter Nialli’s heart. Then I suddenly fainted in front of the elevator on the first floor…’
As the memories of what I was trying to do and what I needed to do flashed back into my mind, the headache I had been experiencing vanished completely.
“━What a mess.”
I began to walk slowly through the darkness, shining the glowing stick left and right. After some time,
I spotted two figures lying on the floor.
Squirm, squirm.
Something strange, like a slimy tentacle, was pressing down on their upper bodies, so I couldn’t see their faces, but judging by their attire and build, it had to be Azidahaka and Usir.
‘Where did Yingyi go?’
【SQUEEEEEK.】
【SQUEAK.】
The bizarre, gooey creature clinging to my companions let out a horrifying sound, and began blinking its countless eyes.
“━Whoa, that’s disgusting.”
I had no idea what those things were, but I figured getting rid of them was a good idea, so I extended my claws and attacked them.
【SLASH!】
【SQUEEEEEK!】
The eye-bearing tumor I clawed tore away with a dying shriek and flopped to the ground.
