He thought he had conquered everything that could be conquered over the endless ages.
But he realized he was wrong. Lately, the man had been consumed by that thought.
What he sought to conquer was neither a nation nor people.
Truth. Laws. And power. Techniques. Anything within his reach, he honed to perfection. Whether through personal might or wisdom, he surpassed anyone on the continent.
But the reason he felt no joy was because he now understood just how small the continent truly was.
‘The colors of this world had all vanished.’
For a brief moment, everyone lost their colors. How was that even possible?
Perhaps it was a natural phenomenon. Aside from nature itself, no one he knew could have done such a thing.
It was hard to tell if everyone had temporarily become colorblind or if the colors had truly been stripped away. No one had ever experienced such a thing.
Though he had lived for countless ages, he had never encountered anything like it. Could it have been the work of the Primal Body? But even in the countless cycles, such an event had never occurred.
“Grimudo-sama.”
While he was deep in thought, a woman approached him. She walked through the snow with the dignity and majesty of a white tiger.
Yet, upon facing Grimudo, she knelt. Not out of defeat by force, but out of genuine respect for the Demon King.
“The procedure was a success. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Do you have any regrets? The path of divinity is still open to you. But if you wish to walk that path again after abandoning it once, it will require even greater effort.”
“I desire no path but yours, Demon King.”
A tiger knows no submission. Even to its own kind, a tiger does not bow.
Yet, this tiger had not been broken by a whip. She had knelt of her own will.
From the time she was a girl, she had always been arrogant, not even acknowledging her own parents. The only person she had ever respected was the Demon King before her.
She believed she shared something in common with him.
“At first, you came to me wanting to become a Beast God. What made you change your mind and settle for being a beast in the end?”
“Because you did not walk that path, Demon King.”
Kneeling, the woman answered without hesitation or deceit.
The Demon King smiled. Indeed, he could have become a god at any time. But he had kicked away every opportunity. What others would desperately crave, he had always rejected with his own hands.
He had even stripped away his own divinity to create the Death God, Modrig. Seeing that, the tiger had changed her mind. She realized there must be a reason the Demon King so vehemently rejected divinity.
“I only wish to follow your path.”
“Epirna. Are you happy as a beast?”
“At first, I hesitated. But now, I regret nothing. Had I known it would feel this good, I would have done it sooner.”
“But do not forget, this is only the beginning.”
The Demon King himself had reconstructed his body with the cells of the Primal Body. The reason he was exempt from the cycle and could live through the ages was because he possessed the body of a beast.
That was one of the reasons he did not reject the title of Demon King. If someone who went to such lengths to transcend the limits of life was not a Demon King, then who in the world deserved the title?
Thus, he was qualified to advise Epirna. The tiger, still kneeling, took his words to heart.
“No matter how impressive your abilities may seem, the only thing that truly matters is eternal life. Remember, you have gained the opportunity to train infinitely, free from the constraints of time. You have earned the right to seek truth without being bound by aging. That is all it means.”
The abilities and wisdom he possessed now were not born from transforming into a beast. They were the result of his long and arduous efforts.
In his eyes, Epirna had merely earned the right to put in the effort. The world was not equal, and neither were qualifications. Epirna had to transform into a beast to earn her qualifications.
In contrast, the elves, blessed by the World Tree, were born with such qualifications. The Demon King had once held expectations for them. He believed eternal life would bring endless progress.
But they became intoxicated by their longevity and fell into irreversible corruption. Despite going through countless cycles, they hid the truth and merely survived under the shadow of the World Tree, never producing any creative results.
In the end, the Demon King was disappointed and erased the World Tree from existence.
He believed it was better to die than to lose the will to explore and seek.
“I will remember your words.”
This woman, who had always remained respectful, once desired a divine throne. A god who would rule over all beastmen. She was willing to do anything to achieve it.
This was during the time she still wished to maintain her identity as a tiger.
She hunted mice, subdued foxes, drove away wolves, and tamed dogs and cats. She even eradicated the lions. Then, she established the Beastman Kingdom, aiming to ascend the throne and gather the faith of her people to become a god. But as she laid the groundwork, a new desire emerged.
‘If I’m to become a god, why not become a god with the body of a beast?’
She had witnessed the power of the beast with her own eyes, borrowed from the Demon King. It was only natural for such thoughts to arise.
Thus, she joined hands with the Demon King. Intrigued, the Demon King assisted her in her goal to become a god with the body of a beast.
But at some point, she began to wonder: Why should I become a god?
‘I once thought the same.’
A god without followers cannot exist. While a god may seem grand, without followers, they wield no power. Far from power, they must pray not to vanish.
Though the Death God was a special case, even they relied on the malice of mortals to survive. The tiger did not like that.
Calling it a god was generous; in reality, it was a being that depended on the inferior. She did not want that. Among all beastmen, the tiger was the strongest but also the loneliest.
Possessing the greatest strength but few in number. With a fierce temper and strong pride. While wolves had a sense of kinship, tigers had none. They saw even their own kind as threats.
If they viewed their own kind that way, other races were out of the question. A god relied on the faith of those other races. Realizing this, Epirna changed her mind.
She no longer desired to be a god but to become a complete beast.
A tiger is a self-sustaining being. The ultimate form of individual strength is the beast.
The woman desired to become a beast. The Demon King gladly granted her wish. Epirna wished to become her second self, and this was also quite intriguing to the Demon King.
The first and the second. There was a significant difference. Performing surgery on oneself and performing it on another were vastly different.
When he first became a beast, the Demon King lacked experience. Now, he was a seasoned expert who had created countless beasts. Thus, there was a significant difference in the experience of the surgeon.
The result was the masterpiece before him. Epirna was truly satisfied with her newly transformed body. Unlike the first procedure, which he approached conservatively, he employed all sorts of new techniques for Epirna.
“Now, on this land, aside from me and the dragons, few can harm you. Even the Phoenix wouldn’t find it easy.”
It was a masterpiece among masterpieces, even incorporating the magical knowledge he had accumulated. He felt prouder than when he created Modrig. Encased in powerful magical barriers, a fearsome beast had been born, impervious to conventional means.
‘Speaking of which, what is that guy even doing? He’s been away for quite a while this time.’
Probably sleeping in some volcano. He had no intention of looking for him.
If a puppy runs away, you worry and search for it. But if a tiger runs away, you just wait for it to return. The Phoenix wouldn’t be harmed by others; if anything, it would be the one causing harm.
“Grimudo-sama. I… no, never mind. I will tell you what I desire a little later.”
The woman, who had been smiling, bowed once more and left. Unbeknownst to her, she had unknowingly chosen the correct path.
Considering the various traits, including immense strength, and eternal life alone, becoming a beast was a better choice than one might think. At least, no beast had ever died of old age.
Epirna would also be able to live a life close to eternal. And secondly, this was crucial: the moment one becomes a beast, they are exempt from the cycle.
The Primal Body recognizes beasts as part of itself. Thus, they are not subject to the cycle.
Surviving the great upheaval where everything changes is not just an advantage but a method of survival. Unknowingly, the tiger had chosen the only path to survival.
‘In the end, I couldn’t tell him.’
Beneath the Polaris Fortress, there was a gate leading to her kingdom. Standing before the gate, the tiger glanced back with a hint of regret. As expected, the Demon King did not come to see her off.
‘But someday, I will…’
With deep regret, she leaped through the gate. She wasn’t too worried. She thought nothing major could have happened while she was away.
Now, the Beastman Kingdom meant little to her. Whether it prospered or fell, she had transcended it. She had earned the right to stand by the Demon King’s side for eternity.
Only after a truly long time did she realize what she truly desired. It was neither kingship nor divinity.
Having achieved half of it today, she now only waited for the day she would claim the other half.