When Roka said she wanted to participate in the Beast King Tournament, what I was most worried about, of course, was the possibility of Roka being killed by Epirna.
But in fact, I was also worried about the opposite scenario. It might be hypocritical, but I didn’t want Roka to commit murder.
Killing a mindless monster or beast is one thing, but killing a rational, communicative being is entirely different. Once someone commits murder, they can never go back to who they were before.
I doubt Roka had ever killed anyone before meeting me. The only time I knew of her killing was when she took down Duke Shimira and her daughter. And even then, Roka collapsed immediately after the attack, not even fully realizing what she had done.
Moreover, the mother and daughter died by burning up in sunlight, so it wasn’t a bloody or gruesome death. After that, Roka didn’t seem to have changed much. It was truly a relief.
‘I was worried Roka might kill Epirna, but who would’ve thought she’d kill herself?’
There was no chance for me to intervene. Like kindling burning up, she quickly consumed her own life. Perhaps, to Epirna, her own life was worth no more than that.
‘She wasn’t just cruel to others.’
I could understand why the beastmen who fled from Epirna did so. People are naturally cruel to others but lenient with themselves. That’s just how they are.
But Epirna was merciless even to herself. Someone so ruthless to themselves would undoubtedly be even worse to others.
—
“Coward! The Little Wolf used the power she gained by wagging her tail at humans to assassinate our king!”
“Why isn’t anyone rising up to fight?!”
The outcome had already been decided, and their leader had thrown even herself away, leaving this world. Yet, until the very end, she refused to accept defeat, and her subordinates followed suit.
The foxes rose up in a final desperate struggle, hoping someone would rally to their cause. But the crowd remained silent. No one paid them any attention.
It wasn’t just because they had witnessed the fairness of the battle with their own eyes. More importantly, Epirna had no goodwill among the people.
“Get up and fight! Do you want to endure another thousand years of oppression?”
“The humans will dominate us all. Surely you don’t intend to serve that brat as the new Beast King?!”
The tide had already turned, and the departed leader had a poor reputation. And judging by the looks of it, those foxes had an even worse reputation. No one even bothered to listen to them.
“Hydra! Cockatrice! Protect us! Wipe them all out!”
Even the monsters looked utterly disinterested. Hydra, in particular, stared at Yanid for a moment before turning its head and walking away.
The ground shook with heavy thuds as the source of the sound slowly moved toward the wilderness. With their leader gone, they chose to avoid conflict rather than fight us.
*Ping!*
The Cockatrice stared at us intently before suddenly shooting a beam of light from its eyes. Everyone touched by the light turned to stone.
After shielding my eyes for a moment, I looked around. The audience was gone, replaced by statues.
Among them, a few statues stood out—those of the fox-eared figures who, unaware of their petrification, were still in the midst of their passionate speeches.
“I’ve been caught once, but it won’t happen again.”
I wasn’t too surprised. I’d seen this before. This was a reversible change, something easily undone by the Lord’s power.
But I didn’t even get a chance to step in.
“After being freed from petrification, I swore on this fist countless times. I will burn you to ashes with this fist.”
The blazing light of the Flame Energy Technique was blinding. The intense light emitted by the flame-attribute technique neutralized the Cockatrice’s petrifying beam.
She, too, was a Master, the pinnacle of human martial arts. She might fall for a trick once, but never twice. Besides, the Cockatrice had already revealed itself to us.
“Need help?”
“No need. This is my fight. I’ll burn it to ashes myself!”
It seemed she had been on guard, ready to attack at any moment. The Princess also enveloped herself in Dragon Form Technique, creating an impenetrable defense.
It was like she had shields covering her entire body, so the beams couldn’t even reach her skin and just bounced off. And then there was Yanid. Her case was more peculiar.
-“Weird. Why aren’t you petrified? I thought you’d at least pretend to be.”
She didn’t use any technique to block or neutralize the beam—it just didn’t work on her. It was as if she wasn’t even a target for petrification.
She herself seemed baffled, lost in thought. Roka, unfortunately, wasn’t so lucky and was petrified without a chance.
*Crack…*
However, it didn’t take long for cracks to appear. Without any help from me, she soon broke free, shaking off the stone dust. A visibly irritated Roka looked around, trying to figure out who had attacked her, before finally growling at the Cockatrice.
“You don’t want to live, huh?”
As she clasped her hands together, a massive wolf figure loomed behind her. The Cockatrice flared its neck feathers, showing signs of tension, but Roka seemed even more surprised. It didn’t seem like she had intended to summon it.
“What the—? Why are you here now?”
Was it just my imagination, or did the wolf’s eyes gleam? Its gaze was like a dog eyeing a bone—specifically, the Resonance Sword Roka was holding.
*Chomp!*
Suddenly, it opened its mouth and bit down. It crunched the sword, already damaged and broken from the battle with Epirna.
The child blinked in confusion, seemingly bewildered as her own Power Technique devoured her weapon.
“What are you doing?! Let go! Why won’t you disappear? Go back! Spit it out! Or eat something else! There, bite that!”
She pleaded, pushed with her hands and feet, and even pointed at the Cockatrice, but there was no response. The wolf figure, formed by the Devouring Technique, swallowed the Resonance Sword whole, not even leaving the hilt.
*Crunch…*
Then, its eyes widened, and it stiffened. Its limbs folded into its body, and its torso elongated. Its teeth sharpened into blades, and its eyes transformed into the shapes of the sun and moon, circling around the sword-like body. The wolf that had devoured the weapon had become the weapon itself.
It was different from the dazzling Resonance Sword, which was clearly no ordinary item. This one was rough and not particularly beautiful. Yet, Roka stared at it intently, as if entranced, and even reached out to touch it.
*Clang!*
After swinging the new sword around and showing it off to me, Roka finally found what she was looking for. It was the fragments of Epirna’s axe, which Roka had shattered earlier.
Made of an extraordinary material, the axe had survived even Epirna’s self-destruction, leaving behind fragments. Roka struck the fragments with the sword, and an unusual sound began to echo.
*Crunch! Crunch!*
It sounded more like a child chewing on rock candy.
I couldn’t understand how it worked, but the sword’s blade clearly opened up, like a living creature devouring its prey.
*Crunch! Gulp!*
It chewed and swallowed, and with that, the sword became the most unique weapon in the world.
Roka, having already forgotten about the Cockatrice, hugged the sword tightly, rubbing her cheeks against the blade as if overwhelmed with emotion. From afar, the screams of Sir Leon, who had boldly charged at the monster, reached us.
“Princess, sorry, but I need some help. This thing is tougher than I thought. I figured it wasn’t much if you avoided its beams, but the poison it spits is no joke. Even my Flame Energy Technique can’t burn it all!”
The Princess sighed and rushed in. Bored of just watching, Yanid joined in too. For the first time, a look of panic appeared on the Cockatrice’s face, but it was already too late.
*Screech!*
Moments later, the Cockatrice let out a final scream as it tried to twist its body to escape. But Yanid grabbed its tail and refused to let go.
Its once-majestic crown-like crest was completely torn off after a few hits from the Dragon Form Technique. The now-bald monster desperately spewed poisonous breath, but I was supporting from behind with Divine Power. No matter how desperately it spat poison, it was purified into something harmless.
-“It’s not on the level of Hydra, but the Cockatrice’s poison is still formidable. There’s even a legend that a Master who stabbed the Cockatrice with a sword died from its poison.”
“Is that a reliable fact?”
-“Believe it or not. The legend says not only did the Master die, but the horse he was riding died too. If you’re curious, why not test it out? I’m curious.”
The Evil God replied with a mischievous smile.
-“If you miss this chance, you’ll never satisfy that curiosity. That thing’s about to die anyway.”
Moments later,
Sir Leon, who seemed to have used Water Technique, roared like a madman as he gouged out the Cockatrice’s eyes with both hands. It was as if he was releasing all the malice and anger he had been holding onto.
“Rooooar!”
The massive body trembled and collapsed with a thud. No matter how powerful a monster it was, it couldn’t withstand a three-on-one fight, and it didn’t even manage to escape.
Now, I can say with confidence.
Even excluding Sir Leon, our party’s strength clearly surpasses that of a Hero Party.