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24. Magical Beasts and Long Live the King 070 – Magical Beasts and Long Live the King #1
━Kooooek!
The pig screamed sharply as it was smacked with a club and flew a good distance away.
It was twitching and bleeding from its snout and mouth.
‘Home run!’
I never expected this blunt force would work so well on a pig that survived a head-on collision with a tree.
Maybe swinging from the side at an angle worked better than a direct hit.
Of course, this was a more than satisfactory range of error, enough for me to raise both hands in victory.
I tossed the broken club aside that had met the pig’s sturdy skull.
‘Time to finish this.’
I slowly approached the dazed pig, which seemed to be experiencing a concussion.
━Kooooek, Kuuuuik!
Even though I was right in front of it, the pig could only let out a confused grunt.
━See, it’s definitely a pig.
Just as I was about to bring my claws to its neck, something large wiggled behind my backside.
‘What’s moving back there?’
It was my newly evolved tail!
My long and fluffy tail spun around like a propeller.
It seemed to express some strong will.
I felt compelled to grab my tail as if enchanted.
‘Are you telling me to use you?’
My splendid tail, like that of a fox or raccoon, was luxuriously covered in fluffy fur, hiding solid muscles and bones underneath.
I wrapped it around the pig’s neck like a rope.
And I pulled tightly, just like those hitmen from movies would, applying full force to choke the pig’s muscular neck.
━Krrr, krrrr…!
The suffocating pig struggled to escape, but my foot was already firmly planted on its chest.
With my front paw pulling back on the tail constricting the pig’s neck and my back paw pushing its body down into the ground,
━K-k-k…
The pig gasped like it was about to pass out, but its thick neck seemed to hold on longer than expected.
I clenched my body so hard that my teeth clenched together, and I could feel the life seeping out of the pig as it slackened in my tail’s grip.
Crunch.
With a sound like something breaking, I could feel the hard part within my tail shatter.
Seeing bl**d flow from the pig’s eyes, ears, nose, and other orifices, I released my tail from its neck.
━Kkkk…
━Still alive, huh? Tough little bugger.
Thanks to its bragged-about muscles, the warrior pig Pao-Hoo exhaled a sigh that mixed with bl**d and pain, even with a broken neck.
But soon, its breath became so weak that it couldn’t even rustle a single leaf, and silence finally settled in.
‘I won.’
The thought of having triumphed in this battle made my bl**d boil with excitement.
━Who said pigs were food? You little punk! Say that again!
I grabbed the limp Pao-Hoo by the scruff and hoisted it up.
Its lifeless body felt as heavy and solid as a rock.
I dragged it toward the terrified crowd and threw it down.
━I can’t believe the pig lost…!
━Did the festival’s champion lose? What the heck happened?
━Oh my… Is that the beast of the South? Did you see it lift that pig with such ease?
They no longer hurled jeers or accusations at me.
Fear shone in the eyes of the beasts watching me.
Their legs were trembling.
Even the carnivores who had eaten the meat of the defeated goat were too scared to think about devouring the pig and watched from a safe distance.
‘Hmph, you cowards. I went through all this trouble to serve it up to you, and this is how you repay me?’
As my excitement cooled down, the adrenaline drained from my veins.
A sharp pain in my belly alerted me as I inspected it and found red bl**d staining my white fur.
‘I’ve been punctured!’
Two large holes gaped in my belly.
They were likely wounds from the pig’s charge, inflicted by its tusks.
I didn’t notice in the heat of the battle, but it looked pretty serious now.
━Ugh, I didn’t want to get hurt.
Given this, I felt the need to eat something to recover my energy or level up.
The only thing edible in sight was the fallen pig.
‘Since no one else seems interested, I guess it’s okay for me to eat it?’
Clutching my punctured belly, I bit into the pig’s carcass.
It was tough and chewy—probably due to its muscles—but the flavor erupted in my mouth with each chew.
‘Tastes like smoked jerky!’
Maybe my body had absorbed the smoke and my muscles were getting cooked with it too.
The flavor was a lovely mix of salty and slightly spicy seasonings that made my nostrils tingle.
‘Delicious!’
Having fasted since morning, I devoured the enormous pig like it was a buffet.
【Experience points acquired.】
【Level up achieved.】
All my wounds started to itch as they rapidly healed.
Just from eating one pig, I leveled up instantly—this pig was quite the perfect ingredient for me.
Being such a strong one, maybe it granted me extra experience points like a boss monster in a game.
‘I feel great all over!’
I flexed my front paw. Right now, I felt like I could punch through rocks!
‘All my wounds are healed, too.’
The wound in my belly closed up without a scar.
In a state of satisfaction and solid readiness, I let out a loud roar into the surroundings.
━See! I’m the one who survives!
Shouting felt exhilarating, and my mind cleared up significantly.
With my head cleared and vision sharpened, I surveyed the area, only to find beasts fleeing in fear as they hid behind trees, looking at me terrified.
I approached one beast trembling on a branch.
As I climbed the tree with skill and sank my claws in, it screeched, “Kkiik!” and began bouncing around in panic.
I grabbed it by the nape of its neck and bared my fangs while growling forcefully.
━That’s mine! Hand it over!
I snatched the stick that the monkey had attached to, or more accurately, the Leaf tied to it.
━Hey, Whitey!
━I told you to stay quietly inside the cave!
I leaped down from the tree and landed gracefully.
Then, I raised a finger and lightly sliced the vines binding the Leaf’s limbs.
Once freed from the restraints, the Leaf began to fluff its paws and legs, purring.
━Th-thank you. But what are you doing here? This is the festival of the western beasts!
━It’s a long story.
Not knowing where to start, I opted not to explain.
Just then, something flitted and landed on a branch above my head.
━Alpha, the next opponent has been decided.
Sparrow Pepe reported the next schedule to me.
Just after finishing one battle, they wanted me to jump straight into another—what a harsh task!
‘I can’t imagine how tough it would be if I hadn’t leveled up.’
I couldn’t help but marvel at how advantageous my experience points and leveling up put me in compared to other beasts.
I led Raccoon Leaf through the crowd as they parted to make way for us.
They murmured amongst themselves as we passed.
━Y-you healed?! How did that happen?
━I mean, it looked like you fought fiercely, yet not a single hair got hurt…!
━What kind of recovery ability is that? Are such beasts living in the South…?
The beasts now watched me with a mix of fear and anticipation.
━So, Pepe, who’s my next opponent?
I lightly loosened my shoulders and limbs inside the circle made by the gathered crowd.
Perched on my head, Pepe chirped and smacked his beak.
━It’s Armadillo Tortilla Dilo.
━Armadillo!?
At Pepe’s words, Raccoon Leaf raised his voice dramatically.
Wondering what happened, I looked at him, and he awkwardly grinned, baring his small fangs.
━Uh, no, it’s just that I have a bit of a history with them…
━Are they strong?
At my question, Leaf grimaced and hesitated.
━They can be bothersome. I heard that the participants of the western forest festival are all strong. So, a pretty formidable opponent will likely show up.
Raccoon Leaf seemed fidgety, as if worried.
Since I already knew this guy was timid, I wasn’t surprised or worried.
‘They claimed the pig was the champion. Surely, my next opponent will be someone around that level.’
I bolstered the confidence growing within me from my victory and leveling up.
Flexing my muscles and joints, I contemplated the Armadillo I’d be facing.
In the world I had lived in, armadillos were four-legged creatures that could curl into a ball like a beetle.
They had sharp and tough shells like scales on their back, specialized in protecting themselves from predators.
‘Maybe it’ll be similar to the spiny creature, Belger.’
If Belger attacked and defended with spikes, perhaps this armadillo would be something heavier and sturdier.
Of course, I couldn’t be certain. The beasts in this world could be quite different from what I knew.
After all, there were bipedal pigs, so who’s to say there wouldn’t be a bipedal armadillo somewhere?
As I waited for a while, the crowd began to whisper and murmur among themselves.
━Aren’t they taking too long?
━What’s going on? Did it run away?
━It’s an armadillo. Even if it were to fight to the d*ath, it wouldn’t run away!
━Did you see that Southern guy fighting earlier? If I were told to face that thing, I would have bolted north!
By now, my opponent, who should have already arrived, hadn’t shown up after a few moments.
Like the rest of the restless crowd, I too wondered what was happening, and I subtly asked Pepe, the festival’s host.
━Why isn’t my opponent here?
━I think there might be an issue.
Pepe, who had been perched above my head, lifted off into the sky.
In that instant, a bl**d-curdling scream echoed from somewhere in the back of the crowd.
The tumultuous atmosphere became even more chaotic, filled with sounds of panic and terror.
━Kiheheheh.
━Hheheh. Kiheheh.
At the distinct sounds echoing from somewhere, my eyes snapped wide open.
Those were definitely the cries of hyenas, the ones I heard in the wilderness just yesterday.
As the hyenas’ sounds grew louder, the crowd stepped back, retreating from the arena.
The hyenas surrounded the crowd like a fence, making sure they couldn’t escape.
━H-how did the hyenas get here? Aren’t they supposed to be in the abandoned wasteland!?
━Who’s behind those hyenas!
The crowd pointed toward a figure with black fur casually strolling toward us.
Red bl**d dripped from its mouth, creating what looked like a red carpet on the ground.
━It’s a black lion.
━A black lion! It has black fur…!
━That appearance, those scars… it has to be Skka!
━No way! It’s the one that died hundreds of years ago. How is this even possible…?
The crowd began to stir in panic.
Pepe, who had been soaring above, landed back on my head, glaring at the unexpected guest of the festival, the black lion Skka.
━An uninvited guest. You need to leave.
Instead of answering, Skka just grinned and spat something from his mouth onto the ground.
It was a beast’s body part covered in sharp scales.
The bl**d that had been dripping from Skka was falling from that scale as well.
The terrified Raccoon Leaf hid behind me and muttered softly.
━Th-that’s an armadillo’s scale. That is an armadillo’s scale.
‘Armadillo…’
I think I understood why the armadillo hadn’t shown up.
Pepe chirped again, sounding dissatisfied.
━What happened to Tortilla Dilo?
━It’s better not to know, Sparrow. The important thing is that he can no longer come here. Instead, I’ve come like this.
━Rules state that you can’t transfer a participation right…
━Rules!
As Skka’s growl echoed, everyone, including Sparrow Pepe, held their breath.
Leaf, who was hiding behind me, was gripping my fur so tightly that it felt like my flesh might tear away.
‘How strong is this guy’s grip?’
This seemed to resonate with Leaf’s talent, 《Handycraft》.
As the furious growling slowly subsided, Skka opened his mouth once again.
━Don’t bring up the rules in front of me. If the rules had been followed, that guy wouldn’t be up there looking down on me…!
Skka raised a paw and pointed at a certain spot.
There stood Lao-Hoo, the old king, with a rather serious expression, observing everything.
Skka glared at Lao-Hoo with a face contorted as if his eyes might pop out, showing his fangs.
━This is a just judgment against those who don’t follow the rules.
With Skka’s growl marking the end, the hyenas lunged at the crowd all at once.
