CH 44

Transform・Beast

A hellish scene unfolded

That guy can use beast magic with this much power continuously

It’s at “10 attack per turn” level

「Ryaryaryaryaryaryarya!!」

Under normal circumstance, his beast magic <Dragon death crush> is an instant death skill

With the sharpness gained from the trait of the dragon, just the shock wave fired off from his claw can even tear steel

To be able to repeatedly use such a killing move just like jabbing, he is simply an extraordinary man

Also, I am not the one who receive most of the damage

It was the surrounding onlookers

To be more specific, it’s the other Twelve Apostles and the emperor

The reason? I parried all of the slash waves he threw at us like a barrage with <Spinning return>

When I did that, their trajectory changed, the slash waves flew to wrong directions and turned into stray bullets

The battlefield is a plaza inside the empire’s castle

The surroundings are the solemn buildings and walls that shows the power of the empire

Those buildings were hit by the slash waves and the debris were sent flying

The people below were fighting very hard against the raining debris

「Gyaaaa!! Watch out!?」

「That large debris! That debris is coming!?」

Because the debris are at the level of being hit means death, they are trying to escape more frantically than me who is directly fighting

Occasionally, a stray slash wave fly toward them, which is even more dangerous

「Beast Magic <Hungry wolf’s thundering current>!!」

Forte used her killer technique to deal with it, but……。

It was repelled by the stray <Dragon death crush> of Grey Ryuuga

「I can’t offset it!? Despite both being claw slashing attack, the difference between my <Hungry wolf’s thundering current> and Grey Ryuuga-sama’s <Dragon death crush> is that wide!?」

「It’s natural! Stop doing useless thing and use all your power to escape!!」

It would increase the damage unnecessarily

Naturally, the emperor is not in a safe zone. One of the slash waves I warded off changed it course and coincidentally headed right at him……。

「Beast magic <Tragic moon slash>」

The second rank of the Twelve Apostles, Wartaiga’s attack splendidly disperse Grey Ryuuga’s stray slash wave

「Your Highness, please stay behind me」

「Umu」

The emperor is unhurt as long as Wartaiga defends him

Tsk, accidental death is unlikely, huh?

As a result, the safest place where the slash waves can’t reach and the debris can’t fall to is around me instead, or rather, behind me

「It’s real, being behind Onii-chan is the safest place……!?」

Besides, Selen is behind me so I’m even more eager with defending her

However, Grey Ryuuga is indeed frightening

He can continuously firing his strongest, sure kill technique like this

He fires, I ward off

Such equilibrium continues for 5 minutes

He doesn’t seem to be out of stamina yet, but the imperial castle may collapse before that

I don’t care about that, so let’s ward off more!

But

Suddenly, the storm ended

Damn Grey Ryuuga, don’t just stop firing blindly

「It’s a waste of time and stamina no matter how you look at it」

Saying Grey Ryuuga, without even a sweat or disordered breathing

He is not exhausted at all

In the offense and defense until now, in contrast with me who only shifted the direction of the attack using minimal power, he continued to fire of sure-kill skill one by one

No need to even think which side consumed more stamina

Despite that, he has a nonchalant look

「It’s certainly as you said, I acknowledge that it’s impossible to defeat you with <dragon death crush>」

「So, you gave up?」

He wouldn’t admit it for sure

「No way. You should already know, right? <dragon death crush> is merely one of the many cards I have in my hand」

Right

It’s not just a guess though

I have fought against him many times in the game 『Beast Fantasy 4』, so I probably know more about what he can do than even the person himself

He threw away the first card

The next one would be……。

「You are certainly a rare personnel. There is no doubt that the so-called Holy Wisdom art would be useful for our empire. That’s why I must defeat you here」

The quality of the Beast aura covered Grey Ryuuga’s whole body changed

It’s more ominous than before

「I will thoroughly beat you up, show you the difference in our power and plant the fear to never disobey me. Only with that, we can use a capable, useful person like you with absolute trust. This is a ritual. To turn you into a genuine retainer of the empire」

「I’m already loyal to the empire without that」

Toward the country where I was born with a new life

I pledge my allegiance

「Leave that aside, you started fighting for that reason?」

「Hmm?」

「Not just me, the others, too. You showed your power to thoroughly frighten them and shave off their will to disobey」

Certainly, that might be a necessary measure for those ecstatic guys after being super strengthened by the beast pieces

「So that means the “change the ranking based on the outcome of the gozen match” is a lie?」

「What a pity! In fact the ranking of the Twelve Apostles won’t change. It depends on the nature of the Beast piece you had」

Each of the Twelve beast piece has a symbolic animal dwelled within

For example, Grey Ryuuga has the 『dragon』 beast piece

「There is an order for the strength of the beast. Perhaps, depending on the host’s talent, a narrow margin can be overcome. However, it’s impossible to close the power gap between the holder of the strongest beast piece and the holder of the weakest beast piece」

「Who, and who are you talking about?」

「For example, if you receive the weakest beast piece, you are still empowered to be much stronger than the elite guards. Even so you can’t stay at the top. You should have tried harder during the selection」

What the hell are you talking about?

Is it about the 『Mouse』 beast piece I had?

「By the way, the power of Beast Piece isn’t just that. It doesn’t just empower the host. It can even dramatically change the host even from his origin」

I know

Do you even know how much 『Beast Fantasy』 I have played?

「You want to see my next card? Then I will show you. At the same time, this is the new stage for the holders of the Beast piece」

「Beast mode?」

「You knew, huh? Just how deep did you know……!」

The beast aura released by Grey Ryuuga becomes more violent

When something becomes too violent, a normal person would instinctively try to hold the rein. But on the contrary, he increase its speed even more

「Then look at it. The domain where only the beast aura holders who have crossed the limit can reach. By reducing not just your power but also your mind and body to that of a beast, even a human can become a demon beast. This very form……, its name……!」

Beast mode

Grey Ryuuga changed to something inhumane

The silhouette barely retains the human shape

However, his whole body is covered in hard scales with a pair of wing-like membrane on his back, sharp nails grow on his fingers and his pupils are cold, devoid of emotion like a reptile’s

The overall impression is like a reptile, or rather, a dragon

A dragon-human crossbreed, dragon man

『This is the culmination of beast magic, Beast mode! It’s possible to become the beast dwelled in the beast piece! My symbolic animal is 「dragon」!  Right now, I am the strongest as a human and a dragon!』

「Selen」

For now, I disregard the lizard man before me

I grab the nape of my sister behind me

「Let’s separate for a while, this gonna turn into a flashy fight」

「Eh? Waaaaaaaa!?」

I fling Selen with all my strength

「Gashi! Forte! Please caught her properly!」

「「Eeeeeh!?」」

If it’s the giant Gashi and Forte, who stands in as Selen’s sister, they will surely catch Selen even by risking their life

「Heave ho !」

「You really do it!?」

「Gufuaaaaaa!?」

Don’t make a sound like it’s a strong rebound

「Sorry for a rough evacuation, Selen……!」

However, I don’t have any leeway now

The “look at me!” guy in front of me is approaching with a terrific speed

Looking closely, he had disgusting reptile skin

Dragon man?