STM 138

Though it was unfair, I had to bear the karma of not receiving the contract. Instead, I sighed. If I were Salvation, such things wouldn’t happen.

If I could lift the Kun family’s curse, there would have been no reason to fight Sarne in the first place. My frustration must have shown on my face.

“As Lord Lu wishes, the Grand Dukewill surely triumph in the battle against Bayan and return safely.”

“Rick, be honest. You’re worried.”

Rick cleared his throat and looked away. Where did that insincere comfort come from? How oblivious do you think I am? Caught out, Rick let out a loud, audible sigh.

“I always wish he had the power of a divine beast, but even if Kun’s divine beast exists…”

“The Grand Duke might reject it since he hates the power of a divine beast.”

“Right. The Grand Duke hates the power of a divine beast… Ah, how did you know that?!”

“I didn’t. It was just a guess, but seeing you, Rick, makes me certain.”

Rick’s eyes flickered like candles again. I seized the moment to ask him. It had been bothering me that Tairok had firmly refused to use the power of the Borhumi divine beast at Crystal Lake.

“Why does he hate the power of a divine beast?”

“I don’t… know either.”

“You do.”

Rick flinched. His entire body betrayed him like a human lie detector. I’d wondered why the Grand Duke kept this man so close, but now I understood a bit.

If he betrayed him, it would be exposed in a second. There was no one more trustworthy in the world.

“Well, I don’t know the details. I just suspect it might be connected to the death of the previous divine beast contractor.”

“The one who died opening the rift?”

“Yes. That person was also the Grand Duke’s teacher. So it seems he blames himself for that person’s death.”

“But that was ordered by the deposed emperor.”

“The previous contractor could have refused. But she stepped forward to protect the Grand Duke. The deposed emperor originally planned to use the Grand Duke, who had just awakened the divine beast’s power.”

What a piece of trash.

“Then the divine beast is a victim too. Why does the Grand Duke hate that power?”

“I-I don’t know…”

“You do.”

Tap. Now Rick took a step back. Realizing his lies weren’t working on me, he clutched his head in agony.

“This is just my guess, so it might not be accurate.”

“Spill it.”

“Haa… He once told me this. The divine beast blindly supports its contractor, but if someone more pleasing appears, it will coldly abandon them. “

…What?

“I can’t describe how cold his voice was when he said that.”

Rick didn’t elaborate further, but I had my own guesses. Could Kun’s divine beast have completely abandoned his previous contractor to go to Tairok? Was that why the previous contractor pushed herself to create the Eye of Hell and died?

“So even if Kun’s divine beast returns, His Grace might reject it?”

Unfortunately, Rick nodded. But knowing the future, I was confused. Tairok ultimately accepts the power of the awakened divine beast.

Did Hoiga make it happen? Would he love him that much? A chill spread at the question that suddenly came to mind.

It was a pathetic question, but the unpleasant, unsettling feeling was hard to shake. I just hated it. Tairok loving Hoiga? I hated it intensely.

“I’m not sure. But it’s clear he’s striving to cultivate his own power instead of relying on the divine beast’s strength. That’s why I…”

Rick paused briefly before murmuring like a sigh.

“Sometimes I wonder if His Grace deliberately throws himself into peril. As if he wants to transcend some limit.”

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“Kun Tairok.”

Bayan’s eyes flashed with a deadly glint. The killing intent within them was so pure it felt almost like nothing but that existed there. Through years of training, she had mastered the art of shedding all unnecessary emotion when facing an enemy.

So now, those eyes held nothing but killing intent. Most would feel a primal fear at such unadulterated malice, but the golden eyes meeting hers remained calm.

Had he not been an enemy, one might have admired such mental fortitude, but now, facing him sword to sword, he was anything but a welcome opponent.

“I was wondering who the rat was following me. Step into its filthy lair, and it comes out on its own.”

Still seated, Bayan looked up at Tairok and slowly scanned the surroundings.

“Where are the rest of the rats following you?”

“Stepping on mere vermin is something I can handle alone.”

Ha, alone? Bayan let out a short laugh, but her gaze grew sharper. Is there a trap?

At any other time, she wouldn’t have cared much how dirty Tairok played. No matter how skilled a sword master was, he couldn’t handle Bayan and her four disciples all at once.

But right now, Black Bear was the priority. He had to find that woman and tear her apart first.

“Right. I suppose I don’t need to dirty my sword to deal with a single rat either.”

Bayan slowly rose from her seat and signaled to two of her disciples. While they held Tairok off, she and the other two planned to slip away.

Even if they were disappointing, they had the ability to buy that much time. Or rather, she believed they did.

Bayan turned away, watching her two disciples draw their swords and step forward. But she had to stop before taking even five steps.

In those five steps, the two disciples leaped off the ground, shouting battle cries as they charged their opponents. What should have followed was the clash of blades. But all that came was a single, faint sound cutting through the air.

Whoosh.

The sound of some force, not a sword, slicing through the air. And Bayan instinctively dodged sideways.

A chilling aura swept past where she had stood. When she turned back, she saw her two disciples crouched over, swords dropped to the floor.

They couldn’t even block a single strike and dropped their swords? Bayan’s gaze, which had been fixed on them with a look of contempt, shifted downward.

Seeing severed hands rolling beside the sword, her anger solidified into fury. Ah, I underestimated Tairok too much.

Swing.

As Bayan drew her sword, a long, white aura began to extend from it.

“How dare a rat.”

Kun Sornihil, his aunt and master, had said this when Tairok first awakened the power of the divine beast.

‘Tairok, you possess a truly great vessel.’

After testing him further, she added briefly.

‘You have nothing left to learn.’

Her voice was calm as usual, but her gaze was subdued, filled with complex emotions. At the time, however, he paid no mind to her reaction.

He was simply confused as to why he had nothing left to learn. Though young, Tairok knew well that the power of the divine beast was dangerous for humans to wield.

That was why each divine beast family taught the methods to control that power and the necessary training from a young age. Yet Tairok, hated by the emperor, had never received proper training.

‘I sense no divine beast energy from His Royal Highness.’

The emperor’s confidant, a high-ranking priest with great divine power, had declared this upon seeing the young Tairok. Divine beasts dwell near those they favor, so their power should be perceptible. Though it later became clear this priest possessed no real ability, at the time, his words pleased the emperor.

He still believed he could be chosen by the divine beast.

So he refused to let even his son take that chance away. That’s why Tairok felt no joy when he first sensed the divine beast’s power.

Moreover, wielding a divine beast’s power was said to be extremely difficult, requiring long training and effort, something he possessed none of.

Everything came as naturally to him as breathing. Perhaps the power the divine beast gave him was very weak. But Sornihil said the exact opposite.

‘If an ordinary person’s vessel is like a large bowl, yours is big enough to hold an ocean.’

At first, he thought it was an exaggerated metaphor. She was blunt but kind-hearted. But it wasn’t long after he began training under Sornihil.

‘Pour out as much power as you wish.’

The moment permission was granted, Tairok gathered all the power he sensed into his palms. But would this even create a strong wind?

He doubted it. Such a weak power would likely produce nothing more than a gentle breeze.

Yet the wind that surged forth through his hands swept powerfully across the land.