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Time passed, and the sandy arena. The stands in this Colosseum-like place were now packed with Beastmen.

“Why are there so many spectators?”

One might think there had been some promotional event.

“It’s a good spectacle for them to see the Beast King fight. I didn’t particularly want to announce it, but they probably caught wind of it through my movements.”

Those paparazzi are really something.

“Then let’s get ready.”

The Beast King looked at us with excitement.

“You’ll take on all three of us alone?”

If that’s the case, I was ready to pile on the assault without hesitation.

“You must be joking. Of course, I can’t take on all three of you at once.”

“What a shame.”

“With opponents like you, one life wouldn’t even be enough.”

“Then who will you fight?”

“Well, that’s obvious.”

The Beast King raised a thick finger to point at me.

“If I’m only going to fight once, I might as well duel with the strongest among you.”

*

We had some time to prepare against the walls of the Colosseum. However, it seemed to be more of a formal time given. I had nothing to prepare, and the Beast King, being more of a physical type, seemed to have nothing to prepare either.

“What’s with the sudden willingness to participate?”

“What are you talking about?”

“If it were Lord Luke, I thought you’d throw a punch the moment we met, calling the time wasted, why go through all this hassle?”

“Ah…”

Wasn’t there a reason not to? Even if it takes time, it’s not like the monsters would run away if we showed up a little late.

“It’s a chance to hit a king legally, isn’t it?”

Not taking that opportunity would be a loss.

“……”

“And if you beat the king, the other guys won’t cause us trouble, right?”

I could understand them having some trouble with that little squirt called Ho-Wang. But if I beat the Beast King—the strongest in the Beastman Kingdom—what beastman would dare mess with me, knowing that life was on the line?

This is, in short, a power move using the king. There’s no better way to establish dominance.

“Are you ready!”

The Beast King shouted from across the arena. His voice was so loud that despite the distance, it felt like it was ringing right in my ear.

I signaled that I was ready, just casually swinging my sword, when someone who seemed to be the announcer spoke up.

– Thank you for waiting! Finally, the duel between our Beast King and a human will begin!

Standing in the center of the Colosseum were me and the Beast King.

– Drrring!

A loud gong rang, signaling the start of the duel.

“Raaaww—!”

A powerful roar and a rush of air hit me like a wave.

It was bigger than the one he used earlier to scare the crowd. It seemed he wasn’t trying hard then. Now, my ears were ringing from it.

Immediately, the Beast King charged at me. He was fast, but not so much that I couldn’t follow him with my eyes. As I relaxed to watch what he’d do, sharp claws sprouted from his hands.

That was definitely a weapon I hadn’t seen until just now. They looked like child’s play, but anyone who’s been scratched knows—they hurt like hell.

Plus, the wounds from those claws would be susceptible to infection, so I deftly dodged them. But more attacks came right after.

Bite, scratch, bite.

The Beast King’s fighting style was raw and primal, unlike his battle-hungry personality, resembling a savage beast that kills to eat, and eats to survive.

‘Is this really what fighting is?’

But then again, as I dodged, I began to wonder if this was right after all.

“Hey, aren’t you supposed to be the Beast King? Is this the best you can do? Child’s play attacks?”

I mean, scratching and biting are all good and fun, but that’s only a couple of times. This can’t be all he’s got; there’s no way a beastman is weaker than an ant.

“Well then, make me hotter!”

Make me hotter? What am I, a kettle? He challenges me to fight but doesn’t warm up beforehand.

Still, I just so happen to know an attack that’ll definitely get him fired up.

“Ball Crusher!”

– Whack!

“……?!”

With my seemingly light-hearted yet sincere kick, the Beast King’s jaw shot forward. Sweat began to drip down his face.

Moments later, he leaped back dramatically to create some distance.

“How’s that? Feeling fired up now?”

If a guy doesn’t get heated from that, he must be impotent.

“Uh… Indeed…! Such an attack, I’ve never experienced before…!”

The Beast King squatted down, awkwardly gathering his legs like a shy girl. A hit there might not seem like much, but it sends shockwaves through one’s body if done wrong.

And that applies to the Beast King too. This was fate that couldn’t change now that he was born a man. These days, characters that say they’ve trained there and don’t feel pain might just look ridiculous.

“Ha… Yeah, I’m definitely heated now!”

The Beast King, now fired up from that hit, looked strangely perverted. But his body exuded steam as his excitement grew. He indeed seemed heated up.

– Crash!

As he stomped his foot, the ground cracked, and a sandstorm arose. As I was lost in thought about how showy it was, his foot was suddenly right in front of me.

I ducked just in time, and a follow-up kick came crashing down. I twisted my body to dodge. Right after that, a fist came barreling at me. The attacks came in succession; if I dodged one, another would immediately follow.

– Bam! Bam!

Sounds of air bursting came from the Beast King’s fist. Seeing that his attack was different from mine, it must rely on agility rather than sheer force.

Though I didn’t know what technique it was, it must be up to the standard for someone who is a king using ‘overwhelming power’ to rule.

If I hadn’t been there, he might have reached S-rank based purely on strength alone.

‘But that’s when I’m not around.’

The conclusion is simple: I’m stronger.

“Quit dodging and throw some attacks my way!”

“Sure thing.”

I gripped my sword with both hands. And without hesitation, I plunged it into my own body. I swallowed the scream like a manly man.

“……?”

The Beast King gazed at me as if I’d gone mad. Stabbing myself while we’re supposed to be fighting?

But every action has its reason. This self-harm was to maximize the Berserker skill’s effect. After all, thanks to Yggdrasil’s blessing, I’d heal from it, so a little self-harm doesn’t matter.

I delicately placed my hand on the Beast King’s face. Then I pulled back my middle finger.

Have you ever really felt a strong slap? It seems trivial, but a slap can leave skin torn with blood after a few dozen hits. And a truly strong slap hurts like mad and rings in your head.

“Serious Slap!”

– Whack!

With a loud sound, the Beast King flew backward. Plop! He landed hard on his backside, his eyes wide open. Then, he quickly got up and charged at me with a growl.

It seemed he intended to repeat what had just happened, so I wiped the blood flowing from my body across his eyes.

“…Guh!”

And just like that, his blind attacks followed. Naturally, I wouldn’t be hit, and I pulled my upper body back while stretching out my right leg. Then I positioned my fingers upright and extended my arm.

“Throat Jab!”

“Keh…!”

The Beast King staggered back, coughing.

“Are you mocking me?!”

Mocking? How hurtful. A technique that targets a person’s weaknesses, and in terms of lethality, it’s deadlier than any other technique out there, and yet he doesn’t get that?

It seems he wasn’t accustomed to targeting weaknesses, as the Beast King repeatedly hurled fists at me, veins popping on his face.

“But no, it’s not going to work. Once again, here comes the Ball Crusher!”

“Uurgh?!”

Next, I grabbed the long hair of the Beast King’s beard. He conveniently left a handle there for me. Not using it would be rude.

Yanking it caused a crinkly sound as some of his beard came off, turning his face toward me.

Then I grabbed his hair.

“Ugh…! Fight me fairly!”

Isn’t targeting weaknesses a basic tactic even kids know? Hair is the most common and visible weakness; anyone can employ it if they can just touch it.

“Why is it cowardly when anyone can use this technique?”

Honestly, I don’t get it. They say grabbing hair or targeting weaknesses is petty, but in reality, the ones throwing their techniques are the more petty ones, right? They use tricks they learned that the opponent can’t resort to.

Compared to that, grabbing hair is straightforward and fair, right? It’s an equitable technique available to anyone.

They make me out to be a coward just because they don’t like it.

“Kraaaaaak!!”

How annoyed do you have to be for your eyes to bulge out? He’d turned red, so I quickly poked at both his eyes to normalize his bulging gaze.

“Ugh…!!”

“Correction complete.”

With the Beast King rubbing his eyes and staggering around, I landed a punch squarely on his chin. It’s a technique to knock someone out with a strong impact. Everyone knows it, but if you lack the strength, it only hurts, which makes it hard to pull off.

– Crack!

As I struck, his chin jerked sideways, and for a moment, the Beast King’s pupils went blank.

With that, he collapsed forward, kissing the ground.

“Oh….”

Oops. Instead of knocking him out, I probably just broke his jaw.

*

The Beast King was carried out on a stretcher. We were told to wait in the reception room, and we complied.

“When he’s knocked out, how long do we have to wait here?”

“Who knows…? Maybe someone else will come?”

But that was an assumption. The moment the reception room door opened, someone stepped in—wrapped in bandages from his jaw to his head was the Beast King. Does getting stronger let you wake up faster even after being knocked out?

The Beast King sat down on the sofa across from us, swagging with confidence.

“Haha! I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve tasted defeat!”

He seemed a bit different after taking a few hits. Or maybe this is his true personality? Either way, since we won’t see him again after today, what does it matter?

“Alright, I lost, so go ahead and ask anything!”

“Then, the entire national treasury…”

“Lord Luke….”

“We came here to hunt the Ice Snow Dragon.”

“……”

Suddenly, the Beast King fell silent. Instead of a serious demeanor, his expression turned to one of someone who just bit into something foul. What’s up with that?

“Ugh… Of all times, why them?”

“Who?”

“Oh, you must not know because you’re outsiders.”

Luna is definitely not an outsider; why’s she stuck on that notion?

“If it’s the Ice Snow Dragon, it’s related to that Dragonkin race.”

I already knew that. That’s exactly why we came here.

“Can we really take down the Ice Snow Dragon…? Before that, the Dragonkin are a problem.”

Are they stronger than I anticipated?

“Luna, don’t you know anything about them?”

“I’ve only heard rumors about the Dragonkin, and I’ve never seen them in reality.”

“Do they even exist?”

Wouldn’t it be like SCP where they don’t actually exist but people think they do? Just as I was thinking of this…

“They exist.”

The Beast King firmly stated.

“However… they’re beings I also hesitate to confront…”

“Huh, are they tougher than you?”

“Be it strong or weak, their mental state is off.”

“What do you mean?”

“They look down on all other races except for their own, even if they’re stronger opponents.”

Isn’t that just like the Elves?

“And even if you speak to them, they won’t understand. They speak in strange terms, like ‘fiend’ or whatever, and end up not listening.”

So… their entire race is clueless but thinks highly of themselves, like the Crimson Demons?

“Because of that, I often have trouble whenever we hold meetings.”

As soon as he mentioned that, crease lines formed deeper on his forehead. Though I think I saw at least two more lines appear.

“But now, we don’t bother with them anymore.”

Well, I guess that’s called being a voluntary outsider. How stupid do you have to be to reach a level where you no longer care?

“But why is that a problem?”

“They worship the Ice Snow Dragon as a god.”

The term ‘god’ is always unpleasant. Just like the goddess I met before, most depictions of gods in stories tend to lead to troublesome fanatics.

“That won’t do. We’ll take care of that for you.”

“……?”

 

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