Chapter 315
Chapter 315
Kyon took out an emerald bracelet from the main ring and put it on his wrist. Xiao Bai, the caring grandfather, gave this jewelry to his golden-haired granddaughter a long time ago to protect her from possible murderers and kidnappers. Kyon took this bracelet from Juno as a keepsake during their ill-fated farewell in the palace.
The white-whiskered muzzle of the predator in the royal phase appeared above the grave that Kyon had already mentally dug for himself. The tiger was cautious dealing with the cunning man like a hunter who was after a weakened but poisonous prey.
«Whiskered beast! Are you after my flesh? I won’t give up without a fight!» – Kyon shouted fiercely, feigning his heroic despair.
The tiger growled contemptuously. The beast wouldn’t eat this human monster even if it were starving, but killing him was another thing! The strong-willed worm in the advanced phase deserved some respect, but it wouldn’t cancel his upcoming death.
The tiger attacked the man with its paw, but his reaction defied any common sense: instead of trying to dodge or attack, he lowered his head as if trying to take the blow! Crazy monkey.
When the silver claws almost touched his head, several events happened at once. The man was suddenly ablaze with dazzling light that affected all the tiger’s senses, including hearing. The green bracelet had covered its bearer with a thick protective film and released a high-pitched sound so loud that it must have alarmed everyone many kilometers deep in the forest. The man let out a loud grinding sound unbearable for any living creature;
The bright flash that was no ordinary light had multiplied two sound attacks a hundred times, causing a truly stunning in every sense of the term effect. However, the paw blow hadn’t been canceled.
~snap~
~BAM~
The light dissipated. The tiger blinked twice, focusing the vision, and saw two legs sticking out of a deep hole. It was weird not to find any blood or bits of flesh on the claws. Did the paw hit a thousand-year-old iron oak instead of the fragile human? And why did it feel so itchy in the head?
{What’s there on my neck?} – As soon as the flabbergasted tiger touched the harness with the paw, a multi-colored parrot came out of nowhere and rapped out in the supreme beasts language: «Now and forever, you will be a devoted and obedient servant of your master, the man who you have nearly killed.»
After the bird’s words, the itch in the tiger’s head intensified a thousandfold, piercing the consciousness like a divine spear and forcing it to say the cherished “yes.” Resisting the will of the harness formation was just as difficult as going against the instincts. If the supreme beast is hungry, they hunt, catch the prey, and eat their fill. If they are defeated in a fair fight, they humbly accept beta’s role until they become stronger. If the alpha male / female expressed their sexual needs, they did their best to please them. If the dominant (harness formation) demands a “yes,” they said ���yes.”
The supreme beasts couldn’t lie at the level of instincts. They couldn’t deceit or manipulate anyone of their kind. Even lust wasn’t manifested in the supreme beast kingdom. They hated all this to the marrow of their bones and despised people and demons who were deeply flawed with lies, greed, and depravity.
By their nature, the supreme beasts were naive, trusting, straightforward and sincere. Their thoughts, words, and deeds were pure like crystal. They took great pride in their virtues. If the topic was too delicate, they would remain silent or say it directly. This unbreakable chain of morality in each representative created a unique mentality that helped the society of intelligent beasts, consisting of the most diverse and different species, coexist in peace and harmony.
However, humans and demons had invented the damned harness formation, the whole point of which was to make the supreme beast say “yes” once, which turned any order into an unshakable truth. Giving their consent, the beasts ended up in the psychological prison with no way out. They had to submit to their owner’s will.
The tiger could not resist for a long time and reluctantly growled agreement, obeying the will of the diabolic device: «Gr-r-r-oo-ar…» – The arcanum immediately cracked and collapsed.
«Your master will suffocate now! Pull him carefully out of the ground!!» – The parrot chirped anxiously.
{Why is the bird… Is he alive? It can’t be!} – Stunned, the tiger nipped at the man’s ankle and dragged him out of the pit. The newly minted pet stared at the unrealistic sight: blood oozed profusely from four deep wounds on the man’s head, stretching from the top to the ear! Severed skull bones revealed bleeding brains. But he was still alive!
Kyon could barely breathe from countless injuries. He had significantly raised his pain tolerance to cope with the shock. This severe traumatic brain injury would have instantly killed any ordinary person. However, Synergy of the student’s degree (2) could take over the damaged brain functions. Kyon had survived the blow mostly thanks to his upgraded head by the body of the void, but without the protective formation in the green bracelet, the claws would have ripped the brain deeper, which meant inevitable death. If he had taken the blow in any other way, the claws would have cut him in half.
The one in a million chance had worked. Lovr had correctly calculated the strength of his head and the power of the protective object, and chosen the perfect moment to put the harness on the tiger. The light flash worked like a severe hangover. It overstrained all the senses, and even a mosquito buzz could cause an unbearable migraine. The flash had multiplied the effect of the sound attacks a hundred times. Otherwise, the beast would have dodged the harness or destroyed it. There was also a risk that the striped beast would have torn the parrot into pieces, overcoming the subjugating formation.
Screaming with his upgraded vocal cords alone wouldn’t have been enough to achieve the goal. Juno’s bracelet contributed to about 85% of the success. Bai’s love for his granddaughter was truly immense: his protective object created a barrier, protecting its bearer from lord phasers’ attacks for several minutes. It also let out an unbearably loud ringing. Once again, Juno had saved her adopted brother, albeit unintentionally.
Kyon looked at his whiskered trophy with half-closed, foggy eyes and tried to smile but almost blacked out in pain. The big cat hissed as if it was about to spit out a huge ball of fur. The bright amber eyes bulged with shock looked rather funny. They no longer frightened Kyon. He found them quite cute instead. The beast seemed to be surprised that the bug in the advanced phase had survived and harnessed it. From now on, the man had become the master of the strong-willed kitty. As the saying goes: don’t let your guard down, or someone will get a free ride on your back.
«Obey my parrot’s orders.» – It took Kyon an unbelievable amount of effort to utter a word.
«Nod if you understand human language.» – The tiger nodded silently, its mouth still wide open.
«Find all the explosion craters left by your owner and deform them beyond recognition. Order the wild animals to eat up the killed hunters.» – the parrot shouted in a commanding tone.
Sooner or later, the Hunters would get here to carry out an investigation. He had to destroy all the evidence that Dick Baker had been in this place and make them think that the beast had killed everyone.
The tiger dashed off to follow the orders. The thundering roar and deafening crash could be heard miles away. The beast turned out to be the earth bender, which greatly simplified the task but didn’t change anything otherwise.
Meanwhile, Kyon’s carbon skin and bones had regenerated at speed visible to the naked eye, all thanks to his earth element. The four deep cuts had healed. Some internal injuries that would take time to heal, like internal bleeding, the consequences of a severe concussion, destroyed neurons, damaged ear, etc.
With an effort, Kyon took a sitting position, picked up his severed left arm, washed the area of the cut with the water element, pressed it to the stump, and the earth element firmly attached it to its place. It remained only to heal the muscles, the blood vessels and other tissues. The arm would have fully recovered by the evening.
There was still a soundproof barrier on his other hand that protected the tournament bracelet from any sounds from the outside. The school administration could only hear some muffled claps instead of the loud artillery explosions. In any case, he had to destroy the nephrite with the sound recording and the participant movements through the forest, or Kyon would be given on a silver platter to the Hunters.
While the tiger was changing the landscape, Kyon feasted on the hunters’ souls that hadn’t flown away yet. Three of them were at the beginning of the lord phase, four souls were in the middle and two at the final stages of the same phase… They filled his nucleus by 25%! Not bad.
After his unique body of void had completed the first round, he could absorb the souls with increased power and at a longer distance. The souls 2.5 phases stronger used to be his limit. Now he could take in souls that were 3 phases stronger than his. Not without effort, he managed to consume the leader’s soul that was at the 8th stage in the lord phase.
The tiger had completed all the tasks and returned to the master. The beast stared in amazement at his almost healed arm and head and roared somewhat timidly: «Ro-oo-ar?!» – The intelligent beast thought it was going crazy! A talking parrot, supernatural regeneration and strength of the body, strange but powerful firecrackers… How could possibly a pathetic advanced phaser harness the powerful supreme beast? The tiger was hoping to get freedom as soon as the man died from injuries incompatible with life, but the mysterious ugly freak had miraculously recovered!
«Come here.» – Kyon ordered, giving the stunned striped kitty a black look.
When the tiger approached, Kyon grabbed the beast by the white whiskers: «Floppy-eared beast! You have almost killed me! You have cost me too much risk and blood! Now you will be my mount, my protection, and my pillow! You will live up to your full potential!»
«Gr-r-r-r-o-o-a-а-r…» – The predator roared aggressively, giving Kyon a piercing glance as if warning him to do it the easy way.
«I didn’t ask you!» – Kyon snapped as if he could hear the thoughts of the freedom-loving cat. He hugged the beast by the neck and with an effort, climbed onto its back. – «Now run slowly west. If you drop me, say goodbye to your whiskers.»
The tiger obeyed the order and ran west extremely slowly for its normal speed. The beast was burning with intense shame. The royal supreme beast was saddled by a fat, disgusting man! And harnessed at that! The last week had been the most terrible in the tiger’s life. The beast had gone through a living hell that seemed never to end.
After five minutes, Kyon frowned. Two dozen hunters with bloodhounds arrived at the site where he had been fighting with the tiger. These men looked more powerful than the previous ones. Most important, they were more skillful. Their leader smelled a rat just by looking at the ruined ground. Soon, they picked up the scent and followed the tiger, exceeding the animal’s speed twice.
{Damn it! The timing is bad!} – According to Lovr’s calculations, the Hunters would overtake them in less than ten minutes. If only Kyon could endure high speed… It was impossible without a saddle and with a damaged arm! Besides, the tiger looked exhausted, too. The beast must have lost lots of blood from the deep wound. Kyon knew the animal wouldn’t last more than half an hour. Anyway, the Hunters would catch up with them much earlier than that.