Chapter 76 : Chapter 76

Chapter 76

Thud, thud, thud-

The magical beast’s heavy footsteps echoed slowly in the darkness.

The pitch-black corridor was only briefly illuminated when the magical beast’s glowing body passed through.

Drip- Drip- Drip-

With every move the magical beast made, drops of blood fell to the corridor floor.

It was the blood flowing from Eddie’s shoulder, which the magical beast had bitten.

Eddie’s body, held in the massive jaws, was limp.

The place the magical beast arrived at was a huge space located in the basement of the ruins’ outskirts.

There, several magical beasts of a similar size to the one that had brought Eddie were gathered.

“Grrrrr… Grrrrrrrrr…”

The magical beast that headed to the center of the space placed Eddie on a low, flat rock.

The magical beasts prowled around Eddie, growling.

But they only glared and growled, not attempting to attack or devour Eddie.

‘Is it because the king’s command hasn’t been given yet?’

Eddie carefully gauged their auras.

Lying calmly, pretending to be unconscious.

Judging by the auras and sounds he felt, there were roughly five to six magical beasts here.

Based on the size of their auras, they were all central individuals, either the same as or stronger than the one that had brought him.

Then, this place was highly likely to be the space where the magical beast king, Rakan, resided.

‘Originally, it must have been intended to come here directly through a portal.’

The magical beast’s mana interference, which had snatched the portal from Eddie, had been cut off midway due to Eddie’s disruption.

As a result, the magical beast and Eddie had landed somewhere on the surface instead of the basement, and the magical beast had to carry Eddie here.

‘It must have been quite annoyed. It bit me harder than the first time.’

Eddie grumbled inwardly as he felt the pain in his shoulder.

Eddie had to endure the pain of the magical beast’s teeth sinking into his shoulder a few more times as the price of his resistance.

But it was a successful strategy because he had been able to recover his energy by feigning unconsciousness on the way here.

He had to face the crisis he was about to meet with as much energy as possible.

“Grrrrr…”

The magical beasts approached Eddie and growled menacingly.

But Eddie knew well that they couldn’t harm him now.

There must have been a king’s command to capture him alive.

At first, he had thought that a central individual, not a scout, had been provoked and had come out for some reason.

But the one that had come out had only pushed the city guard around a bit and hadn’t actively tried to harm anything.

The suspicion that ‘it had appeared to kill Marcel’ was also dispelled.

The magical beast king would have wanted to tear apart the next head of the Kirhausen family, who had occupied their home and killed many of their kind.

Eddie had also been worried about such a sudden turn of events, but his worries were in vain.

‘When I evacuated Marcel, the magical beast didn’t even look at Marcel. It was clearly focused only on me.’

In the end, Eddie reconfirmed what he had realized before being dragged away, the fact that he was the target.

He was curious as to why, but for now, it was time to focus on the present.

‘Somehow, I’ve come close to the best-case scenario I had planned. I just hope Rakan isn’t planning to eat me.’

A shiver ran down his spine as fear and elation rose simultaneously.

If he was in a state of having been driven out of his home, he might simply want to satisfy his hunger, and then it would be the end.

But even considering that danger, he was looking forward to meeting the magical beast king.

Eddie opened his eyes and calmed his breathing.

It seemed Rakan hadn’t arrived yet, as he only felt auras of a similar magnitude.

‘Without the king’s command, the central individuals can’t touch me. If I’m going to heal my shoulder, now is the only chance.’

Eddie slowly raised his body.

“Grrrrrrrrr…!”

As Eddie moved, the central individuals became vigilant and growled fiercely.

But as expected, they only growled and threatened, not attacking directly.

“Calm down, calm down.”

Drip-

As he moved, blood flowed from the holes in his shoulder, drenching the floor.

Eddie frowned at the immense pain.

Yet, he spoke to the magical beasts with a look of deep interest.

He had detested it so much in his past life, but he was as helpless to his curiosity as Dean Galliard.

“I was planning to meet you myself… but did you have to bring me in such a rough way? Well, if Rakan only told you to bring me alive, I have nothing to say.”

“Grrrrrrrrr… Grrrrrrr…”

“Oh dear… I can’t see my wand anywhere. Thanks to that, I’m disarmed, so don’t complain about me healing my shoulder a little.”

“Grrrrrrrrr… Grrrrrrrr!”

Eddie said slyly, waving his hand.

The magical beasts’ golden eyes glared at him with even more ferocity.

But Eddie didn’t back down, meeting the eyes of each central individual as he raised his mana.

‘Let’s just stop the bleeding simply. There’s no need to provoke them with mana…’

Just as he was about to heal himself seamlessly.

Eddie looked at his hand with a hardened face.

His right hand, the place where magic should have been deployed instead of a wand.

But despite manipulating his mana, magic was not deployed.

“What… is this…”

[Foolish.]

“……!”

[Did you wish to converse with me, the magical beast king, while being flustered by something so trivial?]

A voice that echoed in his head sent shivers down his spine.

And at the same time, a powerful magical beast’s aura, which he had not felt at all until now, overwhelmed the huge space.

Eddie was purely astonished.

‘Don’t tell me… it was already here and has been hiding its aura until now?’

Thud… Thud… Thud…

The sound of footsteps coming from the darkness was different in its weight.

Feeling the presence that was closer than he had thought, Eddie felt a sense of futility along with a rising tension.

‘Indeed… there’s no way I can detect the magical beast king’s aura with my current capabilities.’

He briefly resolved to become stronger.

A golden light that appeared from the darkness stared at Eddie.

“Ah…”

A strange feeling, a mixture of fear and elation, captivated Eddie’s mind.

The magical beasts that had been prowling around him all lowered their heads.

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…”

A magnificent growl that echoed through the hall.

Horns so high they seemed to pierce the sky.

A colossal magical beast that could be summarized as magnificent revealed itself from the darkness.

It was the magical beast king, Rakan!

“……”

The tips of Eddie’s fingers trembled.

‘It’s really Rakan.’

Rakan, when looked up at, was more than just huge.

Even the records couldn’t properly express it.

From its body, which was larger than five central individuals combined, an overwhelming amount of mana was being emitted even at this moment.

‘Was it shrink? Recovering my energy was meaningless from the start.’

Mana shrink.

A phenomenon where a mage’s mana is suppressed when a more powerful mana fills the surroundings.

He hadn’t experienced it even in front of Furas, but it was not surprising in front of the magical beast king.

He was just amazed at Rakan’s skill in hiding this powerful mana until just before his appearance.

Eddie quietly lowered his right hand, which he had been trying to use magic with.

To the master of this land, one should naturally lower their posture and bow their head.

But with the desire to see the legendary being with his own eyes, Eddie straightened his neck even more.

Two pairs of golden eyes stared at each other.

[You… what is your identity.]

Rakan’s voice echoed in Eddie’s head.

First, asking for his identity meant he wasn’t planning to just eat him.

Eddie composed his expression, which was about to reveal his elation, and opened his mouth.

“How can a mere human have a special identity in front of the magical beast king.”

[Your soul has far surpassed the years of your body. But for some reason, its aura is not impure, making it extremely suspicious.]

As expected of the magical beast king.

Eddie clicked his tongue at the remark that saw through his identity at once.

He answered calmly.

“It is quite unfair to be suspected. It was not my will to be reincarnated with all the traces of my past life.”

[Then are you saying that this life was given to you by a stroke of luck, without any impure purpose?]

“I might have preferred it if I had done it myself for an impure purpose.”

[I feel an interesting anger! What is the source of this anger?]

Rakan asked why he was angry.

Eddie, with the pure emotion he only showed to Leodimir, said as if pleading to Rakan.

“It is anger that comes from regret. About being killed by my half-brother and the terrible things that happened to my innocent children.”

A chilling light flashed momentarily in the golden eyes.

Rakan stared at Eddie silently for a moment.

Eddie, anticipating what would happen next, took a slow, deep breath.

Soon, Rakan’s mana washed over Eddie like a huge wave.

Hwaaaaaaak-!

“……!”

The eye of the magical beast.

Rakan began to see the past life engraved on Eddie’s soul with the eye that could see through souls.

As the magical beast’s mana pierced his soul, Eddie couldn’t even think as he wished.

But at this moment, no special thoughts were needed.

To show everything Rakan could see.

And so, to prove that his words were not lies.

Truth and sincerity were Eddie’s strategy.

Paaat-!

“Heok……!”

Not long after, Rakan withdrew his mana.

Eddie staggered from the shock of being scanned by the magical beast’s eye.

Rakan, who had opened his eyes wide, blinked and said.

[I have seen your past life, your present life, all of it. I also know why you have stood before me. But you are gravely mistaken.]

When he spoke again, he was somewhat disappointed.

Eddie hid his bewilderment and asked politely.

“What do you mean.”

[Your life is not the slightest bit similar to that of Phoenix.]

“……”

[Phoenix was stronger than anyone, but he treated his power like a stone. But you, until the moment you died, and even now in this new life, you are contemplating how to use your power.]

“……”

[For such a person to try to say that you are similar to Phoenix, just because you were killed by your brother and had your family taken away. What a foolish trick. There have been hundreds and thousands who have appealed for friendship, claiming to have the same story as you.]

Eddie’s expression hardened.

Rakan did not empathize with having the same enemy.

It wasn’t unexpected, but it was the worst of his expectations.

But he had to stay calm.

Eddie spoke quickly before Rakan could give an order to the magical beasts.

If he couldn’t gain empathy-

“If you say that I am the same as those hundreds and thousands, then I am disappointed in the magical beast king.”

[What did you say?]

“Among the hundreds and thousands who appealed for friendship, was there anyone who said they would remove the mana bloodstone embedded in your heart?”

[……!]

He had no choice but to entice him with benefits.

Along with a silent agitation, Rakan’s mana fluctuated.

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrr…!”

“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”

The magical beasts became enraged at Eddie for mentioning their king’s fatal wound.

Eddie paid no heed to the menacing growls and continued to speak.

“If I cannot gain your friendship through purity, then I will gain it through a promise. What I desire is to destroy the current Kirhausen and take back everything that was taken from me.”

[And so.]

“If the Rakan tribe lends its strength to that process, I will risk my life to bring the Rakan tribe what it needs most.”

Eddie’s golden eyes shone fiercely.

Rakan stared at Eddie’s eyes silently for a long time.

Golden eyes that did not waver in the slightest.

Eddie’s words were neither lies nor pleas.

Moreover, considering the power he had in his past life, his proposal was not a bluff.

Thud-

Rakan took a step towards Eddie.

Then, he lowered his posture and brought his huge horn to Eddie’s eyes.

[Are you daring to propose a deal with me?]

“It is not a deal, but an investment. I cannot give you what you want right now, but I can make what you desire come true in the not-too-distant future.”

[Do you know what would satisfy me? Do you dare?]

“Inviolable recovery.”

[……!]

“Just as Phoenix did long ago, I promise you a land solely for the Rakan tribe’s magical beasts, not a ruin or a tourist attraction.”

A promise for the invaded.

A proposal to achieve the same kind of benefit together for those who have suffered the same pain.

As if in response, the growls that had filled the surroundings stopped.

The audience became quiet.

‘The shrink has been released too.’

Eddie, noticing what this change meant, had a much more relaxed expression.

Rakan slowly lowered his posture and lay down diagonally, opening his mouth towards Eddie.

Eddie nodded his head and then entered.

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