The Grand Abyss team silently observed the horror displayed beside them. They could definitely feel that something was wrong with the beast. It had not moved a bit ever since the black cloth covering the cage was removed, looking good as dead. And despite the same history they knew about the beast, they could feel no excitement or joy. They could not find justice over the tortured creature.
Kyla clenched her fists, not because she pitied the beast, but because doubt was starting to crawl in the back of her head. How could they badly hurt a beast in just two nights if they feared getting cursed this much just by getting too close to it? And being near it, there was no such aura or vibe that showed hostility against anyone. She should not have been doubting, since the same stories from history had been passed down by their family to them, but she felt something was profoundly wrong.
She tried finding some reaction from their Captain, but he just stood still, completely unreadable. Seeking validation from someone she respected more than anyone else, Kyla felt a flicker of disappointment. Yet, knowing this stern man had more wisdom and better judgment than any mortal in this place right now, she could not simply dismiss him as cold-hearted.
On the other hand, Erus was trying to figure out whatever means he could actually use right now just to tell Cana that the beast was already dead and that her plan to make it her blood familiar had failed. But how the hell would he do it with so many eyes watching? And could that old dog even stand his ground if ever Cana got mad? He was standing right there, acting all composed while his brain was scrambling over the half-told plan and the fear of Cana's other personality suddenly unleashing something others should not see yet.
Wishing for this event to end fast might also trigger the consequence of ending other lives today—which he must not allow.
Erus sighed lightly. If Cana had just told him earlier the other night to simply steal the beast, the problem might have been solved quietly. But instead, she had planned for the beast to be seen by the people before making her move. He almost thought she was trying to challenge the palace, but what could her actual reason be for doing that?
"Is that really the beast? It looks so weak!" someone from the crowd shouted, his voice catching some of the attention around him.
The crowd's excited shouting slowly faded. Whispers began to spread among the commoners and even the nobles as they realized the situation. They had been too excited to observe the beast closely at first. But just as they were about to examine the badly beaten creature, Prince Lance spoke.
"My dear citizens of Northland. Are you trying to question the kindness of the palace to you?" he started, trying to gaslight the people. "We could not afford risking anyone's lives here. We endured the whole night just to make sure the beast could no longer use its curse once we showed it to all of you." A few more words all made up of lies and the people already believed the kindness that he said that easily.
Erus's jaw tightened as he heard the twisted distortion of truth about the beast they had tortured to death. It wasn't because they wanted to protect the people—they were simply sick in the head, taking pleasure in someone else's pain, using their titles to have fun and deliberately screw with everyone else's peace.
But to the citizens of the Northland Kingdom, what the prince said sounded like the noblest and kindest thing imaginable. They started shouting, thanking him and all the royals, especially the king. They all showered them with praises of loyalty and admiration.
What followed was almost an hour-long speech from King Leomar that was full of absolute nonsense. There was not a single word about helping his people out of poverty. He just paraded the same past achievements that had totally nothing to do with the kingdom and everything to do with himself. Yet the people, despite the prickling heat, still stood and listened, nodding along to everything he said while acting like smart individuals who understood every word. But in truth, they were blindly nodding to a king they treated as godly just because he supposedly possessed the legendary familiar said to be the right hand of the god of death himself—the mermaid of death.
"And now, our most awaited part of the show—the execution of the legendary cursed beast!" Prince Lance announced, standing side by side with the crown prince and the king. "We will give the honor of killing the beast to the one man who conquered the past Knighthood trial, and the one possessing a curse himself!" he proudly declared, not to elevate Erus, but to mock him right in front of everyone. "Solari! Do the honor, or if you are afraid your own curse might stir up, you can just ask the other members of your team."
The people started to shout louder, cheering for the Grand Abyss to kill the beast, but just like Prince Lance, some began throwing direct insults at Erus. They were secretly terrified, yet emboldened enough to ride the wave, knowing the king would back them up if Solari dared retaliate.
Cana scoffed upon hearing those foul words casually tossed at the man she never wanted to see hurt, not even in the least. Her eyes instantly bled into that deep dark purple, but instead of star-like lights dancing inside them, sharp golden streaks burned through her irises.
"The audacity of these lowly born insects!" she cursed under her breath while grinning ominously, her aura sinking into a blacker depth than before.
Before Prince Lance could utter another word to hype the crowd and humiliate Erus further, a straight bolt of blue light struck the exact spot where the prince stood—just a finger's length away from his body. It flashed down from the clear sky, followed by a thunderclap so loud it made the earth vibrate beneath their feet.
A total wave of shock hit the king and the crown prince, who were standing close to Prince Lance. Their brains completely derailed, leaving them unable to think or react, momentarily forgetting their royal status and even the thought of moving their bodies. Meanwhile, Prince Lance lost his composure entirely at the near-death experience. He practically lost his senses. Though his eyes were wide open, he could see nothing past the raw reality that he had almost lost his life to that lightning. Even the entire arena went dead silent, the atmosphere turning eerie as absolute stillness swallowed the space. Everyone in the arena and on the terraces was frozen in shock, terrified by the thunderous strike as if the gods themselves had been enraged.
Then came a dull thud. Prince Lance dropped straight down onto his backside. His face twisted in pure horror as he stared blankly into the void. He wanted to crawl away from the spot, but his knees were too shaky and weak to obey. He couldn't even utter a sound, feeling as though he had swallowed his own tongue.
The Grand Abyss shared the same shocked expressions, though theirs leaned more toward pure confusion over what had just happened. Even Erus, tough as he was, felt a jolt rattle his insides when that thunder roared across the clear sky. He already had a bad feeling about it because he could clearly sense the heavy, dark aura engulfing the entire place. His eyes immediately scanned the crowd to find Cana, spotting her standing with enraged eyes staring sharply up at the terrace, a grin curving on her lips like a seductress demon. Mesi, on the other hand, was too shocked and terrified to move, remaining right beside her as he hugged himself and shivered.
Erus was about to teleport and grab her, but she gave him a hand sign to stay back without even looking his way. At least it meant she was in full control of herself and fully aware of what she was doing. That realization eased his racing mind just a bit, but another thought hit him regarding the thunder and the lightning strike—was that actually possible for a mortal to unleash? He knew no one with a lightning ability who could summon a bolt directly from the heavens and couple it with such deafening thunder, making it feel like a warning for an incoming disaster. Plus, lightning and thunder beneath the prickling heat of the sun? Was this the true terror of a triple-S level?
Before he could digest all the thoughts running through his head, he heard the sharp, sudden gust of the wind, and the thunder started to roar again. Dark clouds began to roll across the sky, a clear warning that foul weather was closing in. This bizarre phenomenon caught everyone's attention. Breaking out of their shock, they looked up at the sky, confused and terrified by what was suddenly happening. The weather had been completely clear with no sign of an incoming storm, yet this was unfolding right before their eyes.
"Kill that beast, you idiot! It's cursing us!" Out of pure fear, King Leomar suddenly shouted, his eyes widening as he pointed at the caged beast with trembling hands, entirely oblivious to the fact that the beast was already dead.
But just as he finished speaking, his royal robes caught fire—he was far too slow to react to the violent bolt of lightning that struck right between his feet. He stood rigid like a statue, his mouth still hanging open in wide-eyed horror. The royal guards had to rush forward to beat out the flames on his clothes.
Hearing the king's panicked words and witnessing how that lightning had nearly claimed two of the royals, the people felt a level of terror they had never experienced before. Their minds were torn between believing the beast was cursing them or thinking the gods themselves had grown enraged. Questioning the throne was out of the question at a time like this; sheer survival instinct took over. The arena instantly plunged into absolute chaos as everyone scrambled for the exits, their eyes wide with despair and panic. They didn't care who they shoved or hurt just to save themselves.
Meanwhile, the Grand Abyss remained standing near the cage, waiting for their captain's orders. They couldn't help feeling a bit confused as Erus remained completely unmoved amidst the madness—pulling off a chilling, detached demeanor that only he could manage.
"Get that beast out of here!" the crown prince commanded, terrified that he would be the lightning's next target. He had a sickening feeling that the strike and this sudden weather change weren't coincidental, but a deliberate curse.
Erus smirked. Following the crown prince's frantic orders blindly would only lead straight into a trap, especially since, aside from him, no one else knew the true status of the beast.
Torrents of wind began to form, thrashing violently against everything they touched. Glecy had to activate her shield to protect her team, aside from Erus, who already had his own automatic shield flare up before any debris could hit him. The arena grew even more chaotic, resembling a raging sandstorm indoors, which pushed everyone's panic to new heights.
"What is happening? Is this the curse of that beast?" someone on the terrace screamed in terror.
The guards scrambled to guide the king, the princes, and the elders inside the palace, all of them far too terrified to think straight. They searched their minds and histories for any record of this strange phenomenon, knowing it was the kind of feat only a god-tier being could pull off. Desperately, they tried to catch one last glimpse of the beast inside the cage, but the howling sandstorm completely blocked their line of sight. All they could see through the haze was Solari’s brilliant golden shield enveloping him—a persistent mystery that still baffled them, wondering how a cursed man managed to possess such a holy relic.
"Mesi."
Mesi literally jumped to his feet upon hearing his name sharply pronounced by Cana. He was all ears when she looked at him with her blazing eyes, though he couldn't bear such intensity and had to fix his gaze on the ground.
"Your crimson tail," she said, and without a second question, he immediately handed her the jagged-edged sword from his dimensional storage. "My blood will hurt you, but bear the pain. It won't kill you," she told him.
Her left hand grasped the edge of his sword, and in a swift motion, she slit her own palm. In the very next second, the sword was pierced straight through the heart of the shocked Mesi. There was no hint of her next move, nor a single word of warning. The poor fox's eyes went wide as excruciating pain began to flood his veins. He desperately tried to reach for Cana to help ease the agony while he crouched down onto the ground. The pain burned like hellfire, trying to conquer his entire body, and he could feel it searing through every single cell he possessed.
She told him it wouldn't kill him, but she neglected to mention that the pain felt like absolute torment to his very soul. It hurt far worse than when he had severed his five tails. The agony only intensified as the crimson sword began to merge into his body, forcing him to roll around on the ground while crouching, though he couldn't even make a sound to scream the pain out. It would hurt his pride too much as a former knight, even as tears escaped his eyes. The pain was pushing him past his limits, and as much as he wanted to lose consciousness, every single nerve had become too hyper-sensitive for fainting to be an option. He had no choice but to endure the torture of the process. Had he known merging his tails back together was going to be this hard, he never would have severed them in the first place. Right then and there, he swore never to ask Cana to help him merge his remaining tails again. Just one tail, and it felt like it was draining years right out of his life.
Minutes passed, and he was still panting and lying on the ground when the pain finally subsided, replaced by the very familiar warmth of his own power. He didn't even realize the agony of merging with one of his severed tails was completely gone until Cana tossed three glimmering higher-grade cores at him, prompting him to realize he could move normally again. He had to look up at Cana just to make sure those cores were actually meant for him.
"Eat it to replenish your strength faster. You're up next for the duty I gave you."
As told, Mesi grabbed the cores and quickly gulped them down. He had no idea where Cana had gotten them, but they were similar to the dragon crawler cores Erus usually sold him, only of a much higher grade. After consuming the cores, his body instantly felt light and recharged. He immediately sprang to his feet, flexing with shining eyes.
"How I missed this body." Then he looked at Cana. "Thank you very much, Lady Cana—or should I call you—"
"Call me whatever Erus will feel comfortable with, and enough with the sweet talk. You have a responsibility to carry out now. Don't disappoint me."
Mesi bowed at once, a silent oath cementing in his mind to completely follow Cana, devote his life's purpose entirely to serving her, and protect whoever she valued. What she had done for him was no ordinary gift—hardly any mythical beast like him deserved such a thing, yet she had granted it anyway.
"Absolutely, Lady Cana."