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The beast's eyes opened wider. 'Something' was slowly rising up from that wavering shade of a tree.

'Is that the human...?'

Or, was it the real Shadow Sovereign?

It couldn't quite figure out the true identity of its opponent yet. However, the presence of the enemy all five senses of the beast had picked up were identical to that of the man who drove it to the edge of the cliff all those years ago.

Didn't matter what his identity was, this man now possessed the perfect, complete power of the Shadow Sovereign.

'He chased after me all the way to here?!'

The terror of death seemingly had invaded deep into the beast's bone marrows, and as a result, the creature trembled greatly in pure fear.

And when Jin-Woo's entire frame completely emerged back into the world...

Growl....

One of the savage beasts bared its fangs to threaten Jin-Woo in order to protect its master before quickly dashing forward. This monster, although outwardly feline in appearance, possessed three red eyes. It was also known to be one of the most vicious creatures even in the Chaos World.

Roar!!

The monster opened its jaw wide to reveal dozens of knife-like fangs that coldly reflected the light.

Jin-Woo disinterestedly stared at the predator dashing towards him. It seemed to possess as much magic energy as a boss from a rank S dungeon. If it was in the past, even he'd have to pay attention, but now, it didn't pose any threat whatsoever.

But before that...

Boom!

Even before he could decide on what to do next, the savage beast suddenly lost its head and its four limbs sagged down to the ground.

The culprit was none other than the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs. It leapt in an instant and destroyed the savage beast's head. Then, it quickly extracted its fist stuck deeply to the ground.

'Why did he kill his own soldier...?'

When Jin-Woo stared at it with puzzled eyes, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs got low to the floor and bowed its head. And then, words spoken with a trembling voice leaked out from its mouth now facing the ground.

[Oh, Shadow Sovereign, this King of Beasts does not wish to enter into a conflict with you. I pray that you forgive this one's transgressions and accept me as your ally.]

This was the instinct of an animal in full display. When facing against an opponent that couldn't be beaten and also, escaping from it was impossible, then one should bow one's head.

The beast's instincts were quite strongly recommending this course of action. Since the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs possessed the characteristics of a wild animal, it readily discarded its dignity and pride to stay loyal to the demands made by its instincts.

[Not too long from now, the Dragon Emperor will lead his army to descend on this land. During that time, my beast army and I shall aid you in your quest.]

The beast had assumed the most subservient posture it could.

Whimper... Whimper.....

The savage beasts behind the Sovereign were all frozen stiff in their terror and had sprung a leak, wetting the ground with their p*ss.

To these wild, untamed creatures that lived for their own continued survival, the aura of death walking ever closer was the most terrifying thing imaginable.

Jin-Woo briefly observed the King of the Beasts and its lowered tail before coming up with a reply.

"Fine."

The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs was feeling really nervous, but upon hearing that easy answer, it began smiling inwardly. And that smile soon crept up on its face directed to the floor, as well.

What a foolish man!

'That b*stard is not the real thing.'

The real Shadow Sovereign would never forgive the one who had betrayed him once before, and not to forget, someone who tried to eliminate the vessel prepared for his descent to this world.

Thanks to this human's kindness and stupidity, the beast was able to buy some time.

How could it obey this man's words when this human, no, this prey was busy emitting a delectable scent mixed in among that of the real Shadow Sovereign's?

Indeed, all it had to do was to pretend as if it was on the Shadow Sovereign's side and wait until the Sovereign of Destruction's arrival.

'When the time comes, I shall personally rip your corpse apart and gnaw on your bones.'

So, how could the beast not break out in smiles right now? With a bright face, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs raised its head again.

[I swear my loyalty to.....]

As it did, it ran straight into the chilling glare, as cold as ice, and leapt back greatly from sheer fright. As a matter of fact, the level of fright it felt was so great that it had leapt back dozens of metres in one go.

Jin-Woo coldly addressed the beast and its pale complexion.

"Before we do that, though, we should settle our debt first."

The beast squeezed out some words with a hardened expression.

[Debt? Could you be talking about the past....??]

In the past, the Sovereigns of White Flames and Beastly Fangs tried to stab the Shadow Sovereign in the back. Jin-Woo had seen that treachery through the recollection of the former Shadow Sovereign. However, that had no relevance to what Jin-Woo was about to do right now.

From the subspace that the System designated as 'Inventory', he extracted one Kamish's Wrath.

Shururuk....

While grasping the blade tightly with one hand, Jin-Woo pointed to five spots in his chest with his thumb on the free hand.

"Five wounds where claws have pierced past."

The horrifying pain from that moment was still vivid in Jin-Woo's mind.

"Withstand five attacks from me, and I shall forgive you."

That was the same thing as telling the beast to survive five fatal attacks.

It was at this point that the beast finally realised that Jin-Woo never planned to let it go from the beginning. The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs roared out in a final show of its pride.

[You dare...!! How dare you toy with me, the King of Beasts!!]

The Sovereign of Beastly Fangs activated Spiritual Body Manifestation and rapidly transformed into a gigantic wolf. Although, it was incomparably smaller than the one from the Shadow Sovereign's memories, perhaps owing to the fact that this wasn't the creature's original world. Still, the King of Beasts wielded enough power to destroy this world and then some.

Now thoroughly enraged, the giant wolf loudly howled at the Shadow Sovereign.

[My life will end here today, but you too will not live for long!]