King VS King

"It must suck for you. Being crowned before you could become a full-fledged King on your own."

"GRRRRR!"

Ace asked, reaching back and taking out a small golden dagger heavy with unnecessary decorations while the beast growled at him again, this time even more aggressively as it definitely understood him.

"Getting in such a position without any merit of your own sucks, although I don't know if we share the exact same experience. I'm a King myself, too. But that position was bought for me by my family and is basically worthless. There is no authority that should come with it, and the respect also doesn't follow. Why would it, since everyone knows the circumstances of a puppet country like my Silveria."

"...grrrr…"

The green-haired young man said bitterly while slowly pacing to the side, and the wolf that kept its eyes on him still growled but with much less aggression.

"This weapon isn't much different. It's good—an artifact grade even. But I had it shoved in my hands by my father, who simply didn't want to be the family head anymore."

"..."

Ace pointed out while channeling his mana into the dagger, which caused it to change shape into a rather sinister-looking spear with a barbed blade, but despite him doing that, the wolf became even more docile, as if intrigued by the story.

"And finally, just last night, even my level was raised without me doing anything to deserve it. Everything feels like a lie, and I don't like it."

"...I… understand…."

Ace scoffed to himself, but then the wolf lord let out a pained voice, sounding as if he was forcing the words out with agonizing difficulty.

"...the… only way… to… prove it… is… gaining real strength… my own strength… I want… rank up… become… wolf king…. real… lead pack… my pack… family…"

The monster spat out more growl-like words while digging its claws into the ground.

"Does your species have to be born with the title, or since you already have the lord title, can you do something to rank up and become the king?"

Ace didn't show any signs of surprise towards the monster speaking the language of the two largest human kingdoms and simply inquired in a respective tone while taking a stance.

"Kill… human… but… I… don't know… what human… exactly… didn't found…. didn't killed yet… not king… you king… but I don't fell… the right… thing…"

"That makes sense. If any of your kind had to kill actual monarchs to gain a title, you would be hunted to extinction…"

The wolf growled, and the green-haired human nodded with a bitter expression.

"How does killing someone with a royal-type ability sound, though?"

"!!!"

Ace asked, and the wolf lord's eyes trembled as its ears perked up.

"Human with… royal-type ability…! Yes…! I… must find…. one… kill... one…!"

"Well, isn't that convenient?"

The wolf barked, shifting its weight around as if readying to run away, and the human smirked at the sight.

"You already found him. This King has the royal-type ability, Veto Rex. How does it feel now?"

Ace revealed, making slight adjustments to his stance.

"Here…! The feeling…! Is…! HERE!"

The monster howled, immediately launching itself at the human, open-jaw-first...!

And the human used the chance to stab into its maws!

"...?!"

Maybe because the beast's jaws were such an eye-catching sight, the human failed to notice the wolf lord's arms, reaching over to the spear, catching it, and pushing it to the side, showing the human…

"!!!"

Only for the human's shock to turn out to be a mere act as he kicked off the ground and towards the monster, with the spear still held by the beast turning back into a dagger! With the handle suddenly turning into a blade and the added force of a half spin, at the moment of the wolf lord's landing, the monster was lighter by exactly three clawed fingers, and its wounded half-paw, half-human hand was squirting out dark red blood.

"GRRRRAAAAAARGGHHH!"

The infuriated beast roared and spun around to bite, but the green-haired human was already stabbing his golden dagger into its hind leg, cutting it open and filleying it almost to the bone.

"GRAGH!"

"..."

The monster chomped its jaws together on thin air as the human ducked and positioned his dagger towards its exposed throat only to turn the golden weapon into a spear to impale the monstrous Wolf!"

"GHAH"

But this time, he really wasn't paying attention to the wolf lord's hands as the monster landed a devastating punch right under the human's ribs, sending him tumbling to the side.

The Wolf Lord instantly followed through, slowed down a bit by the severe wound to its hind leg but with the unchanged intention of ripping the human to shreds.

The human turned his spear back into a dagger and rolled away, only to spring up and stab at the monster's side.

Alas! the beast jumped to the side without even being grazed by the blade…

"IGYIIIGH!?"

But as it tried to snap back once again to bite at the human, the green-haired man used his free hand to reach out and dig his fingers into the demonized Wolf's open wound, causing the beast to flinch and yelp in pain, giving himself enough time to stab at its head.

"!!!"

"!"

The tip of the dagger pierced the fur and skin but slid down the monster's skull as the creature shook its head to throw off the attack. The Wolf Lord even managed to grab the human by the wrist!

"...!?"

Only to realize that the human dropped his weapon and grabbed it with his other hand - said realization came a moment too late as the blade of said weapon was already piercing the monster's side.

"GRRRRAAHHH!"

The Dmeon-crowned Wolf Lord howled in pain as the dagger changed into a spear that the human used to rip into its intestines.

"I...! WILL BITE YOUR HEAD OFF!"

The wolf lord growled, pushing the human away with all of its might before throwing itself after him, hands and jaws first.

"THIS KING FORBIDS YOU OPEN YOUR EYES!"

"?!?!"

The human suddenly shouted something so weird that the beast could not help but to blink - and then panicked once it realised it actually cannot open its eyes!

"KGH…?!"

Then, as the creature landed on the ground instead of the human as it intended, something fell into its throat, and the monster almost choked, instinctively swallowing the object despite the pain.