The sounds of the Regressor and Nabi fighting still came from outside the building.

Bestial howls, the thunderous roar of whirling winds. And the objects around them breaking apart, unable to withstand the fallout.

Tantalus suddenly shook violently. A blast of sword energy from the Regressor seemed to have struck the building’s outer wall.

Feeling the tremor, Lieutenant General Ebon muttered.

“Still holding out against the King of Cats? Were those skills really that impressive? Hmm. Perhaps I should have watched the fight myself.”

“I’ll go take a look, General.”

The colonel stepped forward, but Ebon immediately shook his head.

“No. There’s no need. If the King of Cats has the upper hand, she’ll be playing around. If she’s at a disadvantage, she’ll run away on her own. Just attend to your own duties.”

“Yes, General!”

The colonel was diligent about his assigned duty. Namely, watching me.

Whenever we passed a shadow, he stuck close to me and glared in every direction, ready to knock my head off at the slightest provocation. Tyr would give up and wait for the next opportunity.

Tyr was powerful, but she had no aptitude for fighting to protect something. Most vampires were undying, quickly regenerating even if their bodies burst apart. With the Progenitor, the source of blood manipulation, beside them, they were effectively immortal. Naturally, they paid little heed to defense.

But with someone as fragile as me around, that approach wasn’t an option. It must have been frustrating for her.

Sorry, Tyr. But I have work to do.

Continuing his search, Ebon finally discovered Azi curled up in a corner. His eyes gleamed strangely for a moment.

'The King of Dogs, perhaps the being closest to our cherished wish... At last, entirely in our grasp.'

Containing his peculiar excitement, Ebon called out to Azi.

“At last I’ve found you, King of Dogs!”

“Woof?”

Sensing people at a distance, Azi immediately trotted over. Puzzled by the sudden increase in humans, she looked at each of us in turn.

“Cat smell, humans! Nice to see you! Huh?”

Then she spotted me bound in rope and cried out.

“Woof? What’s that? What game?”

I answered honestly.

“It’s a game called S&M play.”

“Woof! I want to play too!”

“Now, now. Good puppies mustn’t copy this.”

“Woof, woof! Not fair! Me too!”

The colonel pulled me back with a terrifying look on his face. Good grief, what a stiff. Can’t even take a joke.

Ah, if the Regressor were here, at least she would have given me an entertaining reaction. She was a nuisance when she was around, but now that she wasn’t, I missed her a little.

Ebon sent the others back and addressed Azi alone.

“King of Dogs, I make a demand. Come to the surface with me.”

“... Woof. Again? Another demand?”

Azi let out a long sigh like a deflating balloon and muttered in disappointment.

“I’m not going.”

Ebon had expected that response, so he wasn’t disappointed. Instead, he asked,

“Why?”

“Woof. I’m good. Keep promises.”

“You mean your promise with the Military State? That if you wait here, someday they’ll honor the pact and fight the King of Wolves alongside you?”

“Woof!”

Azi nodded brightly. Ebon scolded her.

“Even for a beast, you are utterly foolish. You believe that? A promise in name alone? Do you truly believe the Military State will keep such a promise and fight the King of Wolves alongside you?”

A foolish beast clinging to a promise with no end in sight. Ebon was about to heap scorn upon that foolishness.

But Azi shook her head vigorously, looked up at him, and declared with spirit,

“I will believe! Woof! If I keep believing, someday they’ll believe too!”

Beyond truth or falsehood, her words held nothing but unwavering resolve. From the King of Dogs came a promise to trust and rely on humans forever.

Ebon, who had been preparing to reproach her, briefly lowered his voice.

“Haha. A foolish question. My apologies. Yes, that is the King of Dogs.”

“Woof! It’s okay! I’m good! Accept apology!”

“Then I have no choice but to drag you away by force.”

“Woof?”

Azi tilted her head at the abrupt remark.

“By force? I won’t go even if you pull me? Not going?”

“No. You will go.”

“Wooof?”

Leaving Azi puzzled, Ebon called to the colonel.

“Colonel, prepare the chain.”

“Yes, sir!”

The colonel set down his leather bag and retrieved the iron chain coiled inside.

It was a level 4 alchemical-steel chain with a blue-black sheen. Stronger even than the door guarding Tantalus’s underground armory, it was the pinnacle of the Military State’s alchemy. Apparently, the chain had taken up most of the bag; once it was removed, the bag immediately sagged.

While he untangled the chain, Ebon turned to Callis.

“Lieutenant Colonel. I believe I instructed you to try using a chain before your mission. Well? Have you learned how to control the King of Dogs?”

Suddenly singled out, Callis searched her memories for a moment before replying a couple of beats late.

“Ah, well, I... My apologies. I haven’t discovered how. Even when I pulled the King of Dogs with a chain, she didn’t budge.”

“How did you pull with the chain?”

“I wrapped it around the neck, like a collar...”

“Whose neck?”

“Sir?”

Failing to understand the question, Callis echoed it blankly, then hurriedly collected herself and answered.

“My apologies. The King of Dogs. I wrapped it around the King of Dogs’ neck.”

“Hmm. Half right. A pity. I thought you might be able to discover the answer...”

Trailing off, Ebon pointed at Azi. The colonel nodded and strode toward her with the chain.

Meanwhile, Ebon continued his explanation.

“You have it backward, Lieutenant Colonel. What good does putting a chain around the King of Dogs’ neck do? Does it make you as strong as her? Or does it turn her into a weakling like you?”

“Then what should I do?”

“Haven’t I given you enough hints? Do the reverse. The reverse.”

Just then, the colonel finished wrapping the chain around Azi. Not around her neck or waist, but around her right forepaw.

Her right forepaw. He hadn’t bound both paws together, and at a glance, there seemed to be nothing particularly troubling about it. Azi merely blinked, offering no real resistance.

But this chain had never been intended to restrain the King of Dogs’ “body.”

Ebon’s voice sank lower.

“Lieutenant Colonel. Are you still loyal to us?”

It was a question with a predetermined answer. However confused Callis might be, the words that left her mouth had to be affirmative.

She answered immediately.

“Yes! Of course, sir!”

“Then you must be prepared to follow our orders faithfully.”

“I am! I am prepared to obey any order.”

“I commend your resolve. In that case...”

Smiling coldly, Ebon gave an order to the colonel holding the chain attached to Azi.

“Colonel. Wrap the chain around the lieutenant colonel’s neck.”

“... I beg your pardon?”

Callis couldn’t believe her ears.

A chain around her neck, as though she were some beast? And one tied to the King of Dogs’ hand, at that...?

Wouldn’t that be just like Azi holding Callis’s leash?

'Surely not. By “the reverse,” he meant... reversing who wears it...?'

It was an insult to her dignity. To wear a collar and be led around by someone else. Callis wanted to reject the situation, but with the lieutenant general watching and the colonel approaching, a mere lieutenant colonel like her couldn’t withdraw.

She pressed her lips together and stood still while the colonel wrapped the chain around her neck.

The heavy chain settled onto her shoulders. The chilling touch of metal encircled her neck. It wasn’t even tightening yet, but she felt her breathing grow labored.

But her ordeal didn’t end there.

CLICK.

A padlock snapped shut. When Callis looked up, a heavy, ink-black padlock hung from the chain around her neck.

Her eyes wavered. Now she couldn’t remove the chain on her own.

Just like any other animal.

“Your next order, Lieutenant Colonel. Walk forward as you are. Until the chain chokes you.”

Walk with a chain around her neck.

Azi was standing still, with no intention of moving. And unlike the bottomless pit, the chain had a finite length.

If Callis kept walking, eventually it would choke her.

Yet Ebon spoke as though that were the goal.

“G-General. Do you mean...”

“Yes. Exactly what you think. Keep pulling the chain until you’re on the verge of passing out from suffocation... With your neck, Lieutenant Colonel.”

Ebon’s voice rang in the bewildered Callis’s ears.

“Rest assured. The King of Dogs cannot hurt humans... under any circumstances. If you are on the verge of choking to death, she will be unable to bear the sight and follow you. She cannot allow a chain attached to her own hand to kill a person.”

The limitless goodwill dogs held toward humans.

They would hold that hostage to control a dog.

The Lords of Creation.

An organization that controlled Beast Kings through its understanding of beasts.

To control the King of Dogs, they intended to collar a human and stage a hostage situation, exploiting her goodwill.

Callis didn’t like beasts. Her father had lost his life to one, and most perpetrators of violent crime were beastkin.

But now... she could no longer tell who was human and who was beast.

'... Then what am I? I betrayed them to stay alive... and now I’m faithfully obeying their orders to save my life again... What does that make me?'

Her thoughts deepened, but her orders would not wait.

“If you weren’t here, the colonel would have done it. I’m giving you an opportunity. An opportunity to earn at least a little credit. So obey your orders, Lieutenant Colonel.”

It was an ultimatum. Refusing would constitute insubordination. Given their true nature, she would most likely die.

If Callis didn’t want to die right now, she had to obey the orders holding her leash.

“Callis Kritz. Carrying out... the mission.”

Steeling herself, Callis began walking away from Azi. Slowly, one step at a time.

At first, Azi merely perked her ears. But as the chain clattered and lifted off the ground, she sprang to her feet. Only then did she understand what was happening.

“Woof. Don’t!”

'I have to live.'

To live, she had to approach the brink of death. Those were her orders. Callis took another step.

“Woof! No! Please. Woof, don’t.”

'I’ve already thrown everything away to save my life. I can’t lose the life I bought here.'

CLANK.

Something tugged at her neck. She had already reached the chain’s limit. Feeling its heavy weight, Callis took another step.

“I, I’m a good puppy. I obey! Don’t want to hurt humans. Woof, please. Woof.”

'At least, if I obey here, regain my authority, and go home... I can live as I did before. Maybe I can even reach Level 4, like the Lords of Creation said.'

It tightened. The tiny gap between the chain and her neck steadily shrank. As the slack disappeared, Callis’s breathing grew shallower.

“Woof! Woof, woof! Stop, woof!”

'I have to... live.'

Her instincts sounded a warning. Still, she couldn’t flee. Lieutenant General Ebon, a star of the Military State, was still watching her with cold eyes.

Her breath had long since been cut off. Feeling her vision narrow... Callis pulled her body farther forward.

“Awooooo!”

Just before Callis lost consciousness...

Unable to watch any longer, Azi leaped forward. The chain instantly slackened, and with it came the return of breath Callis had forgotten. She collapsed to the floor, hurriedly exhaling in ragged gasps.

Beside her stood Azi, looking utterly heartbroken.

“Woof...”

'With a chain around my neck, holding my own life hostage to lead the King of Dogs to the surface. That’s the only... way... I can survive...'

Now Azi would follow Callis. She couldn’t let her die.

Ebon approached Callis and praised her.

“Well done, Lieutenant Colonel. It seems you do have the ability to control the King of Dogs.”

This, too, was a question with a predetermined answer. Gasping violently, Callis told a lie.

“Thank... you.”

“My judgment was right after all. You truly are an outstanding talent! Excellent! Now we need only ascend!”

He now had both the King of Dogs and the means to move her. All that remained was to return to the surface.

Ebon was clapping his hands in delight when it happened.

“Meow!”

Nabi rushed into the building. Hopping as though she had been burned, she clung to Ebon and whined.

“Meow-meow-meow! Meow-meow! It hurts, meow! It stings, meow!”

The tearful Nabi was a sorry sight. Some strands of her hair had been cut, leaving it uneven, and her arms and legs were covered in scratches. She was even bleeding, though not heavily.

She kept licking the wound on her hand and whimpering.

“Nabi. What happened?”

“Meow, I hate that thing! Can’t even see it, and it keeps stinging, meow!”

By “that thing,” she undoubtedly meant the Regressor she had just been fighting. What on earth had she done to send the King of Cats fleeing in disgust?

Ebon examined Nabi’s wounds and sank into thought.

'... Attacks meant to inflict pain rather than land a fatal blow. Cats hate pain, so the plan was to target painful spots and drive her away...?'

Beast Kings were powerful, but at their core, they were still beasts. And beasts, faithful to their instincts to live, did not take risks.

Since ancient times, the best way to deal with beasts had been to frighten them. Except in special cases like the King of Wolves, their survival instincts outweighed their hunting instincts. Humans would drive Beast Kings away by preparing traps of sharp spikes or lighting fires.

'Experience fighting Beast Kings? Quite skilled. The King of Cats has lost her hostility. I’ll have to step in.'

Having reached his conclusion, Ebon picked up his claw weapons and rose.

“That must hurt, Nabi.”

“Meow-meow! Hate it, meow. Like a stinging thorn bush, meow!”

“Understood. Then I’ll dispose of him for you.”

“Meow! Teach him a lesson, meow! I could have won! I almost finished him off! I left him for you, meow!”

Perhaps that wasn’t an empty boast, because the Regressor who followed Nabi inside was in a sorry state as well. A trickle of blood ran from her mouth, and three scratches marked her face. Her tattered sleeves were soaked red with blood.

'Practically dying. Well, a Beast King is hardly an easy opponent.'

Apparently, all he needed to do was finish her off.

Ebon fitted the claws onto both hands. One on the right, one on the left.

CLICK.

The mechanisms locked into place on his body. Ready for combat, he issued his orders.

“Nabi, please take them to the roof with the colonel. And Colonel. With Nabi here, even the Progenitor is nothing to fear. Head to the roof, and don’t take your eyes off the hostage.”

“Understood!”

The colonel replied vigorously. Savoring the feel of steel in his grip, Ebon faced the Regressor.

Meanwhile, the Regressor was yelling irritably at me.

“Hey! I’m fighting with my remaining lives on the line! Why have you been lounging around this whole time?!”

She must have been quite worked up; her face was bright red.

Lounging around? Couldn’t she see my hands were tied?

I raised both hands slightly. The Regressor practically went berserk and shouted,

“Quit fooling around and do something already! If we let them get away...!”

“Who are you talking to, dangerous element?”

Ebon closed in on the Regressor in an instant. Noticing him a beat too late, she hurriedly blocked with Sky Cherry Blossom.

“Hup!”

CLANG, CLANG!

The claws flashed in a dizzying blur, assailing the Regressor from every direction. Gritting her teeth, she wielded Sky Cherry Blossom to catch the slashes. Then, as she deflected the final blow, she switched from defense to offense and swept her sword horizontally.

Speed was the greatest strength of the weightless sword, Sky Cherry Blossom. Unrestricted by stance, it could shift instantly between attack and defense. A blinding slash that flowed from defense to offense without delay.

But it didn’t hit Ebon.

Dodging the horizontal slash with astonishing flexibility, Ebon charged, scraping his claws along the ground. His leap resembled that of a four-legged beast. He closed the distance before the Regressor could stop him and rammed his shoulder into her body. A pained groan reached his ears.

“Now, it’s rather crowded here. Let’s fight somewhere more spacious.”

His words made his intention to buy time all too clear. Recognizing it, the Regressor gritted her teeth.

“Tch...!”

'At a moment this important... I have no choice... but to trust that bastard...!'

And so, the star of the Military State and the Regressor hurtled outside.

Intentions intersected.

Wishes, hopes, desires, resolve. All passed from person to person.

The stage was set. Now, all that remained was the performance.

I slipped out a finger. A thumb, the largest fragment of the undying one’s right arm, which I had secretly picked up when he was torn apart earlier. I eased it into view.

At that moment, I had six fingers on my right hand.

Now, let’s think. A little earlier, the colonel had bound my wrists with rope.

But I had part of the undying one’s right arm in my hand—its largest digit, the thumb. The finger I’d shown him while being tied up hadn’t been mine.

What did that mean?

Why, it meant a delightfully entertaining magic show was about to begin!

“We’re leaving! Lieutenant Colonel, move out...!”

Carrying on the lieutenant general’s orders, the colonel hurriedly lifted the leather bag.

THUD.

A rectangular paper box fell through a slit in the bag. It burst open on impact, scattering mana herbs made from catnip everywhere.

“Ah!”

The colonel panicked. Even before considering how valuable the mana herbs were, he foresaw what their fall would lead to.

At that moment, Nabi’s eyes lit up despite her pained whimpering.

“Meow!”

It was a reflex. Nabi hurled herself at the mana herbs and swept them together with her forepaws.

Ten mana-herb cigars became a little mat. Settling on top, Nabi began rolling her whole body over them.

The flustered colonel shouted,

“Please hold off for a moment, Nabi!”

“Meoow! Meow, meow-ha, hah...”

“Damn! Why did this fall out?”

Why?

Because you used a leather bag. You see, I can slit a leather bag’s belly even with my foot.

I’d slashed so many bellies open to tell people not to use them, and he’d gone and used one anyway. Tsk, tsk. Didn’t he read the news?

Even if they cultivated World Trees, the mana herbs used to control the King of Cats were extraordinarily precious. The colonel hurriedly bent down to retrieve them.

At that moment, I didn’t exist in his awareness. Meaning he wouldn’t notice whatever I did.

Above the colonel’s head, I wore a magician’s smile.

“Ta-da.”

First, my left hand.

“Ta-daa.”

Then, my right.

“Ta-da-daa.”

I slipped them out of the rope, gracefully and naturally.

The seemingly tight knot melted away like water. Its construction had been wrong—or, more precisely, I had made it wrong—so it unraveled in an instant.

Escape tricks were a basic skill for a magician. Hardly worth bragging about.

Though perhaps it was different when performed on an officer?

This was why, when tying someone’s wrists, you had to check whether all their fingers actually belonged to them.

Otherwise, they might distract you with a false finger while keeping their own thumb tucked into the knot.

Just then, my eyes met Callis’s. How fortunate. A historic moment was more entertaining with an audience, wasn’t it? I bowed to her and, while I was at it, tossed her the finger from the undying one’s right arm.

All right. Now that I’d escaped, shall we move on to the next stage?

I’ve escaped, Colonel. Your turn.

I took the loosened rope in both hands. Special Military State rope, resistant to heat and blades. A specialty product that wouldn’t break easily.

Gripping both ends firmly, I stepped lightly behind the colonel as he picked up the mana herbs from the floor.

Then, as naturally as flowing water, I looped the rope around his neck and strangled him.