Shortly after the meeting, the king carried me out of there while continuing to stroke my fur.
I wanted to bite him—really badly.
But that bastard kept using his aura!
I am not a damn pet!
"Are the preparations ready?" he asked the mages while his daughter Agnes followed him with a heavy expression.
The mages gave an affirmative response.
Soon they entered an isolated room with runes drawn on the floor and paper seals scattered around.
A chill ran down my spine.
This doesn't look good.
"Agnes can't control you, and you're my little cutie legacy beast, you know what that means?"
He stared at me with a terrifying expression as he drew his daughter's attention.
Those abyssal eyes of his terrified me; I was certain the worst demons of humanity were sealed inside them.
"It means that, without a shadow of a doubt, you hate humans—especially the ones responsible for killing your mother."
He laughed in amusement despite what he had said, sending even stronger chills through me.
I just want to get away from him.
That's not a human—it's a monster!
"And it was us who ordered it. We are the ones responsible. You're going to kill us, aren't you, my cutie?"
'…'
For an instant, my mind stopped working.
Fear quickly disappeared as a new emotion slowly awakened.
It had always been there… but I had forgotten it for a moment.
I'd been so focused on my younger siblings, on my future, and on my disgust for greedy humans that for a moment I forgot the origin of it all.
It was all because they killed my mother.
The scene of her sacrificing herself for me, her blood spilling all over my body, was still burned into my memory like hot iron.
I had forgotten it for a moment.
But now I remembered.
Pure hatred coursed through every cell of my body.
His aura suddenly withdrew while mine expanded in total fury, enveloping everyone present.
WOOOSH
Everyone in the room suddenly stepped back with a heavy chill, some instinctively invoking spells ready to take me down on the spot.
My eyes locked onto the king's without any fear of the demons he hid, vowing to kill him, his descendants, and his entire kingdom.
Dozens of blades were already at my neck as I continued to curse, not shaken by any of it.
"Calm down, everyone." The king laughed, amused. "This is expected from a legacy beast."
"W-What did you just say?!" Agnes stammered. "How the hell can this be normal?! He wants to kill all of us! His killing intent isn't normal!"
"Of course it is. A legacy beast has the resentful spirit of a close relative fused with its own." The king explained while placing me at the center of the runes.
"This brings a series of benefits—its potential is from another world, and it only grows stronger the more it satisfies the resentful spirit. But in exchange, it's a being that can only move forward once the resentment is eliminated—in other words, once it kills us."
He then activated the runes, his aura suddenly being sucked into them.
"But this should hold him for now."
'Shit!!!'
I clenched my teeth as my body fell to the ground, screaming uncontrollably.
Lightning spread across the formation and struck me while all I could do was convulse.
My body twisted at unnatural angles.
The pain was unbearable!
My consciousness felt like it was reaching its limit, and all I could do was grit my teeth and endure.
Blood dripped between my fangs as I wounded myself more and more through the convulsions.
[ Pain Tolerance 1 → 2 ]
[ Fainting Tolerance 1 → 2 ]
Soon, it was over.
His aura retreated for good, yet as usual, he approached to pet me again.
I immediately lunged and tried to bite him in fury.
My muscles locked.
Gritting my teeth, I swung my claws at him.
Before they could reach, my movement lost all strength.
'What the—?'
"Agnes, come here, his fur is really soft!" the king laughed, teasing me as his daughter did the same.
I couldn't harm humans…
I clenched my teeth in growing fury.
"So, the problem is solved?" Agnes asked, turning to her father.
"Of course. You can travel with him now without him killing you—for now. At least until he accumulates enough aura to break the seal and kill you, and he will—don't doubt it."
The girl's eyes widened in terror.
"But he's gaining aura every moment…"The king laughed again.
"I know. And if you aren't strong enough by then, he will kill you without a shadow of a doubt. You need to be strong enough to hold him back—before it's too late."
"Oh, and you still have the mission of making him stronger and increasing his aura, so be careful!" The king then pulled a necklace from his pocket and fastened it around my neck.
Agnes had a similar earring, and the king a ring.
"Say hi!" he smiled at me as I already predicted what it was.
[ Smile while you can—soon I'll be your doom. Your death won't be simple… ]
Agnes suddenly shuddered, hearing my mental transmission for the first time.
For the next five minutes, the king listened as I cursed him and his family, describing in detail what I would do to each of them.
The king only smiled as his eyes grew deeper and deeper.
The smile never left his face, even as I spoke about his offspring.
Agnes, meanwhile, at some point slumped against the wall, teeth trembling, hugging herself in visible terror.
The king only laughed before continuing.
"That's what I expect from you. Grow strong and become this kingdom's ruin. You adorable thing."
He patted my head with that same amused expression.
[ Don't you fear I'll kill the ones dear to you? ]
His eyes locked onto mine again with that same inhuman expression.
"If it makes you stronger, kill as many of them as you want."
[ Crazy bastard. ]
"Agnes, my dear, come meet our new mascot." I growled in response.
"No… thanks, I really need to cultivate… see you later!" She immediately bolted out the door.
"Good… very good…" The king stared at the door for an unnervingly long time and then turned back to me.
"I was thinking… Mr. Fish. What do you think?"
[ What? ]
"Your name, you don't have one. So?"
[ Go to hell! ]
"I know—how about Mr. Cookie?"
A few days passed as Agnes cultivated feverishly in preparation for the journey.
Meanwhile…
I ran away.
'Damn bastard king!'
Under the pretext of making me stronger, he immediately released a pack of wolves inside the castle.
I can't fight that!
At that moment, I was hiding in the gardens, and from afar I could already hear those damned dogs sniffing around.
I'd been living off rats and pigeons, and it was clearly not enough.
I was getting weaker and weaker.
Suddenly, I heard a bark as one of them found my trail.
'They'll gather here soon… I need to kill at least one of them.'
I needed to kill it—the meat would revitalize me and buy time so I could get even farther away.
Hiding in a bush, I waited. Soon it came closer and closer until there were only a few centimeters between us.
I lunged with my claws to knock it out with a single blow. The wolf noticed the movement instantly and reacted with agility.
Its body retreated abruptly, allowing me to scratch part of its face, though only superficially.
It quickly retreated, trying to assume a more stable stance as I lunged again.
I clicked my tongue as it finally counterattacked—it was larger than me and its strength many times greater.
My surprise attack had failed, and now fighting was unfeasible.
It lunged at me with its powerful jaws, its mouth large enough to engulf my entire head.
I quickly retreated, and as it snapped at the air, like a spring, I pushed off with my hind legs, throwing myself at its head and digging my claws into its face.
It violently shook its head again and again trying to throw me off, while I clawed fiercely at its eyes.
BANG
It finally flung me against a fountain, the impact knocking the air from my lungs as my consciousness flickered.
But thanks to my anti-fainting skills, I recovered quickly and, looking around, located the disoriented wolf whimpering in pain.
I immediately charged at it again, the sounds of my steps alerting it.
Even blinded, it snapped in my direction, nearly biting me.
But I dodged toward the side where its neck was exposed and there I sank my fangs in once more, tearing out a large chunk of flesh in haste.
Blood flowed like a waterfall as the wolf whimpered louder and louder.
Even so, it still tried to stay standing and fight.
This enemy was especially tenacious.
But it didn't matter anymore.
I circled it, striking repeatedly in succession, each attack making it stumble and fall further.
[ You killed a Wolf ]
[ Exp: 750 → 5000 ]
[ Level up: 10 → 11 ]
[ Aura: 10 → 60 ]
At last, it dropped dead.
One down, nine to go.