“Hold them! Hold them! Keep every last one of those damned monsters back!”
“Old Jack! Old Jack! Are you fucking dead or not? If you’re not dead, then hurry up and plug that gap!”
“Crossbow bolts! I fucking need crossbow bolts!”
In a certain courtyard, behind a hastily piled-up barricade, Tyron roared as he commanded his subordinates to charge forward one after another, blocking those “monsters” wearing sturdy armor and holding sharp weapons.
Flames burned in the neighboring houses. Ordinary residents who had not escaped in time let out agonized wails, only to be quickly drowned beneath one roar after another.
Death and slaughter were closing in.
“Damn it!”
Tyron kicked away the shivering young brat beside him who was getting in the way, then raised a repeating crossbow and fired several shots at the royal knight who was about to charge up.
The knight was struck by several bolts and swayed a few times, but did not retreat. Tyron gritted his teeth, threw himself forward, and slashed out with his blade.
His powerful fourth-rank strength was released without reservation. A dazzling blade-light nearly tore through the darkness. Tyron’s movements were wide and forceful. At a time like this, he could no longer afford to conserve stamina. He violently broke through the knight’s defense and cut toward his vital point.
Splurt.
Blood sprayed. The royal knight’s head separated from his body, and he finally collapsed limply to the ground.
But Tyron had little time to catch his breath. He looked around, only to find that the situation had not improved much at all.
The gap was simply too enormous.
Even if he was now the actual ruler of the West District’s underworld, even if he now commanded a massive gang of over a thousand people, even if, thanks to that person’s support, the gang’s scale and strength had both improved tremendously... with a mere gang, how could they possibly be a match for these regular troops?
Especially when they were regular troops who had already gone insane and feared death not at all?
“So... why the fuck have the Kingdom’s guard troops turned into this?”
Looking at the corpses piled ahead and the blood flowing everywhere, Tyron could not understand it.
At first, when these soldiers appeared and launched their attack, he had thought the Kingdom’s higher-ups had begun a purge against the underworld gangs. At the time, he had even wondered why he had not learned of such a major matter in advance through his “informants” above. Had he been too arrogant and provoked some incredible big shot?
But later, as the surrounding flames rose, as one innocent civilian after another also fell beneath those bloodstained blades, he realized the other side had not come only for him.
These soldiers... these former protectors... had only one target.
Slaughter.
Slaughter.
Indiscriminate slaughter.
Although there were not many royal knights among them, and the security officers rushing at the front as cannon fodder were all trash, the ones pressing the line from behind were clearly the most elite soldiers of this city.
No matter how corrupt a city was, its sharpest elite would always represent its most terrifying violence.
And the vicious, ruthless thugs under him, who were usually so fierce, still showed fear when facing truly deathless opponents. If he had not kept standing at the very front, this temporarily constructed defense line would have collapsed long ago.
But if this continued, how long could they hold out?
“Boss.”
A confidant ran over and lowered his voice. “We should retreat. The brothers can’t hold much longer.”
“I know... but wait a little longer. Just a little longer.”
Tyron glanced behind him from the corner of his eye. There, many ordinary people were being transferred away: old people, children, men, women, prostitutes, beggars, all the lowest-level residents of this district... There were too many people, so even escaping seemed so slow.
“Boss!”
His confidant said anxiously, “Is there really any need to sacrifice the brothers’ lives for these people? You’re usually not like this! Womanly mercy has no meaning. You have to be ruthless and decisive when you do things. That’s what you taught me. Besides, you have no obligation to protect them. Even if you leave them here...”
“You bastard!”
Tyron suddenly slapped him across the face and cursed angrily,
“Of course I’m not some good man, but you tell me, if they all die... where the fuck am I supposed to collect protection fees?”
“...” His confidant covered his face and froze for a moment.
But Tyron was still ranting. “Don’t fucking forget, your dying old mother was able to get her illness cured because of the protection fees these people paid. The reason you can switch women every night is because of the protection fees these people paid. The reason you were able to crawl out of that stinking sewer and don’t have to carry shit for rich people every day is also because of the protection fees these people paid!”
“Everything you have now, the fact that you can dress up and live like a human being, is because of these people. And now you want to throw them away and leave first... If they’re all gone, what the hell are you? And me, Tyron... Tyron, Beast of Posis. If Posis itself is gone, if everyone in the Posis block dies, then what the hell am I? A stray dog?”
“Boss... but...” His confidant’s lips trembled, and he hesitated. “Even those lords who usually collect taxes... have already run.”
“If they want to be stray dogs, let them!”
Tyron cut down a soldier rushing forward with one slash. His expression was vicious, his image savage, as if he had returned to when he had first crawled and clawed his way through this district.
“Those cowards, beasts, bastards... if they want to be stray dogs, then let them be stray dogs. They still have other kennels in this city. They can crawl back to their kennels and drag out their wretched lives. But I, Tyron, don’t want to be a stray dog. I stopped wanting that a long time ago! I’ve fucking had enough!”
“Boss...”
“If you want to be one too, then get the hell out!”
“No...”
Fear was still gathering in his heart, but as he looked at Tyron’s resolute face, the confidant also seemed to be infected by him. He suddenly gritted his teeth.
“Right! I don’t want to be a stray dog either! I... I need protection fees too! I still haven’t gotten the owner of Sphiel Bar into bed! Fuck, that landlady’s huge ass—if I don’t sleep with her once, I won’t be able to die in peace!”
“Haha, that’s more like it! What kind of gang are you in if you don’t even have a little ambition? Fucking hell, make those useless bastards run faster, as fast as they can. After this is over, I’m definitely raising the protection fees another twenty percent... No, thirty percent! Otherwise I’ll have risked my life for nothing!”
Another slash. Blood bloomed like a flower.
Another royal knight swayed, still gripping the weapon in his hand, but when he fell, his face revealed an expression of relief.
“Thank you...”
“Fuck, the living work themselves half to death, while you dead bastards get to be freed nice and easy!”
Tyron kicked him hard and cursed.
Venting was venting, but his movements did not slow in the slightest. Taking advantage of the gap in the other side’s offensive, Tyron quickly stripped the armor off the royal knight and put it on himself.
A piece from the east, a piece from the west. Tyron finally managed to cobble together a complete set of magic armor. Although many of its functions could not be used because the magic did not circulate, the armor’s own defensive power alone delighted Tyron.
“Never thought I’d get to wear high-end goods like this too!”
He picked up the knight’s weapon as well, feeling that sharpness and weight he had never felt before. Tyron’s heart, which had been tense just now, finally eased a little, and he gained a tiny bit of confidence in this interception.
“Come on, you dogshit bastards! The one you’re facing... is Lord Tyron, Beast of Posis!”
Tyron stepped onto the wall, cut down several more men, and laughed wildly at the “monsters” charging up. Blood splashed across his face, making him look even more like a monster instead.
Night surged like a tide. Under Tyron’s charge at the very front, the defense line that had been on the verge of collapse actually stabilized.
“B-Boss! Look... look! They’re retreating!”
His confidant suddenly shouted in excitement, because as corpse after corpse piled up, those frenzied Kingdom soldiers actually began to retreat little by little. Though they had clearly already lost their minds, at this moment they seemed to have received some order, withdrawing with extreme speed and decisiveness.
“We... we succeeded?” His confidant was so excited he could hardly control himself. If the other man’s face had not been covered in blood and far too disgusting, he almost would not have been able to hold back from rushing out and kissing Tyron hard on the cheek.
“No...”
But Tyron’s expression instead suddenly turned grave.
“This isn’t success. Something even more troublesome has arrived.”
Tyron knew very well that his side had only eased the pressure slightly just now because of morale. They were still far from victory.
And if the other side retreated under these circumstances, that could only mean one thing...
“Clap. Clap. Clap.”
From the shadow of a wall, a crisp sound of applause suddenly rang out.
Even in this night of destruction, it was so clear.
A thin man walked out from the corner, stepping over the soldiers’ corpses and blood. He raised his head to look at Tyron standing above him, making no attempt to hide the admiration on his face.
“I originally thought this would only be a boring job. I didn’t expect that in a place filled with stink everywhere, someone like you would actually exist. Finally, something has managed to raise my interest a little.”
“Who are you?”
Tyron frowned. He did not sense the slightest threatening aura from the man before him, but that unease did not dissipate at all.
“I abandoned my name long ago. As for the title born for the grand ideal of the new world...”
The man placed a hand over his chest and bowed, like a performer onstage.
“Under the Third Seat of the Salvation Society, Beast Tamer. Please remember it.”
“Beast Tamer? From a circus?”
Tyron spat. “What the hell are you?”
“Circus? No, no, no... Do not insult me with something so vulgar. What I do is for a grand ideal, not some clownlike performance.”
Beast Tamer snapped his fingers and smiled.
“Repent for your rudeness.”
As Beast Tamer’s words fell, a huge shadow silently appeared on the battlefield.
The surroundings grew quiet again, as if even the sound of the nearby flames burning the houses had vanished.
Yet Tyron felt the sound beside his ears become heavy and piercing.
Because he heard his own heartbeat... suddenly accelerate.
“Roar...”
The colossal creature approached little by little, and its full appearance finally revealed itself before Tyron.
“A demonic... beast?”
It was a massive, ferocious demonic beast, its body as enormous as a small mountain.
Silver scales flickered with a cold gleam. Sharp fangs dripped corrosive venom. The spines on its back were sharper than blades. Three serpentine giant tails lashed, and with a light sweep, they could make a house collapse.
Scarlet eyes stared at Tyron, carrying an almost human sneer. Terrifying pressure released from the monster’s body. Its aura alone nearly crushed the breath out of everyone there.
“A Dominion-rank... demonic beast?”
