Divine Beast Ascension

While keeping his eyes on Hurman, Sowyer swung his halberd to adjust his grip. At the same time, an icicle lance flew toward Kuldar by the wall.

And Hurman still didn’t react.

Instead, after doubling back to join his wife and sister, Marsel was already regrouping with Kuldar to block and defend the passageway. So Marsel leaped in front of the ice lance, defending Kuldar with his flaming axe.

“Hm.” Scoffing, General Ocker spat on the ground. “Filthy. You dare give up on humanity to become lackeys of blood-thirsty beasts.”

“Honestly…” Marsel chuckled and shrugged, “Not only is Dean Vloz a better assassin than all of Blood Moon Order as a whole, but that terrifying leopard has more humanity in him than every member of the Prodson Family combined.”

Sowyer’s eyes flared with even more rage.

But Marsel quickly added, “Oh, and they actually own up to their promises. Instead of reneging and offering only a portion of what was guaranteed, if that.”

When Marsel pulled out a severed head, Sowyer’s rage compacted and condensed under an immense spike in focus. “... You killed them?”

.....

“Regrettably, no,” Marsel sighed and stored the head back in his void ring. “He did. With a single strike.”

Suddenly, General Ocker’s focus was sharpened all the more. His gaze and halberd locked onto Hurman. And Sowyer’s eyes wouldn’t leave Hurman again until “Old Practor” was dead.

Hurman’s focus, however, was as still as ever. Never fluctuating or getting flustered.

“... You killed Ranon?”

No nod. No shake of the head. Hurman just stood at the ready to receive the general’s next lunge.

“Did you or did you not kill Ranon?!”

“Hmm… What does it matter?” Hurman calmly asked. “The deceased can’t fight your battles. So why worry about a fallen weakling who got what he deserved?”

Chting! Cra-chting! CH-CHTING!

The clashes of halberd and swords finally played out. Frost sprayed out in every direction. And the general stopped asking stupid questions.

*If he killed Ranon, then he has every right to be confident,* Sowyer thought. *I can only kill him and demand the surrender of everyone else.*

Ch-Crack! Ch-chtang! CRACK!

General Ocker relentlessly pressured Hurman. For that moment, all the general could see and focus on was Hurman. Even if his army was able to break through the collapsed tunnel and join the battle, General Ocker knew that Hurman must be eliminated before victory was possible. That became all the more evident with each clash the general had against “Old Practor”.

On the other hand, Hurman’s collected, undeterred gaze was both cold yet warm. His grip was firm yet soft. And his attacks were aggressive yet passive. Nothing the general did could affect Hurman’s tranquil demeanor.

Hurman had complete trust in those responsible for the tunnel. He was perfectly comfortable allowing Kuldar and Marsel to take charge of that matter.

Right now, right here, Hurman was learning.

Crack! Ch-chting! Ch-crunch!

The battle against the high-perennial general was nothing more than an open-book test to Hurman. Each swing of the halberd. Every throw of an icicle lance. Each and every little thing General Ocker did was studied by Hurman as if it were a textbook.

CH-CHTING! Cr-crack! Crun-CHTING!

With each block, parry, or sidestep, Hurman grew more confident and certain that, as the test of battle continued, this dumbed-down textbook would eventually reveal all the answers Hurman could possibly need.

*********

Back at the cliffside camp, the mid-perennial officer was still assessing the gorilla threat level and stalling for a bit more time. With at least a couple more perennials on guard, then the damage to the camp and surrounding troops would be minimized. When he spotted the arrival of a low-perennial, the officer thought, *At least one more. Maybe two…*

“Forell came to us asking to be our vassals. And we haven’t killed a single mayor of any of your cities, or made a single attack on your city walls.”

The confused troops nearby were suddenly questioning themselves. Murmurs even spilled out during the tension of the moment.

“I thought beasts don’t negotiate?”

“Don’t they only want blood?”

“It’s all lies!” the officer shouted, finally speaking up after noticing that his own troops were being tempted by the beast’s supposed offers.

Laughing some more, Hurdo did something even more shocking.

A cushion appeared in the beast’s hand. Hurdo promptly plopped onto the ground, giving himself a seat on the cushion. At the same time, a bunch of scrolls appeared in Hurdo’s other hand.

“Would you bet your life on it?” Hurdo chuckled, lobbing the mound of scrolls to the officer’s feet. “If I’m lying, then how come Hurman Practor willing and gladly joined Iron Territory? And in a matter of two years, he went from being a pitiful peak-elder to powerful mid-perennial?”

When the officer didn’t bother picking up a single scroll, Hurdo sighed and took out some more. “You know, we have plenty of copies to go around…”

Over two dozen scrolls were tossed into the crowd of nearby soldiers. And their willpower was nothing compared to the officer’s. The moment a single scroll was opened, the rest were opened in immediate succession.

“Th-this is mid-perennial grade!”

“Low-perennial grade?!”

“... H-high-perennial grade!??”

Glancing over his shoulder, Hurdo smiled at the other perennial trying to blend in with the crowd. “Tell me, what essence type do you have?”

“...”

Since the perennial didn’t reply but had hesitant eyes, Hurdo rephrased his question, “If you don’t tell me what essence type you have, how will I know what technique to give you? … Unless you want a battle art. But I still need your essence type before giving you one of those.”

“... Water.”

“Okay, and what weapon do you use?” Hurman asked with a playful, amiable voice, as if trying to guide a child through a questionnaire.

“... Swords.”

“And you’re a low-perennial, right? Not an early-perennial?”

The hesitant perennial stole a glance at the commanding officer. Then he nodded. “Yes.”

Grinning from ear to ear, Hurdo slapped the ground and laughed, “They hurry up and surrender!”

A tossed scroll and the lack of shaking ground kept people from assuming an aggressive or defensive stance against the gorilla’s newest outburst.

That hesitant perennial caught the scroll, slowly opening it while waiting for his superior officer to speak out or give an order… But no order came. So the hesitant perennial swallowed some of his nerves and took a peek at the scroll.

“... What is this? I’ve never seen anything like it,” that perennial asked, losing all hesitance out of shock.

Shrugging, Hurdo teasingly lifted his eyebrows up and down. “Right? Ain’t it special? That’s why you should hurry and surrender. Iron doesn’t want to kill anyone, apart from the Prodson Family and those directly antagonizing our territory and Iron-body Clan.”

“But where did you get this?” the low-perennial questioned more sternly. “And why would you freely give it to your enemy?!”

“Do we have to be enemies?”

Hurdo smiled wide and shook his head, letting that question seep into the surrounding minds. “... Why can’t we just get along? We only sent Dean Vloz to Iccad City because the mayor asked for us to do so.”

“More lies–”

“Here. Read them yourself,” Hurdo scoffed.

A set of letters drifted through the air, gradually landing at the leading officer’s feet amid the mess of scrolls.

“If you don’t trust me, then trust one of Prodson’s leading families,” Hurdo added. “And that’s a custom battle art from Hurman. He updated it after he became a mid-perennial.”

The mid-perennial officer was at a loss for words…

In front of the entire camp, the monster everyone had been afraid of was now discussing peace while sitting cross-legged on a luxurious cushion. And while the ape was cracking jokes and smiles, he was also giving away battle arts and cultivation techniques. It was unprecedented and unexpected.

Then, that beast produced perfectly intact letters bearing the seal of the Neilor Family… That was a blow that the commanding officer couldn’t take without flinching.

… After a moment of staring at the letters, the officer looked back up. He looked to the second and third perennials to arrive, who were stunned and perplexed by the situation. He then looked at the low-perennial, who was anxiously studying the battle art, afraid he would have to give it up at any moment.

Finally… the mid-perennial officer sighed. Lowering his spear, the officer dispersed his essence. All three letters were carefully lifted to the officer’s face. He inspected every fold of the envelope and every minute detail of the wax seal.

When the leading officer glanced back at him, Hurdo chuckled, “See? Was I lying?”

The officer still kept quiet. Taking a deep breath, the officer broke the wax seal of the first envelope. Then, slowly, he inspected the inside before taking out the lone letter. Checking even the paper itself, holding up to the light of the rising sun, the officer let out a subtle grunt. Finally, the officer unfolded the letter. He began to read, keeping every written word to himself without a single blink or change of expression.

“… I’ll ask one more time.” The gorilla rested an elbow on his knee, then his chin on that supporting hand. Hurdo brandished his arrogant smile. All while clenching Hurdo’s other raised fist, popping his knuckles. “... Would you bet your life on it?”