Not A Regressor-Chapter 303: Sky Mountains (9)

The demonic beast stood around three meters tall. It looked like a perfect fusion between a leopard and a bull with a sleek, cat-like body and a pair of rough horns. Its fast and powerful, yet flexible steps shook the ground.

The moment the black demonic beast emerged from the thick fog, Kwon Oh-Jin instinctively knew.

It’s strong.

Stronger than any demonic beast he had faced so far.

“M-My child.” Vega anxiously whispered into his ear.

Kwon Oh-Jin wanted to at least bluff and reassure her, but even his usual bravado wouldn’t come out in front of that black demonic beast’s glowing red eyes.

“Haha! This little one is Behiring, meow!” Felis naturally stood upright on two legs despite being a cat and smugly folded her arms.

Behemoth approached her and lowered itself, its eyes filled with malice as if ready to pounce and tear out Kwon Oh-Jin’s throat at any moment.

That nickname, Behiring, sounded far too cute for such a terrifying demonic beast.

Kwon Oh-Jin changed Dantalian into a spear and bit down on his lip.

“Hm? Don’t tell me you actually plan to fight Behiring, meow?”

Did she really expect him to surrender and simply tremble in fear the moment he saw this thing?

Kwon Oh-Jin smirked and aimed his spear straight at Behemoth. “I already told you. I have no intention of becoming some false star’s apostle.”

Felis’s face twisted in rage at being called a false star.

With a hiss, she dug her sharp claws into the ground. “If your scent hadn’t been so appealing, I would’ve just killed you, meow.”

So, she didn’t intend to kill him yet. That felt reassuring. Kwon Oh-Jin knew he wouldn’t last long in a real fight against Behemoth.

“Behiring! Cut a few of his limbs off. We can stick them back on later, so teach him a lesson, meow!”

“Are you sure this is how you want to recruit a servant?”

What kind of lunatic casually talks about slicing off limbs and reattaching them like it's nothing?

“Grrrrrr.” Behemoth growled and locked its eyes onto Kwon Oh-Jin.

Just meeting those blood-red eyes sent a chill down Kwon Oh-Jin’s spine. He had faced Star Spirits before, like Riarc, who was probably stronger than Behemoth in terms of sheer rank.

But Riarc can’t use his full power due to the restrictions of the Law.

Behemoth, on the other hand, was not bound by such restrictions. If even a Celestial like Felis could activate a Sacred Ground outside of the Sanctum without any consequences, then it made sense that a Star Spirit like Behemoth also faced little to no restrictions.

“I shall bestow my blessing—”

“No need,” Kwon Oh-Jin cut Vega off.

Vega was still suffering from the backlash of recently blessing Kwon Oh-Jin. If she blessed him again, the chains of light could bind her like last time.

“B-But—!”

“It’s fine. She said she won’t kill me.”

As long as he didn’t die, he would keep fighting. Even if his arms got torn off or his legs shattered, he would still fight.

“W-What nonsense are you talking about!”

“Vega.” Kwon Oh-Jin smiled and stepped toward Behemoth. “You know who I am.”

Although some of what she had seen in him was a lie, not everything was. The parts of him she had witnessed, the parts she believed in, some of that was real.

Kwon Oh-Jin stood before Behemoth with his spear in hand. The demonic beast’s crimson eyes burned so fiercely that it made his knees weak. Even so, he had no intention of backing down.

“Come at me.”

“Grrrrr!”

Boom!

The ground shook. Before the sound of the cracking earth even reached him, a heavy blow struck him.

“Kugh!”

All he caught was a glimpse of a black blur. Even though he hadn’t relaxed for a second, Behemoth’s speed was beyond anything he could follow.

Kwon Oh-Jin bounced across the ground like a skipping stone.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Perhaps his ribs had broken. A searing pain throbbed in him.

“Exceed!”

Ignoring the pain, he forcefully contracted his mana circuits. Mana surged from his Stigma and filled him with explosive power.

“Grrrr!”

Once again, the black blur moved toward him.

Vega’s Hunting Dog.

Lightning spread in all directions as a flood of information entered his mind. If he couldn’t sense Behemoth's movements with his eyes, he had no choice but to use his other senses to detect the shocks that shook the ground, the subtle movements of the air, and the demonic beast’s scent.

To the right!

Kwon Oh-Jin lowered himself and felt a massive forepaw brush just above his waist. He gathered Explosive Lightning at the tip of his spear and swung up.

Crackle!

A burst of blue lightning exploded when the spear touched Behemoth’s stomach.

“Kraaaah!” Behemoth quickly backed away.

Though the spear didn’t pierce Behemoth’s stomach, it did quite the damage. However, Kwon Oh-Jin had no time to relax as Behemoth furiously bared its teeth.

“Grrr!”

A black aura enveloped Behemoth. Lowering its head almost to the ground, it aimed the sharp horns on its forehead at Kwon Oh-Jin. Kicking the ground fiercely, it charged straight at him like an excited bull. Its movements looked simple, but extremely fast.

Behemoth’s horns tore away a handful of flesh from Kwon Oh-Jin’s thigh. Kwon Oh-Jin endured the pain and fired his wire, wrapping it around Behemoth’s horn. He flew into the air with terrifying force.

“Agh!”

Despite the wound on his thigh, Kwon Oh-Jin used Lightning Steps and concentrated lightning in both hands.

Lightning Charge!

Blue lightning condensed in both of his fists.

Crackle!

He condensed Lightning Charge six times.

“Lightning Discharge!”

Crackleeeee!

A torrent of blue lightning traveled along the wire.

“Kraaaah!” Behemoth thrashed in agony.

Kwon Oh-Jin, still connected to it by the wire, was ruthlessly slammed onto the ground.

“Argh!” A heavy pain spread throughout him.

Not only was Behemoth strong, but it still sharply glared at Kwon Oh-Jin while writhing in pain and swung its hind leg.

Whoosh!

Kwon Oh-Jin barely dodged the kick by pushing off in midair with Lightning Steps. He cut the wire and slid across the ground, putting some distance between them.

Felis’s eyes sparkled at the battle between Behemoth and Kwon Oh-Jin. “Hmm, I’ll admit. You are skilled, meow.”

Though she had seen countless fights, only a few had ever fought Behemoth so evenly.

“But that’s it, meow.”

Behemoth eventually crushed all those opponents under its feet and left them as cold corpses.

“Behiring! Use more of your strength, meow!”

Behemoth glanced at Felis. The black beast nodded slightly as if it understood, fiercely bared its teeth, and stomped toward Kwon Oh-Jin.

Black wind began to rage like a huge storm.

“Kugh! Ugh!” Kwon Oh-Jin groaned, desperately fighting back Behemoth’s onslaught.

The outcome of the battle was already as clear as day.

Vega clenched her fist tightly as Kwon Oh-Jin flew away while spitting blood.

“Hmm, are you not going to help, meow?” Felis mockingly asked Vega. “You bragged about being a North Star Celestial and all. In the end, you’re just going to watch without doing anything, meow?”

Felis laughed at Vega. Though she gleefully mocked Vega, she also knew that Vega couldn’t do much because of the restrictions. Of course, Vega could choose to break those restrictions and use her power.

“Is this child not precious enough for you to do that, meow?”

What kind of Celestial would be crazy enough to gamble its own existence to save a single human? A North Star Celestial carried immense responsibilities and duties. It didn’t matter if a false star disappeared, but the entire Sanctum would fall into chaos if a North Star vanished.

Though Felis didn’t personally know her, she knew Vega would never make such a choice.

Vega calmly shook her head. “No...”

“What do you mean no, meow?”

“That child is precious enough to be protected even if I disappear.”

“Uh huh, meow.”

Felis scoffed as if to say, ‘Don’t kid yourself.’

“You sure talk a lot for someone who’s not doing anything, meow!”

Celestials all acted the same. They obsessed over hollow honor and deceived others with honeyed words like frustrating old beings.

With a bitter smirk, Felis watched the battle reach its final stages.

“Grrr!”

Kwon Oh-Jin flew back as Behemoth’s forepaw struck him like a whip. He looked considerably injured with deep claw marks across his chest that exposed his ribs, and his left leg had been torn off below the knee. It wouldn’t be surprising if he died at any moment from these fatal wounds.

Felis judged that Kwon Oh-Jin would die if this continued and stopped Behemoth. “That’s enough, meow!”

Behemoth had its mouth open, ready to bite Kwon Oh-Jin’s arm, but froze in place.

“Grrr.” With a disappointed grunt, Behemoth closed its jaw.

Felis widely grinned at Kwon Oh-Jin, completely covered in blood.

“Have you thought about becoming my servant yet, meow?”

Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t even reply.

“What, meow? Did you pass out?” Losing interest, Felis turned back to Vega. “If you don’t want to keep watching your child get torn apart, just give him up already, meow!”

Vega silently looked down at Kwon Oh-Jin.

“Hmph! Are you ignoring me again, meow?”

“Ah...” Vega lightly sighed and nodded. “So that’s what he meant.”

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

“What are you talking about, meow?”

“You said you liked my child, didn’t you?”

“I only picked him to be my servant because he smelled nice, meow.”

Vega chuckled softly behind her hand. “Because of his scent, I see... Haha.”

Felis frowned, not understanding her reaction. “Why are you laughing, meow?”

“No reason. I’ve just become certain now.” Vega turned to face Felis with a cold smirk. “You really don’t know a thing about my child.”

“What are you talking about, meow?”

At that moment, Behemoth growled in a panic. “Grrr!”

Felis quickly turned toward Behemoth.

Kwon Oh-Jin, whom she thought had fainted, suddenly pulled himself up by grabbing Behemoth’s mouth and horn. While holding Behemoth’s head in place, Kwon Oh-Jin leaned in close and opened his mouth wide.

Felis’s eyes widened. “What are you trying to—!”

Before she could finish her sentence—

Crunch!

Kwon Oh-Jin’s teeth sank into Behemoth’s red eye.