Chapter 354

Chapter 354

“You’re going to turn me back into a waterman?”
“Yes, it is. It’s about time, though not to my satisfaction—.”
After looking Varen up and down, Sekrit’s mouth watered.
The body, which was more of a sphere, was angular and somewhat manly.
The hardest part of losing weight was not in my arms.
Varen’s brow furrowed.
“If such a thing were possible—.”
“Hmm? What?”
“If you were able to do that, why didn’t you set me free long ago! Do you have any idea how many innocent lives were sacrificed! All for the sake of my flesh, and you haven’t turned him in all these years?”
Impatient, Varen yelled out.
I know I’m not the best judge of character, but this time I couldn’t let it go.
Sekrit nodded grimly.
“Yes.”
“How come—!”
“I had no choice, because with your shriveled up flesh, you wouldn’t have been able to compete with that leopard fellow, let alone the entire North Wind Corps.”
Varen flinched at the realization.
He was right.
In the past, I would have had to go undercover with a disguise that wouldn’t have worked in the past.
Considering that even that Blantha was initially captured by the North Winds, even in her non-human form, victory was not assured.
“Where are you running to!”
Blantha was still slaughtering the Sioux.
He was a natural brawler, his fighting style both flashy and unassuming.
Not even spending any mana, let alone an Auror.
His skills as a warrior were far superior to those of his wife, Nemea.
“Honestly, I didn’t recognize you when I first met you in Heeran. You had regressed in every way but weight. I almost fainted when I realized that Varen Panasir was using an Auror to kill a few wolves.”
“That, that’s—!”
“Let’s get this out of the way first, this is frustrating.”
“—OK.”
Varen did just that.
A golden glow flashed.
Boom!
Varen strained his body, and the chains binding them both broke.
Sekrit rolled his shoulders as if stretching.
“I don’t blame you. It’s a peaceful world overall, even with the tragedies we’re seeing now. It’s never a bad thing to relax and enjoy the peace.”
Sekrit’s gaze lingered on the village below the cliffs.
In the village where the North Winds were based, shrill bells rang incessantly.
Perhaps they’ve noticed something has happened to the fortress.
At this rate, they would have to fight armed villagers.
“But there are still lands where the sun never shines. There are lands where ill-will and hatred have festered for so long that they can no longer be saved by the usual means. To save them, we need heroes who can cut the knot once and for all. Ronan, Mage Asel, Jaifa, or—”
Sekrit pulls a piece of chalk out of his pocket.
It was the same chalk used to turn Varen into a human.
With each flick of his tail, various medicinal ingredients were dropped.
Sekrit, completing his circle, stabbed a finger into Varen’s stomach.
“A hero like you.”
“——I’m not that great.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You do realize how many lives your potions have saved, don’t you? Even the wealth you’ve amassed has been used to help those suffering from war.”
Sekrit snorted.
He honestly thought as highly of Varen as he did of Ronan, who had slain the giant.A godfather, Varen had spent his fortune more wisely than anyone else, and there was not a man who had lived through the Last War who had not benefited from it.
“You’re not a hero unless you slay dragons and save princesses. But unfairly, you have the power to do it. Varen, you have the strongest body of any wererion I’ve ever seen.”
“Secrets….”
“Enough with the modesty, you’ve lost weight and you need to strut your stuff.”
Sechrit claps his hands.
The light rose according to the symbols on the circle.
The energy to expunge the curse began to creep up Varen’s legs.
“And this is with all due respect to the old lady—.”
“What?”
“Maybe the person you really need to stop isn’t Blanta.”
His voice was serious.
Varen asked him what he meant, but he didn’t answer.
Throughout the incantation, Sekrit’s gaze remained fixed on the fortress where Jaifa would be fighting.
****
The snowstorm was picking up.
“What, you’re done already?”
Blantha snorted.
He had just finished a fight and his body was drenched in red blood.
Dozens of men lay on the ground, cold corpses.
“You should have kept it modest, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Cuck–cuck–cuck–billion—.”
At Blanta’s feet was another WearPanther like him.
The sole survivor of the day.
A man was blinded because he didn’t like the way he was being looked at.
“How could you—how could you—how could you have treated your own people so horribly.”
Wearpanda sobbed.
His voice trembled, and there was an unconcealed hatred in it.
All of his friends from back home who were kidnapped with him were killed by Blanta.
I still have fond memories of Blanta tearing off limbs alive to get the audience’s attention.
“Hmm? Did you have any family or friends in the arena? I’m sorry, I killed so many people, I don’t recognize you.”
“Oh, no–cool, you animal!”
“A beast, and not a very wrong word.”
Blanta laughed.
It was a compliment to his desire to live a life of fulfillment.
He added his weight to the leg that crushed the man.
“On the flip side, did you think you were a person while you were stuck here?”
“Kuck—!”
“So your dicks are dead and your eyes are gouged out. If you don’t know how to have fun, at least try. To be an animal.”
The man with the crushed guts was bleeding profusely.
He wanted to get up and tear him apart right then and there, but he was so badly wounded and blind that all he could do was wriggle like a bug.
Blanta giggled, forgetting her mission.
“Blanta. That’s it.”
Suddenly, behind his back, he heard an unfamiliar voice.
“What?”
Blantha turned her head.
A lump loomed over the blizzarding field.
It was so massive, I thought it was a rock at first.
Blanta rubbed her eyes a couple of times before she realized it was the same Suin as her.
“—where did you come out of nowhere?”
“Huh!”
Blanta moves her foot away from the Wearpanda.
His eyes narrowed as he sensed the threat.
The snow flurries subsided for a moment, revealing the full shape of the mass.
Wear Lion.
The most ferocious race of watermen known, along with the weartiger.
A huge lion, one head taller than he was, glared at them silently.
“…Were there lions, too? I don’t remember.”
“Blanta. I’m giving you one last chance.”
“Chance?”
“Yes. Stop killing and surrender. The North Winds will be disbanded as of today. Your leader will never get his way.”
Varen said calmly.
The rich mane danced in the blizzard.
It was a ridiculous statement, but Blanta didn’t laugh.
I could tell at a glance.
He was an enormous powerhouse.
He was a little chubby, but that wasn’t a big deal.
The taut, bulging muscles were like the sculpture of a master.
Blantha wiped the blood from her face.
“Looks like you’ve been farting somewhere. What if you don’t like it?”
“I have no choice but to deal with you here.”
“Ha, process.”
Blantha smirked.
He was overconfident and arrogant.
Turning fully to face Varen, he lowered his stance.
“You cocky asshole–if you’re so good, try it. You must taste like a piece of meat.”
If you walk away after hearing that, you’re not a man.
Blanta’s heart began to race.
Auror, which he hadn’t used since joining the Order of the North Wind, coursed through his veins.
“Please, please, please don’t just blow it out of the water.”
His pupils narrowed as he entered the battle.
Every muscle in his body bulged like it was going to burst.
Black flames erupted from his bloodied fist.
The fire was not real, but an illusion created by an Auror.
“You’re going to skin me alive and make me a carpet!”
Blantha roared.
The gravelly voice echoed far beyond the fortress.
The flames intensified.
The flames that had risen up her arms soon engulfed her entire body.
In a flash, his figure disappeared from view.
“It’s also—.
Varen exclaimed.
It’s been faster than I could have ever imagined.
The sight of a wear panther flying by, dragging its red tail, was a shot from hell.
“If I had fought before I lost weight, I might have really lost.
Sekrit was right.
They weren’t armed Zionist gendarmes for nothing.
It seemed that the saying that only the strongest warriors from the north could enter was not an empty one.
‘Asshole. It was a bluff after all.’
Blantha, who had been rushing, raised her eyebrows.
Varen stood in place, unmoving.
It was clear that he was frozen in terror, as his expression didn’t change at all.
Losing interest, Blantha reared her claws.
Originally, I was going to punch it, but I thought it would be neat and nice to just rip out its heart in one fell swoop.
“Die!”
Blanta exclaimed.
Sharp claws dug into Varen’s sternum.
Varen’s hand, which had been resting on the side of his thigh, faded for a moment.
A dark shadow appeared in front of Blanta’s eyes.
“Huh?”
Blantha’s eyes widened.
The shadow that nearly blocked his view took the shape of a giant fist.
At this rate, it was going to crash.
His body reflexively tried to stop, sensing danger, but Varen’s fist was already digging into the center of his face.
The moment when the slowed down time returns to normal.
Kaaaaaah!!!
Blanta slumped to the floor.
The earth shook with a boom that sounded like a building being demolished.
His head, knocked back along the trajectory of the fist, was smashed through the pavement.
After catching his breath, Varen said calmly.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“——.”
No answer came back.
With only her head buried, Blanta’s body twitched as if she had been electrocuted.
The flames that engulfed him were dying down.
“Haaaa….”
Varen breathed a sigh of relief.
It was a tragic way to lose a promising powerhouse, a fellow countryman.
Apart from that, of course, the overwhelming improvement in physical performance was phenomenal.
“I haven’t felt that in a long time. I never knew humanization could work so well.
Wear Lion’s instincts were running wild.
The sensation of my blood boiling was something I hadn’t felt in decades.
White snow was piling up over the weary panther’s limp carcass.
Varen was looking around for his next destination.
A chill ran down his spine like he’d never felt before.
“Is this ——?!”
His mane stiffened.
For a moment, his tense muscles were warning him of a dangerous foe.
Varen turned his head reflexively and froze.
An unprecedentedly malevolent aura was emanating from the fortress where the Zaifa were engaged.