(A/N: Another extra long chapter to make up for a day break.)
The dark sky was marked with a vertical blaze of fire as the golden beam of light landed on the ground, the shockwaves forming a giant crater.
Fiona and Joel looked in utter disbelief, shocked by the armed guards in the front coughing up blood. The guards’ faces were pale and their mouths were stained with traces of blood.
The red tiger, entrapped in a black net, was equally startled by the sudden turn of events.
A moment ago, her eyes were filled with despair when Joel expressed his intention to kill her young cubs. She tried her best to get rid of the net but failed under the assault of electric current from the fibers.
Just when she thought all hope was lost and she would see the deaths of her children, the morning sky darkened and a frightening aura engulfed the land.
The tiger didn’t know what was happening but her eyes brightened up seeing her cubs were still safe, even if it was momentary.
The darkness in the sky slowly dissipated as the golden beam of light converged into a male humanoid figure.
The man was 6 ft tall, with golden hairs that reached his shoulders. The irises of his eyes were a strange combination of blue and gold.
He was clad in a white shirt and black pant with matching shoes. It was definitely a strange sense of dressing in the forest, given most people would prefer to either wear armors or clothes which could blend with vegetation.
“Who the hell are you?” Joel got over his shock and asked.
He was sure the earlier words reverberating in the sky were muttered by this new figure.
‘Why does the land of beasts reeks of human hypocrisy?’
Joel wondered just what this man meant by such words.
Was he calling them hypocrites? If yes, just why?
“Who the hell am I? I can answer but your peanut size brain wouldn’t be able to comprehend, so let me skip the details and save your good-for-nothing-brain from malfunction,” The golden-haired man said. “Just call me Kiba.”
An odd silence fell in the region as Kiba concluded his sentence. Everyone stood in their place, dumbfounded.
Joel’s expression turned unsightly. He couldn’t believe how his simple question, asking for an introduction, resulted in an abusive response.
Meanwhile, Kiba ignored Joel and others’ reaction as he stepped towards the cubs who were lying next to their mother.
The earlier energy ripples from his arrival have impacted everyone in the vicinity, one way or another, but not the mother-children pair.
The tiger looked at Kiba and her pupils dilated in shock. She smelled something she has never smelled to such an extent in her life.
Power.
Pure and unadulterated power like it could sever the sky and dismantle the earth.
She didn’t know what type of power he carried, but she trusted her senses and was sure he was far more dangerous than the ominous beasts she has heard of.
Kiba crouched down in front of the cubs. He placed a hand over the cub who was pierced by shrapnel.
The tiger growled, trying best to not let her fear show. She was afraid of him, but regardless she couldn’t back out when it concerned the safety of her children.
Not even when she was brutally injured and trapped in a net.
“Aha~ You are just as fierce as yesterday,” Kiba said with a faint smile.
This red tiger was the same one he has observed from the jet. He was impressed with her battle with a giant bird.
He observed her and then at her cubs. He understood why she put such a poor display in the recent battle.
Kiba shook his head and brought his attention back on the injured cub. The cub has suffered a tremendous blood loss and was in no state to move with shrapnel.
“It is going to pain a little to your child,” Kiba expressed his intention telepathically to the tiger, much to her surprise.
He then pressed a finger on shrapnel, and the next moment, the shrapnel shot out. Black blood poured out of the injured portion.
The cub’s body stiffened and it whimpered helplessly. The tiger noticed this and she tried her best to communicate with her child, telling everything was alright.
She believed Kiba has no malicious intent towards her or her children, at least that’s what she felt from the telepathic connection. And if he did carry nefarious motive, they would be helpless anyway.
The situation couldn’t get any worse so she tried to hope for the best.
A stream of golden energy flew from Kiba’s palm and merged with the cub’s wound. The energy wove into a healing net, and it passed throughout the wound.
The tiger was pleasantly surprised as it saw the wound filling up with new flesh and blood. In no time the wound was as good as gone, as if it never existed, to begin with.
Behind, Fiona, Joey, and others were startled. They didn’t attack him due to the nature of his entry to the scene and the way he introduced himself,
“He is a healer?!” A guard asked.
“We don’t know,” Another guard said. “When he arrived here, the sky has suddenly turned dark, and don’t forget how strong the shockwaves were. They made us almost knocked out of our senses.”
“He has multiple abilities?” An old armed man theorized.
“Seems so.”
“Fiona?” Joel called out. He was angry at the words spoken by Kiba, but he didn’t take any action without the permission of Fiona.
As a member of an aristocratic family, she was the supreme authority. Her commands were the ultimate rule they have to follow.
Fiona was in her young twenties, with dark eyes, brunette hair, and white skin tone. Currently, her brows were creased up.
After a minute or so of contemplation, she said, “Kiba.”
“Hmm?” Kiba jumped back on his feet and turned around.
“We defeated the tiger and she is ours,” Fiona said in a voice without any emotions.
“So?” Kiba’s expression denoted like he didn’t give a damn about her logic.
“Do you know who she is?!” Joey asked in a loud voice. He has enough of the disrespect shown by Kiba towards him and Fiona.
“Umm…I don’t really know,” Kiba confessed truthfully.
“If you knew, you would get on your knees and beg for your life,” Joey said with a cruel smile on his face.
“Oh really?” Kiba’s lips curved up in a teasing smirk. “I feel so scared that I’m shivering in fear.”
“YOU!” Joey was dumbfounded by his attitude.
Isn’t it normal for any sane person to know about the background before picking up a fight? But here, this man was interfering in a matter which didn’t concern him.
Fiona even tried to be civil about it, and Joey did his best to explain just how the messy situation could be for Kiba. But this man continued to be a pain with his mocking words.
“No need to get offended, pet dog,” Kiba said in a nonchalant tone. “Let me guess, your master is from a powerful background, either with a strong family or an influential organization.”
Pet dog?!
Joey’s clenched both his hands into a fist. His veins were trembling, and he was having a hard time controlling the anger inside him.
“Her rich background explains why she could feed you rich dog food and impart you human hypocrisy,” Kiba nodded in appreciation. “You truly are a lucky son of a bitch. And by your grace, your puppies have inherited your luck.”
Fiona remained silent and oblivious as if the words didn’t concern her. The guards, on the other hand, felt like their minds have been slammed by an insult of humiliation.
How could they not understand he was referring to them when he said ‘puppies’. This made them almost cough another round of blood.
They couldn’t understand just how the topic of the conversation changed so much. Joel was trying to make Kiba dread about Fiona’s background, but now instead, the background was used to shame Joel.
If the armed men were not the target of humiliation, they would have given Kiba a thumbs-up for his talent in twisting the conversation.
“Bastard, how dare you say such words?!” Joel’s face turned unsightly.
Pet dog was one insult, but now the man in front of him was even implying he was the literal example of ‘son of a bitch’.
“Did I say anything wrong?” Kiba asked, his voice containing doubt. “From what I have seen so far, you follow her command and bark when she wants to. In return, she feeds you and even applies for a bandage when you get hurt. This should be enough to get you a loyal dog reward.”
Bandage?!
Joel knew Kiba was referring to his hand getting severed by the tiger, and then Fiona helping him recover.
If one look sensibly and ignore the insults, the things spoken by Kiba were not far from the truth. Joel was just following Fiona’s command and got injured in the process.
But how could Joel handle everything with calm?
He had enough of insults and humiliation in front of Fiona and his own subordinates. Just where was his any self-respect left if he let Kiba go after all of this?!
Waves of energy covered his body like an armor.
“Joel, stop,” Fiona commanded.
“But—“
“Do what I say,” Fiona said in a stern tone.
“Yes,” Joel lowered his head and didn’t dare speak more. He was afraid if he said anything more, she would snap out and punish him.
Fiona looked at Kiba with a complex vision. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t offended by his words, but she tried her best to not let her emotions show.
While she was from a powerful family, she didn’t let her status go to her head. She knew the forest was a dangerous place, and the people who die the soonest are those drunk on the influence of others.
The only status which mattered here was that of one’s own power.
“Before you arrived, you said the land reeks of hypocrisy,” Fiona said in a reserved tone. “And now, in your barbs with my subordinate, you mentioned the hypocrisy again. Just what do you mean?”
“Well, I was talking about your dog’s world view,” Kiba answered while pointing a finger at Joel. “Don’t you find it funny that you attack the tiger and use her pups to capture her. But when the tiger attacks your subordinate in retaliation, he conveniently calls her children evil spawns. He wants to kill them as a ‘punishment’ for the wicked beast since she has committed ‘sins’.”
“…..”
Joel wanted to strangle Kiba. He didn’t think he has done anything wrong.
After all, the beast has almost killed him. So what was wrong in little revenge?
“You barge in a land which rightfully belongs to them. Then you try to capture them and in the process, you almost kill them. So I don’t understand, how the tiger and her children are the evil ones for self-defense and retaliation?”
Fiona, Joel, and others were stunned to silence by his words.
Not because his words were anything profound, but since they actually implied his reason for helping the tiger was his belief that they were hypocrites.
Just what sort of reasoning was this?! If it was reasoning, at all.
“I really don’t blame you, to be honest,” Kiba shook his head. “Humans have always liked to make other races as evil so that they could take a moral high ground. They take away the forest and kill their original habitats by calling them as carnivorous and dangerous to human existence. The humans become heroes while the beasts become the villain. Nothing surprising, since humans have a tendency to see the world as white and dark, instead of the original gray.
“But seriously this is just plain hypocrisy, especially in our current era. In this age, the humans are the supreme race while the beasts are the inferior ones. Yes, the beasts have power and some of them even have wisdom rivaling humans, but all over, the humans are the rulers. You can give credit to their high intelligence and scientific advancement.
“The beasts, on the other hand, have it so bad that they have to hide in these dangerous land to continue their existence. So I do get pissed when you make the beasts as the cruel ones instead of the humans.”
Fiona was stupefied by his logic. She wanted to tell him that humans are obviously the good guys! It wasn’t because the beasts were cruel, but simply, one must always side with their own race.
It wasn’t a matter of wrong or right, just a simple living principle. Humans would kill humans, but when other race attacks them, they always unify and fight as one.
What startled Fiona and made her truly astonished was how Kiba referred to humans. His words and tone denoted as if he didn’t consider himself a part of the human race!
“Excuse me,” Kiba said while snapping his finger. “I have a minor task to finish before we continue.”
Suddenly, the space above his palm distorted, and a crimson pill conjured out of thin air. The pill was circular and as soon as it appeared, the entire region was filled with a strong force of vitality.
Joey was stunned by the vitality in the air. His blood was boiling in excitement and he has a feeling all his hidden ailments could be easily cured by the pill.
The armed men, similarly, felt the recent injuries they suffered healing up just by breathing the fragrance of the pill.
“A recovery pill of Level V,” Fiona muttered, surprised. “Just who is he to afford such a pill?”
The pills were divided by levels, I to IX. The level was determined by the pill recipe, composition and the machines used to make a pill.
Only high-rank pharmaceutical companies, with strong backings, could make a pill which was of Level IV and higher.
The companies strongly guarded their secrets and not even their top scientists were allowed to discuss the pills with anyone, not even their close families.
Kiba took the pill between his fingers and then tossed it back.
Much to everyone’s utter shock and horror, the pill landed inside the net where the tiger was entrapped.
“Consume this, and you would recover enough to break free,” Kiba’s words floated inside the tiger’s mind.
Much to the disbelief of everyone in the area, the tiger opened its mouth and took the pill.
Joey and the armed men wanted to cry but no tears would come out. They would have done anything for that pill, but instead, it was given it to a beast.
“Those healing and regenerative serums we have are useless! They have serious side-effects in the long run but not this pill!”
“Fuck! A beast gets such an advanced pill and not us!”
“Is that beast some long lost relative of that man!?”
“If yes, then I want to be a relative as well and get a pill.”
Even before the discussion could complete, the pill was already consumed by the tiger.
The pill melted into crimson sparks and moved to every corner of the tiger’s body. The rocks and shrapnel shot out of the body while the charred skin broke apart.
Soon, a new skin covered the tiger, with the signatory red lustrous fur. The shattered claws regenerated into full crystalline red claws.
“Impossible.”
“We did so much work to put those injuries and now…”
“Fuck! Let’s stop it before it is too late.”
The guards were angry and shocked by the turn of events. They wanted to open fire but seeing no response from Fiona and Joey, they didn’t.
ROAR!
The tiger sliced apart the net and broke free from its confines. The pups were happy and they clutched to her legs.
“Take them and leave,” Kiba said.
The tiger looked at Joel and others before bringing her eyes on Kiba. She wanted to join the fight, but knowing the power she has sensed from him, she was sure he was the last person who needed her help.
The tiger crouched down to allow her pups to get over her back.
“Fiona! They are leaving!” Joel shouted. His mind was in a mess after seeing all their efforts wasted.
“Relax,” Fiona put a hand over his shoulder. “The backup team is still there outside.”
Joel gritted his teeth and nodded his head.
“Kiba,” Fiona turned towards him. “It doesn’t matter if my subordinate was a hypocrite. After all, a small fish is the food for a large fish.”
“I agree on that,” Kiba looked at her with interest. He wasn’t a part of some pro-animals cult that he would protect every animal out there.
Heck, he was a meat consumer so he was anything but a protector of the beasts.
“The only law this place follows is the law of the jungle. The tiger lost to us by this very law, and she doesn’t have the right to complain since she has benefitted from this law till now. I’m pretty sure you would also agree that the concept of good or evil doesn’t exist in the food cycle,” Fiona continued in a cold voice. “The weak are always prey for the strong.”
“Oh, I completely agree with you on everything,” Kiba said with sincerity. “And this law of the jungle is the reason why I even interfered in the first place.”
“What do you mean?!” Fiona was startled.
She believed his reason was here to protect the tiger and her pups, but now he was saying he believed in the law of the jungle. This didn’t make sense.
“Well, as you just said, the weak are prey for the strong,” Kiba’s lips curved up in a devilish smirk.
BOOOM
His terrifying aura rose up while a golden radiance emitted out of his body like a sun.
“Just like the tiger and her cubs were your prey…you guys are mine.”
