“Damn it.”

The commander of the Imperial Knights, Giel, suppressed his growing anxiety as he ran forward.

“I’ve been delayed too long.”

It was as if the beastmen had given up on hiding their intentions—they appeared in groups, persistently trying to hinder his path.

A single Master was equivalent to twenty Experts.

Even including the Hero and Duke Pale, there were no more than five Masters ranked above Giel in the empire. Confident in his own strength, he easily cut through the beastmen that stood in his way. Yet, there was no denying that they had cost him precious time.

“Please, let me not be too late.”

Surrounding his body in shadows, Giel dashed toward the academy at full speed. Before long, the academy came into view.

“There.”

As soon as he set foot on the academy grounds, he spread out his senses. Immediately, he detected two powerful presences locked in battle.

“One of them must be a beastman... and the other... Count Darhan?”

The energy didn’t quite match the Count he knew. However, there were no other Masters at the academy, so it had to be him.

It was odd, but there was no time to dwell on it. Giel sprinted toward the source of the battle.

When he arrived, the sight that greeted him was unexpected.

“A cadet…?”

The person he had mistaken for Count Darhan was, in fact, an academy cadet.

As Giel surveyed his surroundings to grasp the situation, his gaze landed on someone watching the fight with a look of shock—Princess Rael .

“Thank the heavens, she’s unharmed.”

As long as the princess was safe, everything else was secondary.

Now, all that was left was to slay the beastman.

Drawing his sword, Giel unleashed dozens of shadowy tendrils that surged forward, engulfing the beastman.

The chieftain of the various beast tribes was beyond impressed—he was elated.

The girl before him was not a formidable opponent.

Even though all her comrades had fallen, her unyielding spirit was commendable.

However, her skills did not yet match her will.

At first, he had considered sparing her life. Let her live, allow a few years to pass, and see if she would return to take revenge.

But even as these thoughts crossed his mind, the girl’s sword slashed toward him with relentless ferocity.

It was not yet enough to be called a true threat. But it was also not something to be ignored.

In a brief instant—so short it could not even be called a blink—she had grown stronger.

“What should I do?”

At this point, he could not kill the princess while leaving the girl alive.

Had this been his own decision, he might have stepped back, perhaps even leaving her with a parting remark like “You’re quite something.”

Unfortunately, this mission had been given to him directly by the Warchief.

“What a shame.”

A few more years—no, just one year. If given that time, this girl would have grown strong enough to stand against him as an equal.

The thought of never witnessing that possibility left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Even so, his resolve did not waver. He unleashed a powerful surge of energy, his killing intent rising.

The girl flinched instinctively.

In that instant—just as he was about to cut her down—

Dozens of shadowy tendrils came crashing down upon him.

“This is dangerous.”

With a sharp beat of his wings, the chieftain shot into the air, twisting and weaving through the shadows like an acrobat. Some he dodged, others he deflected.

Each strand of shadow carried the force of a Master’s strike—yet he evaded or blocked every one.

As he finally caught his breath and looked down, he saw a figure standing in the very spot where he had been moments ago.

A knight, clad in black armor and shadows.

“Commander of the Imperial Shadow Knights.”

Before setting out on his mission, Perus had been given a list of individuals among the empire’s Masters who required special caution. The Commander of the Imperial Shadow Knights, Giel, was one of the names on that list.

“What is your name?”

The knight had the chance to stop him from reaching the princess, yet instead of blocking his path, he asked for his name first.

Perus could tell that even if he tried to charge at the princess now, the knight’s shadows would stop him. The risk was too high.

“Perus. That is my name.”

So, he decided to answer honestly.

“Beastman, Perus. You are hereby sentenced to immediate execution for the attempted assassination of a royal.”

“Try it, if you can.”

With a sharp flutter of his wings, dozens of feathers shot forward like arrows.

At the same moment, Giel’s shadows surged, deflecting them all.

The battle had begun.

“Since your return to the capital, this is the first time you’ve reached out to me.”

A voice, brimming with irritation, came through the communication crystal.

Oh, right. I hadn’t contacted him.

“Surely you’re aware of the situation here.”

After reaching a certain level of mastery, I could sense the Grand Duke’s magic planted throughout the imperial palace.

I could remove them now without much effort.

But on second thought, those spells were fail-safes—if future generations were ever in danger, the Grand Duke would sense it and be able to act.

So I left them untouched.

That meant the Grand Duke should already have a grasp of the current situation in the empire.

“Hmph. Don’t tell me you couldn’t spare even a moment to reach out.”

“…Well, that’s true.”

I did feel a little bad, but I had no time for small matters right now.

“Master.”

The shift was immediate. Instead of addressing him as Grand Duke, I called him Master—and I could feel the irritation in his voice melt away.

“Hmm. What is it?”

His tone was noticeably softer now. I got straight to the point.

“The beastmen have attacked the empire. Their vanguard has already rampaged through the capital, and their main forces are preparing to move. Master, I need you to stop them.”

“Hmm... beastmen, you say?”

The Grand Duke fell silent, seemingly deep in thought.

It was strange. A dragon like him wouldn’t fear mere beasts.

Why the hesitation?

“This is unexpected. Even if the elves were to act, I never thought the beastmen would.”

“Is there a reason the beastmen wouldn’t move?”

“Do you know who the King of Beasts is?”

King of Beasts…?

The sudden riddle was unexpected.

But I had learned that whenever this dragon spoke in riddles, it meant something important was coming.

So I answered without resistance.

“Isn’t it their Warchief?”

“No. He may be a leader, but he is not their king.”

“But in the last war, all the beastmen followed the Warchief.”

“Only because their king was absent.”

“The King was absent?”

“Then, Master, the reason you believed they would not move…”

I couldn’t see him through the communication crystal, but I could easily picture the Grand Duke giving a slight nod.

“Yes. How could they go to war without their King?”

“But they have moved.”

“Indeed. That is why I am lost in thought. There are only two possible explanations. One— they have abandoned their King.”

The Grand Duke paused for a moment before continuing.

“And the second— the King of Beasts has returned.”

“The King of Beasts…”

Hearing that title didn’t stir much within me.

Then again, hadn’t I just met the Queen of the Elves not long ago?

She was undoubtedly strong, but if I didn’t factor in the World Tree and the Emerald Dragon, she wasn’t someone to be feared.

“Is the so-called King of Beasts really that powerful?”

“Powerful? Very.”

I almost doubted my ears.

But for the first time, I could hear the faintest tremor in the Grand Duke’s voice.

In the past, there was a wolf.

Born far larger than any of his kind, the wolf knew from the very start that he was special.

Trolls, who hunted wolves for food, were nothing more than prey to him.

Ogres, who toyed with trolls, were equally meaningless.

The wolf was born in an unnamed forest.

A hydra with nine heads ruled that forest.

Yet, before the wolf even reached ten years of age, the forest had become known as his domain.

When news spread across the continent that a wolf had devoured a hydra, many sought to witness the beast for themselves.

Some knelt before him, swearing loyalty.

Others raised their weapons, seeking to hunt him.

The former were beastmen.

The latter… came from all races.

The wolf cherished those who resembled him, and so he accepted them.

Thus, the Beastman Union was born.

The wolf did not tolerate challengers—whether humans, elves, or even giants.

He devoured them all.

As time passed, his dominance only grew.

When the great rulers of the continent finally took notice, the wolf had already grown larger than the greatest of giants.

“Truly, a King among Beasts.”

The Dragon Lord had uttered those words when he came to see the wolf.

And so, the wolf became the King of Beasts.

It did not matter if one was a beastman, a monster, or even a mere wild beast—

All creatures that could be called beasts bowed before him.

Before long, a saying spread:

“If the sea has whales, and the sky has dragons, then the land has the wolf.”

Young dragons, displeased with this, sought to slay the wolf.

But instead, they were torn apart.

“I want to see how much bigger it will grow. Leave the wolf alone.”

The Elder Dragons considered punishing the wolf for killing their kin.

But the Dragon Lord’s decree left them with no choice.

And so, the dragons—the strongest of all races—remained silent.

With no one left to fear, the wolf rampaged across the continent, devouring everything in his path.

He grew stronger.

He grew larger.

Elves, giants, and humans formed an alliance to slay him.

Even those called gods began to feel unease.

By then, the wolf’s fangs had grown larger than a small giant.

His body had surpassed the tallest mountains.

And now, the wolf turned his gaze toward the heavens.

“I wonder… what gods taste like?”

His first target was the Primordial Forest.

He wished to devour the God of Life—the World Tree.

As the wolf approached the sacred land, all beasts followed.

In response, the King of Giants and the First Knight rushed to the forest.

The Queen of the Elves stood beside them, ready to face the wolf.

Even the dragons, who had remained silent for so long, finally acted.

The Dragon Lord had yet to change his stance—

But two dragons who were strong enough, or bold enough to ignore his will, took action.

One was the Emerald Dragon, Areubo.

The other was the Black Dragon, Pluto.

And then, there was the third.

Not one who defied the Lord, but one who was close enough to ignore the consequences.

The White Dragon, Artemia.