The Story of Hero Among Heroes ~The Founding Chronicles of Arestia - Chapter 174. Eastern Expedition 6 – True Beast Man

True beastman. It is said to be the ancestor of the beastmen currently throughout the Arcadia continent.

Among the subhumans, those who are called beastmen are those who have human faces and bodies and some of them have the partials of beast blood.

In other words, it has various characteristics such as tail, ears and thick body hair. And all of them have higher physical abilities than humans.

Compared to the beastmen who have the appearance of such a human race, the appearance of the true beastman is even closer to the beast.

Its face is a lion, a tiger, a leopard or a wolf… its whole body is covered with hair.

And the ability is even higher than the beastmen, and if they are active as warriors, they will all be warriors on par with thousands.

There are some demons that look like beasts. The best examples are the orcs and werewolves.

However, they are generally called [Demon Beastmen] rather than [True Beastmen] because of their differences

The decisive difference between a true beast and a demon beast lies in its birth and growth.

The demon beasts who were born from darkness and worshiped darkness generally do not have morality and their constitutions are similar to beasts. Many of them cannot speak the language and their intelligence is low.

On the other hand, the true beast man is a venerable clan which descended from the Beast God from ancient times.  They have high intelligence and a correspondingly high pride.

Those true beasts… They hate to stand out, and most of them live quietly in remote areas.

There are several reasons for this.

The first reason was to avoid being the target of persecution.

The church advocates human supremacy. Therefore, demihumans, like beastmen and long-eared elves, are being persecuted.

Among them, the true beastmen and the long-eared elves, looking very similar to demons, were believed to be the cause of evil.

Both demon beasts and true beasts are still subject to exclusion.

If you compete for the same number, you can win. No, I will definitely win.

But their numbers are too few to confront that overwhelming number of humans.

The second reason is that they themselves do not like conflict.

Despite their great ability and appearance, there are many true beasts who want to live quietly. However, if you go out to the village, they cannot help but clash against people due to the influence of [the teachings of the church]. That is why they chose to live quietly in a remote area.

And also… the last reason is because they value that [Bloodline]. This may be the most important thing for a true beast.

They take pride in being [True Beastmen] and do not like mixed races. If mixed, it will be no different from a beast man.

Therefore, it’s considered taboo to blend with other races and as such, they live in remote areas so as not to be affected by it.

Also, for that reason, they value their fellow [True Beastmen] companions. To them, companions are synonymous with [Family].

And… the King of Dormadea, Dormages… had been using that weakness.

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[It’s been a long time.]

It was a true beast who was brought to Dormages.

The face of a white and majestic lion, a huge body, golden mane, a dignified appearance… Anyone can see that it is the style of a king.

However.

The arms are chained in layers and the body is full of scratches.

His name is Regulus. He was the young leader of the true beasts who lived in the eastern continent.

It is a direct descendant of [Beast King Lionel], who was said to have led all the beastmen of the continent. And he was born of the [White Lion], which is said to have the thickest blood.

He has excellent courage and wisdom and had been expected by the elders of the true beasts since he was a child to be the [Return of the Beast King].

Certainly, because of his outstanding ability and gentle temperament among the true beastmen, he was definitely the best person to be a leader.

But, he is now chained and kneeling in front of Dormages.

[That proud true beastman’s leader has fallen.]

Dormages grinned at the appearance of Regulus whom his head pressed against the ground.

[Gururururu.]

Regulus growled with a squeezing voice. Watching the situation, Dormages continued to talk with a smile on his face.

The true beast is close to the beast and they hate the demon beasts who move with desire. Being looked down by a demon beast, the pride of Regulus was greatly hurt.

[Let’s give you good news.]

Are you aware of his thoughts? Dormages opened his mouth generously.

The moment he heard the voice, Regulus barked.

[Don’t be a fool! I don’t want to talk to pigs like you!]

[…Hmm. I was thinking to release the captured true beast children though?]

Upon hearing that, Regulus raised his face in surprise.

The reason why Regulus can be captured by Dormages. It goes back more than a year ago.

When Dormadia overran various parts of the eastern continent with an army of demon beasts.

There was only one place that they could not be conquered. That is…

The True Beast Man’s Village

That’s all.

A true beast who boasts overwhelming courage, led by the leader Regulus.

They also defeated numerous hordes of demon beasts, causing Dormadia to experience their first defeat.

In particular, the heroism of Regulus was difficult to describe.

It is no exaggeration to say that he is an old Hero who fought by swinging a huge battle axe.

When you saw a group of demon beasts annihilated with just one warrior. Dormages has a desire to make this man surrender.

Therefore, he decided not to attack with numbers but to use a cunning plan.

The true beasts value their clan above all else. Especially… they value their children the most. So, Dormages aimed there.

He avoided fighting head-on with the beastmen, and focused on capturing the beastmen’s children by using various tactics.

The true beasts hid the women and children in a cave in the center of the village to prevent the occasional attack of the demon beasts.

However… they were deceived by a demon dressed as a true beast… and one child was taken away.

Dormages took this as a hostage and negotiated with Regulus… This is the terrifying power of Dormages called Kaiser Oak… it’s because of the brain.

There is only one condition he told Regulus.

The leader, Regulus himself, surrendered as a hostage.

Therefore Regulus was taken prisoner by himself.

And the Dormadia army no longer attacks the True Beast Man’s Village afterwards.

It was only this man named Regulus that Dormages was interested in.

Moreover, even if the leader Regulus was captured, the True Beastmen had not completely surrendered. It would be very damaging for him to give them a little bit of freedom, if at all.

Without Regulus, he wouldn’t give up a little bit from the other side.

For that reason, Dormages was overdone and made an excessive decision.

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Dolmages captured Regulus and then tried to take him under his control.

Honor, money, wealth and even the women in Dormadia…

But, when he offered them all, Regulus refused.

He tried all sorts of submission magic and magical tools, but…every time, Regulus’s strong willpower repels them.

Seeing that, Dormages gave up to that stubbornness once.

It doesn’t matter after the eastern continent has conquered… Now he’s looking at continental domination rather than paying attention to him.

Dormages changed his mind and locked Regulus in a prison at the bottom of Dormadia’s homeland.

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It is the life of the captive true beast child that causes Regulus to stay here as a prisoner.

[Well then… I’ve held you captive until now… but I can’t afford to spend so much time anymore.]

Dolmages raised his right hand. Then, from the far right of him, a child of a true beast who was chained appeared.

Regulus looked relieved for a moment when he saw it, and then changed to a suspicious expression when he saw it.

The appearance of the child was strange.

The eyes are hollow, and clear will cannot be seen in the eyes.

[…you…what did you do to that child?]

[What. I just cast  submission magic.]

Regulus clenched his teeth when he heard about it.

[You, it’s different from what we agreed!? Don’t touch the child when I become your prisoner of war… You should have said that!?]

[Yeah. That’s why I haven’t taken that [life].]

Dormages replies and approaches Regulus.

[Until now, I’ve always kept it alive to make you submit, but it’s impossible to say lenient things now.]

[!?]

[The situation is getting dangerous. The Istrea guys are rampaging and my territory is suffering. I can’t afford to keep this brat right now.]

That said, Dormages brings his face closer to Regulus.

[So, I want to discuss something…]

[…]

[Well, I’m thinking of killing you and this brat.]

Regulus’s eyes are glaring at Dormages’ eyes as if searching for its meaning.

Probably he is serious. He can see some impatience in his eyes. Probably he is in an unfavorable position.

And it’s not a threat and maybe he can’t really afford to save him along with this child.

It seems that he is a different person from the Orc king like before.

[But… I’m thinking of negotiating with you at the end.]

[What do you want?]

[If you lead my army and can defeat this Istrean army… I’m going to release this brat.]

Regulus is watching Dormages as he feels the surrounding.

[If you refuse, we don’t have to wait for you anymore. I’ll kill you myself.]

Regulus thinks.

Dormages is definitely being cornered. To be honest, he can’t afford to save the POWs.

When it comes to that, there should be no hesitation in killing them.

However, at the same time, he also requires the power of Regulus himself. Defeat the enemy with the power of the prisoner of war that cannot be managed. Only one prisoner of war will die if he is unable to kill them so he didn’t lose anything.

[Alright, let’s obey.]

Regulus raised his voice.

He doesn’t mind dying. However, the child needs to be saved by any means.

If Dolmages had killed this child, the proud Regulus would have abandoned his own life and rampaged.

It was because Dolmages knew about it that he kept this child alive.

As long as he has the true beast child. Regulus will continue to be  a prisoner of war, and the ones in the true beasts’ village won’t go against him.

Hearing Regulus’ words, Dolmages grinned.

Yes, this is exactly what he was aiming for.

It’s a method that can only be used once, but it’s no exaggeration to say that Dormages kept Regulus alive for this one time.

If you can use Regulus to get rid of Istrea.

And after that, you only have to obey Dolmages afterwards and if you don’t, he just needs to kill them.

With that in mind, Dormages was in a good mood.

[Then it’s decided. Get ready now.]

After saying that, Dolmages returned to his seat with satisfaction and sat down again.

[Unchain him right now, let him go to kill them.]

[…Understood.]

[I will entrust you with one of my demon armies… I’m hoping for good results.]

Hmph, feeling like my Master, huh…

Regulus muttered in his heart, looking at the unraveling chains and then squeezed his teeth.

However, he saw the child of the True Beast next to Dormages… and decided right then and there.

Will he keep his promise… he doesn’t know. He can’t trust him either.

However, he said that he would protect his brethren, which would be worth the risk to his life for the true beast.

(In order to protect that child… First, we must defeat the army called Istrea…)

For the true beast warrior, Regulus Balhard. No, for all the true beasts on the Arcadia continent.

That battle will be a turning point.

At this time, no one could imagine such.