Subnock, the Evil Lion of Corrosion and Master of the Magical Wilds, strode forward with majestic indifference.
Shaking his bluish mane and staring straight ahead with his multifaceted eyes, he ignored Rest and Lyubase—the two who were supposed to be obstructing his path—and continued his advance.
“GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Subnock had been predestined for kingship from the moment he drew breath.
He had been born in the heart of the territory known as the Magical Wilds. His parents, a pair of Corrosion Beasts, had triumphed in the brutal struggle for survival against their own kind and other monsters to claim that land as their nursery.
Five lion cubs were born, saturated with the power of the rich mana gushing from the earth. Immediately after birth, they fell upon one another in a cannibalistic frenzy. Only Subnock, the future King, remained.
“Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the honored one.”
Had the beast possessed the gift of human speech, those were surely the only words he would have deemed worthy of utterance.
Bathed in vast amounts of mana since birth and further empowered by devouring his own siblings, the cub grew with unnatural speed. Before long, he killed and ate his parents and left the nest to claim his own destiny.
From that point on, his life was a sequence of endless battles. Every day, he fought, killed, and devoured the monsters who coveted the mana of the Magical Wilds.
Before long, the cub had grown to a size that was staggering even compared to others of his kind. His domain was filled with subordinates who worshipped him as their sovereign.
Subnock had established an unshakeable position as the Master of the Magical Wilds. Then, he encountered the creatures known as humans.
The Magical Wilds were fertile ground for crops, and with the right magic to harness the gushing mana, the land was destined to flourish as a city. Seeking to develop the region, various leaders sent armies in an attempt to subjugate the King.
Subnock led his pack of Corrosion Beasts and crushed every one of those presumptuous invaders.
I am the King. To ravage the King’s land is an act of supreme irreverence.
Subnock did not hunt humans for food. His hostility was born of the pride of a conqueror. If he allowed these invaders to desecrate his territory and live, his dignity as a monarch would be irreparably stained.
Thus, they had to be repelled. He needed to slaughter them, crush them, and trample them until those fools learned their proper place.
Subnock’s actions were righteous. At the very least, he believed them to be so.
Once he had spent a period killing every human he found, people stopped venturing into the Depths of the Magical Wilds. A peace of sorts lasted for twenty years.
“Right, let us go! A mere bear is not enough. I shall slay something far greater!”
However, humans are creatures prone to forgetting fear.
On that day, for the first time in two decades, humans stepped back into the territory of the Corrosion Beasts. It was not an army, but a mere handful of individuals.
He could have ignored them. Subnock was not so idle that he would chase after every stray insect that blundered into his home. But then, those little pests did something unforgivable—they released an agonizingly offensive scent.
It was a pungent odor designed to stimulate a monster's instinct for combat—the stench of the incense humans called “Monster Attraction.”
To think they intended to lure him out and trap him was an unbearable insult. Only inferior monsters devoid of intellect would lose their minds to such a base trick. To group him, a King, with such low-born creatures was an act of ultimate sacrilege.
“GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Subnock swept the foolish humans aside with a single strike. He didn't even bother to check if they lived or died; he had more pressing matters to attend to.
The humans had dared to pull such a pathetic stunt. It seemed they had forgotten the terror of the King. Just as he had twenty years ago, he would have to kill, crush, and trample them until they realized that he was an existence far beyond their power.
Leading his young subordinates, the King marched out of his territory and headed straight for the human settlements. He decided he would slaughter them indiscriminately to teach them their place. If the whim took him, he might even level the Royal Capital—their “nest”—where the humans huddled together.
Two more insects appeared before the King as he left his domain, launching a futile attack. They were competent enough to kill his subordinates, and he played with them for a short time. Eventually, however, he realized it was a waste of effort. He decided to ignore them and move on.
No matter how strong an insect may be, it is still an insect. It could never hope to slay a lion.
He was the King. Even if an insect clung to his leg, even if his weaker subjects were slaughtered, he would not stop. A King is not a King because he follows a path; a path is created wherever a King walks, and that becomes the Royal Road.
Subnock forged ahead. To demonstrate his power and uphold his pride, he would eradicate the humans.
“Star Eater.”
“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
Suddenly, Subnock was forced to a halt. For the first time in his life, he let out a scream of pure, unadulterated agony.
He realized the source of the pain instantly. The insect he was supposed to have shaken off had leaped through the air and landed on his back.
“Star Eater.”
“GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!”
Once again, accompanied by those chilling words, a jolt of excruciating pain shot through him.
Using the black sphere in his hand, the little insect had gouged out the flesh from the back of the King, the Master of the Magical Wilds.