Chapter 564: Like a Beast

The creator of the desert. A rational demon beast.

Doha Surah, the Southern Demon Eye.

He, who once transformed the lush green lands into deserts, now had his soul bound to a ring and had even lost his demon eye. His former glory as the pinnacle of demon beasts was a distant memory. In fact, his human-looking form made it questionable whether he could even be called a demon beast anymore.

But Doha Surah didn’t mind. He disliked demon beasts even though he prided himself for being one.

Demon beasts possessed power. Conversely, they possessed nothing but power. Power without will. Demon beasts could only direct their instincts towards greed, devouring, and growing larger.

That’s why they were eventually defeated by a great “will”. The will that appeared before Doha Surah was Altia.

Therefore, he decided to stay by Altia’s side. He decided to imitate humans. She was noble, a hero with an unyielding will even among humans. Doha Surah believed that he could one day acquire a will like hers by imitating her.

In the snowfield, a monstrous beast was devouring the witch Baronuis.

The beast’s form was like a massive mass of sand. Sometimes it took the form of a beast, sometimes a whale, crawling across the land.

Surely this beast had no true form. No, if it did, it was only the two blue horns protruding from the sand and the two eyes that never showed depth.

It leaped out from beneath the snow with great force, sinking its fangs deep into the witch’s neck. It seemed to have targeted a moment where the witch’s attention was elsewhere.

「Ah…what? Those demonic eyes… Oh my! It seems you’ve forgotten your place! 」

The witch Baronuis yelled out loud while looking at the sand beast, who was biting her throat. The surprise attack worked effectively since the magical power he had before vanished.

「It’s been a long time, my kin. There hasn’t been a day I haven’t thought of you. Killing you will be my will. 」

The formless sand beast had more than one mouth. Speaking through holes and letting the wind through, it covered the witch’s entire body in sand and devoured her. First her eyes, then her fingers, and then her whole body.

Even sand, when solidified, could easily pierce skin and break bones. It became a weapon that could easily slaughter living things once inside the body. With each piece of the witch’s body it bit off, Doha Surah remembered the past. White fangs repeatedly protruded from within the witch’s body.

The witch coughed up blood and said the following words.

「Ha, ha… It seems you, who begged to be like me, is finished. What a shame. 」

「You don’t what you’re saying. 」

Doha Surah spat out the words but didn’t relent in his attack. He snapped all of the witch’s fingers, then squeezed her body to crush her. This would undoubtedly be fatal if she was a living being. When Doha Surah was greater, many creatures had died in the same way simply by him changing his form.

But Doha Surah didn’t like this form. He felt himself reverting further and further back to the person he was before he met Altia. His reason was turning into instinct.

「It’s true, you know. When you… left me, I was truly… sad. 」

The witch spoke, even as she was covered in sand and pierced by white fangs. It was as if she were revealing her true feelings at the brink of death.

Doha Surah felt a strange turmoil rising within him. Not that he felt compassion. But her words were enough to remind him of a nostalgic past.

…The Demon Eyed Tribe could be said to have been created by the witch Baronuis.

She knew a special method for forging the eyes of demon beasts. No, it would be more accurate to say she created them. Just as an alchemist transformed scrap metal into gold, the witch transformed a mere beast into a beast with a demon eye.

Initially, those beasts were simply beasts possessing demon eyes, but with each generation, they acquired the physical characteristics befitting the name “The Demon Eyed Beasts”.

Their bodies became increasingly influenced by the nature of the demon eye. It was as if the demon eye itself was claiming to be the true essence.

The beast’s body became closer to the power of the eye. The fact that Doha Surah’s true form was a collection of sand could also be attributed to his demon eye.

However, very few cared about such physical transformations. There were great kings, but none were like the great beasts with demon eyes. For beasts, worshippers of power, that was everything. Besides, they could easily adjust their appearance and mimic it.

That’s precisely why… They never wavered in their respect for Baronuis until the day the witch absorbed all of the Demon Eyes.

「Then, why did you try to destroy us!? It was you, and no one else, who destroyed us! 」

Doha Surah said, venting his long-held doubts. Meanwhile, the sand’s movements showed no mercy. It constricted the witch’s entire body, crushing her bones. Yet the witch still wouldn’t perish. The only option was to keep going until the witch’s core was completely destroyed.

A voice echoed through the sand.

「That’s surprising. You hated your own kind, didn’t you? They must have hated you too. 」

「That’s a completely different matter. 」

Hating them and rejoicing at their loss weren’t the same thing. Even those who claimed to hate humans rarely truly wished for the extinction of all of them.

「I see…」

The witch nodded. Then, she added in a lecture-like tone

「How simplistic of you. 」

In an instant, Doha Surah snapped the witch’s slender neck. A sense of dread and overflowing madness permeated his mind. The world that had seemed so certain just moments before seemed to have collapsed, losing all its joints.

The witch laughed.

「…You’ll eat livestock when they’re fat, won’t you? 」

The witch, savoring immorality, let her shadows crawl out, as her bones were crushed.

Doha Surah couldn’t reach the witch even though he tried to sink his white fangs into her. Rather, the witch seemed to enjoy this moment, becoming enveloped in shadow.

Since ancient times, shadows had been one of the symbols of death.

From the day of birth, shadows were with people, never leaving them, and ultimately carrying them away and vanishing. They were a reflection of the living body, and in the end, they ended up together.

「You…No…You should have died! I must end you here! 」

「Oh, c’mon. Even you demon beasts keep humans as livestock, don’t you? I just thought I’d try the same thing. Why is that wrong? Even though I’ve become a demon, my spirit is still human. As long as my spirit is human, I’ll always be human…What’s wrong with humans, the masters of all creation, keeping mere demon beasts as livestock? 」

The witch said while a truly amused smile appeared on her face. She seemed unable to stop laughing, even though she tried to suppress it. The surroundings were still enveloped in sand, but her shadow protected her.

「But don’t worry, dearest. You’re different. You’re not livestock. 」

The witch stretched out both arms, as if embracing the sand that was trying to crush her. Her slender body contained enough heat to easily kill a demon beast. She smiled at Doha Surah, who didn’t even reply.

「You’re my pet dog. I knew you’d come back to me someday. Pets don’t have wills of their own, you know. Welcome back, Doha…It feels so good to have one troublesome matter settled. I felt like I’d forgotten something. 」

Implicitly, the witch said that she had completely forgotten about him until now.

The shadow swallowed the sand. It was a natural consequence, like water flowing from upstream to downstream. The balance of power returned to normal.

Doha Surah watched the scene…watching his own body being devoured…and felt two emotions.

One was an overwhelming rage. He was disgusted by his helplessness at being unable to even strike a single blow against the woman who had called his own kind livestock and himself a pet. There was a horrifying horror that appealed to his instincts.

The other was resignation.

No matter how hard he tried, this witch wouldn’t die. It wasn’t because she was a demon, or because he had lost his demon eye, but because she was invincible.

Doha Surah believed that he would have been defeated even in perfect condition. Even at this point, he couldn’t be certain he was acting of his own free will. He even wondered if his presence before the witch had been like a puppet.

There was no story of a demon beast defeating a witch. Demon beasts were always the witch’s familiars*.

He couldn’t win on his own. But he had to kill her.

Therefore, Doha Surah…

「…Through the canopy. You have covered the heavens since the day you were born. And it has to stop. 」

From the very beginning, he entrusted the outcome to other people who had a will. And this witch had deprived him of his sight and time. But no more.

His last words were a curse.

「You shall die like a beast. 」

With those words, the sand vanished into the shadows.

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*Familiars are supernatural entities, often appearing as small animals, believed in European folklore to protect and assist witches in magical practices. They act as spiritual guardians, messengers, or helpers.

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