Taming the Beast World with a Frying Pan-Chapter 165: Two Kings and a Funeral

[Temporal Rewind...]

We return to the moment just after the dust cleared. The village was a wreck, the moon was watching, and three Beast Kings were about to engage in a bloody struggle for survival.

Carik, the Black Tiger, stood in his massive feral beast form, his red eyes glowing with an unnatural, predatory light. He wasn’t just a tiger; he was a mountain of muscle fueled by madness.

Opposite him, the unholy alliance formed.

Syris, the fifty-foot amethyst Titanoboa, hissed low, the sound vibrating through the earth. Standing near his tail was Kael, in his beastman form, his golden eyes narrowed as he braced his feet in the dirt.

"Remember, Snake," Kael growled. "You bind him, I strike him!"

"Do not try to order me around, Tiger," Syris hissed back, his voice a lethal vibration.

Carik released a distorted, guttural roar that shook the remaining huts.

ROAR!

Carik launched himself. He didn’t run; he lunged with the force of an avalanche, tearing up the earth with every claw.

The speed was terrifying. For a creature of his bulk, he moved like a shadow across the moon.

"MOVE!" Kael yelled, diving into the rubble.

Syris whipped his massive coils to the right, barely avoiding Carik’s jaws, which snapped shut on empty air with a sound like a breaking bone.

Carik didn’t stop. He pivoted mid-lunge and slashed his claws across Syris’ flank.

Scritch.

Sparks of friction flew as claws met diamond-hard scales. Syris hissed in fury.

"My scales!" Syris shrieked in a high, dangerous tone. "You filthy scavenger!"

The Titanoboa retaliated. His tail, thick as a tree trunk, whipped around and slammed into Carik’s ribs.

WHAM.

It was a hit that would have crushed the lungs of any lesser beast. Carik just grunted, skidding sideways, and shook his massive head. He didn’t look pained. He looked hungry.

"Is that the strength of a King?" Carik mocked, his voice a wild rasp. "I have felt harder rain!"

Kael didn’t wait. He used Syris’ thick coils as a platform, sprinting up the snake’s back and launching himself into the air, aiming a heavy strike at Carik’s good eye.

Thud.

Kael’s blow connected, but it felt like hitting a solid rock. Kael bounced off, landing in a low crouch.

"He feels nothing!" Kael shouted to Syris. "The madness has taken his pain! We must crush the life out of him!"

"I am trying to coil him!" Syris hissed, looping his massive body around Carik’s torso. "But he fights like a mountain cat possessed!"

Carik roared and expanded his chest, his muscles bulging so hard they threatened to force Syris’ coils apart. He dug his claws into Syris’ body, finding the gaps between the scales.

Then, he bit down.

Not on the neck this time, but on the chest—piercing the armor where the snake’s life-force beat strongest.

CRUNCH.

Syris let out a sound that was half-hiss, half-scream.

Carik’s teeth sank deep, bypassing the scales and tearing into the soft flesh. Blood gushed out, staining the amethyst scales.

"SYRIS!" Kael roared.

It was strange. They were bound by the Rite of the Severed Fang to kill each other. But seeing the snake take a severe hit triggered Kael’s primal instinct to hunt the true threat.

"Release him, you rabid beast!"

Kael grabbed a jagged, heavy timber from a destroyed hut—a sharp, splintered beam.

He charged.

Kael rammed the wooden stake into the gap in Carik’s shoulder, driving it deep with King-level strength.

Carik howled, finally releasing his bite on Syris’ chest.

"NOW!" Kael roared. "BIND HIM!"

Syris, bleeding heavily from his chest and fueled by the rage of a permanent scar, tightened his grip.

The Titanoboa constricted.

He squeezed with the weight of the entire swamp. You could hear Carik’s ribs groaning and cracking under the pressure.

"You..." Carik gasped, blood bubbling from his maw. "You think... this... ends it?"

Carik thrashed, his red eyes burning with a dying light. He began to claw frantically at Syris’ wound, trying to rip the snake’s heart out.

Syris wavered, the pain immense.

"Hold him!" Kael yelled, scrambling up the tiger’s back. "Do not let go, Snake! Hold him for the kill!"

Kael reached the tiger’s neck. He interlocked his fingers to form a heavy hammer of bone and muscle.

"DIE!"

Kael swung his arms down with the force of a falling cliff.

WHAM.

His strike connected with the base of Carik’s skull.

At the same time, Syris gave one final, bone-snapping squeeze.

Snap.

The massive black tiger went limp. The red glow in his eyes faded, replaced by the dull, empty stare of the dead.

Carik’s corpse slumped to the ground with a heavy thud, kicking up a final cloud of dust.

From the shadows, Viper stood with his mouth agape. He had just witnessed the impossible. Two rival Kings, now destined to kill each other, had hunted as one to slay a monster. It was a feat that would be told for generations.

Purple light engulfed the massive snake.

Syris shifted back.

He collapsed onto the dirt, naked and broken. His pale skin was marred by a gruesome, jagged wound on his chest. Blood poured from the bite, pooling in the dust. He looked like a fallen god. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"My... chest..." Syris wheezed, his eyes unfocused as he looked at the ruin of his torso. "The mark... it will not fade."

Kael stumbled over to him, barely standing. He was bruised and battered, his body screaming in protest.

"You are alive," Kael panted, his hands on his knees as he coughed up dust. "A little scar is nothing. We have survived."

"I despise... tigers," Syris gasped, staring up at the moon.

Viper took a step forward, his eyes wide with awe. "My King! White Tiger King! You have—"

Thump.

Syris’ eyes rolled back, and he passed out, his head hitting the dirt.

Thump.

Kael swayed, tried to stand tall one last time, and then collapsed face-first into the dirt next to his rival.

Viper froze mid-step.

The battlefield fell silent.

And so, Viper was standing, and the three Beast Kings were on the ground.