Taming the Beast World with a Frying Pan-Chapter 67: Nose Candy

Ren and Viper burst back into the Grand Foyer, looking like the survivors of a muddy war.

The scene before them was critical.

Syris was no longer coiled majestically. He was strained to his limit, his massive black body wrapped tight around the thrashing white tiger like a constrictor trying to squeeze the air out of a tank. Kael was roaring, his claws scraping sparks against the stone floor, his jaws snapping inches from Syris’ neck.

"About time!" Syris roared, his voice tight with exertion. "What took you so long?! I am losing my grip!"

"Long story!" Ren shouted, limping toward them with the wooden jar clutched to her chest. Just hold him steady!"

Syris hissed, dodging a feral bite that would have taken his nose off. "Hurry up with the poison!"

"It’s not poison, it’s a sedative!" Ren corrected, stopping just outside the danger zone of Kael’s flailing back legs.

She looked at the wooden jar in her hands. The white powder inside looked innocent enough.

’Please work,’ Ren prayed silently, shoving down the rising panic that this might just be a jar of premium cake flour. ’Please be the sleepy dust. If this is just baking soda, I’m going to look really stupid right before I get eaten.’

"Okay, here’s the plan!" Ren yelled over Kael’s snarling. "I need to get this powder into his system. I can’t just sprinkle it on him like fairy dust! He needs to inhale it!"

Syris grunted, tightening his coils until Kael wheezed. "Inhale it? How?"

"I need to get it right up his nose!" Ren gestured frantically at her own face. "I need to get in there and make him snort it!"

"Absolutely not!" Syris barked immediately. "Look at those teeth! If you get close to his face, he will bite your head off like a grape! Give the jar to Viper!"

Viper, who was standing behind Ren, went very still.

"Viper can do it!" Syris commanded. "Ren, stay back! You are even still injured!"

Ren looked at the terrified snake guard. Then she looked at the mad, blood-crazed tiger who used to purr when she scratched behind his ears.

She shook her head.

"No," Ren said firmly, her voice cutting through the noise. "He’s my husband. He came here for me. He’s my mess to clean up."

"Ren!" Syris warned, his purple eyes flashing.

"If Viper misses, we lose our only shot!" Ren argued, stepping forward. "I have to do it. Trust me, Syris. Just... don’t let him eat me."

She didn’t wait for permission. Ignoring the pain in her leg and the shivering of her body, Ren moved into the kill zone.

But there was a logistical problem: Kael was massive. Even pinned down by Syris, his head was thrashing around too high for her to reach from the floor.

She had to climb.

Ren grabbed onto Syris’ thick, black scales like a climbing wall hold and hauled herself up.

"What are you doing?!" Syris bellowed, feeling her small weight on his coils.

"Improvising!" Ren yelled back.

She planted a foot on Kael’s heaving, furry shoulder. It was like trying to balance on a mechanical bull made of muscle and fur. She gripped Syris’ coil with one arm for dear life, perched precariously on top of the two battling beasts.

She was now face-to-face with the feral tiger. His red eyes locked onto her, foam flying from his snapping jaws.

"Hey, kitty," Ren whispered, her heart hammering against her ribs. "I know you’re in there. But it’s nap time."

She took a pinch of the white powder—a large, generous pinch.

"Syris!" Ren mumbled, her cheeks puffed out. "Pull him back! Now!"

’Okay, Ren. Focus,’ she told herself sternly. ’Do not inhale.’

She took a deep breath of clean air and held it, pressing her lips together tightly.

Syris roared, engaging every muscle in his massive body. He jerked his upper coils, wrenching Kael’s neck backward.

Kael howled in fury, opening his mouth to bite, his snout tilting upward.

Ren leaned out over the thrashing jaws. A stray claw swiped wildly, missing her throat by inches but stinging her collarbone with a sharp scratch. She ignored the pain and brought her cupped hand right under his wet, twitching nose.

She pursed her lips and exhaled with explosive force, blowing the cloud directly into his nostrils, immediately jerking her own head back and away to avoid the fallout.

POOF.

A thick white cloud engulfed Kael’s snout.

Ren practically slid down the tiger’s flank, hitting the stone floor hard and crab-walking backward, finally gasping for air now that she was clear of the dust zone.

"Did you get it?!" Syris yelled.

Kael froze.

The tiger blinked. He shook his massive head, sneezing violently.

ACHOO!

A spray of white snot and powder went everywhere.

For a second, nothing happened. Kael stared at Ren, his red eyes burning with the same intensity. He tensed his muscles, preparing to lunge again.

Ren’s heart sank. ’It was flour. It was totally flour.’

"I’m dead," Ren whispered. "I’m going to be eaten."

Kael opened his mouth to roar.

"Rooooo... aaahhh... yawn."

The roar turned into a massive, jaw-cracking yawn that showed off every tooth in his head.

Kael’s head bobbed. The red fire in his eyes flickered, then dimmed. His eyelids, heavy and white with powder, began to droop.

"Wh... what..." Syris watched in amazement as the struggling ceased beneath his coils.

The tiger swayed. He looked like a drunk leaving a bar at 3 AM. He tried to lift a paw to swipe at Syris, but the limb just flopped uselessly onto the stone.

"Mrrrph," Kael grumbled, the sound soft and confused.

His legs gave out.

With a heavy, earth-shaking thud, the White Tiger collapsed onto the floor. His massive head landed on his paws, his eyes sliding shut. Within seconds, a deep, rumbling snore echoed through the Grand Foyer.

Ren sat on the floor, covered in muck, shivering, one hand pressed against the stinging scratch on her collarbone. She stared at the sleeping giant.

"It worked," she whispered, a hysterical giggle bubbling up in her throat.

She looked up at Syris, who was slowly uncoiling himself from the sleeping beast, looking equally exhausted and bewildered.

"He is..." Syris panted, shifting back into his human form, his chest heaving. "He is asleep."

Ren slumped back against a pillar, closing her eyes with a relieved smile.