"Huh?" Aries’ ears perked up.
If he had been disjointed and disoriented by the previous actions of the Tiger King, then the words he had just heard managed to snap his senses sharply back into place.
Aries looked at the king and said, confusion thick in his voice, "What do you an by that? Who are you branding, and with what?"
"What a fucking sadist you are!"
Aries knew very well what a brand was ant to signify. He had read and watched countless historical movies and stories to understand what branding ant in a setting like theirs.
Yet, since arriving in this world, Aries had hoped desperately that this would be one thing that turned out differently. He wished that what he knew wouldn’t apply here, that it would be sothing else entirely, sothing less cruel.
But if wishes were free, all beggars would be rich.
Aries’ hope proved to be nothing more than wishful thinking when the guard the king had instructed returned just as quickly as he had left.
He ca back into the room carrying sothing that radiated heat, the air around it visibly wavering.
Aries’ eyes widened as he looked at Ravien, panic surging through him. He cried out, his voice cracking with fear, "No! You aren’t using that on !"
Ravien stepped forward, looming over Aries as he spoke, his hands coming up to cradle Aries’ face with an unsettling gentleness.
Looking down at him, he said calmly, "Yes, I am going to use it on you. And it’s because I don’t want you to suffer excessive injury or spoil the mating process. That is why I won’t be torturing you like before. So accept this, many would beg to be marked as mine."
"Those many are stupid!" Aries spat back, summoning the last bit of strength he had left, his body trembling despite the defiance in his words.
Ravien didn’t seem to hear him at all, his expression remaining disturbingly serene.
Without warning, Ravien grabbed Aries’ hands tightly. He gestured to the guard, who brought the hot coal closer to the bed before stepping away.
"Hold him down," Ravien instructed coldly, his tone leaving no room for refusal.
As the guards obeyed his command and restrained Aries, Ravien had the leisure to reach into his pocket and pull out his branding tool. It was made of iron, and engraved on the flat end was a single na:
Ravien.
He placed the iron into the hot coal. After a few minutes, he removed it, the tal glowing, scalding hot, and humming faintly with heat.
Aries swallowed hard, fear crawling relentlessly up his spine.
Wasn’t the System going to do sothing?
Is he really going to face this pain?
Is he truly going to be branded forever?
Was—
Countless thoughts raced through Aries’ mind as he watched the king prepare the brand. Soon, the iron hovered only inches away from his skin, radiating unbearable heat.
Aries didn’t even dare to shake. He feared that if he moved, even slightly, he might make things worse—if his body trembled and the iron brushed against him by accident, it would only hasten the pain and make the damage far worse. So he stayed stiff as stone, his breathing heavy and uneven as he braced himself for the impending doom that lood so close.
The expression on Ravien’s face as the iron drew nearer was one of pure satisfaction, almost reverence, as though he were savoring the mont.
But just as the hot iron was about to touch Aries’ hand, a powerful force suddenly swept through the room. Ravien’s arm was knocked violently aside, and the guard restraining Aries was thrown back as well, crashing into the floor.
Ravien staggered backward, barely maintaining his balance as he struggled to comprehend what had just happened.
Seizing the opportunity, Aries activated his illusion cloak and vanished from sight, slipping away amid the chaos and confusion. His heart pounded so violently he thought it might burst straight out of his chest, but nothing of the sort happened, he remained standing, invisible, alive.
Then the force, the very thing that had halted the horror monts ago revealed itself.
Aries finally understood.
Joy flooded his heart when his eyes t Lucien’s across the room. Without hesitation, Aries dropped his illusion cloak so Lucien could see him clearly.
Ravien, already recovering from the sudden attack, turned just as Lucien rushed toward Aries. Lucien used the mont to reach for him, but before their hands could et, the Tiger King appeared behind him with terrifying speed.
Lucien barely managed to dodge a powerful strike aid at his back.
He maneuvered swiftly, dashing toward Aries again, and this ti he reached him. Just as they were about to disappear from the room through the teleportation device Lucien possessed, the king’s sword tore through Lucien’s side.
Blood splattered onto the floor.
"Nooooo!"
The Tiger King’s roar reverberated throughout the palace. The entire tiger territory trembled violently as he lost sight of his precious treasure, rage shaking the very walls.
Aries felt himself drifting, floating through endless space, what those who transmigrated must feel, according to the books he had read and the movies he had watched.
Am I returning ho?
The thought filled him with overwhelming joy, and hope blossod uncontrollably in his heart.
Then the System’s voice sounded, shattering that fragile happiness in an instant.
[Host!]
"Why are you here?" Aries demanded seriously. He needed to know the truth. Why was this stupid, greedy System still with him if he was returning ho? Unless...
Unless he wasn’t.
Sadness settled heavily in his chest, but the System spoke again before he could dwell on it.
[Host! You must act quickly, or your soul will disperse.]
"Huh?" Aries’ mind snapped sharply to attention. Those words mattered far more than whether he was going ho or not.
What do you an? he asked ntally, panic creeping into his thoughts.
[Host, if you notice, you’ve been floating for an unknown amount of ti. Once this cycle completes one more ti, your soul will disperse permanently.]
Why? Aries asked, utterly confused and alard.
[You and the Wolf Prince are currently trapped in a parallel charred plain. In this state, you are bound to die. If you realize, you cannot open your eyes, speak, or hear anything. You are essentially a vegetable, experiencing nothing but endless floating.]
That’s true.
Panic surged through him, sharp and suffocating.
How can I fix this?
[Host must spend 80 CE to purchase a teleportation chanism. It will correct the flaw in your current teleportation and allow you to return safely.]
"I knew it," Aries muttered bitterly. "This is one of your tricks to squeeze money out of ."
[Host, I have made it clear that my role is to protect and guide you. That cannot be done if you are unwilling. The escape protocol was never guaranteed—it carried a 70–80% success rate. This is the remaining 20% failure probability. I am using this opportunity to save you, as promised. The choice is yours.]
"Hmmm..." Aries sighed inwardly. He didn’t have ti to dwell on it or argue.
He made his decision.
The 80 CE was spent, leaving him with a reduced balance of CE.
Monts later, Aries felt the floating stop abruptly. Sothing dropped beside him, followed by shocked gasps from unfamiliar voices. He forced his eyes open.
He found himself in a place both strange and strangely familiar. The people surrounding him looked much like himself except for the beast ears and tails swaying behind them, marking them clearly as beastn.
"Where am I?" he muttered aloud, his voice weak.
He turned toward the sound he had heard earlier and saw Lucien sprawled on the ground nearby.
Aries took a step toward him, and imdiately regretted it.
An arrow shot through the air and struck him.
Pain exploded in Aries’ head, white-hot and blinding. He clutched his chest as agony coursed through every part of his body. Through blurred vision, he saw beastn, wolves, by their appearance, rush forward and seize Lucien.
"This tiger captive was with him," one of them said coldly. "He needs to be taken into custody and questioned."
? A tiger captive?
Confusion gripped Aries as he raised a trembling hand to his ears, and felt soft fur beneath his fingers.
His bald head was gone.
Reality crashed down on him with crushing clarity.
The beast veil had returned.
After leaving the Tiger Palace, the force that had removed the veil had faded, allowing it to reassert itself. Now, beside the unconscious Lucien, Aries stood as a tiger beast, one that needed to be detained and interrogated.
Fuck. Just kill already if I have to suffer again, he thought bitterly.
But he didn’t even have the strength left to protest or struggle.
The arrow’s effect finally took hold. Blood loss overwheld him, and his vision darkened as he collapsed onto the floor beside Lucien, fresh blood pooling beneath him.
’That’s right...’ his fading thoughts whispered. ’Lucien was injured by the king.’
With that final realization, Aries closed his eyes.
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