Chapter 1
Humiliating.
I spent my whole life restraining myself, avoiding killing, and training only for the sake of ascension.
But all of that effort became meaningless… because of a mere human.
Through my vision, now stained red, I saw a group of humans. Each of them held sharp weapons, ready to attack. A low growl rose from my throat.
It wasn’t my will.
I was brainwashed—forced to follow human commands.
Destroy them.
Anyone who stands in the Blood Cult’s way—leave no trace behind.
‘Me… being controlled like this?’
I once roamed the deepest mountains, training alone.
The ignorant humans called me Mountain King and worshipped me.
But I only cared about polishing myself.
I didn’t involve myself in human affairs.
I simply lived alongside them.
And yet…
‘This is what I get for it?’
Attacked by humans, my home destroyed, sacred beasts killed, the land corrupted…
And now I was their puppet, forced to commit sins even beasts would never do.
What a miserable, disgusting end.
***
“Hard to believe this is how the ‘noble righteous sect’ looks now.”
The human who controlled me mocked the martial artists standing before him.
But the so-called righteous warriors, though furious, said nothing.
“Cat got your tongue? Strange, considering how much you righteous types love preaching.”
“…Shut that filthy mouth. The stench of rotten blood is unbearable.”
“Oh? Really? Well, better get used to it.”
Through my red vision I saw my controller smirking.
“Because today is the day the righteous sect dies.”
A hand touched the back of my neck.
“Go, Black-Blood Heavenly Tiger. Tear apart these hypocrites.”
My body moved.
My mind wanted to scoff and ignore their orders, but my body obeyed them.
“Grrrrrrrr…”
How long would the righteous warriors last?
Would they kill me?
My hopes were quickly shattered.
Brainwashed and weakened or not, I had trained for a thousand years.
They had no chance.
“Gwah!!”
“AAAAH!”
My claws.
My fangs.
Bodies fell like paper.
I couldn’t even control myself.
It was agony.
Then—something suddenly flew toward me.
I leapt aside.
Kakakang!
Not all attacks missed.
Metal rang as something struck the iron armor they had forced onto me.
“Grrrr….”
One human stood before me, face stern, holding hidden weapons that smelled strongly of poison.
‘…That scent.’
I remembered it well.
Humans with that smell were the first ones destroyed when the Blood Cult came.
I was surprised they survived.
But surprise didn’t matter—my body still moved on its own.
The poisonous human was fast.
Very fast.
Was that what humans called footwork?
Their movement showed skill.
For a moment, I felt a faint hope.
“Haaap!”
Another human joined in, swinging a sword to support the throwing-weapons user.
The sword aimed not at me, but at the gaps of the metal armor.
The hidden weapons also targeted weak points.
I silently wished their efforts would work.
And then—
One of the weapons hit the back of my leg.
Poison spread quickly, burning cold through my body.
But instead of fear…
…I felt relief.
Whatever poison this was—
I knew it could kill me.
‘…!’
Then suddenly—
I regained control of myself.
The poison spreading through my body didn’t matter.
What mattered was:
I had my will back.
I could move my body again.
“Mu…”
But I didn’t know how long this freedom would last.
I allowed the sword wielder’s attack to hit my armor and immediately charged at the Blood Cult human who controlled me.
A scream rang loudly.
Enough to make my ears numb.
Good.
It meant my attack landed.
It had been so long since I felt happiness.
“You… you beast—!”
You controlled me at your whim.
Now face the same fate.]
He struggled wildly, trying to kill me.
Useless.
[Even in death, I won’t let you go.]
He shrieked, clawing at me, trying to break free—
But I refused to loosen my jaws.
This was my first chance for revenge since they captured me.
I wasn’t letting it go.
‘I’ll die here…
but so will you.’
Through fading vision, I watched the righteous warriors charge toward the Blood Cult members, shocked by my sudden rebellion.
Then—
Thud.
My strength ran out.
I collapsed on top of the human.
I felt his struggling grow weaker… weaker…
I exhaled a bitter, frustrated breath.
There were so many more Blood Cult dogs I needed to kill.
So many who deserved my fangs.
If only I had more time.
I would have destroyed every last one.
If only I had another chance…
For once in my life, I wished for it desperately.
Then—
For a brief moment, I felt someone stroke my head.
〔If that is truly your wish…〕
A voice whispered at my ear.
And then everything went dark.
* * *
A leaf fell onto my head.
I flinched.
The leaf was green.
And below it—my forepaw was… blue?
I growled instinctively—
Or so I thought.
“Kyauuuuu….”
[…Huh? Kyau?]
Why did I just make a baby tiger sound?
My body wasn’t the only thing that changed.
I tried to leap over a rock—
but my legs were too short.
So I ran around it instead, panicked, following the scent of water.
“Kyau!”
When I reached a calm stream, my reflection appeared.
Not the blood-red fur of the monster I had become…
But deep blue fur, like a lake bottom.
Striped with black.
My whiskers, pink nose, and yellow eyes were familiar…
But my size—
I was tiny.
Much smaller than I should be.
Not the size of an enlightened beast.
Not even a normal tiger.
[I’m a baby tiger again?!]
What?!
I thought I died—but now I was this small?!
It made no sense.
Was this some hallucination before death?
No. The details proved otherwise.
When I was a cub, my fur was yellow like normal tigers.
After becoming an enlightened beast, it turned blue.
I had never been a blue baby tiger.
Meaning—
This wasn’t the past.
This was something new.
I quickly checked myself.
Thankfully, none of the Blood Cult’s corruption remained.
But compared to before, my inner power was drastically lower.
[My… my inner core…]
The core still existed—
but its size and the energy inside were tiny.
Barely a tenth of what it used to be.
Maybe even less.
No wonder I reverted to a cub’s size.
My body couldn’t sustain its adult form with this little energy.
I was still an enlightened beast—but weak.
Very weak.
And in the world of beasts, just like humans—
The strong eat the weak.
A baby tiger with an inner core?
I might escape once…
But what if another beast found me?
I’d be dead for sure.
