This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Kain ignored the indignant shouting behind him, tuning out the absurd demands for compensation. He’d done what he came to do, and if these people were too dense to appreciate it, that was their problem.

With a sharp turn on his heel, he strode back toward the Vice City Lord’s mansion. He wasn’t about to return to the public infirmary, where he’d no doubt be swarmed with more useless questions and paranoia. His head was already pounding, and he had absolutely no patience left for dealing with these idiots.

Thankfully, not everyone in this world was hopeless.

When Kain entered the mansion, he was met with an entirely different atmosphere. Nadia and his original teammates—Benji, Claudia, and Clara—were already waiting for him, their expressions ranging from excitement to cautious optimism.

“This is amazing!” Claudia said, shaking her head with something almost like awe. “The story has already spread throughout the city. Aegis just… cleansed the corruption completely? No lingering traces?”

“What? I thought the story those idiots would try to spread would be that Aegis had tortured their contracts. Completely neglecting to mention that he was helping them.” Kain replied in irritation.

An embarrassed smile appeared on Claudia’s face, “they did try. And there are some rather strange rumours being spread about you and Aegis. But when they were forced to answer more in depth questions about how exactly their contracts that were previously on the verge of corruption could be released, the true story began to spread. Not to mention, the guards at the scene at the time are much more sensible and clarified many strange rumours spread by the others. Now pretty much all of the beast-tamers in the city know that Aegis has this ability, and morale is beginning to pick back up.”

Nadia’s sharp eyes gleaming with interest. “This is huge, Kain. If this ability works consistently, it’s not just a solution for what happened here—More importantly, it could be a game-changer for the Empire’s ongoing fight against the Abyss. After all, the Ishvaran’s are already dead sacrifices of history, but the Empire still has hope.”

Benji crossed his arms, frowning thoughtfully. “We already know most if not all known purification skills and items have next to no effect on abyssal corruption. If Aegis can absorb and neutralize it, that’s beyond anything many in the empire would currently have access to. After all, those few peak-level skills that can purify the corruption are probably only deployable by Demigod level spiritual creatures, and aren’t something the average citizen, or even Order member, could contact…”

Benji, who trailed off thoughtfully seemed to be suddenly struck by a thought, his voice hesitant. “Kain… do you think Aegis could help Aura?”

The room fell silent at his words.

Aura.

Injured by a high-level abyssal, she had been placed in a frozen stasis to prevent the injury and corruption from spreading further, but no one had been able to fully purge it.

Kain frowned, considering the idea seriously. It was tempting. If Aegis could purify her, they would be able to add an additional member to their fighting force.

But… it was too risky.

After a moment, he exhaled and shook his head. “No.”

Benji’s expression fell. “Why not?”

“Aegis’ ability works, but we still don’t know its limits,” Kain explained. “Aura’s in a delicate state. Once we unfreeze her, she might only have one shot at recovery. If we try and fail, she’s dead. And besides… her injury isn’t just abyssal corruption. There’s something else going on there. It’s safest to get her looked at in the Order.”

Benji clenched his fists, clearly frustrated but ultimately nodding in understanding. “I just… I hate keeping her like that. It feels like we’re delaying the inevitable.”

“We’re not delaying. We’re making sure we get it right,” Kain corrected him firmly. “We follow the plan. We bring her back to the Order, and we don’t waste the one chance she has on a gamble.”

Benji sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Yeah… yeah, you’re right.”

Clara put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We all want her back, Benji. But we have to be smart about it.”

The tension in the room settled into something more somber from the original jovial mood. Aegis’ ability was a breakthrough, but it wasn’t a miracle cure for everything.

At the very least, though, it was a step forward—something that could change the way they fought against the Abyss. They no longer needed to be so fearful of even receiving a scratch from the corrupted. They no longer had to be so fearful that their allies or own contracts would turn on them within the next second due to becoming corrupted.

The moment of reflection was violently shattered by the sudden blare of alarm bells.

A chilling wave of tension rippled through the mansion as everyone immediately snapped to attention. The deep, resounding bell chime echoed across the city, signaling the one thing they had all been dreading.

Another abyssal attack.

Kain’s heart slammed against his ribs as he exchanged glances with Nadia and the others.

“Damn it,” Nadia hissed, already reaching for her weapon. “Looks like our break is over.”

Benji wasted no time, rushing to the window and peering outside. The streets below were already in chaos—citizens scrambling for shelter, guards barking orders, beast-tamers calling out their contracts in preparation for battle.

Nadia cursed under her breath. “It’s so soon. I was hoping we’d get more time to bolster our defenses.”

“That’s probably exactly why they decided to launch another attack now,” Kain replied. After all, the high-level abyssal don’t seem to have intelligence any less than humans’. They wouldn’t give their prey too much time to prepare. “But It doesn’t matter. With Aegis’ new ability, they will find that this round of attacks will be very different from the last time.” Experience more tales on My Virtual Library Empire

Nadia nodded sharply. “Let’s move.”

Without another word, they surged forward, rushing out to the already war-torn city walls where the nightmare was already beginning.