Chapter 748: 748

One by one, Mei’s companions reacted.

Some closed their eyes, shoulders slackening as though they had already accepted the end. There was no struggle left in them, only the quiet understanding that this was beyond what they could escape.

Mei’s thoughts drifted.

They fell back upon Nwadiebube.

So this was where it ended. Her ambition, her dream of grandeur cut short before it had even begun. In the end, she had never escaped her role. No matter how far she climbed, she remained what she had always been: a pawn, moved into position and sacrificed when the board demanded it.

The Beast King watched them carefully.

Their silence told it everything it needed to know, they would not speak.

The space imprisoning them began to shrink.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Invisible walls pressed inward, tightening around their bodies. Bone groaned, breath became shallow, and pain crept in not as a sudden strike, but as a promise. The Beast King was in no hurry. It intended to break them not because it enjoyed it, but for information.

It needed the box.

Whatever it was, it had severed the Beast King’s senses completely. The bond to its child, once absolute had been erased. Without the box, it had no direction, no trail to follow, no place to begin its search.

So it waited.

Letting the pressure build, letting despair do its work. All of a sudden the pressure stopped.

The shrinking ceased abruptly, as if the space itself had hesitated. The invisible walls loosened, and suddenly, Mei and the others felt it, their limbs responding again, air rushing back into their lungs.

They could move. The space that had bound them released its hold, for a heartbeat, no one spoke.

Shock and confusion rippled through Mei and the others as they tried to understand what had prompted the sudden change. Then they saw it.

The fist-sized crystal shard they had taken from the Crystallized Mountain was no longer where it had been secured. It had slipped free without warning, floating silently in the air between them and the Beast King.

The moment the Beast King sensed movement from the crystal, its reaction was instant.

Every fiber of its being screamed danger.

Without hesitation, it released its hold on Mei and the others, redirecting its control entirely toward the crystal. Space folded sharply as it isolated the shard, forcing a gap between itself and the floating object. Its massive wings unfurled, beating once as it retreated, instinct overriding rage.

Then the crystal shone.

A burst of blinding light erupted outward, and from within it, chains formed, crystalline links snapping into existence one after another. They shot forward violently, tearing through the air.

The Beast King reacted immediately.

Space warped as it activated its ability, severing and erasing most of the chains before they could reach it. Link after link shattered, dispersed, or vanished entirely under its control.

But one chain slipped through.

It latched onto the Beast King’s body.

And everything went wrong.

The moment the chain connected, the Beast King’s spatial control collapsed. Its ability slipped from its grasp as if torn away, space snapping back into rigid stillness. More chains surged forth, wrapping around its massive form faster than it could react.

The Beast King thrashed, but its movements were sluggish now, distorted. Its body warped unnaturally as the chains tightened, binding not just flesh, but the very force that sustained it.

Mei and the others watched in stunned silence.

A being the size of a mountain, one that had bent space at will was dragged down. Its colossal body slammed into the mountainside, the impact shaking the land and sending dust and debris roaring into the air.

The Beast King was chained and for the first time since their nightmare began, its roar was not one of fury but of fear.

At the same time, a sound reached Mei and the others.

Five voices spoke as one, overlapping yet perfectly clear, emanating directly from the floating crystal.

"Tell your master, We are watching. Now leave." The words themselves carried a cost.

The instant they were heard, Mei and the others felt their bodies rebel. Flesh twisted, bones groaned, and foreign sensations surged through them. It was not pain alone, it was intrusion. Something fundamental had been touched, altered, simply by listening.

An example being their minotaur companion, who had been moments from death, convulsed violently. Before their eyes, his ruined body began to regenerate. The severed half reformed, but not as it once had been. One side returned intact, stone-lined flesh restored while the other rebuilt itself as exposed muscle and sinew, wreathed in bright yellow flames that burned without consuming him.

He lived.

But he was no longer whole in the way he once was.

The command to leave was not a suggestion.

Mei and the others felt it seize them, an overwhelming urge layered atop terror and instinct. The surrounding blurred. Their bodies moved faster than thought, faster than intent. In the span of a blink, they were gone, ripped from the mountain and cast far away, escape forced upon them whether they wished it or not.

Silence returned to the lair.

The Beast King remained alone, bound tightly by crystalline chains. Its breathing was heavy, its mind reeling. For a moment, it wondered if what followed was merely hallucination brought on by rage and loss.

Then it saw them.

Five shadows stood reflected in the fractured light around the crystal indistinct, formless, yet undeniably present. They stared at the Beast King without eyes, without faces, and still it felt seen in a way that stripped it bare.

Before it could react, the crystal shattered.

It did not explode outward. Instead, it broke apart into countless tiny points of light, like falling stars drifting gently downward. The Beast King shook violently, instinctively trying to dislodge the descending dust, but the chains held firm, locking its massive body in place.

The luminous particles settled onto its scales and feathers.

They sank in.

Absorbed into its flesh.

The Beast King roared, but no space answered its call. The light vanished beneath its skin, leaving behind a sensation it could not name , a presence that lingered, watching from within.

And far away, beyond mountains and borders, Mei carried the echo of those words with her.

We are watching.

The plan had succeeded.

The Beast King’s consciousness continued to blur, its thoughts slowing as though smothered beneath an unseen weight. The rage that had driven it moments before dulled, replaced by a creeping heaviness that dragged it downward. Its vision dimmed. Sound became distant.

The crystalline chains binding its body began to lose their luster. One by one, they dulled, fractured, and crumbled, transforming into inert stone that cracked and fell away from its massive frame. Yet the Beast King did not rise.

Its body remained still in an enforced sleep as it underwent change. Deep within its flesh, where the crystal’s dust had been absorbed, something remained awake.

Far from the mountain, inside the sealed carriage racing across the land, Mei shuddered violently as the memory resurfaced. Even recalling it sent ripples through her body. They had risked everything for this mission.

It had to succeed.

For the first time in a long while, Mei found herself longing for Murmur’s presence, not for answers, not for power, but for cleansing. A full one. Whatever price it demanded, she would pay it. The mutations she carried were subtle, hidden, but she could feel them waiting beneath her skin.

All of them could.

Within the carriage sat noble figures in composed human forms, faces calm, postures refined, appearances untouched. Yet beneath those borrowed shapes were bodies that no longer fully belonged to the natural order.

They had been changed by words alone and none of them knew how much of that change could ever be undone until the mission was complete.

Meanwhile, within the grand palace of the Osita Kingdom, the air was alive with warmth and celebration. Corridors that were usually solemn and orderly now echoed with hurried footsteps and laughter. Maids and servants hurried past one another, arms laden with polished trays and steaming pots, the rich scents of spices trailing behind them.

"The Queen asked for more pepper, no, more than that!" one servant called, nearly colliding with another.

"And salt! She said the stew must bite back!" came the reply, followed by a burst of laughter.

Orders flew through the halls like sparks, and each was met with eager obedience. Bowls of flour were carried in haste, baskets of vegetables passed from hand to hand, and fresh meat was rushed toward the heart of the palace, the kitchen.

There, amidst the clatter of pots and the hiss of open flames, stood a figure unlike the rest.

Though dressed no differently from the women surrounding her, simple fabric wrapped neatly around her form, sleeves rolled, hands dusted with flour, she commanded the room without effort. Her voice rang out, loud and full of affection, cutting through the noise with ease.

"Careful with that pot, you’ll scorch it if you turn away!" she called, then laughed warmly. "Ah, add a little more oil, yes, just like that. Food must be cooked with confidence!"