This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

If he couldn’t figure out a way to take this thing down and exploit its weaknesses, he would lose.

‘No! Absolutely not! Losing to Serena in the past is one thing, but to SOREN!?—I would rather sandpaper my eyeballs and rinse them in lemon juice.’

Kain gritted his teeth.

They couldn’t rely on brute strength anymore, like he did in the previous battles when he was the stronger side. Now he was the weaker side.

He’d need to use his brain.

He shifted slightly, narrowing his eyes at the fused dragon. Its body shimmered under the lights—bulging, twitching, imperfect. A stitched monster held together by sheer will.

Aegis, Vauleth, and the others were doing what they could, but they were stalling (barely)—not winning.

Kain focused on the green head.

The wind dragon’s head.

It moved slower than the rest. Occasionally out of sync.

He turned to Bea.

“Anything?” He still had some faint hope that the split was still in that head preventing it from being in sync with the others.

But Bea’s negative response dashed that hope.

But just when Kain’s shoulders were beginning to slump in disappointment…

There is something. Not control. Not one of my splits. But… a presence related to me. Faint as dust.

Kain blinked. That was unexpected. “Didn’t your split in that one get erased when Soren pulled it back?”

Yes.

“Then why can you still feel something?”

…It’s not the split. It’s the afterimage. Like a bruise in the mental fabric of that dragon.

Kain’s eyes widened.

“Empty Throne Effect.”

He almost forgot about it.

It was a passive. Just a vague background ability he’d never seen do much.

But the System had explained it clearly when it first appeared:

S – Empty Throne Effect (Passive): Leaves a trace of herself—an “empty throne”—where a former host has died. These scars in the mental fabric create localized zones of déjà vu or unease. If enough are formed, Bea can link them into a faint web of presence.

He hadn’t paid it much attention at the time. An S-ranked passive. Seemed decent.

Until he remembered: this seemingly simple skill was the very skill that bumped Bea’s System Rating from 4.5 stars to 5 stars. And despite all of his best efforts, none of his other attempts before then had been successful at breaking through to 5 stars.

There had to be more behind it.

“Wait. It said where a former host has died. But what about the host’s death is related to you? Nothing. It must really be the death of the split once its host dies that leaves this ‘scar’ in the mental fabric of that area. But what if the host hadn’t died but the split did, as in this case? Would the connection form but just heal at a rapid rate?”

Bea went silent in thought. Most likely. This trace is already fading. It won’t last long.

Kain clicked his tongue.

“But the skill also said if you have enough of these… ‘scars’ in the same spot, you can strengthen your presence?”

Yes.

Kain’s brain lit up.

“We don’t need to control it. Not directly. Not yet, at least. But if we flood it—split after split—kill them immediately, over and over again in that one head… maybe we can create a stronger scar. A quantitative change that would lead to a qualitative change.”

Bea was silent for a beat. Then: A wave tactic.

“Exactly. Enough of them die and the second change described by that skill may trigger.”

Unfortunately, though Kain had no idea what that change would be. This was their first time using this skill, and the System only described it as ‘Bea can link them into a faint web of presence.’

…Whatever that meant…

Bea pulsed again. I will need support. That many splits dying… will drain me.

Kain looked down. “Chewy. Go.”

The tiny spore bobbed out of his shadow, then surged toward Bea and latched onto her with a quiet squelch.

Kain could feel the transfer of spiritual energy begin.

“Send them. Send as many as you can,” Kain ordered.

The Pale Thought Field darkened. Then lit.

Faint pulses rippled across the air—undetectable to most. But Kain felt them.

One.

Two.

Three.

Each time Kain sensed a new split was launched into the green head, he sensed it also die almost immediately, making Bea flinch slightly. But she persisted.

Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be much of an effect even after several had died.

Twelve…

Twenty five…

Thirty eight…

Bea’s pressure began to rise. Her field expanded slightly.

The fused creature snarled.

The wind head twitched.

Sixty nine…

Eighty two…

Kain grinned, even as sweat pooled at his temples from the pressure of the plan, having to dodge the odd attack coming form the opponent, and sending whatever spiritual power he managed to must up to Chewy (further testing during training revealed that if Kain isn’t aiming to use the spiritual skill to boost all abilities and just wanted to provide spiritual power to his contracts, it was the most efficient through Chewy. As long as the glutton could restrain itself from eating the energy, it could transfer the full 100%)

The wind head spasmed again.

Then… paused.

Not like it was confused or wounded.

But like it forgot what it was supposed to be doing.

Kain’s breath hitched.

Ninety-four…

A single eye on the green head blinked in a stuttered rhythm out of sync with the other one

Then… a tiny fissure formed along the base of its jaw. The faint hair-like cracks throughout the creature’s body, began to expand on that single head, beginning at its jaw and then spreading to the base of the neck.

Bea pulsed in his mind. Something is happening. A boundary is… stretching.

One hundred one.

Suddenly, the green head opened its mouth. No attack. Just a low, garbled whine.

And somewhere deep within its mind—Bea appeared.

Not a split.

Her original body. As if a portal to that location had been opened up to her to instantly travel to and from.

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