I’m not a Regressor

I am not a returner Episode 287

Dog and Wolf (12)

One hundred years ago.

The Majin army invaded the Khan Kingdom.

The power of the demons who inherited the power of the Heavenly Demon was powerful, and the legions of demon beasts they led were numerous enough to cover the vast plains.

When only shouts and screams echoed in the once peaceful kingdom.

Two wolves appeared.

Horus of the Black Mane tribe.

Riak of the Silver Mane tribe.

The two wolves united the beastmen warriors and waged war against the demon tribe.

Thanks to the two wolves who fought against the demons more courageously than any other warrior, hope began to sprout again in the kingdom that was on the verge of fall.

Lively young people, children who were running around playing, and old people who were spending quiet time turning their backs on the world participated in the war.

The spark of hope created by Horus and Riak spread throughout the kingdom and burned like wildfire.

An endless war.

The Majin army, which was confident that it would destroy the kingdom in one year, was unable to occupy the kingdom even after five years due to the activities of the two wolves.

But even that eventually reached its limit.

The two wolves continued their desperate fight against the demons, but they were unable to defeat the demons with the power of the Heavenly Demon and the endless crowds of demon beasts.

Defeat loomed before our eyes.

The demons, who had suffered unexpected damage due to Horus and Riak’s activities, offered a proposal to the two cornered wolves.

A sweet offer to spare the tribe’s lives if they become their dogs.

Riak resisted fiercely, but Horus was different.

He bowed his head at the feet of the demons and declared surrender.

Another condition that the demons put on Horus.

A cruel order was given to stab Riak in the back to prove his loyalty.

In this way, Horus attacked and killed Riak, his precious comrade and indispensable friend.

no.

I thought he killed it.

“…You’re alive, Riak.”

“okay.”

Riak nodded softly.

“….”

“….”

Horus and Riak looked at each other with eyes filled with complex emotions.

They were long-time friends, comrades who had their backs, and brothers who shared their souls.

Now a hundred years have passed.

The two met again.

Become a dog and a wolf.

“Me…”

Horus opened his mouth with a trembling voice.

“Do you blame me?”

“….”

Riak closed his mouth tightly and raised his claws.

A traitor who stabbed an invaluable friend in the back.

How can we not resent the traitor who sold out his country?

But more than that.

I was unable to do anything until I was in that situation.

I feel even more resentful.

I regret it infinitely.

A past that nothing could protect.

“I… had to protect it.”

Horus’ shoulders trembled slightly.

To protect the family, children, and tribe.

I had no choice but to kneel to them.

He had no choice but to be a loyal dog.

“Know.”

“then!”

Coo!

Horus stamped his foot roughly.

“Why… why didn’t you give in!”

If only Riak had surrendered with him then.

He would never have stabbed his friend in the back with his own hand.

“Didn’t you already know that this is an unwinnable war!”

“okay.”

“No matter how hard we struggle! “No one could protect it!”

“I guess so.”

“only once! All you have to do is break your damn pride once!”

then.

Many more of our compatriots would have been able to survive than we do now.

“But why didn’t you… kneel!”

Horus glared at Riak with burning eyes.

Before attacking Riak.

He tried to convince him again and again.

Even if we fight like this, nothing but death will happen.

In order to protect our people, we must surrender.

but.

Riak did not give in.

It didn’t become a dog.

Even while countless of our compatriots were turning into cold corpses on the battlefield.

He didn’t stop fighting the demons.

“Why… didn’t you become a dog… Riak?”

Although my pride as a wolf was trampled.

Because he became a dog, the Khan Kingdom was able to survive without being destroyed.

The beastmen were able to survive because they knelt and surrendered.

“You… do you think you’re the only one who didn’t want to be a dog?”

“…Horus.”

Riak looked at Horus with sad eyes.

Horus chewed his lip until it bled.

One hundred years.

The emotions that have been suppressed in my heart for that long time.

Words that I couldn’t bear to say out loud exploded like a volcano.

“me too!”

thud! thud!

He hits his chest roughly with his clenched fist.

“I didn’t want to be a dog either!”

I wanted to fight until the end.

As a warrior, I wanted to face death full of pride.

but.

but.

but.

Then what about the remaining compatriots?

What about children who have just been born into the world?

What about the comrades who are injured and can’t even fight properly?

“Leaving them all to die! Are you saying that all you have to do is remain a noble wolf?”

The trampled and crushed emotions that have been trapped for a hundred years burst out in a scream.

“….”

Riak looked at Horus, who was panting, with deeply sunken eyes.

A cry I have repeated to myself countless times over the past hundred years.

The words that flowed out as a scream cut through my heart even more sharply.

“so.”

Looking at my friend who chose to become a dog to protect everyone.

Riak asked in a heavy voice.

“After surviving like that… what is left for us?”

The past week spent in the kingdom.

When Ojin and his party were wandering around here and there to gather information.

Riak wandered around the kingdom aimlessly and observed the daily lives of the beastmen living here.

The beastmen live somewhere with a look of fear on their faces.

In a way, the beastmen living within the kingdom lived in more fear than the Silver Wolf Mane tribe living in hiding outside the kingdom.

A life of holding one’s breath and living in fear every day, watching what the ‘owner’ thinks.

That.

Can we really say that we survived?

“When you die… not even that remains.”

“Does anything change just because you live?”

“….”

Horus lowered his head, chewing his lips.

“There is one thing I would like to ask, Horus.”

Riak took a step toward Horus, who lowered his head.

“Why didn’t it become ‘Khan’?”

“….”

“If you really thought the path you chose was right.”

Even though I was shaking with fear.

If a life of simply being grateful for being ‘alive’ was what he truly wanted.

“Why aren’t you sitting on the throne?”

“That’s…”

Horus’s words trailed off.

Throbbing.

The words that flowed from Riak’s mouth became a sharp dagger and pierced his chest.

When you are avoiding gaze without being able to find an answer to return.

“What are you doing now?! “Kill them quickly!”

Kaliqué’s sharp voice was heard.

Horus looked towards Caliche.

He was panting as if the fight against the unknown human who came with Riak was quite difficult.

“If you don’t kill me right away, I’ll activate the ‘leash’!”

snood.

It was a holy relic stuffed around Horus’ neck to prevent him from betraying him.

If the collar is activated, you will experience terrible pain and lose consciousness.

In the worst case, he could have died from shock.

Even the leash wasn’t just for Horus.

All of Horus’s immediate personal guards, who were closest to him and followed him, were on leashes.

“…I get it.”

Horus gritted his teeth and nodded.

He shouted to the SS awaiting orders.

“Suppress the Silver Mane tribe!”

“yes!”

Following Horus’ orders, his personal guard began to move.

Horus’s personal guard was created by gathering only strong warriors from various tribes, including the Black Mane Tribe, the Red Mane Tribe, and the Brown Mane Tribe.

The Royal Guard, who took on the form of a half-man and half-animal, surrounded the Silver Mane tribe.

“Ugh!”

Riak rushed towards Horus’s personal guards, but because they were so numerous, he was unable to defeat them all at once.

“Ugh!”

“Let it go!”

The Silver Wolf Mane tribe, already exhausted from one fierce battle with hundreds of Black Mane tribesmen guarding the castle, was helplessly captured by the Royal Guard without even a single proper resistance.

“Namdeuuu!”

Among them, Leoru was the only one who took down several of the attacking SS troops.

“Get out of the way!”

When Horus entered the war, Leoru could not hold out for long and was captured by him.

“Ho Horus… you…!”

“quietly.”

Wow!

He bared his teeth and roughly hit Leoru’s cheek as he rushed towards him.

Leoru slumped down in his seat and lowered his head.

Horus turned toward Riak, clutching Leoru’s neck.

“If they move, their lives are gone.”

“…Horus.”

After defeating all of Horus’s personal guards that were attacking him, Riak, who was about to kick his feet to help Leoru, stopped abruptly.

Riak glared at Horus, who had taken the Silver Mane tribes hostage, with cold eyes.

“I also want to ask you something, Riak.”

Horus continued speaking in a heavy voice.

“Even though you weren’t dead… why didn’t you appear for a hundred years?”

“…that.”

“Where have you been and what have you been doing all this time, and now you’ve come and imposed your standards on us!”

Over the past hundred years.

It was Horus who protected the kingdom that fell to the Demons.

“I am… while you are away.”

Horus clenched his fist until it bled.

The demons who became the owners of the kingdom exhausted their finances through endless luxury and pleasure.

There were countless beastmen who starved to death, and if they offended the devils even a little, they were executed on the spot.

Children who smiled brightly.

Young people who were full of pride.

Wise old people.

He died as a mere plaything of the demon race.

“All of that… my despair that I had no choice but to watch… what are you talking about!”

Horus lowered his head with a distorted expression.

“The despair I felt… I will make you feel that misery too.”

Staring at Riak with eyes full of hatred.

Horus slowly lifted the hand holding Leoru’s neck.

“Whoops whoops!” “Ugh!”

Leoru cried out in pain and struggled.

“Kneel, Riak.”

The burning eyes turned towards Riak.

“If you don’t become a dog here and now… I will kill all of your remaining kin before your very eyes.”

“….”

Riak’s expression hardened.