This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Capítulo 937: Chapter 937: A Disobedient ‘Son’

Kain had wondered about this for a long time.

Ever since Pangea had stabilized enough for its ecosystems to truly flourish, a quiet question had lingered in the back of his mind—one he had never had a reason, or perhaps the courage, to answer.

How strong were the strongest beings on Pangea, really?

As its creator, caretaker, and (self-proclaimed) “God”, Kain occupied a strange position. No matter how powerful a creature became, no matter how high its cultivation grew, their presence never truly pressed on him. Aurem, the undisputed apex predator of the planet, could glare, roar, and vent its aura freely, and yet Kain felt little more than mild spiritual turbulence.

That made comparison difficult.

Aura pressure, after all, was the simplest metric for gauging strength across realms. It was crude, but effective. And on Pangea, that scale was warped. Everything bent around Kain. Everything deferred to him by default.

Because of that, he had never been able to tell whether Aurem—or any of the other strongest monsters ruling various regions across the planet—had crossed into true demigod territory.

Still, one thing he knew for certain was that many of them had surpassed him long ago.

Not in authority or control of Pangea, of course.

But in raw cultivation.

Pangea’s growth had never mirrored his own. In fact, it often felt as though it operated independently of him. While his own strength, while still extremely fast, followed a growth curve that was still feasible for humans and still had to surpass various cultivation bottlenecks.

But the creatures of Pangea cultivated relentlessly, unbound by his limits. Not to mention that time passed differently for them.

They grew.

And they did not wait for him.

That realization had always been strangely comforting, knowing that he wasn’t holding them back.

Or at least not fully holding them back…

Because while Aurem was unquestionably powerful, Kain had never seen it wield anything resembling a domain. But he was unsure if that was just due to he himself not yet having anything resembling a domain, but he’d never seen Aurem or the other creatures of Pangea use one either.

And here, on this battlefield, domains were everything.

Which meant there was still a risk.

Still, if he had to gamble, there was no creature he trusted more to throw into the heart of this madness than Aurem.

The Chronicle of Primordial Echoes lay open in his hands, its pages faintly shimmering despite the chaos around him. Most of its interior was already filled—faded silhouettes, incomplete impressions of beings that had long since been summoned by previous owners of this mysterious book.

Toward the back, three pages remained pristine.

Unused.

Three chances.

In theory, he could summon another.

Or use all three pages of Aurem wasn’t as powerful as he thought.

But who else?

Kain hesitated.

He had the materials. That was never in doubt.

Over the years, he had collected genetic traces from many of Pangea’s most unique lifeforms—scales, blood crystallized into amber-like nodules, slivers of bone, fragments of fur preserved through careful refinement.

Not because he had foreseen this exact scenario.

But because while living creatures could not leave Pangea… unliving parts of them could.

Those materials were valuable. Precious. While working as an evolutionary planner many had been used as evolutionary materials for clients who could never have dreamed of encountering such high-quality bloodlines otherwise.

Many breakthroughs had been achieved using fragments that originated on his planet.

Of course, not all materials were shared.

Materials taken from Aurem, in particular, had always been kept sealed away. As had the materials of other powerful beings that Kain could consider summoning.

‘Well…’

Kain opened the book toward the end and exhaled.

‘No use stressing over who to summon second and third when there’s no guarantee it’ll be necessary’

One summon first.

If this wasn’t enough, he can decide who’s next based on the battlefield situation at that time.

He reached into his space ring and withdrew a single scale.

It was large—larger than his palm—and impossibly heavy for its size. Gold, but not reflective. Light bent strangely around it, as if the scale refused to exist under the same rules as its surroundings. Space seemed to warp at its edges, and faint motes of dust and debris spiralled in odd directions around it as if gravity itself were confused.

Even now, the scale radiated arrogance.

With a deep breath, Kain placed the scale onto the first blank page.

The moment it made contact, the page rippled.

And the scale began to disappear.

It did not dissolve.

It sank into the page as if submerged by water.

Golden light spread outward in branching lines, forming a detailed image on the surface of the page.

A dragon.

An Eastern dragon, long and sinuous, crowned with sweeping horns and a mane of flowing light. Its scales gleamed like molten gold caught mid-motion, eyes half-lidded with disdain.

——————–

Meanwhile, on Pangea…

Aurem was in a foul mood.

That, by itself, was nothing new.

But today, the irritation burned hotter than usual.

He lounged atop his hoard, claws draped carelessly over mountains of ore, gemstones, and refined metals, his immense golden body radiating a pressure that warped the air. Lesser creatures moved in practiced silence around him, heads bowed, breaths shallow.

One of his ores went missing a few weeks ago.

One.

Out of millions.

But he had still noticed.

That alone should havAnd despite so much time passing,his temper was no closer to waning.

Aurem’s massive eyes narrowed as he shifted, golden pupils flaring faintly. His tail lashed once, shattering a passing mid-grade underline that looked like a rat made of ore into dust.

But none of the other many underlings were shocked by the death of their companion.

Yesterday, a Mountain-backed Ironfur Monkey had failed to apply sufficient pressure while massaging his wings.

The explosion had been… bloody.

Its replacement—a similar monkey, nearly identical save for the even stronger terror in its eyes—was currently doing its utmost to avoid the same fate. Its hands shook as it worked, every movement careful, reverent, desperate.

Other attendants scurried quietly. A serpentine drake polished scales. A living magma slug adjusted the temperature of the cavern floor to make sure that the ‘heated flooring’ was the perfect temperature that Aurem liked.

A newly arrived feline creature, bipedal and sleek, padded forward carrying a bowl filled with a glowing liquid harvested from some deep, mysterious spring. It stared so intently at the precious substance that it failed to notice a stray fist-sized jewel on the stone floor…right where its foot was landing.

It stumbled.

The bowl tilted.

Several drops splashed onto the ground.

The cavern froze.

Aurem’s head lifted slowly.

“Mm?” he rumbled.

The sound alone nearly crushed the feline’s spirit.

It trembled violently, ears flat, heart racing as it squeezed its eyes shut.

Death was certain.

One breath passed.

Then another.

Nothing happened.

The feline dared to peek out of one eye after confirming that it was indeed still alive.

Then its eyes flew open.

The hoard was still there.

The cavern remained.

But their lord—

Was gone.

——————–

Reality tore open above the fortress.

A colossal golden form emerged, coiling through the fractured sky as if descending from a higher layer of existence. The pressure of its arrival was immediate and absolute, a tidal wave of authority that slammed into the battlefield.

Every creature on the field froze, including the demigods, regardless of what side they were on.

Not in fear.

In surprise.

This was something new.

Something unfamiliar.

Something that should not exist here.

The demigod dragon fighting above the fortress recoiled mid-motion, its pupils constricting violently as a wave of instinctive pressure crushed down on it.

Bloodline pressure.

Pure.

Unmistakable.

Its wings faltered.

For the first time in its long existence, it felt inferior in lineage.

Aurem hovered above the shattered battlements, its long serpentine body drifting lazily, golden eyes sweeping across the chaos below.

Kain couldn’t resist a smile upon seeing the wary expression of the opponents.

Relief flooded him.

It looks like the arrogant dragon wasn’t all bravado with little strength to back it up.

He watched as the abyssal demigods hesitated, their domains wavering just slightly, and their minds seemingly recalibrating around this sudden variable.

Aurem tilted his head, curiosity flickering across his massive features.

Then his gaze locked onto Kain.

The moment stretched.

Recognition dawned.

His eyes narrowed.

This shameless ‘father’ was the one he suspected of having stolen the ore piece from his treasure trove! After all, nobody aside from him would dare to steal from him!

Kain was naturally unaware of Aurem’s inner thoughts.

He pointed toward the western side of the fortress, where the earth abyssal golem churned the land into a nightmare of corrupted creation, and the lightning abyssal loomed not far from it, storms raging unchecked.

“Handle that,” Kain said like a general giving orders to a subordinate.

Aurem followed his gesture.

Then he looked back at Kain.

Silence.

The dragon released a long, exaggerated huff.

Turned around.

And presented Kain with his rear.

He did not move another inch.

Kain’s calm expression cracked.

The battlefield raged.

The fortress burned.

And standing before five abyssal demigods…

Kain stared at the most powerful creature he knew, now blatantly ignoring him.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”