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Chapter 01
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Dhiope’s skin, devoid of warmth, was as cold as an ice sheet.
[Dhiope, wake up. Hm?]
Connie Heart shed tears; she couldn’t fathom the situation before her.
[Why did it happen? Seriously, why?]
Dhiope’s breath ceased miserably. The tragedy unfolded as he leaped to save himself. Despair swelled, strangling his breath.
Hearts shattered, emotions swayed uncontrollably.
The intense sense of loss morphed into resentment toward the divine in an instant.
[…… I’m a divine beast. They’re calling me a salvation.]
Vision blurred. Connie Heart’s small shoulders trembled with anger.
[If you were only going to watch a dying person, why make me a god in the first place?]
If only he had awakened.
Dhiope might not have left so emptily.
His mind was becoming unbearably hot, reaching an intolerable intensity.
Breath quickened, and even warmth radiated from the heart.
It was when Connie Heart was gripped by a deep sense of powerlessness, akin to a swamp, that she suffered.
A refreshing energy spread from one wing. It was a strange sensation, unfamiliar since birth.
[Ah…….]
Connie Heart absentmindedly glanced down at her wings. A vast amount of brilliant white light emanated. The long-sealed divine power had finally been unleashed.
Snowflakes seemed to reverse, shooting upwards in the sky. The magnificent light manifested from her enveloped the world in a bright hue.
[……. I am.]
Connie Heart lifted her head.
[I can save him.]
With realization, she completed her first awakening.
A tear glistened in Connie Heart’s intense pupils.
***
In the winter storm, where snowflakes danced in the air.
A tiny, wobbly baby penguin took its first steps. Its sun-yellow beak was lightly dusted with powdery snow.
Where on earth could this be?
Having arrived at an unfamiliar continent after swimming across the sea, it had been three days.
Walking along the coastline day and night, the scenery was tirelessly monotonous – a path covered in pristine white.
It would be nice to fly in the sky at times like this.
Connie Heart lowered her head, looking at her stubby hands. Compared to her sturdy physique, her wings were disproportionately small.
[Are my arms too short to fly?]
Despite having wings, she couldn’t fly.
Born as a god, it wasn’t much different from being in a situation where she couldn’t use her divine power.
Connie Heart lifted her head towards the sky. The round, black pupils of her bird-like eyes gradually glowed mischievously.
She deliberately flapped her wings with all her might, fueled by exhaustion and a surge of rebellion.
Flap, flap.
Violently shook the virtually useless wings. But luck wasn’t on her side. A sudden gust of wind blew in, fierce enough to feel like it would tear her away.
[Whoa?]
Unintentionally, her body lifted into the air. If things continued like this, she might be tossed around by the strong wind without any control.
[No way!]
Connie Heart, startled, stopped flapping. Desperately stretching out her foot, the sole barely grazed the ground as if it was about to be lifted away.
[Just a bit more!]
She exerted all her strength in her legs, trying to resist, but her body kept rising.
[It won’t work.]
Connie Heart decided to change her approach.
She lowered her body, using her wings as support. Concentrating her strength, she shifted her center of gravity downward.
Fortunately, the round belly of a bulging ship barely touched the snowy expanse. It was a moment when the chubby belly became appreciatively useful.
[From now on, the ground and I are one.]
Planning to lie flat until the storm subsided, Connie Heart strengthened her wings and legs, burying her face in the snowy ground.
Fluffy snow settled roughly on the silvery-gray feathers.
The biting wind that seemed to swallow her was transformed into a rounded hill, gradually calming.
[Has it passed?]
A moist back of the head gently emerged. Snowflakes adorned the white face like a beard.
[I almost got swept away by the wind.]
Connie Heart slapped at her clothes to clear the snow.
[Huh?]
In the swaying view, something incongruous with the white wilderness caught her attention.
When she stopped clearing the snow, it became clearer. A deep navy blue robe, stained with blood.
Grumbling, Connie Heart, rose and awkwardly ran towards the figure in the robe.
The blood seeping from the small robe was soaking into the snowy ground.
[The blood hasn’t dried yet.]
Perhaps it had encountered a demon. A discomforting aura emanated from the bloodstains. Even though she couldn’t awaken, as a deity, it was an instinctive sense she could feel.
Judging by the size of the robe, it seemed like something a child would wear. Where could it have come from?
Connie Heart surveyed the surroundings, trying to estimate the direction from which the robe had flown. She discovered traces of the garment being swept diagonally.
Connie Heart’s round black pupils widened like lanterns.
[Over there!]
Once again, without hesitation, Connie Heart followed the bloodstains. With small strides, she ran tirelessly, arriving at a darkened grove of oak trees exuding an eerie atmosphere.
[Footprints start from here.]
Covered by fine snow, the outlines were somewhat blurred. Nevertheless, it was unmistakably a footprint with the pattern of a shoe sole. Its size was as small as her wings.
Without hesitation, Connie Heart followed the footprints. As she traversed through the dense forest, a limestone cave appeared between the cliffs.
Following the bloodstains into the cave, she found what seemed to be the owner of the robe. The young child was barely breathing, having suffered a severe injury.
“Uh……”
Startled, Connie Heart approached the boy, stumbling.
[Hey, how did you get hurt like this? Are you okay?]
The boy, with a pale and pained expression, furrowed his brow. There were two wounds that appeared to be stab injuries.
Connie Heart swiftly extended her wings towards her chest. A small, round hilt touched her fingertips. It was a pocket dimension pouch that she had carried around her neck since leaving her homeland.
[Hold on a little longer. I’ll help you!]
Though it appeared small, it was an enchanted pouch capable of holding much more than its size.
A practical magical tool that allowed her to retrieve items without being constrained by the surrounding environment.
Like her own beak, Connie Heart urgently pulled out a healing potion and a Rafa fruit from the bright yellow pouch.
[This is Holy Water containing the tears of a deity.]
It wasn’t her tears, of course. She had collected the tears of deities from her homeland over a long time and stored them in a vial.
ConnieHehart carefully poured the Holy Water onto the boy’s wound.
[And this is a Lava fruit. It has healing properties. Eat this too.]
Gently, Connie Heart pushed the transparent fruit into the parched lips of the boy. Soon, color would return to his pale face.
[But why does the wound smell strongly of demon?]
Could he have fought with a demon?
The thought crossed Connie Heart’s mind.
Connie Heart raised her head.
[The scent of a demon is mixed with the blood. It means the demon’s blood is coursing through his body.]
It wasn’t something achievable through a simple battle.
Connie Heart recalled information she had read in books in the past.
[Humans have been known to use demon blood as a poison when murdering their own kind.]
Perhaps the child didn’t even realize he had been attacked by another human.
Moreover, there was no trace of demonic energy nearby.
[Let’s wait until the child regains consciousness.]
Connie Heart glanced at the boy’s wounds. While his skin hadn’t fully healed, the bleeding had completely stopped.
Around that time, the boy’s previously unfocused eyes gained clarity.
‘………’
Dhiope, now conscious, blinked his eyes without energy. His body felt heavy, as if a boulder had been placed on his chest. There was no strength in his limbs. Unaware that his body was recovering, he thought,
‘…… I’ve never seen a creature like this before.’
A round face covered in fluffy fur, small wings, and a compact body that looked like it could easily tip over. From any angle, it was an unfamiliar and peculiar appearance.
‘Ah.’
This was the Barun Mountain, known for teeming with evolved demons. It wouldn’t be surprising if some mutated creatures influenced by evolved demons or variants emerged.
Whether it was a mutant born under the influence of an evolved demon or a variant demon, it had to be one of the two.
‘…….’
But why did he feel a strange sensation on the tip of his tongue? He involuntarily shuddered at the instinctive aversion.
[Don’t spit it out. Swallow it with a gulp!]
“Ugh…!”
Although Dhiope wanted to forcefully reject it, his body wouldn’t comply. Small wings blocked Diope’s mouth and nose.
‘They’re definitely trying to kill me. It’s undoubtedly a demon.’
Dhiope, choked, let out a whimper.
“Ugh….”
The malicious variant demon didn’t retract its wings even though he was in pain.
[Huh? Why are you looking at me like that?]
Connie Heart grinned. She blinked in confusion as the boy stared at her, then realized he belatedly noticed the position of her hand.
[Sorry. I was too hasty…]
She lowered one wing awkwardly to cover her nose. Feeling embarrassed, she turned her gaze away. The boy’s wounds were now halfway healed.
[Feeling better as you recover?]
Normally, when a deity is robust, the power of Holy Water is enhanced. Unfortunately, the Holy Water Connie Heart had brought only contained the tears of lesser deities. Thus, the purification of the boy’s body could only progress at a certain pace.
[Just endure a bit more. You’ll be fine soon.]
Whoooosh. A fierce snowstorm swept into the cave.
Perhaps it was reminiscent of the weather in her homeland.
As she faced the snowy wilderness, Connie Heart couldn’t help but think of Winterwind.
Winterwind, where deities gathered, was a mysterious continent covered in a massive glacier.
It was there that Connie Heart was born with the mission of salvation. The word “salvation” had been imprinted in her mind since the moment she gained consciousness there.
Correcting the world’s order and guiding humans on the right path—that was Connie Heart’s mission.
However, being unawakened, she couldn’t precisely understand what salvation truly meant.
After much contemplation, Connie Heart vaguely concluded that since deities originally existed to aid humans through contracts, she just needed to help those in distress. That would be salvation.
[It would be great if I could awaken as soon as I’ve been given this mission.]
Unfortunately, her growth was slower.
Others supposedly awakened within their first year of life. Over the past 18 years, Connie Heart had been walking her own path alone.
[…… I am]
Outwardly, she appeared to be an ordinary animal.
Under her sparkling obsidian-like eyes were plump, pudding-like cheeks. Beneath them, the fluffy silver-gray fur remained as soft as a newborn’s.
Her physique was round like a tempting ball of fur. Her size was notably small; standing next to the boy, it seemed her wings wouldn’t even reach his knees.
[I mean, waiting around quietly for awakening has gotten old.]
Connie Heart, excited to meet someone outside her homeland, babbled with joy.
[So, I’ve decided to embark on an adventure.]
Though still small and weak, Connie Heart had a clear goal: to contract with the strongest beast on the continent and unfold her mission—a grand dream indeed.
[Meeting various humans might speed up my awakening, who knows?]
Connie Heart chuckled confidently.
[Actually, there’s another reason I left my homeland! Right now, there’s no one who can summon us.]
The first Beast King, Sasha, died 1000 years ago.
During Sasha’s reign, contracted beasts thrived like crops during a drought. However, now the summoning lineage has been severed.
[My friends think the interruption in summoning is temporary. But I have a feeling it’s because there’s been no Beast King for two generations.]
Besides that, she couldn’t find another reason.
Currently, in Winterwind, there were no beasts from Sasha’s generation; they had all died. Everyone, like Connie Heart, was a newly born beast. Naturally, there were no beasts who had contracted with humans.
[I need to awaken quickly to officially become the Beast King!]
A beast born with the mission of a god becomes the Beast King.
Just as Sasha did and Connie Heart, with the mission of salvation, was destined to become.
Connie Heart believed that the reason summoners hadn’t appeared for hundreds of years might be because there was no central figure among the beasts.
Of course, even though she, the future Beast King, had come into the world, she couldn’t be considered a complete king yet. She lacked power.
Unless there was a significant change among humans, this was her problem.
[Perhaps there really has been a change among humans.]
So, verification was necessary. If there had indeed been a change among humans, she wanted to face and resolve this challenge with them.
[I hope your body recovers soon. I’m really curious about where we are and why you got hurt! By the way, my name is Connie Heart. Beasts usually call me Connie as a nickname.]
Connie Heart finished her introduction, but suddenly, a thought she had overlooked came to mind.
[Oh, right. Can you hear my voice?]
The voice of a beast could only be heard by a select few chosen humans. She should have asked the boy if he could hear her voice from the beginning.
A perplexed expression appeared on Connie Heart’s eyes, clear as a lake. The boy, however, just stared blankly, offering no response from the start.
[Can’t hear, huh? Well, it’s not surprising. Even adventurers who used to visit Winterwind would not hear my voice unless they needed to.]
Connie Heart’s shoulders, covered in silver-gray fur, drooped with a hint of disappointment. Watching this, Dhiope thought to himself,
‘What has she been babbling about all by herself?’
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