A fox girl came sprinting toward them, panic clear in her voice as she delivered the warning. William's chest tightened at the news. This didn't make sense. With a Demon King's presence in the village, even in his juvenile state, his aura should have been enough to deter any magical beasts from approaching their territory.
Ever since his rebirth, William had begun thinking of the fox tribe as his territory. Despite retaining his modern human soul, something fundamental had shifted in his personality. Becoming a Demon King had awakened instincts he'd never possessed before. The fact that his territory was being invaded by inferior beasts ignited an unquenchable fury in his chest.
"Master, you can't go!" Arisu grabbed his arm, fear flashing across her face.
"Yes, it's dangerous there! You're still—" Alice started to protest, but stopped mid-sentence, hesitating. The words she wanted to say were that he was still just a juvenile Demon King, that he had no chance against vicious magical beasts, and that he would die if he went. But she couldn't bring herself to say something that might hurt him, so she bit back the rest.
Arisu remained silent for the same reason, worry evident in her amber eyes.
William understood their concern, they genuinely cared about him and wanted to protect him. He spoke with what he hoped was a reassuring tone. "If you can't give me a good reason not to go, then you can't stop me. My territory has been invaded. This cannot be tolerated. I promise you, I'll return safely. That's my word to you both."
Before they could protest further, William spread his still-developing wings and launched himself into the air with surprising ease. The wind caught beneath his wings as he flew toward the sounds of battle.
Behind him, the fox girls erupted into worried chatter.
"Master William will be alright, won't he?"
"Should we get the Tribe Elder?"
"Maybe she can tell the warriors at the front to protect him!"
Arisu took a deep breath and shouted over the noise. "Stop!"
The sudden authority in her voice cut through the panic, and silence fell across the room.
"I believe in Master William. He made us a promise, which means he will definitely return safely. We just need to handle what he ordered us to do and quietly wait for his victory."
"That's right!" Alice chimed in. "Master William always keeps his word. If he said it, then there's no problem."
The other fox girls exchanged uncertain glances before reluctantly trusting the words of their leaders.
William flew low and fast, reaching speeds of twenty meters per second. The sounds of combat grew louder with each passing second, metal on flesh, snarls, screams. When he arrived at the attack site, the scene was worse than he'd expected.
Over a dozen fox girls fought desperately against the monsters. Blood soaked the ground. Three warriors lay motionless off to the side, their bodies torn open. Another was being dragged backward by a beast's jaws clamped on her leg, her screams cutting through the chaos until two of her companions drove their weapons into the creature's eyes.
The fox girls moved with agility and coordination, like natural-born hunters. They dodged attacks and seized gaps to counterattack with practiced ease. But their weapons were the problem. Crude spears made of sharpened wood, stone blades tied to handles with leather strips. Strikes that should have been fatal barely penetrated thick hides. They had to hit the same spot multiple times to cause real damage, and every extra second gave the beasts another chance to kill.
The ancestral memories stirred with information. The fox tribe had sacrificed their natural claws for enhanced speed and reflexes, unlike other beast-kin who relied on sharp natural weapons. It made them incredible scouts and skirmishers, but left them dependent on the proper equipment they no longer had.
Leading the defenders was a fox girl with striking golden hair, standing out dramatically among the predominantly black and white-furred tribe members. Her movements were sharper than the others, faster, more precise. But even she was struggling. Blood ran down her left arm where claws had opened three gashes.
Then William saw their enemies clearly, and his inherited memories identified them immediately. Dire Wolves. Massive predators with matted gray fur, red eyes, and elongated fangs dripping with saliva. They were common monsters that hunted in packs, relying on numbers and ferocity rather than individual strength. Bottom-feeders in the monster hierarchy.
But there were twenty of them. And they were bigger than the memories suggested, each one nearly the size of a small horse. The fox tribe's weakened state had made them bold.
William's mind raced. He needed a plan. The fox tribe warriors had combat experience and coordination. What they lacked was killing power. If he could work with them, let them create openings while he delivered the fatal blows with his claws, they might actually win this.
But first, he needed to even the odds.
William took a breath and reached for the power he knew was inside him. The Demon King Authority. The inherited memories had shown him what it was, an oppressive aura that carried the weight of ancient dominance, an innate suppression over any creature in this world through bloodline alone.
He'd never actually used it before.
William focused on the invisible crown marking his sovereignty, on the instinct that told him everything in his sight belonged to him. The Dire Wolves were invading his territory, threatening his people. That was unacceptable.
"Demon King Authority: Unleashed!"
The crown pulsed once, and pressure exploded outward from his small body.
It wasn't physical force. It was something deeper, a weight that pressed directly on the soul. The Dire Wolves froze mid-attack, their red eyes suddenly wide. Under this pressure, their movements became sluggish, their reactions delayed, as if something was holding them back.
The effect lasted only a moment before William's juvenile body forced the Authority to flicker and fade. But a moment was enough.
"Listen up!" William's voice rang out across the battlefield as he dove. "Draw their attention! We'll destroy them one by one, and I'll strike the fatal blows when the opportunity comes!"
The fox girls' eyes lit up when they saw him. They'd known their tribe recently gained a Demon King as their guardian, and seeing him fly from the village confirmed it.
The golden-haired girl stared up at William's form silhouetted against the sky for a brief moment before snapping back to attention. She shouted to the others. "Everyone heard Master William, right? Today, all beasts who dared attack our people will die here! For Master William!"
"For Master William!" The chorus of voices rang out as fighting spirit surged through the warriors. Their attacks grew sharper and more coordinated.
William seized the moment and dove at the nearest Dire Wolf. His claws extended, and he raked them across the beast's skull. Bone cracked. The wolf collapsed, twitching once before going still.
The instant it died, something stirred in William's chest. The invisible crown pulsed, and crimson text materialized before his eyes, written in a language he'd never learned but instinctively understood.
[Domination Achieved: Direwolf Defeated]
[+1 Sovereignty Point]