Gacha Kingdom Building

Thanks to Lana and Lily, I was able to see for myself just how different the effects of entering Beast Mode can be for each race.

However, there are differences even within the same race.

Normally, these differences aren't as obvious, but...

Mia: "Ough..."

When it came to you and me, Mom, the difference was like night and day.

Instead of narrowing the gap in our physical ability, you only pushed me farther behind.

You were always able to reach deeper into your Beastification than any other without losing your mind completely, but as an undead...

Since there isn't much of a mind left to lose, you might've gone even beyond your limits.

Your strength was so great that your next punch sent me flying away from the castle, demolishing a building on the street that had nothing to do with our fight.

The distance between us should've been more than a hundred feet, and yet, you closed it in an instant.

My resistance and regenerative abilities had increased, but I felt you chipping away at my guard with each one of your strikes.

The people around us, soldiers who didn't know better, tried to interfere, but you dealt with them while still focusing on fighting me.

Sword, shields, spears, and arrows... You only spared them a second before pressuring me again.

Wherever we went, a trail of corpses was left behind.

Brave men who stood no chance against you...

Still, if it were just a matter of strength, I could handle it.

The real problem was the side effects of your Beast Mode.

Mana started to naturally pour out of your body as you lost control over your magic, coating you in a thin layer of ice.

Your fur was laced with ice, every hair strand on your body becoming like a thin ice needle.

Combined with its already steel-like properties, this natural armor was as strong as the one you were wearing, but not only did it make you even harder to damage, your hits now slowed me down, slowly freezing me.

I knew that eventually I would be stuck in place, covered in so much ice that I wouldn't be able to move, but my only choice for avoiding this was to run and hide until the effects were over.

However, you wouldn't make it easy for me, due to your enhanced instincts, my breathing would be a dead giveaway no matter where I chose to hide, and even if somehow I could stop it, there was no way you'd ever lose track of a scent so familiar to you.

My Gift also didn't favor this approach.

If the timer ran out, my stats would decrease too much for me to take even a hit from you without falling on the spot.

The only choice I had was to face you head-on, hoping to hit you enough to end the battle before you ended me.

But if that wasn't hard enough, there was also the snow.

That strange ability you only showed to me, and only when we fought in our Beast Modes.

It didn't provide you with any power, and on contact, it never hurt me.

Since thinking in this state was hard, I never figured out its purpose.

But it was there.

Stronger than ever before, so much snow fell that before long, the streets we had reached for the first time were already covered in it.

Mia: "...Run!"

Ellie: "...Hm? E-Eh???"

From above the walls, the poor girl noticed us coming from a mile away, but that didn't give her enough time to get out of the way.

The blows we exchanged while running through the city caused the wall to fall, and I couldn't even afford to glance back to see if Ellie was okay.

As the snow continued to fall, slowly, my vision was filled with its whiteness.

The blood we shared, pouring out of our bodies, wasn't enough to paint it, and in one of the streets, the cold became a little too comfortable.

Mia: "Agh... Ah..."

I struggled as much as I could.

But you were too relentless.

My strength was fading, and I couldn't take your arms from my neck.

The snow kept falling.

The whiteness kept taking over.

??????: "Yo!"

...?

Miwen...?

No.

The movements were similar. He seemed to be as much of an idiot.

But the scent was different.

And the attitude...

That guy would never show a smile upon seeing me in this state.

Mia: "Who are you...?"

??????: "Are you sure this is what's important right now?"

Right...

Mia: "What happened?"

??????: "Well... A lot? You're on the brink of death, Missy."

Mia: "I see..."

So I wasn't strong enough...

Mia: "..."

The world was white.

Nothing existed there, just me and him.

Even though I hated the idea of being seen by him, I couldn't contain my tears.

??????: "Oh, boy... Can you not? I'm not good with tragic things. I prefer happy endings, you know?"

Mia: "..."

??????: "Hmm... Tell you what, missy. Things weren't supposed to be this way."

Mia: "...?"

??????: "Since they meddled, I think no one will bat an eye if I throw in a little magic here, so... Do you want me to send you back with a little gift?"

Mia: "I was warned not to make deals with demons."

??????: "Aha... Ahaha! You think I'm a demon? Dear..."

Mia: "It doesn't matter what you are. There's no point in winning against her if it's not with my own strength."

??????: "If that's the case, why did you search for strength elsewhere, then?"

To win against you, Mom, I tried everything I could.

I practiced against the strongest in Miwen's Kingdom, people that even you might've lost against.

I asked Miwen to show me the techniques of his world's best, and I did everything in my power to learn their moves.

I even searched for soldiers in Evretis and Terith's armies who had at least one move similar to yours, all so I could become used to dealing with them.

I focused on my own technique, too. Strengthened my style, received tips from others regarding my weaknesses.

But the result didn't change.

Mia: "Because I wasn't strong enough on my own."

??????: "Wrong."

Mia: "Huh!?"

??????: "Sorry, even if you can lie to yourself, it will never work on me. I see it all. And I understand. You didn't want to kill her. You were afraid. I get it. Only the lowest scum could enjoy hurting their own family."

Mia: "That's not-"

??????: "Did you lose on purpose?"

Mia: "It's not-"

??????: "Did you want to die? Because if so, I can-"

Mia: "THAT'S NOT IT!"

Every small thing that infuriated me about Miwen was exponentially worse on him.

Mia: "Huff... Hah... I don't want to die! I don't want to lose!"

...

Mia: "Not to anyone!"

...

Mia: "But especially not to her!"

??????: "Heh... I like the attitude. Shame it's too late now."

Mia: "It's not! You said... I was on the brink, right? Then... I can still win."

??????: "It's almost impossible now."

Mia: "I don't care! I will win. I will defeat her. I'll become strong. I'll never feel this way again."

??????: "So close-"

Mia: "I won't let anyone feel this way. I swear. As long as I'm alive... Miwen, my friends, and my people... I won't let anyone feel hurt. I'll be strong enough to protect them from everything and anything. I swear on my name. I swear as-"

[The Mark Of The Beast Lord recognizes your will, Beast Queen Of The Snow White Wolves.

You have earned the unique variation of The Mark Of The Beast Lord:

White Queen Of The Snow Hunt.]

...

[White Queen Of The Snow Hunt

This user has awakened to-]

Mia: "I said I didn't want any power from you. You can take that back."

??????: "You should leave your beast mode. It's tiresome for me when you get so many things wrong."

Mia: "What did you-"

??????: "I didn't do anything. I was lying, even if I wanted, I couldn't. The Endless wouldn't allow me"

Mia: "Then how do you explain this?"

??????: "It should be obvious. You came so close to your death that you couldn't maintain your limitations anymore. All the strength you unconsciously locked when trying to reach her has been released."

...?

Mia: "Then... If this was going to happen anyway, what are you doing here?"

??????: "Hm? I just thought it would be a good opportunity to talk. I don't get too many chances nowadays... Oh, also... Since he couldn't be here for you... But that doesn't mean I want to see any more tears. Save them for him."

Mia: "Hahaha... You are a cretin!"

??????: "Nah. I'm just very passionate~"

When I saw him for what he was, something about his laugh...

Maybe his gestures...

It felt so oddly familiar.

Even a little comfortable.

Mia: "Wait, I've seen you before. You were-"

When I opened my eyes again, it was like the world was moving in slow motion.

But I could still feel your tightening grip on my neck, Mother.

My hands had given up the fight, and my legs couldn't reach the ground.

All I could do to survive was use my head.

More specifically, my fangs.

Biting into your arm was hard. I felt the ice needles piercing the inside of my mouth, but at least, I managed to take your hand off.

Off from my neck, off from your arm.

Due to the way your Gift worked, hurting you only made you stronger.

Perhaps as an undead, it was always working at full power since you couldn't be in a worse state than dead, but I think that by taking that hand off you, you actually became a little stronger.

It's surprising how good of an undead you were.

But in any case, your right arm loosened its grip enough for me to breathe just a little bit.

Thanks to the air I got, I managed to kick you away.

I was still feeling a little dizzy though...

Too much blood had poured out of me, and for some reason, my head was a mess.

I felt like I was forgetting something important, but whenever I tried to think about it, all I could recall was an immense, unending white.

If I focused on it too much, a painful headache would hit me, so I decided to leave it for later.

Claire: "Ugh... It's freezing here..."

Serves you right...

Licia: "I know... It's so nice..."

Claire: "What about it is nice!?"

Licia: "Hm... It feels like the snow is hugging me?"

I was surprised to see that I wasn't the only one thinking that.

But nothing shocked me more than the realization of what the snow truly meant.

You were always lying, Mom.

I think I got a little of this from you, but seriously, you shouldn't have lied about the snow.

If I knew from the beginning that it was mine and not yours, I might have learned how to control it better.

I'm sure you feared I might get overconfident and do something stupid, but that was a little too much, even for you.

Or perhaps...

You feared I'd surpass you?

Hehe...

You might think it's presumptuous of me to say this, but you struggled to destroy even a single snowflake.

I understand that it was hard to do when your strength was being slowly drained while your movements slowed down, but that was just the beginning, you know?

My Beast Mode had reverted almost entirely, so those effects were much weaker than they should be.

Mia: "...Interesting."

I was feeling refreshed.

In part because of the falling snow, but also...

A new line appeared in my Gift.

Before, I would receive a percentage boost to my stats equal to my level for hitting someone.

This triggered the "Battle state", and a timer would start ticking down, with every passing second that I didn't land a hit causing the percentage to drop by 1%.

However, now...

[The Solitary Hunter's Fangs

Battle state: ...

Hunt state: Reset the Battle Timer to 0. For each second sacrificed, choose one enemy stat to be reduced by the corresponding boost percentage you would have received. The reduction lasts for the same duration. Reapplying the debuff to the same stat extends the effect but does not increase its power.]

I felt bad for testing this on you, but at the same time, you were always the first one to know whenever I made a breakthrough.

When I landed my first high kick, it was on you.

When I reinforced my arm with ice for the first time, it was your fist that I hit.

Even when I triggered my Gift or when I tried Beastification for the first time, you were always happy to practice with me.

I'm very thankful for those memories, Mom.

You made me the warrior I became.

So...

Mia: "You don't have to worry... I'm not alone anymore. I've learned to love the snow again. And no one can hurt me now."

You fought until the very end.

No matter what I did to you, your body refused to give up.

Your will was just that strong.

But my hands reached you for the last time that day.

I was barely clinging on to consciousness, to be honest.

You had given me a beating like never before.

But still...

Mia: "Goodbye, Mom."

I managed to tell you goodbye.

Properly, this time.

Licia: "...Are you-"

This time, your body didn't fall on the snow.

I held onto it, knowing that even though the battle was over, you could still attack me due to your condition as an undead.

Mia: "You can do it..."

Angelica: "...Are you sure? I don't think-"

Mia: "I'm telling you it's fine. She's already gone."

The hands trying to scrape my arms, the teeth trying to bite me, and the legs kicking...

They didn't resemble you anymore.

Wherever your soul went...

It was in a better place.

And this time, we would make sure that no one could defile you again.

I kept my promise to Miwen and you.

Your soul was free, Mom.

Mia: "I hope one day we can be together again. But until then..."

I'll protect my new home and family.

So that you smile when watching over it.