Victor reached the stray beast territory and landed on the ground and turned into his beastman form and called in a loud voice "Michael!"
One of the stray beasts in the vicinity heard his voice and strode towards him and informed nervously "My lord, the leader is currently not in the territory"
Victor narrowed his eyes "Where is he then?"
"I don't know my lord, he didn't inform anyone" the beastman replied
Victor glanced at the stray beast and spoke "I'll give half an hour, gather as much as men you need and drag Michael back here"
The beastman widened his eyes "Did the leader do something, my lord?"
"Do I have an obligation to say everything to you?" Victor cut him off harshly
"I apologize my lord" the stray beastman bowed his head and left to complete his task.
Afterward, the beastman gathered up to fifty stray beastmen and went in search of Micahel.
Michael was returning from the fox castle when he caught a glimpse of his men outside the forest. He ran towards them still in his beast form and turned back into his beastman form and questioned "What are you guys doing in the vicinity of the beast city? Do you have a death wish to get killed by the patrolling beastmen of the beast city?"
The beastman who led others stepped forward and bowed "We came here in search of you leader"
"I would have returned by evening, what's the rush?" he questioned back
"Lord visited our territory this morning, he asked us to drag you back to him" the beastman replied in a monotone voice
Michael stuttered "Dr-drag? Did he tell you the reason?"
The beastman shook his head "No leader, we were just asked to bring you, now, please come with us, he gave only half an hour for us to bring you"
Michael sighed and followed them, he never understood his lord's mind even after so many years of being with him. As they crossed the wilderness, they reached the stray beast territory. Michael entered the cave and bowed "You called me my lord?"
Victor swept his glance at him and started speaking "I have something important to declare today"
Michael nodded his head "I'm hearing my lord"
Victor got down from the boulder and strode towards him "As of today, I'm stepping down from my seat, You can become the new king of the stray beast from now on"
Michael whipped his neck in shock "My-my lord! why all of a sudden?" he understood that his lord was not joking with such a serious face but he was not able to process the sudden situation
Victor repeated his words "It is as you heard, I don't want this stupid place anymore"
"But why?" Michael frowned in confusion
Victor's lips arched up into a faint smile "It is for my love, she doesn't like me being a stray being king and I will not do anything that she hates"
Michael blinked his eyes and went into a daze, because of his female? How many times has he and fox king attempted to overthrow his lord and take his seat? And now his lord was easily throwing it away like it was nothing much to him.
"Are you sure my lord?" Michael asked again to get a confirmation
"Why? Don't you want this seat? I know that you were colliding with that fox to gain it, don't act so naively" Victor said shocking Michael
Michael went numb with fear "My Lord that is..."
Victor raised his hand and stopped him from talking "Didn't I say that I don't care about what you do with that fox bastard? As long as you don't cross me, I will turn away from whatever you commit, but I have to say that I was seriously disappointed in you after I was attacked in the forest"
Michael immediately fell on his knees and begged for mercy "Fo-forgive me, my lord, I will never do something like that again"
Victor smirked "Don't worry, I will kill you if you ever try it again, and thanks to you I was able to meet my love, so I will forgive you this once"
Michael sighed relief and silently thanked his lord's female in his heart, he was sure about dying if not for the good mood of his lord because of that female.
"But Micahel, always remember to never believe that fox completely, I met him once and I already know about his crafty brain, he will eliminate you after his purpose is fulfilled. This is the only suggestion I can give to my once subordinate" Victor added
Michael didn't talk anything and just maintained his silence.
Victor snickered at him but didn't say anything, as he was walking out of the cave he turned to Michael "And, you don't have to call me a lord anymore, you can call me by my name"
Michael pursed his lips "I would like to live for some more years my lord"
Victor chuckled "Good choice"
Michael then followed after him leaving the cave, as they continued walking Michael commented "Now that you are leaving your seat, only his majesty Blake will be the mate who he is king by your female's side"
Victor halted his steps and turned to him "What did you say?"
Michael frowned "Isn't it true my lord? Maybe in the future that silver wolf might become king making two, but currently only his majesty Blake is king beastman by her side"
Victor didn't like hearing that, he didn't like being lesser than that snake. Already his love, liked that snake so much, he didn't want to go further below in her eyes leaving his king's seat. He held his forehead and frowned, he never thought much of his position and treated it as nothing, but now he was pondering about his choice to take that seat back, it was not like anyone would oppose him, but his lovely girl didn't like stray beasts.
As he was racking his brain to come up with some solution he heard Michael's voice "Why don't you return to your vulture tribe, my lord?"
Victor raised his brows in interest as Michael continued "Your rightful place always belonged there, you just left it and came here to become the stray beast king. Go and claim your seat my lord"
Victor didn't speak anything and narrowed his gaze as he turned into his vulture form and soared into the sky. As he continued flying towards the vulture tribe he couldn't help but think about the trauma he faced in that place, that was also one of the reasons why he left the tribe, he didn't want to remember his weak past self who was always scared of his father. He already finished the one responsible for his suffering but still felt uneasiness to return after so many years.
After flying for more than an hour he finally reached the vulture tribe which was on top of the Arcelia mountains. He flapped his majestic wings and landed on the ground as he surveyed the place, he tsked because it was not optimal for females to live. Most of the land was covered in stones without many plants. He remembered that his love liked the greenery on the island so discarded his idea of bringing her here.
As he continued walking, a few vulture beastmen cast him a glance but soon realized that he was someone powerful because of his aura. Many veteran beastmen realized that his presence was even higher than their current king. They communicated amongst themselves and strode towards him "May I know what are you looking for?" they said in unison
Victor observed them with his sharp silver eyes and replied "I'm here to meet your king, bring me to him"
"May we know the purpose for it?" they questioned carefully not to anger him
"I said bring me there" victor demanded as he narrowed his eyes
The other vulture beastmen flinched in fear and bowed "We apologize" then they began to lead the way towards the biggest wooden house where their king resided.
They stopped in front of it and one of the beastman in the group entered the house and knelt on the ground "My king, there is some powerful vulture beastman seeking your audience"
A middle-aged man with brown hair and eyes tapped his throne "Did he inform his purpose?"
The messenger shook his head "No my king, he didn't mention anything"
The King waved his hand "Let him enter"
The messenger beastmen took the order and informed Victor to enter the house. Victor strode inside the large wooden castle and caught sight of the current vulture king.
The vulture king widened his eyes in shock and immediately stood up after recognizing Victor and bowed "Your highness, Aren't you prince victor?" he smiled "You look just like your father the previous king of the vulture tribe"
Victor's gaze turned stiff after hearing about his father. The king continued speaking without noticing the change in Victor's mood "Your father searched for you everywhere after you went missing, but I heard that he was killed by some immortal beastman"
Victor's silver eyes turned into vertical slits as he smiled eerily "I am that same immortal beastman that killed him, I removed all of his limbs and dug out his heart, and ended his life" he then walked towards him "And be careful about mentioning that bastard in front of me ever again"
The King shuddered because of the immense pressure from someone higher than him and fell to the ground "Fo-forgive your highness, I will not mention him ever again"
Victor smirked at him "Aren't you curious about the reason why I killed my loving father?" he sarcastically asked
The King frowned, he was truly curious but not at the cost of his life, and replied hastily "You must have had a proper reason, your highness, I dare not question your decision"
"You have a brain" Victor commented and strode towards the throne and sat on it like it was made for him and looked at the still kneeling beastman in front of him and lifted his finger gesturing him to stand up. The beastman stood up still bowing his head, Victor started talking as he tapped the throne "Now that I have returned, I'm taking back my rightful seat, make sure to announce this to everyone"
The vulture beastman didn't dare refuse and immediately replied "Yes my lord"
Victor nodded his head and continued "How many males and females does our tribe have?"
The beastman thought about it replied "We have about twenty-five females and more than a thousand males my lord"
"Hmm, get ready to leave this place," he remarked
"My lord?" the beastman questioned in confusion
Victor leaned against the throne "This land is almost barren, Move to the beast city and get settled down there, I will also come there, after some days"
The beastman was flustered "But my lord, we have always been living here in Arcelia mountains, to suddenly leave this place"
"Then do you expect me to bring my beloved to this barren land? How do the females even survive here?" Victor glowered in anger
The beastman shrunk in his place because of fear and said timidly "My lord, our females are quite satisfied being here, how about showing this place once to the queen?"
Victor smiled because he liked his love being called his queen and explained patiently "Look, this mountain is very high in terrain and gets easily hot in summer and cold in winter, I cannot bring her to a place like this, I want her to stay somewhere comfortable and the beast city is the optimal place for that, its forest has many preys and the land is covered with abundant water, there are also many females of various tribes so our men can have an opportunity to procreate more, because of that our tribe will become much stronger"
The vulture beastman thought about it, this terrain was indeed harsh to live but because his ancestors lived here, they held sentiment and continued living here, also because of that did their tribe was smaller in number compared to other land beasts. He sighed and made his decision "We will do as you say my lord, I'll make the arrangements to leave as soon as possible" he then wore a troubled face and questioned, "But will the beast city let our tribe enter?"
"We have twenty-five females, they possibly can't neglect and chase you away or you can just use my name, warn them that our tribe's king is an immortal beastman, they will not dare stop you from getting in" Victor replied
The beastman smiled faintly and left the house to make the preparations necessary for the journey.