This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange - Chapter 729: 729: Bloody Trap

Chapter 729: Chapter 729: Bloody Trap

Kain, unperturbed by Nikolai’s obvious attempt at mental warfare, raised a hand—and Aegis dropped onto the stage with the sound of a small mountain dropping from the sky.

Massive. Cold. Controlled. The kind of power that didn’t need to be loud to be threatening.

Chewy arrived silently—emerging at Kain’s feet as a small shimmering spore with tiny translucent filaments—barely noticeable to those watching. It was only after one of the announcers, who was a 7-star beast-tamer barely spotted her and the camera zoomed in on the ‘tiny dot’ at his direction that the crowd, and Nikolai, spotted Chewy.

Kain almost wanted to grumble at the announcer for giving away Chewy so early to Nikolai, but there was nothing he could do.

And Bea?

She had already been summoned and even the 7-star announcer couldn’t sense her.

The moment the referee’s hand dropped, her invisible self had seeped into the mental undercurrent of the field. Microscopic. Undetectable. But there.

Strangely, at the exact moment Bea appeared, although he couldn’t possibly see her, Nikolai revealed a smirk.

————————-

Supernova College, Debrief Room – Earlier

“I don’t care if he brings that weird mental attribute creature that is too much of a coward to show itself,” Nikolai snapped. “My current lineup is anti-control.”

The professors stared at him evenly.

“The Crimson Wraith can dissolve its entire body into mist and last year that worked to eliminate some of its effects. The Blood Flame Hound isn’t as affected by mental infiltration. And the Slagbeast?” Nikolai smirked. “Let’s just say I want that thing to invade the Slagbeast. I want it to touch the blood. So when it collapses, Kain will feel it.”

He let the words settle. No one replied.

Then Nikolai turned to leave.

But just before stepping through the archway leading to the prep area, he paused.

“Oh. And if he tries hiding it again?” he added, glancing over his shoulder, “Don’t worry. The Slagbeast is hungry enough to sniff it out.”

Then he vanished into the hallway, cloak trailing behind him like smoke.

The room stayed quiet a moment longer.

One of the younger professors finally exhaled and muttered under his breath, “That boy’s going to get himself killed one day…”

The noble instructor nodded slowly. “Maybe. But probably not today.”

————————-

Back in the arena, the match hovered on the edge.

Bea, like usually, immediately released the Pale Thought Field.

But something was strange.

‘Something’s wrong.’ Bea immediately conveyed.

The Pale Thought Field, instead of cleanly stretching out over the enemy field, buckled. A sharp siphoning pressure yanked a chunk of her field straight into the Hemogloom Slagbeast. A gravitational pull not unlike the one pulling the nearby blood surrounding its ‘lips’ made of bone into its mouth.

Hundreds, thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands, of her mental “splits” sprouted instantly almost beyond her control—then died in moments, cashed out as soon as they formed. Not destructive, but deeply draining. Bea wasn’t harmed—but the toll on her energy was brutal.

Bea’s field began to flicker wildly. Empty Thrones—the mental “thrones” created when a large amount of her splits dies that allows for the instant infiltration and amplification of her true body’s abilities—flared into existence across the Slagbeast’s consciousness. More and more popped into being as more splits continued dying.

Every few seconds, a new ‘throne’ appeared. Bea recognized the trap: the Slagbeast was forcing those Thrones, hunting for her real body to step inside its mind.

Bea froze in surprise when she realized its intention. But also she was pissed. Was this sack of blood looking down on her? It didn’t even have a mental attribute and it wanted to target her.

Kain sensed her uncertainty but also ire.

He mentally sent: ‘Focus—you can still do this. I’ve got you.’ While activating his spiritual skill to give her an all-round boost to her abilities. Both Bea and this beast were blue-grade. So Kain doubted that no matter how elaborate the trap laid that it’d be able to hurt Bea too much…right?

Simultaneously, Chewy pulsed a quiet wave of psychic energy into Kain, refilling his mental reserves instantly.

Bea steadied herself. She no longer resisted the stronger and stronger draw into the Slagbeast’s mind

And was sucked inside.

——————–

What Bea found inside wasn’t like anything she had ever experienced before.

It wasn’t even a mind.

It was a prison made of meat and screaming. And blood. So much Blood.

Blood that strangely seemed to gravitate and move toward her like a tsunami. When it touched her…for the first time in her existence Bea felt pain.

Then came a visual.

Bea, injured and disoriented, accidentally relayed a burst image to Kain. It wasn’t from her.

It was from the memory of the creatures the Slagbeast had eaten.

Mice.

Small, white, trembling things, squealing as darkness rose around them. One image—too clear. A stitched marking on their fur. A spiral rune.

Kain’s eyes widened in recognition

Spiric Mice – Mental attribute spiritual creatures. Low in combat ability but extremely rare. Not due to being eaten—they have no natural predators. Since they are capable of imprinting fragments of mental signatures into their blood over time. Blood consumption by predators resulted in localized mental corruption and severe reverse-feedback to psychic invaders. Meaning that overtime no creature dared eat them. Rather their small numbers were due to how difficult it was for each to reproduce.

Kain grit his teeth.

Nikolai had fed those things to the Slagbeast. And not just for fun. To prime it.

To make it resistant—no, lethal—to mental contracts. To Bea specifically.

Kain relayed the realization through their internal link. As his mind worked in overdrive to figure out a solution.

Bea didn’t respond with words.

She just shuddered once, and forced herself forward.

———————

Aegis, meanwhile, was under siege.

The Crimson Wraith darted around his back, striking from blind spots. The Blood Flame Hound lobbed bolts of soul-searing heat. And the Slagbeast lumbered closer, slow but methodical. Each footstep warped the stage slightly like its weight was far greater than its size would suggest.

Aegis was greatly outnumbered when it came to this physical fight.

Kain had summoned no offensive support.

That was the entire strategy. He couldn’t afford blood-heavy contracts against an opponent like Nikolai. Only Aegis, Chewy, and Bea could function here.

But even the supposedly ‘immune’ contracts were proving to be in danger.