Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 318: Episode 316: Did it Hurt?

A war?

Regent Titus threw a massive, sweeping right hook fueled by pure rage. The blow connected solidly. Caspian’s head snapped sharply to the side, the force of the massive Beastman’s fist sending a spray of red blood flying from the Merman’s split lip to stain the polished stone of the hearth.

Caspian’s eyes widened.

For a horrifying second, the room was perfectly still.

Then, slowly, Caspian turned his head back around. He didn’t fall. He didn’t even stagger. Despite the fragility of his newly mortal bones, the former Abyssal King simply spat a mouthful of metallic-tasting blood onto the floorboards and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

A slow, dark, and utterly chilling smirk curled Caspian’s bruised lips.

Across the room, Zarek had completely abandoned his posture. The towering Dragon had casually sprawled himself out on the plush velvet sofa, crossing his heavy boots over the low wooden table.

He held a silver goblet of spiced wine in one hand, watching the bloody spectacle with the relaxed, highly entertained demeanor of a man attending a theater show.

Titus’s eyes widened in outrage. The Merman was actually smiling at him. The sheer audacity of the sea-dweller made the Tiger Regent’s blood boil.

With a furious roar, Titus pulled his massive arm back, fully intending to drive his fist directly into the center of Caspian’s face a second time.

He swung with blinding speed.

But this time, the blow never landed.

Caspian’s hand shot up, moving with a fluid, terrifyingly precise martial grace that had absolutely nothing to do with abyssal magic and everything to do with centuries of lethal, hand-to-hand combat in the dark trenches.

He caught Titus’s massive, incoming fist squarely in his palm.

The heavy impact echoed through the room, but Caspian’s arm didn’t buckle an inch.

"I allowed you to hit me to settle your wounded Surface pride," Caspian murmured, his hoarse, mortal voice dropping into a dangerously soft, lethal octave. He tilted his head, his striking silver-blue eyes narrowing into razor-sharp slits. "And you target my face? That’s not good."

Caspian’s fingers clamped down over Titus’s knuckles like an industrial iron vice.

Titus gasped, his feral pupils blowing wide as an agonizing, blinding pressure crushed his hand. Caspian wasn’t an immortal merman anymore, but his grip strength was still terrifying.

He squeezed, the sickening sound of grinding bone beginning to echo in the quiet parlor as he systematically threatened to shatter the Regent’s fist into a dozen jagged pieces.

Titus gritted his teeth, his knees buckling slightly under the overwhelming, agonizing pressure. He frantically whipped his head around, looking desperately at the Dragon lounging on the sofa.

"Zarek!" Titus grunted, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his jaw. "Are you not going to stop him?!"

Zarek took a slow, deliberate sip of his spiced wine. He swallowed, swirling the dark crimson liquid in his goblet as he leveled a look of profound, uncaring apathy at the struggling Tiger Regent.

"I stopped you before," Zarek shrugged his shoulders, completely unbothered. "But you still insisted on hitting the fish. You reap what you sow, Titus."

Titus was utterly flabbergasted. He stared at Zarek in absolute betrayal, his mouth dropping open. Before he could formulate a response, Caspian violently yanked Titus’s trapped arm forward, throwing the massive Regent completely off balance and cornering him brutally against the heavy stone mantle.

"STOP!"

The furious, booming command tore through the grand parlor, laced with absolute, uncompromising authority that instantly froze the air.

Roxy stood at the bottom of the grand staircase, her violet silk robe billowing around her ankles, her chest heaving with sheer outrage. Lyra and Mara had rushed out of the nursery right behind her, standing in the doorway with their hands clamped over their mouths.

The moment Caspian heard Roxy’s voice, the lethal, terrifying predator completely vanished.

He instantly let go of Titus’s hand, stepping back with his hands raised in a gesture of immediate, absolute surrender. He turned to face the doorway, fully prepared to accept whatever scolding his Queen deemed necessary.

But as Caspian turned into the light, Roxy’s eyes locked onto his face.

The vicious, purpling bruise swelling across his left cheekbone and the fresh, bright red blood dripping from his split lip were impossible to miss.

The women gasped.

Roxy’s face completely changed. The fierce, commanding anger instantly mutated into a terrifying, deadly calm.

Roxy descended the final two steps, her bare feet hitting the floorboards with heavy, deliberate purpose. She marched directly into the parlor.

"I leave you for a few minutes to feed Tyara," Roxy hissed, her voice a deadly, vibrating whisper that sounded far more terrifying than a scream, "and you harm my mate?"

She didn’t stop until she had stepped directly between Caspian and the trembling Tiger Regent. She completely shielded the Merman with her own body, tilting her chin up to glare absolute daggers at Titus.

Titus’s eyes widened in panic. The feral Tiger Beastman suddenly realized he had made a terrible mistake.

"My Queen, wait!" Titus stammered frantically, holding his bruised, throbbing hand to his chest as he backed away from her. "He offered! He let me hit him!"

Roxy’s hand lashed out, striking Titus squarely across his cheek. The sound echoed like a whip-crack in the silent room.

Before the massive Regent could even register the sting, Roxy grabbed the thick, embroidered collar of his tunic in both of her hands. With a shocking display of strength, she violently yanked the towering Beastman downward until he was forced to hunch over, bringing his terrified eyes directly level with her blazing green ones.

"Don’t you dare lay a hand on my mate again," Roxy snarled, her voice dripping with venom. "Or I will remove you from this world. Do you understand me, Titus?"

Titus opened his mouth, desperately wanting to explain, to defend his honor, to point out the Merman’s own arrogant instigation.

But the words completely died in his throat.

Titus looked past Roxy’s shoulder.

Standing in a perfectly unified, impenetrable half-circle directly behind their Queen were the six most lethal, terrifying Kings in the Beastworld.

Torian had slipped into the room, his dark eyes burning with murderous intent. Zarek had abandoned his wine, standing tall with his eyes flashing. Ren, Kaelen, and Syris had come in too, their respective auras flaring with absolute, unified hostility. And right in the center stood Caspian, casually wiping the blood from his lip.

Every single one of them had their thick, muscular arms crossed intimidatingly over their broad chests. They weren’t just backing her up; they were silently, flawlessly daring the Regent to breathe a single word of disrespect toward their Queen.

It was a literal wall.

Titus swallowed so hard his throat clicked. The massive Tiger Beastman completely deflated. He hung his head low, absolutely crushed beneath the combined, suffocating weight of the Iron-Wood’s terrifying hierarchy.

"I am sorry, Queen Roxy," Titus squeaked, his voice pitching up an octave in pure, unadulterated submission.

"He really did offer, Queen Roxy!"

A frantic, trembling voice broke the heavy silence. Titus’s mate rushed forward, desperate to save her foolish husband from the Matriarch’s wrath.

"Please, forgive him!" the female tiger pleaded, wringing her hands. "King Caspian told Titus he could hit him once to settle the past grudges of the eastern plains. Titus is just a fool! He hit him in the face, and that got King Caspian angry, but it was a sanctioned hit!"

Roxy slowly released her iron grip on Titus’s collar, letting the massive Regent stumble backward into his mate’s arms. She smoothed the front of her violet silk robe, completely unfazed by the technicalities of Alpha pride.

Roxy turned her fierce, unapologetic gaze to the trembling female.

"Of course I would be pissed," Roxy stated flatly, as if it were the most obvious, universal law in the world. She gestured toward the devastatingly handsome, white-haired man standing behind her. "Caspian’s face should never be touched. It is a masterpiece."

Ren let out a snort of laughter, quickly disguising it as a cough.

[Pervert]

I thought you were done with me? Care to call me a pervert now?

[...]

I prefer you go back to being silent; no one needs you here.

Roxy pivoted on her heel, turning her back on the thoroughly chastised Tiger Regent to face her Merman.

The moment Roxy’s eyes locked onto his, the ancient, terrifying, incredibly dangerous King of the Deep Spires completely vanished. Caspian’s broad shoulders immediately slumped.

His silver-blue eyes widened, pooling with dramatic, incredibly exaggerated vulnerability. His lower lip jutted out ever so slightly.

He transformed, in a matter of seconds, into a literal, pathetic puppy.

Roxy’s fierce anger instantly melted into a puddle of absolute, heart-wrenching devotion. She stepped forward, gently cupping his unbruised cheek, her thumbs carefully avoiding the swelling skin.

"Aww, baby..." Roxy cooed softly, completely ignoring the five other Kings rolling their eyes behind her. "Did it hurt much?"