This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Chapter 840: The Deathleech’s Devotee

Kain sat alone in the dim chamber, elbows on his knees, eyes fixed on the sterile floor. The glow of runic lights from the lab’s corridor leaked in under the door, casting faint lines across his boots. His thoughts were louder than the world around him. heless.

She had probably noticed something.

Perhaps by now she’d figured out she even has a mental connection to the parasite. It is her contract after all.

If he revealed the truth, would she understand? Would she hate him? Lower his guard to betray him?

Or would she become the first proof that his method could sway even Black Dawn loyalists?

He stood and walked to a nearby prison chamber. Aka Airalai’s "guest room".

Airalai sat cross-legged on a woven mat one of the other must have given her out of pity, her hair tied back, posture relaxed but sharp-eyed. She always carried herself like a coiled spring, ready to bite if needed. When her gaze lifted to meet his, her lips curled faintly. "Finally decided to visit me?"

"Airalai," Kain said evenly, "there’s something you need to know. About what I did to you. Although you may already have some guesses."

Her expression cooled. "The worm you somehow implanted into my star space? Kinda hard to miss it!" She said while glaring at him. "And I swear you need to increase the amount of food you gave me. I’m starving all the time!"

Okay. Not the best start. Kain looked awkward. "It might not actually be you that’s hungry. But your contract. You guys would have a mental connection after all."

Kain was very familiar with the unwanted sensation of never ending hunger. When he’d first contracted Bea he experienced something similar and then again when he’d contracted Chewy. Though thankfully due to his experience with Bea, he found it easier to block out this time.

Unfortunately, this just seems to be a side effect of the initial bond with a glutton...

For a moment, silence as she seemed to be processing his words. Then her eyes narrowed. "Contract?"

"Reach for it," Kain urged in cases she didn’t believe him. "Not as a parasite, but as a partner. You’ll feel it. The link."

Airalai hesitated, then closed her eyes. Her breathing slowed, her brows drew tight. And then—her eyes snapped open, wide as saucers. She staggered, one hand clutching her chest.

"It’s true," she whispered in disbelief as her eyes widened. "I can... I can sense it. I can even sense how it’s feeling."

She looked up at him, eyes gleaming. "So you’re saying... I’m a beast tamer?"

"Yes," Kain said softly. "Because of what I did."

Airalai laughed under her breath, a sharp, almost disbelieving sound. "All this time I thought it was impossible. Especially after all of our attempts had failed..." she trailed off while looking up at him, seemingly afraid that her slip of the tongue revealed her role in human experiments. But Kain already knew all of this.

She quickly changed the subject, "Black Dawn gave me scraps, and I still followed, because I thought their cause mattered. And you—" She pressed a hand to her chest again, trembling. "You gave me more than they ever could."

Kain stiffened. "Airalai, I forced this on you. You didn’t choose it. If you want, I can try to sever the bond. Free you. You could contract something else—something with more potential."

She tilted her head down, shadows hiding her face. The silence stretched uncomfortably.

"Airalai?" Kain asked cautiously.

Slowly, she raised her head.

Her smile was too wide, almost splitting her face. Reverence glowed in her eyes, but mingled with something sharper, more unhinged.

"No way," she said brightly. "Why would I ever let it go?"

Kain froze.

Her voice quivered with delight, her nails digging crescents into her own arms hard enough to draw beads of blood. She didn’t flinch, only giggled softly at the sting, as though pain itself had become proof that she wasn’t dreaming.

"You chose this for me," she whispered, her tone trembling between adoration and madness. "Even if it rots me from the inside, I’ll carry it proudly—because it came from you. If you ever tried to take it away, I’d hate you. And I don’t want to hate you, Kain. I want to love you, forever. So don’t you dare take it back."

Her eyes shone feverishly as she leaned closer, lips curving into a manic grin. "If anyone tries to sever our connection... I’ll kill them."

"This is the contract you chose for me," she continued, voice trembling with fervor. "You chose it. That makes it precious. That makes it mine."

Her gaze sparkled with something close to madness. "Do you know how many nights I dreamed of becoming a beast tamer? Of not being cast aside in favour of members that did have an affinity, of being given a chance? That was why I even implanted that into myself..."

Oops another slip of the tongue. Although not awakened she does have some abilities given by the Black Dawn, the origin of the black glow that came out when Kain captured her.

But on second thought, perhaps she should just reveal everything to him, after all...

"You gave me more than a chance. You made me a tamer." She leaned forward, almost breathless. "Do you understand what that means to me?"

Kain felt a headache bloom behind his eyes.

She wasn’t just loyal. She was... obsessed.