“Mew~”
“Where’s my master?”
The White Tiger woke from its dizziness and opened its eyes.
“Huh? Where am I?”
A towering mountain stood before it. It stretched so high that its peak was nowhere in sight.
And the mountain kept radiating a dazzling silver light.
“Wasn’t I with my master in the underground space? Wasn’t I advancing to Nine Stars?”
Thinking it still hadn’t woken up, the White Tiger rubbed its eyes, shut them, then opened them again.
The mountain was still right in front of it.
And when it looked closely, it turned out the mountain was made entirely of Star God Iron.
“Huh!!!”
“That’s a huge mountain of Star God Iron!!”
“Th-this is real?”
The White Tiger stared in disbelief.
It went up and touched it. The surface felt cool.
“It’s real, meow!”
Then it looked down at the little piece of Star God Iron clutched tightly in its two tiny paws.
Its light was dim, and its shape was ugly.
There was no need to think twice.
“Clack~”
The little piece of Star God Iron went flying into the distance.
“Meow~”
The White Tiger excitedly charged over at lightning speed, then hugged the mountain of Star God Iron tight.
It sprawled across the mountain, closed its eyes, emptied its mind, and savored the mountain’s power.
In an instant, streams of silver surged up from the mountain’s surface—and every last one flowed into the White Tiger’s body.
“Mew~”
Bliss.
“Mew~”
Joy.
“Mew~”
Happiness.
Suddenly—
“Crack~”
It sounded like a shackle had snapped open.
A streak of white light burst from the White Tiger and shot into the sky.
The White Tiger felt strength flood its entire body. Its magic power was on a completely different level from before.
It stretched out a tiny paw and gave a fierce swipe.
Several little cracks immediately appeared in the space before it.
“Meow!!!”
“This kitty has made it to Nine-Star Sacred Beast, too!!!”
The White Tiger waved its tiny paws, giving vent to its joy.
But then—
“Smack~”
In a bit of a mishap, the White Tiger hit itself with one of its tiny paws.
It didn’t hurt.
“Meow?”
How could that be...? Its paw could slash cracks into space, yet hitting itself didn’t hurt at all—not even a little tickle.
Could it be...
“Smack~”
To test its suspicion, the White Tiger swiped at itself again.
Still, no pain.
“Smack~”
Another swipe.
Still nothing.
“Waaah... No, meow~ Don’t let it be a dream, meow~”
The White Tiger sprawled across the mountain of Star God Iron and burst into tears.
It was heartbroken. So it had all been a dream...
Advancing to Nine Stars, everything—it was all fake!
“Young man—no, young friend, I surrender. Please, could you ease up on that pressure?”
A weak plea came from in front of Xiaobai.
“Old man, what was that? I can’t hear you~”
Xiaobai lowered the black sword and covered both ears with their hands.
“Old man, you haven’t given me a surprise yet. I’m not letting you off.”
With that, Xiaobai turned away and went to find Kitty.
“You...”
“What ‘you’? No surprise, no talking. Shut your mouth.”
“Pwah~”
The scruffy old man trembled with anger at Xiaobai’s attitude. His agitation worsened the injuries he’d just managed to stabilize, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Young man, just tell me what you want, and I’ll let you have it.” The old man wasn’t stupid. He understood right away.
“Let me think...”
For a moment, Xiaobai couldn’t think of anything they needed. They looked around, hoping to find some inspiration.
Suddenly, their gaze settled on a white creature on the ground.
“Whoa, that’s my Kitty! It’s passed out.”
“It looks like you’re the reason. Your pressure interrupted Kitty’s advancement just now. You’ll have to make it up to us—with Star God Iron.”
“That... is easy,” the old man said.
Then he gritted his teeth and flicked a brand-new, silver-glowing stone out of his sleeve.
“Just one? It looks even smaller than the piece Kitty had before.”
Xiaobai caught the Star God Iron in their hand and sized it up. It seemed a little small.
“Old man, why are you so stingy? Give us more...”
“You...”
The old man was furious, but under that pressure, he had no choice but to back down.
“Y-you name the amount. How much do you want? I’ll give it all to you... Is that enough?”
“You’ll have to ask Kitty. I don’t use this stuff.”
With that, Xiaobai turned and walked over to the White Tiger, shaking it.
“Hey, Kitty, wake up. Come on, wake up.”
“...”
“Hey... wake up...”
“...”
The White Tiger was out cold and didn’t react at all.
Xiaobai had no choice. It looked like they’d have to try the ultimate move, even if they weren’t sure it would work. They shouted right into the White Tiger’s little ear:
“KIT! TY! I’VE! GOT! STAR! GOD! IRON!!!!”
Their voice rang through the entire underground space.
“Mew~”
Even in its daze, the White Tiger heard “Star God Iron” and responded on instinct.
“Kitty, there’s tons of Star God Iron here. You can have as much as you want!” Seeing how well the ultimate move worked, Xiaobai kept shouting.
“Mew~ It’s all a lie, all a lie, meow.”
“All that stuff about tons of Star God Iron is just a dream. It isn’t real, meow.”
The White Tiger’s eyes remained squeezed shut, but big tears trickled through the gaps between its eyelids.
“Huh? Kitty, what’s wrong? Don’t cry...”
“I really do have Star God Iron here. Tell me how much you want, and I’ll give it to you.” Xiaobai was starting to panic.
“Really, meow?” the White Tiger asked with its eyes closed.
“Really...” Xiaobai promised.
“Then I want my mountain of Star God Iron, okay, meow?” A hint of longing appeared on the White Tiger’s face.
“Okay, okay. Don’t cry. You’ll have your mountain of Star God Iron in a moment,” Xiaobai coaxed.
“Okay, meow. Kitty will try not to cry,” the White Tiger agreed.
After speaking with the White Tiger, Xiaobai turned to the scruffy old man with a smile.
“Old man, you heard that, right? Kitty wants a mountain of Star God Iron. Got it?”
“You two...”
“Pwah~”
The old man got so worked up that he spat out another mouthful of blood.
“You’re bad enough, but even your pet’s bullying me! You want a whole mountain of Star God Iron? Keep dreaming!”
But before he could finish, an even more immense pressure immediately fell over the old man.
Unable to withstand it, the old man’s legs buckled and he fell to his knees. His bones creaked under the crushing pressure.
“Tsk, tsk, old man. You shouldn’t try to act tough.”
“See? When you’ve got the strength, you can do whatever you want. You’ve gotta be as strong as me if you want to throw your weight around. Got it?”
“So, that mountain of Star God Iron—I don’t care whether you have one or not. If you do, hand it over. If you don’t, cough up every last piece you’ve got. Don’t leave anything out, and don’t make me get involved.”
Xiaobai smiled as they cracked their knuckles.
“Y-you... fine... fine... I admit defeat.”
The old man showed a pained expression and flicked his sleeve again.
“Rumble~”
A towering silver mountain appeared out of nowhere beside the two of them, its peak nowhere in sight.
“Clunk~”
A piece of Star God Iron even rolled down from high above and smacked Xiaobai right on the head.
“Damn, old man! You had this much Star God Iron and still dragged your feet? You had to pick a fight with me? What’s wrong with you?”
Xiaobai shook their head and gazed up at the mountain of Star God Iron in amazement.
(Old man: I just didn’t want to part with it...)
Xiaobai immediately turned around and shook the White Tiger.
“Kitty, your mountain of Star God Iron is really here! Hey, wake up... Come on, wake up... It’s right in front of you.”
The White Tiger finally opened its eyes.
Right in front of it stood a mountain of Star God Iron, shining with dazzling silver light.
“Smack~”
The White Tiger slapped itself right across the face.
“Ow, that hurt~”
“Huh? Kitty, what’s wrong? Have you lost your mind? Why’d you slap yourself?” Xiaobai was baffled when Kitty woke up and immediately slapped itself.
“Mew~ Master, this mountain looks exactly like the one in my dream. I thought I was still dreaming, meow~”
“You should’ve said so. That’s easy to fix.”
“Wham~”
Then a blow came down.
“Waaah!!! Meow!!! That really hurt, meow!!!!”
The White Tiger clutched its head with both tiny paws, tears welling in its eyes.
“You don’t think you’re dreaming anymore, do you?”
“Mew~ It hurts, it hurts...”
Again...
I already know it’s real, meow. You just wanted to hit me...
