This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange-Chapter 607: Faulty Logic

'Did I make a mistake?'

Kain had simply been following the most logical and instinctive series of actions for himself.

The Source energy was unable to stay and rampage in the more delicate vessels throughout his body, so he brought the energy to his star space, where he stored all the energy he absorbed while cultivating—Logical.

The excessive amount of Source energy was wreaking havoc on Pangea and the contractual spaces of Bea and the others, so he shoved as much of the energy as he could into the one empty location of his star space—Also logical.

His fifth star formed being about to burst from the excessive amount of energy—looking at it in hindsight, such a conclusion was also quite logical.

So logical, in fact, that Kain almost wanted to hit himself for not thinking of a better option. But what could he do? He didn't see any better options at the time.

The fifth star pulsed violently in Kain's star space, its surface fracturing further with each heartbeat. Violet light bled through the cracks, illuminating the swirling energy that surrounded it like a dying star's corona. Kain could feel it—the imminent detonation, the point of no return. His mind raced, searching for any solution, any last-ditch effort to prevent the inevitable.

But there was nothing.

'I failed,' he thought, the words hollow in his mind.

But he really couldn't think about what, in his series of actions, was wrong. Where did the small hope for success lie?

'Perhaps there was no hope for success and the relic just wanted an excuse to kill me…although I'm not sure why it needs one…'

The clone watched from the periphery of his awareness, its smirk widening with every second that passed. "Any last words?" it taunted, twirling a strand of violet energy between its fingers. "Or should I just start counting down?"

Kain ignored it. His focus was entirely on the ballooning fifth star, on the catastrophic failure unfolding within him. He could feel the energy straining against its confines, pressing outward, demanding release. It was like holding back a tidal wave with his bare hands—futile, exhausting, doomed.

Then—

A rush of cooling energy.

Not metaphorical. Actual, physical coolness—a stark contrast to the boiling over Source energy and the mental strain threatening to rip him apart. It cut through the chaos like a blade of ice.

Kain's eyes widened.

For the first time since entering this realm, he could feel his body. His true body. The weight of his limbs, the press of the cold mercury-like liquid against his face, the way his head was submerged in the basin, his features frozen in a metallic grimace.

The sensation was disorienting, as if he existed in two planes at once: here, in this mental realm with his monstrous reflection controlled by the relic, and there, in the relic's chamber, his body locked in place bent over the basin.

The cooling energy intensified, and Kain could finally place its origin.

It was the bracer on his wrist.

The Binding Balance Bracer— one of the only true rewards he had earned from the relic at Dark Moon College. The one forged from a fragment of that alternate reality, Kain's soul. It had reacted to his distress and must have activated.

'Thanks buddy…but I'm not sure if you can help…' It's original purpose was for stabilizing his thoughts if he ever lost control. But currently, his mind was intact, his emotions under control. That wasn't his problem.

The danger wasn't madness.

It was collapse. It was the explosion and destruction of his entire star space and everything within it.

The bracer pulsed once—twice—then released a surge of energy far stronger than what he'd felt before.

A sharp shock raced up Kain's arm.

The bracer's outer surface splintered. Glowing cracks raced across the band like lightning bolts etched in metal. And then—

Crack.

The artifact crumbled into ash, disintegrating against his skin and vanishing into a cloud of silver dust.

'C'mon!' Kain mentally screamed in disbelief, eyes flashing in frustration. That bracer had been his only consolation prize—one of the few tangible rewards he'd received from the cheapskate relic at Dark Moon!

And now?

Gone.

But the energy it released hadn't disappeared.

Instead, it surged upward, travelling through his arm, his shoulder, his neck—until it reached his submerged head. There, it lingered for a heartbeat before plunging deeper, following the tenuous connection between his consciousness and his star space.

Kain's splintered awareness snapped back to the world inside the basin—and to the star space he'd been desperately trying to stabilize.

The new energy arrived like a storm, its presence immediately distinguishable from the rampant Source energy. It was darker, colder and seemed to possess consciousness.

And as it coalesced, it took shape—a faintly humanoid silhouette, its build unmistakably similar to Kain's own.

Its blurred features even kind of looked like him.

Or rather, like that other him, the violet-eyed monster that lost control. But this version didn't radiate hunger or instability.

For a moment, the fragment simply observed the fifth star, its head tilted in contemplation. Then, without hesitation, it dove straight into the core of the fifth star.

The impact was instantaneous.

The fractures across the star's surface paused. Light flared blindingly as the humanoid figure embedded itself into the star's core like a seed into soil.

The explosion Kain expected didn't come.

Instead, the light sank inward, folding into itself, layer by layer, as though all the energy the star was about to cough out was being breathed in calmly.

The violent pulses slowed.

And then, like ice forming over a lake, the star sealed itself. Not perfectly smooth—faint scars still crisscrossed its surface—but stable and no longer at risk of exploding.

Kain sagged in place, overwhelmed by the silence that followed.

He took a long, shuddering breath, still mentally bracing for something to go wrong.

But… nothing did.

His contracts, no longer expressed any discomfort.

Pangea was also restored to relative normalcy. Aside from a slight elevation in the amount of Source energy on the planet, the introduction of some new, stronger species, and the complete extinction of some weaker ones—things returned to a relative normal.

"...What just happened?" he whispered aloud.

The monster—the other him—stood in the space of the trial, staring as Kain's previously glowing body, on the verge of exploding, calmed down. For the first time, it didn't smile.

It looked thoughtful.

Then, with a tilted head and a furrowed brow, it said, "That… wasn't supposed to happen. Now, why would one of my siblings give you something like that…"

It murmured while glancing at Kain's now-empty wrist.