Chapter 31
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Magic Beast Hunter
‘Damn... a mere Vanguard Swordsman...’
The knight was strong. That wasn’t empty flattery. They had to enter the service of a senior knight—who would become both mentor and predecessor—before they even turned ten, living as squires for at least five years, if not more. Apart from time spent serving, eating, and sleeping, their days consisted solely of swinging weapons.
And after being formally knighted, they cut back even on eating and sleeping to immerse themselves in the art of killing. Put nicely, they were human weapons. Put harshly, they were human butchers. Even the wandering knights who hadn’t received proper dubbing were no different. The only distinctions were things like honor, dignity, and lineage.
That was why Francis took immense pride in being a knight. True, he’d never been properly knighted, his mentor had grown old and feeble, and the lord he later served had lost everything—armor and horse included—in a territorial war. Yet he still saw himself as a knight.
Kaang!
The swords clashed, sending a fierce recoil surging down the blade. Francis gritted his teeth against the crushing impact.
What the hell kind of strength was this? It felt like blocking a two-handed hammer instead of a longsword. And if he dragged this out any longer, the guards would come running at the noise. He made a snap decision. Flee first.
Srulk—Taang!
He shoved the sword upward as if repelling it, then immediately created distance. Seizing that brief opening, Francis spun around and bolted toward the alley. But Kyle didn’t give chase right away. What was the point? How far could he run in this city anyway?
Francis had no idea, but he was already no different from a mouse trapped in the massive snare called Cligrove.
“Brother! I brought everyone!”
“Sir Lucas!”
Trailing behind the belatedly arriving Cutter were the Vanguard Swordsmen who’d been off duty only to be yanked back into service, along with Willum and a swarm of his guards.
“What’s going on? I heard there was a werewolf sighting!”
Kyle nodded at Willum’s words.
“Captain. Mobilize your guards right now to seal off the gates, the walls, and all passages through the slums.”
“Just seal them off?”
“Yes. Height late 170s. Man with a facial scar. Restrict civilian movement too, and tell your guards to avoid clashes as much as possible. We’ll handle capturing him—me and the Vanguard Swordsmen.”
“Understood!”
Willum promptly scattered his guards as instructed. At the same time, the emergency bell began tolling, signaling the citywide lockdown.
Daeng—Daeng—
Next up were the Vanguard Swordsmen. Kyle took a map from Willum and showed it to them.
“Vanguard Swordsmen, split into ten teams of ten! Your assignment zones are marked here! If he shows, sound the signal and block him off—but don’t push too hard!”
Kyle swiftly positioned the Vanguard Swordsmen at key spots. The bastard would surely head somewhere familiar. That’s what he figured.
“What about you, Captain?”
To the Vanguard Swordsmen’s question, Kyle glanced at the alley where Francis had fled.
“I’m chasing him. I’ll tail the bastard.”
Dark alleyway. Francis glanced back over his shoulder as he ran.
“That son of a bitch...!”
Cligrove’s alleys were like home to him. No need to explain if it was his main hunting ground. Yet Kyle was pursuing him straight through the pitch-black path without hesitation.
How the hell was he keeping up? Francis couldn’t wrap his head around it. How many years had it taken him to navigate these dark alleys freely? And this pursuit was downright sinister.
Maintaining an exact distance, refusing to let him stop. It was just like a hunting dog herding its prey. On top of that, the city bells had woken the people, and the streets were gradually lighting up and growing chaotic.
Woof! Woof!
Dogs barked as he passed, soldiers lurked around every corner, and that monster was hot on his heels.
“You goddamn mongrels!!”
He finally realized he was the one being hunted down. There was no turning back now. Even if he surrendered, it’d just be torture until he spilled everything. He had only one option left.
His sword slid free from its scabbard.
“Fine! Bring it on, you filthy dogs!”
The guards faltered at Francis’s beastly charge bursting from the alley—but in that instant, the throat of the guard at the front was severed in one stroke.
“Greg! That bastard!”
The guards couldn’t hope to stop a knight-level fighter like Francis, but they gripped their spears, confident in their numbers. But right then...
Kuduk—Kwadeuk—
Having slain a soldier and tasted blood, Francis’s body began twisting grotesquely. Fur sprouted across every inch of his skin, soon covering his entire form in shimmering silver. It was the impenetrable hide of a magic beast, impervious to blade or spear.
Wooo—
“Grrr...”
The transformation was over in seconds—less than a minute. Now a perfect silver-furred werewolf, he glared at the encircling soldiers with golden eyes.
“Wha...? What?”
Kwaduk!
The soldiers couldn’t hold back the werewolf. Their spears failed to pierce its hide, while its claws rent gambesons and chain armor alike.
Squeak—!
It was less a battle and more a massacre. But the city wasn’t on his side. By the time he’d cut down a dozen soldiers, signals were blaring from all directions, and more troops along with the waiting swordsmen were converging to kill him.
“Over there!”
One Vanguard Swordsman shouted upon spotting the werewolf. Armored swordsmen quickly surrounded it. But even these battle-hardened veterans regarded werewolves as creatures from tales. Clutching their sword hilts, they encircled the magic beast.
“Kraa!”
In the tense standoff, the werewolf lunged first. The silver wolf barreled forward at blinding speed, and the Vanguard Swordsmen drew their blades in unison to meet it. But...
“Kwaak!”
“Kill it!”
The swordsmen’s blades couldn’t even scratch the silver fur, while the wounded piled up from those razor claws. The only reason no one had died yet was Kyle’s orders—they’d come fully armored.
“Fuck! It’s goddamn fast!”
Kak!
A swordsman’s swing clashed against a claw, sparking wildly, leaving a long gash on his breastplate. Fighting an opponent immune to attacks was utter despair, but the swordsmen clenched their jaws and fought on desperately.
It wasn’t some noble intent to prevent more casualties. It was simply that their pride as the true elite wouldn’t allow retreat. And behind them stood their captain—the monstrous rookie captain.
“Get outta the way! You mangy mutts!”
Outnumbered, the wolf fled once more. But everything in the city seemed bent on his death. Piper signals from every side, tolling bells across the city, cries of the people, the stomp of soldiers’ boots—they hounded him without respite.
Wooo—
Even the werewolf’s fear-stirring howl served only as a beacon for his pursuers now. And at last, he was driven to the edge of the city walls.
“Stand back! Don’t engage! Just surround it!”
Kyle shouted urgently upon seeing the swordsmen tightening their net, shoving his way through their ranks. One subordinate was already dead—he couldn’t let there be more.
“Grrr...”
The werewolf’s golden eyes blazed with fury at the sight of him, a guttural growl rumbling from between its sharply grown white fangs. If not for that bastard...
“You... I’ll... kill you...”
The man-turned-magic-beast spat words of death. But Kyle just scoffed. Kill him? Me? Just by turning into a beast? He chuckled.
“If you wanted to kill me, you should’ve fought with a sword.”
Human swordsmanship was forged to slay humans. Battling a sword-trained human was like chess—reading moves, maneuvering so the opponent couldn’t predict yours, a complex dance. But a beast’s fight was different. Pure strength against strength.
Didn’t matter if it was a magic beast or a regular animal. No matter how cunning, when it came to blows, it was brute force. That was a beast’s limit. And not a single beast had bested him yet. They’d all ended up as hides.
Teng!
He set his sword aside. Couldn’t risk damaging the hide.
Tok!
He stripped off his upper garments. Couldn’t let his clothes get torn.
His torso, like a mountain massif, was laid bare. The encircling swordsmen quietly swallowed. Bare-handed against a monster blades couldn’t touch. That was their captain.
Wooo—
At last, under the full moon, Francis—no, the beast that had been Francis—bared its fangs and charged. It aimed to shred his limbs with its claws in one go and lap up the blood. But in that moment when its white talons seemed poised to paint Kyle red...
Ppeok!
“Kyaeng!”
The werewolf shrieked and reeled backward. Crushing pain bloomed across its face, a shockwave rattling its brain. Unbelief shook its golden eyes at this impossible reality.
It was just a fist. Yet the impact felt like an iron mace or hammer had caved in his skull. Snapping back to his senses amid the disbelief, Francis gaped.
The werewolf body that had taken barely a scratch from a knight commander-level foe was now reeling from devastating trauma. Only then did he notice Kyle’s pot-lid of a fist.
“A... human...?”
A magic beast questioning if its foe was human. The wolf found its own state absurd, yet hurled the question desperately. But Kyle just grinned.
“I told you, didn’t I? You should’ve fought with a sword if you wanted to kill me.”
Taller even than the werewolf. And that scent hitting his heightened nose—the mingled blood, odors, and terror of countless beasts and magic beasts. He realized it too late. But who could’ve known such a bare-handed monster-slayer existed?
“I’ll kill you!”
The wolf swung its gleaming claws, but the attack held only power and speed—no finesse. And Kyle had pulverized countless such foes before.
Francis. The moment he abandoned being a knight, the man who’d once been one became mere prey.
Kwang!
A fist crashed into the crown of his head, sending him sprawling to grovel on the ground. At that pathetic sight, the swordsmen and soldiers snickered and mocked the wolf.
“Look at that bastard crawling!”
The laughter boomed like thunder in his ears. Mere foot soldiers daring this. Humiliated before so many people.
“Kraa! Don’t underestimate me!”
Enveloped in fear and rage, the magic beast lunged at Kyle with its white claws flashing. Any who faced it head-on would freeze in terror at the sheer menace... but Kyle plunged straight into its embrace.
Dodging the furiously whipping claws by a paper’s breadth, he slipped inside and clamped Francis in a full-power bear hug before he could react. Then he squeezed with all his might.
“Kyaaa!”
Pain and pressure like iron cables coiling around its body ripped a scream from the werewolf as it flailed its claws. But they didn’t reach Kyle. Holding the armpits crushed its arms upward, leaving them to slash futilely at empty air.
“Kkugak... Khuuk...”
Gasps of suffocation and agony leaked from the wolf’s maw. Its bones creaked under intensifying pressure. In this moment, the hide it had trusted so utterly proved worthless. The werewolf’s iron-hard bones began twisting like dry reeds.
Spinal and neck vertebrae shifted and snapped simultaneously, shattered ribs piercing organs. He wanted to scream from the agony, but only a leaking wheeze escaped his throat.
Ttuduk—
How much time passed? Barely enough for a sip of tea. At last, with a grotesque crack, the bones in the froth-mouthed werewolf’s body shattered, and it went still. The magic beast that had once plunged the city into terror met its end so pathetically.