NOVPUBPhantos was staring in the direction of the Kunst Auction House they had just fled from in a rush.
“What are you looking at like that?”
Riding in the truck loaded with stolen goods, Alex glanced at Phantos’ odd behavior and asked.
“I was looking at the place we left.”
“The Kunst Auction House? Why that place?”
“I sensed something there.”
He sensed something?
Alex, too, turned to look in the direction of the Kunst Auction House.
They had already crossed several blocks, and the buildings were blocking any view of the place.
“What do you mean you sensed something? I can’t feel anything.”
“A giant prey.”
“What prey now?”
This guy was spouting incomprehensible nonsense again.
Or maybe, being a beastkin, he was just that straightforward in expression.
“But it’s dangerous.”
“What is?”
“The scent and presence of this prey. It’s not an ordinary one. Dangerous—so much that even I haven’t come across anything like it often. No... maybe it's even stronger than that...”
Phantos trailed off mid-sentence.
“What? Why’d you stop? So it’s at the Kunst Auction House right now?”
“Yes.”
If even Phantos said that, then something really was going down at the auction house.
Rudger, their leader, and Hans, who had gone to regroup with him, were still there.
Nothing’s going to happen to those two, right?
‘No, no. Don’t panic over nothing.’
Alex shook his head, trying to brush off the creeping unease.
He recalled that day—when he ran into Enya, then met Rudger separately and had a private conversation.
That was the day Alex had asked Rudger something he’d been curious about.
—Hey, Leader.
—What is it?
—You said before that Phantos is ranked second in combat power in our organization, right?
—I did.
—Then who’s number one? Is it you?
Alex had asked jokingly, grinning, but the answer he got was completely unexpected.
—I said second among combat operatives. Of course, I’m not included in that ranking.
—What? So there’s someone else in first? Don’t tell me... it’s me?
—You’re third, Alex. You did well in the knight cadet academy and your skills aren’t anything to scoff at, but you’re not first.
—Then who the hell is?
The name Rudger said in response completely blindsided him.
—Hans.
* * *
As Hans felt his consciousness drifting into a distant, dark abyss, he suddenly recalled a moment from his past.
It was well after he’d met Rudger and sworn allegiance to him.
Even though Rudger knew about Hans’ beast-shifting condition, he never made him fight.
Even when combat was required, Rudger handled everything himself. Watching that, Hans eventually couldn’t take it anymore and asked.
—Boss. There’s something I’ve been wondering.
—Speak.
—Why did you accept a coward like me?
Hans still couldn’t understand.
Even after seeing what Hans really was, Rudger never tried to exploit him.
On the contrary, it was as if he went out of his way to protect him, deliberately keeping him out of fights.
—You know what I am. Even °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° with this ability, I’m just a coward who keeps running away. Still, I do have a power no one else does.
—And you think it’s strange I took you in?
—To be honest... yeah.
It might’ve just been his inferiority complex talking.
He was a pitiful man who had spent his life running from kindness, unable to believe in even genuine goodwill.
‘Yeah. That’s how it was.’
What did he say back then?
—Because you’re a coward.
—Come on. I know I don’t like fighting, but it still hurts to hear it straight like that.
—No. It’s similar, but not quite.
—If it’s similar, then what’s the difference?
—Hans. You know exactly what your power is. And you also know how dangerous it is—and how much responsibility comes with it. Aren’t you afraid? That you might hurt someone with it?
—......
That was the first time Hans learned what it meant to be so accurately called out that you couldn’t say anything in return.
That’s not it.
I just don’t like fighting. I was scared of getting hurt, so I ran.
That’s what he should’ve said, but the words that came out of his mouth were completely different.
—I was an orphan.
He muttered it with a bitter, self-deprecating tone.
—I grew up in an orphanage. Even there, I couldn’t get along with anyone properly.
—......
—There was a girl—like a little sister—who was always kind to me. Bright and cheerful in a way I could never be. She would’ve grown into someone beautiful, probably made some man cry, and married into a good family.
He recalled how, even back then, he’d been a loner.
—I killed her.
—...Hans.
—It was an accident. She brought a puppy she’d found somewhere and came to show it to me. Just a kid, wanting to share something cute.
If that puppy hadn’t bitten him.
If he’d known about his condition back then.
—If I hadn’t accepted her kindness that day...
Then maybe none of it would’ve happened.
He said it plainly, but for Hans, that day was a trauma so deep it would haunt him forever.
The first time the beast gene awakened.
And back then, when he hadn’t fully formed a sense of self—
He lost control of the wild instincts rushing through him... and killed that girl.
—That was the first time I ever killed.
Even now, remembering it made his head spin.
The blood all over his body. Her lifeless corpse.
The taste of blood and flesh in his mouth.
That grotesque memory was a stain he could never wash away.
That’s why, even with such a power, Hans never fought. He kept running.
He couldn’t bear the thought of this filthy beast power repeating what it had done before—crushing the life of someone innocent.
—But Hans. There will come a day when life doesn’t go the way you want.
—What’s that supposed to mean? Are you cursing me?
—It’s a warning and a bit of advice. Someday you might face something you never wanted to deal with. And with your power, it’s even more likely.
—And if I run away again? Just throw everything away?
Hans forced a smile, joking on purpose.
Maybe he said that hoping Rudger would scold him—talk some sense into him.
But he didn’t.
—That would still be your choice.
Same as always.
Even if that moment came, Rudger said, he wouldn’t blame him for running.
—Hans. Even if that day comes and you throw everything away and run, I won’t hold it against you.
—What the hell...
Rudger didn’t say “I believe in you” or “You can do it.”
He just eased his burden a little by saying he wouldn’t assign blame.
Back then, Hans had grumbled at the weak answer, but he hadn’t been able to say for sure that he’d never run.
‘Guess I really am about to die. Can’t believe all that old shit is coming back now.’
Hans let out a bitter chuckle at his own miserable state.
A life of running, then finally meeting a good person and doing something worthwhile.
Even if no one else acknowledged it—
Just standing at Rudger’s side, helping him, was his refuge. His escape from that nightmare of the past.
‘Dying like this... wouldn’t be the worst.’
Still, if this is going to be the end—
Just once. Let me burn it all down.
* * *
Rudger pushed through the crowd pouring out and headed back inside the auction house.
Inside, chaos reigned as those who hadn’t evacuated clashed with the intruders who were tearing the place apart.
“Kill them! Kill them all!”
“You damn bastards!”
As Rudger scanned the scene, the various groups involved in the Kunst attack began to come into view.
‘The ones who struck first were common criminals here to loot valuables.’
They didn’t even bother fighting the guards—just went straight for what they could grab.
Some, crazed by greed, tried to rip jewelry off noblewomen as well.
‘Then there’s the black mages deeper in, judging by the use of dark magic.’
Kunst had a lot of valuable artifacts.
For black mages, it was a gold mine. And with no one left guarding them, it made sense that they showed up.
‘But the worst ones are those who aren’t after goods at all—they’re just here to kill people.’
Picking fights they didn’t have to. No interest in loot. Just murder, especially of nobles.
Rudger had seen their kind before. He immediately knew who they were.
‘Liberation Army bastards.’
How could the Liberation Army possibly pass up a gathering of wealthy nobles and businessmen like this?
These lunatics wouldn't hesitate to turn themselves into suicide bombers if it meant killing off the people they saw as their mortal enemies.
“Die!”
Just then, a door on one side burst open, and a Liberation Army member—face masked—charged straight at Rudger.
But Rudger, already aware of the approaching presence, activated [Source Code] and instantly constructed a spell on the fly.
A flash of white fire exploded right in front of him.
[Scorching Thunderclap], a 2nd-circle lightning spell, pierced straight through the attacker’s solar plexus.
“Guhk.”
Rudger glanced down at the fallen body, then furrowed his brow.
How were Liberation Army members able to act so freely in this place?
Most of their arsenal consisted of gunpowder-based weapons. In a place like this, where [Silence of Fire] was active, they shouldn’t be able to fight at all.
Unless they brought mages with them? But didn’t they already lose most of their power during the train bombing?
‘Wait a minute... these guys...’
Just as Rudger approached the fallen attacker, he sensed something off and jumped backward immediately.
It was the right call.
The moment he pulled back, the Liberation Army member’s body exploded into a violent burst of flame.
KWA-BOOM!
Outside the blast radius, Rudger watched the thick cloud of smoke rise into the air, his expression darkening.
Of course. This was the Liberation Army—they were experts in suicide attacks.
He’d already suffered once from one of their surprise bombings. Naturally, he’d prepared for more of their dirty tactics.
But—
‘A detonation? Inside a space where [Silence of Fire] is active?’
He’d cast the spell over the entire area, constantly maintaining its effect.
As long as that spell was active, it should’ve completely suppressed any combustion from gunpowder, no matter how much fire was applied.
And yet, the explosion had happened.
‘It wasn’t an artifact powered by magic. There’s no lingering magical residue. That means it was a bomb made of actual gunpowder.’
And still it exploded, in the midst of a spell designed to nullify such effects?
That had only happened once before.
‘The special gunpowder that [Silence of Fire] doesn’t affect... They have it?’
Impossible.
That specific gunpowder had been completely wiped out—Rudger himself, under the alias James Moriarty, had torched the entire factory in the Kingdom of Delica, erasing every trace.
‘I was sure I destroyed it all... Don’t tell me some remnants survived? And now they’ve joined forces with the Liberation Army?’
This wasn’t a minor problem.
If that unburnable gunpowder had fallen into the hands of the Liberation Army...
Realizing just how serious this was, Rudger shifted his focus. He had to find Hans and get the hell out of here.
Then—
BOOM!
The outer wall of the building suddenly collapsed with a thunderous roar.
FZZZT!
All the lights inside flickered and died.
Darkness swallowed the auction house like a beast’s gaping maw.
“SKRAAAAAAAGH!” 𝔫𝔬𝖛𝖕𝔲𝖇.𝖈𝖔𝖒
A shrill scream—raw and guttural—ripped through the hallway beyond.
Before Rudger could even react, something flew out of the darkness, tumbled across the floor, and stopped at his feet.
‘A person?’
It was a man in a black suit, drenched in blood.
But the faint, disturbing aura wafting off him made it clear—this was no ordinary man.
‘That ominous energy... A black mage. So he’s one of the attackers. But what the hell did this to him...?’
The wounds on his body weren’t from blades or magic.
They were bite marks. Dozens of them—like he’d been mauled by a pack of wild beasts.
No human could do something like this.
‘Don’t tell me... Hans did this?’
So that’s what this uneasy feeling had been about.
* * *
“No... No way... My Kunst Auction House...”
Ivan Luk stood outside, having barely escaped, staring at the chaos erupting inside his prized building with a dumbstruck look.
The Blackguards were trapped underground, and now black mages, criminals, and the Liberation Army were running wild.
Even Ivan himself had barely made it out. His hair was a mess, his once-immaculate clothes torn and covered in dust.
“Director! You’re alright! The building is still standing, at least. Most of the guests have evacuated—”
“Guests? Wait—what about Her Highness? Where’s the Princess?!”
“Uh, uh... I haven’t checked that yet—”
“What are you going to do if something’s happened to her?! Go check immediately!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Just as the aide turned to leave—
AOOOOOOOOO────!!!!!
A monstrous howl erupted from deep inside the building.
It sounded like something enormous was screaming... or as if countless beasts were roaring all at once.
The emotions layered within that howl—bottomless hatred, unrestrained rage.
And sorrow.
The crowd that had been clamoring outside fell into stunned silence, as a chill ran across every inch of exposed skin.
Fear spread like a wave—and brought with it, complete stillness.
“...What was that?”
BOOM!
Another section of the Kunst Auction House’s wall collapsed with a deafening crash.
The eighth floor—already absurdly tall to begin with, almost one and a half times a regular building—crumbled, sending debris cascading downward.
Screams filled the air as people fled.
“What... what is that?”
Those in the safer areas squinted through the cloud of smoke and saw a silhouette emerging through the haze.
“A wolf? Is that... a wolf?”
A black wolf’s head had appeared through the broken wall on the eighth floor.
Why a wolf would be inside the auction house, no one knew—but their horror didn’t stop there.
At first, it was just one head.
Then another.
And another.
More and more wolf heads appeared, pushing their way out from the wreckage.
One... two...
Soon, there were dozens.
That’s when the bystanders finally realized—something wasn’t right.
The bodies of the wolves... were tangled together.
Not separate.
One mass.
And as a few more seconds passed, it became clear.
This wasn’t a pack of wolves.
It was a shape.
A form.
“A... a hand?”
It wasn’t a pack of wolves. It was a giant hand.
Each of its fingers ended in a beast’s head—an enormous clawed hand smashing through the building’s outer wall.
Debris rained down. Dust clouds engulfed everything.
But the people were too stunned to run.
What emerged from the shattered Kunst Auction House—
Was a colossal, black-furred monster that easily stood tens of meters tall.
Its entire body was covered in the heads of beasts.
Its main head—the one that seemed to lead the rest—was shaped like a dried-out wolf’s skull, horrific and grotesque.
One of those skulls on each shoulder—three in total. Each bore hollow black sockets that glowed with crimson light.
Twisted horns curled from the tops of its heads, and a wild black mane flared in the wind.
It looked like some nightmare crossbreed between a hellhound with three heads and hundreds of savage beasts fused into a single abomination.
“T-That thing...”
One of the onlookers—his voice trembling—recognized it.
He was someone who had witnessed the disaster firsthand five years ago in a kingdom now far away.
How could he forget?
The monster that haunted his dreams to this day.
The legendary beast that appeared in the Kingdom of Durmang—summoning countless cryptids, devouring the empire’s elite knights.
The central nightmare of what came to be known as the Night of Blood.
—“The Beast of Jévaudan!”
The king of all savage beasts had returned in Rederbelk.
