Chapter 115
With his business concluded, there was no reason to remain in the mansion.
After securing the inner core he had just obtained inside his coat, Woojin immediately exited the building. Arwen, who had been keeping watch, turned toward him.
“Did you achieve anything?”
“Yeah. There was a strange-looking sheep inside. Killed it and took its inner core.”
It was probably a Probato.
At that, Arwen’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.
“A Probato? What would that prideful creature be doing in a place like this…?”
“We can gossip later.”
There was no time to leisurely recount war stories. Woojin reminded her of that, then asked,
“How much longer does the charm last?”
“About eight minutes, I think.”
“Still plenty.”
Not long—but more than enough to finish what needed doing.
He surveyed the surroundings.
Four or five buildings stood nearby. Smaller than the mansion the sheep had occupied, but proper structures nonetheless, complete with fireplaces and chimneys.
‘Who’s inside those?’
No reason not to find out.
He flung open the door of the nearest building. Inside, he found a pig sprawled on a sofa, snoring loudly.
Not an ordinary pig.
It looked like a grotesque fusion—half human, half pig.
‘Looks like that one from Subject 308’s memories.’
The slave trader who had sold humans to the dark-side clerics. Strikingly similar in appearance.
A pig-man.
Hoiros—that was likely the name. A cunning, shrewd race. Pig-men conducted various businesses, traveling in and out of the farm’s territory.
‘Wasn’t there something about pigs being smarter than dogs?’
He vaguely recalled hearing that somewhere. Not that it mattered.
Crack!
He grabbed the pig’s head and twisted. The cervical spine snapped with a dull break, and the thunderous snoring ceased forever.
He slit open its chest with his dagger and extracted the inner core.
‘Not impressive.’
Lower grade than the sheep’s—or even the bulls’. Still, better than nothing. He pocketed it.
Stepping outside, Woojin immediately turned the handle of the next building.
Inside, another pig sat before a fireplace, roasting chunks of meat on a skewer.
A draft slipped through the open door, brushing against the pig’s back.
“S-Squeal! Wh-Who are you?!”
The pig shrieked in shock, leaping to its feet and raising its weapon.
Woojin glanced at it.
A skewer—meat still impaled on it.
The pig followed his gaze, belatedly looking down at what it held.
“…Damn it!”
Cursing, it lunged toward a crossbow hanging on the wall. But Woojin moved faster.
BAM!!
His fist smashed into the pig’s face. The creature flew backward, crashing against the wall.
No need for a finishing blow. Its body went limp.
Dead.
Woojin calmly removed its inner core. Like the previous pig’s, it lacked much value.
‘Let’s check the rest.’
He stepped back outside and systematically swept through the remaining buildings.
The results were somewhat disappointing.
He had hoped for more sheep, but instead killed four pigs. Perhaps because the sheep were nobility, their numbers were limited.
‘Next time.’
Suppressing his disappointment, he returned to the mansion and rejoined Arwen.
“No problems?”
“No. Already finished?”
“Wasn’t difficult.”
Killing sleeping prey required little effort. One pig had been awake for a late-night snack, but even that had been easily handled.
They still had time to spare.
“How much charm remains?”
“About five minutes.”
How best to use it?
Woojin looked at the three bulls Arwen had ensnared earlier. They stood motionless like scarecrows.
He gestured toward them.
“Can you control them?”
Arwen nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then command them to destroy those barracks tents over there.”
“…If I do that, the charm will wear off quickly.”
The more complex and strenuous the order, the faster the charm dissolved. That was why she had kept them standing still.
Woojin considered briefly—but did not retract his command.
“Do it anyway.”
“I will.”
Arwen issued the order.
“Walk that way and smash everything you see.”
“Un… understood…”
The bulls, intoxicated by the charm pheromone, obeyed. Dragging their double-handed axes across the dirt, the three lumbered forward.
Then they swung.
CRASH!!
The heavy blades smashed into the barracks tents, ripping through canvas and supports alike.
Chicken warriors, caught by surprise, shrieked at the top of their lungs.
“Cluck–! Enemy attack!! Eeeeenemy—!”
The quiet night descended into chaos.
Bulls on night patrol turned their attention toward the disturbance, rushing toward the collapsing tents.
Woojin smiled in satisfaction.
“Now, let’s head to the storage area.”
With nearby sentries drawn in the opposite direction, several safe paths opened up.
They moved swiftly along one such route. Before long, a well and two large supply warehouses came into view.
‘Not unguarded.’
One bull stood at each warehouse entrance. Two in total. They had spotted Woojin approaching and gripped their axes with both hands.
Arwen whispered,
“What do we do?”
“You two take the one on the left. I’ll handle the right.”
“Understood.”
Shhk—
Arwen drew two daggers from within her sleeves, gripping one in each hand. Beside her, Coco bristled, tail raised high.
The squirrel let out a fierce cry.
“Piyaaaat—!”
Brave—and oddly pathetic at the same time.
The bull scoffed at the sound.
It stopped laughing a moment later.
A streak of silver shot forward like an arrow, stabbing into one of its eyes.
The bull howled in pain and lowered its head instinctively.
As if waiting for that moment, Arwen and Coco kicked off the ground and lunged.
Woojin watched them from the corner of his eye.
‘They’re fighting well.’
In truth, it was a battle they couldn’t lose.
Coco might be small and look harmless, but she was a powerful magical beast. And Arwen had once ruled over a mining city as a dark-side cleric.
Whoosh—
While he was briefly distracted, he heard the rush of wind. An axe blade came crashing down toward his head.
He stepped back just in time.
BOOM!!
The axe slammed into the dirt instead. The bull tried to lift it again for another strike—
But before it could, Woojin’s foot came down hard on the embedded weapon.
He activated Weight Amplification, increasing the mass beneath his foot. The axe was forced deeper into the ground.
It wouldn’t budge.
Realizing that, the bull abandoned the weapon and leapt back. Then it lowered its head and charged.
A brutal, killing headbutt.
Crack—
Woojin clenched his right fist tight and drove it forward with full force into the oncoming skull.
THOOOM!!
The sound rang out like a struck drum. The bull staggered backward.
White foam spilled from its mouth as it collapsed face-first onto the ground.
A concussion, most likely.
Woojin flexed his fingers as he looked down at it.
‘Solid skull.’
Harder and thicker than the one he’d fought before. It must have consumed an inner core that strengthened bone density.
He retrieved the bull’s inner core, then glanced toward Arwen and Coco.
‘…They’re nearly done too.’
The bull on their side was on its knees, writhing. Blood streamed from its thigh. Its ankle seemed severed—unable to stand properly.
Thrust!
Arwen’s dagger sank deep into its throat. The bull convulsed silently before going limp.
The situation was resolved in moments.
After finishing the hunt, Arwen brushed her blood-streaked hair back and asked,
“What now?”
“Time to do something wicked.”
Woojin rummaged inside his coat and pulled out a small glass vial—the poison extracted from a hydra’s fang.
Drip, drip.
He poured the toxin into the well.
With the water rendered unusable, it was time to deal with supplies.
“Can you use fire magic?”
“A little.”
Time for some arson.
“You take the left warehouse.”
“Understood.”
Woojin made a hand motion—almost like sign language. Soon, a large fireball formed between his palms.
Arwen conjured a smaller flame in her hand.
They released their spells together.
BOOM!!
Explosions erupted in both warehouses. Flames spread rapidly. Being wooden structures, they caught fire easily.
They watched for a brief moment—
Then distant commotion rose. The enemy had noticed.
“Time to leave.”
The key to arson was not getting caught.
They fled quickly. Behind them, chaos erupted.
Curious, Arwen glanced back.
Beasts were gathering in front of the burning warehouses.
Time had been lost dealing with the charmed bulls, and in that span the fire had grown uncontrollable.
“The fire’s spreading too fast!! Get the supplies out of the warehouse first!”
A quick-thinking pig shouted. In response, a bull rushed to the well, drawing up water with a bucket and dumping it over itself like a shower.
It soaked its body thoroughly—clearly intending to charge into the burning warehouse and retrieve supplies.
Arwen flinched.
‘Oh… if it does that—’
“MOOOAAARGH—!”
The drenched bull screamed in agony. It collapsed, writhing and convulsing on the ground.
The pig stared in shock.
“What?! What’s wrong with you?!”
One inexplicable disaster after another.
The farm’s beasts descended into uncontrollable confusion.
Arwen knew why.
‘Hydra poison.’
Woojin had tainted the well earlier. The attempt to extinguish the flames had only accelerated the chaos.
She couldn’t help but marvel.
‘Wow… that’s truly underhanded.’
Cunning—like a fox sneaking into a farm.
There were many ways to torment an enemy, but she had never imagined something like this. Not even the doctrines of the dark-side clerics contained tactics this shameless.
‘…I’m really glad he’s on our side.’
She felt that anew.