Chapter 49

Strength—and cunning.

Since ancient times, people have weighed the value of these two virtues against each other, like in the tales of David and Goliath, or Odysseus and Polyphemus.

Those stories all share the same lesson.

‘The more cunning one is the more dangerous.’

That was why Woojin chose the witch over the iron mask as his priority. The witch’s cunning was a more dangerous ability than brute force.

“Grrr…”

The spotted panther lowered its stance, ready to pounce at any moment. It had once been the witch. But now, not even a trace of that cunning remained. Only the overwhelming strength and feral instinct of a magical beast lingered.

Did that make it more dangerous—or weaker?

‘…I can’t jump to conclusions.’

The presence radiating from the panther was anything but ordinary. It carried the aura unique to high-grade magical beasts. Standing atop the rooftop, Woojin watched its movements carefully.

Paang!

Another firework burst from the banquet hall. As if taking it as a signal, the panther kicked off the ground and slashed its claws toward him.

Without his machete, he had to handle it barehanded. Woojin deflected the claws with the back of his hand.

Kkagaak—!

The claws scraped against his scaled skin, producing a grating screech. The moment Woojin thrust out his fist to counterattack, the panther instantly withdrew and landed on another rooftop.

‘Instant acceleration.’

A fairly dangerous ability—bursting into several times its speed in a single instant.

Black energy coiled around the panther’s claws. As it swung both forelegs with force, elongated blades formed from each claw.

Dark slashes rushed toward him.

Woojin leapt to a neighboring building.

Jjeojeojeok!!

The rooftop he had just been standing on was sliced into neat square chunks like tofu, collapsing instantly.

‘Shadow Blades.’

An ability that fired dark energy like cutting edges.

Seeing it, Woojin realized the panther’s true identity.

‘A Night-Shadow Panther.’

A rare and powerful magical beast. A monster only briefly mentioned in the Records of the Demon Realm. Even Woojin had rarely encountered one.

A hypothesis formed.

‘The witch’s transformation… can imitate not only a magical beast’s appearance but also its inherent abilities.’

Naturally, another question followed.

‘…What exactly is the nature of that transformation?’

The others he had faced earlier possessed grotesque abilities too, but there were at least precedents he could recall.

The witch’s ability, however, felt entirely alien.

The moment he recognized that, a subtle sense of discomfort crept in.

‘Let’s try capturing it.’

He had made a promise to Cindy, after all. If possible, it would be best to capture the panther alive.

The problem was time.

Even if he captured it, he had no leisure to personally transport it back to the estate. At this very moment, the iron mask was likely fleeing toward the outskirts of the city.

Moreover, the panther’s strength was no joke.

Jjeok, jjeojeok—!

Black blades continued to fly without pause. Woojin dodged them busily while calculating in his mind.

…Pshhh—

Smoke suddenly rose from the panther’s claws. The dark aura was fading. In its relentless assault, it had exhausted its Shadow Blades.

At the same time, Woojin reached a conclusion.

‘Alright. Decision made.’

A plan came to mind—one he couldn’t use on the witch in human form, but one that would be effective against a magical beast.

Now all that remained was to turn imagination into reality.

He needed to finish this quickly.

Woojin poured strength into the soles of his feet.

Kkwajik!

The wooden planks beneath him shattered.

At the same instant, he launched himself toward the panther with full force—his body flying like a bullet.

“Gwaaak?!”

The panther let out a startled cry.

It activated its acceleration ability to retreat, but when Woojin leapt again, the distance it had barely created vanished in an instant.

The panther slashed with its forepaw.

Woojin lowered his body, slipping beneath the attack. He drove forward under its foreleg, aiming for its flank.

The panther hurriedly twisted its body to follow his movement.

But Woojin had already pushed off the ground, leaping high. He extended both arms and planted his hands on the panther’s back as if vaulting over a pommel horse.

Thud.

…Woojin mounted the panther.

“Kyaooo—!”

Naturally, the panther did not stay still.

Enraged, it thrashed wildly—leaping, rolling, and tearing up everything around it.

Bang! Pababang!

Fireworks still exploded from the banquet hall.

Citizens out for a night stroll to admire the spectacle stared in shock at the sight of a rampaging magical panther.

“…Kyaaaah!”
“Guards! Call the guards!”

Screams echoed everywhere.

The berserk panther and the continuing fireworks—it was utter chaos.

Fortunately, the panther soon changed tactics. It seemed to realize that thrashing alone wouldn’t shake Woojin off.

It needed acceleration.

Just as the black panther prepared to leap—

“…Not that way.”

Muttering softly, Woojin seared the panther’s left flank with lightning.

Startled by the intense pain, the panther twisted its body in the opposite direction.

Woojin nodded in satisfaction.

“That’s it.”

When he had nothing better to do in the Demon Realm, he would sometimes do this for fun. Even after a long time, his touch hadn’t dulled.

Instead of a whip, he used lightning. Grabbing the scruff of the panther’s neck like reins and searing it when necessary, he managed—more or less—to control its direction.

The problem was the creature’s absurd speed.

Tung!

Using its acceleration ability, the spotted panther vaulted across rooftops. It was straining with all its might to shake the human off its back. Woojin’s hair and clothes whipped violently in the wind like a banner.

Clinging stubbornly to the hide on its back, he endured—while simultaneously expanding his senses, searching for the iron mask somewhere in the city.

‘Once we circle this area, I should be able to pick up his presence.’

Hunting—and tracking.

Capable predators each possess an ability to locate prey. An owl’s night vision, a wolf’s keen sense of smell, a bat’s exceptional hearing…

Woojin’s senses surpassed them all. In daily life, he suppressed them because they were disruptive—but when necessary, he unleashed his five senses to trace his quarry.

“…There.”

Bzzzt!!

He sent another surge of lightning into the panther.

Instinctively, it veered in a new direction. What had begun as an attempt to throw him off had long since shifted into something else.

It had no choice. If it didn’t move in the direction he wanted, lightning would keep scorching its body. No matter how many times it endured it, the pain never grew familiar.

Paang!

The panther accelerated again, leaping across rooftops. Below, a citizen watching the fireworks blinked in confusion.

“…Did something just pass by?”
“A bird?”
“Birds fly at night?”
“Then it must’ve been a bat.”

They would never know the truth.

To the average citizen, the panther was just another fleeting blur in the night. But to someone else, it meant something entirely different.

Far away… in a shadowed back alley, the iron mask—who had been catching his breath—stiffened in shock.

Their eyes met.

Woojin grinned and pointed at him.

“Stay right there.”

The iron mask immediately dashed toward the outer wall. Though told to stop, he moved even faster, climbing the fortification.

He clearly intended to cross the wall and flee outside the frontier city.

From Woojin’s perspective, that was actually convenient. He had already drawn plenty of attention from the guards while wrestling the panther.

‘The problem is… how do I get over that wall?’

There was no way he could stroll out the gate openly with a magical beast in tow. That was likely why the iron mask had chosen that escape route.

Woojin’s answer was simple.

‘Jump it.’

He rummaged inside his coat and pulled out a small notebook. With the wind whipping the pages, he pressed them down with his fingers. There wasn’t much written inside, so he quickly found the page he wanted.

A sheet filled with strange diagrams and symbols.

Placing his palm on it, he focused.

One by one, the inscriptions glowed pale green.

Tick, tidiing—

The characters rearranged themselves in midair following his gestures. Using Enoch’s knowledge, he cast the spell.

“…Pluma, Gresus.”

Feather Step.

A spell that lightened and quickened the body.

The target, however, was the panther.

Startled by the sudden change, the beast hesitated—then, as if understanding, pushed its speed even higher.

Bang, paang!

Accelerating repeatedly, it shot forward.

Without even being commanded, it headed straight toward the outer wall.

Woojin could roughly guess why.

‘It must find staying in the frontier city unpleasant.’

Magical beasts instinctively avoided places crowded with humans—and the fireworks were deafening.

Explosions thundered overhead as the finale approached. Just how many mages and gold coins had been burned for a single banquet?

With the dazzling display at its back, the panther kicked off the ground with full force.

Taaang!

The black panther soared high into the sky.

For a moment, Woojin worried they might crash into the wall—but they had more than enough height. The frontier city’s wall wasn’t particularly tall.

The panther landed lightly atop it, then leapt once more—into the Demon Realm beyond.

‘Rex needs to step up his game.’

So thinking, he let the panther carry him—

And soon, the dark-side priest entered his sight.

In a forest filled with bleached, withered trees, the iron mask stood resolutely, as if having made up his mind. He must have realized there was no escape.

Time to settle what had been postponed.

Bzzzzzt!!

“Gwaaaargh—!!”

Grabbing the panther’s head, Woojin unleashed crimson lightning relentlessly.

The panther screamed endlessly before finally losing consciousness and going limp.

‘Business is business.’

It had been fun riding it—but inside this beast was the wicked witch. To properly deal with the iron mask, he had to handle her first.

Killing her could wait. He scorched her just enough to leave her thoroughly incapacitated.

Gradually, the panther’s body began to shrink.

Pshhhhh—

Like a punctured soccer ball, it deflated and shrank smaller and smaller.

The magical beast reverted to the witch.

Woojin blinked in faint surprise.

‘…What the hell is this?’

Her appearance was alien. Her skin was slick like a seal’s hide, covered in mottled spots… and there were webs between her fingers.

So this was her true form.

‘Was she never human to begin with?’

He decided to think about it later. For now, he tossed the unconscious witch aside. After that dose of lightning, she would be out for at least half a day.

Then he walked toward his final prey.

Conveniently, the iron mask had waited the entire time while Woojin finished his task.

The iron mask spoke politely.

“O noble Gatekeeper of the Night… what mistake have we committed? I wish to know the reason for our culling.”

…What was he talking about all of a sudden?

Woojin paused, recalling the dying words of the man he had killed earlier.

‘Please—forgive us!’

That one had begged too—just like the iron mask now. As if addressing a superior.

‘…Do they think I’m one of the dark-side priests?’

All of Woojin’s abilities originated from inner cores. In essence, that made him not so different from them.

To an outside observer, he resembled a dark-side priest far more than a member of the orthodox order. Scales covering his hands, lightning used to incapacitate the witch—and a rather impressive mask to top it off.

From their perspective, he must appear to be some distant superior.

‘Can I use this?’

Time to be cunning.