Chapter 45. Hunting Dogs (2)
The leader commanding the monster legion.
Kai also agreed with Adrian’s plan to subjugate that leader.
Therefore, Kai inspected his equipment while waiting for Adrian.
Adrian had said that they would be taking one more person on the subjugation.
After he had waited for some time….
Adrian appeared in the distance.
Someone could also be seen following behind Adrian like a baby duck.
It was a tiny woman trotting closely behind Adrian as though he were the mother duck.
“Lady Seraphia...?”
It was none other than Seraphia.
“Oh, Sir Kai. You’re already here.”
“Why are you here, Lady Seraphia...?”
“Well, you see….”
“Seraphia will accompany us on this subjugation.”
“What...?”
“That’s what we decided.”
Seraphia gave him a bashful smile and asked him to take good care of her.
However, Kai had absolutely no intention of accepting it.
Kai raised his eyes sharply and questioned Adrian.
“What are you planning?”
“I already told you. I plan to subjugate the leader of the legion.”
“Then why are you taking Lady Seraphia?”
“Because we need Seraphia’s help.”
“Will the two of us not be enough?”
“No.”
Adrian’s answer was as firm and sharp as a blade.
“Then take the soldiers with us instead.”
“Taking the soldiers would be pointless. They wouldn’t even serve as meat shields.”
“Is the leader of the legion truly that powerful?”
“Yes. So powerful that victory wouldn’t be guaranteed even if you and I fought with everything we had.”
“I should tell you that I have now—”
“The same applies even though you’ve taken your first step into the realm of a Master.”
“You….knew?”
Kai was momentarily rendered speechless.
After all, it was extremely rare for someone to recognize another person’s realm at a glance.
There was only one situation in which that was possible.
It happened when someone several levels stronger assessed the realm of someone weaker.
In other words, it implied that Adrian was several levels stronger than Kai.
“That’s why Seraphia’s help is essential if we want to subjugate the leader of the legion.”
Adrian’s ensuing words were as firm and sharp as a blade.
Seraphia clenched both fists and declared that she would do her best at anything they asked of her.
Seeing her like that, Kai swallowed a groan before speaking calmly.
“Who exactly is this leader of the legion?”
That was one matter, and this was another.
Kai had no intention of moving until Adrian provided him with a reasonable explanation.
In the end, Adrian sighed quietly as though admitting defeat and answered.
“A Lycanthrope.”
Lycanthrope.
The word was formed from Lycos, meaning wolf….
And Anthropos, meaning human.
Together, the two words meant “werewolf”.
Numerous theories circulated regarding the origins of werewolves. They were humans infected after being bitten by wolves.
No, they were hybrids of humans and wolves.
-Nonsense! They were beings created through a mage’s curse.
-What utter rubbish! They were the result of a black mage’s failed attempt to create undead.
The theories never reached a consensus and instead diverged, producing numerous legends and folktales throughout the continent.
However, a new biological classification known as the “Monster Kingdom” eventually emerged.
Ultimately, scholars concluded that werewolves were humans who had undergone “monsterization”.
According to the theory, a human who could no longer endure starvation ate monster meat, succumbed to its madness, and transformed into the monster known as a werewolf.
That was currently accepted as common knowledge throughout the continent.
It was also something the Coalition Forces would later accept as obvious fact.
At least until the Archmage of the Coalition Forces appeared.
The Archmage of the Coalition Forces proposed an opinion that differed somewhat from conventional wisdom.
The Commander of the Beast Legion—the Lycanthrope.
She claimed that he had nothing whatsoever to do with monsters.
In other words, monster influence had played no part in his transformation into a Lycanthrope.
—It was probably a mental illness.
The Archmage called it “Lycanthropy”.
Simply put, it was a mental illness in which a person believed themselves to be a wolf rather than a human.
However, mental illness alone could not transform a human into a wolf.
If such a thing were possible, it would be more accurate to call it a superpower rather than a mental illness.
Therefore, no one in the Coalition Forces believed the Archmage’s theory.
Not until Ian said those words.
—Kai wasn’t resurrected as a Death Knight.
Ian said that Kai had transformed himself into a Lich through his own will.
Kai had turned himself into an undead creature without possessing any knowledge of magic.
He had transcended the laws of the world through sheer willpower.
If that was possible, how could they declare that altering one’s genes was impossible?
In reality, intense human belief possessed the ability to bring nonexistent things into existence.
The Placebo Effect, in which a patient’s condition improved because they believed a completely ineffective substance was genuine medicine.
Phantom Pain, in which someone experienced pain in a body part that had been severed and no longer physically existed.
False Pregnancy, in which an intense desire for a child caused the body to exhibit signs of pregnancy.
Intense and desperate human belief could transcend ontological arguments in this manner.
It was not easy, but it was by no means impossible.
Aura was the manifestation of such transcendent beliefs.
That was why Aura could draw forth things that existed only within an individual’s imagination and forcibly manifest them in reality.
It was also why only humans could wield the power of Aura.
Just as the Archmage had claimed, the Lycanthrope was not a monster.
He was a human who had undergone a transformation through the “will” created by mental illness.
However….
The one who ultimately proved the Archmage’s theory correct was the “Emperor”.
The Emperor extracted the Lycanthrope’s Transformation Factor.
He then injected it into other humans.
He did not stop there. He even committed the atrocity of forcing the Lycanthrope to impregnate enslaved human women.
The Lycanthrope was ultimately nothing more than a transformed human.
The Emperor had conceived the deranged idea that this meant it might be capable of reproducing with humans.
The Archmage of the Coalition Forces also concluded that it was possible.
The Lycanthrope was a subspecies belonging to the same species as humans, meaning that it could interbreed and reproduce with them.
However, while the Archmage of the Coalition Forces proved it through “theory”, the Emperor of the Empire proved it through “experimentation”.
And this was the background behind the birth of….
The horrific and atrocious “Beast Legion” known as the Werebeasts.
Werewolves, the direct descendants of the Lycanthrope.
Weretigers, conceived with tigers.
Werebears, conceived with bears.
Werefoxes, conceived with foxes, and many more.
The Werebeasts could exhibit strength and speed far surpassing those of humans.
With senses and recovery abilities superior to those of humans, they mercilessly trampled the Coalition Forces and the continent.
The Werebeasts belonging to the Beast Legion possessed strength and ferocity that ordinary monsters could not even begin to match.
And all these circumstances pointed to one conclusion.
‘The Emperor’s experiments are already complete.’
It meant that the Emperor had completed all his experiments by this point in time.
The Emperor was currently using the extracted Transformation Factor to cultivate the Beast Legion within the underground labyrinth beneath the Imperial Palace.
After the experiments were completed, he made the Lycanthrope submit to the Monarch of Beasts and released it onto the continent.
Otherwise, there was no reason for the Lycanthrope to be here.
‘He was already preparing this far back….’
The Emperor’s meticulousness and wickedness were enough to send a chill down my spine.
It appeared that I also needed to act with greater haste.
I needed to find Ian sooner, establish the Coalition Forces sooner, and develop the power and forces necessary to oppose the Emperor and the Empire sooner.
‘First, the Lycanthrope.’
It would have been ideal if this were before the Emperor captured the Lycanthrope, but nothing could be done about something that had already happened.
For now, subjugating the Lycanthrope was the best course of action. That alone would greatly weaken the Beast Legion.
Even in my previous life, the Coalition Forces had suffered tremendous losses because of the Lycanthrope.
But what if we subjugated the Lycanthrope here and now?
‘We can prevent those losses.’
However, the Lycanthrope would not readily reveal itself.
‘It must be wary of me.’
It had witnessed Dragon Rage Explosion [E].
That attack had incinerated half of the monster legion. It was a threatening skill powerful enough to injure even the Monarch of Beasts.
Having witnessed everything through the legion, the Lycanthrope was currently more wary of me than anyone else.
As long as I was present, the Lycanthrope would not reveal itself easily.
“Seraphia.”
“....Y-Yes!”
“You’ll be the bait.”
Therefore, we needed to use Seraphia as bait to lure out the Lycanthrope.
“M-Me...?”
“Yes.”
The Lycanthrope possessed an extremely powerful reproductive urge.
More precisely, the Emperor had designed him that way.
And because he was ultimately a transformed human rather than a monster, his reproductive urges were directed toward humans.
‘That must also be why he mobilized the legion to attack the County this time.’
He had been targeting the women living within the County.
The same thing had probably happened in my previous life.
I did not know what had happened back then, but this time, he had failed to achieve anything because of me.
Even so, the Lycanthrope would not give up so easily.
The harsh northern environment was sparsely populated.
It would not be easy for him to find humans upon whom he could satisfy his reproductive urges.
Therefore, we would use Seraphia as bait and lure the Lycanthrope—
“Absolutely not!!”
....Well, I expected this.
When I turned my head, Kai was shouting at me with the face of a vengeful demon.
Anyone could see that Kai was vehemently opposed to my plan to use Seraphia as bait.
He lived and died for Seraphia, so his reaction was hardly surprising.
I had secretly been waiting to see when he would erupt.
“We don’t know what will happen if we leave the Lycanthrope alone.”
“Even so—!”
“Even now, he’s probably breeding a larger legion and preparing to attack the County.”
When that happened, even I would not be able to stop it.
Just as the penalty for failing the Sudden Quest stated, the entire County would fall.
“We must locate and subjugate the Lycanthrope as quickly as possible.”
“Even so, we cannot use Lady Seraphia as bait! It’s far too dangerous! Most importantly, have you not even considered the possibility that the Lycanthrope might be female—?!”
“He’s male.”
According to the memories of my previous life, the Lycanthrope was unquestionably male.
Kai ground his teeth.
However, he offered no further argument.
It appeared that he believed me when I said the Lycanthrope was male.
Above all, Kai also understood that the Lycanthrope had to be subjugated as quickly as possible.
“Lady Seraphia does not necessarily have to be the bait.”
That was true.
Any human woman would suffice.
“As you said, we could use one of the maidservants or female residents of the County as bait.”
“Then why must it be Lady Seraphia—?”
“Because Seraphia is the most beautiful woman in the County.”
The Lycanthrope was a beast that had lost its rationality and retained only instinct.
He had a strong tendency to become obsessed with a woman’s appearance, and the more beautiful she was, the easier it would be to excite him.
Objectively speaking, Seraphia was exceptionally beautiful.
Ian had not called her “prettier than the Saintess” for no reason.
Though I did not agree at all.
“I’ll do it!”
Seraphia, who had remained silent until then, suddenly shouted.
“Just as Brother said, I’ll be the bait!”
“Lady Seraphia!”
“No, Sir Kai. This is something I must do.”
“It’s too dangerous!”
“I don’t mind the danger. I haven’t done anything until now. Not when Brother sacrificed himself while fighting the monster legion, nor when you pursued the monster legion alone.”
“That was my duty. It was something I was obligated to do as a knight—!”
“And this is my duty as well.”
Determination shone in Seraphia’s red eyes.
“I don’t want to remain alone in a safe place and merely wait for others to help me. I want to be useful too.”
“......”
“Just as both of you risked your lives for the County, I can also endure the danger for the County’s sake.”
Perhaps it was because of Seraphia’s unwavering resolve. After a long period of contemplation, Kai lowered his head.
“I will remain beside you and protect you without fail.... No matter what.”
“That won’t be possible.”
I immediately stopped him.
“He is currently in a state of extreme vigilance. And the Lycanthrope must also have seen you pursuing and slaughtering the monsters, Kai.”
“......”
“If you remain beside Seraphia, the Lycanthrope won’t approach her.”
Therefore, neither Kai nor I could remain beside Seraphia.
“Seraphia must be alone. At least until we lure out the Lycanthrope.”
“What if Lady Seraphia is injured...?”
“Then what?”
It could not be helped.
Kai’s expression immediately turned vicious.
The look and expression with which he growled at me made it clear that he would never accept that answer.
I wanted to leave him behind, but I could not.
Seraphia was one reason, but more importantly, it would be difficult to subjugate the Lycanthrope without Kai’s help.
However, Kai seemed completely unwilling to agree to a plan that exposed Seraphia to danger alone.
“If you’re that worried, you can dress as a woman too.”
“....?”
The anger vanished from Kai’s face and was instantly replaced by bewilderment.
Seraphia also reacted with a startled, “What?”
I casually ignored their reactions and continued.
“What matters is your outward appearance. And Kai, someone who looks like you....”
Flowing, long golden hair. Elegant facial features.
An appearance anyone would describe as extraordinarily handsome.
Even in my previous life, Kai had been widely renowned for his appearance throughout the Coalition Forces.
That was despite the fact that he had been an undead Lich.
“If you dress yourself up, you’ll probably excite the Lycanthrope. Dress as a woman and become bait alongside Seraphia.”
Kai stared at me as though he genuinely intended to kill me. His anger was even more intense than before.
His hand repeatedly tightened and loosened around the hilt of his sword.
A razor-sharp murderous intent boiled behind his deep blue eyes like water in a kettle.
But what else could he do?
If he wanted to remain beside Seraphia and protect her, then he had to do it.
“So, are you doing it or not?”
Kai’s answer had effectively already been decided.
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