The moment Bakar avoided his gaze, a pure white blade flew at him.

Bakar, who had instinctively avoided his gaze, immediately thought 'oops' and looked at his opponent again, and he was barely able to block the half-blade that was flying at him.

Clang!

As soon as he struck the blade, a kick flew at him.

It was a threatening attack that spun around in the direction he had struck the sword and struck his head with its heel.

If he had been hit in the temple, he might have lost consciousness.

Thwack!

Bakar immediately raised his arm and blocked it with his shoulder, but a pain as if his bone were breaking washed over him.

"Keuk!"

He came to his senses with a jolt.

'A mana user!'

Bakar immediately backed away.

And then he glared at his opponent with his glistening, beast-like eyes.

He was emitting a strange red light even in the darkness.

At that moment, the cloud that had been covering the moon moved away, and a faint moonlight poured down.

The moon that had escaped the clouds shone on the man.

Only then could Bakar see the man's face properly, and he was looking at him with a blank expression, his head tilted at an angle.

Bakar said in a growling voice.

"Who are you?"

The man who was staring at Bakar blankly muttered.

"A beast is talking."

"What?"

"A guy who doesn't even know gratitude is a beast, what else? You're so ugly. You act as you look."

At his relaxed attitude, Bakar quickly rolled his head.

'An aura user?'

Bakar immediately detected the mana flowing from the guy.

He couldn't feel any mana.

That meant that the movements he had shown so far were the pure power of his body, without using mana.

And yet he was so fast and strong.

He was no ordinary guy.

Bakar spoke to buy time to recover his shoulder.

"My name is Bakar the Mad Spider. I am the leader of the Black Arachne. Who are you?"

"...."

"Did the villagers send you? I thought an old man had disappeared a few days ago. It wasn't a slip and fall. Did you go and tell on me?"

The man picked his ear with the hand that was not holding the sword and muttered.

"What are you talking about?"

And then he raised the tip of the sword he had been holding down.

The moment the smoothly cut cross-section of the sword sparkled in the moonlight, the guy disappeared.

'He's coming!'

It was a thrust.

Kang!

Bakar struck the thrust upwards by a hair's breadth.

No, he thought he had struck it.

Because he had deflected the half-sword from a distance where it couldn't reach.

But, a red aura suddenly shot up from the half-sword and pierced Bakar's shoulder.

He had even twisted his body at the last moment to avoid having his neck pierced.

"...!"

The red aura, as Bakar struck the sword upwards, cut upwards through Bakar's shoulder and came out.

Swish!

Blood gushed out.

His left arm lost its strength and dangled, as if the tendons had been cut.

Bakar was horrified.

'...Aura! How!'

He definitely didn't have any mana.

But his opponent charged without giving him a chance to question it.

The red aura flashed in the darkness.

Bakar fought back with all his might.

Kaaang!

The first blow.

It shattered Bakar's sword.

The second blow that followed.

It cut off the arm that was holding the sword.

The final, third blow.

It pierced his stomach.

"Keuk...!"

The red aura seemed to burn his insides.

The man kicked Bakar, who was pierced by the sword, and pulled out the sword.

Bakar fell backwards, spitting out red blood.

One arm was completely cut off, and his intestines were spilling out of his stomach.

Bakar raised his head and looked at the red-eyed man with a blank expression.

He still had a dumbfounded look on his face, as if he couldn't understand.

"How..."

Thump. Thump.

The red-eyed man approached and looked down at Bakar, and then he slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

It was a smile whose meaning could not be understood.

For a moment, the image of a devil flashed across his face.

Bakar asked.

"...You. Are you a follower of Ketel?"

If it wasn't mana, it was divine power.

And since it was an ominous crimson aura, it was a simple guess that he was a follower of Ketel.

The red-eyed man replied in an indifferent tone.

"You could say that."

"Ha... hahaha..."

A hollow laugh escaped him.

"Was Ketel really watching? Is this the divine punishment she has given me!"

"What are you talking about?"

The man kicked Bakar's chin with a blank expression.

"Keuk!"

Bakar rolled on the ground a couple of times, and then he suddenly shot up and gulped down a potion containing a black liquid.

Ashuban watched with a 'what is this bastard doing now' expression.

"Grrr..."

A beast's cry came from the mouth of Bakar, who had drunk the potion.

Blood mixed with a black aura flowed from his mouth.

Bakar's eyes were completely dyed a turbid black, and a black aura began to cover him.

"Oh. What's this now."

Ashuban watched the scene with curious eyes, his half-sword slung over his shoulder.

Bakar crouched down like a beast.

Black liquid flowed from his eyes like tears.

Crack—

With a gruesome sound of bones breaking, his body swelled.

Fur grew all over his body, and black claws grew from his dangling left hand.

He looked more like a magical beast than a person.

—Kyaooo!

The magical beast's blood-curdling roar echoed in the night sky.

Ashuban clapped his hands.

"Wow... he's a real beast."

Bakar shouted as if in a frenzy.

His voice was now also turbid, as if it were half that of a magical beast.

"The blue heaven is already dead. The dark heaven will come!"

With the shout, Bakar crouched down and prepared to charge.

His swollen muscles twitched as if they were about to burst.

Ashuban, who saw this, also brought the sword he had been holding over his shoulder to his side.

The red, glistening sword became hazy and then began to emit a faint light.

Red and black gazes met.

The air, thick with killing intent, flowed between them.

The moment the cloud covered the moon, the two strange beings passed each other.

For a very short moment, it seemed that the moonlight had sparkled.

The two, after passing each other, stood still like statues for a moment.

Ashuban muttered, flicking the black blood off his sword.

"Moonlight Sword. First Form. Half Moon."

At the same time, Bakar's upper body slid down and poured onto the ground.

Hearing the dull sound of flesh hitting the ground, Ashuban muttered softly.

"So damn cool."

***

"Hmm..."

I poked Bakar, who had turned into a half-magical beast, with my sword and observed his reaction.

Every time I poked him, his painful cry echoed.

Somehow, he was still alive even though his upper and lower body were separated.

I poked his shoulder and asked.

"What were you blabbering about earlier? What's coming?"

But he had already lost his reason and was just howling like a beast, unable to speak human language.

He was a beast-like guy, a beast-like guy—and now he had really become a beast.

Even though his upper and lower body were separated, he was writhing with all his might.

"Ugh, disgusting."

It wasn't a pleasant sight, so I poked him a few times with a finger art using ice art, and his movements gradually slowed down and then stopped.

But his eyes were still blinking, so I thought he might move again if he thawed.

"What did you eat?"

I stood up and used starlight to cleanly evaporate the blood on my sword, and then I sheathed it.

And then I walked over to where he had been and picked up the glass bottle he had been gulping down and looked at it.

A small amount of black liquid remained inside.

I was suddenly reminded of the flute-playing magician.

That guy had also gulped down a black potion like an addict.

"Is it a similar kind?"

But there was a difference.

The flute-playing magician had died cleanly.

He hadn't turned into a beast.

The Heavenly Demon, who had been watching silently, said.

[Hmm. It's like seeing a demon who has learned a strange demonic art.]

I scratched my head and muttered.

"I don't know about this either. Is it a type of black magic?"

[Do you remember what he shouted before he died?]

"I think he said something about the blue sky dying and something coming."

[He said the dark heaven would come. It seems he believes in some religion.]

"...Dark heaven? Is that a trend these days? Is it a religion of black magicians?"

[How would I know? Investigate it.]

"Hmm."

The Heavenly Demon let out a low laugh, as if he found something amusing.

[Just when I was getting bored, something new comes up. A half-man, half-beast. It was a good thing I came.]

At that moment, I heard the rustling of leaves, and Shushruta landed nearby.

"Is it over?"

I nodded and threw the potion bottle I was holding to Shushruta.

Shushruta, who had caught it lightly, was told by me.

"Can you investigate the ingredients of that? That guy suddenly turned into a half-man, half-beast after drinking it."

Shushruta looked at the contents for a moment and then put it in her bosom.

"Of course. There is nothing that I, Shushruta the Shadowless Phantom Thief, cannot find out."

"While you're at it, investigate the religion that has the word 'dark heaven' in it. You heard what this guy said earlier, right?"

Shushruta nodded.

"He said the dark sky would come. I will investigate that as well."

"Yes, please do."

As I was talking with Shushruta, the villagers who had been hiding in the darkness slowly came out into the light.

They were all injured and hurt somewhere.

Among them was the old man who had come to the hideout.

It seems Shushruta had brought him, as the situation was being cleared up.

"Thank you, thank you, sir."

The old man approached me and bowed his head.

I just nodded.

When the old man bowed to me, the villagers, who had finally grasped the situation, also came up to me and thanked me, bowing their heads as if they would touch the ground.

Not a few of them were shedding tears.

But this wasn't a salvation, it was just a simple request.

I was not in a position to receive thanks, nor was there any reason to, so I ignored their endless thanks and walked to one side.

There was the half-man, half-beast, who was slowly starting to wriggle again.

I kicked the guy and said.

"This guy. He's still alive. I think he'll finally die if we burn him with fire."

I gave the people who were staring at me blankly a choice.

"You have two choices. First, to watch him burn to death painfully, impaled on a skewer. Second, to just burn him roughly and then bury him in the ground. What will you do?"

It was quiet for a moment, and then someone's shout was heard.

"He must be impaled on a skewer!"

Starting with that, people agreed with angry voices.

I accepted that opinion and had them bring a long skewer, and then I skewered the writhing half-man, half-beast like a barbecue and set it on fire with a blue flame.

It would not go out until he turned to ash.

Fwoosh—

The guy screamed as he burned.

They say that burning at the stake is that painful.

The villagers threw stones at him.

"Wow... it's burning well."

I watched the scene for a moment...

While the people were distracted by throwing stones, I quietly left the village.

The old man followed me.

I walked to what was presumed to be the entrance of the village and then took out a request form and a fountain pen.

"I would like you to sign this to confirm that the request has been successfully completed."

"Yes. Of course."

The old man signed with a trembling hand.

And then he bowed his head deeply again.

"Thank you very much, sir."

I ignored the old man's thanks and said what I had to say.

"It was the Sherwood Mercenary Corps. Clean and hot work. Please come again."

I was about to leave the village... and then I looked at the old man who was still bowing his head.

"Old man. May I ask you something?"

The old man raised his head.

"Please ask."

"If you find an injured person in the forest next time, will you save him?"

The old man gave a troubled smile.

"Well. That's a difficult question to answer."

The old man glanced at the people who were throwing stones and said bitterly.

"I don't know about me, but the villagers will probably make a different choice than before."

"...I see."

I let out a short sigh, and then I left the village, leaving behind the blue burning half-man, half-beast and the villagers who were crying and throwing stones at him.

It was a night of hazy moonlight.

(End of Chapter)