“Wh-what are you doing?”

After recovering from his shock, Beast Tamer became both furious and anxious, glaring viciously at the demonic beast. He had painstakingly built up the atmosphere to its climax—how could it stall at the critical moment?

“This isn’t how you usually sound! How can you meow? Hurry up and show your king-of-demonic-beasts aura already!”

Beast Tamer clapped his hands and roared loudly, practically wishing he could replace the demonic beast himself and unleash that earthshaking roar.

“Meow~”

But the king of demonic beasts was still meowing.

And this meow...

Was even cuter.

“What the hell is going on?”

Tyron was also dumbfounded, but looking at the “king of demonic beasts” tense all over and cautiously backing away, he suddenly thought of something and muttered,

“Don’t tell me...”

“Hm? Whose pet is this? Taking it out for a walk without a leash? Where’s your public decency?”

A familiar voice rang beside Tyron’s ear.

Low, steady, almost heavenly.

Tyron turned his head and discovered that at some unknown moment, a man was already standing beside him.

The windbreaker fluttered sharply, its edges shaped like beast fangs. Savagery and elegance fused together in a strangely perfect harmony.

That face carried the coldness of a Slav, yet those sapphire-blue eyes held a softness and depth like polished gemstones.

And yet, for such a seemingly harmless man, the demonic beast hailed as a king could only let out soft, adorable cries under the instinctive terror overwhelming it.

Tyron did not find this unbelievable at all.

Because even a king among demonic beasts—when facing an existence revered as the Dark Emperor—how could it not tremble and kneel in fear?

“L-Lord Bruce?”

“My apologies, I came late. I didn’t expect my conversation with a certain someone to take longer than I imagined.”

Muen slightly raised the brim of his hat.

“You alright?”

“I...”

Tyron’s nose suddenly stung. As the gang boss who had dominated the Lower District for years, this was the first time in his life that seeing someone make an entrance had given him the urge to cry.

No, no, he couldn’t cry.

He absolutely couldn’t embarrass Lord Bruce.

“No. You... you arrived at exactly the right time.”

Tyron straightened his chest.

“That’s good to hear. Get some rest. I’ll finish dealing with this little matter first.”

After exchanging a few words with Tyron, Muen’s gaze shifted and finally landed on the man not far away.

“You are... Muen Campbell?”

Apparently, news of Muen’s disguise had already spread throughout the Salvation Society. The man recognized him immediately, his expression full of disbelief.

“How are you here? Third Seat should have personally gone after you already... How are you still alive?”

“Isn’t that obvious? That old woman failed.”

Muen smiled lightly.

“I’m not so easy to kill.”

“How is that possible... That was Third Seat, the Witch of Repentance herself. Even after personally making a move, she still failed...”

Beast Tamer gradually calmed down. After thinking for a moment, realization dawned on him.

“I understand now. Third Seat must have been distracted by something else for the moment and had no time to deal with you. Yes, that must be it!”

Otherwise, how could a Crowned fail to kill a mere fifth-rank warrior?

If he were Third Seat and let such a weak little bug escape, he would be so ashamed he’d kill himself on the spot.

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

It had to be luck.

This bastard’s luck really was absurdly good!

“Unfortunately, your good luck ends here!”

Beast Tamer sneered.

“Hm?”

Muen raised a brow.

“Your demonic beast already turned into that, and you still dare act arrogant?”

“I don’t know what method you used to make my Sikona become so strange, but surely you don’t think I only have one demonic beast beside me?”

Beast Tamer took out a strange short flute and blew hard into it.

Along with the crisp sound, the surrounding air suddenly turned freezing cold. A wolf-shaped demonic beast even more terrifying-looking than the previous one slowly paced out from the shadows.

“Another Dominion-rank demonic beast!”

Tyron blurted out instinctively.

“Heh, scared now, aren’t you?”

Beast Tamer smiled even more smugly.

“This Gulasto is different from the previous one. It’s famous for its savage nature and complete lack of emotion. It’s the purest cold-blooded hunter. The stronger the enemy, the more its bloodlust is stirred! It absolutely won’t be influenced by you!”

“Is that so?”

Muen rubbed his chin and nodded slightly.

“It does look quite frightening.”

“It’s too late to be afraid now!”

Beast Tamer pointed forward.

“Go, Gulasto! Roar! Show this ignorant human your power! I’ll make his head into a gift for Lady Witch of Repentance!”

The cold deepened further, like the dead of winter.

The gigantic silver-white wolf lowered its body. Steel-like fur rose upright one strand at a time along its back. Then it raised its head and unleashed a terrifying roar that shook heaven and earth—

“Woof!”

“???”

Beast Tamer froze in place like an ice sculpture standing upon a frozen plain.

A full thirty seconds later, he finally recovered from his daze and stared blankly at the powerful demonic beast he had always been so proud of.

“Gulasto... y-you, what’s wrong with you? You’re never like this normally! You’ve never barked at me like that before!”

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

“Meow. Meow. Meow.”

The two savage and ferocious kings of demonic beasts—one wagging its tail so hard it stirred violent winds, the other rolling around on the spot and exposing its not-at-all-soft belly.

The entire scene...

Became strangely...

Cute.

“Y-you... what exactly did you do?”

Beast Tamer finally began to panic.

Something was wrong.

Completely wrong.

Did this specially marked man from the intelligence reports also possess an ability to control demonic beasts greater than his own?

No, impossible. If he had such a monstrous ability, why was there not the slightest information about it?

“I didn’t do anything.”

Muen raised a finger and lightly pushed up the brim of his hat, revealing his eyes.

“I merely... made them a little more obedient.”

Darkness flowed within his pupils, deep as night.

Beast Tamer shuddered in horror and realized that at some point, the surroundings had already been swallowed by formless shadows. It felt as though he had suddenly been cast into a barren wasteland, sensing only coldness and loneliness penetrating into his soul.

Then, as if possessed, he slowly raised his head.

A black sun hung in the sky.

Coldly gazing down at him.

“You call yourself Beast Tamer?”

Beast Tamer abruptly came back to himself. The scenery around him returned to view, yet everything seemed stained by some kind of red.

He wiped at the corners of his eyes, only to discover that at some unknown moment, bloody tears had begun flowing from them. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

“Liya once told me that back in Belrand, she was attacked by one of Third Seat’s subordinates who called himself Cat Lover. Do you know him?” Muen asked.

“D-don’t compare me to someone like that.”

Beast Tamer’s lips trembled, yet he still answered blankly,

“That guy only steals house cats from other people and randomly releases them. He doesn’t care at all whether those cats can survive afterward. Someone like that doesn’t deserve to call himself an animal protector.”

“Oh?”

Muen raised a brow.

“And you do?”

“Of course! Only I can give these pitiful animals true love! Only I can give them warmth and a home! I’m the one who truly loves animals!”

Not only his lips—Beast Tamer’s entire body was trembling.

He did not understand why he was saying these things to an enemy. Perhaps because after witnessing that kind of possible existence, even his soul no longer possessed the courage to resist.

Or perhaps, from the very moment he looked directly at that existence, his life had already begun its countdown.

“I see...”

Muen rubbed his chin. His smile suddenly became “gentle.”

“You said earlier that your favorite stories are the ones that aren’t cliché, right?”

“Y-you... what are you trying to do?”

Beast Tamer shivered violently. A terrible premonition suddenly rose within him, yet his legs felt heavy as lead, utterly incapable of fleeing.

“Nothing much.”

Muen smiled.

“It’s just that unlike you, I happen to be rather fond of certain cliché story developments.”

“S-so?”

“So... a person who loves animals being devoured alive by the very creatures he loves... that counts as a rather classically ironic plotline too, wouldn’t you say?”

“...”

Beast Tamer’s eye twitched. He glanced toward the demonic beast from the corner of his eye.

“N-no way. My little darlings would never attack me. Do you know how much love I poured into them?”

“I don’t know, but I think...”

Muen’s pupils suddenly deepened once more.

“For them, instinct is probably something far more compelling than love.”

“ROAR!”

The demonic beasts roared.

This time,

Their roars were no longer soft and adorable.

...

Two minutes later, the wolf-shaped demonic beast named Gulasto licked the blood from the corner of its mouth and obediently lay beside Muen, allowing him to stroke its fur.

Meanwhile, Sikona’s gaze looked deeply aggrieved.

Of course, this was not because Muen preferred dogs and was biased. It was because most of the lion-shaped demonic beast’s body was covered in scales and spikes, making its texture truly terrible to touch.

“Alright, alright, go play somewhere else.”

After dealing with Beast Tamer—and conveniently taking care of the controlled soldiers around the area as well—Muen finally turned toward Tyron.

“I-I won’t tell anyone the name I heard just now!”

Tyron hurriedly raised both hands.

“I have no intention of silencing witnesses.”

Muen sighed and asked,

“How many men do you still have left at the moment?”

“P-probably a few hundred.”

Tyron glanced at the two demonic beasts that were even more obedient than they had been in front of Beast Tamer. Then he thought about that name whose fame within the Kingdom was second only to the Saintess these days—even if the fame was negative...

And suddenly felt that the thigh he had latched onto might be absurdly thick.

So his attitude became even more respectful, to the point he practically wanted to transform into a koala and cling onto Muen.

“Although it sounds like we’ve lost a lot of people, most of them were only separated or lost contact because everything happened so suddenly. If we have time to gather everyone together, there should still be more.”

“Very good.”

Muen took out a pocket watch and glanced at it.

“I’ll give you five hours. Before dawn, gather as many people as you can. The more, the better.”

“That’s possible, but...”

Tyron scratched his head in confusion.

“What does Lord Bruce need so urgently?”

“Nothing much.”

Muen revealed a smile, then pinched his thumb and forefinger together slightly.

“I just need you all... to help with a small favor.”