Isaac was generally known to be an easygoing and laid-back person, but in truth, his intuition in certain areas was remarkably sharp. His instincts regarding danger, knowing exactly what was threatening and what he needed to avoid, were exceptionally well-developed. It was a natural consequence of having to navigate a harsh world entirely on his own since childhood.

Up until now, that intuition had flared up intensely a couple of times, and mildly on several other occasions, but it had never once been wrong. Its accuracy was practically 100%; perhaps it was a perk of the witch’s blood flowing in his veins.

And right now.

For the first time in a long while, that intuition was blaring. In fact, it was stronger and clearer than anything he had ever felt in his life.

To feel such an intense, visceral sensation of being ‘hunted.’

It felt exactly as though a massive, house-sized fighting hound was chasing him at terrifying speed, snapping just a handspan behind his heels. Because it was completely silent, without even the sound of footsteps, he couldn’t guess how close it was. It felt like the exact moment he turned his head to check, its jaws would clamp down and crush his neck. Combined with a feeling that the hound’s stamina was so boundless it would never, ever tire out before he did…… ‘Mom, I’m scared to death.’

‘Hey…… is there any way I can use a wish to make him lose only the specific parts of his memory that I want?’

Sitting slumped on the floor, clutching his forehead for a long time, Isaac suddenly mumbled the question out loud. The three cats, who were washing their faces by the window where the red dawn was breaking, overlooking the graveyard in the front yard, rolled their large eyes and looked at him.

『I mean, you could.』

『But don’t you think it would be a bit suspicious if his memory had random, moth-eaten holes in it?』

『That handsome guy isn’t exactly the dense type, is he? There’s no way he wouldn’t notice.』

‘…….’

No. That method won’t work. That man was terrifyingly sharp and perceptive. Conversations and situations flow logically; if a few specific details were vaguely blurred, especially for a man who had likely never experienced forgetfulness in his life, he would suspect something was wrong ninety-nine times out of a hundred.

『Just get your hands on the tinderbox. Like we said, once you have that, everything is solved!』

『We literally spoon-feed him the answer, and he still doesn’t get it.』

『We spoon-feed it to him, and he acts like he wants to spit it out.』

Glaring exhaustedly at the chattering cats, Isaac asked another question.

‘Can’t I just use a wish and ask you to bring the tinderbox to me?’

All three cats clamped their mouths shut. Seeing their massive eyes narrow into half-moons, Isaac figured he wasn’t going to get a helpful response.

『You do know that magic cannot be cast upon an object that sits at a higher tier than the magical tool casting it, right?』

『You at least know that the tinderbox is a far more precious treasure than the flint, right?』

『Oh, our Manbang. To think our Manbang, even as a half-witch, lacks such basic common sense. Sigh, it feels like leaving a toddler by the water. Honestly.』

‘……. Right, fine. Let’s say I earn a massive feat and get that damn tinderbox as a reward. I need help to earn that feat. If I ask you to bring me the culprit who murdered Lord Leon, that would work, right?’

At the sudden thought that flashed through his mind, Isaac snapped his fingers and raised his head. It was a sudden idea, but a genuinely good one. ‘Why didn’t I think of this earlier?’

However, even at this brilliant proposition, the cats simply rolled their eyes, looking utterly unimpressed.

『Look here, Manbang.』

‘Stop calling me that. Anyway, what is it? Tell me.’

『Your wishes can only be made on the night of the new moon, right?』

‘Right, exactly.’

「But during the new moon, you have to spend the entire night with that handsome guy, right? And you have to use a wish to make him forget your face, which means you only have one usable wish left.」

‘……That’s true.’

『So, are you planning to summon the killer to the exact same room where that handsome guy is sitting?』

‘…….’

‘I can’t do that……’ The whole point of catching the culprit was to present him to the King to earn a reward, which meant Isaac’s identity would naturally be exposed to the Prince. No, absolutely not.

‘Can’t I just ask you to tie the guy up and drop him in my room here?’

『And what about your roommate who lives with you?』

『Oh my, look how selfish he is. Telling us to drop an unidentified murderer in the same room as his colleague.』 Chitter, chatter, chitter, chatter.

‘Then I can just rent a different room beforehand and have you lock him in there.’

『But unless you catch him red-handed at the scene, how are you going to prove that an unidentified person is actually the culprit of that specific incident?』

‘…….’

It was strange. These guys usually weren’t this sharp, so why were they being so analytical and logical all of a sudden…..? Maybe my brain just isn’t working properly because I’m so exhausted……

His body and mind shredded to pieces, Isaac’s shoulders slumped. What kind of wish had this many restrictions? Looking at it now, it seemed the only thing he could consistently use it for was brewing tea. It was all useless. His life had been completely twisted the moment he was forced to spend the new moon with the Prince.

But even so, he couldn’t just sit around waiting to die.

Even at this exact moment, with the dawn of the new moon breaking and having just returned from the Prince’s palace, Isaac was plagued by the visceral dread that a fighting hound was snapping at his heels. This intuition was never wrong. The Prince would undoubtedly come looking for him. The witch’s spawn. In truth, the situation was not relaxed enough for him to simply rely on his new moon wishes and sit on his hands until the next month.

Whatever it took, he had to find the tinderbox. Whether he used it to cross over to the Land of the Dark Moon or figure out another solution required more thought, but considering the situation from every angle, getting his hands on the tinderbox was the absolute best way to break through this crisis.

To do that, he had to receive the King’s reward, and the only possible way to achieve that right now was to track down Lord Leon’s killer.

And so—.

“I suppose rolling through life the hard way as an orphan actually comes in handy sometimes.”

Crawling on his stomach across a floor thick with dust, Isaac muttered to himself. He only moved his lips, keeping his voice so low no one could hear, but he quickly snapped his mouth shut to be safe. Regardless of his circumstances, right below the very floor he was crawling on sat 6 or 7 incredibly dangerous men.

Finding out when and where Roberni’s subordinates were gathering hadn’t been particularly difficult.….. Of course, that was only because, before becoming a royal guard, Isaac had survived by doing all sorts of rough, gritty jobs in the underworld entirely on his own.

Having worked as a royal guard for a few years now, he lived a stable, honest life. But before that, Isaac had been a fairly successful ‘errand boy.’ He was picky about the jobs he took, but it was well-known among those in the industry that once he accepted a job, a satisfactory result

was absolutely guaranteed, earning him a high level of trust. Because he never crossed the line into highly illegal or overly malicious work, he wasn’t incredibly famous, nor did he make massive sums of money, but when he announced he was quitting to live a quiet life as a guard, several brokers had been genuinely disappointed.

He rarely contacted them anymore, and he certainly didn’t miss the days when he had to witness all sorts of gruesome things despite carefully picking his jobs. But…… Sometimes, having a foot in the shadows definitely opens up shortcuts that living purely as an upstanding citizen in the light never could.

‘Here. You know I have absolutely nothing to do with whatever happens after this, right?’

The note handed to him by a broker he had been close with in the past contained only a time and a place. The meeting was today. The location could change at a moment’s notice, and there was no telling what unexpected variables might explode, but since this was par for the course with this kind of intel, Isaac accepted it without complaint. Just managing to find out the exact time and place Roberni’s top men were gathering proved the broker’s skills were top-tier.

‘But seriously, are you thinking of coming back? Good choice. How many pennies are you actually making breaking your back as a royal guard anyway? If you come back, I’ll feed you an endless stream of jobs.’

‘No, no. Not coming back. Things just got a bit tangled up so I needed to borrow your skills, but I’m going to keep living my peaceful, impoverished, content life.’

Having confirmed the contents of the note, Isaac chewed it up thoroughly, swallowed it, and replied. The broker, who was the same age as Isaac and treated him casually, didn’t look particularly disappointed, as if he expected the answer. ‘Yeah, that was always your catchphrase anyway,’ he said, patting Isaac on the shoulder twice. But suddenly,

‘You are going there, aren’t you?’

‘Mhm…….’

‘I got the intel because you begged for it, but if possible, don’t go. My information network is pretty solid, and it wasn’t exactly easy to dig this up…… but still, getting this info felt a little too easy compared to normal.’

‘You know the situation with Roberni’s faction lately, right?’ Adding this with a deep frown, the broker looked at Isaac, who simply nodded. There was a high probability this was intentionally leaked intel. Likely a trap set to lure out the mysterious killer.

But he couldn’t exactly not go. If he hesitated and played it safe weighing every little risk, there was nothing he could accomplish.

And so, letting the anxious warnings of his old friend slide off his back, Isaac took the risk and tracked down the gathering place of Roberni’s subordinates. Currently, he was plastered flat against a claustrophobic ceiling space no more than a handspan high, thickly coated in dust, slowly inching his way forward.

The top floor of a quiet tavern building situated slightly away from the bustling main street.

Right beneath this roof, a few of Roberni’s most favored subordinates had gathered. Isaac was wedged in the incredibly narrow gap between the ceiling directly above their heads and the roof, looking down at them. And lying right next to Isaac was a man Isaac had knocked out cold with a sleeping dart just moments ago. By the time dawn broke, the man would likely wake up feeling like he’d had a very deep, refreshing sleep.

The man who had occupied this gap beneath the roof before Isaac was a lookout, a colleague of the Roberni faction gathered below. Hiding behind the roof, Isaac had watched the man exchange signals with the men below before slipping in, putting the man to sleep, and taking his place.

Having a colleague lie in ambush in the ceiling beforehand, it seemed this gathering truly was a deliberately constructed trap to lure out the mysterious killer. Observing them carefully through the gap in the ceiling, the faces gathered below clearly belonged to highly capable, lethal men. Among them was even a mid-level executive directly under Roberni’s command. Judging solely by the weapons they were packing, they could easily slaughter dozens of men.

Among them, one particular figure caught Isaac’s eye. A man who had been sitting quietly at the end of the table this entire time. A scrawny, frail-looking man who looked like he couldn’t even wring a chicken’s neck, draped in plain black clothes, habitually rubbing a thick ring on his finger. Amidst the rough, hardened, heavily armed thugs, this man stood out like a sore thumb.

“There was no need for you to step in personally, Teacher.”

A bald man, who had been glaring out the window with intense, aggressive eyes, turned and spoke. The scrawny man addressed as ‘Teacher’ merely shifted his eyes to look at him, the corner of his mouth twisting up into a smirk.

“Did you not set up a similar trap to lure him out recently and fail miserably?”

At the mocking tone, the bald man clamped his mouth shut, looking deeply offended. A man with a thick beard sitting next to him chimed in.

“Yanik was leading that operation. It went south because that idiot got careless and dropped his guard.”

“I always knew that bastard would meet that end. He was always incredibly arrogant, trusting nothing but his own brute strength. Hmph. But it turns out the guy was all bark and no bite. He took over ten subordinates with him, and they still ended up getting their heads chopped off.”

Another man clicked his tongue in agreement. The scrawny man simply smiled his twisted smirk without a word.

While looking down with disapproval at the scrawny man’s mocking smile, Isaac scanned the other men before bringing his gaze back to him.

Teacher. Judging by the title alone, it was obvious the man wasn’t an ordinary member of their syndicate. Furthermore, even while looking visibly irritated by the man’s tone and demeanor, the thugs were being careful not to disrespect him. At the very least, it meant he outranked them. Then who exactly is he…..? Isaac tilted his head, studying the man closely. His overall impression was somewhat dark and sharp, but nothing particularly extraordinary stood out.

“You all know this, but you cannot kill him. We must capture him alive. Judging by the fact that Yanik’s entire squad was wiped out and he’s still brazenly causing havoc, he’s no ordinary thug.”

“But didn’t they say the method used to kill Yanik’s squad all pointed to a single person?”

“The one leading the charge might be a single person. But these aren’t acts that can be accomplished by one person’s strength alone. There is undoubtedly a faction backing him. We have to find out who they are.”

A man with a scar near his eye inspected his blade and frowned in annoyance.

“So you’re saying we absolutely must keep the bastard alive?”

“Lord Roberni ordered us to bring him back alive. However, he also said that as long as the bastard can still wag his tongue, he doesn’t care what state he’s in when we drag him back.”

“Aha, so he doesn’t need his arms, legs, or eyeballs. Good, that’s exactly how it should be.”

“We need to teach the bastard who messed with Roberni’s faction exactly what kind of end awaits him,” the scarred man laughed sadistically.

“But we must not drop our guard. The fact that we still haven’t managed to step on his tail, combined with his skill with a weapon—he’s not a normal guy.”

“Hmph. No matter how skilled he is, as long as I, Lantes, am holding the line, he won’t be escaping tonight. My only worry is that the bastard might get scared and not show up at all. Why, are you scared, brother?”

As the scarred man spoke with a sneer, the bearded man, who had been speaking cautiously, glared at him fiercely. The atmosphere instantly turned hostile as the two men stared each other down. If the middle-aged man, who had been silent until now, and who appeared to hold the highest rank among Roberni’s men present, hadn’t intervened with a sharp, “Both of you, stop it,” they might have drawn their weapons right then and there.

As the two men reluctantly backed down, still glaring at each other, the scrawny man, who had been watching them with his twisted smile, took a sip of the tea in front of him and opened his mouth.

“There is no need for concern. As long as his head isn’t severed in a single strike or his breath completely cut off instantly, I can heal him immediately no matter how severely he is injured. I, Urgo, may not possess grand, world-shaking talents, but you may place your complete trust in me regarding this matter.”

Hearing this, the middle-aged man nodded as if trying to appease him, though he maintained enough dignity so as not to damage his own pride.

“Of course. We are well aware of Lord Urgo’s reputation; they say your instant regeneration magic is second to none. Since Lord Roberni went to great lengths to respectfully recruit you, I’m sure you have already exchanged greetings, but once today’s business is concluded without issue, Lord Roberni will personally express his profound gratitude to you once more.”

As the middle-aged man spoke, the man named Urgo narrowed his eyes and smiled in deep satisfaction. And only then did Isaac realize the man’s true identity.

A wizard.

Rumors that Roberni was joining hands with a wizard had circulated quite widely. Whispers claiming he was connected to a top-tier wizard, or that he was dealing in dark magic, ran rampant without confirmation. Whether that man truly was ‘top-tier’ remained to be seen, but judging by their conversation, he was certainly highly capable. Then again, a man of Roberni’s stature wouldn’t associate with just any run-of-the-mill wizard.

But a wizard.

Due to the nature of their profession, regulations dictated that all wizards must be registered with the Guild. Furthermore, if they accepted commissions outside of authorized research, they were required to report the details to the authorities. —Of course, it was an open secret that many wizards cleverly skirted the law to involve themselves in underworld dealings—but to actually summon one to a place like this meant Roberni had truly laid out a massive trap.

From what he heard, the wizard’s specialty seemed to be healing. If that was the case, the mysterious assailant wouldn’t stand a chance. Facing 6 or 7 professional killers who instantly regenerated no matter how many times they were cut down—no matter how god-like his skills were, winning was impossible. If he even managed to escape with his life, he’d be lucky……. ‘Honestly, I doubt he’ll even show up here tonight…… And frankly, I’m more worried about getting caught myself.’

Isaac threw a sidelong glance at their unconscious colleague lying next to him. Since he had observed the specific signals the lookout exchanged with the men below before knocking him out, he probably wouldn’t be discovered immediately. It was highly unlikely they would casually strike up a conversation with an operative they intentionally placed in hiding anyway.

‘…… Still, I shouldn’t have come.’

‘……. Whatever. The stone has already been thrown.*’

(*돌은 이미 던져졌다: The stone has already been thrown. This is a Korean idiom meaning that once something has been set in motion, there’s no turning back.)

Realizing there was a wizard present, a heavy wave of dread and regret washed over him, but it was too late now. Isaac lowered his head even further and simply rolled his eyes to observe. It was already well past midnight.

“Anyway, what the hell is wrong with this crazy bastard? Why is he coming at us for absolutely no reason?”

The bald man, who had been anxiously tapping his leg while glaring at the ticking clock, suddenly burst out in frustration.

“Who knows what kind of motive the bastard has. But one thing is certain: his brain is completely rotten. Of all people, he kills the Grand Duke’s son—he really dug his own grave. Now he’s being hunted by the Royal Guards in the light, and hunted by us in the shadows. Have you ever seen an act so utterly foolish?”

“Haha, true enough. We should actually be thanking the bastard for killing Lord Leon.”

“Right? That arrogant noble brat was getting on my nerves lately anyway, so it worked out perfectly——ah, pretend you didn’t hear that, yeah?”

The bald man winked, pretending his slip of the tongue was an accident. But seeing as no one looked particularly panicked by the treasonous remark, it seemed everyone agreed. Frankly, Isaac had never heard a single good thing said about the Grand Duke’s son either.

“Hmph, regardless, the bastard won’t be running anymore. Once tonight is over, even if he manages to keep his life, he won’t have the arms or legs left to run away with.”

“Just don’t make a mistake and kill him.”

“Even if we slip up a little, as long as it isn’t an injury that instantly cuts off his breath, the Teacher here will fix him up so he doesn’t die.”

The large man sitting near the door smiled a sycophantic smile and looked at the wizard. The wizard gave a barely perceptible nod.

“You may vent your anger to your heart’s content. Watching him scream in agony, begging for a death he cannot have, should relieve some of your frustrations,” the wizard said, acting magnanimous. The men cheered softly.

“Good, very good. He killed our brothers. We need to show him a living hell.”

“You don’t think he’s not going to show up, do you?”

The men all gripped their respective weapons tightly. The scarred man affectionately stroked the blade of his sword, throwing a sharp glance at the clock, which indicated it was already deep into the night. Outside the window, the presence of people had completely died down, leaving the street dead silent.

Only the occasional distant barking of a dog could be heard.

The men began to casually chat about the unknown assailant, and then about various operations Roberni’s faction was currently handling. Holding his breath above their heads, Isaac lay completely flat.

Just who was this mysterious assailant? For what purpose was he going around slaughtering the Roberni faction? Just as the men below had noted, the attacker wasn’t operating alone—at least, that was the assumption. If so, it could be the rise of a new faction hostile to the Robernis. Once you established a foothold in the underworld, the money you raked in was astronomical. There had been plenty of syndicates gunning for the Roberni faction’s territory in the past. The prevailing opinion was that this was just another one of those power struggles, and Isaac had assumed as much too, but that theory had grown murky ever since the Grand Duke’s son was killed.

Whatever the truth was, if that assailant showed up tonight, they might at least find a clue…… Assuming they survive, that is.

“We have to survive, of course…… I’ll have you know I’m pretty resilient when it comes to bad luck, yeah……”

「Manbang’s voice sounds completely, utterly devoid of confidence.」 

「He probably knows it himself. He knows his words are just meaningless self-comfort. You know how it is. It’s like saying, ‘If I just go to the cafe, I’ll definitely get my studying—or my assignment, my work, my manuscript deadline—done.’」

「Vanity of vanities.」

“……”

Why are these guys here again…..?

Isaac, who had been soundlessly twitching his lips, clamped his mouth shut and cast a cold sidelong glance. At the end of his gaze, three cats – who had definitely not been there just moments ago – had slipped into the room and were lined up in a row. One was tapping the bridge of the unconscious man’s nose, another was chasing rolling dust bunnies, and the last was washing its face with its front paws.

He’d clearly tied them up tightly with leashes in the corner of the room, leaving both water and food bowls beside them before he left—so how the hell were these guys still here?

“I told you not to follow me!”

Isaac, eyes bulging, soundlessly mouthed the words, waving his hands in a frantic panic. Regardless of his distress, the cats merely blinked up at him with bright, innocent eyes.

「We didn’t follow you though?」 

「We just came out for a walk?」

‘Where did you learn to lie like that….?! Do you know how far it is from our house to here? Who takes a walk this far?!’

Isaac jerked his head up, continuing to silently scream at them with his lips, but immediately snapped his mouth shut and ducked his head low at the sound of a voice muttering from below.

“Sounds like someone’s up there.”

“Probably just a rat. Right?”

One of the men waiting in ambush beneath the ceiling replied, his words drawing out in a slow, lazy drawl, as if intentionally speaking loudly enough for his comrades to hear. The comrade who was supposed to hear that wouldn’t be waking up until morning anyway, but Isaac held his breath and froze exactly as the man intended. The cats meowing happily beside him were utterly infuriating, but he decided to leave them be for now. Just wait until we get home.

“But is he really not coming? It’s already way too late.”

“True. Well, if he doesn’t show, we’ll just have a few drinks and head back.”

The men began picking at the lavish feast laid out on the table, raising their glasses. The middle-aged man’s voice echoed out, warning them not to drink too much.

Isaac judged the time by the moonlight spilling through a tiny window in the roof. Just as they said, the night was already deep. Soon, it would be dawn……. If the target was going to strike, he should have come and gone by now. Is tonight really a bust? Just as Isaac stared at the night sky, which was already showing signs of the heavy darkness lifting, a thought occurred to him.

‘Well, I didn’t expect to be fully satisfied on the first attempt anyway, but at this rate, I’ll have to figure out where these guys are gathering next. I came prepared for a few wasted trips, but it’s still draining…… Still, at least I should be able to get out of here with my life intact.’

It was just as Isaac sighed inwardly and thought this.

Suddenly, the noise cut off. Dead silence.

It was an incredibly faint presence. The sound of someone leaning against the door. It was so dim and slight, yet the men in the room fell silent simultaneously—a testament to the fact that every single one of them was a thoroughly hardened veteran of combat.

In an instant, the atmosphere among the men grew deadly serious. Exchanging sharp glares, they quietly gripped their respective weapons. Even the wizard, who had been sitting with a permanent sneer on his face, erased his expression and glared at the door.

“Who is it?”

The middle-aged man spoke, signaling with his eyes to a burly young man sitting near the door. The muscular bruiser hefted an iron cleaver, one that looked heavy enough to match a man’s weight, and crept toward the entrance.

No answer returned. Instead, the door showed signs of creaking open. The middle-aged man gave another look, and the bruiser, without hesitation, drove the iron cleaver straight through the wood.

*BAM!!*

The heavy blade cleaved through the wooden door and embedded itself deeply in the center. At the same time, the bruiser’s eyes flashed, and he nodded. It meant he had felt the ‘bite’ of hitting flesh. Without missing a beat, he yanked the door wide open. Standing there, pressed tight against the door, was a man impaled through the chest by the iron cleaver.

“You bastard!!”

The bruiser ripped the blade out with a sickening *shhhk*, grabbed the collapsing man by the hair, and hauled him inside. Isaac, holding his breath, craned his neck to look down at the man. But the moment he saw the dead man’s face, with its eyes rolled back into his head, his instincts screamed.

No.

That pallid, bloodless complexion was not the face of someone who had just died. He had already been dead by the time the cleaver pierced him. If so—

“——.”

Before Isaac’s brain could even process the thought, the head of the bruiser – who had been leaning in to inspect the dead man’s face – fell off.

Remaining in the exact stooped posture he had been in, only his head tumbled off his shoulders and rolled across the floor. The severed head, wearing an expression of pure bewilderment as if completely unaware of what had just happened to it, dropped by his feet. A full second later, the decapitated body erupted like a fountain of blood and collapsed like a crumbling ruin.

The expressions of the men in the room drained of color as they leapt to their feet in unison.

“TURAF!!” 

“Who the hell is out there!!”

Rough shouts filled the room. Through the doorway, a single silhouette stepped inside. *Thud*. The moment the heavy footstep crossed the threshold, a terrifying sound tore through the air and flew straight at the figure.

A crossbow.

*Thwip—!* The iron bolt, fired with enough raw power to shatter a stone pillar, aimed flawlessly for the figure’s throat. There was no time to dodge. It was the exact fraction of a second where anyone, no matter who they were, would be skewered through the neck and sent sprawling backwards.

Then, something unbelievable happened.

The figure snatched the incoming iron bolt out of thin air. The arrowhead had stopped mere millimeters from the skin of his neck. Catching an arrow from an ordinary bow at that distance would be hard enough to believe, let alone a bolt fired from a crossbow.

“——.”

The bald man who had fired the crossbow bulged his eyes at the impossible sight.

The figure casually spun the iron bolt in his hand, then hurled it right back at the bald man. Traveling at a speed just as ferocious as when it was fired, theheavy bolt punctured the bald man’s throat. Driven by a terrifying force, it tore completely through his neck.

“G-gurgk, urgh.” The bald man with a hole blown through his windpipe let out a grotesque gurgle, clutching his neck as blood violently sprayed out.

Amidst the changing complexions of the men as chaos erupted, the first to move was the wizard. Sitting in the corner with his eyes gleaming darkly, his lips moved in a blur of rapid muttering. At the same time, the massive, gaping hole in the bald man’s neck began to close up in a flash. The man, whose eyes had been rolling back and who had been seconds away from taking his last breath, slumped heavily to the floor, his shoulders heaving as he gasped for rough breaths. His face was stark white, looking as though he had been possessed by a ghost, completely unaware of what had just happened to him.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. Before Isaac could even blink his wide eyes twice.

Sure enough, that wizard had a reason to be so arrogant. By all rights, the bald man should have been dead right now, yet he was alive without even a scar. Though it seemed there was nothing he could do for the bruiser whose head had been cleanly lopped off in a single strike.

Isaac shifted his gaze away from the wizard in awe and looked belatedly toward the doorway at the figure who had entered.

It was a man shrouded in an ash-grey hood that cascaded from his head down to his ankles. Pulled low over his nose, his face was entirely obscured. From Isaac’s vantage point looking down from the ceiling, he could only catch fleeting glimpses of the crown of the hood and the corner of the man’s lips depending on his movements. All Isaac could tell was that he had a considerably tall and muscular build.

“Are you the bastard who’s been hunting our brothers lately?”

As the middle-aged man spoke and gave a sharp look, the other men fanned out, surrounding the grey hood and cutting off his escape route. One man quickly rushed to the window and lit a signal flare. With a loud bang, a brilliant burst of fire shot into the sky, and immediately, chaotic sounds of movement began to echo from the distance. They must have been stationed far away to avoid detection; the massive presence of countless approaching men began closing in.

A wizard, this many men in ambush…… they really set a trap and picked tonight to end this. Isaac clicked his tongue inwardly. At this rate, I need to be worrying about myself, not this assailant.

The grey hood seemed to briefly glance toward the window where the loud commotion of approaching reinforcements was coming from. Yet, without showing the slightest sign of concern, he quickly turned his gaze back and stared fixedly at the bald man. At his unblemished neck, and the iron bolt embedded in the wall behind him.

“Surprised that a man who should be dead is perfectly fine? It’s not just him. Everyone in this room is the same. No matter how much you wound them, they won’t die. Except for you, that is. ——Your little rampage ends tonight.”

The middle-aged man bared his teeth in a savage grin. At the same time—

“KILL HIM!!”

A fierce roar erupted. As if they had been waiting for the command, the men surrounding the grey hood lunged forward, brandishing their weapons.

The first to reach him was the man with the scarred face, who had been closest. He charged with terrifying momentum, sword raised high to strike. But the grey hood made no move to defend himself against the attack. Completely ignoring the blade hurtling toward him, he simply swung the sword in his own hand.

And his blade was vastly faster than the scarred man’s.

Seeing a blade flying toward the top of his head in the blink of an eye, the scarred man panicked and reflexively pulled his arms back, attempting to block the strike with his own sword.

*CLANG—!*

With a deafening ring of metal, the scarred man’s sword snapped completely in half. And the unnervingly sharp blade, having sheared straight through the steel, continued its arc undisturbed, biting deep into the man’s shoulder and cleaving straight down to his heart.

From his right shoulder to his left chest, the man’s torso was split open.

It happened before the other men could even take a step or two forward. Amidst gazes frozen in pure horror, the scarred man sprayed blood and collapsed, crumpling like a broken doll.

Isaac froze, his eyes locked wide open.

The grey hood showed no signs of haste, yet moving at the speed of a flash of lightning, he cut the man down and smoothly withdrew his sword. The gesture of flicking the blood off his blade was utterly nonchalant.

With that kind of speed. With movements entirely devoid of any wasted effort. With an aura that made it seem like it was nothing at all.

An intense wave of deja vu crashed through Isaac’s mind. It was a feeling he had seen somewhere before, a sensation he had experienced firsthand. Where was it from——