Chapter 62. Ambush (2)
Ding—! Ding—! Ding—!
The mansion echoed with loud, incessant bells.
Even as the shrill sound rattled the air,
Bang! Crash!
Thud! Crackle!
Chilling, violent crashes and grotesque tearing sounds erupted one after another.
Anyone who didn’t wake from such a racket could only fall into one of two categories: unconscious—or dead.
But Baron Veneron was neither.
“…What is this?”
He turned to the window and saw utter chaos.
The mansion’s front gate had been smashed to pieces, the outer walls had crumbled, and guards lay sprawled about the grounds, bleeding profusely.
Craack—! Boom!
Another thunderous explosion shook the estate.
Just as Veneron wondered what on earth was happening—
“L-Lord Baron!!”
The door burst open with a violent slam, and someone stumbled in, gasping for breath.
It was the steward who managed the household. His face was etched with panic—and fear.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
“The estate is under attack, my lord! Intruders have breached the mansion!”
“…Intruders?”
“There’s no time to waste! You must flee at once!”
The steward pressed him urgently, as though the sky were falling.
And indeed, the situation was dire. Yet Veneron couldn’t help tilting his head with confusion.
Intruders? Who?
And so suddenly? Out of nowhere?
“Who are they? Do we know their identities?”
“N-No, my lord. But as far as we can tell, there are two of them!”
“…Two?”
Veneron tilted his head the other way this time.
“All this devastation, from only two assailants?”
“Y-Yes, my lord!!”
At the confirmation, the baron was left utterly dumbfounded.
How could a mansion with such tight security be torn apart by merely two attackers?
Even Master-class knights would have trouble explaining this. No—this went beyond that.
After all, the guards of this estate were—
Suddenly—
KRAAASH—!
A massive explosion tore through one wall of the chamber, sending it crumbling in.
Dust filled the air in a choking cloud. It settled quickly—
And through it emerged a man, drenched in blood from head to toe.
Clearly, one of the intruders.
But with a mask covering his face, his identity was hidden.
“Who are you?”
“…The Executioner.”
“The Executioner?”
Executioner…
“Adrian Whitewolf?”
“Oh? So you know me.”
At that moment, a sigh came from the side.
Another man stepped up beside Adrian, equally bloodied.
Scarlet hair glistened with streaks of gold beneath the gore.
The golden-haired man let out another long sigh, tore off his mask, and revealed an undeniably handsome face.
But the look he leveled at Adrian was—
“Did you not say this was a stealth mission?”
A look that all but declared him insane.
Kai ripped off his mask with an exasperated sigh.
“Did you not say we were infiltrating quietly?”
Then he turned to me accusingly.
“If you were going to reveal yourself, why even bother wearing a mask?”
“They wouldn’t know me if I just said ‘Executioner.’”
“In Batenberg, there isn’t a noble alive who doesn’t know of the Executioner.”
“…Am I really that famous?”
It was such an old memory I barely remembered. Never cared much, either.
But judging from Kai’s expression, it seemed I was indeed famous enough.
Well, fame aside—
Homunculi shouldn’t know who I am, though.
Even the replication type only inherited about 30% of memories. They wouldn’t necessarily know that “Executioner” referred to me.
Even Avarus wouldn’t. He was no Batenberg noble—only a worshipper of corrupt souls. He had no reason to know idle gossip about a count’s infamous son.
Did I misjudge?
I swallowed that doubt and invoked Predator’s Instinct [S]. Instantly, information about the man before me appeared.
<Character Information>
-
Name: Evolutas de Veneron
-
Classification: Mammalia, Homo sapiens
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Gender: Male
-
Age: 42
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Trait: Transmog
So it wasn’t a homunculus. Nor Avarus directly.
But the trait—Transmog—said everything.
I invoked Predator’s Instinct [S] again, and more details rose before my eyes.
◆ Transmog (Transmogrification)
A magic of transformation and reconstruction. The user can perfectly copy and become the target’s appearance, traits, abilities—even psyche.
If maintained too long, the transformation may become permanent.
Unlike simple Polymorph, this copied even down to the genetic level. To do so required a genetic sample of the target.
Which meant the real Evolutas de Veneron was already dead.
And the thing standing before me was none other than Avarus, Forger of Greed.
Nearly fooled me.
If not for Predator’s Instinct.
I sharpened my Dragon Claws [A].
Avarus—mad alchemist, worshipper of corrupted souls.
A man who forged homunculi from human bodies.
Most mistook alchemists for drug peddlers, separate from true mages. But that was wrong.
Alchemy was a branch of magical science. Without magical theory, alchemy could not exist.
Not all mages were alchemists.
But all alchemists were mages.
And against mages, there were rules.
Rule number one: Never give them time.
◆ Combination Skill: Metabolic Overdrive [U] Activated!
Calories consumed: 50,000 kcal
For 500 seconds, all stats increase by +50%.
Ba-dump!
Hormones surged like wildfire.
I launched forward— CRASH! The floor caved under my feet as I shot across the room.
“You—!”
Avarus panicked. Too slow to react.
But before my strike landed, translucent barriers layered around him—shield magic.
Of course. Avarus had transformed into Baron Veneron, unable to cast spells himself. Likely an artifact triggering in emergencies.
Still, it wouldn’t help him.
My Dragon Claws slashed— CRUNCH!
Layer after layer of shield shattered like brittle glass.
Splat—!
Blood burst as my claws tore through his chest.
A solid hit. But Avarus didn’t die.
No notification appeared to confirm his death.
And then—
Gurgle…
His flesh melted grotesquely, dripping like wax, until his true form emerged.
A body bent and twisted, limbs skeletal like dry branches. His legs trembled with an eerie rhythm.
His fingers were charred black from countless experiments, some replaced with metal prosthetics. His skin was scarred and burned, flesh swollen or sunken grotesquely.
Devices protruded from his body—some fused with his very blood, others pumping unknown fluids into him.
And his eyes—vacant, yet filled with endless curiosity and mad obsession.
That was the Avarus I remembered.
Kai’s eyes widened in shock.
“…What…?”
Of course he would be stunned. Transmog was the ultimate transformation magic. No sense, no magic detection could reveal it.
“How did you know?”
Avarus’s voice trembled with suspicion.
“My concealment should have blocked all detection. You couldn’t possibly have read my mana signature… could you?”
He muttered on and on.
But the truth was simple.
Predator’s Instinct [S] could not be deceived.
A survival instinct honed by evolution—knowing what was poisonous, what was safe, what was prey, and what was predator.
And I knew Avarus better than anyone, having studied him as a special operations commander in my past life.
He demanded again, “How did you uncover me?”
“To buy yourself time?” I sneered. “What good would that do?”
He flinched—struck in his weakest spot.
“…It doesn’t matter. The moment you stepped in here, it was already too late!!”
A shrill ringing pierced my ears. Magic flared as a six-pointed star burned across the floor.
A transparent veil sealed the entire room.
Suddenly, all was warped silence—no wind, no breath, no heartbeat.
A barrier.
◆ Infinite Silence
Within this barrier, the flow of mana ceases completely.
No being inside may use their mana.
The barrier persists infinitely, regardless of time.
An absurd, overpowered barrier. Even archmages and elemental heroes had been helpless against it.
And it could only be prepared after immense effort and setup. Which was why one rule existed above all:
Rule number two: Never step into a mage’s domain.
No wonder Avarus hadn’t fled.
Kai staggered. His aura flickered out—the flow of mana cut, his power extinguished.
Avarus too lost access to magic. But he had another path: alchemy.
The devices fused to his body whirred, pumping strange fluids into him. His form twisted further, mutating into something monstrous.
Now it was monster versus man.
Except—there was one problem.
I was the exception.
I never used mana. My abilities were those of evolution itself.
Dragon Claws [A], Regeneration [B+], Hardened Skin [B], Nutrient Synthesis [B], Metabolic Boost [C+]—all unaffected.
I was Avarus’s perfect counter.
And I knew exactly what he was.
Meanwhile, he only thought me the Executioner, a noble’s mad son.
He chuckled darkly.
“Pathetic fool. Walking right into my domain…”
He laughed, just as he had in my past life—smirking at the heroes of the alliance trapped in his barrier.
And just like then—
“…Only to have your heart ripped out.”
