Chapter 54…
I looked up at the night sky.
Seeing the cold, drained moon reminded me of someone.
— Mr. Siwoo, I’m sorry I can’t join you. Please take care of things.
There was no reason for her to apologize.
I accepted the request knowing everything from the beginning.
Still, it’s a shame to lose part of our combat power.
Naturally, Seo Gyeoul couldn’t participate in the “Falcon Hunt.”
The Pigeon Faction members were being monitored by the Ability Security Agency.
She had chosen me as the right person specifically to counter that.
Of those outside their line of sight, I’m the most trustworthy one, huh…
As expected, Winter has good eyes for people.
I might not excel at much, but I never break the rules of give-and-take.
“Hyung?”
“Ah, sorry. Just spaced out for a second.”
“Hehe. Considering what this operation is, even you must be a little nervous.”
“Meat owner, tense.”
When I momentarily blanked out, Kim Pyeong-on and Rebecca approached and spoke up.
During the Garden of All Things terror incident, I had felt Kim Pyeong-on’s absence painfully, so I made sure to bring him.
And Rebecca…
— Your mom said she’d cook you meat at home. Go eat.
— No.
— You don’t like meat?
— Meat owner needs me.
— …What? I need you?
— Mm. You’ll need me.
— …
She said it like that, so it felt weird not to bring her.
Despite being such an airhead most of the time, she has razor-sharp intuition once in a blue moon.
And she argued so stubbornly about coming along that I had no choice but to bring her.
Well, it’ll work out somehow. Worst case, I’ll have Pyeong-on guard her.
Thinking so, I looked back and forth at the two.
“……?”
“…….”
Even with a dangerous mission ahead, one was grinning,
and the other was wearing her usual blank expression without a trace of worry.
I got annoyed for no reason and flicked both of them on the forehead.
“Ugh! Enough nonsense. We’re starting right away — get ready.”
“Ack!”
“Eeehhh…”
Then I turned toward the distant base.
A gate mana farm located outside the city.
Maybe because it was in the outskirts, the mana farm glowed alone in the darkness.
I softly called a familiar name.
“Freki.”
A creature glowing like a small sun crawled out of its nest and nuzzled my cheek.
The only one I could summon right now was Freki.
Sungsik is completely out after using Flame of Calamity…
Gari needed rest after using his ability, “Resonance (C),” when chasing Smile.
So those two couldn’t be called for this battle.
Still, isn’t it the mark of a good coach to deliver results with the available players?
And naturally, I’m a self-proclaimed legendary coach of the tamer world.
“Freki, think you can do it?”
“Woof—”
“Haha, got it.”
He snorted as if offended I would even ask.
After calming him, I immediately sent him out.
Freki would be the ignition point of this mission.
“Go on.”
“Ruff.”
In that moment, Freki shrunk down to the size of a medium dog.
Expansion/Compression — one of his latent abilities.
Zzzip—
Freki sprinted toward the mana farm in the distance.
Security is still sloppy. At least up until the barricades we’re safe.
Using the ability I stole from Smile — Stage Director’s View —
I shared Freki’s vision and reviewed Chief Seo Byeong-cheol’s operation plan.
— We’ll strike the head directly. We don’t have time to slowly cut off their limbs.
Right.
If we tried to take them out one by one, we’d be wiped out before reaching the core.
He didn’t win his position as chief by luck, after all.
— Once the leader falls, we can clean up the rest. As I said, the “Radical Hawks” are a newly formed faction. Their organization is still immature. Leave the follow-up to us.
He sounded like he was dying earlier… guess he had a plan after all.
That plan was probably to cooperate with the remaining moderate Hawks.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
— Still, the fact they cornered both our Pigeon Faction and the original Hawks this much means Park Jong-hwan’s charisma and tactics exceed our expectations. Kill him, and this game is as good as over.
Right.
Chess or janggi — whoever takes the king wins.
But reality has too many variables.
Like not knowing where the king is hiding.
— Sorry, but we still haven’t confirmed whether Park Jong-hwan is there now. However, it is certain that the mana farm is the base from which he has issued recent orders. So… please.
In the end, it was a gamble.
But the intel was still high-value.
Nothing in life is ever 100% certain anyway.
Even after regressing, I’ve been blindsided plenty of times.
He’s arrived.
Freki passed through the fields and reached the barricade.
The fence of the gate farm was made of magic metal,
but due to sloppy maintenance, it was full of holes.
Go through that one.
Sllip—
Following my command, Freki snuck through the hole without even disturbing his breathing.
Thanks to his compressed body, not even a footstep was heard.
Inside the fence, he didn’t slow down for a second.
“Haaam— I’m so sleepy.”
“Ramen after shift?”
“Sleepy or not, ramen is yes.”
Two guards patrolled with mana sensors.
But Freki passed through their blind spots like drifting smoke.
I’ll leave the small stuff to him.
I didn’t interfere — it would only make him less efficient.
If Freki is this good… how stealthy would Gari be after absorbing the Moon’s Eye?
Gari might not even need blind spots.
Under the moon, he was unmatched in stealth.
But Freki had his own strengths.
There — the mana amplifiers!
Through shared vision, I spotted the core machines.
Even in the darkness, they gave off a faint magical pulse.
Go.
Freki leapt immediately.
Flames erupted from his mane and wrapped around his whole body.
Fwoosh—
He became living fire, racing from one amplifier to the next, igniting them.
“What the—?!”
“Activate the emergency line!”
The panicked guards scrambled as the most important equipment burst into flames.
Freki didn’t stop at the amplifiers — he set fire to every building he passed.
WHOOSH—!!
The small flames grew into a massive inferno.
I summoned Freki back into the nest.
Good job.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was an excited Kim Pyeong-on.
“Hyung! We succeeded!”
“I can see that.”
The base burned like a torch in the night.
Time to begin phase two.
“Pyeong-on, you packed Rebecca’s shoes, right?”
“Of course! The ones with the proper Swift effect!”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Putting on black masks, we sprinted across the barley field.
It’s chaotic already.
Fwoosh! Screee! Thud!
The closer we got, the louder the noise — enough to make my ears ring.
“Gather all the extinguishers!”
“Where are the hoses?! Move it!”
“Wizards! Open the fire pathways! The rest of you— grab the classified stuff! Burn injuries don’t matter! MOVE!”
Using the disorder to our advantage, we slipped inside easily.
Wide place, wide gaps — plenty of openings.
We reached the main building.
Clang—
Kim Pyeong-on drew his sword immediately.
“Hyung, I’ll take point this time.”
“Don’t overdo it, weakling. Don’t faint like last time — stick to the plan.”
“I’m not weak anymore! Ever since then, I’ve—”
“Shh!”
“…Yes.”
According to the chief’s intel, the main building’s agents never leave their posts, no matter what.
So combat was inevitable here.
“Rebecca, follow from farther back. And like I warned — if you get caught, I’m not saving you.”
“I handle myself.”
“…Fine, do that. Pyeong-on, let’s go.”
BANG!
I clenched my flaming gauntlet lightly and kicked open the door.
Ten agents stood guard in the lobby.
“—Huh!? Who are y— Guhk!”
The gauntlet in my hand was already buried in the throat of the one who spoke first.
At the same time, Pyeong-on beheaded another with a clean strike.
A perfect opening attack.
“……”
“……”
“……”
But the enemy were professionals.
Without a single cliché villain line, they responded with pure movement.
Shwip— BOOM!
They blocked our escape route instantly,
and from all directions came a perfectly synchronized attack —
swords, arrows, magic.
Their formation wasn’t something trained overnight.
However—
Yeah, this calls for doing “that.”
I activated Beast Resonance with Freki in the nest.
My skill level had shot up after the terror incident, making it possible now.
DU-DUM. DU-DUM.
My heart started beating twice as fast.
Freki’s blazing breath seemed to pour into my lungs.
Heat surged beneath my skin,
wild and primal — like fire flowing through my veins.
And it wasn’t just a feeling.
DING!
[Your stats increase by STR 31, AGI 52, VIT 26, MAG 33!]
A ridiculous boost.
Freki was level 41, B+ rank, and a special-type beast.
It would be disappointing if the boost wasn’t this high.
God, this is addictive.
And it wasn’t only the stats:
enhanced vision, reflexes, animal instinct.
Then—
DING!
“Blue Wolf’s Step (C)” evolves.
You use “Taisikrang’s Step (A MAX).”
I walked forward — not dodging.
Simply strolling.
As heat rippled through the air,
every enemy froze.
“……”
“……”
“……”
The sun is a sovereign.
Before a king, all must stand properly.
Pyeong-on, startled, didn’t miss the opening.
Slash—
His blade flashed, and in seconds the lobby turned into a bloodbath.
Once every agent dropped, I finally ended the “step.”
“Whew… exhausting. I should’ve just cut them myself…”
“Hyung!! What was THAT just now?! And why are you all covered in flames?!”
“Fire meat owner. Bulgogi.”
Even Rebecca, who had been hiding for some reason, appeared and started teasing me.
Ignoring them, I retrieved my gauntlet from the first agent’s neck.
“No repeats — stay sharp so we don’t get hit by a combined assault like that.”
“…Sorry. Guess I loosened up a bit.”
“As long as you get it. Let’s move.”
“We’re heading straight for the top floor?”
“Yeah. We’ll use the elevator—”
Flick—
Suddenly, the building went pitch-black.
The power had gone out.
