“Hah!”
Channeled as flames, his battle qi flared alongside his furious roar as Macar transformed into a streak of white light, leaving behind a sizeable crater where he had stood.
‘How is he so fast?!’
The snake-man, who had still been wearing a mocking sneer just a moment ago, watched in absolute horror. The moment he saw Macar accelerate to full speed, his slitted pupils dilated into perfect circles.
A longsword cloaked in pure white flames cut through the air.
Before the Warlock could even react, the blade pierced through his throat.
With a surge of battle qi, the sword flicked upward.
A head, frozen in a mask of sheer disbelief, severed from its shoulders and flew into the air.
Macar did not strike lightly, but when he did, he spared absolutely no effort!
“Second Brother!” The meatball man's eyes went wide with rage as he charged forward, looking as if he wanted to tear Macar apart and devour him.
‘Good... One down.’
Having successfully finished his opponent with a single blow, Macar was already prepared. He shifted his footing and nimbly dodged the meatball man's onslaught.
An extraordinary burst like this was something he could only perform once within a short timeframe.
Bam—!
The sound of collision rang out once more, but this time, Macar's preemptive dodge caused the charging meatball man to miss entirely.
Well, maybe not entirely.
At the very least, he had pulverized the snake-man's headless corpse.
“You deserve to die!”
Bathed in the greenish-blue blood of his companion, the meatball man's eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty glare as he locked onto Macar, who had just evaded him with effortless grace.
Even he had not expected that in a single exchange, the 'brother' he had spent day and night with would die at the hands of this Dawn Knight.
“Now it's your turn to face judgment!”
The flames around Macar had not dissipated, burning away the green blood that splattered from the snake-man's pulverized corpse. Raising his sword, he charged once again.
“Ahhh!” The meatball man made no attempt to dodge, letting out a terrifying, bear-like roar as he lunged forward.
Clang—!
A metallic ring vibrated through the air. Under Macar's guidance, the sword—bolstered by battle qi—successfully pierced into the meatball man's flesh.
However... there was no smooth, flesh-slicing finish.
The moment Macar's sword entered the meatball man's body—it got stuck!
‘Alloy Hardening!’
Macar immediately deduced the meatball man's other ability. Using the recoil of the impact, he released his grip, abandoning the longsword.
He leapt backward and bounded to the side.
‘He's even harder than I thought... Even with bloodline warlock power reinforcing him, he shouldn't be this tough. Could this guy's forbidden potion have been brewed from a steel-armored mana-spider?!’
Aside from the legendary Seven Great Sequence Elixirs that were said to elevate one all the way to godhood, forbidden potions had always been highly unpredictable when it came to granting power, because a single potion could be mixed with more than one type of mana core material.
The acquisition of abilities depended heavily on the compatibility between the monster crystals in the recipe and the consumer.
There was an old saying in the black market: “When you choose a potion, the potion is also choosing you.”
Evidently, the meatball man in front of him had an exceptionally high compatibility with the forbidden potion he had consumed.
This was also why Macar had targeted the snake-man first.
“You! Must! Die!”
His attack failing, the meatball man turned back and locked his sights onto Macar. This time, his body underwent yet another transformation.
First, his eyes turned a deep, bloodshot crimson.
Right after, a dense layer of thick, black fur erupted from beneath his skin.
“Hrrrgh—!”
Finally, with a furious roar, four massive tumors swelled on his ribs and back. With a sickening tear, they burst open—revealing four more black, hairy arms.
This entire process was completed almost in an instant.
‘He's undergoing monsterification already?!’
Macar's heart sank. Because he had been momentarily stunned, he had missed his best opportunity to attack, making the situation even worse.
Monsterification was a sign of a Warlock losing control after consuming a forbidden potion.
In this state, their rationality and personality would slide completely toward that of a magical beast, turning them into bloodthirsty, manic beasts—and in the process, their strength would swell alongside it.
This was also one of the reasons why the Empire strictly forbade the birth of Warlocks.
It could be said that these Warlocks were far more unstable than even variants.
Of course, generally speaking, monsterification wasn't that easy to trigger. No consumer of a forbidden potion set out to turn into a wild beast right from the start.
“Roar! Die, die!” The meatball man, now a humanoid spider, bared a mouth full of fangs and flailed his six arms to tear out the sword embedded in his flesh.
Without a second thought, he pounced toward Macar.
His speed and agility were now on a completely different level than before.
‘Damn it, without a weapon I can't break through his defense... I have to find his weakness.’ Recognizing that he was outmatched in raw power, Macar didn't hesitate. He twisted his body to dodge the pounce and sprinted toward the village.
Frustrated by his repeated misses, the humanoid spider stood tall, spreading his six arms to expose his belly button.
Pfft—!
An even larger, sticky spider web shot toward Macar!
Sizzle—
The flames enveloping him flared, and Macar wasn't hindered in the slightest—the fire of his battle qi was not just for show.
The flames of Dawn battle qi could be selectively burned according to the user's will, making it the perfect counter to spider webs!
‘I hope Miss Gelin is safe.’ Macar broke through the web's restraint and looked ahead.
He could absolutely not lead this monster to where Gelin was.
Therefore, the only place he could go was into the village.
“Raiders, come greet your Second Leader!” Macar shouted into the village.
He had thought of a way to deal with this beast.
What Macar failed to notice, however, was that a certain bat had set its sights on him at some point.
...
‘Can Macar handle this?’
Ogre had witnessed every bit of the battle.
However, he couldn't find a way to intervene effectively.
For one, the distance was too far; throwing weapons or shooting arrows would have little effect.
For another, the combat was unfolding too rapidly, making it difficult for Ogre to find a window to step in.
Not to mention, he lacked a proper weapon.
‘Should I leave?’
Ogre pondered...
Under the current circumstances, keeping his distance might actually be the best option. Macar wouldn't be distracted if he stayed away.
And to put it bluntly, whether Macar lived or died had very little bearing on Ogre.
If he decided to join the fray... it seemed like a decision with a hundred disadvantages and only one benefit?
Leaving on the dragon-blood horse was clearly the optimal choice, and it wouldn't expose him to any danger.
After a brief moment, Ogre turned his clear, autumn-like eyes toward the village.
“Forget it... Since I'm the one who egged Macar on, I have to take responsibility. Just think of it as doing it for Aunt Mima.”
Ogre reached up and touched his forehead—where the defensive ward left by Fula resided.
Then, his gaze shifted toward the longsword lying on the ground.
...
“Stay away!”
Neither the raiders blocking the path nor the fleeing bandits could escape Macar's pursuit.
On the rare occasions Macar didn't strike, the humanoid spider hurtling right behind him would pounce on them, tearing them into mincemeat.
With Macar leading the beast around, the bandit lackeys were quickly wiped out.
Yet the villagers still didn't dare to step forward.
Because a monstrous spider was still running rampant.
“Everyone, hurry and get out of here!”
Macar swept his hand to project a blast of battle qi fire, burning away the ropes binding the villagers.
“Lord Knight...”
Most of the villagers had already scrambled to escape as fast as they could, but a small handful of rescued villagers still gazed back at this Dawn Paladin.
It was unclear what they were hoping for.
“Everyone, leave now! Staying here won't help me!” Macar performed another sharp turn, leaping aside to evade the humanoid spider's pounce.
As he warned the villagers, he scanned his surroundings for a trap that could bury the giant spider.
Soon, Macar spotted his target.
Which was—a haystack and a water well!
‘Good thing this guy's turning radius is so clumsy.’
Strength didn't always decide everything, at least not when it wasn't overwhelmingly dominant.
During his first clash with the meatball man, Macar had already noticed his delay in changing directions.
Even after mutating into a giant spider, this issue remained unresolved—no matter how much monsterification boosted him, it was difficult to erase such a fundamental flaw in an instant.
Though Macar could feel that the beast was gradually growing more agile, a weakness was still a weakness. As long as he could exploit it, there was a chance to kill him!
And the beast's severely diminished intelligence would be Macar's key to victory!
“Die... die... eat... hungry... won't... die—!”
To Macar's slight surprise, the humanoid spider, scrambling amidst the raiders' corpses, began to slow down.
It seemed to be struggling between its raw desire for flesh and its locked-on hatred for Macar.
This significantly hindered its speed.
‘Is there a conflict between his instinct and his personality...’
Sensing the reason for the delay, Macar flicked his toe to scoop up a fallen blade nearby, catching it in his hand.
Instantly, he raised his hand, gathered his strength—and threw it!
Swish—!
Under Macar's powerful throw, the long knife transformed into a flying blade. Enveloped in flames, it sliced through the air toward the humanoid spider.
Clank—
Unlike before, when he had taken blows head-on, the meatball man—now a humanoid spider—actually chose to dodge this ‘flaming blade.’
‘As expected, he's afraid of fire.’ Macar felt deeply reassured.
Previously, the opponent's hairless skin was like metal, virtually unburnable.
But now it was different. This guy was covered in thick hair; he was obviously weak to fire.
Setting him ablaze... even if it didn't burn him to death, it should at least inflict a decent amount of damage.
“Die... hungry... kill!”
Yet, it seemed this very provocative strike succeeded in aligning the conflicting consciousnesses inside the humanoid spider—abandoning the raw flesh, it charged directly at Macar.
‘I was waiting for this.’
Calm and unhurried, Macar waited for the beast to leap. Only at the absolute last second, right as they were about to collide, did he jump, dodging the plunge.
Carried by its sheer momentum, the humanoid spider kicked up a flurry of loose stones and plowed headfirst into the haystack Macar had selected beforehand.
“Burn!” Clenching his fist midair, Macar instantly ignited the haystack into a roaring inferno.
Flames erupted skyward, devouring the area.
From within the blazing light came the monstrous shrieks of the humanoid spider.
It appeared the massive fire had indeed dealt him a heavy blow.
‘A pity this guy doesn't fall under the category of a dark creature...’ Macar landed smoothly, looking back at the rising flames—the humanoid spider had not been burned to death.
The Dawn holy fire condensed from his Dawn battle qi dealt maximum damage to dark creatures.
But against a half-human, half-monster entity like this, the damage was far less effective.
“You brute, I'm over here.”
Macar hadn't expected to incinerate the thing with just this, but his goal had been accomplished—for the time being, the beast could likely forget about seeing or smelling anything.
“Ah! Pain! Die!”
Emerging from the flames, the humanoid spider dashed blindly toward the irritating voice.
The pure white, clinging flames had not only ignited his entire body but also ruptured his venom glands—this was the true source of his agonizing torment.
“You can't catch me.”
Engulfed in chaos, the humanoid spider was clearly unable to target him properly. Macar dodged its lunges even more effortlessly than before.
And he even had plenty of leeway to keep taunting it.
This drove the blazing spider further into madness. It loathed that voice, it was furious, and it wanted nothing more than to shred that human to pieces.
Driven by raw emotion and primal instinct, the humanoid spider forgot all fear—in its shattered mind, this was no longer just the taunts of a prey, but the ultimate enemy of its hatred.
“Screee! Die! Roar!”
The humanoid spider's voice was a bizarre, chilling blend of beastly shrieks and human roars.
Swish—!
Macar hurled a pitchfork with all his might the moment the beast opened its mouth.
The pitchfork tore through the air, plunging precisely into the humanoid spider's gaping mouth.
Squelch—
Violet blood spurted out. Bolstered by Macar's full-force throw, the tines of the pitchfork had successfully pierced the creature's split mandibles, breaking past its defense...
The inner mouth of most creatures was not as hard as their outer skin.
This was true for the humanoid spider as well.
Unfortunately, its head was too small, preventing all three tines of the pitchfork from burying completely inside.
Yet this agonizing stab was more than enough to drive it completely berserk.
“Over here!” Macar's voice echoed from a distance.
Providing a target for the humanoid spider.
It yanked out the pitchfork and charged.
‘A beast is a beast after all... If you had fled, it would have been quite troublesome to chase you.’
A faint smirk played on Macar's lips.
This time, he didn't even plan to dodge. He merely reached out and shoved over the stone wellhead surrounding the well's opening.
Next, he would lure the beast right into the trap!
“Roar—ah!”
The humanoid spider leapt forward with immense force, but its trajectory carried it cleanly down into the water well Macar had prepared.
Splash—
Following a loud splash, the humanoid spider plunged into the depths of the well.
Crack—!
This sound was audible only to the humanoid spider itself—the sound of its own body fracturing.
The water had indeed extinguished the flames engulfing its body.
But the sudden transition from extreme heat to freezing water made its outer shell incredibly fragile. The sword wound Macar had inflicted earlier now ruptured completely under the shock, expanding into a gaping, fatal vulnerability.
“Roar!” The humanoid spider's survival instinct was thoroughly awakened at this moment.
It thrashed violently, trying to demolish everything around it.
But the water restricted its strength, and trapped in the deep pit, it found thrashed struggles useless. In its panic, it tried to claw its semi-degenerated hands onto the well wall.
“Die!” But Macar had no intention of letting it escape.
He grabbed a heavy stone and hurled it down with all his might.
Bam—
The rock slammed hard into the humanoid spider.
The stone shattered—but so did its hardened hide.
This blow sent the climbing humanoid spider plunging back into the water, forcing it to gulp down several mouthfuls.
And then... the process was repeated several times.
Every time it tried to crawl out, Macar would deliver a crushing blow. Slowly but surely, the beast lost its strength.
Violet blood seeped from its entire body—it was on the verge of death.
Finally.
In its final moments before death, a faint spark of clarity returned to those crimson eyes.
‘Am I going to die? I'm so hungry...’ The humanoid spider felt its life slipping away.
At this moment, he finally realized his life was ending, and the memories of his past began to drift before his eyes.
‘Why did they kick me out? I just wanted to eat my fill...’
‘You can give me food?’
‘I understand. Either they survive, or I survive.’
‘Why... do you hate me too...’
‘Thank you... I-I'm full. What is this you gave me to drink...’
‘I'm so hungry. Why are you all gone...’
‘Warlock, I don't know what's happening. I'm really only nine years old... As long as you feed me, I'll be yours. Whoever tries to hurt me or hurt you, I'll kill them!’
‘Big Sister, Second Brother, thank you... You are good people...’
‘Second Brother, aren't you hungry? I'm going to eat then...’
‘Hahaha, I'm the Third Boss, after all. Good...’
‘What are you afraid of? There's only one of him!’
‘Second Brother! I will avenge you!’
‘I'm sorry, Second Brother... I'm so useless... and I'm still so hungry...’
Finally, the light vanished from his eyes, and he sank completely into the well...
...never to feel hunger again.
...
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