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The horns sprouted from Baphomet’s forehead. The half-human, half-beast being, the goat, twisted grotesquely and transformed into a foreboding four-legged beast, fully taking on the appearance of a goat. Its brown fur turned ashen, revealing sharp teeth that seemed out of place for a goat, as it exhaled a thick breath. Its pupils darkened, and its stature, less than 3 meters, began to grow colossal.

‘…….’

Kangsiny—the goat had completely transformed. It stomped the ground. Growing endlessly larger, it became a monstrous creature weighing dozens of tons, completely smashing the remaining plaza floor. It was almost like an earthquake. Hiding in the shadows was impossible. The wolf that leaped off a step soared several meters at once, and the goat followed right after. Attempting to spread its power to cover the goat’s face, the enormous magic energy swept away the shadows. At the moment it was about to be engulfed, the wolf used a gust of wind and momentum to leap high.

“……!”

The fallen goat kicked up a massive cloud of dust, and its silhouette darkened. It was definitely leaping up. The wolf shot out flaming thorns, but they couldn’t incinerate the gigantic goat. As the enormous jaw opened, a mass of evil surged forth, and its bright red tongue flickered.

The thorns clashed with the mass, turning to ash, and the ashen goat leapt even higher than the wolf, beginning its descent. The shadow looming over it—the monster stretching its neck as if to swallow the wolf—was entwined in fog, but no matter how much black magic there was, it couldn’t cover such a giant form. Dodging was easy, but the goat quickly leapt again, chasing after the wolf. It seemed to bounce lightly, but the surroundings were turning to ruin.

‘I need to get away.’

Every time the goat’s hooves hit the ground, the floor cracked, sending debris flying as if dozens of claymores were detonating. The shards flying towards the hunters were swallowed by ‘something invisible.’ The goat narrowed its eyes but quickly forgot and jumped towards the wolf.

‘……!’

The black pupils reflected only the wolf. Even though it tried to stay as far away as possible to prevent dragging the hunters in, it wasn’t easy. Just before it could be caught by the gaping goat, the wolf unleashed its power.

Before the goat could draw magic power, the fog woven from wind suppressed the storm of magic. Just before being consumed, the wolf spread its magic over the area suppressed by the fog. The goat, unable to swallow the wolf that had hidden into the shadows, landed on the ground and shook its head in frustration. Before the fog scattered in the wind, the wolf, having darted out ahead, ran above the goat’s head. In a frenzy to shake off the endlessly running wolf, the goat shook its head wildly, but the wolf wasn’t going to fall so easily.

Determined, the wolf’s gaze intensified as it stood atop the goat’s head. The wolf, facing the unguarded black pupils, growled low.

“―――.”

The goat realized it couldn’t shake off the wolf and buried its head into the ground while the black fog began to invade its pupils painfully. Just before the goat’s head struck the ground, the lightly landed wolf opened a pocket space with its storage skill.

—A long, sharp scythe. It revealed itself like an executioner’s scythe, seemingly modeled after the reaper’s tool.

The goat succeeded in throwing off the wolf as it had desired, but the horns grown from its forehead were deeply embedded in the ground, making it difficult to pull its head out. In the meantime, the wolf firmly gripped the scythe with multiple tentacles.

As the black pupils of the goat, hidden by the fog, struggled, the scythe held by the wolf began to fill with gray magic power. It was the power stolen when it bit the goat’s nape earlier.

The executioner’s scythe struck down the owner. While it was impossible to slash through the thick and sturdy muscles of the huge neck in one blow, the gray magic became a critical strike, just like the goat had done.

Just as almost half of its neck was severed, the struggling goat pulled its horns from the ground and lifted its head, hastily beginning to run. No matter how much regeneration it had, such a wound couldn’t recover easily. Especially now, with the black fog penetrating deeply within. The goat opened its mouth and unleashed a torrent of all the evil it had accumulated, and soon, the writhing masses poured forth endlessly along with the goat’s saliva, crawling across the ground.

False immortality. That was the only skill the goat could rely on. Rather than the goat that was feeling the closest monster and turning bright, the shadows quickly enveloped the monster and made it disappear. The furious goat stomped its hooves, leaving clear and large prints on the ground.

One. Just one monster was all it needed to consume, the goat thought as it looked around, but then it realized late that it couldn’t see. Even the remaining monsters were caught up in the goat’s movements, with debris embedded into them and met their end, long since swallowed by the wolf. —And so, the goat began to gnaw at the ground.

“……?!”

—The mass of evil it had unleashed earlier. The goat chewed it up as if savoring every bite, and the false immortality rolled its wounds back.

‘What…’

The mass of evil the goat had been commanding, the snakes and insects, were certainly living organisms. Looking back, there was no reason for the false immortality not to activate, but the wolf chuckled as if in disbelief. It seemed like a scam to have the false immortality activate just from devouring the snakes and insects inside its body. To its relief, it seemed that there were no more masses being commanded, which put it somewhat at ease.

After fully recovering from all its wounds, the goat howled. Then it began to shrink in size. It was giving up the transformation and returning to its half-human, half-beast form. It thought that fighting the wolf in its enlarged state would be disadvantageous. In response, the wolf swung the scythe as if to show off. It seemed to say, “Go ahead and try to take it if you can.” The goat glared at it.

‘This will do.’

On the opposite side of the plaza. They had moved quite far from the location where the hunters and the White Lion were fighting. At that moment, the flurries of snow began to fall, and before they knew it, mana was shaping into snowflakes above them.

The goat charged in as if to say it wouldn’t give them a moment’s distraction. Extending its hands as if to twist them apart, the wolf stored the scythe back into the pocket space. It seemed better than ending up on the losing side by having the scythe taken away from it. The wolf, having revealed its fangs, immediately used its momentum. Still, it was impossible to shake off the goat. The distance grew smaller, and in an instant, when the wolf unleashed a gust, the goat closed its eyes. The shadows rose high and enveloped the goat, slashing at it until the wolf exploded its magic.

As blood painted the surroundings, the goat howled in rage and, using its magic, charged. It had dodged once, but it couldn’t keep running away from the goat that persistently chased it. As the shadows rose again to cover the goat, it finally caught the wolf. With an unfathomable grip, the goat tightened around the wolf’s ankle. The wolf hurriedly bit the goat’s hand. As the wolf bit through the goat’s wrist with its fangs, the goat likewise tore off the wolf’s ankle with brute strength.

Fallen bodies. Strangely, it seemed that the goat was gripping the wolf’s ankle with its wrist. They snarled at each other as shadows engulfed their fallen bodies. Would one ankle be enough to still use false immortality? But who knows for sure.

“Grrr―”

While the two beasts were growling at each other, the goat frowned. For some reason, the regeneration of its wounds was slowing down… Suddenly, something flickered in the goat’s eyes.

It couldn’t see it. But the goat felt that something was definitely there. It was like a mirage, flickering here and there. When the creeping black fog obscured it, the wolf lunged in. Unlike the wolf, whose ankle had already fully regrown, the goat had not even regenerated its palm. Just before the goat, with its backward-bending legs raised high, could kick the wolf, the wolf stopped just out of reach. The fierce wind ruffled the wolf’s fur, but its feet didn’t touch.

…That would’ve been it.

As the goat lowered its legs, it stumbled. Its balance, its height, didn’t match. Lowering its head with a pitiful look, the goat realized that its hooves had sunk into something. Disbelieving, it looked at the wolf. Though their gazes were locked, the wolf’s focus was off. It was as if it was looking at something other than the goat.

‘…Now I get it.’

It had not known how to use it until now. It had just vaguely covered it with shadows. After that, it had only canceled out the incoming debris.

‘That’s not it.’

This power was not limited to that. Now it understood how to use it. What ability it held. As the wolf strongly harbored a thought, finally, it began to manifest its true power.

“―――!”

Howling. The wolf howled loudly, and that sound echoed against the plaza walls, bouncing back countless times.

‘――I’ll clear it away.’

Watching the approaching goat, the wolf’s eyes scattered a deep light. The goat, which had been approaching the wolf, tilted its head. Clearly, its regrown wrist had vanished. No, it was fading away. The goat quickly retreated to widen the distance and focused its eyes on its magic, and only then could it see it.

The thing that had been hiding in the black fog began to engulf the space and was starting to consume the area. The wolf’s jaw gradually opened, scattering a red glow.

‘I will devour it…!’

The devourer. What emanated from the self-aware wolf stirred the air with unending greed.

***

The strategy against Snowell was progressing smoothly. This was partly because it had blocked the maze’s paths and shown large movements, but also a major reason was that Kang Tae-jun had joined. Kang Tae-ho and Kang Tae-jun. The two horses pulling the dawn. The two brothers were tormenting the White Lion with their now-split sword.

“―――!”

However, defeating it wasn’t easy. The White Lion’s B-rank skill, Rock Skin, wasn’t something the two brothers could easily penetrate either. One thing was certain, though: the wounds were increasing. The names of swordsmanship and sword strikes weren’t just there for show. Dragging their injured and exhausted bodies, they overpowered Snowell. But it still didn’t get decisive—until finally.

“Freeze in a blizzard, ―Absolute Zero!”

—The great magic was completed. As beautiful snowflakes began to fall, Snowell, who had been holding out until now, couldn’t choose but succumb. Eventually, Snowell rose from the boundary of the maze. At that moment, Baek Gun-tae shouted.

“A path has opened! Get ready to go in!”

Hunters fell away from the charging White Lion. Surely, if the great magic hit, even Snowell would fall. But first, they had to resolve something. They had to save Ha Yeon, the source of the magic and the mage, from the approaching White Lion.

“―――――!”

Breathing heavily, Ha Yeon, who was awaiting the incoming monster, didn’t hesitate to drop the snowflakes over her head. The falling snowflakes. The approaching White Lion. As Ha Yeon grasped her throbbing head and staggered, Euna, who approached like a warrior, wrapped around her.

‘It’s too late…!’

It was impossible to flee from the White Lion. Soon, they would be caught. Plus, they had to escape the influence of the great magic. After running for a while, the White Lion caught up to the two and stomped its huge foot, and in the moment they thought they couldn’t evade, the figures of the two vanished. The White Lion, unable to control its strength, crashed into the plaza wall. With a tremendous noise, the wall crumbled down, covering the White Lion.

“Phew…”

Having narrowly escaped from danger, the two let out a sigh of relief. Thick breaths escaped as well. Even though they hadn’t been caught, their hands and feet were freezing, as if they had been frostbitten. Ha Yeon, whose complexion had turned blue, staggered as if she would collapse any moment, but a sprinkle of light dust made her feel much better.

“Kkyu kkyu!”

Seeing the triumphant look as if to say they should be grateful, the two chuckled. —They felt that the fight had ended.

“…Let’s go.”

Now they only had to escape the dungeon. As Ha Yeon, supported by Euna, walked towards the maze’s boundary with her pale complexion,

“……?”

Ussu. Heaving off the fallen debris of the wall as if nothing had happened, the White Lion stood up again.

“……!”

At the same time, the plaza began to shake. —The worst dungeon, the collapse of Neverland. The dungeon was being sealed off.

 

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