Chapter 101

Among demonic beasts, there are rare mutants born with extraordinary talents.

Just as Woojin’s pet wolf, Rex, possessed cunning tricks and tentacles, that silver squirrel also seemed to wield unusual power.

You can tell just by looking into its eyes. Exceptional strength reveals itself, no matter how one tries to hide it.

“…That bastard is observing me too.”

The silver squirrel standing atop a mushroom stared this way as if trying to bore a hole through him. Soon, it let out a low cry, signaling the surrounding members of its kind.

Naturally, Woojin couldn’t understand its meaning. To him, it was nothing more than the squeaking of a rodent.

What are they plotting?
Something felt off.

He had no intention of continuing to be toyed with like this, so Woojin rose from his spot.

There was something he had been eyeing for a while—the pile of demonic beast bones stacked beneath the mushrooms. He approached it and picked up a long leg bone.

He swung the machete diagonally.

Crack!

The tip of the leg bone was shaved off, forming a sharp edge like a crude spear. Repeating the process several times, he quickly fashioned five bone spears.

This should be enough.

Woojin hurled the spears in rapid succession. They flew with a vicious whistle through the air—but their target wasn’t the squirrel.

All five spears shot straight toward the towering mushrooms that rose like trees.

Thud, thud-thud—!

The spears embedded themselves into the mushroom stalks at regular intervals. Woojin sprinted forward, leapt high, and, like performing a dunk, grabbed onto a spear shaft stuck in a mushroom.

Using the previously thrown spears as a ladder, Woojin scaled up in an instant and reached the top of the mushroom.

“…This is interesting.”

The sensation beneath his feet was strange.

The mushroom cap yielded softly, then pushed back elastically against the soles of his feet. It felt as though he were standing on a trampoline.

Boing, boing!

After bouncing in place a couple of times to build momentum, he kicked hard against the mushroom and launched himself.

Woojin’s body shot forward like a cannonball. The squirrels, startled by the sight, scattered in all directions in panic.

Whooo—!
A peculiar wind sound echoed.

Turning his head to identify its source, he saw three green squirrels in the distance, gesturing in the air as though shaping pottery.

In response to their movements, pale green currents swirled through the air. The unnatural gusts gathered spores from across the forest, clumping them together into a round mass like a ball.

Those green squirrels possessed the ability to control the wind—a rare and marvelous talent.

So they were preparing a big attack to capture me.

Even if he had resistance to poison, perhaps they believed that slamming him with a massive dose of mushroom toxins at once would be enough to fell an intruder.

A foolish idea—but he had no desire to be drenched head to toe in toxic powder.

I’ll deal with them first.

Woojin leapt repeatedly toward the green squirrels. The elastic force of the mushrooms propelled him faster and faster.

The distance closed in the blink of an eye. At this rate, he’d soon be able to cut them down.

Just as he thought that—

An odd sound reached his ears. It was like the splashing of water mixed with the chirping of a sparrow. He turned his head to confirm the source.

Light flickered.

A pure white glow drifted beside the silver squirrel. It was strange—flowing like liquid, sometimes gathering into clumps as if molten silver had been poured into the air.

Piiing—!

The silver light shot toward him. Woojin deflected it with his machete.

Claaang!!

With a clear ringing sound, the light rebounded, streaking away in a straight line.

But then it suddenly halted midair, turned as though it had a head, and came back toward him. Its elegant curve resembled a silver trout swimming through water.

What a bizarre ability.

It could remotely control the light like a drone to strike its enemy—a power he had never seen before.

Still, dealing with it wasn’t particularly difficult. No matter how many times the light flew at him, all he had to do was read its trajectory and knock it away.

Without stopping, he continued advancing.

Seeing this, the silver squirrel seemed to grow impatient and suddenly leapt down from the tall mushroom.

Thwack!

As it spread its limbs wide, a hidden membrane unfurled. The silver squirrel glided through the air. Only then did Woojin realize what it was.

So it’s a flying squirrel.

It had seemed oddly small and different from the others—apparently it was of a different species altogether.

The flying squirrel glided toward him.

The distance shrank rapidly with every second. Suddenly, it folded its wing membranes and dove.

Whirr—!

The flying squirrel somersaulted as it descended. Its silver tail whipped behind it, stiff and raised, shaped like a crescent moon.

Woojin raised his machete and blocked the tail.

Claaang!!

A loud metallic clang rang out as silver sparks flew. The impact numbed his hands. The flying squirrel’s tail was as fierce as a blade forged from steel.

Using the recoil from the clash, the squirrel flipped backward, widening the gap between them.

Piiing!

At the same time, a piercing noise rang out. Woojin twisted his body instinctively. The silver light streaked past his shoulder from behind.

Without giving him a moment to breathe, the squirrel leapt again from the front, swinging its tail once more. Alternating like a coordinated assault, the squirrel and the silver light rained attacks upon him.

Woojin’s hands grew busy. He swung the machete to deflect the relentless barrage.

“…This one’s interesting.”

Demonic beasts with strong ranged attacks are usually vulnerable in close combat—but this one was the opposite. It had refined its light-manipulating ability to enhance its close-range firepower.

An unfamiliar skill and application. Woojin savored it, exchanging blows with the squirrel in high spirits.

Haah!

Suddenly, the flying squirrel leapt backward. It bounded away repeatedly, creating distance.

Woojin frowned.

“Where are you going all of a sudden?”

He had just begun to warm up, and now the flow was abruptly cut off as it retreated.

Why was it running?

Soon, he realized the reason. He looked up at the sky.

A massive clump of spores was falling toward him like a meteor.

They finished preparing already.

While time had passed, the squirrels had gathered all the toxic spores with their wind.

The poison spores, clumped together like they were trapped inside a transparent balloon, descended upon the unwelcome intruder in the forest.

Woojin watched the scene calmly, and a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

It looks like a thundercloud.

The spores gathered in the sky resembled dark storm clouds.

Crackle!

After summoning a bolt of lightning into his palm,
he casually tossed the spark into the cloud of spores. It was done without much thought—nothing more than a trivial experiment.

The result, however, was anything but trivial.

Red lightning crackled inside the spore cloud, and soon a small explosion erupted—like a firecracker popping. Yet that explosion spread in a chain reaction, rapidly growing in scale.

Boom, boom-boom-boom!!

Explosions burst like fireworks. The toxic mushroom spores glittered as they rained down to the ground. Watching the spectacle, Woojin found himself inwardly impressed.

It was quite a sight.

Is this what they call a dust explosion?

When flammable particles are suspended too densely in the air, even a tiny spark can trigger a violent blast. It was his first time witnessing such a phenomenon firsthand.

There was no time to stand around admiring it.

Woojin was about to hurry after the flying squirrel that had fled earlier—but there was no need.

The silver squirrel stood there, staring blankly at the night sky. It seemed stunned by the unprecedented spectacle it had just witnessed.

The others are gone.

The subordinate squirrels were nowhere to be seen. Likely, they had fled in terror after the explosions.

Woojin walked over leisurely toward the silver squirrel. Even as its enemy approached, it remained transfixed by the sky.

He decided to speak.

“Hey.”

The squirrel flinched and looked at him, wearing an expression like it had been caught doing something wrong.

Woojin raised his machete.

“Come at me again.”

They couldn’t understand each other’s words, but the meaning surely came across.

The flying squirrel hesitated for a moment…

…then flopped onto its back.

It lay there exposed, belly up, utterly defenseless—as though declaring surrender.

The moment it saw the explosions in the sky, its will to fight had vanished completely. From the start, the battle had never been in its favor. Woojin had merely entertained himself by playing along.

Begging for mercy now was the best option. The squirrel had reached that conclusion.

Woojin watched and pondered.

What should I do?

Spare it? Or kill it and collect its core and spoils?

The hesitation didn’t last long. He gripped the machete and swung it down toward the squirrel’s neck. The blade fell like a guillotine.

…Had he followed through, it would have severed the creature’s life.

Wow… it didn’t even dodge.

Woojin was inwardly impressed. The squirrel had watched the descending blade without moving. The machete stopped just short of its throat.

Its legs trembled violently—

But Woojin admired its nerve.

“I’ll let you off this once.”

He sheathed the machete.

Then, without a backward glance, Woojin left. He still had a long road ahead, and he had already wasted enough time playing with a squirrel.

He quickened his steps northward.

Left behind, the squirrel remained lying still for a moment… then suddenly sat up. Its bead-like eyes quietly followed the retreating figure of the man.

The being who had painted the sky in flames—
where was such a great existence headed?

Curiosity stirred within the silver squirrel.

**

Food was always necessary.

Feeling hungry, Woojin searched the surroundings for something to eat. An unfortunate wild boar soon found itself skinned and laid over a campfire.

With meat this large, it was difficult to cook evenly all the way through. Like eating kebab, Woojin used a dagger to shave thin slices from the surface, tearing off pieces one by one.

As he ate the boar meat, he felt a prickling gaze.

…How long is that guy going to keep following me?

High up in a large tree, the flying squirrel hid behind a branch, staring this way.

It had been tailing him the entire time.

This reminds me of the old days.

Thinking back, Rex had also followed him around like this before eventually joining him.

Of course, there were differences.

That shameless wolf had openly trailed behind, waiting for scraps to fall his way. This squirrel, on the other hand, kept its distance, timidly hiding while observing Woojin’s every move.

Though slightly aware of its presence, Woojin didn’t pay it much mind.

If it’s meant to be, we’ll end up traveling together. If not, it’ll find its own path and leave.

Either way, it didn’t matter.

Thus, the two beings continued northward. Before long, their destination grew nearer.

A mountain range formed of massive volcanoes. Black smoke constantly billowed from their peaks. At his current pace, he would reach it in about a week.

After roughly estimating the volcanic range, Woojin shifted his gaze to the wasteland spread out before it. He had come all this way to see the mountains—but that purpose had already faded into the background.

It couldn’t be helped. In the middle of the vast plain stood something unexpected.

…There’s a city here?

It wasn’t abandoned. The buildings were intact and orderly, and smoke from cooking fires rose in multiple places. It was fairly large in scale.

What was this place?

As he pondered, the city gates opened and figures walked out, chatting and laughing among themselves. They were unmistakably human.

Humans living deep within the Demon Realm. The implication was clear.

“The city of the Dark-side priests.”

It seemed he had found their stronghold.