Part 1 Chapter 10 24

Fenrir of the Gale.

As the first executive to be defeated by the protagonist’s party, they came to Korea looking for Rusalka of the Snowy Night, an executive whose activities were scarce, and lost power after an accident, becoming a companion of the protagonist’s party.

Thinking of themself as a cat, being crazy about mint chocolate, and having a strange way of speaking, Fenrir was a very impactful being in many ways.

But nothing was as concerning as what Fenrir had just said.

20 years.

Fenrir had clearly said 20 years. I pretended to be calm and continued the conversation.

“Indeed. It’s been 20 years since we last met. Are you doing well in your activities as an executive of the Dark Legion?”

“You didn’t come all the way here just to check that, did you, meow? Even burning my favorite food and spreading its scent?”

“Because I didn’t know where you were. Puhuhu.”

“…….”

Fenrir’s eyes sharpened. It was a gaze that seemed to want to dig into me.

“What about your assigned territory? Aha. You woke up and found it hard to conquer America alone, so you came to get my support, meow?”

Each executive had an assigned territory before falling to Earth. Azure Flame Phoenix was solely in charge of America, and Fenrir of the Gale was in charge of Europe.

“No. I came because I wondered what you were up to.”

“I’m doing just fine on my own. Hmm, indeed, I am.”

“Hoo. Shall I hear your know-how?”

I led the conversation, pretending to be an executive. As I took a humble stance, Fenrir scrutinized me with a suspicious expression.

“There’s a strange smell coming from you, meow.”

“It’s nothing. I just covered my scent to blend in with humans.”

“It doesn’t seem like just one or two. Sniff sniff. I smell fire, and water, and something else strange. “

As expected of a monstrous human whose original form is a wolf, their sense of smell is incredible.

“It’s a means to hide my identity, since I haven’t been awake for long.”

I felt that if I talked any more here, my traces as a spirit would be exposed, so I wanted to prioritize confirming Fenrir’s actions.

“So where are you and what are you doing right now? While I’m even covered in this strange scent.”

“Nothing much, I lived as a cat for 20 years, meow.”

“Huh?”

What kind of sudden, out-of-nowhere statement was that? When I asked back in confusion, Fenrir shook their head with a look of incomprehension.

“Why are you so surprised, meow? Wasn’t it you who told us not to fall asleep and to blend in with humans in the first place, meow?”

“…….”

To be clear, I have no such memory. At the same time, this situation was exactly contrary to the original story I remembered.

“…Was that so? I’m sorry. I haven’t been fully conscious for long.”

“Hehe, I thought so, meow. Even when you gathered everyone right before they went to sleep and gave a long speech, you were rambling like a crazy bitch, meow.”

“…….”

I don’t understand. But I had to continue the conversation calmly. For this moment, I had to speak as an executive of the Dark Legion.

“……’Crazy bitch,’ that’s too harsh. Do you want to burn to death?”

“Oho, Phoenix’s temper isn’t dead after all, meow. That damn fiery personality is still the same. Ugh. Alright, meow. Just wait a moment, meow.”

Fenrir fiddled with their neck and cleared their throat a few times.

“Ahem ahem. ……So, what is the purpose of your visit to me?”

“Why is your way of speaking suddenly like that?”

“Because I lived as a British royal cat for 20 years.”

“British royal cat?”

Fenrir wasn’t sleeping somewhere in Northern Europe, but living in Britain? The more we talked, the more I felt like I was getting lost in a labyrinth regarding their background.

“That is so. I am a member of the English royal family, a cat who has even received a knighthood, known as Sir Cait Sith, meow. After acting like a cat for 20 years, this way of speaking has become more comfortable, so I will speak like this, meow.”

“……Could you please explain in more detail?”

I demanded Fenrir explain their past actions. But Fenrir grinned and wagged a finger left and right at me.

“That’s not the attitude of someone asking for a favor, meow. And I don’t want to explain, meow.”

“Is it because I burned your mint chocolate?”

“That’s about 10% of it, and there’s a reason for the other 90%, meow.”

Fenrir’s body was enveloped in wind. Fenrir transformed into a monstrous human and aimed sharp claws at me. Just as I took on the form of a phoenix, Fenrir’s black armor took on the form of a wolf.

[I sense the aura of a spirit from you, you bitch. Yes. The aura of a spirit that our Dark Legion executives must kill.]

“……It must be a misunderstanding.”

[Misunderstanding? Foolish one. If you were truly Azure Flame Phoenix, you wouldn’t have asked me for an explanation, would you?]

“Then what?”

[You would have grabbed me by the collar and ordered me to explain without preamble. What? ‘Could you please explain?’ If you’re going to act, do it properly!]

Fenrir released the Barrier. I quickly changed my body into monstrous human form.

[I don’t know how you managed to imitate Azure Flame Phoenix, but daring to impersonate the head of the executives under that great one-Azure Flame Phoenix-is a grave sin.]

[Indeed.]

Just as I tried to sound out Fenrir and grasp their identity, Fenrir also seemed to gauge whether I was real or not by exchanging words with me.

[I thought all the spirits of Terra were dead. I don’t know how you survived or how you stole Phoenix’s body. However, facing me is your fatal mistake, you bitch! Nameless spirit!]

And it was I who showed weakness first. I truly became curious about what the original had been doing to the spirits.

[I expected it, but I never imagined Azure Flame Phoenix would be such a scumbag.]

[Hahaha! You’re showing your true colors! Now, will you quickly return my comrade!]

[Hoo.]

Is it because they’re both executives and spirits, or is it due to an animal-like intuition? Fenrir came closest to the truth than any other heroine I had met in this world.

The fact that I possessed Azure Flame Phoenix’s body.

[Too bad. Now that you know my identity.]

I absolutely cannot let you blab to others. I slowly raised my mana.

[Since I came prepared to fight anyway. Come at me, mutt.]

[Insolent one! I am!]

Fenrir’s Barrier completely disappeared. Before I knew it, the sun had vanished beyond the horizon, and the darkness of night slowly began to settle.

[A cat, I am!]

Fenrir sharpened their claws and ran through the air. I extended my hand towards Fenrir.

[You’re a wolf, you idiot.]

The blue flames that erupted from my hand covered the sky.

* * *

At the same time Phoenix and Fenrir were exchanging blows in the skies above England.

An uninvited guest appeared in a garden in Beijing, China.

“What brings the Round Table here so suddenly?”

Bonghyo couldn’t hide their bewilderment at the unannounced visit of the platinum-haired woman, Vladimir ‘Rusalka’ Anastasia.

“There’s nowhere I cannot go.”

Mao Zeping’s estate was in a place unknown to anyone, and it wasn’t a place the Round Table could just teleport to.

“Child, don’t talk back, just call your master. I already know everything and came.”

“……My lord is currently sleeping. Undine-nim. No matter if it’s the Round Table, this kind of-“

“It’s been a long time, Ru unnie.”

At the end of the estate’s corridor, a gray-haired girl appeared.

The illusory attribute spirit, Phantom Dragon, who had emerged from Mao Zeping’s body and gained a physical form, greeted Undine in attire like that of a celestial maiden.

“…….”

Rusalka greeted Phantom Dragon with a complicated expression. Phantom Dragon also teared up as soon as they saw Rusalka, who was possessing Anastasia.

“So you call me by that name.”

“You’re calling me by a different name, aren’t you? Right? Our name is…. …Bonghyo. We need to talk alone. Could you step aside for a moment?”

“……Understood.”

Bonghyo dismissed those around them. Only the sound of a scops owl crying filled the estate, and the two spirits sat facing each other across a table.

“I knew as soon as I saw you, that Ru unnie was Ru unnie.”

“As expected, you know well, being able to handle souls. Yes. It’s me. ■■. Nice to meet you, ■■.”

“……So it’s the same for Ru unnie too. Hmm. Yes. I see. So that’s why everyone ended up like this. Now I understand a bit.”

Phantom Dragon nodded as if finally understanding. Rusalka frowned and interrogated Phantom Dragon.

“Don’t just say you understand by yourself again. You know why I came, don’t you?”

“Yes. It’s because of Phoenix. More precisely, that….”

Phantom Dragon hesitated to continue speaking. Rusalka stood up, grabbed Phantom Dragon’s face, and glared.

“Tell me now. Or answer my questions.”

Rusalka took a breath and continued speaking.

“Azure Flame Phoenix, is that really them?”

Rusalka explained the sense of déjà vu she felt when she first met Phoenix on the plains of Dandong, and the assumptions that arose from the sense of incongruity she continued to feel through her relationship with them.

“No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t seem like them. Falling in love with a human? No matter how lovely my daughter is, they are certainly not the kind of person to fall in love with a human. Right?”

“I agree with that. But. However….”

Even with Rusalka’s chilling behavior, Phantom Dragon swallowed hard and showed hesitation.

“……If I tell the truth about this, I’ll die.”

“By whom?”

Phantom Dragon answered with a face full of fear.

“……■, no, by Azure Flame.”

“……???”

“…I don’t know, ugh. I’m a dead person walking anyway, so surely they wouldn’t kill me, right? I’ll explain.”

It took Rusalka quite a long time to understand Phantom Dragon’s words.

* * *

The battle, which began in the skies above London, was gradually moving southeast.

[Are you planning to run away?]

I chased after Fenrir, dodging the blade-like winds they unleashed. Even though I was flying and Fenrir was running, my speed was only barely enough to keep up.

[You can’t even catch me, yet you’re bluffing!]

Fenrir constantly released mana behind them, firing blade-like winds. I narrowly dodged them, careful not to slow down in order to conserve my strength.

Kagang!

A blade-like wind, flying from an unseen blind spot, grazed my shoulder. It couldn’t cut me and bounced off, but it left a very thin scratch on my armor.

Hwareuk.

Flames rose and filled the scratch on my armor. Fenrir was fast but weak in power, so they couldn’t inflict any significant damage on me and merely continued to flee southeast.

[It’s clearly a lure.]

I don’t know the reason for the lure. Only one of two things comes to mind.

They either want to fight somewhere else to avoid damaging London, or they’re inviting me to a battlefield where they can unleash their full power. Or both.

Either way, it’s not a problem.

[Struggling when your attribute is countered.]

Before I knew it, we had passed the North Sea and were breaking through the center of the European continent. At times, I chased Fenrir so closely that I almost grabbed them by the scruff of their neck, but Fenrir was meticulous in their evasive maneuvers, as if determined never to be caught by me.

[Running away like a rat.]

[It’s not fleeing, but a strategic retreat!]

[Then let’s see how far you go.]

I can chase them to the ends of the Earth. Unless they plan to play tag around the Earth dozens of times, they’ll surely stop somewhere.

[As expected, the intention was to change the battlefield.]

Fenrir ran downwards as if running down a slope. I spread my wings wide and glided after them. In the middle of a large body of water-a lake that could be mistaken for a sea-Fenrir landed on a small island and even released their monstrous human form.

[Hmm?]

Why did they release their monstrous human form? Fenrir waited for me to land on the island, arms crossed, with a triumphant expression.

“A British royal cat shouldn’t fight on British soil!”

[It wouldn’t matter anyway if we fought in the sky….]

I manipulated the magic gear inside my armor to check our location. We had flown so far, over 4,000 km, and arrived at an island in the middle of the Caspian Sea.

“Hehe, hehehe.”

Fenrir was laughing and provoking me. The fact that they deliberately released their monstrous human form also meant they wanted to talk before fighting.

[……Alright.]

I folded my wings and released my transformation. Fenrir clapped their hands with a wide smile.

“For someone who stole another’s body, you’re using it quite well, meow!”

“You’re not going to tell me how you figured it out, are you?”

“I wouldn’t have changed my form like this if I didn’t intend to, meow.”

“…….”

If they were thinking nonsense, I could just knock them down and then awaken them as a spirit. I prepared myself to immediately shove Azure Flame into Fenrir’s gut if they spoke any falsehoods, and waited for their words.

“Well…. it’s nothing much. I heard something, except from Chaos Phantom Dragon and Rusalka of the Snowy Night, meow.”

“What did you hear?”

“A prophecy.”

“A prophecy…?”

I wondered if they were talking about Oracle’s ability. But I decided there was no need to delay any further here.

“Alright. I’ll just listen to that and then decide how much to beat you. Tell me.”

“[I don’t know when I will open my eyes, but it might not be me].”

“…….”

Fenrir pointed at me and twisted their lips into a smirk.

“There’s no need to specifically say who said it, is there?”

“……Haa. I should have called you earlier to talk.”

Regret always comes late. But it’s not too late even now.

“Alright. First, I’ll knock you down, and then I’ll have to go interrogate you later.”

“I wonder if you can really do that? Against us.”

“……Ah, seriously.”

I transformed into my monstrous human form, spread my wings, and soared into the sky.

However.

It was a trap after all.

“Ohohohohoho! Serves you right, you stupid chicken head!”

“…You’d better keep your feet on the ground, if you don’t want to die.”

“Now, come down, meow!”

Above was darkness.

Below was land.

And between them, wind.

[1:3, huh.]

It seems I wasn’t the only executive who woke up first.

[I wonder if Gaetcheongwangma woke up too.]

Ah.

Truly.

‘If I ever meet Azure Flame, I won’t let them off the hook. Seriously.’

It was a moment when I instantly understood Baek Heea’s feelings.