Chapter 54. Hunt

Two hours earlier.

Enoch was tracking a human trafficker to catch Anderson and his gang.

He struggled quite a bit over the past few days to trace their human trafficking route, but this tiresome game of hide-and-seek was ending today. Enoch planned to annihilate most of them, leaving only a few key witnesses.

Henry would scold him again for using such violent methods, but these scum deserved to die. They lured or kidnapped women, children, and other vulnerable people who couldn’t even put up a proper resistance and sold them abroad. The fact that the foreign country was Atreos only fueled Enoch’s rage.

Those d*mn Atreos bastards.

Located in the northwest of Europia, Atreos was a long-standing headache for Freuden and its allied nations, occupying a disproportionately large territory.

In the era of humanity, human civilization was achieving unprecedented grand development, but Atreos still revered outdated norms and religions. They believed in a god who supposedly brought magic and civilization to humanity in ancient times when humans couldn’t even make fire.

However, about 50 years ago, a hypothesis emerged in academia that humans acquired magic naturally, not as a gift from a god.

That hypothesis gradually gained traction and became the ideological foundation of the new era led by science and technology. Humanity came to believe that they could flourish without divine aid, and the power of religion waned.

The weakened monotheistic religion eventually moved its base from Freuden to Atreos. They declared that they would abandon Freuden, which had long dominated the Europian continent, and support Atreos.

The impact seemed significant, but it was Morpheus Besnard who dedicated himself to stabilizing domestic and international affairs through various efforts at that time. He was a fervent supporter of the natural occurrence theory of magic, a humanist, and an atheist.

That old man must have faced over a hundred assassination threats from Atreos and the monotheistic religion. In recent years, those threats were directed at me. Enoch smirked crookedly as he adjusted the hidden pistol in his coat.

He preferred breech-loading rifles over pistols, but he had no problem handling any weapon.

The human trafficker he was tailing was now entering a deep alley. Enoch skillfully concealed himself in the darkness, erasing his presence as he drew his pistol from his coat. He was already prepared to pull the trigger. The pistol, a new technology unique to Freuden, could fire a bullet with the simple action of lowering the hammer and pulling the trigger.

The human trafficker, who had been looking around cautiously, unlocked the iron door attached to the wall. Enoch sensed that beyond that door lay their hideout.

Well, it seemed likely. The red brick building, occupying half of the alley, only had that iron door as an entrance. There were only about six windows, all narrow and rectangular, located high near the roof.

In other words, it was a very suspicious building.

It was also questionable how such a building, with no clear purpose, got a construction permit. It was highly likely that someone in a high position, with the authority to grant permits, had taken bribes from Anderson. Maybe more than one person.

Enoch clicked his tongue inwardly and prepared to jump forward. As the human trafficker unlocked the final lock and opened the iron door, Enoch sprang forward and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet fired from the pistol hit the human trafficker in the thigh. He needed to be kept alive because he had a lot of information. Without stopping the bleeding within 30 minutes, he would die from excessive bleeding.

Enoch kindly stepped on and broke the other leg of the man, who was groaning and crawling on the ground. A scream of pain echoed. The commotion following the gunshot naturally caused chaos inside the building.

Leaving the man who couldn’t use his legs behind in the alley, Enoch rushed into the building. Immediately, gunfire erupted from all directions.

With inhuman reflexes, Enoch identified the positions of his enemies and dived behind cover. He pulled a mask from his coat and put it on, then took out a magical tool from his belt pocket. It was a single-use magical tool made by a mage that generated toxic smoke.

Enoch didn’t like magic, but he had no qualms about using it.

He would use anything to clean up the trash.

Smirking crookedly, he threw the marble-like magical tool to his right, where most of the enemies were gathered.

“Ugh… What is this?!”

“Cough, cough…!”

One by one, the enemies fell to the unexpected toxic smoke. While they were confused, Enoch peeked out from behind cover and shot the nearest enemy.

Bang!

When one enemy fell, the others hastily began to retaliate. However, already paralyzed by the pervasive toxic smoke, they couldn’t accurately hit the swiftly moving Enoch.

While dodging the gunfire aimed at him, Enoch methodically took down the enemies who were least affected by the toxic smoke.

The number of enemies dwindled, and Enoch’s victory seemed inevitable—until a gray-clad figure suddenly ambushed him.

The assailant had a slender build, making it difficult to determine their biological s*x. They wore a mask shaped like a long beak that covered their entire face and wielded a knife instead of a gun. The knife’s blade was coated with an unknown liquid.

At that moment, Ellen’s foresight flashed through Enoch’s mind.

‘Poison.’

The black blade, as if carved from obsidian, rushed towards Enoch at an incredible speed.

It was clear that this was no ordinary opponent, considering they dared to engage in close combat with someone wielding a gun. They were either a madman unafraid of death or they had something up their sleeve.

Enoch dodged the gray assailant’s attack and created some distance. Several gunshots rang out, but the assailant easily evaded them.

Tsk, Enoch clicked his tongue. Now that he looked closer, it seemed the attacker was a mage with body-enhancing magic. Or someone who had received such… ‘implants.’

Atreos, those crazy bastards.

The gray-clad assailant was undoubtedly an assassin sent by Atreos. Atreos was the only insane country that performed surgeries to implant magic as a national policy.

This guy was probably from one of the buyers who had been dealing with Anderson’s gang for a long time. Following the connected threads, at the end, would be the Atreos imperial family and their monotheistic religion. The human trafficking victims sold to Atreos…

‘…were probably used for magic implantation experiments.’

Enoch ground his teeth. His rage made his blood boil but also cleared his mind. He awakened all his nerve cells with senses close to those of a beast, focusing entirely on the fight.

He discarded the pistol that had run out of bullets and instead drew a knife from his belt. Realizing his opponent was a monster rather than a human, the instincts from his days of war reawakened.

“Dogs of Atreos.”

On the battlefield, the soldiers of Freuden and its allied nations called the body-enhanced soldiers of Atreos that. Poor bastards who had been implanted with magic and brainwashed. The only way to cut their leash was to take their lives.

“Is your consciousness still intact?”

Seeing the attacker charge without answering, it seemed there was no consciousness left. The attacker was so fast that the black blade grazed Enoch’s arm sharply.

But thanks to taking the antidote in advance, the poison that invaded his bloodstream caused him no harm.

It was thanks to Ellen.

Instead of counterattacking recklessly, Enoch read the attacker’s movements, memorizing the pattern. He mentally mapped out a perfect way to subdue the attacker without any mistakes.

Additionally, he identified the physical weak points of this mad dog, waiting for the moment they would be exposed.

The attacker’s balance was slightly weaker on the left. Even though he moved like he was flying, he became a bit unstable when landing on his left foot compared to his right.

It was a very subtle difference, but Enoch didn’t miss it. No matter how minor the weakness, it was advantageous to exploit it. He had won countless battles that way.

The gray-clad assailant charged again. Enoch dodged the attack slightly and counterattacked to the right, forcing the attacker to land on his left foot.

As expected, the attacker, who had jumped off the wall to avoid the attack, landed on his left foot. Enoch didn’t miss the moment and threw his knife at the attacker’s right leg.

Unable to step forward with his right leg to avoid the knife, the attacker put more weight on his left foot, causing him to stumble slightly.

Enoch swiftly closed the distance and punched the attacker in the face. The beak-shaped mask crumpled and tilted slightly.

As the attacker tried to regain his balance and swing his knife, Enoch struck his wrist with the edge of his hand.

Clang. The black knife fell to the floor. Before the attacker could draw another weapon or counterattack, Enoch grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back.

Kicking the attacker’s back, Enoch pinned him to the ground. The attacker struggled madly, but Enoch pulled his arms with such force that his shoulders dislocated.

Even then, the attacker’s legs continued to flail, so Enoch stepped on them until he heard the bones crack under his heavy military boots.

Finally, Enoch kicked the limp body over. Removing the beak mask revealed a very ordinary face.

“As expected, brainwashed.”

Enoch muttered lowly, staring into those unfocused black eyes. The defeated ‘dog’ looked like a living corpse.

Only after single-handedly clearing out the human traffickers’ hideout did Enoch call for backup. His gunmen, who rushed in through the sole entrance of the red brick building, lowered their rifles in dismay.

His Highness the Grand Duke again!

However, no one dared to scold the Grand Duke. Only the blue-eyed knight commander subtly cast a look that said it was really too much. Enoch noticed the look but ignored it.

It was easy to find evidence linking Anderson’s gang to the human traffickers’ hideout. Enoch stormed into Marquis Anderson’s residence with contracts and ledgers bearing Anderson’s signature, seal, and fingerprints.

Anderson, who had sensed something was wrong and tried to flee, was caught by Enoch in the mansion’s kitchen. Seeing Anderson trembling like a pig being butchered, Enoch chuckled briefly. Adjusting his black leather gloves, he said,

“Here’s the pig.”

And now.

Ding, ding, ding—

The clock chimed three times, signaling midnight.

“Happy birthday, Ellen.”

Enoch was utterly satisfied that he had delivered a ‘gift’ to Ellen just in time for her birthday.

He smiled brightly at her, his face still covered in the traces of brutal violence.

Ellen, who had been staring down at Anderson for a long time, finally lifted her head slowly. Enoch felt a thrilling pleasure like an electric current as their eyes met, her water-colored eyes filled with shock.

Now, let’s see your reaction.

* * *