The Power of Coin

Ewan stepped into what felt like another world.

The night was thick, unmarred by a single guiding light.

Indeed, the entire city seemed cast into a lightless abyss. Everywhere he looked, he could vaguely discern the indistinct yet terrifying silhouettes of specters.

The rain continued to fall. Thanks to the city’s excellent sewage system, no catastrophe had yet occurred. Still, the accumulated water in the streets and alleys rose above his ankles.

Ewan walked through these unfamiliar lanes, as though traversing a realm of the dead.

An occasional explosion echoed in his ears, and flashes of fire would sometimes ignite in the distance, only to be instantly extinguished by the profound darkness of the night.

The Silent Watch’s general offensive against the cultists was proceeding as planned. Had the Evil God not accelerated their actions, the cultists might have been caught off guard, causing all their schemes to crumble.

However, a plan orchestrated by an Evil God would not be so easily thwarted. In fact, the Silent Watch initially suffered a hidden loss when some of its internal members were invisibly corrupted by the moon.

Yet, as a specialized agency dedicated to countering Evil Gods, they were adept at handling such contamination. After a ruthless and cold suppression, this violent organization, which had recently been constrained in Belrand, finally bared its cruel fangs.

Even amidst the rain, Ewan could distinctly smell the scent of blood.

Tonight, countless bodies would undoubtedly be discarded into Belrand’s sewers or burned to ashes.

However, Ewan had no time to concern himself with the fierce battle between the Silent Watch and the cultists. He was, in fact, somewhat relieved by the chaos they caused, as it allowed him to easily penetrate deep into the cultists’ stronghold.

The air grew increasingly frigid, and the biting cold made even his current physique shiver involuntarily.

‘It seems I’m heading in the right direction.’

Ewan pulled down the brim of his hat and quickened his pace.

Yet, he hadn’t walked much further before his steps faltered.

He couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh.

‘As expected, it won’t be that easy, will it?’

Along the edges of the street, the once gentle streams and charming bridges had transformed into surging torrents under the torrential rain.

Suddenly, a grotesque claw emerged from the murky river, seizing the bank—which could barely contain the raging currents—and pressed down forcefully.

As a distinct scratch appeared on the bluestone riverbank, a scaly monster, resembling a lizard, slowly revealed itself from the water.

The creature shook its head, its cold, vertical pupils locking onto the sole living person in the alley. The ferocious aura it exuded sent a chill down Ewan’s spine.

A Moon Beast.

It was quite small, both in size and power, far inferior to the worm Miss Siren had prepared in the Crimson Flame Gang to kill him.

But…

There was more than one.

As Ewan’s gaze shifted, more monsters slowly emerged from the darkness. Their grotesque appearances, as if the Creator had accidentally sneezed while crafting them, offered no comfort; instead, they intensified the chilling dread.

‘So that’s it. Is this what Mera meant by ‘things crawling up from below’?’

A flicker of understanding crossed Ewan’s eyes. He finally comprehended how the cultists could endure such a powerful assault from the Silent Watch.

These Moon Beasts… there were likely not just those before him. This entire area must have become their den.

No wonder the atmosphere in this region felt so wrong. With these monsters present, the residents here had probably already…

“You certainly know how to make things difficult for me,” Ewan muttered, irritably rubbing his spatial artifact.

“You can’t expect to pass through so easily, can you?”

The only sound in the rain-swept alley had been the downpour, but now a sharp voice, like metal grating, suddenly echoed. Ewan showed no surprise, turning his gaze towards the shadows opposite.

From the darkness, a gaunt figure, cloaked entirely in black, slowly emerged from among a group of monsters. The lantern in its hand swayed, casting an eerie blue light.

“Who are you?”

“You may call me… Beast Tamer, Ewan Campbell.”

The figure placed a hand over their chest and bowed their head, performing a clumsy, inelegant noble’s bow. “It is a great honor to personally face the legendary Duke’s son.”

“I thought Miss Siren would be the one to come,” Ewan stated, his expression unmoving.

“Such a minor matter naturally doesn’t warrant the High Priestess’s personal intervention,” the Beast Tamer replied, lifting his head. A hint of mockery appeared on his deeply sunken, ugly old face as he looked at Ewan.

“My waiting here specifically for you is quite sufficient.”

“Oh? So confident?”

“Heh heh, confidence, of course, stems from strength. I have studied you, Ewan Campbell.”

“Studied?” Ewan finally raised his eyelids.

“Indeed, studied.”

The Beast Tamer spread his arms, the lantern in his hand swaying, its flickering blue light as agitated as his current expression. “Through your combat records at St. Mary’s Academy, and the skills you displayed when you slaughtered those Crimson Flame Gang members, I have gained the clearest understanding of your strength and fighting style. This is precisely why I am here.

—Ewan Campbell, I am the one who counters your abilities most effectively.”

“You scared me; I thought you were going to suddenly blurt out something like ‘I’m your long-lost relative,’ or something…”

Ewan shrugged nonchalantly. “Counter? What do you mean?”

“Heh heh…”

The Beast Tamer let out a standard villainous sneer. “It’s simple. Your moves, your skills, are all designed to target ‘humans,’ as evidenced by your two weapons.

Therefore—

I am the one who came, the Beast Tamer.”

The Beast Tamer swayed his lantern, issuing silent commands. Without Ewan realizing it, he had already been surrounded by Moon Beasts.

As products of the moon’s corruption, Moon Beasts were generally mindless creatures.

However, these monsters, born purely for slaughter,

would become entirely different with a commander.

“I see. It’s true, I’m not very good at fighting monsters.”

This was the truth.

From the very beginning, Ewan’s sparring partners, from assassins to adventurers, had all been human.

His weapons were indeed ill-suited for battling large creatures.

Not to mention, with such a number of Moon Beasts, even if he were truly skilled at fighting monsters, he would undoubtedly be overwhelmed and dragged to his death.

This ‘Beast Tamer’ claimed to have ‘studied’ and ‘countered’ him, but in reality, he intended to use sheer numbers to overpower him.

By all appearances, for Ewan, who was alone, this was yet another dead end.

But—

“Do you truly believe you have me cornered?” Ewan asked, a faint, unreadable smile playing on his lips.

“Heh heh, why don’t we try and find out?”

The Beast Tamer licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with eagerness. “Ewan Campbell, I will turn you into one of my prized collections. Heh heh, I have never had a collection of such noble status. It’s truly exhilarating.”

“Collection?”

The Beast Tamer remained silent.

But from behind him, a massive Moon Beast stepped forward.

On the monster’s grotesquely distorted body, which defied comparison to any known creature, Ewan saw countless despairing faces embedded, weeping miserably.

The sight conjured an unpleasant image, and Ewan’s expression instantly turned cold.

“It seems you didn’t properly consult your High Priestess for advice before you came, did you?”

“Advice?” the Beast Tamer questioned.

“That’s right, advice. Because if you had that experience, you wouldn’t have studied and studied, only to overlook the most important thing.”

A cold, emotionless curve formed on Ewan’s lips.

“As the Duke’s son, would I foolishly risk my life fighting against monsters like you?”

As he spoke, two round objects slipped from his sleeve, rolling all the way to the Beast Tamer’s feet.

The Beast Tamer lowered his gaze, sensing the terrifying killing intent about to burst forth from these two slightly trembling spheres. His confident smirk instantly froze.

What in the world?

“Wh-what are these?”

“Grenades. No, according to this world’s terminology, they should be ‘cluster explosive magic instant-cast magical missiles.'”

Ewan juggled a few more small spheres, asking curiously, “Haven’t you seen them before? Military trinkets, specifically designed for large numbers of enemies. Though expensive to produce, well, it’s no trouble for me to casually pull out a dozen or twenty.”

Ewan pressed his lips together, a mischievous smile playing on his face. “It’s fine if you haven’t seen them. Look, aren’t you gaining some knowledge now?”

Before his words even finished, in the Beast Tamer’s horrified and despairing eyes, the grenades—oh, no, the cluster explosive magic instant-cast magical missiles—exploded in an instant. A thunderous blast erupted, and scorching flames swept forth, incinerating every piece of flesh they touched.

What followed was hell.

In the first wave of explosions, the Beast Tamer, with quick reflexes, used the monsters beside him to absorb all the damage. Relying on one fleshy body after another as a shield, he finally endured the assault of the cluster explosive magic instant-cast magical missiles.

Watching his ‘collection’ turn to charcoal in the flames, his face instantly contorted into a savage grimace. He swore to make Ewan Campbell suffer ten times the pain he had just caused.

Heh heh, perhaps he would even turn Ewan into a Moon Beast, transforming a noble aristocrat into a lowly, disgusting monster. The thought alone was exciting…

But before this fantasy could even conclude, and amidst the lingering shockwaves of the explosion, he had no chance to organize the remaining Moon Beasts for a counterattack… when he saw Ewan produce new contraptions.

Scrolls. Magic scrolls.

Magic scrolls, which even he knew were incredibly precious and always had demand but no supply on the market, were being flung out by Ewan as if they were worthless.

Momentarily, one spell after another ignited across the street. Flames soared to the heavens, fierce winds raged, and thunder rolled, creating a scene akin to the end of the world.

And just as the Beast Tamer was caught in the magical onslaught, his hand blown off, a scroll happened to hit his head, instantly healing his injuries.

Ewan Campbell was even carelessly throwing healing scrolls!

But it wasn’t over yet.

Magical crossbows.

Alchemical bombs.

Disposable magical devices.

Under that insane ‘power of coin,’ the Beast Tamer’s confident assertion that he would corner Ewan quickly crumbled as the number of Moon Beasts dwindled rapidly.

Finally, when Ewan pulled out a magic cannon that nearly made people wet their pants, skillfully fired three consecutive shots, almost leveling half the street, and then nonchalantly kicked the defunct cannon into the river without a hint of distress…

The Beast Tamer, now a lone commander, couldn’t help but shed tears he dared not move to wipe away.

‘Damn you… that’s not playing fair…’