The Strange Baron

Abner knew the monsters created by a Werewolf well. Xio had been attacked by something similar before, so he recognized them at a glance.

Was the master of these ruins a Werewolf? Had the Beyonder Characteristic left behind after his death become a Sealed Artifact and created all these monsters?

As he considered the possibility, Abner extracted the monster's aura without hesitation and used Scene Replay.

Soon, a series of images appeared before his eyes:

In a pitch-black basement, a stone coffin clearly sealed by ritual magic suddenly burst apart. A man over two meters tall, covered from head to toe in black spots, rose from it.

At first, his movements were slow and stiff, but they soon became much smoother. What unsettled Abner was that the man walked toward the stone door one backward step at a time.

Then the man reached behind himself, pushed the stone door open with the back of his hand, and strode backward into the corridor toward the stairs. A line of fresh footprints marked his path.

Walking backward was unusual, but hardly shocking. What made it unsettling was how naturally and smoothly the man moved. It felt as though this was how people were supposed to walk.

At that point, Abner judged that the baron, dead for who knew how long, had not only been kept from rotting by the strange black spots but was now possessed by something unknown...

Yes, no human could possibly walk like that. Nor could any Beyonder who had advanced step by step through Potions.

By now, Abner had a rough guess:

"1-025!"

He had seen where the monsters came from in the replay. They had originally been small animals living in the underground ruins. Only after coming into contact with the aura the man left along his