The Cat is on Strike 81

“Urgh—wha, what the hell…?”

Being struck so suddenly on the back of the head must have felt like a lightning bolt out of a clear sky. But Ries had no time to persuade him, no chance to explain.

The lingering remnants of Sefiut’s power still bound Edler, but those restraints were already fraying, ready to break.

He had to act before that happened—try everything he could. Clutching the toy he’d prepared beforehand, Ries bit down on it and darted toward Edler.

Just like before. Do it exactly like before.

He had already done this once. Proof of that was rolling around behind him right now, groaning in pain.

A lumpy, clumsy, ugly-looking potato doll tumbled at his feet.

Ries’s plan was to seal Edler inside it. With no arms or legs, it couldn’t hold a sword, couldn’t swing a weapon. All it could do was roll uselessly across the floor.

Ries’s eyes sharpened as he measured his opponent. Perhaps sensing danger, the twisted grin that so often curled Edler’s lips twitched violently.

Like a surgeon about to perform a delicate operation, Ries lifted his paw, claws extended and gleaming.

“Myaaauk!!!”

Now!

He struck with all his strength.

The sensation of claws raking through flesh sent a brief wave of disgust through him, but that quickly passed when he felt it—that faint, elusive energy he’d been searching for. Planting his paw firmly, he yanked as if pulling a radish from the earth.

“Khrrr…”

―…Aaaagh!

A jolt. For a moment, Edler’s voice split into two.

It’s working…!

But only just. Realizing the danger, Edler began to resist with everything he had, and strength drained from Ries’s paw.

At this rate, he wouldn’t just fail to extract Edler’s soul from Averitt’s body—he’d lose his grip entirely. And once caught, the soul would hide even deeper the next time, never to surface again.

It was what he had feared. Even while clashing with Sefiut, he had felt his power was lacking. There was no way he could take Edler lightly.

Ries braced himself. The resolve had long been made; acting on it now was easy.

The moment he imagined his soft, fluffy paw shifting into a smooth human hand—

“…!”

A mass of white light shot toward him.

Still locked with Edler, distracted as he focused on transforming, Ries couldn’t defend himself. The blast struck him head-on.

His vision bleached white, and his body stretched, expanding. With his perspective suddenly rising, Ries couldn’t mask his shock.

That was… an attack?

He had thought he’d been hit cleanly. Yet there was no pain, no wound, no trace of injury.

Crack.

That was when he heard it—a sharp fracture. He glanced down just in time to see his collar snap loose and fall.

…The bell?

Of course a cat’s collar wouldn’t survive once he became human. If he’d had the chance, he would’ve taken it off himself. But in a situation this dire, that had been impossible.

He had expected the collar to break. What he hadn’t expected was the bell.

A deep fracture split the silver bell clean down the middle. With a faint crk, it broke apart entirely. From inside, crimson energy seeped out, swirled around, then—flick—vanished like a candle flame being snuffed.

The sight burned into his mind, but he had no time to dwell on the white light’s origin or what the shattered bell might mean.

“Heh… heh… now I… ugh… I see. You—”

—…You weren’t a Spirit Beast at all. You’re a Beastkin!

Edler had finally broken free from the last traces of Sefiut’s binding power.

One small mercy remained: he had dropped his sword earlier when Sefiut had subdued him.

Even now, Edler hadn’t fully mastered Averitt’s body, straining desperately not to lose control again.

But the malice he had honed over countless years was savage, razor-sharp, and overwhelming. Unlike Sefiut’s power, Edler’s twisted energy seeped thick into the air, oppressive and suffocating.

Forcing his stiffened facial muscles into motion, Edler shouted:

—Just as I thought!

“I have to kill you…”

—I have to claim you…!

“Again and again, I’ll crush you until your breath is snuffed out.”

—I’ll sever your neck and put your death on display.

“And only then… only then will my lifelong wish, my craving, my desperate yearning finally be fulfilled…!”

The two voices—split yet overlapping—poured curses in unison.

“Die, die, die, die, die!”

—Die, die, die, die, die!

It was no longer obsession—it was madness. Like a rusted machine grinding and screeching back to life, Edler’s body jerked into motion at last.

“Ugh!”

A brutal hand clamped down on Ries’s wrist.

The monstrous strength—enough to overwhelm even knights—was still intact. Agonizing pain surged through him, so fierce it made his mind go blank and tears sting his eyes.

Yet he didn’t let go. He couldn’t. The balance between them was paper-thin; if he faltered even for a second, it would all collapse.

As one born of the Myo tribe, the cat Beastkin who carried the power to repel corruption, Ries’s touch alone made Edler’s aura recoil and shrink.

But the strain on his body was unbearable. His stamina drained by the heartbeat.

This was only his second attempt at binding a soul to a doll. He had no skill, no method—only raw force. It was clumsy, exhausting, and wildly inefficient.

Just a little more…! Just a little longer…!

If he held out, if he pressed harder, he might finally gain the upper hand. Tears streamed hot down his cheeks.

He scraped together the last remnants of his strength. He thought he heard Sefiut shouting something, but the words were lost, faint and distant.

His skin grew cold. His vision spun.

And then—suddenly—Edler’s aura broke.

“Ah—aaaaaaaghhh!”

The scream that tore free wasn’t Edler’s, but Averitt’s. His pupils, blackened and corrupted, snapped back to their true state.

The fragile balance shattered. Edler’s soul began to tear away from Averitt’s body.

—This… this power? Already? Why now?! Why!!

His form flickered. His voice wavered, unsteady, cracking. And in that trembling—an emotion Ries hadn’t expected. Fear.

Edler was terrified.

—No! I—I can’t! I haven’t achieved a single thing I wanted! No, no, no, no! Why is it always you!!!

Despair crashed down like a torrential storm.

And then, without warning, the heavy doors of the office burst open.

…The door?

Time, already crawling, seemed to slow even more. Ries forced his faltering eyes toward the entrance.

Justyn…

Their gazes met. The piercing crimson of Justyn’s eyes seared into Ries’s mind, leaving a vivid afterimage.

Pain, exhaustion, suffocating tension—all of it muddled his thoughts. His sluggish mind didn’t grasp the truth until it was too late.

By the time he understood, Justyn’s sword was already in hand.

Ah.

The blade swung. Ries’s scattered thoughts struggled to piece it together.

A stranger who had infiltrated the castle amidst chaos. A disgraced uncle turned criminal. Both deserving punishment. But one of them… shared his blood.

The target was obvious.

Dreading the pain that was sure to follow, Ries shut his eyes tight.

A faint slicing sound reached his ears.

“…?”

But the pain never came.

Instead, something heavy fell to the floor with a thud.

Glancing instinctively, Ries saw it: a severed, thick hand. Only a beat later did he realize—it was Averitt’s. The same hand that had been crushing his wrist moments ago.

Even with questions flooding his head, Ries moved automatically.

With Edler weakened and now maimed, his resistance shattered. His grip on the body broke completely, and his soul slipped free.

Without hesitation, Ries forced it into the doll. The doll devoured the soul greedily, then dropped to the ground with a dull thump.

“……”

It was over.

Ries drew in a slow breath. Edler had been sealed away—but matters weren’t settled. Not yet. Justyn still stood before him.

His failing eyes strained to stay open as he reached a conclusion. Too late, but still—he had to turn back into a cat. Better that than to be captured under suspicion.

“Ah…”

But his body wouldn’t move. His condition, already dire, had only grown worse.

His vision warped, swaying uncontrollably. He blinked furiously, but nothing cleared.

It wasn’t his sight spinning—it was his body collapsing. He realized this only when warmth settled over his skin. At some point, someone had wrapped him in a thick blanket.

“Jus… tyn…?”

“Yes.”

Disbelieving, Ries raised his head, stammering the name. Their eyes met again, crimson still burning with heat.

And at last, Ries understood.

The realization fell on him like a stone dropped from the heavens.

Maybe… he already knows.

If Sefiut were here, he would have sneered, You’re only figuring that out now?

But Ries’s battered body and weary mind could endure no more. The moment the truth struck him, his consciousness snapped.

As the world went black—

—I bless you.

—To you, who will wither away, yearning for what was lost before.

—To you, who shall bloom again in the ■ land of ■■, I grant ■■.