Outside the castle, the battlefield had turned into pure chaos.
Steel clashed against claws. Fangs met fire.
Vampires and werewolves were locked in brutal combat, screams and roars echoing across the ruined grounds.
At the center of the carnage stood Rakan.
Alone.
Surrounded by thirteen vampires.
Blood stained his armor, yet his stance was calm—almost bored. One vampire rushed him from the front while two attacked from behind.
Rakan moved once.
In a single fluid motion, his blade flashed.
Three bodies fell.
The remaining vampires hesitated for only a second. That was their mistake.
Rakan stepped forward like a storm, cutting through them one by one. Every strike was precise. Every movement efficient. In moments, thirteen vampires lay broken around him.
Rakan didn't even look back.
Not far from there, Aijack was locked in a savage fight with an elder werewolf. The creature was massive, its fur streaked with white, eyes glowing with ancient power.
Their clash shook the ground.
Aijack blocked a claw strike, skidding backward, boots tearing through stone. He countered with a powerful punch infused with energy, slamming it into the elder wolf's chest.
The wolf snarled, unfazed, and swung back.
Neither was willing to fall.
On the other side of the battlefield, Klein fought a massive figure—an enormous vampire wielding a heavy weapon. Each impact between them sounded like thunder, their fight tearing apart everything nearby.
The war raged on.
Inside the castle, silence ruled.
Stone walls stood cracked and broken, blood smeared across the floor. In the center of the hall lay the corpse of the werewolf Oban had slain—head separated cleanly, body already losing its monstrous tension.
Oban stood over it, calm.
His system was stable now. No errors. No flickering warnings.
He stared at the body, eyes narrowed.
"What am I supposed to do with you…" he murmured.
The werewolf had been powerful. Its body was still radiating faint energy. Throwing it away felt like a waste.
Then something clicked.
Oban's eyes widened slightly.
"The crafting table."
The reward from the quest.
A slow smile formed on his face.
He opened his inventory.
With a thought, the crafting table materialized in front of him, slamming onto the stone floor. Dark metal edges, glowing blue runes etched across its surface. The table hummed softly, reacting to the presence of the werewolf corpse.
At the same moment, the system appeared.
[CRAFTING TABLE DETECTED][CRAFTING MODE: AVAILABLE]
Oban let out a quiet breath of excitement.
"So it works…"
But then a problem surfaced.
"How do I even craft with this?" he muttered.
The system answered immediately.
[CRAFTING GUIDANCE: ENABLED]
The air above the table lit up, forming a familiar grid—simple, clear.
Like Minecraft.
Oban blinked. "…Seriously?"
Items began highlighting automatically.
The system scanned the corpse.
[DETECTED MATERIALS]• Werewolf Bone (High-Grade)• Beast Core Fragment• Regenerative Tissue Residue
The grid rearranged itself.
The system placed werewolf bone diagonally across the grid, sharp and refined. The beast core fragment was positioned at the center, pulsing faintly. The remaining slots filled with condensed material extracted from the corpse automatically.
A preview appeared.
[RESULT: BEAST-BANE DAGGER]
Oban's heartbeat picked up.
"So that's the recipe…"
He confirmed the craft.
The table glowed brighter. Runes ignited one by one as the werewolf's body began to dissolve, breaking down into streams of light that were pulled directly into the table.
Bone cracked.
Energy condensed.
The sound was sharp, metallic, and final.
Then—
[CRAFTING COMPLETE]
A weapon lay on the table.
A dagger.
Its blade was pale white, forged from polished werewolf bone, razor-sharp and slightly curved. Dark blue veins ran through it, pulsing like a heartbeat. The handle was wrapped in black material, warm to the touch.
The moment Oban picked it up, power surged through his hand.
The system appeared again.
[NEW ITEM CREATED][NAME REQUIRED]
Oban stared at the dagger.
A weapon born from a beast.A tool meant to hunt monsters.
He thought silently, memories and instincts mixing.
"…Maru," he said at last.
"Maru Dagger."
The system accepted it.
[ITEM NAME CONFIRMED: MARU DAGGER]
Stats flooded his vision.
[MARU DAGGER]• Type: Mythical Weapon• Damage: Extremely High• Agility Bonus: +High• Special Trait: Beast-Type Suppression• Effect: Increased damage to Beast-type races• Growth Type: Leveling Weapon• Requirement: Gain experience through combat
Oban's eyes widened slightly.
"It can grow…"
Then another line appeared.
[SPECIAL ABILITY]• Beast Severance: Significantly weakens regeneration and defense of beast-type enemies upon contact.
Oban tightened his grip.
This weapon was already powerful.
And it could become even stronger.
A slow smile crossed his face.
"Maybe…" he muttered, looking toward the shattered windows, hearing the distant sounds of battle outside, "…I can find more valuable items."
He stepped forward, Maru Dagger in hand, eyes focused beyond the castle walls.
The war was still going.
And now—
He was ready.
End of Chapter.