There stood a giant man. The rangers of Lehainjar and Aman Ruhr, the Beast King, were all well over two meters, but the man towering on top of the cliff looked to be a head taller than them.

He wore fur over his shoulders, though it was hard to tell whether it had once belonged to an animal or a monster. In addition, his left arm was covered in what seemed like a bracer made of an unknown material, and that was all the armor he had. Even in such harsh, freezing weather, the man was without any thick winter clothes, and his large, firm chest and arm muscles were exposed.

Yet, despite the freezing weather, he seemed completely unfazed, his breaths coming slow and steady though his chest was bare. His thick, enormous muscles made the man appear even taller and bigger than he already was.

The man also had an axe slung over his shoulder; appearance-wise, the rugged weapon resembled a woodcutter's axe. Moreover, it looked large enough to fell a giant tree with one strike. In fact, the man had decapitated the head of the Nur, a giant monster, with a single swing, and there remained not a single drop of blood staining its blade.

The wind scattered the man’s hair in front of his face, and his gaze slowly fell downwards through the curtain of hair. There was no way Eugene and Anise would fail to recognize the man — Molon Ruhr. Although he adorned a shaggy beard, unlike three hundred years ago, it didn’t matter. Even if Molon grew a beard, he was still Molon.

At least, that’s how it was supposed to be.

Eugene and Anise stood frozen on their spot for a moment.

The two stood there in place, staring up at him. Although Eugene had called out his name, he couldn’t follow up with anything else. Was it because Molon was taller than he had been three hundred years ago? Or was it because he was bigger and larger? Was it because he was covering his left arm with a strange bracer, or was it because he had grown a shaggy beard? Even so, Molon was still Molon, right?

Eugene and Anise saw the eyes that peered down at them. The eyes belonging to their old friend were frigid, and they contained no emotion. It was almost impossible to think such eyes belonged to Molon....