Wild Hunt (2)

Slash—!

Tat-tat-tat-tang—!

KWAANG—!

All around, hunters of every ability were throwing everything they had into the fight.

Those who could construct or generate matter threw up barricades. Archers and firearms awakeners held the rear. Close-range fighters and tanks held the front line.

And at the very tip of that line—

Kuuung—!

—stood Terra and me.

I flicked a scale that had been about ready to drop off the tip of my tail, activated the skill, and it slammed down as a solid wall that sealed the front.

That should hold them for a while.

"Terra, watch the right!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

I couldn't personally plug every hole against the things pouring in from every direction. Sure, if I fought seriously I could erase the whole swarm in a single breath—but the money was one thing. The bigger problem was that Yangyang itself might vanish off the map. The hunters here, too.

And if I tried to hold back instead, it took a lot more hands-on work than I expected.

"Aaaagh! Aaaaagh!"

"M-my leg…!"

At the hunters' screams I launched myself forward at once. What hit my eyes was a hunter clutching a leg that was already half-eaten—and, well…

—a hunter who was, for all practical purposes, already past saving.

Tak—

Kyaek?—

I planted myself in front of a monster reaching for the fallen hunters, caught its arm, and hurled it behind me.

FWAHAAAAAAK—!

I wiped out the fresh wave with a Breath.

"Hoo. Stay with me. If you black out now, you don't get back up. You want to become one of those things?"

"U-ugh…!"

I shook out my hand, lengthened and sharpened my nails, and injected the hunters. I didn't usually mix sedative with the blood—it diluted it—but if I gave this guy the pure stuff, shock would kill him first.

"Hrrk… w-what happens to me…? Cough— I can't… I can't see…."

"…As soon as there's room, I'll send you to the rear. Hang on a little longer."

"W-what… what happened to me…?"

"I'm not a healer, so I can't say for sure."

He asked about his condition… and I couldn't tell him the truth. How exactly was I supposed to explain that half his guts had been ripped clean out? The only reason he was still breathing at all was because he was a hunter. And I was a dragon, not a saintess. I could handle most wounds, but once the road to death was already locked in, all I could do was dull the pain.

They were having a whole free-for-all in chat. But… as goofy as they usually were, some of them were genuine hunters. Plenty of them knew this business better than I did.

…Was I supposed to listen to them?

Tat—

"Supply drop, nya!"

Just as I was stuck on what to do, a bright, lively voice cut through. The cat beastkin from earlier—Lucy—came bounding over the battlefield on all fours, lithe as anything, and landed here.

"I brought the stuff Sirin mentioned, nya! Water, two mid-grade potions, and morphine, nya!"

She unpacked her bag with brisk efficiency, handed everything over in neat order, then slung the bag back on.

"I'm off, nya!"

"Ah—wait!"

"What is it, nya? I'm busy, nya!"

I tossed her one of the candies I was carrying. It was Terra's originally, but… whatever.

"And can you give this to Ha-eun… uh, the girl with the red hair?"

"Thanks, nya! I'll deliver it, nya! Going for real now, nya!"

She vanished back into the fight in a blink.

"Hoo… okay. So… kids, anyone know how to use these?"

Meanwhile, at the same moment—

Slash—!

"Hah… hah…."

One by one the hunters were tiring, the speed of their swings starting to drag, when—

"Everyone needs to stay sharp! The three of you who are flagging—back, first!"

With no S-class hunter present, Ha-eun was the one directing them. On paper she was still only a B-class hunter, but traveling with Goldy had quietly forged a great deal of growth into her. The enemies that found her were rarely ordinary things. Compared to those, foes her blade could actually cut were almost a mercy. More than that, against the sparring sessions where Goldy had driven her to the absolute limit, this level of pressure was surprisingly manageable. And up ahead of her, two dragons were slashing the enemy numbers down by orders of magnitude.

"The advance is stalling! Healers, now!"

"W-we're on it!"

"Anyone who can break through—find the people who got swept away earlier!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Swoosh—

Mid-shout, Ha-eun locked onto something and lengthened her blade. She drew a deep breath—

Hwaruk—!

Dark-crimson fire coiled along the tip of her blade. She stepped forward and, on that rebound, swung hard.

Kraek—!

The bold horizontal arc cleaved three monsters at once. Catching the follow-up attack, she contracted her body for an instant, shifted her stance—

Fuhwak—!

The rising trail of fire split the skull of a monster that had lunged in without warning. The flexible swordsmanship Goldy had always drilled into her—less raw destructive power than the Park family's blade, but a style that closed gaps and struck irregular angles that were hers alone.

Thud—

"Hoo…."

She watched the corpse fall and let out the breath she'd been holding. Then she looked at the tip of her sword.

Her skill was growing by the day; she could feel it herself. But—

Hwaruk—!

KWAHAAAAANG—!

To the side, a formation erupted in a burst of dark-crimson flame. Park Sang-hyeok's, without a doubt.

…Her firepower was still nowhere near enough. The family tournament was right on the doorstep, and at this level she didn't stand a chance.

Clink—

Slash—!

Was her effort still not enough?

"Um, about—"

"It's Park Ha-eun."

"Hunter Ha-eun, shouldn't you rest a little? You've been—"

"…I'm fine for now. I've done this a few times."

She had done worse than this. Suppressing hunters when she infiltrated Goldy and Lee Ho-jin's organization. Surviving among the monsters when she faced that enormous dragon in the elves' city. Clearing the fish that trailed after the Leviathan at sea. Holding the line against a giant spider. Even recently, stopping the ones in the Ark who had come for Goldy. All of it had piled together into the person she was now.

"P-please make sure the others get more rest."

"…Yes, ma'am."

She could endure this much.

Just as she went to raise her sword again—

Tadat—

"Supply drop, nyaaang!"

A cheerful voice rang out, and a woman with cat ears burst into the line without warning.

"Water and potions, ammo and arrows too, nya! Everybody grab some, nya!"

Then she spotted Ha-eun.

"Mrow? You're Ha-eun, nya? I've got something for you, nya!"

"Y-yes… me…?"

"The lizard with the yellow tail asked me to give you this, nya!"

What she held out was a white bead.

"What is this…?"

"I don't know either, nya! She just said to give it to you, nya."

"If that unnie sent it…."

A yeouiju…? No. She'd never even heard of such a thing. And if one existed, it wouldn't be this small. It didn't look edible either.

"Anyway! Delivery complete, nya! I'm going, nya!"

"Ah, okay…."

…It would've been nice if she'd come with an explanation, too.

Kugung—

"Hunter Ha-eun! They're coming again!"

"Ah! Yes—yes! Everyone, hold your positions!"

She hastily stuffed the bead into her pocket and fell in with the other hunters. Monsters surging like a tide. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hunters running out of strength by the minute. The situation was far from good. The fact that some of the parties that had formed in the sudden attack were already scattered was a major liability as well—morale crumbling when no one even knew if their partners were alive or dead. And people thrown together for the first time, on the fly, were never going to mesh cleanly.

Everyone was wearing down, grinding through a fight whose point was getting harder and harder to see, when—

Kung—!

A heavy sound rolled across the battlefield.

"W-what the hell is that…."

"Ah… ah…."

A giant that had to be a full three meters tall. Even at a glance, nothing ordinary. Hunters who had already been pouring every scrap of strength into the endless wave of monsters went pale.

"Damn it, damn it! This wasn't the kind of subjugation we signed up for!"

"If it hadn't been for that stupid flyer…."

"E-everyone, calm down! If we work together—"

"You're saying that while looking at that?!"

The defense line that had been hanging by a thread was about to break—when

Ha-eun flinched.

"Huh?"

The bead in her pocket began to give off a warm heat. A power she had never felt before seemed to sink into her body. In that moment, as if she understood something—or maybe it was only a vague feeling—

Shring—

she slid her bandaged sword back into its sheath.

Even the people who had been holding the line with her thought, for a second, that she was giving up.

Tak—

Ha-eun closed her hand around the hilt of the ornate sword she had been carrying on her back this whole time.

The Holy Sword.

A blade that could cut down evil and share its power with a hero. But under her touch, the sword went silent for an instant. Through her hand it sensed a force akin to the Demon King's, and it turned its face away—

Tak—

until her will, and the divine power sealed in the bead, both reached the blade. The Holy Sword was forced to reconsider its judgment.

Not every power once used by the wicked was itself wicked. And this person was drawing it now ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with a single mission: to protect even one more life on this battlefield. That greatness already brushed against the rank of a true hero.

A hero is not chosen.

A hero is made—by nobility, and by a will equal to it.

So in a moment like this, when a pure soul moved to enact justice—even under conditions—

shouldn't it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠answer?

Shring—

And so, in a battlefield wrapped in darkness, a single thread of light was drawn free in Ha-eun's hand.