Human Liberation Front
Where had Bernstein vanished to?
Only the shadows would know the answer.
"Ugh..."
A natural groan slipped from my lips.
With Bernstein gone, the force that had been tightening the wire around my body had disappeared, and the bindings that had been cutting into me finally went slack.
Hiss—!
Of course, losing that tension didn’t mean the wire had simply come loose.
Frowning hard, I worked the wire free from my body.
The first place I started was my neck.
Once I got the suffocating wire off, I could breathe again.
If I’d slipped up even a little, my head and body would’ve been separated by now.
My arms and legs weren’t in good shape either.
As if the wire had dug into my flesh and severed my tendons, I couldn’t put any strength into my hands or feet.
I sank to the floor, took out a red potion, and poured it over the wounded areas.
Sssss—
Watching new flesh bubble up and knit itself together, I slowly flexed my hands and feet.
I definitely had more strength than before.
I’d used up every potion I had, but I still wasn’t fully healed.
Supporting my swaying body, I slowly got to my feet.
Looking at the blackened blood pooled on the floor, I could tell just how much blood had been forced out of me.
What did I need to do to make up for the lost blood?
I licked my sharp fangs and smiled faintly.
***
"This way!"
The moment Charlotte slipped away, Aurell and Hwanggu sprang into motion.
The military tent they’d been hiding in had been blown apart by bombs raining down from every direction.
Hwanggu was the one leading Aurell.
Faintly, but unmistakably, memories she had forgotten were surfacing.
Hwanggu kept running, denying the memories that rose more vividly with every passing second.
Bang-!
Crash-!
Pow-!
The roar of explosions and the deafening crack of gunfire.
Mixed in with them were screams and shouts.
Flames leapt up on all sides, and the sharp stink of gunpowder stung her nose.
The peaceful camp of the werewolves had been overturned in an instant.
And it wasn’t only the werewolves who were suffering.
A few werewolves, partially transformed, had charged the enemy and were now howling over the corpses of human users.
Awuuuu~
Hwanggu flinched as she heard the howling.
It had stirred the instincts carved into her as a werewolf.
The blurred memories rising inside her were growing stronger by the second.
"Hwanggu!"
"Yeah!"
What mattered to Hwanggu, though, wasn’t those faint memories.
It was Charlotte’s request.
Charlotte had asked her to protect Aurell, and that request was absolute to Hwanggu.
Ever since she had been folded into Charlotte’s pack, Hwanggu had recognized Charlotte as the leader and followed her.
The place Hwanggu and Aurell reached was a small container at the rear of the camp.
It was scorched black in places, as if from the blast, but the container itself was intact.
Without thinking, Aurell and Hwanggu slipped inside to hide.
"Phew..."
Apparently deciding this place was safe, Aurell let out a relieved breath and sat down.
By contrast, Hwanggu pricked up her large ears and peered out the window.
There was no telling when or where the enemy might come from. Her vigilance was only natural.
Then, in the midst of her watch, something caught Hwanggu’s eye.
A man in black had climbed over the camp fence and entered inside.
He had none of the outward traits that marked him as a werewolf. The long gun slung across his back meant he wasn’t a vampire or a werewolf, but an ordinary human user.
"Grrrr..."
Hwanggu bared her teeth, radiating fierce hostility.
The reason was simple.
The man who had just revealed himself was strong.
That was all there was to it.
And that man was coming straight toward this container.
He moved low, carefully, a long black sword drawn in one hand, sliding through the shadows like a blade of darkness itself.
Hwanggu sniffed the air to gather information about him.
Unlike other humans, he carried little gunpowder on him, but the scent of blood was thick.
That meant his preferred style of fighting was close combat.
Carefully, Hwanggu shifted her position.
Her big wolf ears stood sharply upright so she could better hear the sounds outside.
She came to a stop in front of the container’s door.
The moment it opened, she was ready to strike.
"Hwanggu...?"
"Grrr..."
Hwanggu didn’t even have the time to answer Aurell’s call.
She was pouring all of her focus into the figure outside.
Even now, she could feel those forgotten memories rising again.
And then—
Click—
The container door handle rattled and slowly turned.
The door was opening.
Bang-!
The instant Hwanggu’s small legs kicked off the ground, the spot she had been standing in caved inward, and the impact made the container shudder.
Hwanggu shot out like a cannonball.
She smashed through the half-open door and burst outside.
Crashhh—!
Once outside, Hwanggu snapped her gaze around.
The human user had been shoved back together with the container door.
He was wearing a startled expression from the sudden impact.
Hwanggu and the human user locked eyes.
There was no need for words between them.
Only fierce hostility and killing intent were exposed.
The first to move was the human user.
He pulled a pistol from his waist and fired at Hwanggu in a flash.
Bang!
Two shots at once.
As the rapidly fired white flashes split the air and came at her, Hwanggu flattened herself to the ground and began moving on all fours.
Tap-tap! Tap-tap!
A swift charge.
The sight of her tail swaying as she raced through the darkness was enough to fill the human user with dread.
Because Hwanggu had already completed her transformation the moment she leapt from the container, she didn’t need any more preparation.
Trusting her body’s strength, Hwanggu swung a fist at her opponent.
Whoosh—!
A tiny fist cut through the air.
But the force behind it was anything but small.
Clang—!
The fist shot straight out.
What it struck was a solid blade.
The human user had moved his hand in time to block the attack.
But the power packed into Hwanggu’s punch was more than he could absorb, and he staggered hard, reeling backward.
Of course, Hwanggu didn’t let the opening slip away.
She kicked off the ground and kept charging.
Her assault didn’t slow.
Sometimes she bared her claws; sometimes she snapped out a leg.
Hwanggu’s attacks, guided entirely by instinct, had no fixed pattern.
Swish—! Clang!
Thud!
Clang!
After dozens of exchanges like that, the human user and Hwanggu created a little space between them and entered a brief lull.
"Grrr...!"
Hwanggu bared her teeth and flexed her claws.
She had attacked with everything she had, but not a single blow had landed cleanly.
That meant her opponent had been calm enough to absorb every attack without losing composure.
The human user, Cheon Hui, had poured everything into it as well.
More than once, attacks that could have cost him his life had come at him in rapid succession.
He had slipped into the camp in secret to rescue the humans trapped in the pens, but it looked like he’d brushed against a bomb.
Cheon Hui felt cold sweat sliding down his back.
"Grrrr..."
Cheon Hui advanced carefully, sword leveled.
He had a moment to catch his breath, but he knew this fight could restart at any second.
And then—
His sharpened hearing caught a tiny rustling sound.
Inside the container.
There was someone in there.
He flicked his gaze toward it, and the werewolf he was fighting seemed to be paying attention to the container too.
If the fight continued like this, he would be the one to die.
Cheon Hui decided to gamble.
"Hah!"
With a fierce shout, he rushed forward.
Hwanggu prepared to fight in response to his cry, but just as Cheon Hui had been sprinting straight ahead, he abruptly changed direction.
He was heading for the container behind them.
"No!"
Seeing that, Hwanggu screamed.
Aurell was inside the container.
She didn’t know the details, but even Hwanggu knew Aurell wasn’t particularly strong.
A human like the one in front of her would be able to take Aurell’s life with ease.
Hwanggu kicked off the ground and leapt into the container, but Cheon Hui was faster.
"Hwanggu..."
His friend, Aurell, was in the hands of a human.
A black gun barrel was aimed at her head.
That was the scene Hwanggu saw when she entered the container.
"Ha..."
Cheon Hui exhaled as he looked at the werewolf girl whose momentum had been cut in half.
The gamble had worked. That was what he thought.
He didn’t exactly enjoy taking a hostage, but what wouldn’t he do to achieve his goal?
"Back off."
"Grrr..."
At Cheon Hui’s threat, Hwanggu had no choice but to retreat.
The distance between them slowly widened.
In the end, Hwanggu and Cheon Hui stood at opposite ends of the container, staring each other down.
How was she supposed to get out of this?
Hwanggu rubbed her small, soft cheek furiously.
The memory-lost Hwanggu had no knowledge she could use to break the situation open.
Then Hwanggu, lost in thought, met Aurell’s eyes.
Aurell had a faint smile on her lips.
It was not the kind of expression a hostage ought to wear.
Cheon Hui moved forward slowly and said to Hwanggu, "Don’t get any ideas. Move even a little, and this girl’s head comes off."
"Go ahead."
At that instant, the small girl’s voice rang out.
Cheon Hui’s eyes flew wide as he wondered if he’d heard wrong.
"I said go ahead."
But he hadn’t heard wrong.
Cheon Hui looked down at the tiny girl trapped in his grip.
Even with the muzzle of his gun pressed against the side of her head, she didn’t look remotely flustered.
And then that ominous feeling hit him.
Cheon Hui swallowed dryly and looked back at the werewolf, Hwanggu.
She looked as if she was ready to charge at this very moment.
Leg muscles swelling, claws dug sharply into the floor.
"You bast—"
The instant he understood what was happening, the curse slipped out of him naturally.
Cheon Hui hurriedly moved his finger and pulled the trigger.
Even if he died right now, he was going to take one more werewolf with him.
Bang—! The moment it seemed as if fire was bursting from the muzzle of the gun—
The girl’s body suddenly began to scatter apart.
A cloud of red, mist-like blood bloomed outward like petals.
Cheon Hui stared at the crimson haze, his lips moving soundlessly.
"Fuck..."
Only then did he realize the thing he had grabbed was not a werewolf at all.
Crunch!
That was the last thing Cheon Hui remembered.
***
"Charlotte-nim!"
"Charlotte-nim!"
Once the situation had more or less settled, I broke into a bright smile at the sight of the two girls running toward me.
"Look at this!"
Hwanggu, who had been running over quickly, pulled a large object out from behind her back.
It was a limp human.
Judging by the grotesquely bent arms and legs, Hwanggu had apparently broken them herself.
I frowned and checked the target’s information.
Cheon Hui
Level: 19
Species: Human
HP: 25%
Mana: 70%
Emotional State: Unconscious
Why the hell is this bastard here...?
Recognizing the familiar nickname, I frowned deeply.