Sanity Returns from the Blackout
My reason, which had blacked out, came back, and the situation started to settle. And that's when I realized what I'd done. Oh, Leydan Tantun, holy shit. I'd gone and done something utterly insane. You fucking lunatic. In this situation, deciding to save an Outer God? And right in front of the Hunter, no less!
But even with my sanity back, I had no urge to let go of the Hunter's gun.
"…Human?"
The youngest Outer God stared at me, trembling in fear. Damn it, if I'd wrecked my reputation this badly to save you, you should be hightailing it out of here! I subtly tilted my chin, signaling her to run without alerting the Hunter.
"…You damn bastard!"
In the end, I couldn't hold out against the Hunter's strength and let go. She immediately aimed her revolver forward. Luckily, the kid must've gotten my signal. Before the Hunter could properly line up her shot, the youngest conjured a rickety-looking car out of nowhere, scooped up her big sister, and sped off.
"Son of a…!"
The Hunter spat curses and started walking toward the fleeing Outer Gods, firing her revolver. But those outlaws of the blizzard matched her speed without breaking a sweat. Plus, the little one cranked up her voice to throw off the Hunter's focus.
"Thank you! I'll repay this debt someday!"
A thank-you meant only for my ears. But to someone else, that grateful note was a wide-area mental interference attack. She must've picked it cleverly, remembering how I'd been fine chatting with her. Even the Hunter, who could shrug off most mental assaults, couldn't keep her concentration with a voice that loud. The gun barrel wavered, losing its aim, and dropped toward the ground.
It was over. In this brutal environment, outlaws were free spirits—hitting those fleeing girls would've been tough even for the Hunter.
The moment it all ended, a silence gripped my throat like a vise. Part of me wished I could crawl into a rat hole and disappear. My mind flooded with thoughts. Should I say something to the Hunter? Explain the flute's power? But that'd just sound like a lame excuse after the fact.
And sure enough, it happened just as I'd feared.
Thwack!
The Hunter's fist slammed into my cheek.
"Guh!"
My brain rattled like it'd been shaken, and I hit the ground. I heard her boots crunching snow rapidly as she approached. Before I could even recover, she shoved my shoulder roughly and yanked me up by the collar.
Anger blazed in the Hunter's eyes.
"…Do you even know what you've just done?"
Her voice started calm but grew raw with fury by the end.
"You've gone and freed the lion that killed humans, out of pity!"
She bellowed it right in my face. Still not calmed, she huffed ragged breaths, but her gaze never left me.
There was nothing I could do about her reaction. I just had to watch her rage in silence.
"How long am I supposed to keep tolerating your ridiculous 'goodwill'? That thing in your pocket, those Outer Gods you saved by snatching my gun without a thought for your own wrist!"
But then the Hunter vented in a way I never expected—by talking at length.
"I'm sorry, Hunter… But…"
"I don't know what you saw or felt. You must have some special sense, like my nose. But one thing I can say for sure."
Her eyes burned like wildfire as she spoke.
"No matter what excuses you make, those things harm humans just by existing. Leydan Tantun, are those sob-story Outer Gods more important to you than humans?"
It might've looked like plain anger, but I'd seen her long enough to know this wasn't normal. The only other time she'd shown this much emotion was back in the orphanage, when she'd let slip fragments of her past.
"One moment of carelessness, and you could've died!"
Finally, I met her eyes properly. Pupils shrunken tight with rage, trembling more violently than fury alone could explain. Eyes that didn't want to lose anything else. Maybe her own past was flashing before her.
Irritated, she jammed the revolver against my forehead.
"Keep that up, and one day an Outer God will smash the back of your skull. If you're gonna die stupidly, might as well die by my hand!"
Her finger tensed on the trigger, ready to pull.
I closed my eyes quietly and sank into thought. What did my actions even mean? Like the Gardener said, they might never have had a real family or proper upbringing. Saving them now—would that make them stop? I couldn't be sure.
Whose side was I even on, doing this? What was my original goal? Wasn't it to beat all the bosses in this world and see the game's ending?
Did what I was doing bring me closer to that? Or was it just emotional impulsiveness?
Not everyone could be happy. But were those foolish beings—products of absent communication, absent education—truly deserving of death?
I was too weak to fix it, I concluded. If I'd been stronger, handled it before the Hunter arrived? Things wouldn't have gotten this messy.
Trying to have it both ways was greed for someone like me now. So I had to get stronger. Strong enough to protect both sides.
No matter what it took—like how the Hunter gritted her teeth to grow strong for revenge against the Outer Gods. I had to do the same.
With my thoughts sorted, I opened my eyes to the Hunter's emotion-fueled glare. She was ramping up her killing intent, gun to my head.
"…?"
She turned her head in bewilderment. There stood the Immortal Woman, gripping her wrist.
"What are you doing."
"You again…"
"I asked what you're doing."
Her voice was low and grave, unlike her usual self. Not a friendly intervention—the Hunter scowled at her. The Immortal Woman's vacant expression was gone, replaced by sharp, piercing eyes locked on the Hunter.
"I don't remember my name, or what just happened."
Boom!
As her words ended, a red aura swirled around her body, cratering the ground beneath her. The Hunter's wrist turned black, blood flow cut off, swelling like it might burst.
"Grr…!"
"But I remember that guy trying to give me warm, tasty food. And above all."
Her eyes fully engulfed in red aura, she stared at the Hunter with hollow intensity.
"I can't stand watching someone threaten to kill a person."
She'd clearly seen her try to kill Outer Gods, yet here she was defending me. What the hell was this woman? She came back to life after eating the Cook's food, popped human bodies like warm-ups against the candles. Now flames seemed to lick her entire form.
Her overwhelming presence furrowed my brow instinctively. Thanks to Super Coward Mode's mental stability, I could watch calmly—but facing that fire head-on would've screamed survival instincts bloody murder.
Even I felt it from a glance; the Hunter was staring it down directly. But she didn't yield, glaring back like they were locked in a battle of wills. Her wrist might snap, but her convictions wouldn't.
If left alone, they'd keep this up until the Hunter's wrist gave out. So I reached out to mediate.
"Let go, please."
I grabbed the Immortal Woman's hand, not the Hunter's.
"He's trying to kill you?"
"She's my comrade. It'll be fine."
The Immortal Woman finally released the Hunter's arm.
"…Tch."
The Hunter dropped my collar irritably first. Burn marks from her grip scarred her forearm. How the hell did she pull that off?
"…It's shameless to say, but… let's head back. Everyone's freezing."
At my words, both the Hunter and Immortal Woman looked at me, then up at the sky. Checking their position amid the falling blizzard, maybe. We were right in the heart of it. Fighting here would just leave frozen corpses.
The Hunter, ever the cool-headed one, knew that better than me. She walked ahead silently. Knowing her intent, I gave a wry smile.
"…Thanks."
"No next time. So never pull that idiotic shit in front of me again."
She snapped irritably, still eyeing the Immortal Woman warily. But…
"Huh? What's this? Edible?"
…she quickly reverted to normal, poking at Outer God bloodstains and saying weird shit. Even the Hunter looked baffled.
"…No sense of timing, huh?"
"Hm? And who are you? Neat outfit."
"No brain, either."
Her head starting to throb, the Hunter sighed in frustration and clutched her forehead.
#
After all that nonsense, the tension eased somehow, and we pushed through the blizzard toward Rondan. I thought we had miles left, but…
"We're right outside Rondan."
"?"
Hearing the Hunter, my tension deflated. We'd been that close. Ria had guided us right.
Soon, the Hearth's iconic flames lit the way, and we reached Rondan's walls.
"Uwaaah, we finally made it!!!"
Every muscle relaxing at once, I stretched and whooped. The Hunter shot me a look like I was nuts. Hey, I was that happy. I legit thought we'd end up lost imperial wanderers.
Heading to the gate, I spotted two guard knights and another figure. She approached the leading Hunter first.
"You're safe."
"Wasn't far."
"Catch any Outer Gods?"
"No, they slipped away. Faster than expected."
The Hunter casually framed it as letting them escape. She seemed keen to bury the incident. Like when she thought Agartha was dead—she always covered for me. Made me feel guilty.
The figure who'd spoken tilted her head, lips twisting.
"Well, Outer Gods outside the blizzard are hard to track…"
Her voice, speech, wrinkly movements—it all screamed who she was.
I was about to play familiar when she spotted us.
"Oh, and who's the group in back…?"
Her words cut off. Her pupils shook wildly. Tears welled up fast, spilling over.
"Uh, hi, Mu Yeon. Long time no—"
I tried to break the awkwardness first, but a tackle cut me short.
"Guh!"
"Yo, yo-you're, ali-alive! Waaah!"
Sobbing incoherently, Mu Yeon hugged me tight, yelling. The sudden closeness and soft curves through her plate armor flustered me, but knowing how worried she'd been sobered me up. A moment to calm her wouldn't hurt.
But then she glanced at the Immortal Woman beside me. Mu Yeon froze, started trembling, face draining of color. Like she'd seen a ghost.
"K-K-K-K-Kn."
"Kn?"
"K-Kni-Knight Commander!"
…What'd you say?