Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: First Clash (3)
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-Thud.
A slender leg buckled weakly.
"Haa... Kahk, cough. Cough."
A cough mixed with blood spurted from the woman's mouth.
Her bloodshot eyes turned toward another teacher's desk in the office.
"...Why am I so sleepy."
Min Hyun-joo. Blood splattered across the three letters of the name on the ID hanging around her neck.
She rolled up a tissue to wipe it off, then slowly let her head drop downward.
-Drip.
Her breathing sounds grew fainter and fainter.
No one around her was paying her any attention.
-Beeeep.
A disaster alert blared from her cellphone.
"......Ahi."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ -Bang!
The moment the message arrived, a loud noise came from the door right next to them.
-Bang, bang, bang, bang.
A frenzied pounding on the door, as if someone had lost their mind and was slamming their fist down at regular intervals. It continued several times before abruptly stopping.
Silence fell over the noisy crowd of parents, teachers, and young children.
All eyes turned toward the door.
"M-Mom..."
"It's okay. You're okay."
Starting with the anxious child, the commotion slowly spread.
A woman who had checked her message and was trembling while hugging her child. A man ignoring her to scan the surroundings.
People wanting to go outside, others warily watching the door where the noise came from.
-Crack!
The agitation that followed the silence was broken once more by the door noise.
-Craaaack!
An ent's hand burst through the door and tore it apart.
"You."
"Yeah, I know. Can you find Shiba right now?"
"Got it."
I pocketed my phone and lightly clenched my fist.
"Kyaaaaah!"
A woman's scream erupted, and the children began to cry.
In an instant, people panicked and rushed toward the entrance to flee the kindergarten.
No one cared about order as they shoved each other to escape.
The ent stepped out toward them.
And among the direction it was heading was a very familiar face.
"......Director?"
A woman who had gulped in shock, her contracted pupils trembling as she collapsed to the floor.
Shin Hye-young.
Shiba was cradled in her arms.
I moved immediately.
"Ahi... Eeeee!"
The ent's groan mixed with a roar burst out as the monster raised its arm.
Shin Hye-young flinched in surprise, squeezed her eyes shut, and turned her back while hugging Shiba tightly.
Doing her utmost to shield Shiba from the impact.
She dropped Shiba halfway and shoved her aside.
-Bang!
The ent's descending fist.
I slipped in between.
"Hng... Uh...?"
Hye-young, eyes squeezed shut and trembling, turned her head and saw me.
The ent's rough fist was lightly caught in one hand.
The bulging veins felt rough and rugged.
The ent, still retaining some human facial features, was distorted in pain.
"......Ahi."
Sorry.
I wrenched the ent's hand behind its back, causing it to lose balance and topple forward right in front of my eyes.
The ent's chest approached my nose, and I thrust my fist toward it.
-Crack! Craaaack!
Skin split open as my arm pierced through its back.
The blood of what was once a wood person ran down my arm.
-Thud.
The ent dropped to its knees. The light faded from its pupils.
I gave the corpse a slight push to shake it off my body.
Director, was it?
In that brief moment, I sincerely prayed for her soul.
"......Is there somewhere to escape to?"
I unclenched my fist and asked her.
"Uh, uh, ah... Y-Yes?"
Shin Hye-young stammered her question several times.
I nodded toward the entrance where people were still shoving each other.
"Is there somewhere to escape to?"
"...N-No."
Hye-young answered while unable to tear her eyes from the fallen ent.
Her expression seemed dazed and lost somewhere.
It was natural, seeing someone she knew end up like that.
If they had been really close, it wouldn't be strange if she resented me.
I waited for Hye-young to speak. Just then, Azalea picked up Shiba, breathing heavily.
"......You okay?"
"Yeah."
She didn't look pleased. Her face was filled with worry, anxiety, and dissatisfaction.
She kept glancing around, then saw the ent and hardened her expression.
The rampaging ent and what it meant—she knew it too.
"Flower."
Just as she said.
Flower, Flower... It's Flower.
I gave Shin Hye-young one last glance.
"Ah..."
I couldn't wait any longer.
"Azalea."
"...Yeah."
"Take the teacher and Shiba to the dorms first."
"What about you?"
Mana swirled around the three as I activated the spell with a hand gesture.
Azalea looked worried, but who was she worrying about?
The opponent was Flower.
"Got something to do."
I smiled faintly and stroked Shiba's head.
Seeing that, Azalea felt something odd, her lips tightening stiffly.
"...Something to do?"
"Our daughter must be scared. Calm her down."
"......"
Shiba was staring at the ent with wide eyes.
Azalea hurriedly covered Shiba's eyes.
"Paa..."
"Yeah, yeah, Daddy's here."
I cast the spell slowly once more.
"I'll be there soon."
I whispered softly and sent Azalea, Shiba, and Shin Hye-young to the dorms.
I trusted Azalea would handle the explanations.
She wouldn't blame me for saving their lives.
Looking at the dead ent, I clicked my tongue.
At the same time, I rummaged through the bag I'd brought and pulled out a mask.
-Ssshh.
As I put on the mask, it clung to my skin like it was being sucked in, changing my face.
"Suuup-"
Inhale.
"Hooo..."
Exhale.
Inside the mask, I adjusted my gaze.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "...Have you secured the location?"
"Yes. But."
The hunter branch was in an uproar.
Due to the sudden terrorist attack and its unprecedented scale, the entire association was on high alert.
Everyone responsible for this sector had gathered in one place, making calls to exchange information.
"...There are too many."
The phones kept ringing nonstop.
Already over forty locations had been hit.
They were summoning hunters and dispatching them every moment, but... ents were exceptionally strong.
C-rank hunters couldn't handle ents. Even B-ranks could suffer serious injuries if they slipped up.
Luckily, thanks to the previous terror incident, there were many hunters and police on standby... Otherwise, how much worse would it have been?
Talk of mobilizing the military was even coming up.
"Hoo..."
One hunter scratched his head and set down his phone.
"Communications are jammed too. They're even using magic. Interfering... won't be easy."
"Get satellite intel and scan every inch around here. Approval will come down soon."
"......Is it really war?"
"Shut up. Is that important right now? Saving lives is."
The seven minutes stained black.
The minute and hour hands, which usually flew by, felt endlessly long.
Every second that passed could mean an innocent citizen's life ending.
Sweat began to bead on everyone's foreheads.
"...We've narrowed down the locations somewhat."
"......Haa. Damn."
Even grinding through every available personnel to find answers.
Now they lacked hunters to resolve them.
"...If only the Association Chairman, or at least the Vice Chairman, were here."
The man bit his lower lip hard with eyes full of despair.
His self-reproach was so intense that blood beaded on his lips.
At that moment.
-Bang!
The door flew open as one person entered.
A man in a hood, his face hard to make out.
Everyone turned with dumbfounded faces at the sudden intrusion.
"...Huh."
Black hood.
But the thick mana aura emanating from his back.
His presence alone commanded the room's attention.
The man removed his hood, revealing his face.
A clean-cut young man's features. But an unfamiliar face.
Without even looking around much, he opened his mouth.
"Terror locations."
"Pardon?"
"...What the hell all of a sudden."
"Bring them."
-Thud.
His voice carried overwhelming pressure.
The mana behind him was ominous.
It seemed ready to explode at any moment—his words were half-threat.
As if he'd drag everyone here to the afterlife if they didn't comply.
When he twitched a finger, the mana behind him rippled in response to his will.
Intimidating presence.
"S... Section Chief."
One man looked to the person in charge with trembling eyes.
He trembled at the lips and nodded.
"No time."
The robed man's words.
"Hand it over."
After agonizing, the section chief finally spoke.
The nodding man began handing over all the data from one to ten.
The robed man silently scanned it with glances, then turned toward the door.
"Run the articles."
"...Pardon?"
"Incident over."
That way, the articles would spread as far as possible, right?
The man didn't understand the follow-up words.
What did it mean to run articles saying an ongoing terror was over?
Who knew what backlash it might cause if it turned out to be a lie.
"......"
The man who finished speaking withdrew his mana.
Only then did breathing feel easier.
The stifled expressions of the seated hunters eased bit by bit.
The man turned wordlessly and walked out.
In the mouse-quiet hunter branch office, everyone stared at his retreating back with blank faces.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Clean.
It couldn't have been cleaner.
Terror. And samples.
Flower injected the blood of the fallen ents and collected it straight into vials.
-Ent.
Easy to make.
Just inject into an ordinary wood person.
And above all, strong.
It wasn't just the Cornerus Family waiting for the drug's completion.
Robed figures roamed the sites, gathering samples.
The researchers would analyze these samples to complete the product.
"...Hoo."
Tuberose lit a cigarette.
Mixing in flower petals doubled the aroma and flavor.
After pulling off the deed, even the bitterness tasted sweet.
Tuberose scanned the surroundings with eyes heavy under dark circles.
Cracked sidewalks where the ground had collapsed here and there.
Fallen poles and sparking wires.
Tuberose lowered his gaze and focused on the surrounding sounds.
Screams and dying groans soaked in agony echoed from one spot.
"Last ent."
Had he drained all the blood from the corpse?
It had been less than 20 minutes since the terror began.
Just as they were about to withdraw. An ominous aura approached from this direction.
-Drag, drag.
Dragging some black mass.
Upon closer look, it was one of Flower's robed underlings, hood off.
The man approached with a black robe over him, eyes gleaming fiercely from within.
The blood clots covering his body told the story of his actions.
"......So it was you."
That guy from before.
Instinct told him so.
Tuberose stood, grinding out his cigarette.
All of Flower hardened their faces, staring at the opponent.
"......"
Silent stare.
The killing intent shrugging off his shoulders made Tuberose's smug lips tremble.
"Impressive."
He thought it was just some reckless fool—one of those dime-a-dozen types you'd find rummaging nearby.
This was no joke.
Enough to believe it was the Vice Chairman.
No... closer to the Chairman than that guy?
Somewhat similar to Cystus too.
"......Can't tell what it is."
Everything mixed together.
The mana form itself was bizarre.
Black-flowing mana permeated his body calmly, but the pressure it exuded was anything but quiet.
As if intent on ripping apart everyone present.
Like watching will-o'-the-wisps shaking in rage.
Tuberose held his breath, drawing a syringe in one hand and a dagger in the other.
'No matter how monstrous.'
...This drug is a weapon.
Let's see what you've got.
Or rather...
It might turn into a fight to the death. The sweat trickling down his back told him so.
-Boom!
A nearby Flower's head exploded.
'Mage.'
The male hunter charging instantly.
He wrapped mana around his hand like whipping it, then halted before Tuberose and swung his fist.
Tuberose hastily raised his arm to block, flying backward.
'No... a martial artist!'
Even at full mana output, his arm throbbed.
-Rumble!
Tuberose landed from midair, hand on the ground.
He glared at the man with trembling eyes.
"......"
The wind slightly lifted his robe, revealing his face.
Black, terrifying eyes devoid of any light stared solely at him without blinking.
As if he'd come with the sole purpose of killing him from the start.
"Fuck."
Tuberose was genuinely freaked out.
"......Scary as hell."
For the first time, he felt death.