Chapter 91
Chapter 91
13. The Donghae Gate Incident -2
The western sky was empty again today.
"So no support is coming after all."
Countess Yeon Arang clenched and unclenched the hand in her pocket, over and over. It was because she was craving the cigarette she'd quit long ago. She'd definitely resolved to quit, thinking, "If prices keep climbing like this, I might as well save the money and buy a car instead."
But once the world ended, cigarette prices went up even more. Their status was now nearly on par with gold.
Of course, she lived better now than she had as a corporate office worker. Wealth was relative, so compared to a salaryman from when modern society was intact, a post-apocalyptic city-ruler was inevitably superior in both power and money.
So she could get them if she wanted to. She could get them, but—
A single pack of cigarettes. The price of just that one thing was enough to outfit one of her subordinate hunters with a set of secondary gear. So as the Yeon Arang who governed a city-state, she couldn't bring herself to reach for such "waste."
Because the city-state of Donghae was slowly withering away.
On an Earth occupied by the Gate Incident and the plant bastards, the sea was a relatively safe domain. The land was being contaminated at a ferocious pace, while the sea was slow. That was the difference.
On land, farming meant risking your life, but along the coast, proper fishing was somehow still possible. Occasionally a mackerel that had swallowed plant seeds and turned into a monster would kill a fisherman, but that was extremely rare.
That was why Donghae had been able to maintain a steady and abundant food supply based on the sea. They might suffer on land, but they never went hungry.
But that was now an old story.
'Hey, Countess Yeon Arang!'
'Director.'
'Director Yeon Arang! A fisherman on Boat 3 got stabbed by seaweed and lost his arm!'
'⋯⋯Excuse me? Say that again.'
The sea's contamination was slow but unmistakably progressing. Monster trees that had finally finished adapting to the marine environment were gradually encroaching on human territory, and the fishing industry had no choice but to waver.
If anything, the sea was an extremely difficult environment for humans to respond to. Sharp seaweed stabbing up suddenly from the invisible depths was no different from a naval mine, and the pressure of the underwater environment made preemptive removal severely difficult.
What hunter had ever practiced underwater combat?
If the fishing industry that served as their foundation wavered, it meant their lifeline was about to snap. Naturally, Donghae's food supply dwindled, and on top of that, as if to add insult to injury, an anomalous Gate appeared nearby. Anxiety mounted and the atmosphere sank.
The movements of the plants on land had also grown cunning. She'd thought they were creatures without intelligence, but lately they'd been sporadically crafty—scattering spores when her hunter units were exhausted, and so on. As if someone were guiding them⋯⋯
Keeping Donghae running somehow in this situation was Yeon Arang's personal ability.
"We'll have to change the diet. Reduce the amount of fish and mix in more greens, crack down on the illegal trading that seems to be running rampant, and cut back on the privileges tilted toward the hunters—there'll be pushback. A few people will inevitably have to be made examples of."
Thoroughly planned distribution and control, camouflage like reassembling chocolate pieces and slipping one out without it showing. Reward and punishment wielded through charisma.
That was how Yeon Arang had barely managed to create a situation where "everyone starves slowly."
A slow death that let people cling to life for now, even if catastrophe was certain to come someday. This was the best she could do for the city-state of Donghae.
"Hah⋯⋯"
Only sighs came out. Her fingers wandered uselessly, searching for a cigarette that wasn't there.
Even this place, with the East Sea coast as a resource supply line, was in this state. Noah Won, holed up in Seoul where the infrastructure had been completely wiped out, must be in an even more difficult situation.
So it wasn't strange that support wasn't coming. Yeon Arang looked around, confirmed no one was watching, and mimed smoking. She pressed her fingers to her lips as if a cigarette were between them and sucked in with a small sound.
When she exhaled with a whoosh, no white smoke came out.
It looked quite pitiful from the side, but it was a small comfort. Above all, it was free. It was Yeon Arang's own way of saving money.
Suddenly, she thought of the old days. Yeon Arang had been frugal by habit since childhood, but there was exactly one hobby on which she'd spent money freely without a care. Idols.
Through her civil service exam days, through her days being ground down at work after getting hired, Yeon Arang's one joy in life had been idol fandom.
She hadn't liked just any idol. If anything, the order might have been reversed. That person she'd happened to see one winter day, performing on a stage with barely any audience. From the moment she saw that sight, she'd slowly fallen in.
Maybe it was more accurate to say she hadn't become a fan because he was an idol, but that once she became a fan, "idol" was the easiest way to explain it.
'My baby white deer⋯⋯'
Noah Won.
Honestly, his face wasn't her type. Yeon Arang preferred a more delicate look. But even from far away, the passion that made "working hard" palpable on his skin had touched her heart.
That passion never went out. When the concert failed because of his manager's car accident, when he bounced back through a chance opportunity, when another member caused a scandal and the group disbanded⋯⋯ and even when the world ended.
'Honorary Duke Noah Won.'
The man named Noah Won was probably, even at this very moment, living as hard as he could, doing his best with everything he had. That fact was both comfort and courage.
Just as it's easier to find your own courage when the person beside you finds theirs.
"⋯⋯This isn't the time. Let's work. Work. Get it together, Yeon Arang!"
Smack!
Countess Yeon Arang lightly slapped her own cheeks and hardened her expression. There was plenty to do. Work was a concept that could multiply endlessly the moment you set your mind to it.
She summoned her subordinate hunters. The objective of the operation was to subjugate the nearby forest, and the gains to be had were pushing back the front line and expanding farmland. It was time to farm even if it meant taking risks.
It was dangerous, but it was something that had to be done, and something she could handle. If only she prepared meticulously, maybe without losing a single life—
Rough sailing.
"Ah, Countess Yeon Arang, over there! On the left!"
"What the hell! Wh-what is that⋯⋯?!"
"⋯⋯Respond calmly. Team 2 reserves, forward."
The ship Yeon Arang was steering had hit a reef. The forest purification expedition assembled to extend the life of the city-state of Donghae had begun to unfold strangely. In a bad way, at that.
This was definitely not an expedition that should have run into this much trouble. At least, not on paper. But looking at the current situation alone, the hunter unit led by Yeon Arang had been surrounded and isolated in the middle of the forest.
There were two unexpected factors.
One, there were more monster trees than the prior reconnaissance had identified. She'd dispatched her ranger unit twice for thorough scouting, yet the numbers had swelled as if monster trees that hadn't existed before had materialized out of thin air.
Two, a variant she'd never seen before had appeared.
Shhk, tak, tak!
"Scientific name: 『Erect Violet』!"
"I've got eyes too, I can see that—why is it moving?!"
The plants were moving.
The 『Erect Violet』—a plant that grew in the shade and, when it detected a passing human, lashed out with root tendrils to sever the area around the ankles. It had properties close to a landmine.
Those things were now hauling up four roots like beast legs and sprinting across the ground.
Countess Yeon Arang bit her lower lip and gave the order. If those things scattered their formation, the damage would be catastrophic. Someone had to hold them.
"Team 2 reserves. Can you detonate the Erect Violets before they reach the main force and pull out?"
"⋯⋯We'll try, Countess."
The nimble reserve members approached the charging Erect Violets.
Parararak—!!
At that, the 『Erect Violets』 began whipping their root tendrils in all directions like propellers. The sharp attacks rained down within a three-meter radius, sweeping away everything caught in their arcs.
It should have ended there. The standard strategy was to provoke them first to drain their strength, then close in and kill them once the Erect Violets had expended their nutrients and slowed. But.
Ujik—!
The four roots moving the Erect Violet's body bent deeply. It looked almost like bending legs. Humans knew better than anyone what that posture was the precursor to.
"It's going to⋯⋯ jump?!"
"Block it—!!"
Puljjeok—!
The 『Erect Violet』 that had soared high failed to control its center of gravity and simply plummeted. But that alone was more than enough. The plant that had forcibly drawn out its nutrients would soon exhaust all its energy and die, but—
Parararak— shwaaak! Shwak!!
"Aaaaagh—!!"
"M-my arm, my arm—!!"
It wouldn't wither alone.
"Block it!"
"No, intercept it⋯⋯!!"
In an instant, one person died and two were wounded. Chaos spread rapidly around the scattering red blood. This was no time to stand around. There were more.
Tak, tak. Three more 『Erect Violets』, moving with their bodies tilting unsteadily, emerged from the forest. And that might not be the end of it⋯⋯ Once her thoughts reached that point.
A dark pessimism began to seep in.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯Tch!"
Kik-kik.
The spy elf let out a laugh disguised as grief amid the crowd of hunters. This was the very purpose of the elf's existence—the intermediary between plant and animal. They were capable of granting plants agency.
Since they could not dare infringe upon the authority of the 『King of Plants』, this was closer to arbitrarily modifying plants than commanding them. Because of that, the power expenditure was great—the number of plants a single elf could influence was extremely small⋯⋯ but.
Look. Wasn't that alone enough?
Countess Yeon Arang thought again and again behind her rigidly frozen expression. The expected damage if they fought on, the expected damage if they broke through—once she gauged those numbers, a conclusion emerged.
Not everyone could make it back alive. Yeon Arang made a swift judgment in the direction of minimizing losses.
"Team 1 and I will remain on site. The rest of the hunters, form ranks, break through the rear encirclement, and retreat."
"⋯⋯Countess Yeon Arang!!"
"If we're wiped out, or if we take more than half our losses here, Donghae is finished. The city will only hold together if at least one more person makes it back alive. Don't make me give the order twice."
"Th-then, our apologies, Countess! We'll retreat! Retreat!"
The ones who wanted to live were the first to pull out. Then the hunters loyal to the Countess, and those who had hesitated, began sprinting toward the rear one after another.
The plants reacted sluggishly, as if clearing a path, as if those people weren't their targets. Thanks to that, the retreat was completed swiftly. Yeon Arang watched that sight for a long moment⋯⋯ then turned her gaze forward.
Because the mobile 『Erect Violets』 were leaping one by one, as if to say they wouldn't let her go.
Yeon Arang drew up her ability and thought.
'If I'd known it would come to this, maybe I should have told Noah Won I was a fan and been a little friendlier⋯⋯'
Then I might have had three more pieces of merch to take with me as grave goods⋯⋯
'No.'
She couldn't abandon her principles just to get her hands on a few of those. Just as the leader Yeon Arang and the citizen Yeon Arang were different people, the idol Noah Won and the hunter Noah Won were separate figures. Keeping public and private matters distinct was precisely a fan's virtue.
But still, wasting a photocard on support that wasn't coming anyway was a shame—
"Countess Yeon Arang, above you!"
"I know the 『Erect Violets』 are flying at me!"
At that moment, one of her subordinates shouted while looking up at the sky. Countess Yeon Arang clicked her tongue and scolded the subordinate for stating the obvious.
"No, that's not it! It's not an Erect Violet⋯⋯!!"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯?"
What he saw was not a leaping plant but a triangular fuselage. It was so out of place that it even felt somewhat random—an object she hadn't seen in a long while.
Hwiii—!
"A hang glider⋯⋯?!"
"Countess Yeon Arang, watch out for the ash! 『Azure Goat Flame』!"
Hwarururuk—!!
A human shadow dropped from high altitude. At the same time, a blue flame in the shape of a goat appeared and instantly incinerated the leaping 『Erect Violet』, leaving literally nothing but ash.
That was the firepower of an A-rank hunter. As far as Yeon Arang knew, no A-rank hunter who wielded flames like that existed, but judging from that voice and the blueness of the fire—
"Lee Hyejin! Hunter Lee Hyejin! Wait, then⋯⋯!"
They came!
Seogeok—!
As if in answer, an inorganic cutting sound rang out. Unlike Lee Hyejin, who had landed near Countess Yeon Arang's hunter team, the other person had descended straight into the center of the plant forces. It was an assault that looked reckless no matter how you saw it, but—
Seogeok—! Shwaaak—!
They were being cut down. The monster trees were sliced apart in an instant, leaking translucent sap.
They lashed out with roots and stems in desperate resistance, but a shield that was always exactly where it needed to be blocked them, preventing any damage. They were swept away like weeds caught in a mower.
Tuk—!
A severed large flower flew through the air. Through the gap, white hair was visible. The moment she witnessed that sight, Yeon Arang couldn't help but shout, her voice brimming with delight.
"Honorary Duke Noah Won—!"
"It's been a while, Countess Yeon Arang."
"How long has it been since the Hunter Monarchy ended, and you're still using that title! Drop the modifier, or if you're going to add one, call me Director!"
"⋯⋯You called me Duke yourself. Your skin's taken quite a beating. Looks like you've been through a lot."
Yeon Arang firmly hardened her expression before it could soften.
She was on duty right now. She mustn't show that she was a fan while handling official business. It would be rude to both of them. She had to treat him exactly like she treated everyone else⋯⋯ She steeled herself coldly. Yeon Arang still didn't know that she overdid it so much it caused misunderstandings.
She looked at Noah Won with sharp eyes and shouted.
"I'm grateful you came, but the east side is open! It's shameless of me to ask, but please!"
"Noah⋯⋯ no, Captain! I'll go over there!"
"No, don't worry about that. One more person came."
One more person?
Then had Noah Won's right-hand man, the sniper Kim Minsik, come? But he shouldn't be capable of wide-area fire projection. And the number of people who'd gotten off the hang glider—unless she'd seen wrong—should have been only two.
When Yeon Arang looked east, she felt the empty air glittering unusually. The glittering was meticulously connected through and around the plants. Soon.
Hwiririk—
A sound like something coiling. And then.
Tuk, tuduk, tududududuk.
Short cutting sounds raining down like a shower. Monster trees pouring down in pieces.
Through the wreckage, a person strolled leisurely closer. She approached with her hands behind her back and a cheerful gait, as if out for a walk, and spoke with a bright smile.
"Noah, I timed it perfectly, right?"
Yeon Arang and Lee Hyejin thought at the same time.
'Who is that? There shouldn't be an A-rank hunter like that in the Republic of Korea. A foreigner⋯⋯?'
'Who—ah. That's the person who was supposed to join later⋯⋯'
As if answering that thought, the blonde android introduced herself.
"I'm Elijah. Pleased to meet you!"
Tududududududuk.
Even at that moment, the plants were being diced like cube steak. If she could exert that level of lethality so easily, so widely, so continuously—then she wasn't A-rank. Maybe even beyond.
Which meant.
Noah Won had recruited an undisclosed S-rank hunter from somewhere and brought her here!
But even looking at Max Owen's case alone, an S-rank hunter was someone who could stand tall as a ruler of Earth without any shame. To call such a person out from Seoul, which had nothing and owned nothing—the number of possible ways that could happen was.
'Did Noah Won seduce her with his face⋯⋯?'
Yeon Arang thought about it seriously.