134. Wrap-Up (1)
134. Wrap-Up (1)
"M-My... my hand! My ha-and!!!!?"
The Demonized Human whose wrist had been severed screamed, staring at the empty space where her hand used to be as if unable to believe it.
Thud—
"Shut up."
A hard hand slammed into her mouth.
"Mmph!? Hhmph!?"
"Stop making a fuss over one arm. Aren't you fucking embarrassed to call yourself a Demonized Human?"
A cold, frigid chill dripped from the voice of the young boy gripping her mouth.
But the killing intent flowing thickly within it seemed to show just how furious this boy was right now.
"Exactly twice what Gukbap suffered. I'll carve it into your body. You will absolutely not die."
She stared at Jin Yu-ha with bloodshot eyes.
But Jin Yu-ha met her gaze with calm, restrained eyes.
Chatter, chatter, chatter—
The Demonized Human's teeth clattered incessantly, as if she had been thrown naked into a polar wasteland.
'Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IIIIT!!! Where the hell did this monster brat come from...!!!'
Belated regret flooded in, but it was already too late.
Craaack.
The hand gripping her face slowly tightened.
"Mmph! Hhmph!!"
In response, the Demonized Human grabbed his forearm with her remaining hand and even started hitting it.
But his arm didn't budge a millimeter, as if she were gripping solid bedrock.
The fingertips clutching her mouth dug deeply into her cheeks.
Crunch!
"Grugh!?"
Thud. Clatter.
Jin Yu-ha ripped off the Demonized Human's entire mouth, then opened his palm with an indifferent expression.
From his hand, teeth and chunks of flesh plopped down, mixed with blood.
"Haack— Kehck—."
The Demonized Human crumpled to the ground and looked up at him with trembling eyes.
Then, Jin Yu-ha's sword swung downward.
Slice.
Pssewt!
This time, it was her ankle that was severed.
It happened in an instant.
Not even a minute after losing her wrist, she had now lost her ankle as well.
"H-hrrrgh...!!"
From the Demonized Human's mouth now came a groan that sounded practically like a beast's cry.
She tried to force her body up, but she couldn't.
She could only writhe hideously on the ground like an insect.
Jin Yu-ha looked down at her with icy eyes and said,
"You'll survive until the very end, and you'll watch exactly how your comrades get fucked."
*
They had attacked with all their might, but their opponent had dodged them easily.
On top of that, one of their own had collapsed like a worm without even getting a single hit in.
The Demonized Humans' jaws dropped at the unbelievable sight.
Who on earth could look at this kid and call him a 1st-year cadet?
A sword that didn't show a shred of hesitation when slicing through human flesh.
What was truly shocking was that the person displaying this was not a Demonized Human accustomed to killing, but an academy cadet.
Of course, the cadets of Velvet Hunter Academy undergo grueling training daily.
Not only with their assigned classes, but everyone, day and night, locks themselves in personal training rooms to break through their limits.
But ultimately, those are flowers raised in the safety of a greenhouse.
They might become familiar with hunting monsters somehow.
But betting their lives against actual humans is a completely different story.
The Demonized Humans, who were always in the position of predators hunting other humans, shrank back, feeling like they had become the prey.
Step.
As Jin Yu-ha's footsteps turned toward the other Demonized Humans, they each drew their weapons and slowly backed away.
At that moment.
The Demonized Human whose mouth had been ripped off, lying behind him, spat out drops of blood and screamed.
"K-Kill! Kill him!! Hurry up and kill that bastard! If we don't kill him, we're all gonna dieee!!!!!"
Because her mouth had been torn and most of her teeth ripped out, her pronunciation was garbled.
But the meaning was perfectly clear, so the Demonized Humans tightened their grips on their weapons.
And the moment they all rushed at Jin Yu-ha.
Swish—
Jin Yu-ha's form blurred.
Shliing!
The sword light flashed, and the blood on the blade's tip drew a red arc.
A head soared into the sky and belatedly opened its mouth as if to scream, but no sound could possibly come from a mouth that had already parted from its body.
Thump.
The head simply plummeted toward the ground, its eyes and mouth wide open.
Flump.
Shortly after, the headless body of the Demonized Human also collapsed in vain.
* * *
The cool breeze brushing through my hair cooled my heated head.
The landscape that had been painted by the sunset was slowly being overlaid with darkness.
I gauged the number of Demonized Humans in front of me.
'Fifteen personnel in total.'
One of them was collapsed behind me, and one was dead.
Meaning, thirteen are left here.
Taking all of them on at once?
Of course, it isn't difficult.
When Sofia's heal had landed on Lee Yu-ri earlier, my body received the benefit too.
And compared to the boss Rebecca, these guys were just extras—in other words, pathetic trash.
'But if they decide they're screwed and scatter, that's a pain in the ass.'
Even if they ran, they'd just end up getting caught and stabbed eventually.
That wasn't what I was worried about.
Hostages.
If I swung my sword as fast as I could, I could take down about eleven of them here.
But two might slip through and take the cadets hostage.
Since Lee Yu-ri was already in that state...
Honestly, I had the thought that I wouldn't really care if I just let a few cadets get taken, but...
'But if I do that, Gukbap's stupid sacrifice for those bastards will be meaningless.'
Swordsmanship Specialization is fundamentally strong in 1-on-1 fights.
As expected, it's not well-suited to fighting against many.
Then suddenly, one skill crossed my mind.
A skill I hadn't gotten to use in actual combat yet.
It wasn't one I originally had or learned separately, but a skill I could use through an item that came from Alice's Box—the Moonlight Earring.
'New Moon (朔月).'
It was a technique that allowed a Swordsmanship Specialization, which excels in 1-on-1, to fight in a many-versus-one situation.
'Right, New Moon is a skill that can only be used at night, so I haven't had a proper chance to use it so far.'
I circulated my Mana.
The moonlight-shaped earring on my ear emitted a blue light.
* * *
The cadets gulped.
"H-Hey. You definitely said they were Demonized Humans, right?"
"Y-Yeah... I think that's what he said."
"Then, Lee Yu-ri really almost died...?"
Only now did they realize the weight of Lee Yu-ri's sacrifice and the reason why Jin Yu-ha was so enraged.
"So that's why our attacks didn't work at all..."
"H-Hey... S-Shouldn't we go out and fight too? Are we really just going to leave Jin Yu-ha to fight alone?"
"What can we even do!"
"They're Demonized Humans! Demonized Humans!"
This was the typical perception of Demonized Humans among 1st-year cadets.
Demonized Humans were vicious beings who hunted Hunters.
They didn't care about means or methods when it came to killing their opponents.
The experience ingrained in them from childhood, hearing about and witnessing this danger, was enough to make their bodies freeze rigid.
When they hadn't known they were Demonized Humans, everyone had rushed to attack, but now they could only desperately stare at Jin Yu-ha's back.
That was why Shin Se-hee had considered informing them that Demonized Humans were coming from the start, but had been forced to give up on the idea!
"But, Jin Yu-ha... What is he? Those Demonized Humans... What in the..."
Those who were reeling from the shock that their opponents were Demonized Humans soon realized just what kind of fight Jin Yu-ha was engaged in right now.
Even though everyone was watching the same scene, they couldn't believe their eyes.
Because Jin Yu-ha was single-handedly running rampant amidst over ten Demonized Humans.
Hummm—
A brief flash of light flickered from Jin Yu-ha's ear, and the tip of his sword was imbued with a chilling edge.
Sword Qi streamed out from the extended blade in multiple strands.
Thud!
Whoosh—
Jin Yu-ha put weight into his toes and launched his body forward.
But where he pushed off, not a single footprint was left.
His speed was absolutely extraordinary.
The Demonized Humans gritted their teeth and tried to attack Jin Yu-ha, but he moved as if he alone possessed a different kind of speed.
Jin Yu-ha suddenly appeared in front of a Demonized Human and thrust his sword into his body.
Shunk—
Shunk—
Shunk—
"Ku-ghaauck—!"
The blade, saturated with blood, withdrew from his body, only to be stabbed into a vital point repeatedly in quick succession.
The sound was sharp, and the movements were concise.
Swordsmanship that had been stripped of every unnecessary element, reaching its very zenith.
It was the swordsmanship that Baek Seol-hee had taught.
"...!"
Unable to offer any resistance, the Demonized Human died with his eyes bulging open, spraying blood from his entire body.
As yet another one died in vain.
The Demonized Humans began to distance themselves from each other.
They seemed to be thinking of running away, since they were no match for him.
But Jin Yu-ha began to flourish his sword as if in a dance.
And abruptly, he launched his body into the air.
Whirr—
Whirr—
His airborne body spun rapidly, and the Sword Qi lingering at the blade's tip moved with it.
As if modeled after moonlight itself, the silver Sword Qi scattered into the empty air.
SWOOOOSH—!!
The Sword Qi that flew out rushed at the Demonized Humans as if it were alive.
Slice—
Slice—
Slice—
Sounds of cutting rang out in rapid succession.
Severed limbs rolled on the ground.
"GRAAAAAARGH!"
"My-a-arm! My arm!!!"
"My foot!!!"
"AAAAAAH!!!"
The Demonized Humans wailed with voices that seemed ripped out from hell.
Because of this, their plans to either flee immediately or take cadets hostage like they had done with Lee Yu-ri were quickly thwarted.
"...Y-You crazy... H-How dare you!!"
A Demonized Human whose chest, not a limb, had been deeply slashed stepped forward with courage.
Slice—
But Jin Yu-ha didn't answer, merely swinging his sword with an expressionless face.
And then, the head of yet another Demonized Human fell to the ground with a thud.
"..."
At this sight devoid of even a shred of mercy, the Demonized Humans couldn't help but share the same sentiment.
Fear.
That guy is a monster.
We are all going to die here.
It was then.
A woman with short black hair.
Baek Seol-hee appeared on the scene with an expressionless face.
"Jin Yu-ha."