A C-Class Devil Hunter Did This Alone?

While Han Seorin was hospitalized, I sat slumped in that pitch-black void, enduring the slow crawl of time.

Doing nothing in a place that held nothing was an extraordinarily dull affair. The one silver lining, if you could call it that, was that I could occasionally watch Han Seorin through the mirror. But she spent her days lying in a hospital bed, so even spying on her quickly lost its charm.

…And there was nothing left to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dig through in the status window, either.

Is there no way out of here?

I propped my hands behind my head, sprawled out on the floor, and stared up at the impossibly distant sky. My future looked every bit as dark and empty as the view above me.

Two days passed like that after Han Seorin's admission.

"…I'll be discharging myself. Please bill me for my siblings' hospital stays as well."

"You'll be discharging with your siblings, then?"

"No. There's nothing wrong with me, so I need to get back to work. Please take good care of them."

She left her younger brother and sister in the ward and completed the discharge paperwork so she could return to her duties as a Devil Hunter. The moment Han Seorin stepped out of the hospital, a status window materialized before my eyes.

…Contracts always came with hidden risks. It had clearly implied that Body Collapse only triggered when there were no contractors — and yet the moment I secured one, three extra days were tacked onto the countdown. The meaning couldn't have been more different if it tried.

Still… at least I found Han Seorin. Collapsing like this wouldn't be the worst thing in the world…

…Huh?!

I shot upright at the unexpected contents of the status window. That hadn't been there before.

Was it missing last time because I didn't have a contractor yet?

If it were only me dying, fine. But the possibility that Han Seorin might die with me sent a jolt of urgency through my chest.

I need to find a new contractor — fast…!

While I fumbled with the mirror in a panic the way I had before, Han Seorin kept walking and spoke to me.

"Lady Asmode. Can you hear me?"

"…Yeah. What is it?"

"I'm heading out to exterminate some devils. Looks like I'll be dealing with D-class ones — is that all right?"

"That's your call."

The moment I answered her with a cynical edge, a thought flashed through my mind.

"Wait — wait! Are you going alone?!"

"No. I'm responding to an emergency extermination recruitment post on the Devil Hunter Gallery. We'll probably be operating as a team."

"…Ahaha. Well, that's great news!"

Operating as a team? Then I could just form contracts with those people!

Whew. Thank god. Let's lock in some contracts fast and buy more time.

Coldly speaking, it was the kind of move that put other people in danger just to save Han Seorin. But now that I'd already interfered in her life, didn't I have a responsibility to see it through somehow?

…If I don't want to watch my contractors die when the deadline hits, I have no choice but to grow stronger.

I needed more power. I needed to unlock new authorities, and find ways to lighten the price my contractors had to pay.

Having resolved to grow as a devil, I twisted a lock of hair by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my temple and answered in a deliberately casual voice.

"…Well, do whatever you want. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠But if it looks dangerous, you run. Immediately."

"Lady Asmode, are you worried about me?"

"Don't get the wrong idea! I'm only saying this because if you die, I'm the one who's screwed. Though, well — you're a C-class Devil Hunter. D-class devils aren't going to kill you."

"…I'll do my best."

Han Seorin let out a soft laugh at my words and slipped her hands into the pockets of her uniform. Watching her, I felt my face heat up for some reason.

…It was one of those moments when devilish dignity — or whatever it was — made it impossible to just say what I meant, and it irritated the hell out of me.

A few minutes later, she arrived at the underground parking garage of a building in central Seoul. Han Seorin gripped the whip at her hip and scanned her surroundings carefully. But no matter how thoroughly she looked, she couldn't sense a single Devil Hunter — or even a devil.

"Lady Asmode, it seems like I'm the only one who showed up. No sign of any devils, either…"

"…That's strange. Filing a false report on the Devil Hunter Gallery is an automatic death sentence."

"H-how would you know that, Lady Asmode?!"

"What, you think a devil can't use community forums? Honestly. Stupid humans."

"…"

Han Seorin stared blankly, her expression completely dumbfounded. …In truth, I only knew because of my previous life.

A moment later she snapped out of it, her face twisting into a sour scowl as she released the whip at her hip. She crossed her arms over her chest and spoke in a grumbling tone.

"Lady Asmode, should we just pull back? There's nothing here—"

Slither.

In that instant, a presence from somewhere nearby.

"Han Seorin — the ceiling…!"

"…!"

She snapped her gaze upward at my warning. A massive spider devil hung inverted from the ceiling, then lunged straight at her.

Sssssss…!

"…Coward."

Whoosh!

Han Seorin leapt backward and slipped the spider devil's ambush. At that same moment, a swarm of smaller spider devils that had been hiding inside the ventilation shafts poured out along the outer walls. The monsters flooded the underground garage in seconds, surrounding her from every direction.

Easily hundreds of them. Enough to make anyone's pulse spike.

There are too many…!

Even if they were only D-class, this volume of enemies was more than Han Seorin could handle alone. I started shouting at her through the mirror.

"What are you doing?! Get out of the garage! There are way too many of them!"

"…Lady Asmode."

But Han Seorin didn't take a single step back ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— not even at my desperate cry. Instead she drew the whip from her hip and stretched the cord taut. A faint smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"I'll put the power you lent me to good use."

She clenched her fist around the whip. Black aura billowed out around her body, and her eyes turned red — the same reverse eyes as when she first accepted my contract.

This crazy woman…!

Countless spiders surged toward her at once —

Whrrk! Whrrk!

— but she cracked her whip against the walls and floor, keeping the smaller swarm at bay, and whenever an opening appeared she struck the massive spider closing in, holding her distance.

Slash! Slash!

The giant spider's front legs were severed. Corpses of the smaller spider devils piled into a mountain in moments. Sensing it couldn't continue like this, the giant spider opened its maw and spat a stream of green acid at Han Seorin.

"…Too slow!"

Crack!

She dodged the acid so fast that afterimages of her aura lingered in the air, then swung her whip at the giant spider devil without breaking stride. The moment the tip struck true —

BOOOOM…!

— the spider devil erupted in a violent explosion, spraying acid in every direction. The instant the giant spider burst apart, the smaller ones froze in place. …And just like that, the underground parking garage became a space choked with mountains of spider corpses and green acid.

"Hah… hah… Sorry. I couldn't run from this one. I have to get stronger. For my siblings' sake, if nothing else."

Han Seorin planted a hand on her knee and caught her breath. The black aura surrounding her faded, and her reddened eyes returned to black.

…

Watching her performance through the mirror, I sat there with a dazed expression, completely stunned. …Was this really the power of a devil? A situation that would have been dangerous even with several more C-class hunters piled on top of it — and she had overcome it alone. I'd been the one who lent her the power, and yet I was the one most astonished.

But the status window gave me no time to relax. The moment I saw the notice that her Soul Erosion Rate had climbed, I snapped at her.

"Hey! Don't throw around a devil's power so carelessly! Using it on a bunch of D-class trash — what were you thinking?!"

"Th-that was the power you lent me…"

"I'm lecturing you because it's the power I lent you. Waste it on stuff like this and you'll turn into a devil, got it? You want to become a devil and leave your siblings behind?"

"…I'm sorry."

"Hmph. Honestly. What an ignorant human."

The moment I mentioned her siblings, Han Seorin's expression crumpled. …Had I gone too far?

I hurriedly pressed my hand against the glass of the mirror and continued in a very small voice.

"Still… I'm glad you didn't get hurt. Good work."

"…Thank you, Lady Asmode."

Only then did her face soften. She straightened up and was just sliding her whip back onto her hip when status windows began cascading across my vision.

…I can collect souls and choose rewards?

The instant I saw that extending the Body Collapse timer was one of the options, my decision was set in stone. The first and second choices were tempting — but right now, stopping the collapse took priority.

Not long after Han Seorin left the garage, a group of C-class Devil Hunters arrived at the entrance.

"Site penetration complete. Commence annihilation."

Half a dozen men and women in black uniforms and berets formed up and entered the underground parking garage. Moments later, they stopped short at the sight of the spider corpses heaped everywhere.

"W-what the hell is this…"

The situation had already been resolved before they even arrived. One of them immediately opened the Devil Hunter Gallery and started searching for whoever had responded to the call. Then his face went blank with disbelief.

"You're telling me… a C-class Devil Hunter did this alone…?"

According to the Gallery, a C-class Devil Hunter named Han Seorin had taken the field. …It was staggering. Even a C-class hunter should have struggled against hundreds of D-class devils. And yet one C-class hunter had wiped out this entire swarm by herself…

Sensing that something extraordinary had happened, they exchanged glances and spoke in low voices.

"We need to report this to the Association executives."

They left the site with that decision made. And in that moment, a quiet curiosity about the mysterious C-class Devil Hunter Han Seorin began to take root within the Devil Hunter Association.