Light (2)
A thick, cloying fragrance tickled the tip of his nose.
Coming out at this late hour of the night had been the right call.
The damp back alley made a perfect backdrop for the raw scene unfolding ahead.
To a man who reveled in deviance, the outside world was never a place that belonged to ordinary categories. It was simply a space in which to faithfully indulge his pleasures and instincts.
All that remained was to round the corner ahead of him, burst into the place where a scream had just been cut short, and claim his spoils.
Torturing the spent victims while listening to their moans. Robbing them of their belongings and mana stones. Or — if there happened to be a pretty girl among them — satisfying his own desires. Any of that would count as a fine harvest.
A high-rank awakener.
For someone with power like his, there was no better entertainment.
With a smile threatening to break across his face at the situation right under his nose, the man wound a gleaming chain around his hand, rounded the corner, and calmly opened his eyes.
And came face to face with her.
A girl.
Silver wavy hair, catching the moonlight and glowing faintly between the darkened alley walls. Blue eyes that held an indescribable power no child should possess. A razor-sharp knife that only heightened the dreamlike aura she radiated.
His breath grew short. His heart began to hammer. Sweat poured down like rain.
An unknown force constricted his body, and he shuddered involuntarily.
"Wh-what the hell."
The man faltered.
She wasn't even looking his way. He alone was staring at her.
And yet the pressure he felt — what was that?
His opponent was nothing but a girl. The mana she emitted was negligible.
In all the battles he had fought, the times he had lost the upper hand could be counted on one hand. He simply could not understand why his body was locking up like this.
"Fuck."
He could just kill her and be done with it. Why was he getting this worked up over some damn kid?
With a flicker of indignation, he gripped the chain.
That was when it happened.
The girl tilted her head downward. A twisted lock of side hair slipped free, and those deep blue eyes that had been looking aside turned toward him.
Their eyes met.
The girl smiled.
———Kzzzzzt!
A horrific static and noise slammed into the man's ears. Vast quantities of mana scattered and swallowed the entire area.
A wave of vivid crimson pierced through the walls and invaded.
Only then did he realize.
She had deliberately lowered her mana to lure him in.
"F-fuck!!"
The chain in the man's hand rattled violently. As he poured mana into it, the dagger threaded at the end flashed.
"Heehee."
A bone-chilling laugh rang through the space. A massive red scythe swung toward him. He raised the chain to meet the blade. Metal rang with an electric crack as light flared at the point of impact.
The chain shattered pathetically and crumbled to dust.
Impossible. He'd layered the build several times over.
The red scythe dissolved into countless droplets. A blade formed, taking the shape of a long sword as it flowed into the girl's hand. She spun once in midair and swung the greatsword. It pierced through his chest and pulled free.
Agonizing pain rang through his brain. His legs gave out. Blood sprayed, and a metallic scent painted his body.
Mana rippled, and the countless drops of red blood filling the air condensed into two points. They took the shape of short blades and flashed. Light erupted from the body of the still-dazed man, generating a massive, thick barrier.
A pair of red machetes mercilessly cleaved through the barrier and sliced across the man's abdomen at high speed. Flesh tore. His entire body turned deathly pale.
A ringing filled his ears. His vision swam. His brain throbbed. His body shook. His own scream filled the space before gradually fading away.
With the last of his strength, the man thrust out an arm. Violet mana rippled, and massive thorns erupted from every direction. The air trembled as objects were destroyed.
The girl tore open her own chest with one hand. A scar like a beast's claw was carved into her flesh and flashed.
Through the severe noise, the man barely managed to lift his gaze. The mouths of a massive monster were devouring everything on the ground as they charged toward him. Wind and currents whipped into the maws, drawing forth a storm.
The man stared blankly at it, then sank to his knees.
The wind blew. His body was already caught in those jaws.
———Crunch! Crack! Crunch!
Feeling the sticky threads connecting his entire body being forcibly ripped away, the man lost consciousness amid overwhelming agony.
"The ending's always the same. Everyone's too busy running away. Them, and me."
[Orly, something else is coming.]
"It's fine. I think I can hold out a little longer."
Leaving behind three corpses that no longer retained human form, a single girl stood with murder gleaming in her eyes.
"Lady Erika, we've received word from the stakeout team."
"Understood. Let's go at once."
Of the zones they had anticipated, the industrial district had been the correct one.
Erika pulled on her favored black uniform and stepped out the door.
Honestly, she had wanted to wrap up the incident involving that girl within a few days and fill in the insufficient security in the outer regions. She had thrown herself into any number of cases in the Seoul area with the resolve to burn herself out if she had to — but the thought that turning her hand to this quieter region might make for a decent change of pace had also played a part.
Catching the girl, however, was proving harder than expected. More precisely, it was taking longer. She would commit a murder, appear on CCTV, and then vanish as if wielding some indescribable power, making it extremely difficult to track her subsequent path.
That was all, though. Perhaps because she was still only a girl, she had afterward operated in a straight line through a certain area of Yangpyeong in Gyeonggi Province, staging incidents centered on desolate commercial districts where few people walked — that was the information the investigation team had obtained. Thanks to it, they had been able to narrow the range for deploying stakeout teams considerably.
Whether that behavior meant she thought she could stand against the Association without knowing any better, or whether it was the incomprehensible psychology of the occasional psychopathic awakener, Erika did not know.
It did not particularly matter to her either way.
For non-awakeners or ordinary low-rank awakeners, a high-rank awakener committing crimes could be regarded as a dangerous incident. But criminals of that caliber were, for the Association's veteran hunters, something that could be handled given a moderate amount of time.
The one source of unease was the possibility that she might be a special awakener who had gone undetected until now — in which case the investigation might need to dig a little deeper.
Unlike her usual self, who never dismissed even the slightest possibility, the reason she had stepped into this case a little more roughly was nothing grand.
Help the good. Punish the wicked.
It was not some lofty ambition — merely a single iron rule she had kept since the aftermath of the disaster.
Around the time she had decided to leave her department as it was and simply move her workplace to the Gyeonggi region, the girl on the monitor had caught her eye. Committing slaughter without the slightest flicker of emotion — rather, seeming to enjoy the situation itself.
How could anyone see that and look the other way?
Without killing trash like that.
"We'll arrive shortly."
"Understood."
Inside the car, finished in refined tones, Erika looked out the window. The sun had long since set, and a pitch-black sky stretched overhead.
Streetlights flickered. Here and there, ruined buildings came into view.
"Field Team Seven is conducting the search. They're approaching Sector One. What are your orders?"
"Send them in."
At Erika's words, the agent in the driver's seat relayed the message through the device in his ear.
A "team" of only five people. Because this case had taken longer than expected, Field Team Seven had been thrown together on short notice.
It was a unit that mixed veteran hunters capable of continuously pinning down the girl remaining at a nearly finished crime scene with personnel from Field Team One, adding a definite layer of safety.
They had sent measuring equipment as well, so there should be no problem with the stakeout team tracking the girl before the field team entered.
The car arrived at the industrial district, and Erika stepped out of the back seat. A chill wind cut through her skin.
Soon she would meet the vicious bitch who had tormented her for an entire week.
She swallowed the boiling rage, took a few shallow breaths, and steadied herself.
Fitting the device to her ear, she started walking. Static crackled, mixed with the sound of fabric brushing fabric.
A deep male voice came through the device.
"Looks like you gave us a clean shot, Erika. We're going in."
"Copy. I'll catch up. Tell me if anything's wrong."
"Will do."
Did that man even talk like that? Back when they had been rolling through the field together, he had shrugged off cities being crushed and victims piling up as if it were nothing.
Maybe he was putting on airs because it had been a while since a joint operation.
She drew in the acrid air and kept walking. The night air felt colder than usual today.
That was when the anomaly struck.
———Kzzzt, kzzzzzt!
"F-fuck, what the hell is th—! Th—!"
"Riche? Riche, can you hear me?"
"Eri—! He—!"
Static and noise mixed together; the comms equipment in her ear failed to function properly.
Interference with the signal? But the other devices were fine…
Erika ran toward the checkpoint established for the operation, rapidly assessing the situation. Something had clearly gone wrong.
She cut across dark alleys and vaulted several walls. Infusing a little mana, she scanned a few of the large buildings in sight and shifted her field of vision.
On the silent road, the sound of her own footsteps rang out clear and bright. Dark and light alternated, illuminating her in turn.
Her brow furrowed. The tip of her nose flushed red.
She could feel dense mana.
———Kzzzzzt!
Only then did a textbook example of the failure conditions for mana-stone-equipped communications gear come to mind.
The presence of abnormally massive mana.
"Haa… haa…"
She hurried toward the source of the residual waves. Her vision tinged red. Her breathing grew rough.
Only after she passed the checkpoint did a voice that seemed on the verge of cutting out reach her.
— Guhhk…! Hhk…!
— Th—! Se—!
By now, the presence of mana so vast that anyone would have recognized it pressed in on her.
She stepped into a wide alley. Unease seized her. Bracing a hand against the wall, she rounded the corner and widened her field of view.
It was a sea of blood.
Walls and concrete filled with red decorations that made her want to retch. Bodies sprawled everywhere. Members of her own team collapsed on the ground, barely able to breathe.
One colleague, throat caught in the grip of a girl radiating a dark crimson presence, fixed in midair and choking.
In a place that no longer retained any semblance of a city, a few threads of life flickered like candle flames in the wind.
"Riche!!!"
Erika shouted as she thrust her arm back. Blue currents gathered in the air and seeped into her grip. Mana took the shape of a massive spear and settled into her hand.
Wind rose. Air condensed. She held her breath and thrust her arm straight forward.
The mana-laden spear tore through space. A blue current of water swirled and stretched toward a single point.
The girl released the man and took a single step back. The spear passed her uselessly, struck the rear wall, and vanished.
Murderous blue eyes glowed faintly.
"Hello."
The girl smiled.