Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Abnormal Phenomenon (4)
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I carefully hoisted Isis onto my back, gripping her tightly to keep her steady, then channeled raw power into my legs.
It was to scour the space inside as fast as possible, hunting for the heroes' positions.
Once I pinpointed them, everything else would be a breeze.
'Try manipulating this, if you can.'
I gathered my full strength into my legs but kept my speed moderate enough not to hurt Isis, then took a step forward.
Soon,
Kwaaaaang!
With a roar like the air around me exploding, my figure vanished.
At first, the space stretched to match my movements, exactly as I'd predicted.
'Yes!'
By moving even faster than the expanding space, it began lagging behind my pace.
Eventually, glancing back at the space falling utterly behind me, I charged ahead—and something smashed into my body with a shattering crack. In that instant, I was outside.
I'd bulldozed through the first-floor wall and burst out of the abandoned building.
"Perfect."
My hypothesis checked out.
The enemy had limits to their space manipulation.
By outpacing the manipulated space, they couldn't keep me boxed in.
I'd literally been flung out, so yeah—hypothesis confirmed.
I carried Isis to a safe spot nearby, where even a building collapse wouldn't touch her, then gently set her down.
Gazing at her still-unconscious form, I patched through to the Association.
- ...Ah! We've reconnected! Are you alright?!
It was the operator guy.
- This is Isis's operator! Are you okay? The connection dropped—I was shocked!
Not just him—Isis's operator line came online too.
"Whew. We still don't have an exact fix on where we went in, but I'm guessing there's an enemy inside who does mental manipulation and space manipulation. Since it took down an A-Rank like Isis, I'm thinking the bastard's at least A-Rank... maybe even S-Rank."
- Isis went down?
- And she's A-Rank...
"Yeah. She got mentally hijacked and came at me, so I knocked her out to be safe. But... I'm not the best at fine-tuning my strength, so I can't be sure she's just out cold..."
- Ah... We should probably call it here for now. If a veteran A-Rank like Isis fell, it's way too dangerous. Now that we know the enemy's power, better to pull back, reform the team, and head in fresh.
"No..."
That would take too long.
Heroes who'd been trapped inside for days were still in there.
No clue how they were faring, but they'd likely gone days without food.
Pulling back now to regroup and tweak plans could doom them.
"I can handle it solo."
I'd already figured out escape routes. If shit hit the fan, I'd just bail again.
- Huh? Wait, Do-yoon—?!
"Take good care of Isis. Alright then..."
My goal was singular now.
Rescue every hero and civilian still inside.
The heroes hadn't been in long—less than a week—but the civilians? Way longer. No telling their state.
For now, all I could do was pray they were alive.
With that in mind, I strode back into the building.
Vowing not to let the enemy off if a single soul vanished inside.
The prey I'd assumed had fled outside walked right back in on his own two feet.
The hunter, dead set on not screwing up this time, poured everything into his power, straining to trap him.
To corner Do-yoon even faster than before and slowly crush him in an endless void.
"...He's moving faster than last time."
Faster than when he'd hauled Isis out.
To snag him at that speed? No chance.
This much power was needed, the hunter figured.
It seemed like the plan would work.
"Then I'll just move even faster."
If the target weren't Do-yoon.
Right after that quip, his figure blinked out again.
The hunter panicked, having lost him in an instant, and scrambled to locate him—but by then, Do-yoon was already on the second floor, prowling every inch of the interior.
Even in a building where space itself was warped, he navigated it as casually as popping in and out of his own bedroom.
Soon,
"Found you."
He'd located the B-Rank Hero.
Slung the bulkier hero onto his back, and vanished once more.
The hunter reeled in shock.
His mental manipulation? Total dud.
Switch to space tricks? Do-yoon outran his manipulation speed.
A perfect counterpredator.
The man he'd pegged as prey might actually be the hunter—the thought filled the hunter with dread.
He desperately warped space to snag him again, but Do-yoon punched through, rescuing another hero.
Please just leave for good.
Don't come back.
The hunter prayed fervently inside, but fat chance.
Unsure how many were trapped, Do-yoon had zero plans to stop.
Charging back in, he blitzed the third, fourth, and fifth floors faster than ever, hunting for survivors.
Spot one? Haul 'em out, set 'em down safe, dive back in. Rinse and repeat.
Sonic speed? As if that piddly shit could dodge his space control.
This wasn't even sonic-tier.
Hypersonic. Or beyond.
A velocity beyond reckoning—the hunter started quaking in fear.
Unbeknownst to him, the humans he'd dragged in were vanishing one by one.
He'd twisted time in his private domain to savor their slow, agonizing deaths and feasts—which ironically kept his older captives alive.
Do-yoon found them all the same, ferrying them out and looping back relentlessly.
Before long, the building stood empty.
Every missing person accounted for.
"Whew."
Do-yoon halted, realizing he'd cleared every space.
Well, not every space.
The enemy puppeteering this distortion? Still at large.
But that was someone else's problem now.
"Time to wrap this up."
No reason for this building to stick around any longer.
Instinct screamed what the monster ahead planned—the hunter couldn't hold back anymore and materialized before him.
"Oh... You finally showed."
He couldn't tolerate this invader any longer, freely rampaging through his space, his turf.
Pure fury drove him to reveal himself before Do-yoon, who was casually stretching, intent on obliterating the whole area.
"Honestly, I was starting to doubt you'd appear..."
- Grrr...
"Never pegged you for a beast."
An enormous, unidentified creature.
Nothing like it roamed Earth, that much was sure.
Do-yoon's face registered surprise.
"Saves me the trouble when the perp strolls right up."
He grinned like it'd worked out perfectly—and the beast unleashed a bellowing roar.
Then it wrenched the space around Do-yoon's position.
No trapping this foe inside anymore.
So kill it outright.
No enemy survived his spatial assaults.
Tough body or not, get the space itself twisting? Good luck enduring.
Single-minded, he launched a maelstrom of attacks to end Do-yoon.
But,
'...!!!'
Not a single blow landed.
"I see every move you're making. Think I'd just tank it?"
Do-yoon quipped, then rocketed toward the beast in a flash.
Clenched his fist tight.
"No real need to hold back, huh?"
With that baffling line, he unleashed the punch.
To shield itself from the impact, the beast bloated the space between them to its max, yanking distance wide.
But the shockwave—packed with enough force to level the district—outstripped even that expansion.
- Graaaaaah!!
It speared through the yawning gap and shredded the beast's body to ribbons.
Bones pulverized head to toe, internal damage that should've killed on the spot—the beast blacked out and plummeted, sprawling across the floor.
"What a letdown."
Do-yoon muttered down at the blood-soaked heap.
Deep down, relieved that a being with such insane powers turned out to be just a beast.