Moonlight Beauty (1)
Gong— Gong—
The unsettling chime of a grandfather clock broke the stillness, heralding the descent of night. In cadence with each toll, light bled away as if the world were being submerged in black ink. Perched upon the pitch-black hilltop, I held my breath, eyes glued through the window to the vacant lot below.
“Whew... shit! They actually came…”
Krrrk, kek!
No doubt about it... that’s the exact same sound as yesterday’s bastard...!
That hideous noise. The miserable wretch had shredded my hardware store's roll-up shutter like tissue paper yesterday, drooling hungrily right at me. The moment I recognized that distinct, screeching metallic growl, terror washed over me. The system's horrific warning hadn't been an exaggeration after all—my location was fully painted with a red target for these fiends.
“…Goddammit.”
Down in the far corner of the lot, shrouded in thick gloom, pitch-black masses began writhing and crawling out into the open.
“Yep. Dead ringer for that filthy monstrosity from yesterday. Fuck me…”
That grotesque mound of shadowy, matted black fur was unmistakably the Abyss Species that had driven me to death's door. It circled the center of the vacant lot where I had originally parked, frantically sniffing the dirt. Thanks to that cursed penalty, the residue of my mana and my human scent must have soaked deep into the ground.
Right then.
Keee-ek, kyaaa-ak!
“Crazy bastards... It’s not just one? There’s more of those damn things!?”
Bizarre, beastly howls overlapped across the clearing, echoing off the terrain as three of them manifested in an instant. Watching them crawl forth in a relentless horde, hot on my trail like rabid zombies, didn't just send chills down my spine—it froze me to the marrow.
If only they’d stay down there sniffing each other, getting lost until sunrise...
A meaningless wish.
Grrrr.
As if catching the true scent trail, all three snapped their heads up in unison, moved by some unspoken consensus. Their crimson gazes locked dead onto the truck where I hid on the hill, radiating sheer, murderous malice.
“Fuck! What are you glaring at, you bastards!”
To pull off this insane hunt, I had sweated blood to reinforce this truck into an armored fortress and painstakingly ground custom lenses. I could feel the tremor shaking through my fingertips. Every instinct screamed to hit the gas and flee. Yet I knew all too well that if fear broke my nerve and I squandered this chance, my life was forfeit.
The bloodstains splattered across the city pavement flashed through my mind. One false move, and they would tear me to shreds.
Keep it together, Shin Ido. You can do this. Deep breath. Focus your sight.
I anchored the laser pointer firmly onto the pitch-black skull of the beast in the lead, who glared up at me with feral eyes. Just as I had practiced all afternoon, I held my breath and slowly drew up my mana. From deep in my chest, a surge of searing mana coursed along my veins, tingling sharply as it channeled down into my wrist.
“Eat this, you disgusting freak!”
Pzzt!
Tssssk!
Kryaak!
The second the laser beam imbued with my mana seared into its face, flesh began sizzling away violently, as though drenched in concentrated acid. Just as the voice echoing in my head had instructed, mana transmutation worked on other Abyss Species as well.
Yes! It wasn't a one-time fluke yesterday—it works now, too! So the knowledge it gave me was the real deal after all!
Penalty or not, I had to give the bastard credit for imparting practical intel. Convulsing in agony from its melting flesh, the beast thrashed madly, unleashing an ear-splitting shriek.
Now!! Please, just blow this bastard's head clean off!
Bang!
Kraaa, khung!
“Shit!”
My aim wavered at the crucial second, grazing just past its skull. The damn heavy-duty spike plunged deep into the beast's thick leg instead of its brain.
“Damn it all, my sniping skills are absolute dogshit!”
If I survived this, I swore I'd train my marksmanship until my fingers bled. Having taken a steel spike to the leg, the monster rolled in the dirt, howling in agony, before dragging itself back onto its feet with a limp. These monsters were relentless fiends straight out of hell. I had no time to wallow in self-pity or regret my lousy shot. I had to chamber the next spike and cock the hammer immediately.
Clack, bang!
“Dammit! The other two changed tactics!”
Spurred by their companion's injury, the remaining two Abyss Species split apart, darting in a wild zigzag as they scrambled up the steep hillside like predatory beasts. Clever little shits. Cursing under my breath, I watched them split their advance wide to charge through my blind spots, deliberately making it difficult to snipe from above.
“Phew... Calm down. You’re not dying here for nothing.”
The more dire the situation, the wider you have to keep your field of vision. The only answer was to eliminate the easiest targets within range, one by one. I decided to ignore the two flanking beasts kicking up dust as they scrambled upward. Thinning their numbers was my best shot at survival—an instinctive, split-second triage. Squeezing out my mana once more, I lined up the laser pointer with sweat-slicked fingers.
Pzzt!
The red focal point settled dead center between the hideous creature's brow. Wind direction, barrel angle, the rhythm of my breath—in this singular heartbeat, everything aligned in perfect harmony.
“Now!”
Bang!
Thwack!
“Y-Yes!!”
I had finally taken down one of the persistent bastards.
“Alright, just two more climbing the slope and I can survive the night!”
Graaaah!
“Are you shitting me... You’re already here in that short time?”
Before I knew it, the two surviving beasts had crested the ridge right in front of my truck, their crimson eyes flashing viciously. Their charge up that steep mountain trail was faster and far deadlier than any African cheetah. At this distance, the sniper tacker gun was useless—the barrel was far too long. I couldn't even angle the clumsy, unwieldy length out the narrow window. A life-or-death crisis.
“I’m not dying today, you sons of bitches!”
Without hesitation, I dropped the cumbersome sniper tacker to the floorboards. Instead, I drew the compact, short-barreled tacker gun strapped to my hip—my contingency weapon for close-quarters brawls. One of the abominations lunged forward, gaping maw wide enough to swallow the truck whole, its grotesque visage bearing down right in front of my nose.
Thud!
“Wait... what was that?”
A heavy impact echoed from the roof of the truck. And then—a dark, human silhouette dropped from the cab's roof at a speed the naked eye could barely track.
Slaaash!
Mid-fall, the figure cleaved the lunging Abyss Species' skull clean in two vertically. Jet-black, foul-smelling blood geysered in every direction as the beast's dense torso was split symmetrically down the middle, collapsing to the dirt in two halves.
“Wh-Who...!?”
Framed by the moonlight, standing tall and imposing right before my truck, the figure left my mind frozen blank. As the moon cast its pale glow upon her, long black tresses fluttered alluringly in the night wind. Standing there with cool indifference was a girl of breathtaking beauty—her porcelain skin stark white against the gloom, her sharp gaze dripping with cold, murderous intent.
Setting her looks aside, one thought jolted through my stunned brain:
A girl with a frame that petite just obliterated that monster's head in a single strike?
It was such an unreal sight that I wondered if terror and exhaustion had finally driven me to hallucinate.
Skrrrrt!
...These damn things never stay dead, do they?
The bisected torso of the Abyss Species, which should have been dead, began bubbling and knitting back together like thick, sticky shadows. Once again, physical strikes proved entirely useless for delivering a lethal blow. Unless an attack struck a weak point softened by mana-converted light, they simply wouldn't stay down.
Graaah!
Enraged, the regenerating beast lunged straight at the girl before it.
“…You just vaporized one of them earlier, which means you know how to kill them, right? I'll hold them off from the front, so finish off the remaining two!”
Biting her lip, the girl shouted urgently back at me and surged forward, brandishing the weapon in her hand. Rather than fear, her voice crackled with fierce, burning resolve to eradicate the enemy. The overwhelming aura she projected, combined with the sheer physical prowess that had bisected a monster in a single stroke, far surpassed any ordinary human. In short, she was almost certainly an Awakened.
And the weapon she was swinging so boldly...
“…Wait, a kitchen knife?”
Indeed. The weapon she wielded so magnificently against the Abyss Species was none other than an ordinary kitchen knife you'd find in any typical household.