Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Tiger Hunt (5)
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Yuri and the Tiger Woman clashed in an instant.
And right from the start, with a deafening boom, Yuri was sent flying backward.
Boom—!
He seemed to have taken a solid hit from the first blow, but Yuri was grinning widely.
‘First strike wins!’
The initial attack hadn’t done much damage.
But thanks to that preemptive move just moments ago, he’d passed the first exchange so easily.
Without even revealing his prepared cards, and without using his Thunder Wings at all.
Even though he’d taken a heavy beating and been flung back, there was no better situation than this right now.
He hoped things would continue to flow this smoothly.
‘Of course, that won’t happen.’
The Tiger Woman chased after the flying Yuri.
Her fist closed in on his nose.
The sight brought back fresh memories of the nosebleed he’d suffered just days ago.
‘You think I’ll fall for the same trick twice!’
Tzzzzzt—.
Thunder Wings overlaid onto his Cloud Steps.
His form shimmered like a heat haze, enveloped in lightning.
Whoosh—.
The Tiger Woman’s fist smashed into Yuri’s head.
No—more precisely, it pierced through the afterimage he’d left behind.
And that was the moment.
‘……?!’
Sensing the danger, she urgently pulled her head back.
Slash—.
A stinging pain flared on the Tiger Woman’s left cheek.
Thud—.
“……”
The Tiger Woman froze in place.
She stared silently at Yuri, now seven meters away, then rubbed her cheek.
A faint trace of blood smeared onto her metal gauntlet.
Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of her own blood.
A smile crept across her lips.
“Ha?”
She’d never imagined it.
During this endlessly boring mission.
To be wounded by a total rookie who’d just entered the cradle.
The Tiger Woman’s smile took on a cruel edge.
“As expected… this is fun.”
Even from seven meters away, Yuri didn’t let his guard down, and she licked her lips at the sight.
Her red tongue moistened them.
‘Let’s play a bit more!’
One sharp fang gleamed in her wide smile.
Chills ran down Yuri’s back as he watched.
It was a warning from his body.
‘She’s coming!’
Sure enough.
Whoosh—.
The Tiger Woman, far off in the distance, vanished like a flickering flame.
And in the next instant, she was right in front of him.
Her speed felt like teleportation.
He’d been caught off guard by the exact same move before.
But now, Yuri was calmer than ever.
Countless possibilities raced through his mind.
The Tiger Woman’s gaze and subtle movements.
The surrounding environment.
His own position and motions.
From all that, he calculated the direction and method of her attack.
In that briefest moment, the optimal counter against the Tiger Woman crystallized in Yuri’s head.
‘Left side!’
Yuri activated his Thunder Wings a step ahead.
No matter how well he read her, without them, he couldn’t match her speed.
Tzzzzzt—.
It was a move impossible without absolute certainty that his prediction was 100% correct.
Even the slightest miscalculation would waste one of his limited Thunder Wing uses.
Fortunately, Yuri’s calculation hit the mark.
Splat—.
The fist flying toward his left side grazed past by a hair’s breadth.
In turn, Yuri’s sword arced toward her throat.
The entire exchange took just over three seconds.
If anyone had watched, they’d have tilted their head in confusion.
To them, it would look like Yuri was poised, only for the Tiger Woman to suddenly appear, swing at empty air, and expose her own neck.
Yuri was convinced.
‘I’ve got her!’
It was a perfect prediction, without a doubt.
But what Yuri hadn’t predicted.
Was that she possessed the same talent for reading moves as he did.
Especially now, after her cheek had been sliced—she’d shed her carelessness.
Recognizing Yuri as a true opponent, she was going all out.
Swoosh—.
Clang—!
As if she’d known, her gauntlet blocked the sword aimed at her throat.
At the same time, her thumb shot up from the fist that had grazed his side.
If he stayed put, it would hit his flank.
‘……?!’
Yuri flinched at the Tiger Woman’s feint.
Unlike his startled mind, his body instinctively triggered Thunder Wings, twisting his direction in a flash.
Tzzzzzt—.
‘Damn it!’
Yuri’s face hardened.
His sure-kill strike at her throat had been perfectly parried by her gauntlet.
He’d wasted another Thunder Wing use reacting to the sudden change.
And even then, he hadn’t fully dodged her attack.
The tip of her thumb had just barely grazed his side.
The result.
Crack—.
A sharp pain twisted Yuri’s features as it throbbed.
* * *
Perched in the tree, Arin watched the figure facing Yuri in the clearing.
‘That’s… the tiger.’
Even from this distance, the ferocious aura made her hairs stand on end.
Yuri’s words echoed in the grim-faced Arin’s mind.
[Unlike bear hunting, tiger hunting will take just a few minutes. And your job won’t be that hard. Or will it be?]
Not hard, yet difficult.
Yuri’s request was simple.
[You and Poppi just need to create two openings for me. Exactly two.]
He’d handle the rest.
But he’d also issued a warning—not quite a warning.
[I know you’re hiding something. I am too. But this time… don’t hold back. Use everything. Otherwise, no ordinary method will create those openings.]
Ordinary methods wouldn’t cut it.
Show your hidden cards—he’d said.
Poppi had nodded in agreement.
But Arin hadn’t been thrilled.
‘The tiger is only that strong?’
Just how strong was this tiger that he demanded she reveal her hidden aces?
But such doubts evaporated as the tiger emanated waves of murderous intent.
‘Even from this far, it’s this intense… then the guy facing it head-on…’
Yuri, locked in direct confrontation, must be enduring several times worse.
Yet he burned with fighting spirit against the tiger.
For some reason, his back view burned intensely into Arin’s mind, almost unnaturally so.
And in that moment.
Yuri’s form blurred and vanished.
Boom—!
Human fists and sword collided, unleashing a thunderous roar.
‘It’s started.’
In a few minutes, it would all be decided.
And her chance to intervene would be but a fleeting instant.
So Arin prepared for that instant.
‘Pull out everything I’m hiding?’
Swoosh—.
She drew a single arrow.
‘If that’s what you want, fine.’
She closed her eyes gently and murmured softly.
“『Pursuit』.”
Short and quiet, yet her voice hummed with an eerie vibration.
She lightly touched her lips to the arrowhead.
Then.
Wooong—.
A pale ivory light enveloped the arrow.
Arin nocked it to the string.
Creak—.
The bowstring screamed as she drew it to its limit.
Her blue eyes watched the fierce battle in the clearing, waiting for that split-second chance.
Eyes wide.
Breath slowed.
The world seemed to freeze.
‘Now!’
Her pale hand released the string.
Pew—!
The glowing arrow shot forth.
* * *
‘Ugh, rib’s cracked!’
Just a graze from her fingertip.
Yet it felt like a slight fracture in one rib.
If he’d dodged even a fraction slower, it wouldn’t have stopped at a crack.
But with his rib cracked, the real crisis was just beginning.
‘Regain stance!’
His form disrupted by the sudden feint, Yuri hurriedly activated Thunder Wings as the Tiger Woman pressed her next attack.
Tzzzzzt—.
‘Already the fourth.’
Only one Thunder Wing left.
Each use had to count—not just for evasion, but attack—yet the situation left no choice.
‘A gap… just a slight gap.’
In that desperate moment, yearning for the tiniest opening.
Swoosh—.
An ivory-glowing arrow appeared.
As if teleporting, it materialized squarely between Yuri and the Tiger Woman.
‘Huh?’
‘……?!’
In the slowed flow of time.
Yuri and the Tiger Woman both wore puzzled expressions.
The arrow seemed to drift aimlessly between them, without target or purpose.
But that puzzlement turned to shock in an instant.
Creak—.
The arrow moved.
No, “moved” didn’t do it justice.
It was…
‘The arrow… it’s curving?’
The arrow, flying straight, bent as if someone gripped and twisted it.
An utterly impossible sight.
A perfectly flying arrow suddenly curving?!
It happened because the arrowhead abruptly changed direction, the shaft lagging behind.
Creeeak—!
Ultimately, it snapped into a sharp ‘ㄱ’ shape.
The arrow, about to pass between them, slowed to near halt, then finally…
Snap—!
It straightened from the ‘ㄱ’ into a straight line, shooting toward its new target.
Of course, the arrowhead pointed at…
“……?!”
The Tiger Woman.
Even she, seasoned through countless battles.
Had never seen an arrow bend into a ‘ㄱ’ mid-flight.
Naturally, flustered by this absurdity, she reached to grab it.
Yuri’s eyes gleamed.
‘Opening!’
He didn’t need to wonder who created it.
He could’ve cheerfully thumbs-upped Arin’s position.
But capitalizing on this golden opportunity mattered a thousand times more.
Crunch—.
The moment the Tiger Woman snatched the arrow at her chest and crushed it in her hand.
Tzzzzzzzzzt—.
Yuri’s fully charged Thunder Wings erupted violently.
Simultaneously unleashing Rigid Sword, he swung at the gap.
Target: her right breast.
Seeing her still frozen, Yuri exulted.
‘Hit!’
The opening Arin made.
His sword finally connected.
A fatal wound, without doubt.
One second later.
Clang—!
Yuri and the Tiger Woman crossed positions.
Back-to-back.
A few droplets of blood fell from Yuri’s sword.
Not his blood.
So the strike had landed properly.
Yet Yuri’s face was rigidly set.
He even muttered a curse.
“…Fuck.”
Because the feedback from his sword tip felt off.
“Hmm… well now.”
Hearing the voice behind him, Yuri turned.
Only then did he understand the strange sensation.
Her top torn from chest to shoulder.
Revealing solid iron breastplate beneath.