Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: The Fairy Queen
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“just doing my job.”
I said this to the battalion commander, who was thanking me for taking down the fairy through that wall of flames.
“No, you saved our lives. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Ah, could you collect some fairy wings for me?”
“We were already planning to recover all the fairy wings from the ones you took down and hand them over. On top of that, we’ll buy up and deliver any others caught by the other hunters.”
“Thank you.”
“Then get some rest. Second platoon leader, make sure to provide the hunter with whatever he needs.”
“Yes, sir!”
It was worth throwing myself in harm’s way to block them.
The battalion commander left, and I went to rest as well, but the barracks were a total mess, so it wasn’t exactly a comfortable spot to wash up and crash. I dampened a towel as best I could, wiped myself down, and changed into spare clothes.
“Are fairies normally the type to swarm like that and move so strategically? That’s not what the intel from the Awakening Bureau said.”
“Fairies are a highly intelligent species, but they’re known for their strong individual personalities, and no one’s ever seen them coordinate like that before. They even came in alongside werewolves of a different species. It was like they had a commander.”
As I rested, I overheard the battalion commander and Section Chief Baek Youngshin talking, their voices clear to my sharp ears.
“Pushing forward like this is too risky. We need scouts. Any hunters available?”
“Hmm... We’d need at least a B-Rank hunter, but no telling when one could get here. We’d have to put in a request and see.”
The section chief sounded troubled.
“Didn’t a B-Rank hunter show up for support earlier?”
“That hunter’s a mage—not suited for scouting. And if we pull them off defense here, who’s going to hold the line?”
“You’re right... If we get hit again like that, we won’t avoid heavy casualties.”
“Even with the B-Rank here, if other regions could face the same thing today, we might have to consider pulling back.”
“No way. We’ve already got this many troops assembled. We can’t come away empty-handed.”
The battalion commander seemed unwilling to retreat—probably because his position was on the line.
“So what do you suggest?”
“Call for volunteers to scout.”
“...You’re sending hunters to their deaths?”
“We just check if anyone wants to go voluntarily. Of course, with the condition that they can abort and return if things get too dangerous.”
“No. It’s too risky.”
“Section Chief, operational authority rests with me. And I’m not saying send them blindly. We’re just calling for volunteers.”
“Then if no one steps up, we retreat?”
“...Fine.”
The battalion commander stepped outside, grabbed a megaphone, and the section chief watched with a displeased expression.
“Hunters, assemble please. I have an announcement.”
Hunters gathered amid murmurs.
“Everyone’s exhausted, so I’ll get straight to it. Two hours ago, fairies and werewolves attacked in coordination, and the situation isn’t great right now. Before deciding on the next move, we need to investigate what’s causing this unusual monster behavior. I’m calling for volunteers for the scouting mission.”
“Sending hunters into a forest full of unchecked monsters? That’s just suicide.”
I was about to volunteer when another hunter spoke up.
“If it gets dangerous, come right back. Your lives matter more than the scouting. But volunteers will get hazard pay matching the risk, plus first dibs on any materials the military acquires.”
I’d been planning to go anyway, but the extra incentives were nice.
“I’ll do it.”
I stood up.
“Lee Jiseok, the hunter? I know you shone against the hellhounds, but this is way more dangerous.”
Section Chief Baek Youngshin recognized me and spoke.
“With the hellhounds, it was straight-up combat, but this time it’s just scouting, right? I can always slip away if needed.”
“Hmm...”
He seemed hesitant, like he was pushing me into the fire.
“Come on, he volunteered himself. He was the star performer yesterday, so I trust he’ll come back safe.”
The battalion commander cut in to back me up.
“Alright. But safety first. If it feels off, forget the scout and return here.”
Section Chief Baek Youngshin reluctantly agreed.
“Anyone else?”
The battalion commander asked the hunters again, but no one stepped up. This was a mission where even if every hunter here went into the forest, you couldn’t be sure how many would come out alive. Sending a small team? No wonder no takers.
I donned the black fatigues worn by the special forces, camouflaged my face and hands, and blended almost perfectly into the night forest.
“Then I’m off.”
I nodded in farewell and dashed into the woods.
I extended my senses to the max, taking in info from all directions. Even for a warrior-class hunter, a high Intelligence stat makes this stuff invaluable. Sharper senses mean a flood of data, and without the brains to process it, you’re overwhelmed.
Thanks to that, the pitch-black night felt like broad daylight.
For the hellhound hunt, I’d made noise on purpose, but now I moved like a cat—light steps on ground and branches, silent as could be.
Whenever I spotted monsters en route, I marked their positions and kept moving.
An hour north, nothing unusual, so I figured it was time to head back—then I saw dozens of meters ahead, fairies clustered thick.
‘Why are they bunched up? Some kind of leader?’
I dropped low for a closer look.
There was a fairy my height, with wings spanning at least four meters wide and tall. The Fairy Queen.
“Come out.”
The Fairy Queen stared straight at me in the brush and beckoned with a seductive voice.
Some high-intelligence monsters pick up human language. For one like the Fairy Queen, it’s probably child’s play.
I knew I shouldn’t, but that form and voice mesmerized me—I stood and walked right to her without thinking.
Staring blankly at the Fairy Queen, she smiled alluringly.
Up close, she looked almost like a nude human woman—the main difference being the translucent rainbow wings. Her face and body were picture-perfect, but my eyes locked on those wings. Wings that big and fine quality? Perfect for the item I wanted.
The Fairy Queen glided toward me without even flapping.
“Human men are all the same. They fall for me every time.”
She said this while stroking her voluptuous body.
I wasn’t hooked on her face or body—I was fixated on the wings. But still, why had I approached so carelessly? My head felt foggy.
“Go back and kill your own kind. Until you die.”
Dust-like particles scattered from her wings, enveloping me.
[Resilient Mind skill level has risen from D to C.]
[Poison Resistance skill level has risen from E to D.]
The haze in my mind cleared. This damn moth tried to mind-control me.
If I hadn’t leveled Resilient Mind beforehand with Nayoung’s special training, I might’ve been brainwashed, slaughtered soldiers and hunters, and ended up hunted myself.
Mind clear, I shot my hand out like lightning and grabbed her nape.
“Gah! H-how...”
I clamped down hard on the writhing Fairy Queen’s neck.
Her beautiful face twisted into something hideous, insect-like.
She shaped her fingers into claws and lunged at my face.
I snapped one of her hands, twisted and bit to block the other.
The Fairy Queen might excel at magic, but close-quarters combat? Not so much.
I hadn’t known about the brainwashing ability. If I had, I wouldn’t have gotten this close so defenselessly.
“Kieeeek!”
Fairies swarmed from all sides, clawing and biting my body. Surrounded, only my hand stuck out, still gripping the queen’s neck.
They tore into me everywhere, but fairy physical attacks couldn’t do much damage.
Even if they tried magic, I was too close to the queen. Not that their spells would’ve mattered much anyway.
Crack.
I poured strength into my grip, snapping her neck, and the queen went limp.
[Level up.]
“Aaaaaah!!”
“Kieee!”
The fairies shrieked horrifically, clawing me wildly and spamming magic without regard for themselves.
Couldn’t let those wings get damaged, so I hurled the queen far off, then tore into the fairies clinging to me one by one. Fairies poured in from everywhere in the forest—swinging my arms non-stop, hitting something every time.
They should’ve flown off to make it harder to catch, but without their queen, they lost it and charged me blindly.
Under the onslaught, wounds covered my body, my left eye took a hit, but like a giant blender blade gone berserk, I slashed through the fairies madly.
[Level up.]
* * *
I wrapped the dead Fairy Queen’s body in her own wings, slung her over my shoulder, and reached base as dawn broke.
Went out in black fatigues, came back looking like a bum again. Gotta craft that item soon.
“The scouting hunter is back! We have wounded! Requesting healer!”
A soldier on watch spotted me and radioed in.
They saw my state and assumed injuries again.
I approached the base slowly, and out poured the battalion commander, the Awakening Bureau section chief, and healers. They hadn’t slept, huh.
Thud!
I dropped the Fairy Queen to the ground.
“No! How could you drop the wounded like that! Eek! A fairy?”
The soldier yelped in shock. I thought he meant me, but he’d mistaken the queen for the casualty. Yesterday she’d seduced with beauty, but dead with her insect-monster face twisted, she was anything but.
“Yeah, seems this one was controlling the surrounding monsters and fairies.”
“Wait... We sent you to scout... and you took it down?”
The battalion commander gaped.
“She let her guard down since I was alone. Oh, and could you recover the fairies at these coordinates?”
“Recover? Not hunt?”
“Yeah, nothing alive left. I got every fairy around. I’m gonna rest now.”
Up all night fighting and trekking the forest—fatigue was piling up. Regeneration skill kept it to just tiredness; any normal hunter—even B-Rank—wouldn’t have made it back.
* * *
I slept, emerged from the barracks, and the base was chaos with fairy corpse recovery. Soldiers and the carcass collectors I’d called bustled about, sorting bodies.
“Wings are key, so careful. Hey! Watch it there~ Don’t toss ’em like that~”
President Yang directed his company staff and the soldiers.