The Crimson Flash
Nix's three heads pierced through Charlotte's hands and feet at the same moment.
But instead of her body tearing apart in a gruesome spray, it dissipated like smoke.
As Nix hurriedly twisted away, his left head suddenly let out a horrific scream.
-Khaaa───
Charlotte's sword had stabbed straight through one of the left head's eyes.
With a cry of agony, Nix's center and right heads lunged after Charlotte in pursuit.
She leaped back, evading the two heads closing in on her.
-Shaa───!!!
A fireball slammed toward Charlotte as she vaulted into the air.
Just as expected, the red rose petals blocked it effortlessly.
Charlotte then lightly stepped onto a single petal.
Using it like a stepping stone, she deftly changed direction midair with practiced ease.
Whoosh─
The follow-up charge came instantly. Her target remained the left head, still recovering its vision.
The right head desperately tried to activate its Magic Eye of Petrification, but the red rose petals blocked it, rendering it useless.
In the blink of an eye, a whirlwind of strikes assaulted him. Charlotte used the petals as footholds, stepping lightly as she pressed Nix with lightning-fast assaults.
In moments, Nix's tough scales were shredded to hell.
-Kya aaaah───!!!
The left head, her primary focus, unleashed a massive roar.
The temperature plummeted in an instant, and hundreds of ice shards fired off indiscriminately.
The other two heads took some damage too, but he didn't care.
Only then did Charlotte halt her assault and leap back.
-Shii──.
After her barrage, Nix's body was a total wreck.
The other heads were battered, but the left one's damage was by far the worst.
Blood still poured from the ruined eye, and wounds riddled it—deep and numerous.
Regeneration was kicking in fast, but the injuries were too severe to heal all at once.
Standing at a distance, Charlotte flicked her sword toward the empty air.
Clots of thick crimson blood splattered onto the sand.
"Impressive regenerative ability. In terms of raw healing alone, you're probably the best monster I've faced so far."
Nix snarled a fierce 'Shii─' in response to her admiring tone.
No separate voice came from Nix, so Charlotte smiled faintly.
"I wonder just how long that regeneration will hold out... Shall we find out?"
The moment she moved to resume her attack—
A sudden surge of nausea welled up, and Charlotte clamped a hand over her mouth.
Cough—cough—
Dark, congealed blood poured over her hand in a thick glob.
Her gaze flicked to her right arm at the sticky warmth of her own blood.
There was a small gash from earlier, when she'd failed to fully dodge Nix's strike.
...Poison.
Most poisons were no match for Charlotte's natural resistance, but Nix's venom was something else entirely.
The wound throbbed sharply the moment she focused on it.
As the skin around it slowly turned a sickly purple, she frowned quietly.
...If only I had my gear.
Even a basic item pouch with elixirs would have handled this, but all she had was her sword.
Normally, that was enough—but her opponent this time was on another level.
Judging by rank alone, it's S-rank or higher venom. If I don't treat it soon, it'll be dangerous.
Charlotte coolly assessed her condition.
She'd wanted to savor this rare thrilling hunt as long as possible, but the situation had turned sour.
No prolonged fight. I'll end it quickly.
Channeling mana to halt the poison's spread through her body, she quietly raised her sword.
Meanwhile, while Charlotte suffered from the toxin, Nix's body was already healing.
The sheer speed—countless wounds mending in such a short time—was nothing short of miraculous.
-Shaa──.
The left head, eyes fully restored, glared at Charlotte with a savage cry.
Nix knew she was poisoned too.
Even during the brief standoff as he regenerated, he'd kept watching her every move.
He could guess her intent: avoid a war of attrition and force a quick finish.
If she's aiming for a short battle, I'll drag it out into a long one.
But he had no intention of just turtling blindly.
A hunter of Charlotte's caliber could probably hold out against poison with mana for a while—he had no idea how long.
Stalling alone offered no guarantee of victory.
For Nix, he needed to prolong the fight while creating openings.
Thus, he flicked his tongue once at Charlotte, watching her quietly.
Soon, the hunter and monster—each harboring different intentions—clashed once more.
A ferocious red wave surged like this had all been mere warm-up.
Unlike before, where she'd balanced offense and defense, Charlotte now poured everything into attack.
It was the mark of an SS-rank hunter—her strikes relentless and razor-sharp.
Nix focused purely on defense to counter.
Her onslaught was too overwhelming for counterattacks anyway.
He'd occasionally try to seize moments for the left or right head's Magic Eye, but she gave no such openings.
Whenever the center eye cracked open for it, petals instantly covered it.
Not just blocking vision—she targeted the eyes obsessively to prevent them reopening.
If Nix relied solely on sight without his tongue, the fight would've ended long ago.
Close quarters is hopeless...!
After nearly an hour of grueling exchanges, Nix had to admit it.
He prided himself on melee prowess, but as a three-year monster veteran, he paled against Charlotte.
She'd been SS-rank for over a decade—the experience gap was vast.
Physically, they were close; Nix even edged her out in most stats except agility.
But her overwhelming skill rendered that irrelevant.
-Khaa──!!!
Nix tried to create distance from Charlotte.
Poison sprays, fire blasts, ice walls—but her brutal assault shrugged them off.
Overwhelming...
How long had it been since he'd been pushed this hard in real combat?
Excluding spars with Snow—which were just training—this deathmatch felt ancient.
It was grueling, exhausting—but his heart pounded all the more fiercely.
Fierce struggle.
A desperate duel where survival hung by a thread.
Thrilling uncertainty at every turn.
Ironically, with death breathing down his neck, Nix finally felt alive.
Not that he was dissatisfied with his life so far—it was fulfilling.
He was simply reveling in this fight.
Forgetting its cause and goal, he poured every nerve into the enemy before him—the hunter.
And Charlotte watched Nix's reaction closely.
Is he... enjoying this moment?
Thrusting flawlessly, she met the serpent's eyes, brimming with ecstasy.
Pupils twice the size of her head.
Those slit, blood-red reptilian eyes gleamed with pure battle lust.
The killing intent and hostility had vanished cleanly, replaced by raw fighting spirit.
Charlotte knew that look well.
Garcia... and Seong Jae-myeong...!
One hailed as the strongest among current SS-ranks; the other, the pinnacle from over a decade ago.
Even among SS-ranks, they were leagues apart.
In her memory, both were untouchable apex predators.
If an SSS-rank hunter ever emerged, it'd be one of them.
Seong Jae-myeong vanished ten years back, stalling Garcia without his ultimate rival—but still, no one matched them.
Not even Charlotte; before them, she was a firefly to the sun.
And now this monster before her wore the eyes of those two at their prime.
Monster and hunter.
Worlds apart—yet those eyes were eerily identical.
Why... why does it feel just like them?!
A shiver ran through Charlotte.
A sensation she'd thought lost forever.
From a mere monster, no less.
I absolutely... cannot let it live...!
If this thing survived, how far would it grow?
What devastation would it wreak on hunters—on humanity?
She'd thought the same before, but now it was imperative.
And in that thrilling shiver, Charlotte's movements faltered for an instant.
A minuscule waver, barely affecting the fight—but Nix missed nothing.
In that split-second gap, his center head quietly opened its third eye.
Mid-assault, Charlotte instinctively sensed the subtle mana flow.
Tiny and precise—easy to miss without focus—but her senses caught it sharp.
Glancing over, she spotted the center head's third eye staring right at her.
She dodged urgently.
Rose petals shielding her eyes and face rained to the ground.
Withered and shriveled, drained of their vivid red.
"...What?!"
Shock burst from Charlotte's lips.
The fallen petals were all dried husks, unresponsive even to fresh mana.
She could resummon them with her skill, but the phenomenon was astonishing.
Hiding in the red wave, she observed Nix quietly.
The third eye had closed, but its power was clear.
"An eye that kills with a glance...? Ridiculous."
A quiet sigh escaped her.
Against some foes, utterly unstoppable.
At least it seemed it couldn't chain-cast—small mercy?
Unbidden, the image of Lee Ha-na—dead as if asleep—flashed in her mind.
"You killed Hana with that eye too..."
There was no pain.
Charlotte's lips twitched briefly at the low, echoing voice.
Her forgotten disciple's vengeance resurfaced.
"...I'll carve out that eye cleanly for her."
If you can.
With that flat reply, Charlotte emerged from the red wave.
Throb—throb— The poison accelerated from her intense movements.
A vicious toxin, visibly gnawing at her body.
She circulated mana to suppress it—a temporary measure, not a cure, but enough to slow it.
Still deadly without prompt treatment.
Available mana is about a third of normal... Heavy drain.
Proof of how taxing the fight with Nix had been.
Her absurd regeneration was the biggest hassle.
Unintended attrition wars erupted constantly as wounds kept healing.
This won't do. Too disadvantageous.
No one knew her condition better than herself. Charlotte sensed her limit approaching.
And Nix likely intuited it too.
I'll finish it with this one shot.
Saved for the deep expedition into Lyon Great Labyrinth later—but no choice now.
She assumed a stance quietly.
Whiiiing─
The wind shifted.
Not natural—artificial flow.
The still air swirled toward her in an instant.
Red waves gathered fiercely at her outstretched sword tip.
Similar to the massive red spear from before.
But different.
Thinner, narrower; the mana convergence entirely distinct.
That prior spear was a heavy lance; this, a single blade.
Red rose petals layered atop the pristine blade.
...Her final attack.
Nix quietly confirmed it from the monstrous mana surging without restraint.
's stored energy is nearly depleted too.
His miraculous regeneration wasn't infinite.
Just burning through Gluttony's reserves.
Truth be told, Nix couldn't sustain much longer either.
By feigning endless healing, ignoring energy costs, I rushed her into this desperate gamble.
His bluff had worked—Charlotte had bought it hook, line, and sinker.
...So if I just dodge that... No, foolish thought. It's not something I can dodge.
He hadn't experienced it, but the aura screamed it.
Charlotte wasn't an idiot; in this scenario, she'd never use an avoidable strike.
Then...
Nix needed a countermeasure.
But an attack even a fresh him might struggle to block—how, in his exhausted state?
As Nix pondered briefly, the desert's petal carpet vanished.
All compressed into her single sword.
That insane volume forged into a crimson blade.
The mana and pressure were utterly unnatural.
"...This ends it."
Shii───
Nix prepared quietly against her calm voice.
A moment of silence hung—then Charlotte moved.
Flash─
A red streak exploded.