Hunting Season
The roar of the engine filled the air as the scenery whipped past at a speed that even Mina could feel was breakneck. Seokjun’s motorcycle—whatever it was made of—moved at this velocity while producing far less noise than most bikes, barely a rumble at all. “Moo.” That low sound helped enormously as they weaved between the Frenzy Bison still lingering nearby. A quick glance showed the massive creatures tearing into piles of dry straw like ordinary cattle, yet even at close range they never reacted to the bike’s passage.
Speed, however, remained unchanged. Before long, a line of heavy military vehicles blocking the road ahead came into view. Thudududud! The muzzles of mounted machine guns swung away from the direction where the Frenzy Bison were penned, and the soldiers’ backs grew rapidly closer. Spotting their approach, one of the vehicles shifted aside. Seokjun slipped through the gap and brought the bike to a halt. A soldier hurried over and snapped a salute.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
“Are you the supporting Hunters?!” the soldier shouted over the storm of bullets and the metallic clatter of spent casings raining onto the vehicles. Mina, having dismounted and stepped away from Seokjun, could still make out his words clearly.
“The A-rank Hunter is—!”
“Right here!”
She held up her Hunter ID app for confirmation. The soldier’s eyes widened in surprise. Behind him, goblins with green skin were being hammered by machine-gun fire, yet they showed no real signs of injury. “Kieeeek!” Whenever a bullet struck, the impact simply knocked them back, preventing them from advancing—the classic effect of Deterrent Bullets. The sight made Mina hesitate to charge in. While she possessed resistance, that volume of fire would still disrupt her movements.
Seokjun seemed to read her thoughts. He approached the soldier. “Are you the radio operator?”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“Patch me through to your company commander immediately.”
“Communications security, Southern Plains Third Defense Unit, Corporal Jeong—!” The operator pulled a bulky radio from the metal case on his back, spoke into it, then handed the device to Seokjun.
“Yes, the Hunters have arrived. Cease fire in ten seconds. Signal me through the operator and I’ll deploy at once.”
After finishing, Seokjun returned the radio and turned to Mina. “The machine guns will stop in ten seconds. I’ll draw their attention first—use that opening to wipe out the goblins.”
“Understood.”
Mina nodded and materialized a sword in her hand—this time a slender rapier rather than a larger blade. “Eight!” If her mana had been more versatile she could have created other weapons, but she could only ever make swords; the limitation always bothered her, yet there was no time to complain. “Seven!” The operator was already counting down, radio pressed to his ear. “Six!”
Vroooom. Seokjun climbed back onto the motorcycle and started the engine. Mina gathered her mana, ready to sprint. “Five!” The staccato roar of machine guns still echoed from every direction. “Four!” Watching Seokjun’s back as the numbers dwindled, she noted how calmly he waited despite lacking her physical resistance. She had already seen him leading the Frenzy Bison, so she knew he wasn’t reckless. “Three!”
Instead of the final signal they expected, the radio crackled with an urgent order. “Halt! Emergency situation!”
“What’s going on?” Mina asked, startled by the sudden change in the middle of a critical operation. The operator’s next words were even graver.
“Multiple Frenzy Bison have appeared in front of the line!”
“What?!”
Mina spun around. The wall of heavy vehicles still blocked the road, but that didn’t change the fact that Frenzy Bison were approaching from beyond it. Perhaps they should have expected this—the combined roar of so many machine guns would carry for miles. Now only she and Seokjun remained here. Splitting up to handle both threats would be too much for him.
“I’ll draw the Frenzy Bison away,” Seokjun said.
“What? Seokjun, that’s—!”
He was already speaking into the radio. “You saw how I lured them before, didn’t you, Mina?”
“But—!”
Leaving him to roam alone without backup was still dangerous. “There are too many goblins for one person to draw attention effectively. Fewer targets like the Frenzy Bison are easier to manage.”
When Mina fell silent, he nodded and spoke into the radio again. “We’re short on time, so shorten the countdown to five seconds. Please relay the message to the heavy vehicles as well.”
The operator relayed the order. One of the vehicles blocking their rear shifted slightly, revealing several Frenzy Bison charging toward them in the distance. “Four!” The countdown resumed. Seokjun turned the motorcycle around. “Three!” Mina accepted the situation and poured more mana into her legs, rapier in hand. Using full power against mere goblins felt excessive, but the fight had to end quickly. “Two!”
At the final signal, Seokjun accelerated away. Mina pushed off and launched herself forward. In an instant, ugly green-skinned dwarves filled her vision. “Kiiik?” The goblins, puzzled by the sudden cessation of the bullets that had been knocking them back, looked around—then their eyes met hers.
“Sword Artist!”
Before they could fully register what was happening, she swung the mana-wreathed rapier with all her strength. Normally she didn’t need to call out her ability’s name, but to draw out its full potential she had to invoke it at least once. Something about shaping the image of the mana, if she remembered correctly.
Shraaak!
“Krrrk?!”
Several goblins lost their heads to the horizontal sweep; even those just out of reach staggered back in panic. “Seven down.” She counted the kills, then surveyed the field. Over a hundred green dwarves still swarmed. Goblins had always relied on numbers rather than individual strength. Inside gates their forces were usually split by corridors and caves, but a dungeon break forced her to face the entire horde at once. Still, the number didn’t faze her.
“Krrrk!!” The goblins she had driven back found themselves pressed against their own kin, forming a living wall. No matter how far they retreated, they had nowhere to go. Mina swung her rapier freely, felling multiple targets with each stroke.
Swish!
She heard something whistling through the air and deflected it with the rapier. Clang! “As expected.” It was an arrow—crudely made from an uneven branch and smeared with filth. The sight explained why so many hunters hated fighting goblins; the creatures had no qualms about coating their weapons in refuse. “Kiiak! Kieeek!” A goblin adorned with gaudy ornaments shouted from the rear, and nearby goblins loosed more arrows. Mina knocked them aside while continuing to carve through the ranks, guessing the decorated one was either a chieftain or shaman.
“Krrk! Krrk!” Normally she would have targeted the leader first, but she knew what would happen if she did. Eliminating the chieftain would scatter the goblins across the open plains—exactly the worst outcome when civilians needed protection. Thwack! “Ah, seriously!” As she thinned their numbers, the remaining goblins became easier for the leader to command, resulting in a denser rain of arrows. She could no longer parry them individually. Though her resistance kept the projectiles from harming her, the sensation was unpleasant. She concentrated more mana around her body.
Ting!
“Krrk?”
Arrows now bounced away before even reaching her. The technique was inefficient, yet many A-rank hunters favored it. The clearest difference between A-rank and B-rank was the ability to freely manipulate mana beyond one’s innate skill. Ting! Ting! “Kiiik?” Even as the leader and archers kept firing, Mina steadily reduced their numbers. “Krrrk?!” Realizing only a handful remained, the goblins panicked. Those still holding bows dropped them and charged with crude stone daggers.
Shraaak!
“Krrrk!” They too were sliced apart by her rapier. “Kiiik!” While the others bought time with their lives, the chieftain conjured a small bolt of lightning in its palm. Monsters using mana wasn’t unusual, but the creature sneered and hurled the lightning at her. Crackle! “Krrk?” The bolt dissipated harmlessly before touching her. After all, goblins were the lowest-tier monsters from E-rank gates. Without the ability to pierce her resistance, nothing it did could change the outcome. “Krrrk!”
“Whew. Finally over.”
Mina cut down the last chieftain and immediately looked behind her. Soldiers stood frozen, staring at the field littered with goblin corpses, but she sprinted straight for the radio operator she had spoken with earlier.
“My side’s done. I’ll handle the Frenzy Bison too—just clear the road!”
“Y-yes, ma’am!”
At her urging, the operator spoke into the radio. As the vehicles began to move aside, she dashed through the gap—only to hear a sharp whistle from somewhere ahead. “Moooorgh!” What she saw next stole her breath: a herd of panting Frenzy Bison and, circling them mockingly while whistling, Seokjun on his motorcycle. “Huh?”