Chapter 14
Chapter 14
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: The Hyena King Marching to Doom
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After bidding farewell to the Cyclops crew, our team passed through Heukseok and reached Nodeul Station.
Noryangjin, our destination, was practically right around the corner if we tripped and fell. But it wasn't as straightforward as we'd hoped.
As we carefully navigated between buildings, the radar picked up multiple monsters. If there were monsters in the alleys and no good detour, us Hyenas had two options.
The rooftops or the underground paths.
Underground routes were more limited than you'd think. There was no guarantee that whatever terrain we were crossing would have sewers big enough for people or multi-purpose underground tunnels.
Rooftop routes, on the other hand, were usually reliable.
Especially in Seoul's old city districts, where buildings were packed tightly together.
That's when we'd string wires between buildings to cross. The problem was that shit hit the fan during one of those crossings.
The downside to rooftops was the risk of aerial monster attacks.
We pulled out anti-air missiles to fight back.
The flying monsters panicked from the explosions. It didn't do any real damage, of course, but it bought us enough time to escape.
We hurried, but that wasn't the end of it. The anti-air missiles must've really pissed them off. They pursued us relentlessly, forcing us to take big risks and slip into Nodeul Station.
From there, we decided to follow the subway tracks all the way to Noryangjin.
The issue was how insanely dangerous that path was. Getting ambushed in a dark, narrow tunnel like that could wipe us out completely. But with those enraged flying monsters, we had no choice. There were more than five of them. It was obvious they wouldn't stop until they'd devoured the whole team.
"Fuckin' hell."
Someone muttered from the back of the team.
I immediately hushed them. In a tunnel like this, even small sounds echoed loudly, so we had to be careful.
"No chatter. Use hand signals for everything else."
We didn't use flashlights; we wore night-vision goggles instead. The Hyenas might have a bad rep, but our gear was on par with Delta Force. Hell, better in some ways.
It might look shabby compared to hunter equipment, but just what I had on me was worth over 100 million won.
My compact wearable computer was pricey too. I fired up the GPS on the screen on my arm.
We'd come 500 meters on foot since leaving Nodeul Station.
A map search showed the straight-line distance from Nodeul to Noryangjin was 1.02 km. Halfway there.
We were moving slow because we were on high alert.
That's when something on the ground caught my eye. I stopped and picked it up.
"Hmm..."
It was a long, sleek feather. Even through the night-vision goggles, it looked black.
Clearly not from any ordinary bird.
It felt familiar. Where had I seen this before?
After racking my brain, I realized it was similar to Suiel's feather.
Did that mean it was an angel's feather?
But why would an angel be in a place like this...? As the question lingered, I remembered who we were here to find.
Could it be Metatron's?
That might make sense. Metatron was the only angel with black feathers.
Maybe Metatron was closer than we thought. I tucked the feather into my pocket and kept moving. After another 200 meters, the lead stopped at a fork in the path. There was a branch to the left.
"Was there a subway line this way too?"
The map showed a straight shot from Nodeul to Noryangjin. No branches.
As everyone puzzled over it, I examined the left path closely and got chills.
"This isn't a rail line."
The tunnel was about the same width as a subway line, fooling everyone at first glance. But there were no rails on the floor. The walls weren't finished with concrete either.
Worst of all, the ground was covered in something sticky-looking, and a foul stench hung in the air.
"Everyone, back away slowly. Quietly, quietly. Then straight ahead."
They seemed to realize it was an artificially dug tunnel.
"My God. Who made this?"
"Who else? A monster."
Murmurs of shock rippled through the group.
I had no idea if there was a monster inside. Even radar couldn't detect high-rank ones reliably. No one knew why exactly. Whether it was first-gen or second-gen radar, it didn't work. Maybe their barriers absorbed the waves or let them pass right through.
So nothing on radar could mean no monster—or a really powerful one.
"Stay calm, everyone. We'll back off and nothing happens."
They moved steadily at my words.
But there was one troublemaker.
"Kid?"
The rookie who always stuck by my side was missing. I glanced around. Fortunately, he was about five meters away, staring at something while retreating.
But he was about to trip over the rail.
It happened too fast to stop him.
Before I could even yell, the kid's heel caught on the rail and he fell backward.
Clang!
His gun hit the rail, ringing out loudly.
We all froze like ice. No one had time to curse the kid out from the shock.
The clang echoed everywhere underground.
A few seconds later.
Grrr rumble!
Something massive stirred in the tunnel with a heavy growl.
No time to hesitate.
"Sprint to Noryangjin Station!"
I hauled the kid to his feet. We bolted like it was a race for our lives.
Boom!
An explosion-like roar came from behind.
I glanced back in a panic and saw a giant worm bursting out, half-collapsing the tunnel as it came. Amid the dust cloud, it started crawling toward us.
"This is bullshit!"
What kind of worm was subway-car sized?
No, it was fatter, even more intimidating.
Its gaping maw was lined with blade-like teeth, and it had dozens of eyes.
"Run! Run if you don't wanna die!"
No more cautious advance. Everyone just charged forward. It felt exactly like a train barreling down on us from behind. Worse, even.
It smashed through the central pillars dividing the up and down tracks as it advanced.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
It sounded like a building demolition back there. Every step sent chills racing up my spine, my legs threatening to lock up mid-stride. All I could feel was that I was somehow still escaping.
"Huff! Huff!"
The worst had happened. On the surface, we could've scattered. Here, it was a total wipe.
The giant worm started slow but was picking up speed.
At this rate, it'd catch us in seconds.
No choice.
If not now, when?
I stopped dead and pulled a shield from my subspace pocket.
The shield gleamed brightly in the darkness. Like flipping on fluorescent lights in a pitch-black room. The sudden blaze made the giant worm hesitate and halt.
"Captain!"
The deputy yelled in horror as I stopped running.
"Everyone else, run! Move!"
"What the hell are you saying? You're crazy!"
A Hyena standing alone against that monster? Unbelievable. And the glowing shield must've looked ridiculous too.
"No idea where you got that item, but quit this insane shit!"
It wasn't just the deputy.
The other Hyenas swarmed back too.
These lunatics? Un-fucking-believable. A team-crushing disaster loomed right in front of us. It had only paused from the light; the reprieve was seconds long. We needed every meter we could get, so why come back?
"Are you nuts? Get the fuck outta here!"
I screamed, but they all looked surprisingly calm. Absurd.
No way, right? Then one of the scouts lit a cigarette. The veteran who always took point, one of our oldest members.
"Fuck off. It's over anyway. Might as well have a smoke."
And he aims his gun? You madman!
I was about to rip into him when I saw the Hyenas pulling heavy weapons from their subspaces. I clutched my neck.
They even set up recoilless rifles in seconds.
"Hey! You fuckers! Run! You think those toys will work?"
Even as I raged, the deputy seemed resolute.
"Who knows? Maybe it'll scare it off with firepower. Then we all run."
Jesus...
"Hyenas don't have loyalty! You assholes! Get out now!"
My subordinates were about to get massacred. Even with this SS-rank shield, there was no guarantee it'd stop a monster bigger than a train. I'd stepped up ready to die when things went south.
But these Hyena bastards had no sense and went full psycho as a group. Fury boiled inside me.
Fucking idiots with parents at home, siblings, wives...
Something surged up suddenly, choking me. No clue why, but my nose stung. Must've been the dust.
The deputy smirked, reading me like a book.
"Hyenas got no loyalty? Hunters do?"
I recalled something the deputy once said. Human bonds aren't defined by loyalty or love—that's meaningless. He said bonds are just the time spent together.
"Plenty to do back home. Made a ton of money too!"
"Tomorrow's chicken ain't better than today's egg. Who knows if we'll die on the way back? So let's die cool here and now."
With that, the deputy opened fire.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
The giant worm had adapted to the light by then and was slithering forward with its grotesque body.
Thung! Thung! Thung!
The recoilless rifle spat huge casings.
The sudden barrage made the worm writhe. More shock than damage.
It recoiled like a sea anemone.
But even that dumb brain would figure out the noise did no harm soon enough, then it'd charge.
I had to do something.
I thrust the shield forward and focused.
The moment I wielded the Solar Deity's shield, my stats matched a rank-3 hunter. Suiel had taught me how to use its power too.
I could do this.
No, I had to.
It wasn't just me dying.
It was about the lives of the world's dumbest bastards firing away beside me, ready to go down fighting.
Woooong!
As I concentrated, the Solar Deity's shield began glowing white-hot like an incandescent bulb.