The Demon Hunter #4
"H-hieee...!"
The terrified Hunter pushed forward through the floor, his legs trembling.
-Swish, swish.
Entities were seeping through the shadows, tightening their grip on his throat. Encountering the 'Demon Hunters' was nothing short of a catastrophe for them.
"F-fuck! How long are they going to keep chasing us?!"
"If you have time to flap your jaw, use it to run for your life!"
The party that had gathered to clear the floor had been cut in half, and the survivors were in a wretched state. Three of their fellow Hunters were already dead. 'Ridley,' the anchor of the team, had been spawned far away and was nowhere to be found. There was no way the remaining Hunters could find a solution on their own. After all, they were nothing more than mediocre opportunists who had clung to the coattails of the strong, hoping to scavenge some scraps.
"Fuck, fuck....!"
Having sacrificed the lives of three comrades to barely escape with their own, the Hunter party took a rest, their expressions dark.
"S-should we try the boss room by ourselves..."
"Is your brain fried? You know we can only enter the boss room individually! It’s better to hold out here and wait for Ridley—"
To them, that word was desperate. Their low caliber had been masked by Ridley, their center of gravity. A party without Ridley was nothing more than a disorganized mob.
"How do you know when that bastard will show up?"
"...What?"
"Are we supposed to wait for a guy who might already be dead somewhere, and end up dying like dogs together? I’d rather go look for an NPC."
"Have you lost your mind? Did you forget what we just ran away from!"
"If you don't move, I'll kill you first."
"You little shit....!"
A Hunter who had been silently observing the situation wore a look of desolation.
'Idiots.'
It was a fate destined to happen. Hunters were a breed obsessed with protecting their own interests at any cost. Even if it was a party member they had been with until just moments ago, in the face of a life-or-death situation, they were nothing more than obstacles.
"...."
Trust or respect did not exist among Hunters. In someone's mind, Ridley was already nothing more than a traitor who had slipped away when he was needed most.
"Is now really the time for us to fight among ourselves?"
"Then what are we supposed to do!"
"We have to find a way. Recruit other Hunters into the party. Or find an NPC here and aim for a level up."
The Hunter who had been calmly assessing the situation tossed out a single remark.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be monsters or NPCs. There is one more way, isn't there? A way to gain experience."
"A-are you insane?"
"We're sitting here waiting to die like dogs, do we really have the luxury of being picky about our methods?"
At those words, the party members' expressions darkened. To survive, one had to kill. There was no need to turn away from that simple, clear answer.
"It's simple. We just have to keep our mouths shut. Is it our fault? It's the fault of those Hunters who were stupidly wandering the floors without a proper countermeasure."
"...."
"Y-yeah, fuck. Better to kill others and level up than die like a dog here."
"If we're lucky, we might even get their gear..."
As they muttered, murderous intent began to glisten in the Hunters' eyes. It was mental corruption caused by extreme stress. However, no one could even suspect such a symptom. Because in the face of death, everyone becomes desperate.
"So you're telling me to come in, huh?"
The boss room was only a short distance away. There were traces left behind by someone who had clearly wanted them to be seen. Doyun stood before them, pondering for a moment. Should he go, or not?
The path led to one place regardless. Entering the boss room was a task that had to be done, whether he died or not. Just then—
-K-kyaaaaa...!
At the mournful scream heard from afar, Doyun reacted reflexively.
"Going?" Aira asked.
"If I'm going to go, I think I should go now."
If the ones ahead were Hunters, and if they had set up some strange trap as Doyun expected...
"Hmm."
Was there any need to step into the opponent's trap?
"Oh?"
In the midst of that, he heard the cry of a beast that had found its prey nearby.
"Grrrrr...!"
Turning his head, he spotted the Lycans, who had returned without fail. A relaxed arc formed on Doyun's lips as he discovered the monsters of the floor.
"Nice."
"Grrr...?"
The Lycan that discovered Doyun felt an ominous aura. Surely, it should be the one hunting, and the one exuding intimidation should be itself and its kin. Why was that man smiling as brightly as a scientist who had just found the solution?
The answer came to them without difficulty.
"Aira, catch them."
"Okay!"
A man who found a way and an excited young girl. He felt good, having found the perfect bait for the situation.
"Y-you crazy bastard...!"
One cornered Hunter shouted in resentment, but to them, a Hunter was now nothing more than a piece of game.
"How many is this now?"
"The harvest is good. I already leveled up."
"Wait, I'm taking that gear. It suits me."
The Hunters, whose minds were already half-gone, drooled as they swung their weapons.
-Thwack!
"Gurgle...!"
The victim, lungs pierced, spat out bloody foam and rolled his eyes back. That was the end of it. The Hunter who had been ambushed by his peers had no choice but to end his life in vain.
"Like this, if we level up just once more, we'll be able to clear the boss room."
"Good. It's good."
"Why do I feel so good? My head feels strange."
The crazed Hunters held their breath, waiting for their next prey. Hiding in the corners of the half-collapsed village as if to represent their own state of mind. They were waiting, eyes glistening for the next experience points.
"Yelp!"
"...?"
Then, the cry of a Lycan reached their ears.
'What is it?'
It wasn't a sound filled with rage, but rather a sound like a scream while seeing something terrifying. Behind that unpleasant question, a man appeared.
-Thud. Thud.
'He's coming.'
Ignoring the Lycan's bizarre cry, the Hunters waited to ambush their next prey.
-Clatter...
The sound of chains dragging was a bonus. What was finally revealed was—
"...Huh?"
"T-that."
A man with a familiar appearance, leisurely advancing while wrapping red chains around the Lycan's neck. Capturing monsters and dragging them around. That insane idea momentarily pushed away the madness that had been infiltrating the Hunters' minds.
"Kerek! Kererek..!"
"Uh-uh, stay still."
Whether the chains were imbued with strange magic, the captured Lycan was being dragged along, unable to move. At that series of phenomena, the Hunters' thoughts came to a halt.
"Here."
Regardless, Doyun, scanning the surroundings, felt a strange current. As if it were a space where it wouldn't be strange for any phenomenon to occur—hadn't the long trail of blood ended exactly here?
'This is it.'
Convinced, Doyun instructed Aira and loosened the grip of the chains.
"Kaaaaa!!"
Following that, the three bound Lycans also became excited, yearning for freedom.
"Release the dogs."
To create confusion for the Hunters hiding somewhere, he had decided to use a fitting stage device.
-Whoooong...!
The tension-filled chains were lifted into the air. The Lycans whose necks were wrapped were helplessly lifted and began to be launched randomly.
'Just the dangerous distances.'
At this point, he could roughly guess where they might be hiding. It didn't matter if they were hiding in unexpected places with strange techniques. The rest would be handled by these good Lycans.
'Aira, launch them.'
"Okay!"
The Lycans, foaming at the mouth and convulsing, flew up. Doyun had willingly decided to give wings to their wild nature.
-Whoooong...!
With a fierce whistling sound, the healthy Lycans were violently launched toward the space he had marked in advance.
"Y-you crazy...!"
The Hunters who had been watching blankly were startled and scrambled out of their spots. The Hunter who was unluckily in the Lycan's range became an unfortunate victim of fangs.
In a split second. The Lycan that discovered the hiding Hunter instinctively opened its maw.
-Crunch!
"Gurgle...!"
The neck bone of the Hunter bitten on the nape was easily snapped. The physical force of the fierce collision was a phenomenon that occurred even later than that.
-Kwooooooong!!!
A roar signaling that something had begun shook the earth. The three released Lycans began to run wild.
'You crazy bastard!'
Had he prepared something even worse in anticipation of an ambush? Like fake madness that had lost its will in front of real madness. The Hunters, momentarily jolted to their senses, tried to prepare a countermeasure in an orderly fashion.
"So you're there."
As the Hunters, who had finally abandoned their strategy, busily moved their positions, Doyun immediately read their presence. The thick bloodstains on each of their weapons. The eyes that were half-gone.
'Mental disorder.'
Doyun, having confirmed their state in an instant, decided on his next action.
'Kill them.'
They had already crossed a river from which there was no return.
"Dieeee!!"
He faced a Hunter who was already half-out of his mind and charging at him. It was a face he had seen before. It was clearly a member of the group that had picked a fight with Doyun in the 9th-floor zone.
"Did that bastard tell you to do it?"
"Shut up, just die!"
Words didn't work. There was no need to think of any other solution.
-Slash!
He swung the curved sword of the Goblin Warlord in his hand, and the Hunter's skin split far too easily.
"Gack!"
The Hunter, chest slashed, rolled on the floor ungracefully like a flopping fish. Even until then, the other Hunter bastards were busy dealing with the released Lycans.
"These bastards."
Whether by coincidence or intent, it was certain that they had already killed several other Hunters. It felt as if his insides were burning, as if hot firewood had been dropped into them.