Predator (9)
Lee Hyun scanned his surroundings. No traces suggested anyone else had passed through ahead of him. In fact, he couldn’t sense a single presence nearby. He exhaled a quiet breath of relief. It was fortunate no one had fallen victim to the monster. Fortunate no student had stamped their tag before him. And most of all, fortunate that no eyes were watching—because now he could use his other power without restraint.
He had already opened the Predictive Eye to the third path, but in this situation it still felt inadequate. Aiteranus was a Rank 1 monster species capable of using magic by instinct alone. Scholars even argued it deserved reclassification, so overwhelming was its danger and raw power. The specimen before him had undergone yet another mutation on top of that.
Lee Hyun layered additional magic formulas over the Predictive Eye, locking it at the sixth path. At the same time, he released the authority clustered near his heart and let it spread throughout his body. The entire process flowed as smoothly and naturally as a river current.
He raised his blade and leveled it at the monster, then poured particles into the stellite-alloy edge, preparing to pierce the creature’s field. The moment the monster sensed his hostility, it responded with aggressive intent.
A sudden chill raced across Lee Hyun’s skin as every hair on his body stood on end.
—Crackle…
A bizarre sound erupted near the monster’s face. At the tip of each antenna, unstable spheres of light began to form, glowing brighter by the second. Once complete, the creature hurled the finished lightning orbs straight at him.
The target needed no explanation. According to the monster’s calculations, Lee Hyun should have been reduced to blackened ash in the next instant.
—Screee?
Instead, the monster let out a deflated noise, as if bewildered. Lee Hyun remained standing exactly where he had been, completely unharmed. The lightning spheres it had launched flickered around him before dissolving back into ether and vanishing into the air. The scene looked almost like a swarm of tiny fireflies dancing at his side.
This was his chance—while the creature still failed to comprehend what was happening.
Lee Hyun moved like lightning, closing the distance and leaping onto its back. The monster’s fangs snapped shut a split second too late. Its joints could not bend upward, making its back a perfect blind spot. It twisted violently, trying to rake him with its mandibles while simultaneously shaking its body in a frantic attempt to throw him off.
Even as he slipped and slid across the slick exoskeleton, Lee Hyun gripped the gaps between armored plates and endured the jolts. Severing its waist was not a wise option. The nerve clusters distributed throughout its body could cause it to split into two independently operating monsters, each still lethally dangerous.
His true target was the head—where the sensory organs and magic core were concentrated. Dodging the constant interference, he repeated short advances and firm anchors, steadily climbing higher. The endless barrage of lightning raining down around him stung his eyes, yet every bolt that reached his immediate vicinity shattered like a firefly and scattered harmlessly.
At last he stood atop the creature’s broad, flat head. Dozens of compound eyes swiveled upward to stare at him in unison. Their pupils brimmed with a primal, inexplicable terror. The antennae quivered as though caught in an earthquake. Venom sprayed wildly from its mouth in every direction.
Yet the monster no longer had any means left to resist.
Lee Hyun wedged his hand into a joint to anchor himself firmly, then began driving the blade down again and again between the armored plates. The Cradle’s standard-issue blade could not slice through the hardened carapace in a single strike; attempting it would only ruin the edge first.
He hammered the vulnerable point relentlessly. Each time a blade snapped, he swapped to a new one and continued stabbing the same spot with obsessive precision. Before long he was drenched in the monster’s blood, painted head to toe in vivid green.
Just before he exhausted the final blade, the connection between the creature’s head and torso had been reduced to a ragged, shredded mess. Its pulsing veins now lay completely exposed. All four antennae hung limp, resistance abandoned.
Yet the monster still clung stubbornly to life. Left alone, its terrifying regenerative ability would restore it in moments. That possibility was not on Lee Hyun’s list of acceptable outcomes.
He sensed the time had come to end it.
Manipulating the particle array on his wrist, he conjured a small but fiercely burning orb of flame above his palm. It looked deceptively fragile, yet it was the most agonizing and powerful spell he knew. The memory of the black magician shrieking inside the pillar of fire Yoon Chaewon had created on the day they first met still burned vividly in his mind.
Lee Hyun hurled the Grand Duke’s Flame straight into the monster’s torso, then immediately rolled off and put distance between them.
BOOM!
The monster thrashed wildly, wracked by the agony of its innards burning. The ground cratered beneath it. Several thick trees snapped like twigs as the surrounding area was reduced to utter chaos. When the smoke from the fully consumed organs finally pierced the carapace, the creature’s massive body collapsed with a heavy thud.
It no longer showed even the faintest twitch of movement.
“…Huu.”
Only then did Lee Hyun release the breath he had been holding. The air reeked of charred meat. Being an arthropod, the scent strangely resembled grilled shrimp. He climbed over the enormous corpse and headed for the clearing.
At the center of the leveled ground stood a large metallic device built from intricate gears and hydraulic tubes. Lee Hyun pressed his recognition tag against it.
DING!
A cheerful chime rang out as though the machine had activated, but it quickly fell silent again. Lee Hyun wore a faintly suspicious expression for a moment, yet he instinctively knew he had secured first place.
He allowed himself a brief, refreshing rest before preparing to head back. That was when it hit him.
“Ugh…!”
A sharp, stabbing pain suddenly bloomed from the center of his chest. It felt as if someone had driven a knife into him. Only then did he realize how dangerously close he was to his limit.
He released the Predictive Eye and pulled his authority back in, suppressing it once more.
“…”
He wished there were something large and soft to lean against. But the monster’s death throes had long since demolished every intact tree in the clearing.
“Ugh…”
All that remained was the giant carcass right in front of him, still giving off the distinct aroma of grilled shrimp. He had no other choice.
“Ha, I didn’t expect anyone else to have the same idea.”
The short-haired, burly male student muttered to himself. His protective suit was thickly smeared with green and dark-red blood, as though he had just emerged from a brutal fight.
“Especially you, Seungheon. That’s surprising. What about your girlfriend?”
“I sent Yeoul back just in case. Still, it felt like a waste to give up completely… Haha…”
Seungheon answered Woojin’s question with his usual easy smile. Beside them, a blonde, green-eyed female student wore an expression of clear displeasure.
“Ugh, I can’t believe I’m thinking the same thing as this monkey…”
Her own suit was equally tattered. Though her beautiful hair was tangled and filthy, she shook it off lightly, unbothered.
“So how many did you kill?”
“Two Hiros, two Nivalis.”
Both were notoriously difficult Rank 2 monsters, yet Woojin puffed up with pride at Seungheon’s answer.
“Tsk, tsk. One Scropa, three Mustela, two Flavita. Looks like I win—”
“Three Lachidoras and five Canadens.”
Woojin’s smug tone died instantly at Jin Yeseo’s curt interruption.
“So what now?” she asked, voice still thick with dissatisfaction.
“Hmm… Since we’ve run into each other, how about we team up until we reach the center? We all look pretty exhausted. Splitting up now and running into a monster alone could be genuinely dangerous…”
“…”
Seungheon’s suggestion had no obvious flaws. This was their first real combat, and they had unexpectedly encountered Rank 2 monsters. Considering that, the three of them had performed remarkably well, but they had already burned through significant stamina and particles. Fatigue was beginning to weigh heavily on them.
“…Fine. But how do we decide the order for stamping the tags?” Jin Yeseo asked after a moment’s thought.
“Either of you can go first. I don’t mind being last.”
“How boring. Hey, Jin Yeseo. Want to settle it with a duel?”
“Sure. You just stay out of my way until I get there. I’ll beat you half to death.”
Jin Yeseo answered Woojin’s provocation without hesitation. With their opinions aligned, the three formed up and began advancing together.
Yet the closer they drew to the center, the stranger the scenery around them became.
“…Why do these look like they killed each other? And that—aren’t those blade marks?”
Yeseo frowned as she surveyed the area. Before her lay a Lachidora corpse split cleanly in half from belly to chest. Its legs still twitched faintly, enough to make anyone grimace.
“Don’t tell me someone already came through? Someone else had the same idea?”
“…Could the professors have passed this way? The skill level here is no joke…”
A growing sense of urgency quickened their steps. The farther they went, the more monster corpses they found. Easily over twenty at a glance, each one had been slaughtered with brutal efficiency.
After a hard march, they finally reached the center of the northern sector.
But what greeted them was not the recognition device.
At first it looked like a low hill blocking the path. Yet dozens of sharp legs protruded from it at odd angles. Then they noticed a lone figure leaning against that hill of limbs, resting.
“…You…!”
The moment she recognized him, Jin Yeseo cried out. A sleek white mask, catching the moonlight, gleamed atop the shadowed face.