Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Part 2) The Age of Predation, Prelude (7)
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18.
“The nightmare is long, and the mission given to you hasn’t ended yet.”
What? What did it suck in?
After that energy was completely drained.
Im Ga-hee remained sitting right there. But.
“My…… mission…… right…… it hasn’t ended…….”
Her speech had grown somehow slurred.
Even her pupils were cloudy like a corpse’s, utterly eerie.
“Yes. Return to the place where you belong.”
Im Ga-hee nodded unnaturally, then led the inoperable <Tortinal> into the blizzard and vanished.
“What…… did you do?”
I asked, gasping for breath, and the man flashed a sly smile.
“I merely helped her walk her mission to the very end.”
“You……?”
“Oh my. I’m Song Chan-un. I’m performing the Pope’s duties in Nowon-gu.”
Pope?
Why that title? Not just leader or captain?
“Please understand my trembling voice. I’ve been anticipating this meeting for a full fortnight now.”
“From a fortnight ago……? What nonsense…….”
I hauled up my near-fainting body and focused my eyes.
[Lv : 226].
This bastard’s level…… only 15 apart from mine?
No way.
It was the moment a deeply chilling realization struck.
“You’re…… Nowon-gu’s Lead Hunter?”
Silence fell for an instant.
But soon.
“You mean me?”
Song Chan-un shook his head with a humble smile.
“No. I couldn’t dare bear such a heavy mantle.”
“……Liar.”
“No lie. Take a good look at my transcendence rank. No Lead Hunter title, see?”
Impossible…… at that level, and not the Lead Hunter?
Which means……?
That horrifying realization nearly made me black out on the spot.
“Where is he? That guy…… is he here?”
“No. The Lord has entrusted him with a far nobler task.”
Song Chan-un’s squinted eyes, gazing down at me, half opened.
Malice writhing in those white eyes.
White pupils…… and what’s this inexpressible dread?
“But you know, if I offered your life as a sacrifice right now…… wouldn’t he entrust me with even greater tasks from here on?”
“You’ll kill me, you say.”
I let out a long breath and grinned back at him.
“Go ahead and try.”
“Oh…… you’re awfully arrogant. Even as a Lead Hunter, what can that near-dead body of yours possibly do?”
This wasn’t empty bluster.
“Right now…… urgh…… I can stand here talking to you like this.”
Nor was it some trap or deception.
“You’re playing right into my hands.”
I staggered forward on unsteady feet.
And…… gripped the Dawn Sword, some ten paces away.
“My intentions?”
Song Chan-un didn’t stop me.
He simply watched, his eyes squinted in curiosity.
“Aren’t you stalling for time here? More precisely, my time.”
Song Chan-un’s eyes cracked open just a sliver, and then he chuckled darkly.
“What a witty one you are! But before death, all life’s time comes to a halt.”
“Not words for a religious zealot.”
“Hear me out to the end. I could kill you and be done with it—so why would I drag this out?”
“How the hell should I know?”
Song Chan-un tilted his head as if utterly baffled.
“But you do know, don’t you.”
Why I was acting this way.
Because I’d seen through the truth.
“If you could’ve killed me, you would’ve done it already. Would you really be chatting like this?”
I ran my palm along Dawn’s blade. The Dawn Sword regained its holy form.
“If you’re set on trying again, I won’t stop you.”
*Ching.* I leveled the blade’s tip at him.
“Honestly, it frightens me.”
Song Chan-un shook his mirror-adorned castle in blatant provocation.
“Thanks…… that obvious taunt let me figure it all out.”
“…………?”
“That body’s probably an illusion…… a technique that works even from afar, right?”
The castle Song Chan-un had been shaking froze still.
“That’s why you just watched. Until I unleashed this power.”
“…………!”
“Ah…… or maybe the whole blizzard’s the illusion?”
Song Chan-un glared at me wordlessly for a stretch, and then—
“Aha, hahahahaha, hahahahaha, ahahahahaha!”
—he erupted into a spine-chilling cackle.
“Indeed…… the insight of a Lead Hunter……! Impressive. You nailed it. This body is an illusion.”
As I’d suspected…… knew it.
I barely choked down the blood surging up my throat.
“As you said, my task today was to steal your time.”
This bastard…… stalling right up to the last.
“Why steal time? You’ll have your answer soon enough. You’ll be satisfied.”
All while pretending to explain his scheme.
Damn it…… that’s when I finally dropped to one knee and collapsed.
“Someday…… I eagerly await the day we meet face-to-face.”
It was after Song Chan-un’s form began melting into the blizzard.
Leaving behind that bone-deep, goosebump-inducing cold laughter.
“Hee, hi, hi, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, haha, hahaha, hahaha, hahahaha, ahahahahaha, hahahahahahahaha…….”
I toppled over right there.
As my consciousness faded…… slowly…… the blizzard began to die down.
19.
- Unnie! Look at that too!
Do Su-jin gazed at the distant mountains.
Her little sister’s excited voice bubbled up in her mind.
- That too! That too! So pretty, right right right right?
A majestic vista of mountains and forests blending in deep olive green.
This was Jongno-gu’s Pyeongchang-dong.
A city in harmony with nature—one of Paradise’s rare beauties.
- Wow, look at this! What’s that?
The cries of birds.
The subtle fragrance of flowers and trees.
Women’s laughter. Old folks chatting as they carried water jugs.
“Nunim.”
A familiar voice cut in just then.
Snapping from her reverie, she saw a grinning young man.
“Thinking about the Association President again?”
Oh Jin-guk.
“Shut it if you’re spouting nonsense.”
The senior-most hunter who’d supported Do Su-jin wholeheartedly since the apocalypse began.
[Lv : 131].
The last surviving member of the old raid [Guard Squad].
“Or were you thinking about your sister?”
“You suddenly lost it?”
“Nah, not lost it. I just know you well, Nunim. Your face only softens around those two.”
Do Su-jin flushed faintly and turned away.
“Was thinking about my sister a little. Ye-jin’s such a chatterbox. Always has been, wherever we go.”
Oh Jin-guk grinned slyly.
“Our Nunim’s awfully chill for an emergency.”
Chill?
Choi Uk’s orders were to establish a defensive line in Pyeongchang-dong.
“Gates are already sealed, evacuations starting soon. What’s the issue?”
Oh Jin-guk raised both hands placatingly.
“That’s exactly what I meant. Go check on Ye-jin.”
“You really lost it?”
“You headed out hunting in the first place to find your sister. But now you’re more focused on the hunt than her…….”
That…… Do Su-jin shook her head with a sigh.
“It’s an emergency right now.”
“Fair, but what more is there to do? We’ve handled pretty much everything we can.”
“I need to head outside the walls now, take a look around. Climb up on the battlements or something.”
Oh Jin-guk pointed to the gate fifty meters ahead.
“Take a gander at that gate’s size. You’d need five Im Yong-gons to smash through that thing.”
“And if I bail, what’ll everyone think?”
“Being too dutiful’s a problem too, y’know.”
This punk…… Do Su-jin flicked Oh Jin-guk’s forehead.
“Do that and Ye-jin just gets more shit-talked. I need to be on the front lines.”
“Huh? That little shit Go Hoon…… oh, look, napping over there. Minus him, everyone loves Ye-jin now.”
Do Su-jin froze for a beat.
Even empty flattery lifted her mood considerably.
“Who could hate that cute, sweet girl?”
As Oh Jin-guk waved his hand with exaggerated nonchalance.
“That’s right, Oh Jin-guk here! I’ll handle everything, so go see Ye-jin without a worry! You know my hunting chops.”
Do Su-jin had to question all her senses at the unbelievable scene.
No…… that can’t be real?
At first, the gate merely flashed blue.
But the next instant.
The massive gate was encased in azure ice crystals……
───*Chiaaaaaang!*
……and with a clear metallic screech.
It shattered into thousands of fragments, hurtling into the city streets like a storm.
“……Aaaah!”
“……Wha-what-what?”
“……Chunghwan, Chunghwan!”
Ice shards flying like daggers.
Dozens of citizens on the street turned into dark red lumps of gore in a heartbeat……
Chaos erupted in an instant.
Amid the screams and shouts roiling through the pandemonium, Oh Jin-guk’s panting mutter carried over.
“Gate’s broken? What the actual fuck…… that gate’s two meters thick……?”
In the midst of all that.
*Click…… clack…… clack…… clack…… clack…… clack……*
From the distant gate.
Why were those high-heel clicks ringing so clearly…….
“Hey? Let’s skip the meaningless chit-chat.”
Someone emerged from the cloud of collapse dust right then.
It was a person.
A beauty rivaling the Star Messenger.
But her appearance and outfit were bizarre beyond belief.
Her hair and eyes were split right down the middle.
Half white, half black.
The pure white robe draped over her voluptuous figure…… was scandalously revealing and seductive, like a whore’s.
[Lv : ???]
A hunter……? Then why couldn’t she read the level?
“From now on! I’m gonna ask a super super important question. Only those who wanna live, answer qui~ck!”
*Snap……* The woman unfurled a folding fan.
“Boring if we do it straight, right? Okay, first-come, first-served…… nah, two? Yeah, up to three. Big mercy used up, huh.”
She coyly hid her wicked smile with the fan.
“Do Su-jin? Do Ye-jin? Anyone know where that bitch is, get on your knees.”
Do Su-jin doubted her own ears. Oh Jin-guk muttered under his breath.
“That psycho bitch just…… said Do Ye-jin…… right?”
“Yeah…….”
“How the hell does she know about Ye-jin?”
Right then, a staggering old man from the gate area dropped to his knees.
The woman’s face hardened in an instant.
She snapped her fan shut and strode over, grabbing the old man’s shoulder…… no way.
“This wrinkly hag’s ears all saggy too? Told humans only to kneel.”
The old man’s body exploded.
Flesh sprayed everywhere…… but his bones and blood froze solid in that kneeling pose.
An ominous silence blanketed the street.
In that heartbeat. No one could move. The hunters’ murmurs burst out about five seconds later.
“My god…….”
“What kind of psycho……?”
Do Su-jin felt goosebumps erupt across her skin.
Froze the fluids in his body.
All in one instant…… the gate too, same method……?
“Sorry. Did I scare ya? Where was I?”
The psycho bitch unfurled her fan again and beamed.
“Ah, told only humans to kneel! Now it’s a game of wits? Who knows where Do Ye-jin is, hand! No—knees!”
Psycho bitch…… had to kill her now.
The moment Do Su-jin gripped her sword hilt, an unexpected figure burst out laughing.
“Livin’ long enough to see a lunatic bitch like this.”
A modern tiled roof.
The young man who’d been napping there dropped lightly to the ground.
[Lv : 167].
Top-tier level even in the <Association>.
Angular, sharp features, swinging a long spear casually.
Second Hunting Squad Leader, Go Hoon.
A big shot who could’ve been a division chief from the early days, if only his personality weren’t trash.
“Why’re you idiots just standing around? Pathetic fucks—instead of shitting yourselves, at least fire a shot.”
“What’d you just say to me?”
“Lunatic bitch. Your makeup’s so fuckin’ grotesque, you shit-tier whore.”
Go Hoon tossed it out casually in his signature mocking drawl.
Do Su-jin caught it for a split second.
The psycho bitch’s face twisting into something feral. But she quickly hid it behind her fan and began to laugh.
“Uh, uhheuh, uhheuhheuh, uhheuhheuh, uhheuhheuhheuh, uhheuhheuhheuhheuhheuh, uhheuhheuhheuhheuhheuhheuhheuhheuhheuhheuhheuhheuh.”
A chillingly sinister laugh.
The instant the psycho bitch quit laughing and narrowed her eyes to slits.
A biting chill blanketed heaven and earth.
Everyone shuddered violently in the ferocious cold.
“Ah~ changed my mind. No passes. Gonna kill you all.”
The psycho bitch pointed her folded fan at Do Su-jin.
“You two over there? Decent levels. Raid leaders, huh?”
“……………!”
“Doesn’t matter. Time’s short—wanna all three rush me at once?”