Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Daughter of the Abyss, Northern Lead Hunter (2)
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3.
April 5, 2045.
The world came to an end with a sudden announcement.
But.
Thanks to Lead Hunter Kim Baek-jun.
And the elite hunters under his command, the <Association>.
“Trust me. I’ll clear the path, mister.”
“Step on me, Kim Baek-jun.”
“Brighten the dawn over this land…… Tarhye Rondel.”
June 28, 2045.
Humanity reclaimed Jongno-gu in Seoul.
They provided that vast safe zone to the survivors, restoring a taste of pre-apocalypse life for a full 30 days.
But.
August 1, 2045.
The northern gate collapsed under a surprise assault from unknown beings. With it fell the fragile days of peace they had barely won.
“Hello? Let’s skip the meaningless chit-chat.”
Those beings were no nightmares.
They were…… just like them. Humanity.
4.
“This…… it’s my fault again, isn’t it? Because I’m a Subordinate Weapon.”
I’m so sick of it now.
Every time I try to find a little happiness, misfortune comes knocking…… My fate is truly mysterious and bewildering.
“Why the hell is it your fault, you idiot?”
Heo Cheon-gyeom burst into disbelieving laughter at her muttering.
“Ease up on the self-importance. Just because some crazies do crazy shit, does that mean it’s all because of you? Who do you think you are? Some god?”
Who am I?
For some reason, that question made her parched heart suddenly throb coldly.
“Cheon-gyeom’s right, Ye-jin.”
Someone grabbed Do Ye-jin’s shoulder. She turned to see…… Seo Hwa-yoon had arrived.
“This isn’t your fault. How could it be?”
“……….”
“No time to dawdle. Let’s go…… now.”
Who am I?
One thing’s for sure—I’m no god.
“……While the other hunters buy time…… you need to get out of here safely.”
Ryu Hyeon-ji nodded at Seo Hwa-yoon’s words. Heo Cheon-gyeom even dismounted his horse.
“Ride mine, Squad Leader. It’s sturdy enough to carry even an idiot like me.”
But there’s one thing I know for certain.
What all the bonds I’ve formed so far have taught me about life.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa───”
In that instant, Do Ye-jin propped Ryu Hyeon-ji against the outer wall, shot to her feet, and let out a roar.
“────Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Everyone stared at her in stunned confusion at the outburst.
“Ye-jin?”
“Y-Ye-jin?”
“Have you…… finally lost it?”
「The idiot’s berserking.」
「Be. Ser. Be. Ser. Be. Ser. Hee hee hee hee hee!」
Sticking her tongue out at Black & White, Do Ye-jin flashed a grin.
“Not riding. Not going.”
“What?”
“They’re already down to Cheonun Hyoja-dong. What happens if I run? What about the people left behind? They’ll keep coming down. Can you stop them?!”
The group fell silent.
Do Ye-jin clenched her fists to psych herself up.
“Don’t worry! I’m the second strongest in the <Association>. I’ll hold them off.”
“What makes you second strongest? The <Association> would fall apart with talk like that.”
“Fine, then don’t.”
What am I? I’ve always wondered.
Before the fall, daughter of Do Ji-woong and little sister to Do Su-jin.
After, a Subordinate Weapon.
The hidden hero of the Gyo-nam-dong Old Town battle, Kim Gye-sang’s legacy.
The dream protected at the cost of the lives of the former First Hunting Squad. A member of the <Association>’s elite Subjugation Unit.
That’s me.
That’s who I am.
“Who do you think I am? I’m Do Ye-jin.”
That’s exactly what I am.
So I won’t despair over something like this. I won’t cry like a child or run away.
“Haa…….”
Seo Hwa-yoon sighed directly at that smile.
“I’ve been thinking this for a while…… Ye-jin really is an idiot.”
“I know. I’m dumb.”
“More than that. Hopeless idiot fits perfectly.”
Seo Hwa-yoon smiled helplessly as she stepped closer.
“So that’s why…… I really, really like you, Ye-jin.”
“……?!”
“I’ll help. If my little sis wants to show off, how can I not roll up my sleeves as big sis?”
She draped an arm over Do Ye-jin’s shoulders.
“Hwa-yoon sis……!”
Something warm welled up deep in her chest.
Such…… a good person.
Heo Cheon-gyeom and Ryu Hyeon-ji immediately protested.
“S-Squad Leader?! What are you talking about? They’re after Do Ye-jin!”
“Y-Yeah! Y-Ye-jin should go…… that way……! Th-they’re…… super strong……!”
Seo Hwa-yoon waved them off with a grin.
“Not planning to win. Just buying time till the evacuation’s done. Right?”
She winked at Do Ye-jin last.
“Yeah!”
Right…… that’s what I was thinking!
Well, I wasn’t, but surely that’s what I would’ve thought anyway!
“And we’ll grab Su-jin while we’re at it. Time for the three sisters to reunite.”
“Th-three sisters……? Y-You guys were…… like that……? Weird, your last name’s Seo……?”
Seo Hwa-yoon tugged Heo Cheon-gyeom’s reins and smiled at Ryu Hyeon-ji.
“Brush off the trivial stuff. That’s how you enjoy life.”
“Th-that’s trivial……?”
“Ahh, no time! Hop on, Ye-jin!”
Do Ye-jin swiftly mounted the saddle up front, and Seo Hwa-yoon climbed on right after.
“You two wait here. Explain the situation when Baek-jun gets back. Got it?”
Seo Hwa-yoon didn’t wait for a reply before kicking the horse’s flank.
The black steed snorted and bolted down the roadside at full gallop. The headwind clawed at Do Ye-jin’s face.
“The evacuation control’s working great. Not a soul on the left roadside.”
It was true.
Even amid the frantic evacuation, only hunters moved along the left path.
“Guess the evacuation drills after the ‘Exalted Ones’ raid paid off.”
“Sis.”
“Yeah?”
A few hunters gaped and scattered as the black steed thundered past.
“That three sisters thing earlier…….”
“Oh, that? Just teasing. Don’t mind it.”
“No. Su-jin sis would’ve snorted if she heard…… but I think I’d be happier if it were true…….”
A warm hand suddenly patted Do Ye-jin’s head, followed by Seo Hwa-yoon’s playful laugh.
“This is bad. Confession right before battle…… instant death flag, huh? Hmm, suddenly feeling a bit scared.”
Meanwhile, the horse kept racing.
Through streets by the plaza.
Past the dockside blocks in a flash.
Onto the central road, landscaped like a promenade……
“……Cheonun Hyoja-dong.”
As the entrance to Cheonun Hyoja-dong came into view.
Something cold touched her face. Do Ye-jin gasped.
“Snow……?”
And not just that.
It was freezing. Just breathing sent white puffs into the air.
“Steel yourself. This…… might be tougher than we thought.”
Seo Hwa-yoon gazed at the sky over Cheonun Hyoja-dong.
Cheonun Hyoja-dong felt ominously bleak.
Blanketed in eerily pale storm clouds…… no, like the whole city had been devoured……
“……S-Save us!”
“……M-Monster, monster!”
“……A-A-Aaaaaaaaah!”
Her heart lurched.
Amid the screams, something.
Something was attacking the rear of the evacuee column.
At a glance…… it was a rat.
But not like Earth rats.
Over a dozen eyes. Dog-sized…… with disgustingly pale flesh glistening.
“……Kikikikikikik…….”
The creatures bit into the legs of several evacuees, toppling them, then crunched through their skulls like dry wood.
Do Ye-jin stared in horror.
Isn’t this the Paradise Zone right now? How…… could Heteromorphs be here?
But no time to think.
“Sis, I’m going ahead.”
Do Ye-jin leaped into the air.
Subordinate Rigid-body Transformation.
Physical Enhancement…… 30%!
Her arms became covered in ashen dragon scales. The fruit of a month’s Subordinate-ization training.
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaa──!”
That fist.
Slammed straight into the space swarming with monster rats.
──Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The ground rippled like waves, shattered, and erupted violently.
That fierce shockwave.
Caught in the backlash, the monster rats soared upward.
“And stay───”
Gripping Cannon Axe with both hands, she swung wide.
“────out!”
Cannon Axe—an oversized weapon.
The gale from its immense weight sliced like a blade, sweeping the monster rats away.
Kiiiiiiiiiiii………….
The ear-piercing shriek of vermin.
A mist of blood and the stench of gore filled the air. Dizziness hit.
“Th-thank…… thank you, truly…… thank you!”
The survivors who’d escaped death.
They bowed, tears streaming. Do Ye-jin asked.
“Hey. Any more people still coming?”
She didn’t expect much.
The path the monster rats had taken…… was littered with mangled corpse chunks.
“Y-Yes, th-there were!”
“W-We made it out thanks to Association members.”
There were……?
Then a sound came from Cheonun Hyoja-dong.
Kuuuuuuuuuung……
A rumbling earth-shaking roar.
Mixed with bell tolls and gunfire. Chilling screams too.
Someone’s fighting in there right now. Why?
- They’re looking for you……!
All because I’m a Subordinate Weapon……?
No, no…… Do Ye-jin whipped her head around to look at Seo Hwa-yoon.
“Everyone, go on ahead now.”
Seo Hwa-yoon had dismounted and approached. She winked at the people.
“Leave this to us killer sisters.”
The testimony of more survivors wasn’t a lie. They rescued over thirty just inside Cheonun Hyoja-dong.
“Th-thank you……!”
“R-Really, how can we ever…… thank you enough.”
In under five minutes, over fifty more. That’s when they met the surviving hunters.
“S-Squad Leader……!”
“It’s fine. Looks like this is the last spot. Sound the retreat bell now.”
“N-No…… not yet…… Squad Leader Do Su-jin’s still fighting…… alone…… against the Lead Hunter…….”
What?
A ray of light pierced Do Ye-jin’s heart.
“Su-jin sis is alive? For real?”
“You……?”
The female hunter’s blood-smeared face went wide-eyed.
“Why…… why are you here?”
“I’ll explain later. Su-jin’s alive? Where?”
Seo Hwa-yoon cut in, and the hunter gasped, pointing off to the side.
“She was…… over there earlier…… follow the explosions…… ugh…… she’s in really bad shape…….”
Before she finished, Do Ye-jin bolted that way.
Su-jin sis……
She clenched and unclenched her right palm desperately.
- Dad, we just had a terrible nightmare.
More precisely, the scar etched there…… Soulchain.
- But it was just a dream. Lucky, right? Let’s tell Dad that.
The mystical scar shared with her blood sister Do Su-jin in childhood. Sis will be okay…… she has to be.
But.
The scene unfolding endlessly before her…… utterly mocked that optimism.
Snowy streets stained red with shredded corpses.
Monster rats devouring the bodies.
As she passed, they’d snap their heads up, glaring with glowing blue eyes before charging.
“Get out of my wayyyyyyy───!”
Do Ye-jin bashed the lunging monster rats with Cannon Axe, raising her right palm upward.
Sis…… where are you?
Then Seo Hwa-yoon amplified her leg strength, leaped high, scanned around, and landed.
“Found her. Northwest. Explosion! There was an explosion!”
Ignoring or batting aside the street-filling monster rats, they raced northwest.
How far did they run?
About thirty meters dead ahead.
Something slammed ferociously into a building wall.
───Waraaaaaararararara!
The impact was so massive the building crumbled chaotically.
That’s…… that’s……!
Do Ye-jin surged forward, screaming desperately.
“Sis! Sis!”