Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: Daughter of the Abyss, Northern Lead Hunter (5)
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7.
“It looks like they’ve completely…… isolated Cheonun Hyoja-dong.”
Hope was right in front of her eyes.
The hope of saving Do Su-jin was right there in front of her.
─────BOOOOM!
At that moment, a grotesque axe blade came flying in and shattered the clock tower right beside them.
Debris scattered in every direction.
Caught in the echoes of the collapse…… the three hunters tumbled down from the rooftop.
“Ow…… it hurts…….”
She barely managed to prop up her upper body and glanced back.
What…… is that?
Something with a chilling silhouette was crawling out from the magic barrier.
「PhysakkkkkkkkkkkkkkkKKKKKKKKKKKK……………!」
Its head was a horse’s skull.
A giant form over three meters tall.
It gripped a bone axe in its pair of grotesquely twisted limbs like a malformed fetus.
「Ratori, Seratori.」
One clutched the bone axe.
The other was empty-handed, probably the one who had thrown it earlier.
Those irrational beings…… suddenly backed away to either side and prostrated themselves.
“Ugh, seriously…… you’re gonna be a pain in the ass?”
The moment she heard that honeyed voice, despair and terror drained all strength from her body.
Already…… they’d caught up……?
Hwang Ga-in, Choi Sin-yul, Song Chan-un.
“This is just ridiculous.”
Behind them, six hunters with monstrously mutated physiques came walking.
“I took pity on you and told you your secret origins instead of killing you right away, and you screwed up the plan?”
The situation was the worst.
Three top-tier powerhouses glaring with eerie eyes. Escape was impossible.
“Ye-jin, run.”
At that moment, someone grabbed Do Ye-jin with a firm hand and pulled her up.
It was Seo Hwa-yun.
She’d taken the brunt of the collapse damage—her body was a total wreck. Blood dripped steadily from her head.
“Sister……?”
“I’ll buy time. Keep running.”
“But Cheonun Hyoja-dong is isolated…….”
She scooped up the unconscious Do Su-jin from where she’d collapsed and placed her on Do Ye-jin’s shoulder.
“Just hold out until Kim Baek-jun gets here. Got it?”
“Then…… what about you, sister?”
“Su-jin is the one precious family Ye-jin has left.”
That was true.
But that didn’t mean Seo Hwa-yun was any less precious. As Do Ye-jin shook her head.
“But──”
“──I told you, didn’t I? Nightmare Hunters always make realistic judgments.”
“…………!”
“You have to explain this whole situation to Baek-jun.”
Seo Hwa-yun flashed a bright smile.
She shoved the stunned Do Ye-jin toward the alleyway.
“Go! Hurry!”
The push was so forceful.
Her struggle to keep from falling turned straight into a sprint.
“Now it’s time for the grown-ups to play. What’s a full-grown adult doing bullying two kids?”
“Who the hell are you?”
“Me? Curious? Well, this body belongs to Ye-jin’s eldest sister.”
How could she just leave her like this.
“As the big sister, I gotta give you punks a taste of justice for hitting my little sisters.”
[Unique skill, 《Subordinatization》 usage conditions not met.]
Even when everyone despised Do Ye-jin, this person had cherished her as much as Hong Byeong-gyu’s group.
[Unique skill, 《Subordinatization》 usage conditions not met.]
Please…… activate, 《Subordinatization》.
What are you doing, you useless…… trash power that’s always worthless when it matters most……!
[Unique skill, 《Subordinatization》 usage conditions not met.]
What exactly is missing?
A vivid memory flashed in her mind…… the deaths of Hong Byeong-gyu’s group.
Had she endured too much despair?
Whenever she sensed the harbinger of despair.
A sickly chill would strangely sweep over her body first.
This was exactly that.
No…… no way…….
Do Ye-jin turned back in horrified disbelief.
“Choi Sin-yul.”
Hwang Ga-in gave the order.
“Deal with that crazy bitch. How many seconds you need?”
Choi Sin-yul gave a slight bow, then in the next instant.
“One second is plenty.”
She let out a maddening scream.
“Hwa-yun─────────”
……No, no, what is this, how did this happen.
Just two.
The movements of Choi Sin-yul that she could see with her eyes—only two.
One.
She stepped forward with her left foot.
Two.
She thrust out her right palm toward Seo Hwa-yun and clenched it.
“《White Frost Binding Veil》.”
Three.
Countless bloodlines etched across Seo Hwa-yun’s body, violet blood erupting as she collapsed into her own pooling gore…….
“───────SIIIIISTERIIIIIII!”
Does this make any sense?
How could this happen?
Hwa-yun sister is one of the <Association>’s top executives? Her unique skill isn’t combat-oriented, but she’s no pushover?
One second? Two?
When she finally snapped out of it at the sight…… an ice ridge suddenly surged up and slapped Do Ye-jin’s face.
It took about five seconds.
Not the ice ridge rising—it took that long to realize she’d been knocked down.
Do Su-jin bounced off Do Ye-jin’s back and went rolling wildly across the ice.
Get up, I have to get up.
That’s what she thought, but Do Ye-jin couldn’t move a muscle.
It hurts…… my legs…… burning like fire…….
Unbearable agony.
When she finally looked down at her legs…… Do Ye-jin gasped and groaned.
“Ah…… aa…… augh…….”
Her legs—both legs—were gone.
Only the spurting stump remained.
Hwang Ga-in…… that sickle swallow…….
She’d gone easy last time? This time, no chance to react.
“Hey…… I’m starting to get pissed off now?”
At that moment.
The scattered blood froze black all around.
“Honestly, I don’t give a damn about you.”
Hwang Ga-in…….
Her heart began pounding wildly.
“Your dad. Just spit out where he’s hiding.”
When she barely lifted her head from the pain…… her eyes met Hwang Ga-in’s icy gaze.
“Then I’ll kill you and your fake sister nice and easy. Like that bitch who croaked over there.”
The alleyway scene shattered in a haze.
“My…… dad…… is already dead……!”
A cold fireball boiled up from her heart.
Chest pain so tight she could barely breathe…….
Hwang Ga-in swung her fan again.
“Are you deaf? How many times do I have to say he’s not dead?”
This time, sharp pain exploded in her shoulder.
She saw it at the edge of her vision.
Her left arm severed, spraying blood.
“Ah…… ahh…… ah…… auuuugh…….”
It hurt.
Not the pain of her body.
“You’ve got your subordinates’ power, right?”
Clack, clack.
Hwang Ga-in walked over, picked up the severed arm, and removed the watch from the wrist.
“And even gave you a birthday present like this.”
She mimicked Do Ye-jin’s voice.
“Fake or real, every gift from so-called dads is trash! Total trash!”
She flung the watch onto the ice.
Then stomped on it wildly with her high heels, shattering it with mad laughter.
“Don’t…… don’t do that…….”
Do Ye-jin reached out with her right hand, trying to grab that ankle.
- Happy birthday, my daughter.
The last warmth of her father, now impossible to feel.
That warmth…… was breaking apart.
Her heart…… her heart…… hurt like it was shattering.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
But that hand sprayed blood into the air before it could reach that warmth.
“Your dad’s a real piece of work, huh? Oh, I mean your real dad.”
In the next moment, her body floated up into the air.
“His daughter’s about to die, and he just watches. Exactly like my trash dad.”
It took about two seconds to realize Hwang Ga-in had grabbed her by the collar and hoisted her up.
“Sucks you couldn’t kill a dad like that. Must be a thrill!”
She wanted to cry but couldn’t.
Tears came, but no sobs—so she started laughing. Madly.
“Finally lost it…… Huh? What’s this? A bloodstone?”
Hwang Ga-in’s fingertips slithered like a snake across Do Ye-jin’s neck.
Scary…….
For some reason, a chill pierced deep into her soul.
“Why wear this like a necklace? Never used it till now.”
Then, snap—the leather cord broke.
And the bond with the First Hunting Squad severed…….
“G-Give it…… give it back…….”
“Pathetic bitch…… You might’ve lasted longer if you’d used this.”
Hwang Ga-in tossed the bloodstone necklace far away.
“That’s why you’re weak—relying on humans.”
And then.
She hurled Do Ye-jin’s body toward the bloodstone.
“Wicked, pathetic, backstabbing weaklings get tormented to death, while you grovel spine-cracking to the strong.”
The bloodstone glimmered nearby in its multicolored light.
“That’s why you’re such a weakling—leaning on trash like human scum!”
Even now, closing her eyes brought it back.
The dazzling days with the First Hunting Squad.
Ah…….
Maybe that’s why.
Like she was entranced, she reached her mangled arm toward it.
────SCREEEEECH!
In that instant, the sickle swallow flew in.
The bloodstones—the dream left by Hong Byeong-gyu, Yoon Geon-woo, Cha Seung-hyeon—shattered before her eyes.
“Heard you were super special, but no special powers, right? Just brute strength, that’s it.”
“Ah…… aa…… ah…….”
Her mind went blank white.
“Guess it runs in the family? Even the power he gave is pathetic.”
Why? Why?
Why me, of all people?
Why does despair never end around me? Why?
“Lady Oracle, it’s Song Chan-un. Got some good news.”
“What is it.”
“The Lead Hunter of Seodaemun-gu saw through my illusion.”
A moment of silence.
“What…… already?”
“Her insight is impressive. Even the Im sisters fell for it.”
“That retard bitch…… fucked up again with some bullshit?”
“No. She fully unleashed <Tortinal>.”
Silence again.
“But wait, why’s this good news?”
An inexplicable silence.
“You’re stalling with pointless talk. Still, better hurry?”
“You telling me to run?”
“No reason to fight here, right?”
An irritated sigh.
“Ugh…… little brat’s got her mouth locked shut. Guess I’ll drag her to Nowon-gu.”
“As you wish, Lady Oracle.”
Thud, thud…… the sound of ice ridges slamming against the building’s base.
Thump, thump, thump…… heavy footsteps.
Soon, Do Ye-jin’s gaze shot up to the sky.
A nauseating stench of blood…….
That monster from the magic circle earlier…….
“Lady Oracle?”
“Yeah?”
“What about ‘that thing’?”
Her mind hazy from anemia and pain, but at the eerie foreboding, Do Ye-jin barely lifted her eyes.
“Oh, almost forgot about it.”
Hwang Ga-in’s sinister chuckle.
And the snap of her fan unfolding.
“Alright, time for a good show.”
Do Ye-jin pleaded through tears.
“Please…… stop…….”
Out of nowhere.
A ten-meter frost whirlwind erupted.
“Ah………………………….”
In that instant, all color drained from her body like wrung-out rags.
Right in the middle of the alleyway.
Where her blood sister lay collapsed.
- Ye-jin, let’s go tell Dad like this.
The whirlwind surged up.
It raged fiercely, freezing, shattering, and splintering the alleyway.
- We had a nightmare, Dad. But it was just a dream—lucky, right?
Do Su-jin, caught in the whirlwind.
Her body torn to shreds…… froze solid, then shattered into pieces…… and finally dissolved into countless blood-red crystals, vanishing into the vortex.
- My treasure, my one and only precious treasure…… I’ll become a sister worthy of you…….
Thump.
It pulsed.
Thump. Thump.
Pulsed again.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Again. Again. Again and again.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump thump. Thump thump thump. Thump thump thump thump. Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump. Thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump thump.
The despair (切望) that wouldn’t awaken no matter how desperately she longed.
Having lost every last bond.
Borrowing the body of the now-empty girl.
On this frozen wasteland blanketed in Iquila’s blizzard, it descended in complete form.