Death Knight
The hunters all wore the same blank, bewildered expressions.
From the moment the boss chamber opened, the atmosphere had twisted into something wrong.
"Um… Leader Yoon Seah?"
"Everyone, what's going on…?"
The hunters asked, but no one answered them.
Yoon Seah and a handful of the others were fighting simply to keep from making a sound—not even a breath. Their faces had gone bloodless, as if they had glimpsed something that should never be seen. Their trembling hands locked around their weapons not to fight, but because the clatter of a dropped blade might reach him.
The rest of the party, puzzled by the sight, turned their eyes back toward the boss.
Beyond the threshold of the chamber sat a single black knight upon a throne. The red gleam inside his helm regarded them with indifferent calm.
"Anyway… so that knight is the boss."
"There's only one of them."
Someone muttered it with relief. Boss rooms usually came packed with the boss and its underlings. They had tensed at the thought of a Red Gate, yet it seemed things might prove easier than expected.
"…So the entertainment has all gathered, then."
A voice that crawled over the skin rose with the knight as he stood from his seat.
One hunter who happened to meet his gaze tilted his head.
"Huh? Did that monster just spea—"
—Shhk.
In that instant the hunter's mouth closed. A thin red line had been drawn across his throat; his lips still twitched soundlessly.
"Wh-what…?"
He fumbled at his neck, blinking in incomprehension.
"Why… does it hurt? Why does it hu—"
And then the hunters watched the head of a man who had been whole only a second earlier topple from his shoulders. The expression on that face still had not grasped why it was dying.
"Ah… Seungho…?"
Someone called the name of the man who no longer had a neck. Even knowing he was already dead, they could not believe what stood before their eyes.
While every face wore the look of people trapped inside a dream, the knight who had sat upon the throne was suddenly nowhere to be seen.
Drip. Drip-drip…
The sound of falling blood. When they turned toward it, a pitch-black shadow stood directly behind them.
"……"
He simply stood there, bloodied greatsword in hand. As if preparing the next amusement, those crimson eyes swept over the hunters one by one.
"What… what the hell is this…"
An S-rank hunter could not finish the sentence. He had seen it with his own eyes and still could not accept it. Behind him, the black-armored knight; in front of him, a dead comrade's blood fountaining into the air. He wiped the spray from his face without thinking.
"Shit…"
That bitterly cold blood finally dragged him back into reality.
"Everyone, combat stance!! That bastard just killed Seungho! All units, prepare to attack!!"
The shout snapped the hunters awake. Weapons swung toward the knight at once. The S-rank waited for Yoon Seah's orders, but she still stood frozen in place, trembling so hard she could not even bring herself to look behind her where the knight waited. In the end they had no choice but to act on their own.
"Damn it! Boss raid begins now!! Target is the black knight right in front of us!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
"Everyone, from this moment follow my—"
—Shhhraaak.
In that instant the body of the S-rank who had been about to give orders split cleanly in two.
Everyone stared, dumbstruck.
"Ah… ah…?"
Cha Seojin stumbled backward without realizing it—then toppled as if something had caught his feet.
"Ghk!? What the hell is—"
He tried to rise and could not finish the words. Nothing had tripped him. Two ownerless legs lay before his eyes.
"A-aaaaah. AAAAAAAAAAH!!"
"Sh-shit!!"
"Kill him! Cut that thing down right now!!"
The hunters poured every attack they had upon the knight. Magic from the mages slammed home with a deafening roar—yet what rose from the dust were those same scarlet eyes.
Shhhraaak—
He walked straight through the storm of spells and carved the mages apart. An S-rank, face twisted by terror, screamed,
"H-healers! What the hell are you healers doing!! Stop attacking that bastard and—"
"Y-yes! Right away—"
In that moment the knight's greatsword arrived in front of the healers' eyes.
"…Huh?"
There was not even time to scream.
Pwaaak!
The wet burst of blood, and every healer in the rear line died at once. The hunters who had been counting on them could only stare in hollow despair.
"A-aaaah… th-this can't be. Three S-ranks already…!"
"Don't lie to me… What kind of Red Gate is this? I've never heard of anything like this, never experienced anything like this!!"
The S-rank who shouted that turned and fled without looking back. Voices of comrades calling desperately after him reached his ears; he ignored them all. If he could just get out—if he could escape this hell—then a little humiliation meant nothing…
"Slow."
"H-hiiik!?"
The voice came from neither behind nor beside him. It came from directly in front.
"From time to time, one enjoys the sport of chasing rabbits."
"N-nooooo!!"
He tried too late to slow down. The knight simply extended his greatsword; the fleeing man passed across it and came apart in two pieces.
The remaining hunters watched, then simply sank where they stood. While the knight walked toward them with measured steps—thud. thud…—not one of them could move. Fighting was impossible. Running was impossible. All that remained was to wait for the knight's sentence.
"A-aaaaah…"
The footsteps drew closer. Even so, Yoon Seah still could not turn around. The instant she did, she was certain that greatsword would be waiting before her eyes.
If only… if only Seoyun-sunbae were here…
The thought rose unbidden. Perhaps because she already knew she was about to die. The other hunters who had lived through that hell half a year ago felt the same. If he had been here, at least they would not have died so meaninglessly.
"Hhk… kuh… uhhk…"
Sobbing broke from a few hunters paralyzed by fear. Others had already fainted or simply shut down. Thirty-eight people still remained—more than half the party—yet not a single hunter left among them could still fight.
H-holy water…
Waiting for death, Yoon Seah suddenly remembered what she had brought. There was no guarantee it would work on a Death Knight, but she still wanted to thrash for her life. With shaking hands she managed to pull the holy water from her bag. If she could just throw it at that thing…
"How interesting."
"Ah."
The voice came from right behind her. A short, strangled cry escaped her throat and the bag slipped from her fingers. The vials of holy water rolled endlessly across the floor. The Death Knight crushed one beneath his boot.
"I had hoped for at least a little entertainment. In the end it was no different from crushing insects."
"A-aaaah…"
"Yes… you lot would know, of course."
Yoon Seah trembled with confusion and terror. Know? Know what? The Death Knight looked over the hunters who had once stood beside Lee Seoyun and spoke.
"I will ask only once. Where is that man now?"
"Eh? Wh-what do you mean…"
"Lee Seoyun!!"
His killing intent sealed every mouth at once. At the same time the name itself left them reeling. Why that name, of all names, right now? Why was the Death Knight looking for Lee Seoyun!?
Even as the questions spun through their minds, every eye turned to Yoon Seah. Their lives hung on whatever answer she gave. She knew it too; her trembling lips parted.
"I-if you want…"
She had no idea why he sought Lee Seoyun. What mattered was giving him the answer he wanted.
"If you want, we'll bring him… Seoyun-sunbae. We'll bring him to you…"
"……"
"We already know exactly where he is. It's true!"
Every word was a lie, but Yoon Seah tried desperately to sell it. The Death Knight surveyed her and the hunters. They all nodded with frantic urgency. He set the edge of his greatsword against her throat and delivered his warning.
"One week. I will give you exactly one week. By then, bring that man before me by any means necessary. If you fail…"
KRA-KOOM!!
He swung the greatsword at the wall; it collapsed in a thunderous roar.
"Seoul. I will begin by erasing that place."
The hunters doubted their own ears. An unprecedented declaration of war from a monster—and not one of them could raise a voice in protest. There was no longer a single hunter left in the Republic of Korea who could stop that creature.
The homeland of hunters: America, Washington.
Giant billboards on every street advertised the latest weapons and artifacts for hunters; hunters themselves leapt easily between the buildings. The sight of hunters subduing villains who had been causing trouble in the city was, to the people here, simply everyday scenery.
"You can rest easy now. Our hunters have taken care of this villain!"
"Waaaaaah!"
"James Hunter is the best! You're the greatest!"
A hunter who had just subdued a villain showed off his power while the citizens' cheers and applause rolled on. Through that street walked a young girl. She did not spare the hunter so much as a glance as she approached a newspaper stand.
"Today. Please."
Her English was awkward and short. The shopkeeper only smiled as if he found it cute and handed her a copy of today's paper.
"Thank you!"
Clumsy or not, her confidence was flawless. Clutching the newspaper to her chest, the girl slipped into an alley. Deeper. Still deeper—until the cheers exploding behind her could no longer be heard at all. Only when she felt no human presence nearby did she stop.
A dark, narrow alley. Yet instead of fear, the girl looked up into empty air and called out softly,
"Oppa. I'm here. Open the door now."
No matter how many times she called, no one stood around her. No presence, no answering voice. Even so the girl simply stood there with a bright little smile, perfectly at ease.
About two seconds passed.
Zzzt. Crack-crack-crack!
A fissure split the empty air; heat-haze unfurled like flower petals. Moments later a single black gate bloomed into existence before her eyes. Without a trace of fear or hesitation, the girl stepped inside.
"Heh-heh. Oppa, I'm home."
A bright, cheerful greeting. The man waiting inside only sighed first with worry.
"Jian. Oppa always tells you—if you want to go outside, go with me."
"Come on, Oppa. What if someone recognizes you? Just now someone out there got grabbed by a hunter."
"Oppa will be fine. So next time we go together, okay?"
"Haaah. Oppa's problem is he worries too much."
Even as she said it she could not hide the happy smile. She was grateful that her brother cherished and loved her this much—and at the same time she never wanted to burden him with more worry.
"Okay. Next time I go out, I'll go with Oppa. Promise!"
She held out her pinky. Seeing it, the man smiled too.
"Ah—and this is today's paper. I bought it on the way. I can't read English anyway, so it's for you."
"Thanks."
She handed him the newspaper and then dashed around the room. The man watched her fondly for a moment before turning his eyes to the paper.
"Let's see… America's twelfth S-rank hunter is born. And Kujo Ren challenges for Japan's first Special S-rank…"
There were more interesting stories than he had expected. He flipped the pages—then his hand stopped on something.
"Death Knight?"
A familiar name hung in the headline. His gaze locked onto it. He read the article for a long while, and then—
"…Pfft."
He simply could not hold back the laugh.