Chapter 62. Hunter and Prey
Chapter 62. Hunter and Prey
The area suspected to be Del Norte's main base had disappeared.
It wasn't a scene of devastation wrought by bombing or civil war.
It had literally 'disappeared'.
As if it had never been there at all.
"Jesus... Is this really the work of a human being?"
It was the United States that witnessed the unbelievable catastrophe unfolding across the border in Mexico.
When the on-site footage was transmitted to a top-secret operations room in Washington D.C., even the commander unconsciously muttered those words.
Song Hoon and Laila.
The two of them had been special from the beginning.
Song Hoon was straightforward.
An overwhelming physique, superhuman martial prowess, the very embodiment of pure power.
But Laila was different.
The abilities she displayed defied the laws of physics.
Hunters commonly used such powers, but this was an overwhelming force that transcended everything.
"Our approach will need some slight revision..."
The United States was officially maintaining a friendly stance toward them.
They subtly supported their actions and sometimes passed along necessary information.
But at the same time, they kept a close watch on them.
"Is Hollywood shooting a new movie this time...?"
"M-Mr. President..."
"A joke... This is just too..."
Having received the report in the White House, the President clasped his hands together and made a joke.
"The Hero and the Saintess..."
He replayed the footage several times and read the documents over and over.
He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers.
"Judging by their actions alone, this one is the Hero, and this one is the porter who tagged along on the adventure."
He glanced at the photos of Laila and Song Hoon in turn and chuckled.
Originally, the plan had been to send a beautiful woman and a handsome man to try and win over Song Hoon and Laila respectively.
"But of all things, they're lovers, so we can't even try to sway them..."
---
High above, the safe house came into view.
In a clearing surrounded by forest, a lone mansion sat by itself.
"You have arrived."
"?"
As if he knew we were coming, someone greeted us.
But this person was not the cartel boss I had seen in the photos.
"The Boss is waiting."
'Huh... This was ridiculous.'
I stared at the man for a moment.
He wore a strangely vacant look in his eyes, as if drained of all emotion.
We followed his guidance and entered the mansion.
"A pleasure. Are you those famous S-rank hunters from Korea?"
'...'
He must have received the reports too, but I couldn't fathom what made him so confident.
I thought about twisting his neck off right then, but I stayed quiet, curious about what he had to say.
— Thud...
The boss tossed a box in front of me.
When I opened it, a human head was inside.
"These are the ones who stole your goods."
"What, you punished the thieves, so now you want us to turn around and leave?"
"No, that was merely punishment. I will certainly repay you."
He rose from his seat and walked toward me with heavy steps.
He tried hard to appear calm, but I could feel his racing heartbeat and irregular breathing.
We stood facing each other, barely a meter apart.
That's when he lunged at me with a quick movement.
The move was so slow it nearly made me yawn, but I stayed still.
Because I was curious what kind of desperate flailing he'd attempt.
And because I wanted to see the look on his face when he realized his struggle was utterly futile.
— Thwump...!
---
"Is that... true?"
"Yes..."
He couldn't believe it.
If he hadn't seen the photos of that place with his own two eyes, he would have blown the head off the fool who had just given the report.
"Haah..."
He felt fear and exhilaration at the same time.
If he could get his hands on them, he could become the ruler of Earth.
"They didn't attack from the start."
If it were him, he would have rained down a bombardment of light from the sky before anyone could even react.
That meant there was a possibility of making contact with them.
"Boss, they have arrived."
"Bring them in."
While his underlings went to fetch them, he reined in his composure completely.
He hid his anxiety, his fear, his exhilaration.
Because he felt more confident than anyone in his ability to suppress his emotions.
He showed the corpses to the ones who had arrived and slowly approached the man.
'Please... just a little closer... If I could just make contact, it's over...'
While the man was off guard, he swiftly approached and placed his hand on his head.
— Thwump...!
'Kuhu...! It's over!'
The moment his hand touched Song Hoon's head, his power activated.
Through a crack in the consciousness, the magic to seize his mind burrowed deep.
'What the...'
— Splash.
Something was wrong.
He had only dipped his foot into what seemed like a shallow puddle...
But beneath it, an endless abyss lay gaping open.
His consciousness swayed.
His vision blurred.
'What in the world did you go through...'
A city in flames.
Dying comrades.
Hands stained with blood.
Under a sky engulfed in fire, on a battlefield echoing with monstrous roars, he had survived.
The massive expedition force that had departed with everyone's encouragement.
A veil had obscured the expedition once.
And when it reappeared, only five remained.
'And among them, two were...'
Santiago's eyes began to tremble violently.
Blood flowed from his eyes, ears, and nose, and his heart pounded roughly.
"...What... is this...?"
The end of an abyss untouched by emotion, language, or reason.
A realm of chaos from which even monsters would flee screaming.
Inside it, there was something.
"Kugh...!"
He ultimately collapsed into a sitting position.
Cold sweat poured from his entire body, his mind teetering on the verge of collapse.
This man was not a being he could lay a hand on.
He looked human, but what lay within him.
Was hell itself.
---
"How was it? Fun?"
Tapping my head with my finger, I looked at the man and grinned.
The boss saw my face and began to tremble as if gripped by terror.
Biting his lip until it bled, he screamed.
"K-Kill them now!!!"
At that, the ones who had guided us here earlier unleashed their attacks upon us.
He gave that order and swiftly fled the scene.
"Laila, what about these guys?"
"Hmm... Their minds have been eroded, but they were trash to begin with."
I had thought they might be 'victims' brainwashed by him.
But Laila shook her head definitively.
I grabbed the back of the heads of the two men charging at me from both sides.
And then I slammed their heads together.
— Crunch...!
"Laila, how far has that guy gone?"
"He's already run quite far."
I had deliberately let him go.
Since I was cleaning up anyway, I planned to clean up everything connected to him at once.
- Hunter, I'm contacting you with some additional information.
It was the government contact from the embassy.
- They have a training facility they operate.
"A training facility?"
- Yes... It's a place created to train their members.
I was so dumbfounded I couldn't speak.
Not even a military, but training their members specifically for combat strength?
After receiving the call, I checked the location.
"It's in the same direction."
Coincidentally, it was the direction he was fleeing.
"Shall we go?"
This was a hunt.
For the hunter's amusement, the prey's breathing was slowly being choked off.
---
"B-Boss...!?"
Santiago headed for the training facility the organization secretly operated.
The members, seeing their boss burst in so urgently, stared in shock.
"From now on, eliminate all outsiders heading this way!"
"A-All of them?"
He headed for the underground bunker.
Even if they somehow found this place, he could escape through the connected underground passage.
'H-How on earth did they find out about the factory and the warehouse?'
As the tension slowly eased at the thought of having escaped, things he hadn't noticed before gradually came into focus.
'Those were places even the Americans didn't know about... Could there have been an insider?'
He soon shook his head.
The safe house was one thing, since he had deliberately leaked information so they would come find him, but those other places were different.
The members in charge of those locations were brainwashed and could never leak the information.
'Hoo...'
He pulled out a thick, untraceable phone.
And then he 'ordered' the politicians he had been bribing all this time.
He told them to pressure Korea, to arrest him—whatever it took to drive Song Hoon out of Mexico.
"Fuck!! Drag in the military, apply diplomatic pressure, just figure it out!!!"
- Boss...
"Do you want me to make your daughter just like his son?"
- ...Understood.
---
They had taken bribes, but for the safety of their families, they moved swiftly.
- Pressure is already coming in from them.
"I expected as much."
Along with pressure from the diplomatic lines, they were internationally framing it as 'an illegal armed force acting unilaterally on foreign soil'.
At the same time, they were broadcasting such statements to inform their own citizens.
- The Mexican people are becoming afraid of you, Hunter...
"Of me?"
- Yes, because to them, you would ultimately be just another cartel.
When cartels warred, it was the citizens who suffered the most harm.
The citizens were terrified by the talk of another cartel emerging.
- Hey, friend.
Esteban, who was beside the government official, spoke up.
- I'll help you out a bit with that problem.
"You'll help?"
- Didn't I tell you? They kept me alive as a clown.
"...!"
Most citizens knew about Esteban's tragedy.
Because they had learned what happens when you defy the cartels by watching 'Esteban'.
If he, who had gone through such an ordeal, spoke out directly, it could certainly turn public opinion.
- I'll dance a little for them as their clown.