Yoo-hoo, Yellow Hair~
Yoo-hoo, Yellow Hair~
A childlike voice sang out from somewhere behind me.
"Found you."
I whipped my head around, but no one was there. And the moment I faced forward again, there it stood — a body with the glistening texture of wet clay, its face warped into something grotesque. The proportions of its arms were all wrong. Its legs bent the wrong way.
Its neck rotated a full circle, and it greeted me with a bright, innocent smile.
"Hello."
Danger. The thought had barely formed before I drew my lightsaber—
Something began raining down from the sky. No... one look upward told me it wasn't rain. It was drool.
"Are you going to attack?"
"I'm hungry... should we eat her?"
"Scary..."
My feet carried me a step backward before I knew it.
— Thud.
My back hit a tree. A tree that hadn't been there moments ago had simply appeared. And worse — pressed into its bark were countless children's faces.
"?!"
Startled or not, the faces rolled nothing but their eyes to watch me.
"Peekaboo."
I ran.
Back toward where we'd been before entering the Fairy Forest — I hurled myself toward it in a leap.
Only then did I spot Sapi ahead of me.
"Sapi!!"
I bolted toward him on pure instinct. But the instant I got close, Sapi's face split clean in half, and a gigantic mouth bulged out of it. Dozens of hands came crawling out of that mouth.
"Got you."
At those words I slashed out with my lightsaber. I definitely cut it. But no blood came out.
Then laughter rolled out of the entire forest at once.
"Fooled you."
"Fooled you again."
"Humans really do trust other humans."
"Next time, shall I be your mommy instead of your friend?"
I ran. Every time my feet struck the ground, the forest's laughter rang out after me, swelling louder and louder until it threatened to tear my ears apart.
"I hope she falls."
"I hope she cries."
"I like the legs. Just look at those sturdy thighs."
"Should we eat her now?"
"No... we haven't made the contract yet."
In that instant, Lebetri's feet stopped dead.
"...Contract?"
At my word, the forest fell utterly silent.
It was too abrupt. The voices that had been shrieking like mad only moments before vanished completely, as if they had never existed in the first place.
The wind died. Not a single leaf stirred.
The drooling monsters. The faces embedded in the trees. Every last mouth clamped shut.
And then...
One word, more scream than speech. At the sound, the monsters that had only been watching from a distance began moving toward me.
"Make a contract with me!"
"Give me both your legs, and I'll give you something nice."
"This one only gives out weird stuff."
"Mine's awesome!! I'll give you awesome stuff!"
"Give me your shadow..."
"Wait... just hold on—"
The moment I tried to say wait, every monster fixed me with a stare that promised death.
"What's this... you won't contract?"
With that, the monsters' mouths tore open in grotesque splits.
"Guess that means we can eat her after all?"
"What?"
Mouths yawned wide to swallow me whole. And then my body spoke on instinct.
"Contract...."
The monsters' mouths froze.
".... I'll do it."
"... What a shame."
Dozens of voices overlapped into one, as if a single organism were speaking.
Then the monsters' mouths slowly closed... and all at once, every one of them grinned so wide its mouth corners split. They shrieked like children throwing a tantrum.
"Contract! Contract! Contract! Contract! Contract! Contract!"
Out of that bedlam, one colossal hand rose and blotted the monsters from view.
"Contract with me..."
The voice came from right in front of me — but where a head should have been, only eyes and teeth floated in the air. Instinct told me I had to contract with this one.
"Fine. I'll contract with you."
The monster's teeth bent vertically, then curled into something like a smile.
"Your vision is narrow... When you leap, you throw yourself straight ahead — and the moment you do, you can't spare a thought for your surroundings. All you see is what's in front of you."
"And how would you—"
"So I'll grant it. The power to see every presence and every movement within a twenty-meter radius of where you stand."
"Deals like that usually don't come cheap, though?"
"KWAHAHAHAHA!!"
Insane laughter reverberated through the air — and with it, the monster's pupils dilated wide.
"When you sleep, your save point is forcibly reset to the moment you fell asleep."
"What? How do you know about my ability...? No — that's far too steep a price..."
"A price? For a good-for-nothing who abandoned her comrade and ran? I'd say it's no loss at all..."
"..."
Sapi's face rose in my mind — Sapi, who might still be fighting those enemies even now.
"If you went back to a point even earlier than right now, is there anything you could actually do?"
"..."
"There isn't!!"
The colossal hand closed around my body.
"Update your save point."
The floating eyes fixed themselves on me.
"In exchange, I'll give you that blessing I spoke of — the Thousand Eyes Blessing."
"... I'll contract."
And with that, my world went dark.
Where is this? My body was walking toward somewhere, moving without my say-so...
Only after a long stretch of walking did my steps finally stop. Before me stood Beam — and a man whose faded red trench coat and heavy beard were impossible to miss.
"And what are you supposed to be? This woman's companion?"
"..."
"Well... no need to answer. This woman has to die anyway."
In that instant, the man's fist sent Beam's head flying.
"So — who are you, then?"
"..."
"Hm. Wandering around dazed... and strolling straight up to me. Looks like you made a contract with the fairies."
Fairies? Those things I'd seen... were fairies?
No — more importantly, who even was this man?
"Hmph... if you won't talk, I'll have no choice but to kill you..."
The man kept walking toward me. But why? Why did it feel like no attack I could muster would get through to him...
And then, from somewhere far off, Sapi's voice rang out. The closer Sapi came, the more vividly I could sense him... no — see him. I could see him even without looking in that direction.
"Lebetri!! You there?"
"Sapi!!!!"
"What's that — Sapi, you say?"
Sapi came sprinting toward us, then took in the sight of me and this man. And the man, catching sight of Sapi... greeted him?
"Long time no see, Sapi. Been keeping well?"
"...Well enough, I suppose, Uncle Kang Do-hyun."
"She your subordinate?"
"No, sir. She's my companion."
"Still clinging to fragile things like 'companions,' are you?"
"This time will be different."
Hearing Sapi out, Kang Do-hyun turned and strolled away into the distance until he was gone.
"Lebetri, you okay?"
"I'm... okay, I guess... but what exactly is that man to you?"
"..."
Sapi's silence. A few seconds later, he finally spoke.
"Just an old comrade. Someone who was chasing the same goal I was."
"Is that so...?"
"So — what deal did you strike with the fairies?"
"The Thousand Eyes Blessing... it lets me see everything within a twenty-meter radius around me."
"And the price...?"
I hesitated. My regression had picked up a risk. But the moment I explained it, I would have to admit I was a regressor.
I trusted Sapi now — but even so, I didn't want to tell him what I was. So I just said...
"I don't really know."
An excuse so absurd it defied belief... the kind not even a little kid would buy.
"So forgetting the contract's risk was part of the contract's terms, I take it."
"Huh?"
Apparently, contracts that erased your memory of the terms were common enough. But Sapi's face looked grave.
"The Thousand Eyes Blessing... I suppose we'll have to settle for this."
Murmuring it quietly, Sapi turned to me and asked:
"Sorry, but it looks like we have to head further south. Trust me again..."
"Okay. I will."
"Huh?"
Sapi couldn't know it, but I remembered — over and over, countless times — every moment my doubt of him had ended in failure. This time, I had resolved to trust him from the very start.
As we moved in that direction, one question nagged at me.
"So where are we going, exactly?"
"Ah... my swordsmanship master."
The image of Sapi seizing the Void Sword out of thin air and cutting came to mind.
"Then he sounds trustworthy."
"..."
"Sapi? What's wrong?"
"We're being pursued."
"Running is a good choice."
"That's a bit abrupt, no? You're the one who said the only reason they'd come south was the Fairy Forest..."
"Shut it, you stupid Breeding Uncle. I'm in top form right now."
After that irritable retort, my wings snapped open with a deep, thunderous beat.
— Fwooom.
"But... running away...."
In a blink I tore across dozens of meters, skimming over the forest canopy like a blade across water.
"Because chasing prey down and devouring it is always so much more thrilling than letting it run."
How long did I fly like that?
"Found them!"
But the two of them seemed to sense my presence, and their speed began to climb. In that case...
All I had to do was seal off their movement.
I stretched my hand out into the empty air. Sticky golden honey stretched long from my fingertips, then launched itself at them like arrows.
One hit from this honey and moving would be a real chore, no? But the Yellow Hair twisted aside without even glancing at it, and Lebetri snapped away in a blistering straight-line leap.
The one I had to kill right now was this Lebetri!!
Ignoring the Yellow Hair, I shot straight toward her. As for you, Yellow Hair... I'd save you for dessert.
The Linear Leap. The moment you start minding your surroundings, your speed bleeds away — which is exactly why your eyes lock onto what's ahead and nothing else.
I'd use that. An attack from Lebetri's blind spot, to bind her in place!
Golden honey arrows burst from my hand and streaked toward her. But... a hard brake?
That was definitely an attack fired from her blind side. A coincidence?
This time, a predictive shot. Even so, a thruster popped out of Lebetri's elbow and she broke hard to the left.
This little bastard... Her field of vision is way too wide, isn't it?
Fine, then... just how far did that vision reach? Time to find out.
I liked manufacturing blind spots even where none existed. It was so much more thrilling that way.
Honey arrows flew at Lebetri again — and again the thruster slid out from her left elbow as she broke hard to the right.
But I had anticipated it — my arrows were already flying toward that exact spot... launched from forty meters away from Lebetri.
Now then... no matter how wide your vision was, could you really see this far? Mid-turn, barely able to maneuver, the way you were?
"Kgh...!"
The honey slammed into Lebetri's left shoulder — burying itself in her prosthetic arm. Just as I'd predicted.
She wouldn't be breaking right again anytime soon. Not with my honey in the way. And herding her like this — caging her range of movement before striking at the very end... that would be the ideal play....
But not me!! A boring method like that isn't thrilling!!
I coiled honey around my right arm and shaped it into a drill... then pitched into a steep dive to skewer Lebetri dead!
In an instant, my speed could hit 1,110 kilometers per hour!
— Crack!!!
With the scream of tearing air, I hurtled down at Lebetri.
"Feel my instantaneous climax for yourself!!!"
— Bang!!
What was that sound? The thought barely formed as I moved in for the kill — and the honey drill sheathing my right arm burst into fragments. Who? Someone had attacked me? From where?
"Predictive shots are used like this."
The Yellow Hair was saying it from far away, sniper rifle in hand.
— Bang!!
Another gunshot cracked. I wrenched my body aside and barely dodged the round... but Lebetri's blade took my right arm off.
No way. Had that shot been pure bait to hold my gaze?
"But...."
I deliberately curled my lips into a grin so wide it turned grotesque. Then I flung my other hand open, and sticky honey scattered across the entire area.
"Seal off every route of movement... and the meal becomes so much easier to devour."
Moving would be a nightmare for them now. What would they do?
The Yellow Hair didn't stop. If anything, he came running straight at me, weaving between the scattered pools of honey.
"...Huh?"
Not a shred of fear. Well — fine by me.
Then we'd settle it face to face before that rifle could sing again!! Spreading my wings wide—
— Fwooom.
— I closed the distance in an instant. This time there was nowhere left to dodge. Sure, I didn't have the time to shape a drill, but this one fist would be more than enough!
— Bang!!
But this time the bullet flew wide, with no intention of hitting me at all — and the honey beneath my feet erupted like a bomb.
"What the—?"
That last shot had struck my honey. But it had only just left my fingertips — it should still have been sticky and wet. So how?
Could it be... the honey arrows I'd used against Lebetri had hardened by now — and he'd figured that out and shot accordingly?
While I was still puzzling it over, the Yellow Hair shouted.
"Lebetri!"
"Yeah!"
Lebetri leaped toward me. If she pushed along that line, she could take my head clean off.
But the move was way too obvious!!
— Fwooom.
A single beat of my wings and I slipped aside with ease. The dangerous one right now wasn't Lebetri — it was the Yellow Hair.
The moment that thought settled, laughter spilled out of me.
"God, this is such a rush."
I couldn't be certain, but my gut told me — that Yellow Hair and my fighting style were a match made in heaven!
Then the Yellow Hair muttered something I couldn't begin to parse.
"The spot will do nicely... so if that comes now..."
In that moment, the sun was being devoured by a black moon. As the light drained away, broad daylight bled into night. Silver flames flickered along the rim of the blackened sun.
Yes — an eclipse.
"Lebetri. You trust me, right?"
"Of course I do."
— Bang!!
Then the Yellow Hair did something unthinkable — he shot his own companion.
And then...
— Bang!!
The Yellow Hair put a bullet through his own head as well. When the eclipse ended and light seeped back into the world, both the Yellow Hair and Lebetri were gone.
"Hey!! Did you find Lebetri?"
Only then did I see the Breeding Uncle sprinting toward me from far away.
"Yeah. Found her."
"So where is she now?"
"They fled into a Domain."
"What?"
The Breeding Uncle looked completely flustered. Me? Not at all. If anything, I was thrilled.
This Yellow Hair... your unpredictable style would go perfectly with my own brand of unpredictable.
Yoo-hoo, Yellow Hair~