Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: My Hero (9)
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Fran the elf hated humans.
Elves were beings who lived in harmony with nature. Creatures who sustained themselves on the vital energy emanating from animals and plants.
The human race had rubbed her the wrong way ever since the Middle Ages. They'd dump corpses and filth into rivers, wiping out freshwater salmon populations.
Under the pretext of cultivation, they'd tear down forests and build villages and cities in their place.
And don't get her started on the Industrial Revolution.
The carbon emissions and selfishness they spewed forth killed off plants and animals alike, inflicting agony on the planet itself.
The more humans indulged their greed, the more elves—bound to live amid nature—lost their habitats.
In the end, only a scant few elves survived to carry on their lineage.
So when Zero One declared the society's plan to reduce human numbers, Fran backed him wholeheartedly.
Though she was just a lowly oddity, not even an administrator, Fran—popular among the oddities for her stunning beauty—managed to sway a fair number of them after some deliberation. That earned her Zero One's trust.
Honestly, she'd prefer if the society's goal was outright extinction, but that was something she could handle on a personal level down the line.
What mattered right now was...
She gazed down at Han Cheong-ah, collapsed before her.
Subduing Han Cheong-ah had been a breeze.
A solid whack to the head with the compact bludgeon in her hand, and the girl crumpled without so much as resisting.
"So this bitch is supposed to be the weapon that wipes out humanity."
The society had three scenarios for human reduction.
The easiest by far was the 'Dimensional Beast Domination' scenario. Use the queen to artificially trigger a 'wave' and lay waste to human cities.
Of course, even failing to destroy every city was fine.
Just limiting their access to food, clothing, and shelter would do the trick—they'd self-destruct out of sheer greed.
Humans were the type of creatures who, when faced with threats to their lives, opted to rob their fellow man rather than band together.
"Kukuku."
Fran pulled out a syringe.
It contained the liquid form of Experimental Awake.
According to Alchemi, it was twenty times more potent than the standard stuff.
Even a Psyker with an Erosion Rate near zero would transform into a Dimensional Beast after one shot.
Waking the queen was simple.
Let the psychic virus take control of her body.
With eager anticipation, Fran jabbed the needle into Han Cheong-ah's vein.
"Sweet dreams."
Now, where's the best spot to spectate from?
Fran turned to leave, her steps lighter and more excited than they'd been since arriving in Academy City.
Alas, that dream was not to be.
Puk. Puk. Slash.
"Ah...?"
Fran's vision split in two.
Her head had been cleaved perfectly down the middle.
The world's sharpest blade of wind shredded her body into pieces.
The girl who had torn Fran apart rose slowly, her body splattered with chunks of flesh and blood.
She had the look of a bright, lively beauty with an expressionless face.
But calling her Han Cheong-ah so casually felt wrong.
With a gaze as emotionless as a doll's, the girl looked down at what had once been Fran—what was now just a pile of meat—and opened her mouth.
"─────♬" The beautiful queen's Aria began to echo slowly throughout Academy City.
The Aria was nothing more than a simple melody without lyrics.
Yet her loyal subjects grasped the meaning embedded within it and turned their steps to heed the queen's command.
The girl began summoning her faithful minions to this place.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Meanwhile, in Academy City's 13th District, a fierce battle was underway.
"Whew~ 2nd-grade Dimensional Beast subjugation complete."
"Doesn't look like we get a break. 1st-grade beast sighted 500 meters to the right. Requesting backup. Han Ga-eul, Do Bae-man, Kim Seo-gwang."
"Dimensional Beasts everywhere. Hey, you bastard. Screw up this time, and I'll sell you off at Moran Market."
"Ease up."
All the Irregulars dosed with Experimental Awake had turned into Dimensional Beasts, leaving just three people in the 13th District who could still be called human.
They were all rank-1 hunters, elite members of the 'Hound Dog' team once led by Lee Gyeo-ul.
The girl gleefully smashing Dimensional Beast skulls with her baseball bat was named Han Ga-eul.
The man silently battling with his legs and two fists was Kim Seo-gwang.
The man wielding a sword, accelerating faster than anyone on the battlefield to slice through beast flesh, was Yamada Sota.
And there was one beastkin savagely tearing into them with teeth (the type that shady rich folks with fat wallets might fancy). Surprisingly, its name was Do Bae-man.
Each was a leader running their own hunter team under the association, but they'd all gathered in Academy City at Lee Gyeo-ul's summons.
Busy as they were, none could refuse her request. They'd rushed over in response to her curt message: Large-scale Dimensional Beast outbreak expected in Academy City.
It had been a long time apart, but their bodies remembered.
They supported each other with teamwork straight out of a fantasy—rarer than rare among hunter squads.
"Fuck, how many people have turned? Feels like a damn wave hit."
Han Ga-eul grumbled as she slung her bloodied bat over her shoulder.
The Dimensional Beasts were endless. Process one, and another lunged like a zombie. It was straight out of an apocalypse flick.
"This is why you 'Joseonjing' lack grit. Red from the elite task force said it: trials are your friends that make you stronger—!"
Sota struck a pose from one of his favorite anime characters and declared it boldly.
"Watch your mouth, you Jap."
"Your old man's a pro-Japanese traitor running a ramen joint..."
"Bring the miso."
Kim Seo-gwang bristled at 'pro-Japanese traitor,' while Do Bae-man twitched at 'miso.' They eyed each other.
"Wanna go a round here, Yi Wan-yong?"
"Today's dog days or what?"
Even amid the swarming beasts, they bantered without a hint of tension—that was their style.
And as they squabbled like always...
"─────♬" The Aria rang out.
As the song reverberated, the Dimensional Beasts charging toward them abruptly changed course.
Han Ga-eul frowned at the sudden shift.
Like bees scenting honey, the beasts began moving in a pack.
"What the hell."
"Break time?"
Sota sheathed his sword and let out a sigh.
He'd bluffed about trials and grit, but they were bone-tired from battling endless hordes.
"No way it's a break, no matter how you slice it. Smells bad."
Do Bae-man's near-instinctual nose picked up on the 'dangerous presence' drawing the beasts.
"Come to think of it, that one's around."
Kim Seo-gwang muttered curtly.
"That one?"
"The reason Winter Captain quit hunting. The pink-haired girl found in the rift."
"Ah, no way."
They exchanged brief glances.
They knew about Han Cheong-ah.
And each had their suspicions about why Lee Gyeo-ul had acted so irrationally to save the girl.
The entire Hound Dog team knew something in her had broken during the 'Department Store Incident.'
Once, Korea's top hunters beyond rank-1 had gathered for a meeting.
It was about handling Han Cheong-ah—a girl harboring the potential for catastrophic harm to humanity.
Lee Gyeo-ul, the association's strongest voice, had fiercely advocated for 'observation and protection,' averting execution.
But...
"If she shows any sign of becoming a threat to humanity, kill her on the spot."
"Got it memorized."
They began preparing to relocate.
Even knowing what Han Cheong-ah meant to Lee Gyeo-ul, they checked their gear.
They were hunters. Thorough slayers of humanity's enemies.
No matter if it was their leader's cherished one—if there was reason to kill, they would.
It was always their answer to the mad chariot dilemma. Hounds by name had no reason to hesitate.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The queen gazed at the sky.
The red sky hung serene, but beyond it churned a maelstrom of crimson storms and blizzards clawing at each other.
Peering into the sky's depths with her special eyes, the queen realized her purpose.
The reason for her birth. The reason she stood here—
All creation must kneel at her feet.
"─────♬" ⟨ Great Queen, Be Eternal ⟩
Praise the queen. Praise her. Forever in praise. Though prosperity and decline cycle endlessly, the queen's existence shall never change. Faithful servants of the queen. Faithful slaves. Faithful children. Faithful destroyers. Fight for me. Die for me. Annihilate this world for me. That is the sole loyalty you, born solely for destruction, can offer me. "─────♬" ⟨ Until This Blue Star Is Shrouded in the Queen's Legions, Let This Song Never Cease ⟩