𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟏: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫
Thud.
Thud, thud.
Blood gushed from Jiken’s severed lower body.
Everyone shivered at the grotesque sight.
“H-hey, hey!”
“Eek!”
Siwoo wiped the blood from his dagger onto Jiken’s clothes.
This is why I like black. It’s easy to clean up after.
“There are four left.”
A cold killing intent flowed from his eyes like a blade.
“R-Run away!!”
“Damn it!”
The survivors ran for the exit. They thought to themselves,
‘𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧! 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚!’
【𝕀𝕥’𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕒 𝕟𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕨-𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨. ℝ𝕦𝕟𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕪 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕒 𝕗𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕣’𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕞𝕖. 𝕎𝕖 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕖. 𝕐𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕞𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕗𝕦𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞.】
“Shut up.”
Siwoo chuckled.
He tapped his toe on the floor.
Mana from his dantian surged through his leg muscles, releasing energy.
Siwoo’s figure disappeared, and the sound of wind cut through the nightclub.
Whir-r-r-r-r
Bam!
Smash!
Thwack!
The gruesome sounds continued.
The necks of the running gang members were sliced one by one, fountains of blood erupting.
It all happened almost simultaneously.
“H-Hey, h-hey, sob!”
The youngest member of the gang, who was running in the front, fell to the floor, his legs giving out.
Thud.
After he fell, something else thudded to the floor.
He turned around, his face trembling.
There was no one standing.
“H-Hyung. . . . . . ?”
“He’s gone.”
Siwoo stood next to him.
The youngest let out a strange sound, not quite a sigh or a lament.
It was a bizarre sound, like a deflating balloon.
He had entered the gang with the intention of making a lot of money.
For two years, he had done dirty work, and only recently had he become a regular employee and received a badge.
As an E-rank Awakener, all he could do as a Hunter was mine mana stones or transport monster corpses.
The dream was glamorous, but the reality was a mess.
That’s why he had come to Cerberus, hoping to make it big.
He had thought that if he just stayed there for 5 or 10 years, he would become a high-ranking executive, but in this place. . . . . .
“Hey.”
“. . . . . . ?”
“Reality is different from novels.”
“S-Sir!”
Smash.
The youngest staggered and collapsed to the floor.
Blood soaked his back.
His body twitched occasionally.
Siwoo wiped the blood from his sword and put it back in its sheath.
Thud, thud.
He leaned towards the unconscious Gang-ho.
Woooosh
A bright golden light enveloped Gang-ho’s head.
Once again, his wounds were healed.
A speed and perfection that was unimaginable for ordinary healers.
Siwoo kicked his head.
A loud crack echoed from his toe and his skull.
“Kuaaagh!! W-What, what is this!!”
“Hey.”
Gang-ho’s body stiffened at the voice.
Instinctively, his body trembled, like a dog’s body stiffens at the sound of a tiger’s roar. It was a very natural reaction.
“Grr. . . . . . Aaaah. . . . . .”
“What are you saying, you cripple.”
Drool ran from Gang-ho’s mouth.
Mixed with the blood he had shed so far, it soaked his clothes.
Siwoo kicked Gang-ho in the abdomen.
It was an incredible speed that Gang-ho, a B-rank Hunter, couldn’t even follow with his eyes.
Bam!
“C-Cough. . . . . . ugh!!”
Gang-ho curled up on the floor like a shrimp, clutching his stomach as if he couldn’t breathe.
“Get up. Before I half-kill you.”
“Ugh. . . . . . ah. . . . . .”
At that eerie threat, Gang-ho got up, tears and snot running down his face.
He couldn’t tell if he couldn’t breathe because he had been hit in the abdomen or because of the man’s terrifying aura.
Even when the gate level changed and a monster came out that they hadn’t expected, even when he had a life-or-death fight with another Hunter, even when he was left alone in a war with an enemy organization.
He had never been this scared.
This man was a perfect predator.
A perfect monster.
‘𝙄’𝙢 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙮.’
Gang-ho’s legs shook like a baby impala.
“Why am I doing this?”
Siwoo asked with a cold, indifferent look.
Even his calm tone of voice sounded anything but ordinary when he spoke.
“I. . . . . . D-Don’t know, s-sir. . . . . .”
“How many times did you hit me earlier?”
“W-What. . . . . . ?”
Gang-ho looked at Siwoo as if he was asking what kind of question that was.
Who counts and hits like that?
“Twenty-three times.”
Siwoo said each word clearly and deliberately.
“I was hit twenty-three times by you.”
“. . . . . . Y-Yes.”
“So I have to hit you the same number of times.”