Gyeongseong’s Hunter Academy

In the collapsing cave, lava rising everywhere.

Renka, blocking the Spirit Gate leading outside from the crumbling basecamp, glared at Aoki and said.

『Stop! Aoki-shosa!』

Flames rose from the blade of the sword that Renka held up. Stopped in front of Renka, Aoki grinned, clutching his severed left wrist as sweat streamed down his face.

『Oh my. I wonder why you are acting like this, My Lady. There seems to be some misunderstanding for you to be blocking me…….』

『Misunderstanding? It seems I understand far too well, Aoki-shosa! The series of events that have happened here, were your-』

『Haha…… Let’s first go out, My Lady. I shall explain everything. It is about time you know……』

Renka, without saying a word, continued glaring at Aoki-shosa with her sword still held up. Over his shoulder, she could see Baek Cheol-yeon running towards them from the distance.

‘Shirabayashi-san.’

She knew he would be here.

‘You realized long ago that Aoki-shosa was the monster hunting the Joseon people…….’

She thought he had come to the Spirit Gate to punish Aoki-shosa. However, Baek Cheol-yeon hid the fact that Aoki-shosa was a murderer from her. Why was that?

It wasn’t difficult to guess what he was thinking.

‘He was afraid to hurt me.’

Renka tried to guess Baek Cheol-yeon’s feelings.

‘He thought I would be hurt if he told me that Aoki-shosa, my fiancé, was a monster and that he would punishing him.’

That was probably why Baek Cheol-yeon had decided to carry this weight alone without telling Renka. Renka bit her lip.

‘But, Shirabayashi-san, there is something you do not know.’

From the point of view of Baek Cheol-yeon, someone with a strong nationalistic spirit as a Joseon person, Aoki-shosa was a target that should be disposed of, but also from Renka’s point of view, he was just a murderer she didn’t want around her. And what was more unacceptable for her, was that this monster was her fiancé.

Even if it was her father’s will, this was something she just couldn’t follow.

‘I would rather him dead!’

She had wished for him to be killed in the battlefield every single night, so much that she even dreamt about it. But it never came to be, and Renka had no choice, so she just put it out of her memory and just put up with it.

However, this time it was different.

‘Shirabayashi-san can defeat this man.’

Renka though, looking at Aoki-shosa’s severed wrist. He would have probably had his hand cut off in a fight with Baek Cheol-yeon. And Aoki-shosa would have taken advantage of the cave collapsing to try to run away.

‘I have to waste time.’

Roar!

Renka swung her sword. A huge flame roared along the trajectory of the blade, but Aoki-shosa easily dodged it with a quick movement.

『Phew…… Well, it seems I have no choice.』

Renka’s Awakened ability was engulfing her blade with fire. However, that only worked when she cut an enemy, and if she couldn’t it wouldn’t do much. In the end, it came down to swordsmanship.

Of course, Renka’s swordsmanship level was high enough that she could easily slay mid-level, but there was still a gap between her and Aoki.

A gap in experience, and a gap in swordsmanship. On top of that, Renka’s fear of Aoki created a bigger gap between them.

『I may have lost my left hand, but you, My Lady, cannot hurt me.』

Although he only had his right hand, Aoki-shosa lightly deflected Renka’s sword. No, considering the sword-pistol he wielded was a one-handed sword to begin with, it would not make much of a difference whether he had his left hand or not.

『……!』

When Renka dropped her sword from Aoki’s fierce attack, he sheathed his sword-pistol and rapidly got close to Renka and raised his right hand,

『Please forgive me for this moment of rudeness, My Lady.』

He said, and he slapped Renka on the cheek with his black-gloved hand.

***

Murasaki, who was running after me, also noticed something unusual was happening, and said, panicking.

『W-What is this! Shirabayashi! What is happening!』

『……!』

I watched the battle between Renka and Aoki taking place in front of me. However, before they even crossed swords a couple times, Renka fell to the ground after being hit by Aoki.

‘Damn it.’

Although Renka had managed to delay Aoki for a few seconds, there were still about 10 meters between him and me. Aoki was on the verge of going through the Spirit Gate with the fallen Renka in his arms.

If he got out, it was over. There were bound to be a lot of people on Aoki-shosa’s side outside, and there was no chance anybody would believe me anyway. In the end, it was me who would get fucked.

What happened here had to end here.

I grabbed my practice sword and threw it at him with all my strength. I was going for his lower body. The flying sword grazed Aoki’s shin and left a deep cut.

『Aaaaaargh!』

Aoki dropped Renka and rolled over on the floor. I took advantage of that opportunity, finally getting close to Aoki, picked up my practice sword, and immediately raised it to get the finishing blow in.

But,

『Shirabayashi, you punk! You lowly Joseon punk, what do you think you are doing to a soldier of the Japanese Empire?!』

Murasaki said, as he stood in between us.

‘What the fuck?’

『Haha…… Ha! HAHAHAHA!』

Aoki, who was still on the floor, looked at Murasaki with a satisfied smile and saked.

『Hmph…… Boy, what is your name?』

『Murasaki! I am Murasaki Kenji!』

『Fufu…… And I am Aoki-shosa! Murasaki, lad, why have you helped me?』

At those words, Murasaki answered bravely, still pointing his sword at me.

『Because I couldn’t just stand by seeing a cocky Joseon punk trying to harm a soldier of the Empire! Shosa!』

『Ooh……! Do you also hate Joseon people?』

『I do!』

『Very well! I shall remember you. I, Aoki, shall pay you back if I get out of here.』

I spoke to Murasaki.

『Murasaki. Don’t do this. This guy’s the culprit responsible for the disappearance of Korean Yeopsas.』

『What……? F-Fuzakeru na(Fuck off)! The Joseon people are so stupid that they got killed by a dangerous monster! Just because you’re one of them, trying to make me believe your lies-』

『I’m not lying. Think hard about it.』

『Ugh……!』

The end of Murasaki’s blade shook. I took advantage of that small gap in Murasaki’s defense and approached him, smashing his shin with the back of my sword.

『Argh!』

Murasaki fell down to the ground holding his shin. I immediately turned to Aoki,

—Click.

My body reacted first to the sound and I reflexively raised my sword in the direction of the sound.

Ding!

The blade cracked in a spider web pattern, and at the same time, bang, a loud gunshot. Aoki with his gun pointed at me, and a lead bullet embedded in my sword.

『……!』

『Damn, I cannot believe you blocked it.』

Aoki murmured and pulled the trigger again.

Bang!

I blocked it once more, but this second bullet managed to break my blade and got stuck in my abdomen.

If I had a bulletproofing artifact, or my empowering was a higher level, I could have blocked this bullet, but the problem was that I didn’t have either.

“Ugh!”

At least, thanks to infusing mana into my sword, I had managed to offset most of the bullet’s kinetic energy, so the wound was shallow. But the moment I was hit, I was forced to the ground due to the pain, and Aoki laughed loudly as he saw this.

『HAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!…… Did you forget that my weapon is basically a gun? I enjoy the sword due to the feeling when I slay Joseon people, but shooting is also a basic skill for soldiers…… Huff, puff……』

Aoki staggered to his feet, breathing heavily.

『Phew…… I cannot die here. Do you expect me – a man who has still to kill one more disgusting Joseon shit that stinks of garlic, a man that still has a lot of work to do for “the cause” – to die here? It is you who will die! Die, you Joseon-jin……』

He pointed his gun at me again, as he said this,

At that moment, a blade stuck out of his stomach. Aoki looked down at the blade that had pierced through his abdomen.

『……?』

Murasaki was standing behind Aoki. Aoki twisted his face and threw up blood, and he said.

『You……! Uragiri (betrayal)……!』

『Damn it, I never thought I would stab a soldier for something I hate so much, a Joseon person……』

『Why, Murasaki?!』

Murasaki murmured with a confused expression.

『Why? Because I realized it from your words, shosa! That you are the culprit responsible for the disappearance of the Joseon people!』

『Ack……! So what now! Why would you suddenly take the Joseon-jins’ side! You said you hated-』

『Damn it! Listen well, shosa!……』

Murasaki continued, firmly holding his sword.

『The reason why I hate Joseon people…… Truth is, I’m not an honest person myself, but I hated the fact that Joseon people ignored the law like it was nothing!』

『So?! So what?!』

Murasaki raised his voice and shouted as Aoki asked back, vomiting blood.

『Do you not know?! ……Damn it! My father told me! That even if they are Joseon people, they are still citizens of the Great Japanese Empire, under the rule of His Majesty! He told me that we, Japanese people, are the ones who should take responsibility and lead them!』

『What……!』

『But, someone like you, someone who massacres the subjects of the Great Japanese Empire without any proper process…… It is you the uragirimono (traitor) that should be removed from our Empire!』

With those words Murasaki pulled out his sword. Aoki slowly turned to Murasaki, spewing blood from his abdomen, and cried out, staring at him like a ghost.

『Kisama(mother fucker)……!』

『……Uck!』

Murasaki raised his sword as if he were to cut through Aoki’s neck, but when his eyes met Aoki’s, his two hands holding his sword and two legs trembled. Aoki continue, full of rage.

『You fucker! I have a sacred cause! It is all prearranged, a grand plan you would not understand! To this end, killing a few Joseon people is an indispensable sacrifice of a few!』

『Hiccup!』

Overcome by Aoki’s power, Murasaki sank to the floor and began hiccupping. No matter how much of a bully he was, he was still the son of a police officer and just a 17-year-old boy. He had probably never killed anyone.

‘I have to step up.’

I endured the pain in my stomach and got up. Aoki noticed me, but there was no way he could stand up with the fatal wound that had already pierced his abdomen.

『AAARGH! MY ARM!』

I swung my sword and cut Aoki’s remaining right arm,

『AAAAAAAARGGGGHHHH!』

And I continued by cutting both of his ankles. Aoki fell to the wrong, having lost both feet.

『My arms! My legs! MY LEEEEGS!…… T-This can’t be happening! If I get out! IF ONLY I GET OOOUUUUUT!』

Aoki struggled to crawl on his half-cut limbs, but to make matters worse, lava was quickly approaching him and had already began to engulf his lower body.

『AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!』

I looked at Aoki and thought.

‘Slowly burn to death in this collapsing cave.’

I had no intention of showing mercy to a man like that. He deserved to die as slowly and as painfully as possible.

I turned my back on Aoki, approached Murasaki, who was still sitting on the ground, and reached my hand out.

『Let’s go, Murasaki.』

『……Hmph! Don’t think I helped you!』

Murasaki didn’t grab my hand and stood up on his own. I thought.

‘You’re my accomplice, now.’

Even if a police investigation was conducted for Aoki’s disappearance, Murasaki, who had now become my accomplice, would stay quiet about it. Besides, he was the head of the Jongno Police Station chief, so he’d definitely try his upmost to hide this fact.

After Murasaki got to his feet, I took the pistol-sword that Aoki dropped, thrust it into my belt, and approached Renka, who was still passed out on the stone floor in front of the Spirit Gate.

‘She’s passed out.’

Passing out after a slap. Suddenly, I remembered the gloves Aoki was wearing. I took the glove off of Aoki’s severed right arm.

‘Renka passed out right after she got slapped with this glove.’

It looked like an ordinary military leather glove, but I could feel some magic coming from it. Could it be an artifact with a stun effect? I shoved the glove in my pocket, deciding to check it better later, and approached Renka again to wake her up.

『Renka, Renka. Wake up.』

After I lightly slapped her a couple times, Renka slowly opened her eyes.

『Uhm…… Shirabayashi-san……?』

It indeed seemed she had fainted. I asked Renka.

『Can you move?』

『Dream……?』

Her eyes were open, but she seemed to still be hazy after waking up from fainting, and was talking gibberish. I had no choice so I lifted Renka in my arms, and walked towards the Spirit Gate that was only half its original size.

『Lady! MY LADYYY!』

Behind my back, I heard Aoki’s cries, whose lower body had already been completely consumed by the lava.

『My Lady, you should now know! About out plans! For that, please-』

However, Renka, in my arms, looked down at Aoki-shosa with a hazy stare,

『Fufu…… It’s exactly how I saw it in my dreams……』

She said with a smile, and then closed her eyes again, with a smile on her lips and a relaxed face. Looking at that peaceful face, I gulped.

No matter how much she hated him, this was her reaction to seeing her fiancé being mutilated and burned to death in lava.

‘She’s definitely a scary girl…….’

With this in my mind, I walked out of the crumbling Spirit Gate with Renka in my arms, leaving behind Aoki, who was crying out his last howl.

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