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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“Master! Master!”
In the middle of an unfamiliar street.
Bersha, who was summoned there, urgently called out to Han Tae-jin.
She had quickly polymorphed into Renia’s form while being summoned and transported.
It was her first outdoor summoning since meeting her master.
-‘If someone sees me summoning you, troublesome rumors might spread. Or you might receive unnecessary attention and misunderstandings.’
She had told her master countless times, until her ears were sore, that he should summon her whenever something happened.
But every time, he would tell her the same thing as above.
Unnecessary attention was bound to bring unnecessary trouble.
He didn’t want to put her in danger because of those things.
Yet, here he was, summoning her to the middle of a street in the late afternoon when there were bound to be many people around.
This clearly indicated that he was in a crisis he couldn’t handle alone and was unable to call for help.
Renia urgently and desperately called out for Tae-jin.
And soon,
“Renia, I’m here.”
Her master’s voice echoed, and she hurried over, clutching her chest in relief. Blood trickled from his temple, his voice was weak, and his breath came in ragged gasps.
Renia, almost in tears, supported him as his condition seemed poor.
“M-Master! What happened?!”
Tae-jin silently pointed somewhere with his finger.
There, a grotesque monster, a fusion of spider and human was hissing menacingly.
“It’s a villain. Around B-rank.”
“That thing did this to you?!”
“Well, something like that.”
“Ugh, seriously!”
-*Slap!*
Suddenly, Renia slapped Tae-jin’s back with her hand.
Of course, she hadn’t put any force behind it, so it was just a loud sound.
Like a mother’s exasperated slap on the back.
“Ouch!”
“You deserve it! Honestly! This is why I can’t leave you alone! Why do you keep getting hurt?!”
Renia poured out her frustrations.
She was so worried, she felt like she couldn’t live.
What kind of fate did he have that he was marked with a [Salvation] covenant and was constantly getting caught up in dangerous situations?
She was upset and angry.
The target of her anger was, naturally, the one who had put her master in this state.
Tae-jin scratched the sore spot between his shoulder blades and whined in protest.
“Ow, that hurts, Renia.”
“It’s supposed to hurt! Seriously! What would you have done without me?!”
“But protecting the safety of citizens is a Hunter’s duty.”
Tae-jin’s calm words left Renia momentarily speechless.
She couldn’t understand how he could talk about sacrificing himself for complete strangers as if it were a natural duty, when he could have easily died.
A frustrated complaint escaped her lips.
“But Master, you’re still a cadet…!”
But,
“…Renia, but now’s not the time…”
“Ah!”
At Tae-jin’s words, Renia gasped and quickly turned her head.
She glared at the villain, who was standing there awkwardly.
“So it was ‘that’ bastard? The one who did this to my Master?”
“The Holders will be here soon. We just need to buy some time.”
“No.”
“Huh?”
Renia’s eyes flashed with a chillingly sharp glint.
Dark magic, as black as night, began to blaze around her.
In her hands, the same black magic swirled like a black hole.
Soon, her frustration toward her master, who always sacrificed himself for others, turned toward the villain.
And her anger over the expensive sea dragon fin stew she had been preparing was also directed at the villain.
-*Crack, crack.*
Cracking sounds, as if bones were being reassembled, echoed from within her clothes.
It was the gradual release of her Polymorph.
And soon, her fingernails grew thick and long, like a lynx’s claws.
“Renia? Are you sure?”
Even if she was the Succubus Queen, the opponent was a B-rank villain, a fusion of human and monster.
Tae-jin asked with somewhat worry, but Renia’s lips curled into a sinister smile.
She almost looked…excited.
“I’ll kill anyone who touches my Master.”
“…”
For some reason, a chill ran down Tae-jin’s spine at that sight.
“Renia…?”
“If we catch that thing and sell its legs, we could make some money, right?”
“Well… I guess so?”
The bodies of villains dominated by monsters could be sold.
As long as they were well-preserved in their monster form.
Of course, since they were mixed with human traces, they were sold for less than pure monster corpses.
Nevertheless, Renia’s eyes lit up.
“But why do you ask?”
“I have something to collect.”
“Collect?”
-*Growl.*
-*Whoosh!*
At that moment, the creature suddenly lunged as if attempting a surprise attack.
And at the same time, Renia dashed forward to meet it head-on.
It was an overwhelmingly fast speed, difficult to follow with the naked eye.
“Give me back my sea dragon stew-! You bastard-!”
-*Boom!*
Moments later, a powerful wave of magical energy created by the collision of two powerful forces spread through the street filled with abandoned cars and debris.
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“Team Leader! The mana surge momentarily exceeded 2,500 meta!”
“What? At the same location?”
Inside a car speeding with sirens blaring, a man spoke while looking at the device’s screen. The woman driving frowned and asked.
After graduating from the academy, she was immediately scouted by the Monster Management Bureau, and within five years, she was promoted to headquarters, currently serving as a [Villain Investigation Team Leader].
She was a woman with a youthful yet sharp appearance, her parted bangs falling to her chin. Despite her short hair, she had tied her side and back hair into a small ponytail that suited her well
As always, she was dressed in a drab bomber jacket, dark blue skinny jeans, and black sneakers.
A rugged yet stylish look, reflecting her unique free-spirited fashion.
Her name was Kim Hye-seo.
At the age of 26, she had received a [Diamond] rank in the headquarters evaluation and been promoted to team leader, an elite among elites.
In the world of Holders, where ranks were determined annually through written and practical exams, acquiring the Diamond rank, just below the highest rank of [Platinum], in just five years was an exceptional feat.
Thus, she was a well-known figure among both Holders and Hunters.
Diamond-ranked Holders were often jokingly compared to S-class hunters.
Of course, Hunters dismissed it as a preposterous notion.
Only three Platinum rank Holders were known to the public so far.
Their exact identities were shrouded in secrecy, but their abilities were said to be so formidable that they could clear S-rank dungeons on their own.
Of course, it was still just a rumor.
The anecdotal tales of these three legendary figures were constantly being distorted, inflating and deflating like a balloon.
It was generally known that Holders trained in a heavily guarded underground special training facility to prevent information leaks to villains.
Because they trained in a highly secure facility, no one knew about it. Unlike the somewhat standardized dungeon raids of Hunters,
The Holders’ training was different due to the ever-changing combat tendencies and mutations of villains.
So, there were many cases where Holders died during training.
Of course, the number and reasons were unclear.
Anyway, her main duty as an elite Holder was ‘villain investigation.’
That included grasping the movements of villains, locating their bases and creating organizational charts through backtracking, and conducting joint investigations through spies.
Kim Hye-seo was the head of the team responsible for the comprehensive investigation of villains operating in the capital.
“Damn it, there are too many people.”
Hye-seo slammed the steering wheel.
The road was in chaos with fleeing people and abandoned cars.
It was impossible to drive.
Finally, Hye-seo slipped out of the driver’s window and stood on the hood of the car.
“Team Leader! Are you going alone?! You should go with the support team…!”
Her subordinate, Dong-jin, grabbed the steering wheel and shouted worriedly.
But Hye-seo was already preparing to jump.
“Shut up, you idiot. If it’s an Arachne serum villain, it’s only B-rank at most.”
“B-but…!”
“When the support team arrives, have them search the surrounding area. If it’s a B-rank, there might be some small fry tagging along.”
-*Whoosh!*
Before she even heard a reply, Hye-seo leaped like a martial arts master.
With a gust of wind, she soared at least 20 meters.
The hood of the car dented from the force of her jump.
And Dong-jin, who now had to write a report as soon as he returned to headquarters, cried out with a grimace.
“Ah! Team Leader-! Stop jumping off the hood-!!”
Of course, his words didn’t reach Hye-seo, who was already flying away.
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‘The mana surge reached 2,500 momentarily?’
If it was an Arachne serum villain, it would definitely be around B-rank. Its mana wouldn’t exceed 1,000, no matter how high.
But the red dot displayed on the device’s coordinates had momentarily spiked to 2,500, meaning there could be something more than just the reported villain.
If it was a villain or Skever, it would be at least A-rank or higher.
This thought only made Hye-seo speed up.
If an A-rank had appeared, the surrounding area would be in ruins and civilians would be massacred.
‘Damn bastards, when did they crawl in again?’
The barrier, which reached the clouds, had thousands of Vulcan cannons mounted on top, shooting down any unauthorized aircraft or flying objects.
And guards were stationed at each entrance to the barrier, maintaining tight security.
Also, there were countless CCTVs in the city, yet a villain had appeared on the streets in broad daylight, as if mocking the security and surveillance.
Low-ranking villains below C-rank were good at hiding their dark mana because their mana levels were low.
Thus, they could pass through the dark mana detectors disguised as humans, but B-rank or higher would be detected.
Especially a reading exceeding 2,500 was impossible to sneak past the detectors.
This is why Hye-seo was so annoyed.
Since she had taken over as the Villain Investigation Team Leader at headquarters, the frequency of villain appearances had been gradually increasing.
Her main task was not to prevent the appearance of villains, but to track their movements, find their organization chart, base, executives, and leader.
In a way, she needed villains to appear.
But lately, the frequent appearances of high-ranking villains were increasing civilian casualties, so she couldn’t be at ease.
That’s why she sped up even more..
To save even one more person.
‘Please….’
Soon, she reached the site of the villain’s appearance. She jumped to the top of a building and looked down at 13th Street where the villain was supposed to be.
‘What? Did someone get here first?’
Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be an A-rank villain.
Two figures were engaged in a fight.
Or rather, the Arachne-type villain was being unilaterally attacked.
‘Who is that? The support team should still be far away.’
It didn’t look like a passing Hunter, as no equipment or weapons were visible.
Especially since the fighting style was hand-to-hand combat.
It was a different style of fighting than a Hunter’s.
It was closer to a Holder’s or a villain’s fighting style than a Hunter’s.
‘But I should be the only one around here.’
Perplexed by the scene, Hye-seo quickly leaped toward the scene.
And soon, she could clearly see the figures she had spotted from afar.
And also.
-*Crack!*
-*Crunch!*
-*Boom!*
She saw a woman tearing apart a B-rank Arachne-type villain with her bare hands.
[Crushing]
That was the perfect word to describe the gruesome scene.
“Sea! Dragon! Stew! It’s all your fault!”
The woman shouted strange words as she tore apart the villain’s steel-hard spider legs and ripped its abdomen.
Covered in blood, the woman looked more like a ‘villain’ than anything else.
‘A, a new type of villain?’
It was a reasonable suspicion.
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RIP the stew.