novelraw Chapter 22 : Chapter 22
Chapter 22 : Chapter 22
Chapter 22. Heosan (3)
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!!
A black explosion soared with a roar that shook the earth.
A massive explosion that swallowed the entire area of this street.
All the Demonic Beasts lured by Saya were caught in that explosion.
Fireballs poured down from above, and explosions erupted from under their feet.
In other words, annihilation.
Dozens of Demonic Beasts were cremated alive by the hands of Riman alone.
“Ow, my ears hurt.”
Meanwhile, Riman was rubbing his ears with both hands.
The explosion had been much louder than he had expected.
Just then, Saya, having completed its mission, flew towards Riman.
It then flapped its wings and circled around Riman.
“Good job.”
Saying so, Riman took out a water bottle and poured water on Saya.
Saya rubbed its body with its wings, washing off the applied drug.
The reason for washing off the drug was that he had no intention of using this method again.
All the Demonic Beasts that could be lured with this drug had already been gathered and blown up.
Anyway, while Saya was bathing like this.
The fire on the street quickly died down.
Riman said to Saya.
“Then Saya, please do me one more favor.”
Whoosh!
Saya flew into the flames where the burnt Demonic Beasts were.
A few minutes later.
Saya flew back to Riman.
It then opened its mouth and spat something out in front of Riman.
Clatter, clatter, clatter-
They were the tags that the dead Demonic Beasts had been wearing.
Saya had rummaged through the corpses of the Demonic Beasts and torn them off.
The target of this hunt, the tags.
The tags were all made of metal plates, so they were intact even in the explosion and flames.
That was why Riman had been able to carry out such a plan.
A plan to lure them into a minefield and blow them up in one go.
If the request had been to cut off their heads instead of the tags, this plan would not have been possible.
Because the corpses would have been completely burned.
In any case, each of these tags was worth 10 million Credits.
Riman quickly counted them as he collected them.
A total of 39.
A total of 390 million Credits.
It was a pretty satisfactory amount.
“Good. Business here is done.”
Riman jumped down from the building.
[Gust]
Fwoooosh!
After safely landing on the ground using the deceleration effect of the gust.
Riman quickly left the scene.
It was certain that hunters would soon flock to this epicenter.
All the hunters in Heosan had probably seen the explosion just now.
‘It’ll be a hassle if I get involved with the hunters.’
With that thought, Riman quickly moved away.
But Riman did not know.
“Hmm, to hog dozens of Demonic Beasts all by yourself… isn’t this a bit lacking in business ethics?”
That there was someone watching him from a great distance.
* * *
A short while later.
“What is this…?”
“What did they do…?”
A dozen or so hunters gathered at the epicenter where the fire had died down.
They had rushed over, wondering what was going on after seeing the explosion just now.
Spread out before them were a shattered road and the charred corpses of Demonic Beasts.
And small black flames burning here and there.
The hunters quickly grasped the situation.
“…The pack of Demonic Beasts that was running earlier all died here.”
“Did they lure them here and then use explosives to catch them?”
“It seems so. But how did they lure the Demonic Beasts…?”
“I don’t know either.”
In any case, the hunters were momentarily stunned by this incredible sight.
Several times more Demonic Beasts had died here than what the hunters present had caught.
But the bewilderment was brief.
Some hunters silently walked into the epicenter and began to rummage through the Demonic Beast corpses.
The other hunters who saw this soon realized the reason.
“Ah right, the tags…!”
The ultimate goal of the hunters gathered here today was not to hunt Demonic Beasts.
It was to collect tags.
Whether the Demonic Beast corpse was burned or dismembered, as long as there was a tag, they could get money.
So the hunters all rushed towards the pile of corpses.
It was a gain if they could salvage even a few.
Of course…
“There’s nothing…”
“Agh, damn it.”
“Vicious bastards, they scraped everything clean.”
Among the grumbling hunters was the protagonist.
The original protagonist of the game
“Agh, struck out.”
Because he had arrived at the Noksan Junkyard a step behind Riman, he had missed out on the information about the escapees, and this time, even his prey had been snatched away.
For some reason, the situation of Riman getting in the way of the protagonist's path kept repeating.
Even though they didn't even know of each other's existence.
In any case, the hunters who had gathered at the epicenter left empty-handed and scattered.
Still, there were a few who remained until the end.
It was to extract the Magic Stones that might still be in the bellies of the Demonic Beasts.
Of course, this too was in vain.
“Damn it!”
“Why isn’t there any?!”
These Demonic Beasts were not ordinary Demonic Beasts.
They were test subjects that had been confined in a laboratory and exposed to various experiments.
Even if there had been Magic Stones in their bodies, they had already been extracted or had melted away during the experiments.
This was the reason why Riman hadn't bothered to rummage through the bellies of the Demonic Beasts.
The massacre that Riman had caused began to gradually change the flow within Heosan Village.
* * *
30 minutes later.
Sizzle, sizzle…
A Demonic Beast, scorched by electricity, was twitching on the ground.
It wasn't dead, but it was practically the same as dead.
It couldn't do anything even when Riman approached and personally tore off the tag on its ear.
“That makes two.”
After sweeping up 39 tags with his lure.
In the 30 minutes that followed, Riman had only caught one Demonic Beast.
Even though he had been searching every nook and cranny.
Riman leaned against a wall to catch his breath.
‘Did I kill too many at once? There aren’t many Demonic Beasts left.’
Of course, it was a content complaint.
Riman's current tag count was 40.
There wasn't a single person here who had collected as many tags as Riman.
Therefore, it would be profitable enough for Riman to leave right now.
But he had no intention of doing so.
Since he was already here, he intended to milk this place for all it was worth before leaving.
Meaning, he had no intention of leaving Heosan until all the Demonic Beasts here were dead.
There was nothing to do even if he left early.
And most of all…
‘The real hunt hasn’t even started yet.’
The goal of those who had entered Heosan Village was to collect as many tags as possible.
The hunters here hunt Demonic Beasts only for that.
But what if the number of Demonic Beasts has decreased too much?
So what if they can no longer earn tags by hunting Demonic Beasts?
The most ideal answer here is to give up and retreat.
But even if the Demonic Beasts decrease, the total number of tags does not.
The tags have simply moved from the Demonic Beasts to humans.
Then, a cruel idea sprouts here.
-If you can’t earn tags by hunting Demonic Beasts, then can't you just hunt the people who have the tags?
If retreating was the ideal answer, then hunting humans was the rational one.
Heosan Village was currently in a state of closure.
A place where no one would be suspected even if someone died.
Considering these situational factors, the ‘rational’ conclusion is that it is most profitable to hunt people and take their tags.
Of course, it is not easy to swing a deadly weapon at an innocent person for profit.
But in a situation like this, someone will inevitably do such a thing.
It is like the first domino, toppling the precariously maintained morality of the group.
And now, that first piece was beginning to move.
The guy who was charging at Riman right now.
KWAAANG!!
An impact like being hit by a truck.
At the same time, the wall Riman had been leaning against crumbled to pieces.
Someone had rushed at Riman from behind the wall.
A surprise attack from a blind spot behind the wall.
But unfortunately, it was unsuccessful.
Riman had already moved far away from the wall.
“Good senses.”
The one who had rushed at Riman was a burly hunter with a thick shield and an axe.
He was wearing thick heavy armor.
Riman said.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“What else would a hunter do but hunt?”
“I’m not a Demonic Beast, you pig bastard.”
“But you have tags.”
“Aha.”
Riman nodded his head and said.
“So as long as you get the tags, it doesn't matter what you hunt, is that it?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“No. Didn't you learn morals? Did you homeschool yourself in etiquette?”
“This bastard…!”
Thwak!
The guy rushed at Riman again.
A charge with a thick, spiky greatshield in front.
It was as intimidating as a boulder charging at him.
But the drawback that all attacks in the world have.
The fact that it’s all good as long as it doesn’t hit.
Riman slightly twisted his body just before the shield reached him and dodged the guy's charge.
The guy's movement path was already clearly visible to him.
But the moment Riman twisted his body.
Whoosh!
The guy took out an axe from behind his shield and swung it horizontally.
The axe blade grazed the tip of Riman's chin.
“Hoo…”
Riman was inwardly impressed by the guy's movement.
He hadn't focused only on the ongoing attack, but had reacted to the opponent's evasion and immediately branched out to another attack.
A sharp combat sense that didn't match his burly build.
Of course, even with this attack, he couldn't even leave a scratch on Riman.
But he was able to restrict Riman's movements for a moment.
That moment was important.
Because this shield man had not come here alone.
Swoosh-
A sharp thrust pierced towards Riman, whose movement was halted.
A sword tip thrusting in from a complete blind spot.
An exquisitely timed, bold, and clean sword path.
It was not the shield man's attack.
It was someone else's attack.
Dodging was impossible.
It could only be blocked.
At that moment, Riman's casting speed shone.
[Protection]
CLANG!!
The defensive barrier deployed between the sword tip and Riman blocked the attack.
While the sword tip was blocked by the barrier, Riman quickly distanced himself.
As he did so, he confirmed who it was that had just thrust the sword tip.
A tall man with slit-like eyes that looked as if they had been cut with a knife.
Thus, the three men stood facing each other in a triangular formation.
The fat man with the shield, the lanky man with the sword, and Riman.
The lanky man said to Riman.
“Agh, why didn't you just die.”
“Would you die if you were me?”
“Honestly, you were the one who broke the business ethics first. Who sweeps up all the Demonic Beasts like that by themselves?”
“…Did you see what I did?”
The lanky man just grinned without a word.
At the same time, a red light appeared and disappeared in his eyes.
Whether it was through surgery or innate, his eyes had some kind of ability.
He had spied on Riman from a distance with that ability.
“I saw everything. Even how many tags you took.”
“So you’re telling me to hand over my tags?”
“Let’s all just live and eat together.”
“Bastards who aren’t even my family have no conscience.”
“But we have swords.”
Swoosh!
Whoosh!
The shield man and the lanky man simultaneously rushed at Riman.
The two of them quickly began to corner Riman.
The guy with the shield stuck close to Riman, restricting his movement, while the lanky man thrust sharply whenever Riman showed an opening.
The teamwork didn't stop there.
Thwip!
An arrow that flew from somewhere grazed Riman's temple.
It was an arrow shot by an archer from a distance.
Riman was not fighting a 2-on-1 battle.
Shield, sword, bow.
He was fighting a 3-on-1 battle with these three.
They had formed a thorough hunting formation and were pressing in to kill Riman.
“Hah, these bastards…”
Riman was gradually being pushed into a corner.
Of course, Riman avoided fatal wounds with his unique evasion ability and defensive magic, but that was not proof that he was not at a disadvantage.
So the hunters pushed Riman even harder.
To finish him off for sure, take Riman's tags, and get out.
Just as their victory seemed more certain than ever.
Whoosh-
Splat!!
Something suddenly fell from the sky.
It completely changed the atmosphere of this battlefield.