Chapter 34 – The Proper Use of Mortal Light

“W-what… what thе hеll did уоu just dо!?”

Immеdiatelу after Аsutо swung his daggеr, Аmу’s ехprеssion сhanged tо оnе оf horror.

“Whу… how сan a merе humаn kill a higher being!?”

During the bаttlе with Kanemitsu, who borе а wolf tattoo, Asutо hаd sliced thrоugh a flоаting linе оf light with his dagger.

Therе had beеn nо tаngible resistаnсе.

But from Аmy’s reаction, he knew thе еxpеrimеnt was а succеss.

(As I thought, the Мortаl Еye can beсomе а trumр cаrd.)

What Asutо hаd sеvered wаs the lifеlinе оf thе аngel аttасhed tо Кanemitsu.

Originally, angels could not be touched by human hands until the day of the Great Invasion ten years later.

But with the Mortal Eye, perhaps even a human could kill an angel?

○ Mortal Eye

Description: A Skill that grants insight into the flow of life and death. By perceiving an opponent’s lifeline, one becomes able to sever any “thing.”

From the phrase ‘able to sever any “thing,”‘ Asuto had made that assumption.

However, the experiment had to be conducted with extreme caution.

Because if he were to cut Amy’s Mortal Light and, by some chance, succeeded in the experiment, he risked losing the power of a Hunter along with the angel.

For that reason, Asuto had postponed experimenting with the Skill.

This time, with the Hound Dogs involved, Asuto decided to use them as his test subjects.

If it were them, he felt no qualms about stripping away their power.

“Th-the System, it won’t open… H-hey, Garp, what’s going… huh?”

The man looked up at the air in a panic, his eyes wide.

He seemed to have finally noticed that the angel named Garp had vanished.

(I see. When an angel disappears, the System becomes unusable too.)

The man tried to stand up, but ended up falling back on his rear.

His Knuckle was too heavy; his arm couldn’t lift it.

(Their abilities as Hunters vanished as well.)

It seemed that killing an angel caused all Hunter abilities to disappear.

Seeing this result, a cold sweat broke out on Asuto’s back.

(Good thing I didn’t try it with Amy…)

If he had, Asuto would have lost his Hunter abilities by now, been unable to use Return, and been completely checkmated.

That was close.

“H-hey. You bastard, what did you do to Mr. Kanemitsu!?”

“Kill him, kill him right now!!”

The men who had lost their power—Kanemitsu’s subordinates—were enraged.

However, none of them seemed to possess True Strength on Kanemitsu’s level.

Their movements were sluggish and awkward.

Still, he couldn’t just stand by and watch.

As he wasn’t equipped with any Armor Gear, even an attack from a weaker opponent could be fatal if it landed.

Asuto instinctively approached the Hunter who seemed the strongest.

While evading attacks, he traced the lines of light floating above each of their heads with his dagger.

“Shoot, shoot him!!”

At someone’s command, arrows were loosed toward Asuto.

Whether they used a Skill or not, a far greater number of arrows than the number of archers present came flying.

If he didn’t escape immediately, he’d be turned into a pincushion in no time.

But Asuto waited for the arrows.

――Wind Wall Activation.

Right before his eyes, the arrows suddenly changed direction.

They passed by Asuto as if avoiding him.

“H-he’s got a Tool that dodges arrows!”

“Then I’ll turn him to ash with Magic. Arrow-dodging can’t defend against Magic.”

“――Indeed, you’re right.”

“「――!?」”

Closing in on the Mage at full speed, he severed the line above his head with a single stroke.

The Mage, flinching from the attack, crouched down while covering his head with both hands.

But he seemed to regain his composure quickly, raising his Staff――,

“Fa, Fireball!!”

He shouted the spell’s name, but the Magic did not activate.

“Eh, wha… what in the world is going on…”

The Mage whose angel had been cut was now just an ordinary person.

There was no reason his Magic should activate.

From there, Asuto proceeded to sever the angels of Hunters who posed a danger to him.

By the time he had taken down over ten angels, the battlefield had descended into a crucible of chaos.

“Where’d my Garp go!?”

“Why isn’t the System displaying!?”

“My Magic… I paid so much money, but I can’t use Magic…”

“What the hell’s going on, I can’t lift my Weapon!!”

The abilities that should have been there had suddenly vanished.

It was no wonder they forgot about the fight and fell into confusion.

All fighting spirit had disappeared from every member of the Hound Dogs.

This meant he wouldn’t have to waste any more precious time.

He could have headed straight for the hospital now, but just to be safe, Asuto decided to ensure they were held back.

He walked over to where Shinjo was embedded in the wall.

Seeing Asuto approach, Shinjo frantically placed a hand on the sword at his waist.

“D-don’t come any closer! If you come… I’ll… cut you!”

“Stop with the pointless resistance. Instead, I’ll tell you something good.”

Asuto lightly jerked his chin, indicating ‘look over there.’

There was Kanemitsu, still searching for his angel.

“That guy has completely lost his power as a Hunter.”

“That’s impossible…”

“As proof, he can’t lift his prized Knuckle. That’s a Weapon you can’t equip unless your Rank is high enough. Am I wrong?”

“Y-yeah.”

“In other words, he’s no longer a Hunter.”

“Such a…”

“Do as you like from here.”

After saying only that, Asuto began walking toward the Gate’s exit.

A moment later, Shinjo’s voice rang out.

“You always beat the shit out of me, didn’t you!? You stole every single Item I treasured right down to the roots, you bastard, prepare yourself!”

“Gah――!!”

“Die! Die! Die! Dieeeee!!”

“St, stop――”

Looking back, he saw Shinjo on top of Kanemitsu’s body, bringing both hands down repeatedly.

Kanemitsu’s face contorted and was soon stained crimson.

Shinjo had chosen revenge against Kanemitsu over attacking Asuto.

A position gained through power reverses easily the moment that power is lost.

Especially for the Hound Dogs, who had suppressed those beneath them solely through power and fear, the backlash was extraordinary.

(

A fitting end

(

for the Hound Dogs

)

, those worthless men.)

Leaving the Outlaws’ final moments behind him, Asuto quickly exited the Gate.

A new Feat has been achieved.

・Kill a higher being.

Reward 1: 100,000 G

Reward 2: ALL Status +10