Chapter 163 – The Regressor (2)

-Emergency Recall Order.

Audrey received an emergency recall directive in the morning.

The message was brief.

France was struggling, facing an unprecedented gate that had opened in the homeland.

A horned giant with green skin and a massive body.

Its physical prowess alone was ridiculously overpowered, and to top it all off, it could use psychic powers.

Thanks to that, France had suffered immense damage.

The new number one ranker, Yan, had rallied the hunters, but after he was injured in a one-on-one battle with the Ogre Lord, the front line was being pushed back.

The investigators who had come to Korea with her were in a similar state of chaos.

They were struggling to grasp the ever-changing political situation due to the unprecedented gates that had opened simultaneously all over the world.

It was literally like a cataclysm heralding the end of humanity.

‘What should I do.’

Audrey pondered.

Love it or hate it, France was her motherland. But her benefactor was currently tackling an unprecedented gate in Korea.

At first, she had wanted to follow Jean, but as a French national, there was no way she could participate in another country’s gate.

She didn’t have the government’s permission, and they would never grant it.

Just then, she felt a sense of chaos in the hotel.

Audrey felt an unsettling presence.

Two sources of mana, two status windows.

Someone operating the unique double system of a dimensional traveler was approaching.

No, not just one. There were several.

They entered the hotel directly.

Audrey stepped out of her room. Looking down from the second floor to the first-floor lobby, she saw two hotel security guards who had tried to block the Villains writhing in pain.

‘Villains.’

This time, she was sure. They were Villains.

A woman in a one-piece dress smiled brightly, looked up, and met Audrey’s eyes.

“There you are.”

She didn’t know who the woman was, but the other party acted as if they knew her.

Ten enemies in total.

The other Villains’ powers were negligible. But the female Villain at the forefront was no pushover.

‘If I had to estimate, S+ rank.’

She didn’t know why a mere Villain was so strong. But having a good sword doesn’t guarantee victory.

Audrey unhooked the tripod from her arm and dropped it to the floor. Then, instead of taking the stairs, she leaped down to the first floor.

She could see people screaming and fleeing in all directions.

For the civilians to evacuate safely, an Awakened like herself had to stop the Villains.

It was the natural duty of those with power.

“Not running away? Not so cute of you.”

“Did you come for me?”

“What’s she saying?”

They couldn’t communicate. One spoke Korean, the other French.

But conversation wasn’t necessary. She wasn’t foolish enough to miss the blatant killing intent.

“Well, whatever. It doesn’t matter anyway. I need to kill you quickly and go help Kei oppa.”

The battle began immediately.

Kei’s order was to kill the French celebrity, Audrey, as brutally as possible.

The ten Villains rushed toward Audrey all at once.

Audrey also drew her dual swords from her inventory and met the Villains head-on.

*Swish, swish!*

With nimble movements, she evaded the enemy’s attacks while simultaneously swinging her swords.

It was a tough fighting style that didn’t match her cute appearance.

Watching this, Kim Yeo-jin let out a whistle.

She’d heard Audrey was S-rank, and she was certainly strong. But Kim Yeo-jin hadn’t been idle either.

Kim Yeo-jin poured mana into her right arm.

Her hand began to transform.

The Hand of Gluttony.

An ability capable of chewing up and eating anything.

It was a broken ability that grew stronger the more powerful the opponent it absorbed. And to become stronger, she had consumed many people.

*Whoosh!*

Startled by the giant hand flying toward her with the sound of tearing air, Audrey twisted her body in mid-air to dodge.

*Crash!*

The wall where she had just been standing crumbled to the floor like crushed tofu.

Kim Yeo-jin, casually retracting her hand, was smiling brightly.

“You guys can step back now. You’ll just get in the way.”

“Y-Yeah…”

The organization members, knowing what a formidable monster Kim Yeo-jin was, silently stepped back.

“What’s this? I heard your perception skills were excellent. Can’t you feel the difference in our power?”

Kim Yeo-jin didn’t like Audrey’s expressionless face.

Like a doll. A being artificially created by someone. She didn’t like it.

“I don’t like your face.”

Kim Yeo-jin let out a smirk and then quickly stepped forward, launching an attack.

‘If that hand touches me, it’s dangerous.’

Audrey didn’t know the specifics, but she could sense an ominous mana emanating from that hand.

She used one sword to check her opponent’s hand and stabbed at the woman’s body with the other.

*Crack!*

At that moment, Audrey was so surprised she leaped backward.

*Clink, clatter.*

The sword in her left hand shattered and fell to the floor.

“My hand has quite the appetite.”

Saying so, Kim Yeo-jin charged at Audrey again.

She moved like a wild beast.

Her movements weren’t systematically learned but rather acquired through repeated hunting and killing.

Audrey gripped her remaining sword with both hands and gathered her mana.

Approaching recklessly was dangerous due to the opponent’s weapon-breaking technique. She had to end this in one blow.

She prepared for her sword dance.

The swordsmanship skill that had earned her the nickname “Dancing Empress.”

“A doll like you is trying to do something?”

Kim Yeo-jin sneered and stretched out her hand.

It was their first meeting, but she intensely disliked Audrey.

Every time she looked at her, she felt a strange, dissonant emotion rising from deep within.

The sword dance began.

Avoiding Kim Yeo-jin’s Hand of Gluttony, she half-rotated her body. At the same time, she grazed past her opponent, slashing at her waist.

She felt the impact in her hand. A clean hit.

Audrey didn’t stop. She turned again and carved into her opponent’s back.

The sensation was clear.

She spun sideways again to slash her opponent’s arm, then turned once more to cut diagonally across her neck.

A sword dance that drew a circle as if performing a dance of death upon the enemy, cutting them down.

Blood splattered in all directions, and the sensation was clearly transmitted through her fingertips. But then Audrey felt something grab her by the neck.

“Sorry, but I’m a pretty simple girl. I’m the type to sacrifice the flesh to take the bone. Ah, you probably don’t understand, do you? Hehe.”

The wounds on Kim Yeo-jin’s body were healing, with tentacle-like things writhing within them.

Seeing this, Audrey tried to slash the arm holding her. However, her sword was blocked by the Hand of Gluttony and crumbled into dust.

Having lost her weapon, Audrey could only make choking sounds, her throat squeezed by her opponent.

“How pitiful. I know. You’re a doll, right? Just moving as someone tells you to.”

Kim Yeo-jin watched Audrey struggle, a faint smile on her face.

No one in the hotel could save her.

Audrey felt that she was about to die. Her life flashed before her eyes.

She had finally escaped that cramped warehouse and, whether she wanted to or not, became a hunter, receiving everyone’s attention. But she didn’t know why. Why she became a hunter, or what she even wanted.

*Slice.*

Just then, Kim Yeo-jin felt a chilling sound.

“Huh?”

Kim Yeo-jin saw a red line drawn across her right arm.

*Sploosh!*

A moment later, her arm spewed blood as it was severed.

Audrey coughed and looked up to see who had helped her.

A handsome man with perfectly sculpted blond hair stood there, almost like a statue.

“Sieg… oppa?”

Kim Yeo-jin scowled deeply, staring at the person who had attacked her.

“That’s harsh. We used to be on the same team.”

“Same team? No. We’re two parties whose contract has ended.”

At Siegfried’s words, Kim Yeo-jin’s face hardened slightly.

Seeing an outsider interfere, Kim Yeo-jin’s comrades charged at Siegfried from behind.

“No!”

Kim Yeo-jin shouted, but it was too late.

A black flash flickered once, and sword marks were carved into the Villains’ bodies.

Confused, the Villains stopped and looked down at themselves.

It didn’t hurt.

*Gush!*

The sword marks split open, and blood gushed out as the Villains crumbled one by one like sandcastles.

Audrey’s body stiffened at the sight of that last strike.

It was a sword strike on a completely different level from her own.

If her swordsmanship was just recklessly brandishing her power, the blond man’s was that of a master who had trained and refined his art relentlessly.

“Two thousand won, three thousand won…”

Siegfried muttered to himself under his breath, then looked at Kim Yeo-jin.

“For the sake of my paycheck, you’ll have to die.”

***

*Boom! Craash!*

Blood splattered everywhere.

*Rat-tat-tat-tat! Brrrt!*

The Villains, uncharacteristically, were playing with machine guns.

It was pointless.

There were plenty of Villains around. Which meant plenty of shields.

“Uh, uhhhh!”

Since they were firing indiscriminately, I grabbed a Villain to use as a shield.

The Villain convulsed, executed by his own comrades.

-HP: 1200 / 1220

Guns really are scary.

My HP had been chipped away, probably from taking a lot of stray hits.

“You monster!”

I’m hurt. Calling me a monster.

Using a friend shield is basic combat etiquette.

Of course, he’s not my friend.

After killing a few of their own comrades, they hesitated to shoot recklessly.

In that opening, I dove into their ranks and swung my two-handed sword in a wide arc.

*Thwack!*

The short ones had their heads split in half, and the tall ones had their necks severed.

The Villains I was cutting down now were the hardliner faction I had locked up during the meeting with the moderates.

I only give one chance.

Even after getting out of prison, if they took up arms for revenge against modern humans—no, to kill people—they should have been prepared to die themselves.

“I-It’s impossible! How do we kill something like that!”

The Villains, who had numbered over a hundred, were reduced by about 30% in an instant.

Naturally, their morale broke.

These guys had intended to kill everyone they saw on their way to the agency.

There was a rotary near the station, and in my foresight, a great many people had died there.

Kei had laid out several plans.

He created an organization called Network to gather a bunch of small fries with a common goal. In other words, he recruited meat shields.

He would use them to draw attention while having Audrey, the French hunter, murdered.

And he himself would rescue his hardliner comrades.

“You morons, you can’t even catch one guy?”

“What are we supposed to do against a bastard who’s immune to bullets!”

The hardliner Villains were no match for me.

There’s no way that guy Kei didn’t know that.

“K-Kei…!”

In the end, they looked to their leader.

A man with a plain appearance. I’d seen him before.

The first time was at the orphanage ruled by Villains.

This time, he wouldn’t escape.

“Shouldn’t you have gone to save the French woman?”

Kei didn’t run, even after seeing me, and asked a question.

A question more curious to him than his own life.

“What did you hope to achieve by luring me here, using that woman who trusted you as bait?”

At my words, Kei gave a nasty smile.

“As I thought, you knew.”

A conspicuously strong female Villain.

That one would kill the French woman. No, she would devour her.

That’s why I sent Siegfried. I told him I’d give him his usual hourly rate plus a bonus this time, and he seemed to like that.

This guy, Kei, would even use his oldest comrade as bait to achieve his goals.

In other words, Kim Yeo-jin was a pawn meant to be killed by me, a discarded card.

Did that woman know that the result of her complete loyalty was to be disposed of like a doll?

“What are you?”

His eyes, filled with curiosity, glittered as they scanned me.

“What’s the point of a dead man knowing?”

He wasn’t getting away from here.

He wouldn’t be able to use that mysterious power from before, either.

“I always like to diversify my investments.”

Kei spoke without being asked. I already knew that.

“Even if one fails, the others can still achieve the goal. I make it so everything is connected.”

As he said that, Kei snapped his fingers.

“Uh, ugh?”

The Villains surrounding me began to grope at their own bodies.

Their entire bodies started to crack like a dried-up riverbed, and light poured out.

“I knew you could see the future.”

Kei laughed maniacally.

“I lured you here to hunt you.”

“Keiii!”

The hardliner Villains, who hadn’t even known illegal mana stones were implanted in them, glared at Kei as if to curse him.

“I thought as much.”

“What…?”

Otherwise, a coward like him wouldn’t have deliberately waited for me to arrive without running away.

“Domain Declaration.”

Green lines began to draw themselves chaotically around me, carving out hexa blocks.

“I know about that too. It’s not like you can store anything unconditionally…”

Kei was about to scoff, but he felt an alien energy and shut his mouth.

Within my unfolding domain of hexa blocks, a space that opened solely by my will was formed.

“Uh…”

The light from the bodies of the Villains, who were on the verge of exploding, slowly flickered and disappeared.

“…!”

For the first time, Kei’s eyes wavered.

“What the…!”

This place is now…

“Impossible.”

…inside my inventory.