ch21-ch40 · 029-ch29

Chapter 29: Sinister Presence

※ Apology As a result of rearranging the timeline for consistency, enemies were being referred to by their race name without explanation. This has been corrected. We apologize for the inconvenience.

A massive number of monsters emerged from the countless horizontal shafts connected to the vertical pit, surrounding the survey team in an instant.

In the vertical hole alone, thousands of monsters were visible, their faces poking out — reddish-black dog-like faces twisted into sinister smiles as if appraising the Hunters.

"Ugh, aaaaaah!!!"

"Hey, wait!!"

One Hunter, seemingly losing his nerve, broke into a run.

Ignoring his companion's attempt to stop him, he drew his sword at one of the monsters — and the monster quickly fired off a spell.

With a sharp bang — like a bursting sound — the Hunter's body crumbled into sand and disappeared.

A sharp gasp escaped someone's throat.

"Don't move."

S-Rank Hunter Narashima's brief order cut through.

The Hunters froze in place.

Trapped, driven into the middle of enemy territory — the first thing they did was calmly assess the situation.

"They attacked first but they're not launching a total assault... damn scary opponents."

Narashima muttered while scanning the area.

It was as if the enemies were waiting for something — they just watched and did nothing.

"Are they setting another trap...?"

Kasugai, the A-Rank Hunter, asked with a note of desperation.

Narashima shook his head slightly.

"Maybe, but we're just as unknown to them. They might be wary — or following someone's orders."

"Someone's orders..."

Narashima figured that if the enemy considered the unAwakened media personnel as the human baseline and their goal was slaughter, they would have already started attacking.

The fact that they weren't moving meant they still didn't underestimate humans. That was also a judgment born of high intelligence, and it further raised his vigilance.

"What rank was the guy who charged?"

Oba, the A-Rank Hunter, asked his subordinates in an irritated tone.

"...B-Rank Hunter."

"Then anyone B-Rank or below, don't fight. Hide somewhere."

Oba issued the order.

The members of the survey team and rescue team nodded quietly.

A life form with enough magic power to kill a B-Rank Hunter in one blow, combined with high intelligence and coordination. Being above Ogres, it was at minimum a monster that required A-Rank or higher Hunters to match — that was the captains' assessment.

"Takeda, what's the situation around us?"

Narashima asked his subordinate who was conducting the detection.

"There's a massive space deeper inside. An enormous number of them..."

"I'll share the sensory information."

Takeda, the B-Rank Hunter, sensed enemy reactions and the overall map using his skill, and another support Hunter reflected and shared this information with the entire unit.

Everyone on site instantly grasped the enemy force deployment and map.

"(Somewhere in the colony, there's something controlling this situation...)"

Takeda, who had been part of the first survey team, was horrified that his skill showed nothing back then.

Because now it was clearly visible — as if there was no longer any need to hide.

Which meant the current situation could also be a trap orchestrated by someone.

"Hey bro. I don't really get it, but if this is the enemy's colony, can we solve this by just burning it all?"

Kido, the S-Rank Hunter, said as he kindled a small flame in his palm. Narashima gave an exasperated look,

"If only it were that simpl—"

Shiver — !

Everyone sensed it at once.

An overwhelming bloodlust unlike anything they had ever felt.

It was definitely somewhere in the colony.

"Akisame."

"Y-Yes!"

"Seal up everything. Best case scenario, we escape without fighting."

At Narashima's instruction, Akisame, the S-Rank Hunter, placed his hands on the ground and released his magic power all at once.

"World of Absolute Zero."

Suddenly — the entire area was enveloped in a world of ice.

All the horizontal shafts were covered in ice, and the surrounding monsters were frozen solid, lifeless.

"Hey, any Hunter with psychokinetic skills! Can you lift everyone!?"

"I'll try!"

But the desperate escape plan failed in an instant.

A coordinated volley of magic from thousands of monsters shattered the ice with ease.

Realizing the Hunters' intent, the monsters raised their magic power again.

"Kido. Looks like even your flames won't cut it?"

"I could try, but it'd be pointless."

"So escaping is impossible... is what you're saying."

Even with the power of S-Rank Hunters, they couldn't seal away thousands of enemies.

Narashima was quick to decide.

"If we narrow the range and increase density, can you hold?"

"Um, probably..."

"Can I leave this to you?"

Akisame answered nervously with a "Leave it to me," and nodded.

"B-Rank and below, survey team and rescue team, stand by. A Team, leave Akisame behind and head into the horizontal shafts. B and C, follow up — we're hitting the colony."

"Huh? You sure about this?"

In contrast to Oba Hunter, who questioned Narashima's orders, Kido — who understood the intent behind the plan — quickly moved into action.

"We're pushing through — Shadow Replica."

Two clones appeared around Narashima, cutting down the monsters in front of them. With swordsmanship so fast it left afterimages, the enemies fell without any resistance.

Once they secured one of the horizontal shafts, Narashima charged deeper into it.

"Follow the bro!"

At Kido's command, everyone rushed forward.

The moment the entire combat team charged into the horizontal shaft, a barrage of countless magic spells rained down behind them.

As he chased after Narashima ahead, Oba muttered a question.

"Was it okay to split up? Or do you have a plan where your Akisame kid can hold off that many?"

"I'll say this since you seem to misunderstand — his role is to seal off the pursuers, not to protect the ones left behind."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Narashima clicked his tongue lightly at the slow-on-the-uptake Oba.

"I'm saying it's basically impossible to bring back the ones who can't fight in this situation. While Akisame is blocking the entrance, they might survive if they're lucky. That's all."

And — Narashima continued.

"Either way, if we don't take down the enemy's biggest threat, we're all dead anyway."

"...Can't argue with that."

Having understood everything, Oba fell silent from then on.

Everyone else stayed quiet, moving their feet toward the colony.

◇◆◇◆◇

"Hang in there — Great Ice Wall."

As Akisame pressed his hands to the ground, the surroundings froze instantly. A dome-shaped wall of ice formed a sturdy shield, protecting the members.

"(This is hard to adjust...)"

Akisame muttered a weak complaint in his heart.

Behind him were the members of the rescue team and survey team, huddled together.

The enemies showed no sign of letting up their attacks.

"&%€€＊ヲ°ラエ、+×ナイ>$ドニ"

The monsters spoke in some kind of language, then laughed eerily again.

Magic and ice clashed violently.

"It's cold..."

"The ice density will drop if... if the wall collapses! Everyone, just hang on!"

"Yes..."

The world created by Akisame's ice magic meant extreme cold for everyone except himself.

If this dragged on, the members would freeze to death — the rescue team was administering treatment for frostbite, but it was like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water.

This was why Narashima had said "if they're lucky."

"#%°デ\イ... sō da... uchi-tsuzukero..."

"!?"

Akisame heard it clearly.

In the midst of battle, the monsters were already trying to master Japanese.

"If things like this get outside..."

Akisame muttered another weak complaint under his breath.

All the while, magic poured down endlessly, and even so, an S-Rank Hunter's ice wall wouldn't be easily broken. What was ominous was that the monsters showed no sign of concern — as if they were fine with it.

In truth, the situation was only getting worse.

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