Chapter 81

Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 81

"Ah..."

Ayeon, looking up at Eunha so intently her neck might break, moved her lips slightly.

Drip, drip.

Heavy raindrops made it difficult to even open her eyes properly.
However, Ayeon stared stiffly at Eunha, as if frozen.

Through the rain, their gazes intertwined for a long time.
Ayeon's disheveled form, rolling on the ground.
Eunha, who had been watching her blankly, now turned her gaze towards Verde, who was behind her.

"...What's with that look?"

Verde narrowed his eyes, looking somewhat displeased.
Even if there was a witness, it wouldn't be a problem.

Hunter Auctions were held annually in various parts of the world, including Korea.
It was inevitable that major and minor incidents would occur where numerous individuals with special abilities gathered.

Of course, killing that arrogant Korean hunter here would become an international issue, but a squabble of this level should be fine.
Carlos's summoned dogs were guarding the perimeter, so they would alert him if the police appeared.
Meaning.

'No need to be unnecessarily intimidated.'

Especially by such an unheard-of hunter.

"Unnie, just go."

Staggering to her feet, Ayeon spat out red saliva and said.

Eunha, who had been staring at Verde, turned her gaze back to Ayeon.
Eunha said nothing.
However, she seemed to be asking.

Are you hurt anywhere?
Are you okay?

"...Don't mind me, just go."

Towards Eunha, who showed no movement, Ayeon spoke once more.

[Abnormal Status 'Silence' will soon be lifted.]

She had already figured out the opponent's abilities.
Once her skills returned, Ayeon could easily escape from them.
Revenge was also possible at any time.

She just had to endure for a few more minutes.
Yes, just a few minutes.

Furthermore, there was no way she, an F-Class concept hunter, could handle them.
Before Ayeon's 'Silence' was lifted, she would suffer a fate worse than Ayeon's.

'Fighting while protecting this Unnie will be tough.'

Ayeon's skills and traits were specialized for one-on-one combat.
In an already disadvantageous fight, the presence of her, an F-Class hunter, would only be a hindrance.

So...

"Just g—"

"I told you. I came to return the pamphlet."

"I don't need it. I just gave it to Unnie."

"I mean I came to repay a debt."

"..."

Struck speechless, Ayeon stared blankly at Eunha.
Expressionless.
With a face that revealed no inner thoughts, Eunha folded the parasol she was holding.

Click.

And turned around.

"It seems hunters these days frequently use their unique abilities on fellow hunters."

At Eunha's mutter, Verde's face hardened strangely.
But only for a moment.

"Hunter? In my country, we don't call those who steal others' belongings hunters."

He approached Eunha one step, a shallow smile on his lips.

"Just thieves."

Verde added.

"Thieves?"

"That girl you're protecting stole our items."

"How do you know that?"

"Because there was no one else. Who contacted us today."

Verde replied as if it were obvious.
Eunha's dark gaze shifted from him to Ayeon.

'Did you hear? Class 2 got robbed during first period gym class.'
'It's Kang Ayeon. She always says her stomach hurts during gym class and goes to the nurse's office, right? Doesn't that just make it obvious?'
'Ayeon. Can you just tell Teacher honestly? Why did you do it?'

The moment Eunha's eyes met Ayeon's, Ayeon just smiled faintly.
She neither confirmed nor denied it.

Dark eyes lingered on Ayeon for a long time.
Finally, Eunha parted her lips slightly.

"Did you do it?"

"No."

Shrugging lightly, Ayeon turned her gaze away indifferently, as if uninterested.
She didn't add any excuses.
It would be useless anyway.

But then.

"She said she didn't."

"..."

Pause.

Ayeon looked at Eunha with somewhat surprised eyes.
This Unnie, what is she saying?

"You believe that?"

Verde asked, as if dumbfounded.

"I can't believe your words that items were stolen either. All I know is that the three of you did this to this child."

Having said that, Eunha boomed, lifted her parasol, and aimed its tip at them.

"Apologize."

"..."

Swaaaaah—

Over the silence, the rain poured down even more fiercely.
None of them apologized to Ayeon.

Ayeon stared intently at Eunha's back, her face like someone who had just been hit on the back of the head.

"I said, apologize."

Eunha said once more.
The sharp tip of her parasol still aimed at them.

"...Hah, what a pain."

The moment Verde let out a humorless laugh.

Sssss... Tap!

Vines, extending from somewhere, wrapped around Eunha's wrist holding the parasol.

"I think you're misunderstanding something; this is a legitimate inquiry. And apologize? For what? What if we don't? Are you going to report us to the police?"

"..."

"Let me tell you in advance, do you think this is the only place where fights break out during the auction period? It's a daily occurrence. Isn't it stranger if there's no trouble where hunters and money gather?"

"This is a daily occurrence?"

Eunha glanced at Ayeon.
Rolling on the rain-soaked ground, her hair and clothes were a mess.
Her bright red cheek was covered in mud, as if she had been pressed down with a shoe.

"Do you think we'd kill that child? We just want our items back."

"Didn't you hear? She said she didn't steal them."

"..."

Verde's face contorted.
This woman, she's impossible to reason with.

Squeeze.

The force of the vines wrapped around her wrist intensified.
Pressure enough to crush her wrist bone.

"You're impossible to reason with."

It seemed Eunha thought the same as Verde.
Without a change in expression, Eunha slowly lifted her other hand.
And then.

Fwoosh—

Red flames blossomed from her palm.
Should I have worn the dress?
Though that thought briefly crossed her mind.

'Enough.'

Eunha clenched her fist in mid-air.
Simultaneously, the vines wrapped around her wrist crumbled into ash and scattered.

'Nature type?'

Verde's eyes, watching the scene, narrowed.

If Awakened were the chosen humanity, then Awakened with nature-type unique abilities were treated as even more special beings.

Nature types generally had infinitely more application methods than ordinary abilities, and depending on their rank, they were evaluated as having the potential to subjugate a decent gate in the blink of an eye.

"..."

"..."

Through the rain, Verde stared blankly at Eunha.
Eunha didn't avoid his gaze.

'Planning to fight?'

This is going to be troublesome.
Though her rank and alias were unknown, just being a nature-type hunter was enough.
Besides, plants and fire.
The matchup wasn't good either.

The moment Verde, having quickly finished his thoughts, glanced towards his colleague.

Fwoosh!

An arrow flew swiftly through the rain.
But unbelievably,

Thwack!

The woman caught the arrow flying towards her with her bare hand.

The arrow, which had flown with great force, snapped helplessly under Eunha's grip.

Drip, drip. Blood droplets fell from her fingers.
It was just a slight graze from the arrowhead, not a serious wound.

However,

'I'm screwed.'

Ayeon bit her lip hard.
Because she knew that wasn't an ordinary arrow.

Knowing that Eunha possessed a nature-type unique ability, 'ability sealing' would have been the most rational judgment for them.

Blocker.

Indeed, his presence was the most troublesome.
If only he wasn't here, Ayeon wouldn't have been cornered like this.

Ssssssk—

Vines, not missing the opening, rushed towards Eunha like living snakes.

Eunha similarly extended her palm towards the vines, but...

The flames didn't come out.
The moment Eunha, startled, checked her palm.

'Gotcha.'

Verde raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

Unique abilities were special powers granted by the system.
And the Blocker's ability, to be precise, was 'temporary system disruption'.

Meaning, not only unique abilities but even the physical abilities granted by the system upon awakening as a hunter would temporarily decrease.
It meant becoming no different from an unawakened ordinary person.

But then.

"...!"

Tap!

The woman, dodging the vines, leaped swiftly.
Her movements were too agile to be those of someone whose abilities had been 'blocked'.

Like a cat.

'What happened?'

The Blocker and Ayeon also changed color, seemingly flustered by the unexpected development.

"Carlos!"

Verde shouted urgently.
And simultaneously, fighting dogs gathered like clouds.

Grrr, woof! Woof!

The moment Eunha, who had leaped high into the air, landed, the summoned fighting dogs surrounded her completely.

The dogs, baring their teeth, rushed at Eunha as if to tear her apart.
However.

Craaaack—!

The widely swung parasol drew a round parabola, and—

Whimper...

—the fighting dogs fell away powerlessly like candles in the wind, with a dull thud.

It happened in an instant.

"..."

Eunha, slowly lifting her head from among the motionless fighting dogs.

The moment her golden irises met his, Verde's Adam's apple bobbed greatly.

'What the.'

She had definitely 'contacted' the arrow, and her abilities should have been sealed.
But that movement just now, what on earth...

'Don't tell me, a Vassal?'

In the case of Vassals, who received the full favor of a divine beast, blocking didn't work.

More accurately, it didn't work 'properly'.

Though the types of gods hunters contracted with differed by cultural sphere, these patrons, including the 12 Divine Beasts representing the East and the 12 Olympian Gods of the West, had a commonality.

Whether 12 Gods or 12 Divine Beasts, they desired to command more contractors, yet among them, they specially favored a single Vassal.

A Vassal was one whose soul was bound to a divine beast.
Because there clearly existed a realm even the system couldn't interfere with, sealing abilities was only possible to a very limited extent.

'But.'

As far as they knew, among Korean hunters, only Maestro was a Vassal.

The first hunter and the sole Vassal, he had moved his nationality to the United States long ago, and currently, among hunters active in Korea, there were no Vassals, including S-Classes.

Even the famous Korean Baekya, Shin Gwihoon, was not a Vassal.

That was also why Korea's status in the Great Hunter Era wasn't as high compared to other countries.

Then where on earth did this woman pop out from?
Could she be Chinese, not Korean?

Perhaps the arrow missed?
No, it definitely seemed to have hit.

While Verde was lost in confusion, Eunha, who had leaped into the air, landed with a 'thump!' right before them.
More precisely, in front of the Blocker who had shot the arrow at her.

Thump, thump.

The broken arrow fell powerlessly from her grasp to the ground.
The Blocker, staring blankly at it, lifted his head again.

The black pupil in the center of the golden iris slit vertically long.
From the black parasol in her hand, an unidentifiable liquid, perhaps rainwater or blood, dripped down.

Thump. She approached.

"Apology, are you not going to?"

Fwoosh—

Flames began to flare up again above her shoulders.
They flickered ceaselessly amidst the downpour, heavy enough to cover one's vision, yet never went out.

The Blocker unconsciously took a step back.

Unbelievable.

Was she really a Vassal?
No, even if she were a Vassal, a Blocker's sealing ability wouldn't be lifted this quickly.

Staring at the distantly burning flames, the Blocker fumbled with his lips.

"M-monster..."

Yes, a monster.

She felt like a monster from a gate, or perhaps something even more.