Chapter 188: The First Clash (3)

Chapter 188: The First Clash (3)

-Thud.

Fragile legs weakly buckled.

“Haah... cough, hack, cough.”

Blood-tainted coughs burst from a woman’s mouth.

Her bloodshot eyes turned towards another teacher’s desk in the office.

“...Why am I so sleepy?”

Min Hyunju. Blood splattered on the three letters of her name on her name tag.

She rolled up a tissue, wiped it, then slowly lowered her head.

-Click.

The sound of weakening breath.

No one around her seemed to notice.

-Beep beep beep.

A disaster alert blared from her cellphone.

“...Ah.”

-Bang!

Just as the message arrived, a loud noise came from the door nearby.Nnêw n0vel chapters are published at novelhall.com

-Bang, bang, bang, bang.

The sound of someone forcefully knocking on the door continued at regular intervals, then stopped abruptly.

A silence fell among the noisy crowd of parents, teachers, and young children.

All eyes turned towards the door.

“Oh, Mom...”

“Yes, it’s okay. It’s all right.”

The panic spread slowly, starting with a worried child.

A woman, trembling as she held her child after checking the message, and a man who left her to look around.

People trying to go outside, and those attentively watching the door from where the sound originated.

-Crack!

The disruption was cut short once again by the sound of the door.

-Grrrrrrind!

An Ent’s hand pierced through the door, tearing at it.

“You.”

“Yeah, can you find Shiba now?”

“Got it.”

Putting the cellphone in his pocket, he clenched his fist lightly.

“Kyaaaaah!”

A woman’s scream erupted, and the children started crying.

People panicked and rushed towards the entrance, trying to escape the kindergarten.

In the chaos, no one bothered with order as they pushed each other in their attempt to flee.

The Ent walked out among them, and as it stepped, a familiar face was visible.

“...Principal?”

She gasped for air, trembling with dilated pupils, slumping down.

Shin Hye-young.

Shiba was nestled in her arms.

I moved immediately.

“Ah... Gah!”

A groaning roar burst from the Ent as the creature lifted its arm.

Shin Hye-young, startled, shut her eyes tight and turned her back, holding Shiba close.

Trying to minimize the impact on Shiba, she half-pushes her away.

-Bang!

The Ent’s fist came down.

It was then caught halfway.

“Huh... uh...?”

Hye-young, with her eyes tightly shut, trembles and then turns to look at me.

An Ent’s rough fist, easily clenched in one hand.

The risen skin is rough.

The Ent, still with a human-like face, was twisted in pain.

“...Ah.”

I was sorry.

As I pulled the Ent’s hand from behind, it lost balance and fell in front of me.

The Ent’s chest came close to my face, and I threw a punch at it.

-Crack! Grind!

My arm pierced through the skin, extending out its back.

Blood from when it was still a tree person ran down my arm.

-Thump.

The Ent knelt, the light fading from its pupils.

I gently pushed the Ent away, letting the body drop from me.

Was she the principal?

Though briefly, I genuinely wished her peace.

“...Is there anywhere to run?”

I asked her as I unclenched my fist.

“Ah, uh, ah... Yes, yes?”

Shin Hye-young stammered and repeated her words.

I gestured towards the entrance where people were still pushing against each other.

“Is there a place to run to?”

“...No.”

Hye-young responded while still unable to take her eyes off the fallen Ent.

Somewhere in her expression, there was a look of utter despair.

It’s natural, seeing someone you knew end up like that.

If they were really close, it wouldn’t be strange for her to resent me.

I waited for Hye-young to speak. Meanwhile, Jin Dallae, holding Shiba, gasped for breath.

“...Are you okay?”

“Yes.”

Jin Dallae’s face is filled with worry, anxiety, and dissatisfaction.

She kept glancing around and then stiffened her face upon seeing the Ent.

The meaning behind the rampage of the Ent, she probably understood.

“Flower.”

Just as she said.

Flower, Flower... It’s Flower.

I gave one last nod to Shin Hye-young.

“Ah...”

The nodding man began to hand over all the documents one by one.

The robed man silently inspected them with just a nod, then turned and stood by the door.

“Recycle the articles.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Say the incident is over.”

Wasn’t that usually done to prevent the spread of the news as much as possible?

The man didn’t understand the follow-up.

How could he circulate news that the ongoing terror was over? Falsely claiming such could provoke unknown reactions.

“......”

The man who had finished speaking withdrew his magic.

It seemed like they could finally breathe a bit easier.

The tense expressions of the hunters sitting there gradually eased.

Silently turning his back, the man walked out.

In the eerily quiet Hunter’s branch office, everyone watched his retreating figure with stunned faces.

It’s clean.

It couldn’t be cleaner than this.

The terror attack. And the sample.

Flower, who had injected syringes into the blood of dead Ents, collected the blood and stored it within.

-Ent.

Easy to create.

Just inject into a regular tree person.

Above all, they were strong.

The Corneus family wasn’t the only one waiting for the drug’s completion.

Those in robes were walking around the site, collecting samples.

Researchers would investigate these samples to create the final product.

“...Hoo.”

She lit up a cigarette.

Smoking it mixed with petals doubles the aroma and taste.

After the deed, even the bitter taste seemed sweet.

Tube Rose scanned the surroundings with heavily dark-circled eyes.

The ground was cracked with crevices everywhere.

Fallen telephone poles and sizzling wires.

Tube Rose, lowering her eyes, focused on the surrounding sounds.

Screams and voices soaked in pain, nearing death, mingled and echoed in one place.

“The last Ent.”

Had all the blood been drawn from the corpse?

It hadn’t been 20 minutes since the terror attacj began.

Just as they were about to withdraw, an ominous presence approached.

-Slither.

Dragging something black.

It turned out to be the end for a disrobed Flower.

The man approached, his eyes gleaming from beneath the black robe.

The clots of blood covering his body were a testament to his actions.

“...It was you.”

That guy from back then.

She instinctively made that judgment.

Tube Rose stood up and extinguished her cigarette.

All the Flowers, with stern expressions, watched the opponent.

“...”

Silently staring at him.

Tube Rose’s usually composed mouth trembled, murderous intent bristling around her.

“Remarkable.”

She had thought it was someone... who might be found rummaging around here, enough to fill a basket.

This was unusual.

It would be believable if it were the Vice President of the Association.

No... perhaps closer to the President than that human?

Somewhat similar to Cistus.

“...I don’t know what it is.”

Everything was mixed up.

The form of the magic was bizarre.

Though black magic flowed calmly throughout his body, the oppressive aura it emitted was anything but calm.

It seemed intent on ripping everyone present to shreds.

It was like watching a will-o’-the-wisp flickering madly in rage.

Tube Rose held her breath, taking out a syringe in one hand and a dagger in the other.

‘Even if it’s a monster.’

...This drug would become a weapon.

Let’s see his skills.

Or rather...

It might turn into a fight to the death. The sweat running down her back was telling her that.

-Bang!

The heads of the surrounding Flowers burst open.

‘Magician.’

The man hunter charged immediately.

Wrapping magic around his hand, he stopped in front of Tube Rose and swung his fist.

Tube Rose quickly raised her arm to block and was thrown backward.

‘No... a martial artist!’

Even with maximum use of magic, her arm was numb.

-Krrrrrr!

Tube Rose touched the ground and dropped from the air to the floor.

With trembling eyes, she looked at the man.

“...”

The wind slightly uncovered his face.

Eyes of horrifying black, devoid of any light, stared unblinkingly back at her.

It was as if he had come with the sole purpose of killing her from the start.

“Shit.”

Tube Rose was genuinely terrified.

“...Fucking scary.”

For the first time, she felt the presence of death.