Dark Fantasy: Super Coward Mode

Step, step, step.

The Hunter, Agartha, and the Saint crouched as soon as they exited the room with red inscriptions and saw the passage leading to the next area.

As footsteps echoed around, Agartha perked up her ears, and the Hunter slowed his breathing to focus on the scent.

The Hunter sensed something strange in real-time.

The footsteps of the Outsider weren’t particularly heavy.

This made the Hunter all the more alert.

The reason was that the Outsider was ‘alone’ in such a vast space.

While Tanton had been building his achievements as a knight, the Hunter had been tracking down all the common Outsiders, immersing himself in their world.

And in doing so, he discovered one of their traits.

They never encroach on the territory of other Outsiders.

Due to this trait, a weaker common Outsider would have its territory reduced if a stronger Outsider was nearby.

However, this cave was a fairly large space with individual areas.

From the fact that this Outsider was occupying such a space alone, it could be deduced that it was much stronger than a typical common Outsider.

At the very least, it wasn’t of a size where they could afford to carry Tanton around and fight at the same time.

So, even if they had to leave Tanton alone in that space, they had come outside.

Taking Tanton and sneaking out without the Outsider noticing? That was an impossible scenario.

In their own territory, Outsiders were extremely sensitive creatures.

It would only be a matter of time before they were detected and caught.

If that happened, there was only one option.

Fight and eliminate it.

That was all.

Click.

The Hunter loaded shells into his double-barreled shotgun.

Stronger rounds than before and the ability to instantly detect the Outsider’s weakness.

And a highly trained body.

The Hunter had grown much stronger than when he was in the underground prison.

Tatatat!

The Hunter signaled Agartha and the Saint, and as soon as he saw them nod, he rushed toward the room where the footsteps were coming from.

He pinpointed the opponent’s location.

And once he did, the Hunter acted swiftly.

Clack, thud.

Skillfully, he gripped the shotgun with both hands and aimed at a spot.

Then, with a deafening roar, he fired the shells.

Several round red bullets shot out simultaneously.

“””Б҉̧̛̒̆̿л҉̡͐͝я̸̢̝̲̊̕т̷̨̛̃͒̑!̷̫̯̓͜͡!̷̧̱̙̆̔͡!҈̢̯̾͞”””

The Outsider hit by the bullets let out a roar that seemed to pierce the ears of anyone listening.

But the Hunter could tell by instinct.

That was not a cry of pain, but an enraged roar.

“Damn.”

That meant he hadn’t inflicted any fatal wounds. With regret, the Hunter finally got a good look at the Outsider’s appearance.

It reflected all the faint light in the cave.

It was like if you shattered a crystal and gathered the broken pieces haphazardly—that’s what it looked like.

Compared to previous Outsiders, it was relatively intact, but the densely packed crystals made it all the more repulsive.

The sound of footsteps had been the crystals on the ground moving up and down as if trying to detect vibrations, clashing against each other.

“It’s coming!”

The crystals of the Outsider began gathering at the center and then charged straight toward the Hunter.

The movement seemed brutish, but it also suggested that it trusted its durability enough to act that way.

However—

Whack!

“””С̷̡̛̖̜́̓у̸̯̯̣̍͜͡к̴̡͔̣̱͗̐̈́̕а̷̡̲̮̟͋̓͠!̸̧̥̥̬̏̔͛͠!̷̡̛̝̱̔ͅ”””

The Hunter instead kicked the Outsider, sending it crashing into the wall.

It flew straight into the spot where the Record Keeper’s inscriptions were, but since those couldn’t be physically destroyed, he didn’t pay much attention.

Kicking an Outsider with a human body.

After facing countless common Outsiders, the Hunter had grown strong enough mentally to the point where, unless he was facing an Elite Outsider, he wouldn’t suffer from mental corruption.

“””А̴̢̛̒ͅа҉̨̛̭̓а̴̡̜̬͇͑͛͞а҈̢̯͕̲̀̏̕!҈̱̞͕̔̊̈̕͢!!!”””

The Outsider, filled with fury, let out a ferocious roar as if ready to pounce at any moment.

Even though it was just shattered crystal pieces, it had this much presence.

The Hunter glanced at the Saint.

He could sense the Saint’s desire to help, but it seemed like he also realized the opponent wasn’t just a common Outsider, so he hesitated to move recklessly.

In the Hunter’s experience, mystics with strong combat abilities were exceedingly rare.

It looked like there was no hope for assistance.

The Hunter was about to act alone when he heard light footsteps approaching quickly.

The moment he realized it, there was a loud thud, as if something had leapt from the ground, and something landed on the Outsider in an instant.

Agartha.

“Damn it….”

The Hunter almost cursed out loud at the sight, but what happened next made him shut his mouth.

Agartha, who had attached a blade to the gap in her prosthetic arm at some point, swung the blade, piercing through the thin membrane between the crystals and pinning the Outsider to the wall.

As if it were a nail, she drove another blade into the opposite side and then swiftly withdrew.

The rapid movements were characteristic of Agartha, but it felt different from her usual reluctance to risk her life.

As if to prove that she hadn’t just been standing idly by.

However, it didn’t seem like something that would be enough to stop the Outsider.

It was unlikely that pinning it down in such a way would immobilize the Outsider, which was essentially a collection of shattered fragments.

But the next development was unexpected.

The Outsider, with its scattered crystals, lurched forward only to snap back to its original position after reaching a certain distance.

After repeating this motion several times, the Outsider finally realized it couldn’t move and let out a roar of frustration.

“Haha! How do you like the taste of my special weapon for Outsiders?”

The Hunter looked at Agartha’s gloating with a mix of disdain and satisfaction, but the situation was turning in their favor.

An opportunity had arisen.

To finish it off, the Hunter raised his shotgun and aimed at the center where the crystal fragments converged.

“Wait, Hunter.”

But someone stopped him.

The Saint.

Having been interrupted once before and losing the Outsider as a result, the Hunter shot him an annoyed look.

“What are you doing?”

“I was just thinking, if the attack doesn’t work, you’ll be wasting your bullets, right? It didn’t seem to work too well earlier.”

But the Saint’s next words made sense.

Just like he said, the first shot hadn’t seemed to have much effect on the Outsider.

Without the special rounds, it looked like it would take at least several dozen shots to kill it.

If that were the case, using up bullets that could take out several common Outsiders would be pointless.

That would be a significant loss for the Hunter.

After calculating, the Hunter sighed and lowered his gun.

“So, what do you suggest?”

“The Outsider likely won’t be able to escape easily in this state. Isn’t that right, Agartha?”

When the Saint asked Agartha, she moved her eyes upward as if calculating something and then slowly nodded.

“Yeah, sure. If we hurry back and let the knights know, it should stay tied up until they arrive.”

What kind of blades could he create with such strong materials?

There were many things he was curious about, but considering Agartha’s life, it wasn’t an entirely unrealistic scenario.

Perhaps he could learn something.

For now, the Hunter decided to accept the atmosphere that seemed to be flowing towards returning to Rondan, but he couldn’t shake his frustration.

“I’ll stand guard here until then.”

That mystic… from the Hunter’s perspective, he just seemed excited to have discovered an interesting type of Outsider.

Still, with Tanton’s recent achievements boosting the knights’ morale, they had started handling things properly.

For now, he decided to trust them.

Right now, Tanton’s condition was more important.

#

Just as the first expanse of space was born, a single consciousness slowly emerged from the void of the unconscious.

As his awareness sharpened and he gradually opened his eyes, he realized he was near the Knights’ medical station.

“Ugh, my head.”

Rubbing his aching head with his fingers as he got up, he found himself in a slightly awkward situation.

Muyun had fallen asleep, resting her head on his bed.

Huh, this feels familiar somehow.

Was it just my imagination?

He wasn’t sure what had happened, but it seemed certain that the Hunter had brought him to the Knights’ base.

Maybe the Hunter had thought it would be easier to hand him over than get into more trouble.

Now that he thought about it, if things had reached this point, Asti should’ve been here as well, but he couldn’t see her anywhere when he looked around.

Well, she could be busy.

She claims to be my maid, but she’s still a person with her own responsibilities.

He tried to quietly get up without waking Muyun, but perhaps due to the heightened senses from living as a Knight, as soon as he moved slightly, she jolted up.

“Wah!”

Whoa, crazy.

That nearly made his heart skip a beat.

As he steadied his breath, he noticed her gaze locking onto him.

Her face gradually shifted from surprise to an expression resembling joy, her eyes glistening with moisture.

“Tanton!!!”

“Uh, uh, calm down, Muyun!”

In the end, he was taken aback by her actions as she burst into tears and clung to him.

In the infirmary, without his Knight attire, he desperately sought to break free from her grasp.

Come on, this is getting heavy!

“Ah, urgh! Aaaah!”

Soon, it seemed like Muyun realized the oddity of the situation, producing an ambiguous sound that was neither a cry nor anything else, and she snapped back to her original state.

Her face turned red, revealing her embarrassment.

“Right, Tanton! Although you’ve just regained consciousness, I have something to tell you!”

“Yes, yes…”

Surprised by Muyun’s actions, he felt dizzy, but as soon as he heard what she said, his mind went cold.

“A large group of Candles are preparing to invade!”

What on earth is going on here?

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