Dark Fantasy: Super Coward Mode

A dark shape leaped between the buildings, pursued by numerous tentacled flying machines and two sword-wielding girls.

At first glance, it looked like a scene of escape, but the black figure turned around and kicked one of the girls leaping towards him, turning the tide.

Bang, bang, bang!

Even if they looked human, the bullets fired mercilessly turned the two girls, who had been jumping towards the black figure, into crumpling heaps as they realized what had just happened to them.

Both pressed their severed arms and legs with their hands.

“Ahhhh! My, my arm hurts…!”

“My leg, my leg…!”

Ignoring their cries, he lightly aimed at the hundreds of Outcast Gods flying towards him as if he was shooting a pistol, before pulling the trigger.

Just twice.

With just two gunshots, the Outcast Gods flying towards the black figure vanished without a trace.

Looking down at the still-screaming girls, the Hunter put a cigarette in his mouth.

“…Pathetic.”

Yet the Hunter realized that his hand, holding the cigarette, was trembling unconsciously.

Why was that?

They were all just Outsiders.

The Hunter forced out the cigarette smoke roughly and nervously took another drag.

It was all Leydan Tanton’s fault.

That guy’s beliefs were misplaced.

If those Outsiders really didn’t want to harm humans, they should have fled the moment they realized humans were dying because of them.

But even the Hunter found himself questioning such thoughts.

‘What if they’re just creatures forced to expand territory to survive?’

“Damn it.”

The Hunter flicked his burning cigarette to the ground and stomped it out with his heel.

He looked up at the sky.

There were so many Outsiders that it was visible the pink phenomena flowed like waves amidst the red smoke.

Suddenly, he recalled the sight of Tanton carelessly wading into the Outsiders through the fake wall the rogue had opened.

“He said he would handle the Interrogator by himself.”

He sighed at Tanton’s morality, which he couldn’t quite understand, and turned away.

How could he just leave him alone?

Such a troublesome man.

The Hunter spun around.

Far more Outsiders and girls were glaring at him than those he had just defeated.

“This is why I hate your kind.”

He aimed his double-barrel shotgun at the creatures obstructing his path.

He needed to clear them out quickly and support Tanton.

*

A stifling silence.

The Interrogator seemed to enjoy the situation, sneering as she waved her fan around.

No matter how special the helmet he wore from the Knights, with each casualty, the Interrogator would only grow stronger.

She was probably acting that way based on the belief that her victory was assured as time went on.

A cold wind, like it could freeze the skin, brushed against his cheek.

Recognizing it as a signal, he kicked off the ground and rushed towards the Interrogator with quick movements.

In response, Asti also darted towards the Interrogator at the same speed, creating an image of the two of us rushing in from either side.

Boom!

The attack he thought would be blocked instead met with the Interrogator’s awe-inspiring defense.

His sword was stopped by her fan, while Asti’s dagger was parried with her fingernails.

The onyx-stained nails broke unyieldingly.

“Heh, how cute.”

A voice filled with mockery greeted him, as if challenging him to take action.

But up to this point, it was all as he had anticipated.

He pushed the fan away with his sword and, using the recoil, stepped back before launching himself back at the Interrogator again.

Asti matched him and fell back accordingly.

When he swung his sword, Asti lunged with her dagger to stab the Interrogator, pouring a furious series of attacks at her.

Yet the Interrogator wasn’t faltering at all.

She kicked away the dagger coming at her with an inconvenient leg due to her dress, and diverted his sword effortlessly, resembling a matador.

Before he could even register the surprise when she propped his chin up with her hand and leaned her face close to his ear,

“I told you to try it my way, didn’t I?”

He delivered a sidekick towards the Interrogator.

Naturally, she blocked the attack, using the rebound to retreat once more.

With the snowy ground providing little friction, he could hear himself sliding back with a noise.

“Really, you’re the first human to make my heart race like this. If you come under me, I’ll really treat you well, just like my daughters.”

Asti trembled at the Interrogator’s words.

Did she feel disgusted to be called a daughter?

“If being labeled as attempted rape of an Outcast were a crime, could that be a promotion for you instead? Heh.”

“Shut up!”

This wasn’t about other Outsiders.

He didn’t want to hear such a joke from that Outsider.

“You’re disappearing the moment I win.”

“Can you handle that? Creatures progress precisely because they can suffer.”

The Interrogator’s eyes sparkled as if indulged in ecstasy, gesturing towards the sky.

“Everyone struggles to overcome their own pain. That in itself is quite noble. However, the sight of those who cannot overcome their pain, who end up crushed beneath it, is truly… more beautiful than any work of art.”

Saying that, the Interrogator’s face flushed with excitement as she wrapped her arms around herself.

“A creature without such a sight cannot truly be called life.”

However, at that moment, he felt that there was a paradox in her words.

She claimed that the beauty of life lies in suffering.

So why did she want to eliminate humans?

“Are you making that face as if to ask why are you trying to exterminate us?”

The Interrogator spoke as if reading his mind and fanned herself, covering her face.

As if it were a shameful secret she couldn’t voice aloud.

“You shouldn’t be picky, but I can’t help it. I’ve grown tired of your human age.”

With those words, the Interrogator’s eyes glowed red.

“Many Outsiders were born on Earth, and a variety of life forms existed alongside them. Back then, it was fun, you know? I could feel new sensations. But since you humans came along, it’s not that way anymore.”

In an instant, she frowned and spoke.

“You’re selfish. Coexistence was merely a convenient way to express it. You artificially inflict pain on creatures that serve your interests by caging them while killing those that don’t. That repetitive pattern has become tiresome. So I thought.”

The Interrogator closed her fan and offered it to him.

“If I exterminate you, new life forms will be born, allowing me to feel new sensations again.”

He couldn’t comprehend what she was saying.

It felt bizarre, as if she was proudly boasting her philosophy as if she were some kind of chosen one.

As if we had wronged them, and we would pay the price for it, which sounded no different from her intended actions.

Wasn’t she just trying to eliminate humans fighting desperately to survive?

Grinding his teeth, he flailed his arms in the air.

The seeds, buried in the surroundings, burst forth, rapidly forming long stems that surged toward the Interrogator.

Perhaps due to the Gardener’s power, she didn’t directly intervene this time but avoided it by jumping high into the air.

A gap.

Boom!

But that too was easily deflected by the Interrogator as she chuckled with delight.

“You are insane.”

“Do you think you’re normal?”

Clang, clang, clang!

In the clash, he withdrew one hand, clenched his fist, and channeled Meditatio into it.

Just as he aimed to thrust it into her abdomen.

Thud!Whoosh!

Thanks to the vines that suddenly sprouted from his eyes, he was able to land with minimal impact.

“Are you okay?!”

A voice much bigger than a Gardener’s came from behind.

It was understandable.

For the first time, he felt significantly threatened for his life.

Yet he couldn’t just stay still.

Something was detected in the gloves borrowed from Bell.

A capability to observe targets even from the opposite side of the Earth.

It was notifying him that the suddenly vanished Interrogator was right behind him.

“Whoah!”

Rolling forward to evade, he heard the sound of the wind whistling above him.

The kick that struck above was a clear signal of the threat.

Steadying himself, he locked eyes with the Interrogator, who was lifting her leg.

“Oh my, how impressive!”

“Master!”

Asti rushed over, checking his condition.

Thanks to the Gardener’s super save, he’d ultimately sustained no serious injuries.

He affectionately patted Asti’s head to reassure her that he was okay.

Just then, something flew aggressively towards him like a solidified ball of blood.

He barely avoided it by pushing Asti back, allowing them both to dodge.

The area where the ball landed was horrifyingly dark and seemed tainted with death.

“Why are you surprised? If I can absorb pain, it’s obviously possible to expel it too.”

He glared at the Interrogator, whose voice dripped with malice.

Was it that she had absorbed so much pain that it didn’t matter for her to waste something like that?

If he made contact with that, it could easily shatter his mind.

Unlike mental contamination, pain was a physical force.

“Sigh.”

The situation was becoming increasingly difficult.

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