NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4
Chapter 4
—–CROW—–
“H-Hey! You there! Say something! What in the world is going on…!”
“Assemblyman,” Dan Ah-yeon addressed the higher-up, reeking of beer and shouting at her, forcing herself to maintain the superhuman patience honed over years of public service.
“We’re in a dangerous situation. So please… until things calm down, I ask that you don’t step out of the VIP section.”
“But I’m demanding an explanation! Is that so difficult?!”
“Yes, it is. Because everyone here could die.”
“…What?”
“If you understand, please return to the VIP section immediately. The protective inscriptions are in place, so it should be safe… for a while.”
Dan Ah-yeon couldn’t bring herself to say, “You goddamn son of a bitch. Because of you, we’re on the verge of a catastrophe, so shut up and stay put.” Instead, she had to speak to the Assemblyman as politely as possible, choosing her words carefully.
Sensing the urgency in Dan Ah-yeon’s tone and expression, the Assemblyman instinctively recoiled and retreated back into the VIP section.
If Dan Ah-yeon were a more impulsive person, she might have been tempted to think, ‘Since we’re all doomed anyway, should I just kill this Assemblyman too?’ But she had no time for such thoughts.
[BAAAAAAAAAA…!]
As the Old Ram’s cries grew closer, the public service Hunters shared the same thought:
Who?
Which idiot looked at the Old Ram?
Didn’t they hear Officer Dan’s explicit instructions to avoid eye contact?
Beyond anger, there was bewilderment.
Any Hunter worth their salt understood the potential consequences of ignoring safety protocols, precautions, or an enemy’s unique characteristics.
And then the realization dawned:
Someone who wasn’t a Hunter must have looked.
The Night Sea observation was held far from civilian areas, and the Old Ram only reacted to eye contact within a certain range.
Then it hit them.
Aside from the public service Hunters, there was only one group of civilians present who might disregard a Hunter’s instructions.
—Damn… One of those high-and-mighty Assemblymen ignored Officer Dan and looked at the Old Ram.
—Oh, for crying out loud. So curious, he should be a science student. Or, since he’s old, maybe he’s aiming for Minister of Science and ICT?
“Those fucking bastards.”
“….”
One hot-headed Hunter finally voiced what everyone was thinking. No one could refute him. If anyone reprimanded him later, he could just say he was talking to the Old Ram.
Of course, that was assuming they survived…
“Officer Dan, we can’t handle this alone…”
“I know. It’s tough.”
“What about the other Hunters in the metropolitan area? I heard the major Guilds are on standby…”
“The Old Ram grows stronger and multiplies with every gaze it meets. Other Guilds won’t intervene… until everyone here is dead.”
“…Ha.”
The Old Ram’s sensitivity to gazes made additional support impossible. The major Guilds had been informed, but requesting assistance risked multiplying the Old Ram.
“Like it or not… we’re on our own.”
“…Understood.”
Eye contact had been made. Thanks to one damned Assemblyman, they were all marked.
And the Old Ram had only one course of action:
Descend.
And invade the earth with its endlessly regenerating and dividing flesh.
But initially, it was eerily quiet, like the eye of a storm.
—Thump-thump-thump!
The creature’s heart pounded so fiercely that even the more distant Hunters could hear it.
The four-meter-tall, translucent quadruped landed, hovering a meter above the ground. Its countless eyes, devoid of life, swiveled in their sockets.
No one knew what they saw, but their presence alone instilled primal fear.
The Hunters tensed, some swallowing hard.
A creature capable of single-handedly destroying a metropolis.
If things went south, the neighboring capital would be in danger.
The brief silence ended as the Old Ram opened its grotesque maw.
[BAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!!!]
With a mournful cry, it unleashed a torrent of Lambs. Countless offspring and flesh pieces rained down upon the humans who dared to look.
Unable to fly as high as the Old Ram, the Lambs floated like dust motes, writhing grotesquely, rapidly transforming into new entities.
The Lambs, forming a line, slowly drifted toward the public service Hunters, like jellyfish carried by the wind.
Their sheer number resembled a tidal wave, sending shivers down the spines of some Hunters. They instinctively knew that being caught in that swarm wouldn’t mean a clean death.
“Lambs! Don’t let a single one through! We hunt them here!”
At Dan Ah-yeon’s command, pre-prepared magic circles activated, sealing off the area and drawing the attention of the Night Sea entities.
The Lambs, limbs still forming, snapped their nascent teeth, their tiny bodies writhing with an inexplicable rage and hatred.
“Prepare area-of-effect inscriptions!”
“Ready!”
The public service Hunters were no disorganized rabble. Despite their lower ranks, they were well-equipped and supplied with potions, enabling them to utilize powerful area-of-effect magic beyond their individual capabilities.
The sight of the National Hunters, lined up and activating their inscriptions in unison, was impressive.
“[Communal Flame-bombing]”
Multiple Hunters activated the spell simultaneously. A wave of fire surged forward, engulfing the Lambs and flesh pieces.
While it appeared devastating, the power of the lower-ranked Hunters was limited. Many Lambs burned, scorched, and vaporized, but most survived, their regenerative abilities quickly restoring their damaged bodies, their movements growing more frantic.
—Crackle!
—Crunch!
As the flames dissipated, the flesh pieces, with sounds like bursting blood vessels, lunged at the Hunters with terrifying speed.
“Activate defensive inscriptions!”
“Don’t let them through!”
Countless inscriptions and barriers shimmered into existence, solid and unyielding. The public service Hunters had spent a week setting them up, with Dan Ah-yeon herself pulling two all-nighters to reinforce them. They wouldn’t crumble under the assault of a few thousand flesh pieces.
“Commence bombardment!”
“Thin them out!”
A barrage of magical bullets and artillery fire erupted. Fire, ice, and lightning tore through the barriers, indiscriminately slaughtering the Lambs.
While the barriers typically isolated friend and foe alike, Dan Ah-yeon’s inscriptions allowed allied attacks to pass through while restricting enemy movement. The combined firepower of the Hunters, though individually weak, proved surprisingly effective, gradually reducing the Lambs’ numbers.
—Screech!
—Squeal!
Thanks to their numbers and equipment, the public service Hunters began to gain ground.
Even with their regenerative abilities, the Lambs couldn’t survive sustained, overwhelming damage.
The problem was what came next.
[BAAAAAAAAAA—!!!]
The Old Ram cried out again, its voice filled with anguish.
The remaining Lambs began to coalesce.
‘We’re doomed.’
Dan Ah-yeon gritted her teeth.
Floating flesh masses.
‘I thought the Lambs evolved by consuming prey, but they can also forcibly evolve by merging…!’
Dan Ah-yeon wanted to join the bombardment, but maintaining the barriers and inscriptions already taxed her to the limit.
Meanwhile, the flesh pieces merged, forming larger, more grotesque masses, moving as a single entity.
“It’s… a Young Ram!”
“Oh…”
Young Rams.
They had skipped the intermediate stage entirely, transforming directly into Young Rams, driven by a predatory instinct to hunt and kill the humans who had attacked them.
‘There’s only one option left… I shouldn’t do this, but I have no choice…!’
Dan Ah-yeon resorted to her last resort.
“Cease fire!”
“What?!”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Bombardment is useless against Young Rams! I have another plan!”
The Hunters nodded, trusting Dan Ah-yeon’s judgment. Their survival depended on it.
“Cease attack! Divert all mana to barrier maintenance!”
As the other Hunters poured their mana into the barriers, Dan Ah-yeon grabbed her phone and ran.
Not to escape. If she wanted to run, she would have abandoned her family and emigrated long ago.
“Emergency… call…”
Dan Ah-yeon’s primary duty wasn’t Night Sea observation. Her true role, the one that filled her with dread and a strange mix of anxiety and reliance, was…
[Special Returnee Management].
Managing someone who couldn’t be handled lightly.
—Ring.
The call connected. A sigh echoed from the other end, signaling the recipient’s displeasure.
“J-Jae-hee-nim! Jae-hee-nim! I’m so sorry to call you at this hour!”
[Yes, yes. Lovely night, Officer Dan.]
A beautiful voice, like the first rays of sunlight piercing through the morning mist, filled Dan Ah-yeon’s ears, momentarily captivating her.
“Lovely night, my… Kyaak! D-Don’t come over here!”
One of the Hunters, their mana unstable, had lost control of a stray magical bullet, which zipped past Dan Ah-yeon. Taking a deep breath, she apologized again to the [Special Returnee].
“Huff… huff… I’m so sorry, Jae-hee-nim! The truth is…”
[Is it the Night Sea?]
How did she know? No, that wasn’t important right now.
“Y-Yes! We have an unexpected situation, unidentified hostile entities… The Gimpo field unit is engaging!”
[Serious enough to warrant a call to me at 4 AM?]
“Yes? Yes! Well…”
She had a point. What time was it, anyway? Perhaps it wasn’t serious enough to warrant calling Jae-hee… but the situation was critical… and her superiors would demand she call… and there was no other way…
Dan Ah-yeon floundered, unsure what to say. A playful chuckle came from the other end.
[I’m just teasing. I’ll be right there.]
“T-Thank you!”
Dan Ah-yeon bowed instinctively, even though she was on the phone.
A moment of silence.
Did she hang up? She must have.
Dan Ah-yeon checked the phone and, with a sigh of relief, ran back to the scene.
“Aagh!”
“Ugh…!”
“They’re using shared pain!”
“Just hold on! They’re not real injuries!”
The cries of the Hunters reached her. The Young Rams weren’t just physically dangerous; they also possessed psychic abilities, using shared pain to break the Hunters’ morale.
Dan Ah-yeon channeled her magic, reinforcing the mental interference blockers in the protective inscriptions.
Just a little longer.
Just hold on a little longer.
Dan Ah-yeon and the Hunters held their ground, maintaining the barriers. The Young Rams continued their psychic assaults, but Dan Ah-yeon managed to counter them, preventing any casualties.
For now.
But the situation was unsustainable. The Young Rams were multiplying, and eventually, they would overwhelm the barriers.
“Everyone! Just hold on a little longer! Help is coming!”
“Calling in other Guilds is too dangerous!”
“It’s just one person!”
“What? One person against that…!”
The questioning Hunter trailed off, staring at the sky. Something new had appeared within the Night Sea’s ethereal glow.
“…A person?”
A figure stood within the rift, a woman cloaked from head to toe. Her long hair and silhouette hinted at a striking figure.
“Ah…!”
As the Hunter’s gaze became distant, Dan Ah-yeon followed his line of sight and gasped in relief.
The sight was surreal.
The woman seemed to radiate her own light in the darkness, her stillness a stark contrast to the chaos below.
Her black suit fit impeccably, its sharp lines catching the moonlight. Long legs, sleek and elegant, extended from beneath the tailored trousers. Her posture and movements exuded an otherworldly grace.
Violet eyes, sharp and cold yet somehow filled with a hint of warmth and compassion, shone in the darkness.
Long, black hair rippled in the night breeze as she descended.
Large, demonic wings, like a flowing gown, unfolded from her back as she landed. A veil concealed her face, fluttering gently in the wind.
[Baa…?]
The Old Ram’s countless eyes fixated on the newcomer.
Turning her back to the struggling Hunters, the woman—the Succubus Empress—lifted her veil.
“Growing children are always hungry.”
The humans couldn’t see her face. She stood with her back to them, beyond the protective barriers.
But had she appeared within the barriers, every human present would have instinctively turned to look.
“Children are active, restless, and capricious. Just like you.”
Her voice, like chiming bells, captivated the Old Ram, the Young Rams battering the barriers, and even the unevolved Lambs.
The woman met the Old Ram’s gaze.
“If you tell children a story before bed, they’ll eat and eat, like insatiable monsters.”
All the Rams stared at the Succubus Empress, mesmerized, their frenzy quelled.
With a graceful gesture of her hand, like a conductor leading an orchestra, she began to speak.
“Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb.”
A beautiful voice, yet chillingly cruel.
A beloved nursery rhyme.
The Rams’ eyes twitched.
“Baby, baby, if he hears you
As I gallops past the house,”
As if they had been force-fed something disgusting.
No, as if they had been fed something so delicious they had gorged themselves until their stomachs burst.
Until their very flesh exploded.
“Limb from limb at once he’ll tear you,
Just as pussy tears a mouse~”
A beautiful voice.
Beneath it, a carnage of slaughtered Rams.
—–CROW—–