Ch.146Midori Shower 3

Raging flames.

Because of those flames, the hunters couldn’t easily approach Jisoo.

They didn’t need to approach her directly in the first place.

A flame swordswoman who freely rides the fire.

She made her way to the hunters on her own.

With each swing of her sword, multiple people are sliced apart.

At this terrifying sight, the hunters collectively threw off their night vision goggles.

And they began to retreat hesitantly.

Their leader, 12.

He observed the tragedy with indifference.

After calmly assessing Jisoo’s abilities, 12 ordered his subordinates to retreat only after many had been cut down.

“Everyone fall back. I’ll handle this personally.”

The flames subsided.

Having demonstrated her power to some extent, Jisoo calmly landed on the ground.

“Let’s stop this meaningless bloodshed.”

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

12 removed his sunglasses.

This revealed the scars scattered across his face.

Soon, the man firmly assumed a judo stance.

His arms and legs appeared as strong and agile as a tiger’s.

‘A combat-type hunter, huh.’

However, no matter how skilled in close combat a fighter might be, it would be difficult to approach through Jisoo’s flames.

Therefore, Jisoo confidently pointed her sword at him and said:

“Tell me Shin Ae Park’s hideout, even now.”

“What?”

At her resolute proposal, 12 relaxed his shoulders.

He looked down at Jisoo with an arrogant expression, as if dumbfounded.

“Then I’ll spare your life.”

Her golden eyes had already turned red.

Steam rose from her mouth due to her hot breath.

“I should be the one making offers.”

But 12 paid no attention to such fierce heat.

Instead, he made a counter-proposal with a relaxed expression.

“Mother told me that lately she can’t sense the location of the girl branded as Number 10.”

10…?

Could he be talking about Dohyun?

Jisoo clenched her teeth at the sight of Counters still wanting Siho.

This caused her thick eyebrows to furrow.

“It seems you’ve done something to hide her—”

12 bent his knees slightly.

And after a brief pause…

“Hand her over if you don’t want to die.”

In an instant, he reached Jisoo and raised his fist.

A speed rivaling Anna’s.

Jisoo hurriedly raised her longsword to counter his fist.

“—!”

A strong metallic sound rang out from the collision of fist and sword.

Hearing that sound, Jisoo sensed something was wrong.

She had expected his fist to be split in half since it collided with a person’s hand.

But…

“Quite a good sword, isn’t it? Makes my bones ring!”

12’s fist that collided with her wasn’t split at all—it was perfectly fine.

Rather, Jisoo’s hand ached as if she had struck a piece of metal.

12 pushed against Jisoo’s sword with even greater force.

Because of this, her feet planted on the ground gradually began to slide backward.

“What’s this? For someone who threatened me, you’re too weak! How disappointing!”

Having gained the upper hand in strength, 12 shouted excitedly.

Red sparks flew each time he pushed.

“Put more strength into it!”

Jisoo’s red eyes blazed.

While resisting with all her might, she soon enveloped her entire body in flames.

“—!”

Eventually, the surging flames engulfed 12’s body.

A cloud of flames so intense it would melt an ordinary person’s entire body.

Soon, 12 was buried within that cloud.

“Haa…”

Finally freed from the power struggle, Jisoo breathed heavily.

And she stared intently at the flame cloud that enveloped the center of the factory.

12’s subordinates, the soldiers of the honorable New Government, also watched the scene.

However, none of them worried about 12 who had disappeared into the flames.

Instead, they stood at attention, rigidly waiting for his return.

The only person trembling was Yeji, hiding behind machine debris.

She was mesmerized by the sight of a hunter who simultaneously wielded flames and a sword—something she had never seen before.

No matter how she looked at it, 12 didn’t seem likely to return from those intense flames.

Even Yeji, who was far away, found it difficult to breathe due to the power of Jisoo’s flames.

But…

Soon the flames began to die down.

From within, heavy footsteps began to be heard.

The vibration made Jisoo furrow her brow.

Soon a black silhouette appeared within the flames.

Everyone held their breath and stared at the silhouette.

And at that moment.

12 emerged through the flames.

His appearance was incredibly grotesque.

His uniform hung in tatters like rags.

But 12’s naked body hadn’t suffered even the slightest burn.

“Quite a fiery young lady, aren’t you?”

He clenched his fist again like a machine.

And once more, he collided head-on with Jisoo’s sword without any technique.

But she didn’t just engage in a power struggle.

A technique learned from Anna.

She twisted the colliding sword to slip away from his fist.

The sword freed from his grasp.

She swung it straight at his throat.

“—!”

Soon a sharp metallic clash echoed throughout the factory.

Loud friction sounds poured from 12’s neck where Jisoo’s sword made contact.

“Your swordsmanship isn’t bad either. You deserve to be called a swordswoman, not just a pyromancer.”

12 ignored the sword drilling into his neck like a chainsaw.

And suddenly he reached out and grabbed Jisoo’s waist.

“But you’re still lacking in combat experience!”

With overwhelming strength befitting his size.

He lifted Jisoo and slammed her down.

Perhaps due to the impact strong enough to crack the floor.

Jisoo spat blood as if her insides had twisted.

“…”

Having been thrown to the floor, she hurriedly got up.

And she created distance to guard against his judo techniques.

12 certainly had a very low number among the Counters.

But somehow, he was more troublesome than 08.

Plus, his body was so tough that even a sword couldn’t penetrate it.

Not as sturdy as 06, but tough enough.

It felt like he had taken only the strengths of the rankers.

He showed absolutely no openings.

Finally, Jisoo changed her strategy.

She would maintain distance and accumulate damage with long-range flames.

With this in mind, Jisoo put her palm to her lips.

And from her seething body, she exhaled a ball of intense flame.

The essence of flame.

Unlike her usual flames, this sphere was blue in color.

Jisoo threw the essence with all her might toward 12.

“That damn flame again?”

12 smiled calmly as if he had anticipated everything.

But he didn’t stop and continued charging toward Jisoo.

“Burn me all you want!”

When the sphere touched 12’s body, it exploded with an intense boom.

But the man broke through the flames and reached her, as if to prove a point.

And he shouted in a loud voice.

“Heat that cannot kill me only makes me hotter!”

A burning hand grasping Jisoo’s neck.

He slammed her into the ground.

“—!”

As a result, the flame storm was completely extinguished.

Soon the factory was filled with thick smoke from the burned-out flames.

The smoke rose so strongly that it obscured the entire factory’s visibility.

It even reached Yeji who was hiding in the corner.

Smoke mixed with dirty factory dust.

Inhaling that smoke, Yeji soon broke into a cough.

She tried to cover her mouth to reduce the coughing sound.

But perhaps because she had already made too much noise.

Soon she heard footsteps approaching.

“…”

As the sound grew louder, so did Yeji’s heartbeat.

She desperately hoped that the person coming for her would be Jisoo.

However…

Those footsteps were too heavy to be Jisoo’s.

“What are you?”

A low, heavy voice.

It wasn’t Jisoo.

<12, Dokgo Hyuk>

Ranking: Former 12th. Currently unregistered.

Ability: Body carbonization.

Occupation: Before Gate Opening, retired Special Forces Sergeant.

Information: An early ranker who died during the Gate Opening incident. Revived thanks to Shin Ae Park.

Shin Ae offered him a higher number, but he insisted on keeping his ranking number, 12.

In the end, it was 12 who got up first after the explosion.

While waiting for the smoke to clear, he heard Yeji’s coughing.

Yeji trembled under his shadow.

She quickly got to her feet.

And she began to run away without looking back.

Thanks to the thick smoke, she wasn’t caught immediately.

“It’s one of the intruders, catch her quickly!”

But a fierce shout came from behind her.

Yeji tried to ignore the sound and ran with all her might toward the exit.

But…

Due to the thick fog, she couldn’t tell where the exit was.

She just ran frantically, looking only ahead.

As she moved away from the center of the collision, the smoke thinned.

She desperately prayed that the open space ahead would be the exit.

However, what she encountered was…

Unfortunately, the arms of 12’s subordinates.

“Over here!”

Sharp blades rushed toward her, who had no combat ability.

In that moment, Yeji’s life flashed before her eyes.

She had struggled all her life, and even when the Gate opened, she was powerless.

After a series of misfortunes, to be caught up in such a terrible incident.

Too exhausted, she finally closed her eyes in resignation.

But then, someone’s voice reached her ears.

“Ms. Yeji!”

Was it Jisoo?

Or the other two hunters?

No.

They would all be dead by now.

Then who could have come to save her?

Yeji weakly turned her head toward the voice.

And at that moment.

The hunters who were swinging their swords at her all froze in place.

Cold ice had enveloped their bodies.

Soon someone jumped down from the second floor of the factory.

She landed gracefully, sliding along the ice.

“S-Siho?”

Bartender attire that clung to her body.

And an attractive face adorned with a choker.

It was Siho, who had comforted her earlier.

“Close your eyes!!”

Siho shouted urgently.

Yeji obediently closed her eyes.

Then Siho took out a white potion from her black blazer.

And casually removed the cap.

She carelessly threw the opened potion into the air.

Following that, as the liquid scattered in the air.

“—!”

An intense light along with a loud ringing spread throughout the factory.

Yeji crouched down, covering both ears with her hands.

Siho’s hand grabbed her arm.

“Just follow me!”

Siho started running, holding onto her.

Meanwhile, from behind came the sound of guns firing into the air.

The screams of hunters suffering from the flash were abundant.

The two passed through the gloomy corridor they had entered earlier.

And together they pushed open the firmly closed main door.

Having escaped outside, Yeji finally remembered the three women she had left behind.

She asked Siho with a worried tone.

“Will the three of them be alright?”

“Don’t worry, they’re not the type to die easily!”

Yeji had clearly witnessed the demise of all three.

But perhaps thanks to Siho’s words.

Somehow she got the impression that they really might be alive.

Thanks to this, she could focus on escape again.

“Just hang in there a little more! We’re almost there!”

Yeji watched Siho leading the way while catching her breath.

She had thought she wasn’t lacking in stamina anywhere, but she couldn’t keep up with Siho’s fox-like speed.

“Siho… I’m too tired!”

“There’s something to ride just a little further ahead!”

Yeji, with half-glazed eyes, followed to the back of the factory.

In her mind, only the word ‘vehicle’ remained.

Siho took out something she had prepared there in advance.

And skillfully boarded it first.

“Come on, get on!”

At her reassuring words, Yeji immediately turned the alley corner.

A motorcycle? Or a car?

Anything would be fine, please…

The moment she spotted Siho.

Yeji’s eyes widened.

“Eh…?”

The vehicle that Siho confidently presented was…

“—.”

A cheerful whistle sound.

Adorable wheels.

A small park bicycle.

“Just trust me, I’ll get you safely to the city!”

Siho raised her fist high as if saying to trust her.

But to Yeji’s eyes, she just looked like a small animal.