Ch.92Revenge Plays Are Dangerous (1)

The next day, having regained my condition, I spent the day at the hotel fiddling with my laptop.

During that time, I was able to contact Joseph and receive various pieces of information.

[An S-rank hunter participating in the raid? Shouldn’t you know better since you’re there on site?]

“…Well, some guys don’t show up at the banquet hall. Just organize the information and tell me.”

It’s truly frustrating trying to talk without the ring’s effect after so long. After hearing my request, Joseph grumbled briefly before typing something furiously and sending it to me.

[Just read that. There might be some people missing, but it should be mostly accurate.]

Joseph’s file indeed contained many familiar faces I had seen yesterday.

[Excluding American hunters, the most famous would probably be France’s Saint Yesiel and Russia’s Blue Lion Ivan.]

“I-Ivan? That rude bastard?”

[Besides them, there’s Japan’s Sanada, a rising holy warrior. They say he mainly uses a sword and has an incredibly sharp sense.]

For an information broker, he certainly knew a lot. I asked Joseph another question.

“Hmm. What about from America?”

[The notable ones are basically Michael, who’s practically the new generation’s superstar, Forden the Wave Mage, Austin the Demon Hunter, and Jacob of the Black Iron. Those four are veterans who participated in the first S-rank large dungeon raid.]

The moment Joseph finished speaking, something briefly stirred within my soul.

Tracing the reaction, it seemed to come from the Living Death in the Book of Death.

[What’s wrong? The connection didn’t break, did it?]

“No, it’s nothing. Continue.”

Since the reaction was so momentary, I focused back on the conversation without feeling anything unusual.

[There are other S-ranks too, but those are the ones to watch out for. Come to think of it, Korea’s Tyrant is with you, right?]

“Lee Jichul?”

[Then this should be easy to understand. All the people I just mentioned have skills that don’t fall behind the Tyrant.]

Considering that I had seen some people who looked stronger than Lee Jichul, Joseph’s assessment seemed fairly accurate.

And now, I would be joining their ranks as we entered the S-rank dungeon.

[By the way, aren’t you quite close with Helena? She came all the way to Italy last time, but this time she’s not even participating in the raid.]

“Hmm, she’s busy with Hades. You should know that.”

[I haven’t been able to take requests lately. We’re not exactly on chatting terms either.]

Anyway, it’s not like I need to be afraid of anyone just because Helena isn’t here.

After talking with Joseph for quite a while, I prepared myself once more and headed to the banquet hall.

I was too drunk to check properly yesterday, but this time I intended to properly observe the key figures of the raid team.

Whoosh.

Whoooosh.

FWOOSH!

“Ah shit, here we go again.”

Just as I was about to leave, the air distorted and suddenly the Book of Death appeared.

And naturally, the one who emerged from it was the Living Death.

“You’ve been holding back well, why come out now? Get back in quickly.”

“…Stuffy. Walk.”

“What if someone picks a fight with you thinking you’re a monster? I won’t help you.”

Though I spoke kindly out of familiarity, the Living Death ignored my words and departed somewhere.

Since this wasn’t the first time this had happened, I ignored it and continued toward my destination.

After all, even if the Living Death got into a fight with an S-rank hunter, she wouldn’t die from it.

‘……’

Somehow, her mood seemed a bit different from usual, but I deliberately ignored it.

I just assumed it was a simple matter of mood, as always.

#

‘…My head hurts.’

Baek Eunha’s memories of when she was human were faint.

After being revived by Baek Eunha, she had recalled some partial scenes, but that was her limit.

Beyond that, it was as if fog had settled in her mind, preventing her from remembering anything.

‘…Who was I?’

She knew her name. She was Living Death. And she had been a hunter from South Korea.

She seemed to have had a family, but she couldn’t really remember. And she could hardly recall the moment of her death.

The situation changed just a few months ago.

‘Something definitely rang loudly in a corner of my mind.’

It was when Baek Eunha was returning to Korea after obtaining a mental stabilization artifact in England.

There, from a man they passed by, the Living Death felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

And it was a particularly viscous kind of feeling.

‘……’

The second time she felt the same emotion was when she saw certain individuals on TV at Baek Eunha’s home.

A brown-haired man with long hair wearing sunglasses and a blonde young man, definitely American hunters named Jacob and Michael.

‘…I feel strange.’

Just recalling those faces and names made a corner of her heart ache. A sensation urging her to remember something.

The source was her own soul.

“I smell it.”

Step.

Step.

And just a little while ago, the Living Death felt this sensation for the third time.

Some of the names mentioned by Joseph while talking with Baek Eunha. The moment she recognized some of them, an unbearable emotion boiled up from within.

So the Living Death came outside. And she began walking as her instincts guided her.

“Hey, what’s with the full armor…”

“Look, it’s troublesome to be dressed like that inside the hotel.”

During this process, someone tried to talk to her, but she paid no attention.

After all, such things weren’t important right now.

“…Stuffy.”

With the knot that wouldn’t untie, the Living Death continued walking.

And as if by some trick of fate, at the end of her path, she encountered someone from her memory.

“Hmm? Who are you?”

A middle-aged man wearing a stylish hat. The Living Death knew who he was the moment she saw him.

He was the man who had passed by Baek Eunha at the London airport a few months ago, the one who had first given the Living Death that sense of discomfort.

“…Your name.”

“My name? It’s Oliver. I’m an A-rank hunter from America. Do you need something?”

“Oliver.”

With each repetition of the name, something kept stimulating her inside. It felt as if the fog occupying her mind might clear.

“Oliver…”

She had definitely heard this name before.

Perhaps not just after being revived by Baek Eunha, but from much earlier.

“Oliver.”

“What are you saying? If you have no business with me, I’ll be going now.”

As Oliver spat on the ground and was about to leave, the Living Death suddenly recalled a word in her mind. And she spoke it aloud.

“Oliver Wood.”

“What, so you did know me?”

His full name, which hadn’t been mentioned until just now.

Once she pronounced it aloud, various scenes began to surface in her memory, as if a blocked energy channel had suddenly opened.

“Oliver Wood.”

“This is getting annoying. If you have something to say, please say it quickly. I’m experiencing all sorts of strange things.”

Even though her memory hadn’t fully returned, the Living Death felt a massive killing intent rising from the corner of her heart.

She was certain that this man before her had to die by her hand.

Without hesitation, she drew the knife at her waist.

Shing.

Clank.

“What the—!”

Thud.

Oliver quickly distanced himself and entered a combat stance, but his expression was becoming strangely distorted.

After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth with wide eyes.

“This energy, I’ve definitely felt it somewhere…”

“Oliver Wood.”

The Living Death, emitting a chilling killing intent, raised her left hand and removed her mask.

Swish.

Click.

“I definitely told you.”

A pale face and eyes glowing green.

Revealing them, the Living Death recited the vow she had once made in anger.

“That when I return alive, I will tear all of you to death.”

“This, this can’t be… How are you…”

Oliver began trembling like an aspen tree, as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

The Living Death slowly walked toward Oliver with an indifferent face.

Step.

Step.

Thud.

“I remember everything now. Your faces, your names.”

“Listen, calm down. You might not have known at the time, but unlike them, I opposed the plan…”

Slash!

CRACK—!

“AAAAARGH! You, you crazy bitch…!”

With one light swing from the Living Death, Oliver’s mouth was split in two.

Those torn lips somehow looked like they were forming a vile smile.

Facing Oliver, who was clutching his face in pain, the Living Death spoke with a chilling aura.

“Remember clearly.”

“…Kugh, kek!”

“You were smiling then too. With exactly the same face as now.”

Realizing his fate from the thick killing intent without a hint of hesitation, Oliver fell into despair.

Then he began drawing up his magical power desperately and charged at the Living Death.

Whoosh.

“Kuugh, you should have been dead, why have you crawled back now! If you really want it, I’ll end your life once more!”

Slash!

Clatter!

However, the Living Death looked at him indifferently, deflected his attacks a couple of times, and then put her knife back at her waist.

Then she quietly uttered just one sentence.

“…Oliver Wood. In that dungeon, you shot at my legs eight times from a hidden place.”

Only the last one hit, but the Living Death remembered every single shot.

Therefore.

“I also cut you exactly eight times.”

THUD!

Oliver, who had been charging with fierce momentum, somehow lost his balance and collapsed in place.

His legs had already been cleanly severed and were scattered behind him.

“Kuh, kuheeo.”

As Oliver’s expression was about to be colored with pain and fear, thin lines began to appear one by one on his body and face.

And finally.

SPLASH!

SPLATTER—!

Red blood sprayed in all directions as his body lost its original form, cut into pieces.

Counting them all, there were exactly eight pieces.

‘……’

After staring at the gruesome scene expressionlessly, the Living Death turned her head and continued walking.

Step.

Step.

“Jacob Turner, Michael Brighton, Austin Miller, Forden Diaz.”

Each of them current S-rank hunters of America, called veterans among veterans.

And now.

“…They’re all here.”

All of them were the Living Death’s prey.