episode_0165

Irene Foxis.

Her entry into the alley was purely accidental. A strange, unsettling intuition had tugged at her sleeve. The fox was simply drawn by that ominous feeling, inadvertently witnessing the scene. Perhaps it might have flaws if dismissed as pure coincidence. In short, the girl had simply followed her instincts.

-You are on the cusp of transcendence. -Slowly, in three years, or quickly, within a year, you will reach the stars.

She was treading the threshold of the stars. It was a period when her fundamental body was transforming, and simultaneously, her senses were becoming the sharpest in her life. It was the so-called ‘transitional period’ that those on the verge of transcendence often experienced.

Thanks to this, Irene’s nerves were sharper than ever. With the added ‘instinct’ unique to beast-kin, the girl’s keenness had surpassed its limits. This time, she reaped the full benefits of it.

‘Something’s off.’

As she was returning from shopping in the market district, as usual. The fox suddenly detected a murky aura nearby. Following the stench that wafted from it, she discovered an alleyway where a dozen or so people had gathered. There, a familiar pink-haired figure was surrounded by assailants.

Irene leaped without hesitation.

And now.

“Ugh…!” Clang! Grrrk…! Thud!

The girl was fending off the attacks pressing in from the front. Even in the darkness, afterimages wreathed in flames bloomed. The sword’s tip swayed calmly.

Whoosh-!

A sword strike swooping down from above. The fox evaded with a brief nod, then channeled her ki into her sword. Immediately after, her firepower intensified for a moment, as if oil had been poured onto it. The unleashed flames brilliantly engulfed the surroundings. It was like a blazing flower consuming the dawn.

Fwoosh-!

“Hup…!”

With a shout, she unleashed a single strike. The surging flames cleaved through the pitch-black shadows, engulfing enemies like a crimson storm. The figures caught in the torrent lay sprawled, leaving behind only flesh and the smell of burning. However, those who had blocked the attack merely stood relaxed.

Whoosh-.

When the smoke cleared, the assailants stood there. All of them wearing blood-red robes.

“……”

On some of their epaulets, a very familiar emblem was carved. Irene immediately discerned the identity of her opponents.

‘Cultists.’

It was an unforgettable emblem. She still remembered the time she was abducted to their research facility. The intense aversion etched into her mind was not easily erased.

The fox cut down another approaching enemy. With her eyes, she was rapidly assessing the current situation. Her mental calculator whirred.

‘What… how did this happen?’

The sudden appearance of the cultists. Moreover, figures wearing golden epaulets flickered at their sides. Despite their sporadic presence, Irene saw right through them. They were none other than the [Businessman]’s forces… his direct elite unit, the ‘Hounds.’

Irene took a deep breath, maintaining her composure.

‘No way.’

She had heard rumors that the two factions had joined forces sometime ago. But she never imagined they would be orchestrating something like this.

Slish-.

The girl’s emotions weren’t swayed. Instead, she calmly quelled her reason, seeking a way to break through the situation. This was something she had learned while with Yuda over the past year.

‘The Hounds… they’re not a particularly threatening force.’

However, complacency would only be a dagger to herself. Irene calmly regulated her breathing. Then, she aimed the blazing blade forward.

-Stop this nonsense and scram.

Although she had declared it with such momentum, the situation was not particularly favorable for the fox. As mentioned, the Hounds were merely a nuisance. They were not particularly threatening opponents. However, the problem was the man at the forefront, who appeared to be leading the group.

His ragged attire. Beyond that clothing, an eerie aura flowed. With just a brief assessment of the atmosphere, the girl made her judgment.

‘……That one looks dangerous.’

For now, he wasn’t stepping forward, merely observing from behind. But there was no telling when he might change his mind. The fox furrowed her brow.

‘This is the worst.’

Unfortunately. Irene’s condition hadn’t been good recently either. Perhaps because she was treading the threshold of the stars, her abilities felt suppressed compared to usual. Her ultimate skill, the Crimson Flame, also became unstable frequently. Under these conditions, dealing with the Hounds and subduing that ragged man didn’t seem easy.

Of course, annihilation wasn’t the only condition for victory.

‘Is the area blocked by a barrier?’

An unidentified boundary separating the entire alleyway. The fox calmly scanned the reddish background. Since high-density magic was being deployed within the academy, the faculty would soon notice the anomaly. No matter how well they concealed their traces, they couldn’t deceive every eye. The girl estimated the time until other reinforcements would arrive.

‘Roughly… about 10 more minutes.’

It wasn’t a pleasant conclusion. Right now, she was holding the opponents at bay, but once a full-scale clash began, she would be overwhelmed. Especially that ragged man; he wasn’t someone she could challenge with her current strength. His sheer aura alone indicated that he was in a different league. From her brief assessment, he was on the level of an Astro Vice-Commander. Just facing him felt like her breath was being choked off.

“Haa…”

She couldn’t envision any way to win against him. Her shoulders merely trembled under the chilling pressure.

As she pondered the moment, a voice naturally brushed against her ear. It was advice she had received sometime ago.

-Never go against the flow. -Natural law is absolute. -If you try to defy the stars with the power of a mere creature, you will surely pay a price worse than death.

Is there really no way? She clicked her tongue lightly.

Around her, the bodies of those cut down earlier lay scattered. Before her, five Hounds remained. And one ragged man.

“Huu…”

She painstakingly regained her ragged breath. The tip of her sword pointed towards the sky.

Just as she was about to take her next leap, an eerie presence suddenly licked at the nape of her neck. Overwhelmed by the crushing killing intent, the fox froze in place. At the edge of her trembling vision, the ragged man stood.

Step-.

Quietly approaching steps. The man, who hadn’t made a move until now, had finally stirred. An eerie atmosphere pressed in, coiling around them.

His lips murmured lowly. “Time. Insufficient. Quickly. Dispose.”

A grotesquely choppy voice. His rusted fingers, like old iron bars, pointed at the void. Following this, a faintly colored incantation echoed.

“Annihilation… line up. The dawn.”

Was it the moment of activation right after that? A storm raged on one side. The magic energy swirling nearby converged, soon engulfing the surrounding space in pitch black. The extending darkness completely obscured the vision inside the barrier. Caught in the torrent, Irene squeezed her eyes shut.

And, not long after. When she lifted her eyelids again.

“……?”

They were standing in an entirely different location. A chilling wind brushed against her spine. The peaceful academy town scenery that had been there just moments before had vanished without a trace. Before her eyes, a bone-chilling cemetery lay spread out. It was an domain deployed by none other than the ragged man.

‘He was a Domain user…!’

Irene wore a look of dismay. Sharp coldness colored her cheeks. The pitch-black background was utterly eerie. At the center, where all death and bone dust were scattered, the ragged man held an old shovel. Behind him, only broken crosses and defiled gravestones stood in rows. The man gazed at the fox with lifeless eyes.

“To the call. Respond.”

A twisted phrase. It was the final sentence that completed his domain.

The shimmering magic energy solidified into form.

Rumble-.

Simultaneously, something began to pour down like rain from the blackened sky. It was thousands of coffins, carrying the deceased. They struck the ground in countless numbers. The objects falling from above were quite threatening.

Slam! Crash!

The pitch-black boxes slammed into the dirt one after another. Afterward, the coffin lids simultaneously flew open. Broken fragments, and beyond the dawn, shadowy figures wriggled and burst forth. These were corpses so thoroughly steeped in magic that their forms were distorted beyond recognition. Skeletons, their rotting flesh clinging to them, stumbled across the ground. It was a momentarily overwhelming sight.

“This, what in the….”

Irene found herself muttering blankly. As if she had just faced hell itself.

But even in this horrific situation, the Necromancer merely gave commands. His cold voice, mixed with death, carried forth.

“Fill. Your hungry bellies.”

The voice fell among the corpses gathered like an ant swarm. The mindless dead responded to their master’s call. Without anyone taking the lead, the undead began to rush towards the fox. Their decaying steps turned the cemetery landscape into a pandemonium. Grotesque screams tore through the silence.

Kieeeek!!

Had their vocal cords rotted away? The monstrous cries, which could hardly be called voices, rang in her ears. Their poisonously bared, pitch-black teeth rushed at her eagerly. The intertwining of murderous intent and greed played a dirge.

“Damn it…!”

Surrounded on all sides. The fox hastily unleashed her flames, pushing back the surging specters. However, it didn’t go as planned. Despite the crimson flames, the corpses charged relentlessly. They were rushing through the fire. The girl ultimately had to face them one by one with her sword.

Slice-!

Crimson lines streaked through the air. The sword’s trajectory, drawn straight and true. The scattering flesh, alongside the flames, painted a picture of contempt for the dead. The encroaching dawn was so terrible, making her arm tingle. Nevertheless, Irene systematically slaughtered the corpses.

Squish, Splat-!

The bursting sound of shattering heads. The number of enemies was overwhelming. Perhaps receiving buffs within the Necromancer’s domain, the strength of the charging undead was abnormally powerful. Moreover, the unaddressed Hounds were constantly looking for an opening. At the very front, the Necromancer himself was swinging his shovel. Despite her fierce struggle, the fox was gradually losing ground.

‘There’s no answer.’