Chapter 69

To run at full speed, Suho had to use several buff skills that constantly drained his mana. He could simply replenish it with potions, but there was no telling whether he would have time for that once he reached Lee Minsung.

'I need to conserve as much stamina as possible so I can jump straight into battle when I arrive.'

So he decided to make use of Baek Miho, who happened to be right beside him.

"... You want me to carry you?"

"Yes."

"Me? Carry you, Hunter Sung Suho?"

"Yes. We're heading the same way anyway. Give me a ride."

"No, hold on! Why are you acting like you're entitled to a piggyback ride...?!"

As Suho moved to climb onto her back right then and there, a thoroughly flustered Baek Miho asked again.

"A-are you serious right now?"

"Does this look like a good time to stand around joking?"

"Wow."

His shamelessness left her momentarily speechless. Judging by those earnest eyes, he certainly wasn't joking. They weren't on joking terms to begin with, and what lunatic would dare spout such nonsense to the vice president of the Baekho Guild?

Carry him because she was going that way anyway? What did he think she was, a taxi?

"I need to conserve as much stamina as possible before we reach Lee Minsung."

"What about my stamina?!"

"Carrying one person shouldn't drain an A-rank hunter's stamina or mana, should it?"

"Well, no, but..."

"That's a relief. I'm C-rank, so it'll wear me out. And I can't exactly take a break before fighting when we get there, can I?"

That... made sense?!

'No! It doesn't. It definitely doesn't, but...'

To her own bewilderment, Baek Miho found herself being persuaded. Of course, the situation was too urgent for her to counter every point he made. But even aside from that, Suho was giving off a strange, indescribably imposing presence.

Yes, this feeling was just like...

'Why does it feel like I'm facing my father...? '

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, watches Baek Miho with a chuckle.]

Baek Miho had yet to realize that the greatest King of Beasts was looking down at her from a place unimaginably far away. That mighty predator's presence was subtly seeping through Suho, the Monarch's shaman, and weighing down on her.

Finally, she squeezed her eyes shut and shouted, "F-fine! We don't have time to waste arguing about this...!"

WHOOOOSH!

"Oh."

[Kieh?]

Suho's and Beru's eyes lit up in unison as bestial energy erupted from Baek Miho's entire body. They understood why Rakan had just been watching her from the Domain of Repose.

'If it weren't for me, she might have become Rakan's shaman.'

Beast Transformation. A mysterious ability that enhanced the human body to be like a beast's. Suho had even heard rumors that Baekho Guildmaster Baek Yoonho turned into something like a white tiger when he pushed this power to its limits.

But Baek Miho was...

"A fox?"

WHOOOOSH.

Enveloped in bestial energy, Baek Miho had taken on an appearance strongly reminiscent of a sleek fox and was looking haughtily down at Suho. Her thick, snow-white hair swayed, while the pure-white aura rippling over it formed foxlike ears and a tail.

"Looks good. I'll hop on, then?"

Her gaze wavered as Suho promptly climbed onto her back.

'He's not intimidated by my aura? A C-rank hunter?'

Among hunters who used the Beast Transformation skill, there was an instinctively determined pecking order. Human willpower and determination could suppress or ignore that instinct, of course, but the normal reaction was that of the Baekho Guild members behind her.

"Ugh! V-vice President...!"

The guild members following her had gone pale and were trembling under the pressure she radiated, like animals confronted by a stronger predator.

But Suho was different.

PAT, PAT!

"All right, let's go! Hurry!"

"..."

Clinging to her back like a cicada on an old tree, he was chirping away without a care in the world. And atop that cicada was another, even smaller and noisier one...

[Get moving already, you fox!]

"... Hold on tight."

Baek Miho gritted her teeth, her eyes flashing.

"I'm running at full speed."

THUMP!

"...!"

With Suho on her back, Baek Miho shot forward in a streak of light.

* * *

Running at full speed through a city was harder for a hunter than one might think. The problem was pedestrians wandering unpredictably through the streets. If an awakened person so much as brushed against one while running, an ordinary person would go flying like a bowling pin. It was more dangerous than getting hit by a dump truck—a serious accident that, with a little bad luck, could kill someone instantly or leave them permanently disabled.

Such accidents had been frequent for a while immediately after the Cataclysm. Newly awakened rookies, intoxicated with their own strength, would run around and unintentionally cause terrible accidents.

But the founding of the Hunters Association brought hunter legislation, and after that, hunters rarely sprinted down the street. However confident they were in their physical abilities, they generally used transportation to get around.

An emergency like this, however, was a different matter.

'Stay on the rooftops as much as possible!'

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!

Carrying Suho on her back, Baek Miho was leaping across the buildings at a speed ordinary people couldn't hope to follow with their eyes.

"Huh? Just now, over there..."

"Huh? What? There's nothing there."

"... Was I seeing things?"

Even if someone spotted her from a distance and tried to take a picture, she would already be gone. That was how incredibly fast she was.

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!

Suho was genuinely impressed by her movements.

'She really is fast. So this is what an A-rank can do.'

Watching her, he gauged the level of Lee Minsung, whom he would soon be fighting.

[Oh, quite an agile fox. You should ride her more often.]

"Beru, that's rude."

"..."

The carefree conversation behind her made Baek Miho bristle, her lips jutting out in a pout. Summoner and summon alike were utterly shameless.

"But at this speed, we really will get there within twenty minutes."

[Indeed we will.]

As their conversation continued, Baek Miho finally spoke up.

"Seriously, do you think I'm a tax—!"

That was when Suho looked at Beru and said, "Still, the faster the better."

Beru's eyes narrowed, and a wicked smile spread across his face.

[As you command.]

DING!

[Beru uses 'Skill: Harsh Command.']

...!

The buff skill Beru had acquired by devouring that wicked hyena, Broki the Harsh Commander, activated. Since this buff applied exclusively to beasts, it could also be used on the "beast" Suho was riding at that very moment.

['Skill: Harsh Command' increases Baek Miho's stats by 50%.]

[As a side effect of 'Skill: Harsh Command,' Baek Miho is afflicted with the Curse of Madness.]

"...!"

In an instant, the look in Baek Miho's eyes changed. Fierce rage boiled up from deep within her chest and surged all the way to her head. She couldn't tell whether that fury came from Suho and Beru's chatter or this unidentified buff skill, but...

"... Grrr!"

The moment she surrendered to the emotion, she sped up so much she felt as though she could fly.

WHOOOOSH!

"Nice!"

[Kheheh!]

She was angry.

Really angry.

* * *

In the end, Suho managed to reach the scene in just ten minutes.

['Skill: Harsh Command' is deactivated.]

"Are you all right?"

"... I'm fine."

Now back to her senses, Baek Miho looked a little tired, perhaps because she had pushed herself harder than usual. A brief pause to catch her breath would be enough to recover from this much exertion, though. The situation here was far more important.

"What on earth..."

Her expression grew grave as she took in the scene before her.

Grotesque Mutants were attacking civilians, and the hunters were scrambling to stop them. The problem was that the civilians they attacked were gradually rotting and turning into new Mutants. Unless they dealt with it quickly, the situation looked set to spiral out of control.

"My God. A zombie outbreak in the middle of the city..."

"No. They're not zombies," Suho immediately corrected her. "They're ghouls."

He could clearly see the name tags above the Mutants' heads.

[Contaminated Ghoul]

[Contaminated Ghoul]

[Contaminated Ghoul]

...

Zombies and ghouls were entirely different. While zombies were walking corpses, ghouls were closer to vampires. More precisely, they were corpse-eating fiends. In other words, monsters that ate the dead. Where vampires craved human blood, these creatures craved human flesh.

Above all, unlike zombies, ghouls weren't dead bodies, so they weren't mindless. Yet for some reason, the ghouls here were bent on killing people rather than eating them. And their victims rose as new ghouls as their flesh gradually rotted away. Just like zombies.

'These things aren't just out to slaughter people.'

Royal jelly—the substance the queen bee Arsha used to increase her soldiers. Suho could sense that potent poison's energy coming from the Contaminated Ghouls.

'Just as Arsha said, Lee Minsung is creating more ghouls to build an army of his own.'

Quickly grasping the situation, Suho looked at Beru.

"Beru."

[Yes.]

"Can you find Lee Minsung?"

[I already have.]

Beru's antennae, which had been twitching nonstop, suddenly went still. Following the direction they pointed, Suho and Baek Miho looked up together. Both their expressions stiffened.

They had overlooked what was right under their noses. Directly before them stood a forty-story mixed-use apartment building. A massive hive had been built near its top, so high they had to crane their necks to see it.

"... So Lee Minsung is up at the top."

Having heard their exchange, Baek Miho cracked her knuckles, her eyes flashing. An immense presence surged from her entire body.

"Hunter Sung Suho! Let's split up from here. I'll take on that hive, so you stay here and..."

"The power seems to be out. Don't tell me you're taking the stairs all the way up there?"

"I'll handle that myself. Now, if you'll excuse—Ack?!"

"Oh, hold on."

Suho caught Baek Miho by the scruff of her neck as she tried to dash straight into the building.

"W-what are you doing?!"

Flustered and red-faced, she turned back toward him. Suho gave a small smile.

"You gave me a ride here. This time, I'll give you one."

She suddenly lifted off the ground.

"Eek?!"

Startled by someone abruptly picking her up, Baek Miho looked behind her.

"...!"

[Shadow Lancer Lv.1]

Normal Grade

[Shadow Lancer Lv.1]

Normal Grade

Black lancers had just risen from Suho's shadow. The human-sized soldier bees, wreathed in rippling black vapor, had scooped Suho and Baek Miho up from behind in their arms.

"We're short on time. Let's fly."