WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Arsène
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◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈
Chapter 102: Behemoth - [5]
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The three of us arrived on Behemoth's back, a place made of rock that did not even feel like part of a living creature.
Behemoth's tail was right in front of us. It was as thick as a pillar.
"Cut it!"
Han Hee and Park Juheon moved at once. They swung the swords they had already drawn.
Han Hee slashed several times in an instant, while Park Juheon swung with the widest possible motions.
At first glance, it did not seem like the two of them would have trouble cutting through something nine meters thick. But it would not be easy.
One slash would not be enough. That tail was far thicker than even Park Juheon's absurdly long sword.
Nor could they make one clean cut and call it done. Behemoth had Super-Regeneration. Even if they severed it cleanly, it would reattach in an instant.
They had to make as many messy, overlapping cuts as possible to make regeneration difficult. Otherwise, they could not separate that tail from its body.
Above all, they had to do it quickly.
Behemoth had that damned Heat Ray, a terrifying weapon capable of removing a mosquito or two clinging to its body whenever it pleased.
About ten seconds after the two began cutting, Behemoth seemed to realize what was happening and moved its tail.
I widened my eyes as I saw the tip of its tail aim our way.
It seemed willing to fire a Heat Ray even at its own body. I had expected it, but it was still chilling.
Something transparent glinted in the sky.
With no more helicopters or fighter jets flying around, a single aircraft crossed the sky alone.
It was Baek Dambi's ice kite. She must have made it at maximum size, because its wingspan looked to be around eighteen meters.
Behemoth let the ice kite approach. Like the drones earlier, it seemed to think it was nothing more than a decoy meant to waste its Heat Rays. It probably could not see a soul large enough within that ice sculpture, so that was only natural.
The ice kite safely reached the space above Behemoth.
Behemoth finished aiming the tip of its tail in an instant.
The moment the tail stopped moving, the ice kite moved.
The ice kite dove at maximum speed and struck the tip of Behemoth's tail before exploding in a spray of ice fragments.
The water container clutched in its talons burst with it.
Apparently, it had not been a sculpture made entirely of ice. Something that could only be called cold engulfed the tip of Behemoth's tail.
The entire tip froze solid.
Then a Heat Ray fired from Behemoth's tail.
It did not reach us. Scattered by the ice, the Heat Ray flew in the wrong direction and melted its rocky outer shell.
The ice around the tail melted as well, but it bought us a little time.
Everything had gone according to plan so far. We had not had time to make a proper plan, so it was sloppy in many ways, but it was working for now.
The two sword wielders seemed terrified by the Heat Ray that had nearly grazed them. They moved even faster.
"Keep cutting! Keep..."
Han Hee continued slashing at a speed too fast to see, while Park Juheon kept making broad, sweeping cuts.
Surprisingly, Park Juheon was cutting faster than Han Hee, even though Han Hee had an acceleration ability. Park Juheon's force-field blades were much longer.
Behemoth seemed to judge Park Juheon as the greater threat.
Another Heat Ray fired from the tip of Behemoth's tail, this time striking Park Juheon.
Still in the middle of swinging his sword, Park Juheon's body was swallowed by the Heat Ray.
There was no final scream. He probably had no time to feel pain.
Please let that be the case.
When the Heat Ray faded, there was not even a bone left where Park Juheon had been. Only a little ash remained.
Behemoth had not even badly damaged its own body while firing the Heat Ray toward itself. Like a laser precisely burning away a wart and the skin around it during surgery, the beam had removed only Park Juheon.
It was another death beyond horrific, one so empty it was almost unreal. This time, I did not even have time to close my eyes.
I only thought briefly to myself.
Kang Jun-chi, you bastard.
Perhaps Han Hee understood how urgent the situation was. He kept moving without slowing down.
He moved not just his sword but his entire body at high speed. To completely sever that tail that regenerated every time it was cut, he circled around it at a mad pace and continued cutting.
Then he shouted.
"It's all cut..."
I moved before he could finish.
"Get out of there!"
Fortunately, Han Hee did as we had agreed beforehand. He threw himself down beneath Behemoth's body, but I did not have time to check whether he landed safely.
I was left alone on Behemoth's back.
Then I swung the hammer in my hand.
Now I had to strike the tail the two sword wielders had cut and separate it from Behemoth's body.
Gripping the hammer tightly with both hands, I put all my strength into a swing at the tail. A fierce recoil traveled through my hands.
Bang!
It made that sound even though I had struck flesh.
There was even a shockwave, but that was not enough.
The severed tail was still regenerating, and it weighed as much as a building. It did not fall off after one blow from my hammer. It only shifted slightly backward.
I had to keep hammering.
But did I have time? The tip of Behemoth's tail was already aiming at me...
Just before it fired its Heat Ray, another ice kite Baek Dambi had likely sent flew in with a water container.
This time, Behemoth did not let it approach. It quickly moved its tail, aimed at the ice kite, and shot it down.
It happened in an instant, but it still bought me time.
In that brief moment, I swung the hammer with all my strength.
I hit the tail in front of me again and again.
Each strike only deformed Behemoth's thick tail a little, but it definitely moved farther backward.
Then the tip of Behemoth's tail aimed at me again.
Even as I watched it, I could not stop what I was doing. I kept using Spatial Teleportation, shifting just slightly to the side, and continued hammering.
I could not leave this spot entirely to evade.
If I left even briefly and stopped hammering, that tail would reattach before long.
As I used Spatial Teleportation and swung the hammer again, the damned Heat Ray finally fired.
My evasive maneuvers had not been pointless. The Heat Ray did not strike my body directly.
But it did not miss completely, either.
From one shoulder down to one leg, part of my body burned away beneath the Heat Ray.
I nearly collapsed.
Just a little more.
The hammer had melted in the Heat Ray, so I had to finish it with my bare body.
Grabbing the fur lightly attached to Behemoth's tail to keep from falling, I headbutted the tail.
Die, you damn cat.
I've gone this far, so please.
My headbutt did not kill Behemoth, but the impact reached its tail. The tail moved farther back.
I put the force of my hips into one more headbutt, and the same bang rang out as when I had struck it with the hammer.
Then came a heavy thud, like something falling onto rock.
Dazed, I opened my eyes and realized what had happened.
Behemoth's tail had finally begun to fall.
The tail, separated at its base, slammed into Behemoth's body before dropping toward the ground.
I was falling with it, still holding its tail fur, but I used Spatial Teleportation before I could fall completely and escaped the impact.
Ah, ugh, ah...
Even after teleporting, I had to roll across the ground once. My force field had just been destroyed, so I had to endure the impact with my bare body.
Then the soldiers around me rushed over.
"We did it! You did great, you really did..."
"Kim Geuk! What the hell were you trying to do? You actually went through with it!"
Nguyen ran over next and held out a container about the size of a water dispenser bottle. It was a drink for Super-Regeneration users.
As I drank it and watched the situation, Behemoth still seemed filled with the desire to devour people even after losing its tail.
In other words, it kept advancing.
The soldiers and I stared blankly at it as our bodies bounced with the continuing earthquakes.
"Ah...!"
Air support finally arrived.
I did not know whether it had come from the United States, Japan, or China.
Either way, the bombing of Behemoth resumed.
There were not as many fighter jets circling in the sky as the Korean military had initially prepared, but the important thing was that Behemoth was taking damage. If they left it alone, it would cross the entire Korean Peninsula.
Facing the fighter jets continuously dropping things on it, Behemoth fired Heat Rays from both eyes.
As expected, though, Heat Rays fired from its face could not aim quickly enough. The beams fired from Behemoth's eyes repeatedly failed to keep up with the fighter jets, passing through empty air and only barely destroying one unlucky plane.
Behemoth roared, perhaps growing impatient.
That roar alone left the soldiers around me unable to remain standing. They covered their ears, grimacing as they collapsed.
When they rose again, Behemoth had turned around.
It had begun returning the way it came.
Monsters were still pouring from the Gate.
Heat Rays from both of Behemoth's eyes swept through the center of the wave of Monsters.
After the Heat Rays swept across the ground several times, every Monster in that wave burned away.
Behemoth did not normally harm the Monsters that followed it. Not because it felt any comradeship with them or considered them subordinates, but because it could absorb about half the souls of the Monsters humans killed.
The soul of a defeated Monster was supposed to be absorbed by whoever killed it. But that was not the case when a non-awakened person killed a Monster. Those ownerless Monster souls were drawn to the strongest pull and absorbed by Behemoth.
It had already gained plenty just by absorbing the souls of the Monsters killed so far. But now that it was time to leave, was it not satisfied with what it had harvested?
Behemoth began retreating, killing Monsters itself.
That was what beasts were always like. Even when they seemed to coexist from a human perspective, they were really doing something ugly.
Behemoth trampled and burned the Monsters that had worked so hard to leave the Gate, then returned the way it came.
At last, the Gate swallowed Behemoth's body.
When the earthquakes stopped, people immediately began cheering. It was probably not a coincidence. The thunderous noise had stopped too, so they could finally hear each other's voices.
The soldiers around me embraced each other, cried, and began shouting wildly.
The voice of the National Security Ministry minister came through the radio attached to my chest.
"Hunter Kim Geuk, can you hear me? Do you know what you accomplished? You saved everyone in Seoul!"
Keep talking, you idiot.
Though I did not answer, he continued shouting through the radio.
"You can hear me, right? On behalf of the people, I truly do not know how to thank..."
Several soldiers approached me as well.
They spoke excitedly, saying I had worked hard and that they were alive because of me, but I had no time to celebrate with them.
What happened to my team?
I had already confirmed Baek Dambi was safe. Now I had to find the others. I had been checking my teammates' locations with my mental net, but they had apparently gone far away, because I had not found them yet.
I set out to find them.
I found them about ten minutes later.
Seong Munyeong and Lee Jongho sat on the ground with vacant eyes and their heads lowered.
Then I saw Jeong Jinyeong and blinked.
He was holding the seventy-five-kilogram Hunter Rifle I had made him carry as a spare.
With one hand. How?
Jeong Jinyeong was covered in blood.
That was only natural when he had lost an arm and a leg.
His right arm and left leg were gone, yet he stood upright despite half his limbs being missing. He was still holding the Hunter Rifle, as I had just said.
The way Jeong Jinyeong held the Hunter Rifle was even the same stance I usually used when firing it, a shouldered firing position that required both hands.
I soon learned how that was possible.
Half of Jeong Jinyeong's limbs were gone, but something had formed to replace them.
Blood and dust covered them, so I could barely make out the outlines of Jeong Jinyeong's transparent limbs.
I knew what they were. A force-field exoskeleton, though it had uniquely formed to replace his missing limbs.
I could not congratulate him for awakening.
Jeong Jinyeong did not seem to feel like being congratulated, either.
When I approached, he aimed the Hunter Rifle at me with wide eyes. He seemed to realize belatedly that it was me, then trembled in place before opening his mouth.
"Byeonggon and Mr. Im... Mr. Im..."
I realized what the absence of the two team members I could not see, Jang Byeonggon and Im Hyeongtaek, meant.
Jeong Jinyeong continued in a trembling voice.
"Mr. Im was trying to help me... I should've listened when you first told us to go back, but I didn't..."
Force-field exoskeleton abilities awakened under extreme stress. Just looking at his expression and hearing his voice told me what he had gone through.
Just as I had when I saw Kim Hyeongman's decapitated body, I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again.
Then I walked through ruined Seoul to find the two men whose bodies we had not even recovered, through the place littered with the corpses of Monsters and Hunters.
That was how Behemoth's invasion ended.
No, perhaps I should say the first invasion ended. I ought to, if I wanted to hint at a second invasion.
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