WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Arsène

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◈ How an A-Rank Hunter Lives ◈

Chapter 81: Australia's Calamity, Phoenix - [2]

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There wasn't even time to catch my breath. I spread out my mental net to assess the overall situation while looking up at the sky.

More specifically, I watched the Phoenix fly.

Having made a flashy debut in Korea by wiping out an Apache squadron, the Phoenix now seemed to be looking around from the air to see whether there was anything else it could blow up. It circled above a building, tilting its head again and again.

Here in Seoul, humanity and the civilization it had built probably looked like nothing more than toys to that bird of prey.

* * *

The Phoenix's international name was Firehawk.

It looked like something straight out of a fantasy, but surprisingly, it wasn't a Monster that had crossed over from Sword World. It was an Earth-born Monster.

It was believed to have originally been a kite from northern Australia.

According to testimony from Australian Indigenous people and recent papers, some Australian birds of prey deliberately start fires. They carry burning branches and such to start grassfires and forest fires, then easily hunt the small animals fleeing the flames.

Australian kites were among those fire-starting birds of prey.

I guessed that, when it was still a kite, it had been caught in a fire it started itself and set completely ablaze.

Normally, it should have burned to death, but having its entire body catch fire was apparently the condition for awakening a fire ability. It must have awakened instead. After that, it would have become a Flame Elemental, hunted countless people in Australia, and grown to that size.

How did I know so much? Because that bastard was famous.

Australia's calamity, the Firehawk. The Korean Hunter Association had once again translated it however they pleased and called it the Phoenix.

The Australian Air Force had been devastated not only by Behemoth's Heat Ray, but by that flying bastard as well. The Phoenix wasn't as fast as an actual fighter jet, but apparently, whenever it flew near fighter aircraft, all those unfortunate planes exploded in midair.

As long as that one burning kite was flying around, aerial fire support was impossible. Even transport planes couldn't evacuate people.

So what was I supposed to do?

There was no other way.

Even if it bothered me, I had to give up on it. Having killed one Flame Elemental before wouldn't help against that Phoenix.

Unlike the Flame Elemental that at least stayed on the ground, that bird of prey flew freely through the air. How was I supposed to catch it?

I could keep using Spatial Teleportation and swing my hammer in midair, but the shockwave wouldn't burst out properly if I swung a hammer in the air. There was no way for me to land a proper blow on that body made of fire.

「Is there any special way to kill Flame Elementals?」

「I heard China detonated a tactical nuclear weapon and used the shockwave to erase maybe three Fire Elementals along with their flames.」

「Not something like that. Is there a way we can do it with our equipment?」

「I don't know!」

Listening to the radio, everyone seemed just as frustrated, with no clever solution in sight.

I decided to focus on the situation on the ground instead. After closing my eyes and concentrating, I opened them again.

My mental net detected dozens of Deathclaws charging forward.

They had split into several groups, all heading in the same direction. It looked like the building ahead was their destination.

Considering Monsters came out of Gates after already figuring out where their prey was, there had to be people gathered in that building.

Sure enough, when I used Spatial Teleportation into the building, there were people inside.

They looked like office workers who had worked there.

They were on a high floor where Deathclaws would have trouble climbing the walls, but all of them looked terrified. Just looking out the windows would have told them they had become the target of a hunt.

"Everyone, gather up!"

When I shouted, the frightened people brightened the moment they recognized me.

"It's Kim Geuk!"

I used Spatial Teleportation with the people gathered in one place.

There were thirty-four of them, so I had to evacuate them in three trips. Before I awakened the force-field exoskeleton ability, it would have taken one or two more uses of Spatial Teleportation to move them all. As a Body Enhancement user, I alone weighed about five times as much as an ordinary person.

The difference between my force-field exoskeleton and other awakened people's force fields was that it made Spatial Teleportation easier for me.

My actual weight didn't truly decrease when I covered myself in a force field. Still, whenever I used Spatial Teleportation while covered in one, it felt as though my weight had dropped drastically.

They said even identical abilities differed in small ways depending on the awakened person's individuality, and it really was true. Maybe this change had happened because of the situation I was in when I awakened.

"Thank you!"

I ignored the greetings from the Seoul bastards I'd moved to the shelter and continued with my work.

I was firing my Hunter Rifle at the Deathclaws that had leaped into the building to hunt people, only to find no prey and look around in confusion.

Then I got a call.

I would've ignored it under normal circumstances, but the caller was my ring girl, so I answered.

Baek Dambi asked over the phone.

「Kim Geuk, I heard Seoul is a complete mess right now. Are you working there?」

"Huh? Yes!"

「Where are you right now?」

I had a rough idea why she was asking.

"Are you coming here?"

「Yes!」

"Why? This is Seoul!"

I meant, why was she trying to get involved when it wasn't even our assigned area? But I got a strange answer.

「I need to win an award!」

"What award?"

「The Golden Arrow Award! The government gives it out directly...!」

What kind of award was that? I'd never heard of it.

Normally, I would've looked it up on Google or something, but I didn't even have time to change magazines right now.

Anyway, she said she wanted to come, so I didn't stop her. After ending the call, I focused on hunting again.

"Han Hee, did you bring magazines?"

"Yes, this is the last one...!"

As I changed the Hunter Rifle magazine Han Hee had brought, I looked out the window. Then I saw the Phoenix and widened my eyes.

Where the hell was that bird-brained bastard flying?

Judging by the direction it was flying, it was about to crash into a building.

And it did.

The Phoenix slammed into a building.

An ordinary bird would've fallen to the ground after that, but its body was made of flames. It had a fluid body that could change size at any time.

The Phoenix's burning body slipped through a window smaller than itself, then came out through a window in the opposite wall.

The entire floor it had passed through filled with flames.

I could tell what it had just done. Hunting. It was doing in this forest of buildings what it had done in Australia's fields.

As far as I knew, the Phoenix blew up helicopters and fighter jets simply because it enjoyed it. Its real hunting method was attacking high-rise buildings like that and burning the people inside to death.

I searched that building with my mental net.

Damn it. Of course there were people in there too.

I could call them Seoul bastards all I wanted, but there was nothing I could do about it.

I used Spatial Teleportation into the building.

"Water! Waaater!"

I grabbed someone flailing through the flames and used Spatial Teleportation. I repeated that several times.

To use Spatial Teleportation efficiently, I couldn't gather several people and move them all at once. They would've burned to death before I could do that.

I moved every person I found outside, and by the time the rescue was over, I was exhausted, with sweat pouring down my entire body.

My body was too hot too. Was it because I'd overused Spatial Teleportation? Or maybe because I'd been running through the fire.

The force-field exoskeleton gave me heat resistance, but it wasn't perfect. Heat Ray could easily pierce a Force-Field Creature, so there had to be limits.

Dizzy as I was, I was about to use Spatial Teleportation out of the building.

A thick stream of water flew in through the window and struck me right in the face. Shit...

Frowning, I looked out the window and saw four fire engines driving around and struggling to put out the fire.

I was about to curse, but stopped myself.

The firefighters inside those engines couldn't have been safe with Deathclaws and other Monsters running wild. Everyone was having a hard time.

Even awakened Hunters couldn't rest in the middle of this.

When I checked on Seok Jangsil through my mental net, he was busy too.

Seok Jangsil was charging into dozens of Deathclaws. Trusting that their force-field blades couldn't reach inside his body, he charged into their pack, crushed them beneath his heavy legs, swept them away with autocannon rounds, and beat them to death with the long rod in his hand.

Normally, that one tactical weapon running wild would've been enough, but not now. Everything was in chaos.

There was one awakened person in Seoul who was just as idle as the Special Forces.

「This situation is worse than expected. At this scale, shouldn't we call Kang Jun-chi?」

「We contacted him. He said he'll come if there aren't any Deathclaws at the scene!」

「Ah, fuck! So he's saying he won't come...」

I frowned without realizing it as I listened to the radio. He wouldn't come in a situation like this? Really?

Kang Jun-chi hated Korea, yet he never actually left Korea. Maybe he kept going on about sea roaches and eagerly expressing his anti-Korean feelings for times like this.

By presenting himself as an extreme Korea-hater, Kang Jun-chi had constructed the perfect excuse for his laziness, resting comfortably instead of stepping in when he could easily solve a situation. Basically, it was like saying that whether people died or not, it was only disgusting sea roaches dying, so there was no reason for him to act...

At that moment, the fire engines putting out the blaze were swept up by a pack of Deathclaws. I used Spatial Teleportation to move the firefighters inside to safety.

「The shelter! A Sandworm is trying to break into the shelter! Seok Jangsil, get over there quickly...」

「It'll take me forever to run all the way there!」

The moment I heard that transmission, I spoke into the radio.

"Kim Geuk here. I'll handle the shelter."

Then I used Spatial Teleportation to the front of the shelter.

Shelters built in preparation for Gate incidents were underground, protected by thick steel doors and even thicker layers of concrete. They were sturdy enough that even Deathclaws with blades that could cut through anything shouldn't have been able to breach them.

But even that was useless against a Rock Elemental.

I saw a Monster digging into the shelter.

It was a Sandworm. A worm-like creature covered in rock.

Before it became a Rock Elemental, it had probably been an eel-like fish. In Sword World, its species spent every dry season buried underground, and apparently, many of them awakened into Rock Elementals during that time.

Right now, a seven-meter-long Sandworm was breaking down the concrete layer forming the shelter's ceiling.

It had nearly dug through the thick concrete already. It had dug a deep hole with the brute strength and rock-manipulation ability unique to Rock Elementals.

At this rate, the shelter below would be exposed.

I kicked off the ground and used Spatial Teleportation.

"Come here, you bastard!"

With my force field wrapped around the Hunter Rifle, I shoved the muzzle into the Sandworm's rocky hide and pulled the trigger.

At the same time, I dragged the thing out by force. It had been focused on digging, so it couldn't resist much and was pulled out easily.

After dragging it far enough away from the shelter, I used Spatial Teleportation again.

I brought back the hammer I'd left behind earlier.

Then I brought it down on the Monster. Again and again.

How long had I pounded it?

The rocks forming the Sandworm's body shattered and fell all over the ground, leaving chunks of stone scattered around. It finally died, but I was thoroughly exhausted too. I'd moved too much and used Spatial Teleportation too many times.

Still, I couldn't rest in a situation like this.

A radio call came for me.

「Kim Geuk, are you still in front of the shelter?」

"Yeah, but why...?"

「More Deathclaws have come out of the Gate. It looks like there are at least seventy, and they're heading your way! You can use Spatial Teleportation to get out of there, but I thought you should know in advance...」

Use Spatial Teleportation to leave?

I looked at the deep hole the Sandworm had dug above the shelter.

The moment I saw it, I knew I couldn't leave this place. If Deathclaws went into that hole and swung their claws a few times, they would create a passage straight into the shelter in no time.

Then what was I supposed to do?

I'd used up all my Hunter Rifle rounds long ago. Han Hee had run off to find more magazines, but he'd said earlier that the magazine he had brought was the last one. I had no idea when he would return.

That meant I had to fight while swinging a hammer, which was insane.

Close combat against Deathclaws with blades that could cut through anything was horribly dangerous. Against that many of them?

No way.

No matter how good my reflexes were, I'd be cut to death in an instant.

The best option would be repeatedly using Spatial Teleportation to change positions and avoid getting surrounded, but even that would be hard against the number I'd just heard. My nervous system would burn out before I could even cut their numbers in half...

Then my phone rang. It was Baek Dambi.

「I'm here! Where are you...」

I used Spatial Teleportation to the place she told me.

There, I found Baek Dambi carrying a light machine gun. Seeing her face and the two fire engines stopped nearby, an idea suddenly came to me.

I grabbed her wrist and used Spatial Teleportation into a building near the shelter.

Then I quickly explained.

"Dambi, you made a blizzard last time, right? Can you do it again?"

"How large?"

"As large as possible. Thick enough to completely block their vision... Not now. Do it when the Deathclaws arrive down there. Got it?"

The good thing about working with Baek Dambi was that her experience kept her from asking pointless questions in an urgent situation.

Even now, she nodded without asking why.

"I'll try."

Soon, as we looked down from inside the building, loud footsteps echoed below.

A huge number of Deathclaws arrived below us, enough to fill the entire road.

"Now!"

I shouted, and Baek Dambi did as I said.

Her gaze reached the Deathclaws below.

Then a pale blue vortex raged at their center.

It was a vortex filled with frigid cold. In an instant, it expanded and swept across the entire street, beyond the road.

It was a blizzard that seemed to hide the whole world.

Now neither the Deathclaws nor the shelter entrance and the hole dug there could be seen.

The Deathclaws wouldn't be able to see me within that blizzard either.

I'd asked her to do it because I believed the blizzard would act as a kind of smoke screen, and it looked like it worked.

A moment later, the Deathclaws' footsteps stopped. Their charge had come to a halt. It probably wasn't simply because they were cold. Their vision was blocked by the blizzard, so they couldn't move around carelessly.

I couldn't see anything either, but that didn't matter. The mental net I'd cast ahead clearly showed me where they were.

I used Spatial Teleportation down there.

Then, gripping my hammer, I charged at them. I cut through the fierce blizzard and brought the hammer down.

A shockwave swept through the area with the sound of an exploding shell.

"Boom!"

Footnotes:

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