Chapter 88: Horned Lizard (2)
“Aaaaargh!”
Screams erupted from all directions.
“I can’t see! I can’t hear! I can’t feel anything!”
“I-Is anyone there?!”
“Baby! Where is our baby!!”
“Mommy? Waaaah! Mommyyyy!”
Despite their eyes being open, they sat collapsed on the ground like the blind, fumbling at the floor; despite having ears, they couldn't hear sounds as if deaf.
Even when touching each other, they couldn't feel it.
“Ha, ha!”
Candela, taking in all the chaos at once, barely managed to speak.
“...Since when?”
“Since when do you think?”
Hake countered Candela’s question with his own.
“How much of it was reality, and how much was illusion?”
“...”
“Guess.”
Step, step. Hake fearlessly approached Candela and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Grind. Gritting her teeth, Candela made her rock-like hair shoot up, attacking Hake.
“You, you bastard!”
And clenching her fist tightly, she threw a mace-like blow. A body honed through a lifetime of physical training. She was confident in martial arts.
Even if he was a promising assassin from Depicio, if her fist landed squarely, he wouldn’t be able to stand up immediately!
“...Disappeared?”
But Hake’s body, which had been attacked, vanished like a phantom.
Kal-kal-kal!
Laughter mocking Candela echoed from everywhere. It was as if people were looking down and pointing fingers at her, trapped in a box.
Trembling with humiliation, Candela roared loudly.
“Come out! Show yourself! Let’s fight fair and square!”
“Whoa! Ma’am, you say the exact same thing as your little brother. Alright, alright~ Let’s give it a shot.”
Then, a distinctly lower-pitched voice was heard. It wasn't Hake.
“You are...!”
The man Candela had surprise-attacked and knocked down earlier. The one she had then bound and locked up in the underground prison!
Not the appearance of the giant, bald-headed man, but rather a slimmer, yet considerably muscular, gray-haired man.
“I see. I understand what you mean. How much was reality, and how much was illusion.”
But Candela could recognize the man before her as that person at a glance.
Her instincts were screaming it!
“It was from the beginning, wasn't it?”
This man is dangerous!
“That's right. I was never locked in prison in the first place. We did split the party midway, but I wasn't betrayed either.”
“Not betrayed? Then what about that Depicio assassin?”
“Ah~ That guy? He’s already a traitor who betrayed Depicio. An enemy's traitor is practically an ally.”
Gale pointed with his thumb at Hake, who was smiling sheepishly. Unlike the Depicio assassins who acted emotionless despite their human appearance, he was smiling like a human.
“Kahaha! Right! So that’s how it was! Is that why the Depicio assassin requested that information?”
Only then could Candela understand. An assassin controlled by Depicio wouldn't want to know information about their own ‘family’.
“...Ha. Was this all someone’s elaborate setup? To think that I fell into a trap and was played like this.”
“Well, considering who the opponent is, maybe it couldn't be helped?”
As Gale shrugged nonchalantly, Candela asked tensely.
“Let me ask just one thing. You bastard, are you a Hunter?”
Meeting his gravely sunken eyes, Gale took out the Nexion from his pocket and showed it. The black sheen of the Nexion glittered under the light of the luminous stones.
“It’s real.”
Seeing it directly, she knew. What she had judged as a fake, merely mimicking the appearance based on the gatekeeper's report, was genuine.
Candela also had a rough idea why Hunters had come here.
“Is it because of Depicio?”
“Correct.”
The unprecedented incident that occurred on the surface.
The ‘Aajen Clover Assassination Attempt Incident!’, where they joined hands with the Magpie Merchant Group to seize control of the Clover Trade Company and assassinate Depicio's successor to the Clover Trade Company...
And immediately after that incident ended, Hunters came straight to the Batevil tunnels.
This could only mean one thing.
‘Did they pick up our trail? Or did information leak from somewhere? That the Batebil tunnels are connected to Depicio.’
Eventually, her thoughts reached the conclusion about their true identity.
‘...Spero.’
More accurately.
‘The Top Hunter of Yellow!’
Cold sweat beaded on Candela’s clenched fists.
If it were just any Hunter, maybe, but if a Top Hunter had intervened, they wouldn't dismiss this as mere mischief and let it go!
‘Using the fact that we cooperated with Depicio as a pretext to clean out our tunnels is...!’
Just as all sorts of worst-case scenarios swirled in Candela's mind, the gray-haired man raised both hands.
“Whoa, whoa. Ma’am, calm down. I have a rough idea what you're thinking. But first, hear me out before you continue.”
“What story are you talking about?”
“A message from our leader to the ruler of the Batevil tunnels?”
“...!”
As Candela flinched, he laughed frivolously and said.
“He said, what we want from the tunnel side is a peaceful dialogue, see? For now.”
The phrase ‘for now’ attached at the end bothered her immensely, but.
It was fortunate that the Top Hunter's objective wasn't the blood-soaked kind like execution or punishment.
“...So?”
“We’re the ones who suddenly barged into the peaceful tunnels, we’re the ones who started the ruckus first, and we’re the ones who want something from you, ma'am.”
Candela scowled fiercely.
“Stop beating around the bush. Get to the point.”
“My, ma’am, you sure are impatient. Alright, alright! I just need to say it directly, right!”
Unable to shed her hot-blooded nature, Candela assumed a combat stance, and Gale replied, seemingly exasperated.
Then he muttered to himself, ‘Why does she act so much like Frau? They’re supposed to be sworn siblings.’
“How about we have a fair duel~ That's what was proposed.”
“A duel?”
The gray-haired man, Gale, pointed at himself with his index finger, then extended it straight towards Candela.
He smirked and said.
“The two of us fight, and whoever wins gets what their side wants. In short, winner takes all.”
Gale held up three fingers.
“What our side wants is, first, peaceful dialogue and negotiation. Second, the papyrus our colleagues stole earlier. Third, Horned Lizard, your assistance.”
“Your demands are quite numerous?”
“Well, he said your side can demand the same.”
Candela’s expression vanished completely as she furiously racked her brain.
‘Why go this far?’
As long as the Top Hunter of Yellow had descended personally, even if the Hunter side caused a commotion, stole the papyrus, and went back to the surface, neither Candela nor the tunnels could protest.
It was an undeniable fact that they had joined hands with Depicio and received supplies.
“Fine. I accept.”
Though still questionable, honestly, it wasn't a bad offer.
“My side also has three conditions. First, you will not harm me, the Batevil tunnels, or the tunnel people in any way. Second, you will return the papyrus. Third, you will undo this illusion. This unique magic.”
Because it was unconditionally advantageous to her.
“Alright, alright~ Then since the conditions are all set... Shall we slowly begin?”
“Sure. I’ll show you what I’m made of.”
Gale flashed a nasty-looking grin and drew his chain sword.
Candela also grinned ferociously and charged towards Gale.
“I’ll beat you down for sure!”
“Says who!”
Kwaang-!
At that signal, the figures of the two clashed.
* * *
Meanwhile, Elwin, who was on the surface, was enjoying a leisurely tea time with Nero, who had returned to his human form.
“It’s already been 3 hours, almost 4 hours, since Gale’s party entered the tunnels.”
Then he suddenly took out his Nexion to check the current time. It was almost 10 PM.
“They’ve probably been discovered by now, right?”
“Probably, nya. Candela is not an easy opponent, you know.”
Nero, sitting opposite, sticking his tongue out to cool it, answered with a smirk. It was because he had hastily tried to drink the hot tea and burned his tongue. Nero had a cat’s tongue.
“The tunnels are the Horned Lizard’s territory, so she’d detect any abnormality quickly, nya.”
“Hmm. Mr. Hake needs to do his part well.”
That’s why Hake’s role was crucial.
Hake’s Unique Magic: ‘Daydream’ was an ability that deceived the opponent's five senses, showing them powerful illusions.
“But Sir Elwin. Doesn't every unique magic have its own restrictions, nya? Hake’s unique magic must have restrictions too.”
Abito's Unique Magic: ‘Babylion’ had the restriction that the user must be able to read, listen, write, and fluently speak the language being used.
Nero's Unique Magic: ‘Impostor’ also had the restriction that Nero himself must have seen the target of transformation directly at least once.
One must take certain risks to gain greater rewards. Pain must be accompanied for valuable results to follow.
Such a law of equivalent exchange was ingrained in all unique magic.
“Sharp observation, Mr. Nero. But you don’t need to worry about Mr. Hake.”
The restriction of Hake's Unique Magic, Daydream, was so absurd that if owners of other unique magics heard it, they would complain indignantly, ‘Is that even a restriction?’.
‘When the feet are touching the ground. Limited to an enclosed space, it exerts powerful hallucinations on the people within it.’
As you can see, it was practically restriction-free.
‘Just like the restriction on my unique magic.’
Moreover, the ‘enclosed’ space mentioned there meant caves or inside buildings, and... islands surrounded by sea on all sides.
A space defined and blocked off by something, whether natural or artificial.
‘That’s why Hake in the original work could freely roam Mediale and cause chaos.’
The background before the start of the original 「LAMPAS」.
The fall of Mediale, the headquarters of the World Hunter Association, the central island.
‘Due to Depicio's scheme, the Manticore is released from its seal, and many Hunters die in the aftermath.’
Just when they thought the damage was contained, the spy ‘Hake’ infiltrated from Depicio, simultaneously breaking Mediale's barrier and unleashing his powerful unique magic.
He completely disrupted the Hunters' five senses or showed them illusions.
The Depicio assassins who invaded through the broken barrier easily massacred the disoriented Hunters.
Except for the 616th batch of rookie Hunters, whom Hake, betraying Depicio at the last moment, risked his life to help escape Mediale.
‘The Crimson August Tragedy.’
That's what the original work called the tragedy of that day when the Hunters stationed on the central island were brutally wiped out.
Because Mediale, floating silently on the sea stained by the blood-red sunset, soaked in bright red blood, was simply red, so red.
And...
‘The public execution of the World Hunter Association President, Pan Tveron.’
Broadcasted worldwide. The sight of the dwarf, who, despite his rough words, was kind-hearted and full of chivalry, dying tragically.
「“Even if I die, it’s not the end! ‘Hunters’ have not lost! A new beacon will always appear!”」
He screamed with all his might, like a final death cry.
「“Believe! Don’t lose hope! Hunters are always alive...!!”」
Trying until the very end to leave a spark of hope for those who would witness such a desperate situation.
「Slice-!」
His head was severed.
“...”
Sometimes, thoughts like that came to mind.
That all of this felt like a well-scripted play. If the original characters were actors in a drama.
What about me?
What am I, who couldn't even become such an actor?