Chapter 84: Just Two Ordinary Hunters
The second mermaid, who had been swimming beneath the surface to ambush us from behind, stopped dead in her tracks.
In an instant, silence fell over the place.
The only sound left was the heavy sloshing of dark water settling back into the swamp, which was stained with a rapidly expanding circle of dark crimson blood.
Seok was still holding his spear above his face and his body was frozen mid-dash.
The archer was staring at Vera and his mouth was wide open. Even the couple at the back had forgotten to move, and their holy barrier was crackling weakly as the woman’s concentration shattered.
The woman stared at the tiny, fragile-looking figure in the lunch bag mask and only managed to let out one trembling noise.
"What rank is she...?"
Nobody answered her. Because nobody knew.
Underneath the dark surface of the water, the second mermaid began to retreat. These monsters weren’t completely mindless beasts. They understood strength and whatever had just obliterated her sister in a fraction of a second wasn’t something they could mess with anymore.
The faint V-shaped ripples in the water rapidly reversed direction as the creature tried to flee.
"Brian," Vera spoke, her voice instantly returning to that calm tone she always used with me. "The other one is running."
Honestly, standing next to her made me feel like the safest person in the world, but I had to keep up appearances.
Besides, watching the absolute bewilderment on the faces of the other Hunters was far too satisfying to ruin by acting panicked.
Also, there were seven of these in total, of which five had already been taken care of by others, so this was the last one left. I don’t think we could just leave it alive.
"Don’t let it," I replied smoothly, adjusting the grip on my dagger.
The moment those words left my mouth, Vera leaped forward as she traced the underwater ripples.
"Wait! Don’t chase it alone—!" Seok finally managed to break out of his stupor and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Before he could even take a step to follow, the water a few feet away erupted into a geyser.
Vera had literally plunged her bare hands directly into the swamp, grabbing the fleeing mermaid by its long, tangled hair.
’I don’t know how she was able to catch up with a mermaid in water, but I think whatever it is, it must be because of her former powers, which I am now getting curious to know what they actually were. Wasn’t she a sword user or something?’
I thought.
Vera pulled the entire creature out of the water using pure physical strength and slammed it directly into the trunk of a nearby tree.
The massive tree snapped in half with a loud crack sound and collapsed into the swamp as the last mermaid also let out one final shriek before going completely limp.
Seok stood frozen a few meters away. His mouth was slightly open and his glasses slipped down the bridge of his nose.
He had been prepared to sacrifice himself to save two rookies, only to witness one of them treat two C-Rank Gate monsters like they were nothing.
"What... what kind of strength..." he muttered.
"Are... are we sure they are human?" the archer also whispered. He lowered his bow while his arms were visibly shaking from the sheer adrenaline and confusion. "Who the hell enters a C-Rank Gate with a lunch bag on their head and starts breaking monsters like sticks?!"
The shield-bearer from the couple slowly lowered his heavy tower shield and let out a breath he seemed to have been holding for a full minute. Then, a strange and amused smile began to form on his face as he looked at his partner.
"Well," the man muttered, wiping a splash of swamp water from his cheek. "I guess we don’t need to worry about protecting the ’idiot couple’ anymore. If anything, we should probably make sure we don’t accidentally get in their way."
His partner let out a breathy and nervous laugh. Her eyes were wide with a mix of awe and maybe respect.
"I’ve never seen D-Rank or C-Rank Hunters move like that. They must be hiding their true ranks. Look at the boy... he isn’t even flinching."
Hearing her, several Hunters shifted their gazes toward me.
I was just standing there, casually wiping a stray drop of monster blood off my sleeve and looking entirely unbothered by the fact that two monsters had just been brutally killed right in front of me.
To them, my absolute lack of fear didn’t look like weakness anymore. It looked like the calm confidence of a hidden expert.
’Ah, they think I’m a hidden boss too,’ I thought while hiding my smirk beneath my mask. ’Perfect. Let them think whatever they want. It saves me the trouble of explaining anything.’
"Hey," Seok called out as he slowly walked toward me, his spear still hovering at his side. He adjusted his glasses and his sharp black eyes tried to study the eyeholes of my paper bag.
"Who exactly are you two?"
"We are exactly who our IDs say we are," I replied while keeping my voice deep and mysterious. "Just two regular Hunters trying to clear a Gate."
"Regular?" Seok spoke and the tension in his shoulders relaxed just a little.
He looked over at Vera, who was currently coming back toward me. Her paper bag was slightly damp but her posture was completely relaxed.
"There is a girl who can shatter obsidian scales with her bare hands and you call it regular?" he added.
"You said it yourself, Seok. One mistake can kill the entire group. We are just making sure no mistakes happen."
I countered, and Seok stared at me for a long moment. The silence stretched between us until he finally let out a defeated sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose, looking incredibly tired.
"Fine," he muttered, turning back toward the rest of the group. "Whatever your reasons are, just keep killing the monsters. But if those bags fall off, I am writing it in the report."
"Alright," I said.
Vera finally reached my side and lightly grabbed the edge of my sleeve again.
The sudden shift from a terrifying battlefield demon back to a quiet, dependent girl was so jarring that the archer actually took a step back, looking completely bewildered.
"Just... what are these two?!"
