Chapter 209: Two Serpents Pt. 4

“Agh!!!”

“Save me!”

“Please…! Please!”

People were crying in the distance, their screams never ending. As the party advanced from the outskirts into the main streets, the screams began to intensify.

“These bastards were trying to keep us from hearing the screams!” Heracles shouted.

As they entered the main streets, they noticed that the people’s screams were coming from the center square. It seemed as though their accommodations being placed on the outskirts of the city had been done intentionally to avoid the chance of them hearing the screams coming from the center of the city.

“Keugah!” Heracles let out a wild roar as he ran forward. His two blazing red eyes left long streaks in the air as his gauntlets were filled with an intense blue mana.

“

Ha-a-eup!

”

–ROAR!

As he ran forward, Heracles thrust forward with one hand and the sonic boom that followed sounded like the roar of a lion. Then, the blue mana that enveloped the gauntlet morphed into the shape of a lion, blasting forward and sweeping away everything in its path.

Boom!

“Be careful! You can’t let any of the ordinary humans get caught up in it!” Odysseus shouted at Hercules, who seemed exhilarated.

“I know how to control myself at least that much!” Heracles shouted in response as he rampaged even more.

Lee Jun-Kyeong was sure of it.

“His control over Madness really has matured.”

Heracles hadn’t been lying when he said he was in control as the Hunter really was only dealing with those whom they had defined as enemies. His skill, which seemed to be growing even more violent as he barreled forward, hadn’t caused any damage to the ordinary people.

“

Ugh!

”

The party started their raid by forcing those who had caused the residents to scream to face the same fate as their victims. As they moved, the city toppled behind them.

“And now, here we are, completely destroying a city that survived just fine through the cataclysm,” Odysseus said as if he was conflicted.

Squelch!

However, it wasn’t as if he was just resting, either. If Heracles’ method of battle was to move relentlessly forward while wiping out every enemy in his path, Odysseus moved precisely, killing each and every enemy with a single blow.

“It looks like the Hunters are hunting ordinary humans.”

Their enemies were the Hunters, as the first thing the party saw as they escaped the hotel was the sight of Hunters hunting the humans, with people being grabbed by the hair and dragged away by force.

“Thank you! Thank you!”

The rescued humans bowed their heads repeatedly in thanks as they found somewhere to hide.

“Hehehe…”

However, some of them, instead of thanking them, just laughed as if they had lost their minds.

“Even if you save me, I’ll just die anyway! Damn it!”

Mired in despair, they rather blamed the party who had saved them. Although they wanted to hear more about the situation from the survivors, the more pressing thing was to deal with the Hunters, who were coming out endlessly.

“Wow, that’s insane. There’s no end to them.”

The party wanted to wipe them all out at once, but they were unable to do so because of the risk that the ordinary humans would be swept away by any major skills. That was why Heracles was incredible.

“

Kehahaha!

”

Heracles roared out as he advanced. Finally, the party eventually stopped. The screams around them had decreased and the Hunters they had to take out had all collapsed.

“What do we do now?” Odysseus asked.

Although they had jumped ahead at the sight of the ordinary people being hunted, they still needed to understand the situation at hand. Then, almost as if it had been planned, a voice called out to Lee Jun-Kyeong.

–Master.

Hel had returned.

–As you’ve commanded, I’ve gathered the information.

“Why are you so late?” Lee Jun-Kyeong pressed the Familiar. Hel’s ability was one that dealt with souls, and it would have been a simple task for the Familiar to extract information from the dead souls here, but the Familiar had arrived too late.

–I apologize. I was late as there were no souls in the area.

“What?”

However, Hel’s reason was one that didn’t make any sense. To say that there weren’t any souls.

“Are you saying that no one has died here?”

–That’s not it.

Hel’s voice was firm.

–There are no souls here.

***

"Kyaa!!!"

“Stop struggling! What, do you want to sacrifice your family in your stead?”

“S…sob! Please…”

Sobs could be heard endlessly. People crying out to be saved, or people begging to sacrifice themselves in someone else’s stead. In this horrifying abyss, any ordinary humans who weren’t involved themselves, just closed their windows and locked their front doors.

“...”

The Hunters weren't just hunting random people. Under the command of Yashin, they were going out to select those who were to be offered as sacrifices.

“The party of the Underdog has escaped and is fighting the Hunters collecting the sacrifices!” a Hunter said, delivering information from the outskirts of Tokyo.

A Hunter who seemed to be the leader responded as he nodded, “Okay.”

“Hurry up, everyone! The ceremony must proceed quickly!”

“Understood!”

“Come this way!”

He gave an order to the Hunters, and the Hunters, having received the orders, seemed to have no intentions of letting anything slide any further.

Squelch!

“Aghhhh!!”

They began to drag away the stragglers even if they had to cut off their limbs to do so. There weren’t any flames that soared in the city, only screams, more screams, and even more screams. The city of Tokyo was only filled with cries.

“Hurry up! Today's ceremony must proceed without any issues!”

Even the person who seemed to be the leader of the Hunters came forward to join the hunt. The number of sacrifices that had to be gathered for the day’s ceremony was eight thousand.

“How many have we gathered now?”

“We’ve gathered about 5,000 people.”

“Isn’t that amount fewer than expected?”

“There are some who escaped. We’re currently dragging over the families of those who had escaped in order to make up the numbers. We should be finished soon.”

“Good.”

The leader lifted his foot and soared high into the sky, looking down at everything from the top of the tallest building.

“Kya!!!”

A ghastly-sounding scream sounded in the distance.

“Don’t be too sad,” he muttered to himself, as if he didn’t know who he should be talking to. “All of this is for the sake of the Empire of Japan and its subjects…”

His voice started small and weak, but soon turned into a voice full of madness and joy as it echoed through Tokyo, “Everyone, give your lives with joy!”

***

“In about thirty minutes, all of the offerings will be gathered,” a Hunter reported to Yashin while bowing his head deeply.

“Good,” Yashin responded without even looking over at the Hunter.

The Hunter continued to give his report to Yashin, who was nonchalantly looking around at the surroundings. “However, there is a little issue…”

“An issue?”

Finally, Yashin looked over at the Hunter.

“

Gasp!

”

The Hunter, faced with Yashin’s gaze, stepped back in fright.

It was an overwhelming fear. Just by making eye contact, he felt a fear that seemed to suck out his soul.

‘They aren’t the eyes of a human…’

The Hunter was stunned, forgetting to even continue his report. Yashin’s eyes, ahead of the ceremony, had mutated, his pupils turning into slits, exactly like a snake’s, or even, the eyes of a demon…

The Hunter trembled and fell back to his knees.

“Ah, oops. I’m sorry,” Yashin said as he shook his head before opening his eyes once again, his snake pupils returning to their original form. Although the Hunter had dared to fall before him without even completing the report, Yashin didn’t punish the collapsed Hunter.

“As this was a result of you looking directly into the eyes of a God, I will forgive you.”

He let the Hunter go as it had felt quite good to see proof of the enormous power he had gained.

Squelch!

“Trash that can’t even give a report properly deserves to die.”

Thud.

The severed head of the Hunter stopped at Yashin’s foot. He picked up the head and looked around as he held the head of the Hunter in his palm.

Tremble.

The countless Hunters around him were shaking as they all looked at him. Yashin was overcome by a sense of superiority. Unlike those disgusting inferiors, he was something better.

‘I’m a god.”

His pleasant mood, combined with his strong sense of superiority, gave him a pleasure almost akin to having taken drugs. Yashin flicked his tongue toward the head of the Hunter he was holding in his palm.

Swish!

Something shot out and sucked something into Yashin’s mouth.

Slurp.

Yashin licked his lips as if he had eaten something delicious. With a pleasant smile, he opened his mouth once again.

"Report."

“The Underdog and the others are approaching Tokyo!”

“Many Hunters have been sacrificed! As the outer sacrifices had been secured in advance, there will be no disruptions to the ceremony!”

“We have sent the samurai to stop the party!”

“Good.”

The Hunter's neck, which Yasin had been holding, had turned withered and dry as if all vitality and moisture had been sucked out.

Ssss.

The neck of the Hunter disappeared into dust when Yashin unclenched his hand. He cracked his neck as he circled his head around his neck once.

“With today’s ritual…”

He spoke to the gathered Hunters.

“I will become a true god.”

“...”

“I will become a god and go beyond the Empire of Japan…!” Yashin's voice sounded almost elongated and muted, as if his throat was wet with something. “I will protect the world!”

“Yes!!”

Yashin stretched out both his hands and shouted, “Worship me! Be in awe!”

His shadow, shimmering in the light, stretched out behind him and turned into a serpent. The serpent’s head soon multiplied and increased in number, turning into a monster with two, three…seven heads.

“I am Orochi.”[1]

A long smile crept across Yashin's lips.

***

Hercules had been excited about the fact that he could run amok, but he now asked the others as if he was daunted, “Just how many Hunters are there?”

Even if they knocked them down, and then knocked them down again, the tide of Hunters never ended. It seemed that there had been at least three hundred Hunters defeated by Heracles alone. Even so, Hunters continued to appear endlessly and rush toward the party.

“Die!!”

However, to their relief, at some point, the number of Hunters was no longer being replenished.

“How is it on that side, Odysseus?!”

“You’re only asking now?”

“Huh…you!”

Heracles exclaimed in horror at Odysseus.

“You son of a bitch! You pushed them all over to me!” Heracles shouted at Odysseus, who looked quite lively. There were many fallen Hunters around Odysseus, but their numbers were abnormally few compared to Heracles. In other words, Odysseus had pushed Hunters whom he was supposed to face toward Heracles.

“That was why it seemed like there was no end…”

“Well, by the way…” Odysseus said, also motioning over toward Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“You…you too?!”

“Thanks to you, I was able to save up a lot of energy.”

Like Odysseus, Lee Jun-Kyeong had also made Heracles deal with the large number of Hunters in the midst of the confusion of battle.

“Well, since you’ve wanted to fight anyway, wasn’t this something you should have enjoyed?”

“This is a matter of pride!”

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Although they were all talking as if they were relaxed, before anyone knew it, the party had moved into a formation and stood near one another. All of them could feel it.

“Is this real?”

“Are they all Heroes?”

Hel’s voice drifted into the ears of Heracles and Odysseus, who were talking in disbelief.

–One hundred and twenty Hero-Grade Hunters are approaching.

Lee Jun-Kyeong smiled at Heracles and said, “How do you plan on handling them all alone?”

1. Yamata-no-Orochi is a mythical Japanese eight-headed serpent/dragon that is integral to the monarchy of Japan, as the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, which came from the serpent’s tail, is one of the three sacred imperial regalia of Japan. The Orochi fought against Susanoo in Japanese Myth, and is one of many cultural myths about a Hero fighting a Snake. There’s a similar tale in both Greek (Olympus) and Norse (Asgard) Mythos. 👈