Chapter 22

On the way back to the base, a hunter approached Möbius.

"Leader, are you going to leave that woman behind?"

"I've given her enough warnings, and yet she chose to leave the group on her own. If any problems arise from this, the responsibility will be entirely on her."

Don't worry. Reassured by the leader's smile, he scratched the back of his neck and stepped back.

Meanwhile, his gaze fell on a colleague who seemed to be in a daze.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"A, no…"

Hesitating, the colleague closed his mouth and turned his head to look back down the corridor.

The woman in the black dress, the Princess of Black Flame, had already disappeared in the opposite direction.

It seemed she had set out alone to find her child's mother, an F-class hunter, from a B-class gate.

"…She's a first-generation graduate."

"What?"

"A first-generation graduate of the training camp."

"Who?"

"That woman."

"…"

"…"

Pfft!

Another hunter walking beside him clutched his stomach. After laughing for a while, he looked at the man as if he found it more surprising that he believed it so readily.

"Do you really think that's possible?"

The colleague hunter's tone was light, but it was filled with unwavering certainty.

A first-generation graduate meant a graduate from April 1998, before the government had established concrete measures for the gates, over 30 years ago.

It was a chaotic time. The number of hunters gathered through indiscriminate conscription far exceeded the number of modern hunters. However, only a handful of first-generation graduates survived that period.

It was only natural. At that time, hunters were not treated as well as they are now, and there were no specialized training programs. After a mere three months of training, they were thrown into the gates almost defenseless; it would have been more surprising if they had survived.

Therefore, the surviving first-generation graduates were still celebrated even after more than 30 years, with their photos hanging at the entrance of the training camp or their stories included in the textbooks of the Hunter Academy.

Of course, that woman was not among them.

"You must have heard wrong. Or maybe that woman is really crazy."

"That's true, but…"

He knew it didn't make sense.

But the inexplicable sensation he felt when their eyes met still lingered vividly on his skin.

The man glanced back again.

The corridor, as if it had swallowed the darkness, seemed endless. At its end, the man couldn't tear his gaze away for a long time.

***

"Huff, huff…"

Without a moment to catch her breath, the woman kept running.

"Yeri, where are you? Yeri!"

She called out her daughter's name desperately.

Who could have imagined that they would be swept into a gate while visiting an aquarium for her daughter's birthday?

She had intended to wait quietly for the hunters to arrive, but the sudden wave that hit them caused her to lose her daughter.

If the sky were to fall, it might feel like this. With even her shoes washed away by the water, the woman ran barefoot through the gate without a moment's pause.

She knew the sound of her hurried footsteps might rouse the monsters, but she couldn't stay still.

The thought that her daughter might be eaten by a monster at that very moment made her shudder.

"Yeri…!"

The woman's hoarse voice echoed through the empty gate.

How far had she ventured? The light was fading, and her phone's battery was almost dead, leaving her without the flashlight.

The darkness before her was as thick as her despair.

Thud.

"Oh no…"

Exhausted, she dropped the camera she was holding.

The memory card in the camera contained not only important work documents but also precious memories with her daughter. What if it was damaged? As she bent down to pick it up carefully, a terrifying cry echoed around her.

Kweee!

Oh no. The woman, still bent over, froze in terror.

'Yeri…'

Her life flashed before her eyes. With trembling hands, she clutched the camera tightly.

Squish.

Squish.

Squish.

She could feel the monster getting closer from behind.

Kweee!

The woman squeezed her eyes shut. But then.

…

…

Nothing happened.

Slowly, very slowly, she opened her eyes. Her heart was still pounding. Covering her mouth with one hand, she slowly turned her head.

"…!"

Golden irises were right there. In the pitch-black darkness, they shone eerily bright, a color that seemed impossible for a human.

'Monster…?'

Startled, she dropped the camera again and began to back away.

Black flames, like snakes, enveloped her. The flames flickered wildly, as if ready to consume everything in front of them. In the midst of this, Yinhé lowered her gaze dispassionately.

"…"

"…"

Yinhé was looking at the woman, or more precisely, the dress the woman was wearing. There was no sign of an attack.

Suddenly, the woman noticed how unusually quiet the surroundings had become and turned her head. She saw a giant jellyfish, twisted and sprawled in a corner. Its thin tentacles were all severed, scattered like tangled threads on the floor.

'Did she… kill it?'

This black-clad woman? The woman looked at Yinhé again.

Drops of blood were falling from the tip of the parasol Yinhé held. Her pale face was reflected in the pool of blood on the floor.

After a few seconds,

"Excuse me…"

Just as the woman summoned the courage to speak,

Thwack!

Yinhé suddenly swung the parasol. The woman's eyes widened as she followed Yinhé's movements.

Whoosh!

The black flames, moving like a fish through the air, seemed to be connected to Yinhé by an invisible thread.

Kwee!

Cries of monsters echoed from all directions. It was impossible to understand how she could pinpoint the location of all the monsters in such thick darkness.

Swish!

Sssss!

Crack!

In a short time, unbelievable sounds came from very close by. The smell of something burning could also be detected. The woman could only close her eyes tightly and desperately hope that this hellish situation would end quickly.

Finally, when complete silence returned to the surroundings,

"Are you okay?"

Only then did the woman slowly open her eyes.

Instead of the golden eyes that had flashed like a predator's, she saw calm, dark eyes looking at her.

Perhaps noticing her still slightly trembling shoulders, Yinhé extended her hand to the woman without waiting for an answer.

The woman stared at the hand extended to her and then spoke in a frightened voice.

"Who… who are you?"

"…I am."

Throat. As always, her throat felt blocked. Was it because she was trying to say her name? It wasn't just that.

Yinhé closed her mouth and looked down at the parasol she was holding. The flowing sleeves, the long ribbon around her waist—none of these seemed fitting for a hunter.

None of these seemed fitting for Yinhé, who had cut and sliced countless monsters in countless gates.

What was she here as?

'You need to choose a nickname. What would you like it to be?'

'Princess of Black Flame. That's my nickname.'