[43rd floor. Doors opening.]Clunk.They reached the 43rd-floor corridor. The lights were on only around the elevator. When Sawon stepped out, something squelched underfoot. Blood was pooled in front of the elevator. A long line led from that red well straight down the hallway. On both sides of the line, red footprints were stamped.“It’s got a tail… and it stands on two legs, looks like.”Sawon shifted his grip on the sword and started walking along the line. Deaters came in many forms: animal-type, plant-type, human-type. Among them, the bipedal human-type Deaters required extra caution. As he walked, the guards on his arms and legs vibrated.A low growl rolled out of Nine.“Don’t.”“Kkii.”At Sawon’s word, one of his forearms twitched weakly. He tapped the wrist guard with his other hand.“If you break anything in here, it gets worse. Let me handle it this time. You stay put.”Nine whimpered. In the small monkey-shaped state, Nine couldn’t be used for combat. The main body was too large to move properly indoors. And if Sawon weaponized the organic form, the Institute would be torn up and collapse. The reason Nine was banned in this operation wasn’t about protecting researchers first — the top priority was protecting the Institute itself.Before long, Sawon’s feet reached the end of the red line. He prodded the half-congealed streak with his blade tip.“…Quiet.”Then a chilly current brushed him from overhead. He could barely make out ragged breathing.Tok.A red drop fell from the ceiling. As Sawon slowly lifted his head—Clatter!“Duck!”A shout came from behind with a rending crack. Sawon dropped low fast. At the same time, he thrust his sword forward and slashed a horizontal line through the air.Screee, skreeeeee!He’d cut the Deater’s lower half. His blade severed both of the Deater’s thighs.Bang!At the same time, an explosion boomed from the Deater’s head side.Sawon planted his free hand on the floor and did a full back handspring.Skreee!The Deater screeched like nails on a chalkboard.Thump!The legless body pitched forward. Its once-transparent form began to gain definition from the severed area outward.Bipedal, and its trait is Concealment.Sawon frowned and took a few steps back when an angry voice came from behind.“I told everyone to go down, huff… huh… why did you come back!”A man stood there, drenched in blood. He wiped at the gore on his face with the back of his forearm, but the arm was soaked, too — it didn’t help. He swayed, panting, barely able to hold himself up. Sawon shrugged.“Why I came? Because—”He didn’t finish.Skreeeee!The toppled Deater shot toward him like a bullet. Sawon’s gaze stayed on the man. He blinked long, and blue light ran from the corners of his eyes like current. The world slowed.The man’s desperate reach to block the attack played back in slow motion. His blood-caked eyes widened. Still staring at the man, Sawon leapt and drove his sword straight down.Skreeeeeeeeee!With the Deater’s razor cry, the blade punched through the center of its back. Sawon landed on the Deater, twisted the sword, and forced it toward the right flank.With the sound of slicing flesh, half of the Deater’s upper body came off. His sword threw a red arc through the air. He completed the other half of the circle, cleaving the left half that remained attached.With the sound of severed flesh and bone, the Deater’s torso split cleanly along the chestline. Shaking the blood from his blade, Sawon spoke.“I came to get you out.”“Just go dow— urrgh!”The man cut off mid-snap and clapped a hand over his mouth. Dark red blood seeped between his fingers with a gagging groan. Sawon strode toward him.“You should be the one going down. Now.”“Go… urrgh, down… go…!”His body pitched forward. Startled, Sawon caught him. On a hunch, he flipped the man’s coat and checked the name tag at the chest. It took a long look through all the blood to read the letters.Confirming this was the person he’d come for, Sawon slung an arm under Ji Hayeon and headed for the elevator. Ji Hayeon’s long legs dragged. Sawon didn’t care; he hauled Ji like luggage.“Chief Researcher Ji. Now is not the time to worry about anyone else. Downstairs. Don’t waste the time of someone busy.”But Ji Hayeon stopped, grabbing the pillar beside the elevator. They both halted.“There’s something I have to bring… whew, first, go get hunters…”Looking down at the coughing Ji Hayeon, Sawon narrowed his eyes. He was wearing a battlesuit that anyone would recognize as a hunter’s gear, yet the man hadn’t realized Sawon was a hunter.So he’s not just physically wrecked — his mind’s clouded, too. Gonna die on me? If I end up lugging a corpse, that’s another headache…Sawon raised the arm hooked around Ji Hayeon’s side, gripped his jaw, and tilted him back so he could rest against Sawon. His breathing grew visibly quicker. When his head lolled toward Sawon’s neck, the hot breath tickled Sawon’s skin. Sawon hunched his shoulder and drew Hayeon in against his chest.“Chief. I’m a hunter. What do you need to bring? Tell me, and I’ll get it. First, we’re going down.”“You’re… a hunter…?”“Yeah. I’m a hun—”Thump!As he pressed the elevator button, a heavy sound came from the far end of the hall. Ji Hayeon grabbed a fistful of Sawon’s chest and straightened. He was taller than Sawon, but his waist was thin enough to lift one-armed.“Let’s do this the easy way. Down.”Sawon wrapped him tight at the waist and hoisted. That made it easier for Ji Hayeon to stand. Ji Hayeon took Sawon’s arm.“The black sphere… opened in the Central Lab. All the way at the end. I blocked it, but, haa, the Deater’s still there, ugh… it’s where we test amplifiers, if it’s left too long, huhh, haa…”Ji Hayeon started gasping hard. With the broken sentences, it was hard to understand exactly what he meant.“So there’s a black sphere in there and a Deater, is that what you’re saying?”Instead of answering, Ji Hayeon vomited blood again. Red fluid soaked Sawon’s chest. Ji covered his mouth and forced the words out.“My meds, in there, I need them…”His head slumped onto Sawon’s shoulder again. Sawon glanced at his blood-wet chest, then studied Ji Hayeon. Blue-lit veins stood out along the clavicle — Metena conduits. He tugged the collar aside; blue lines spread from the heart through his body.That’s odd.Metena flow hid in the body like veins. It stood out only when someone pushed to the limit — and crucially, that reaction appeared only in stamina-type Awakened.Does that mean he’s a stamina-type hunter?But he’d never heard of a stamina-type among the researchers. Researchers were all intellect-type Awakened, whose side effects hit the mind, not the body. Sawon stared at Ji Hayeon. Come to think of it, a researcher with no combat ability shouldn’t have been able to endure alone this long in a black-sphere zone without hunter support.What the hell is this guy?Thump!Another sound from the hall’s end. This time the door even rattled.“I have to bring it…”No matter how wrecked his body was, a chief researcher wouldn’t have such poor judgment. If anyone knew the risks of black-sphere progression, it was him. There had to be a reason he insisted on the meds — something irreplaceable, or no other option but what was in there.After a beat, Sawon scooped the tall man up one-armed like a child. Above all, if he left him like this, the researcher would die. He was sure of it.If he insists this hard, these meds must be what keeps him alive, right?“Fine. Let’s go get your meds.”Ji Hayeon clutched his own throat and gasped like he was in pain. Sawon patted his backside the way he did with Nine.“Kkii?”Nine in the guard murmured, puzzled.“Nine. I told you to stay quiet.”“Ng.”The door thudded again.Thump!Sawon propped Ji Hayeon against the corridor window, a little away from the door.“I’ll clear them out first. Stay here.”Ji Hayeon nodded, squeezing his throat.Thump!Sawon gave the shaking steel door a sidelong look, then took the chicken-shaped squeaky toy from his belt. He put it in Ji Hayeon’s hand.Squeak, squeeak.“If it feels like you’re in danger, hold this.”“Haa, haa…”“Pinch it. Like this.”Squeak, squeeak.Thump!The squeaky-toy sound, the rattling door, and the vibrating tremor of Nine — upset at losing the toy — all overlapped. Sawon tapped his wrist to calm Nine and adjusted his ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) grip on the sword.“Good boy, Nine. I’ll buy a new one.”The vibration at his wrist finally stopped. Facing the door, Sawon tapped his in-ear. A holographic line appeared in his view.“Clear target lock. Put a clock up.”04:12. Thirty minutes had passed since the black-sphere event began.About thirty minutes remained before the black sphere fully stabilized into a Gate. He had to seal it in thirty minutes without Nine’s help.“Mm…”He laid a hand over the blade and aimed the tip into the crack of the door.Time itself wasn’t short. But if he took the full thirty, Ji Hayeon would probably die before the seal.In a low voice, Sawon said:“Set target time to five minutes.”Thump, thump!Thump, thump, thump!From the point where his palm touched, the blade began to glow blue. Light like a hologram overlaid the sword.Bang!Both sides of the steel door flew wide.<04:59:20>Skreeeeee!A Deater stood in the doorway, a human upper body clamped in its jaws. Sawon crouched and moved his lips.<04:58:43>Let’s go.His sword punched into the Deater’s abdomen. He jumped and ripped the blade up, splitting the Deater — and the upper body in its mouth — vertically.Thump!Sawon landed on the severed mass. Three more Deaters were inside the lab. The number of researchers with torn or eaten limbs was far higher. A Deater chewing on a human leg fixed on Sawon. He flicked the blood from his sword and beckoned.“Come here.”Deaters had no reason. But even if it couldn’t understand the words, it saw the gesture and roared. A lion-like Deater charged on all fours. Sawon stepped into the lab and lowered his stance again.Skreeeee!As it lunged with its jaws open, Sawon raised his sword high. The tip punched through the Deater’s palate.Squeeak.The squeaky-toy sound rang out. Sawon whipped around fast.What. There wasn’t the slightest hint—?!

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