My hidden art struck the woman's mere inches before it hit Guildmaster Feng, creating a loud explosion right before his face. His eyes widened as he realized he wasn't dead, and so did the woman's - though for a different reason.
I shifted my location to directly in front of Guildmaster Feng, as if defending him. Around this time, my invisibility wore out, which only made them more surprised, to see a teenager materializing into existence out of nowhere.
"… Who are you?" the woman asked, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. She seemed to be wondering how I managed to break past the horde of Phantoms around her, who were now watching the scene unfold in amusement.
"Is that important?"
"… No, I suppose not," the woman murmured, inspecting her own nails. "But since you show bravely showed yourself here, little boy… be prepared to face the consequences."
"Naturally, I'm ready. But the question is…" I smiled tauntingly. "… Are you?"
She snickered. "Well, well, well… aren't you full of yourself. Are you one of Guildmaster Feng's students, perhaps? No… I don't see a sword on you… though you and him do share the same arrogance."
"Hm…" I shrugged. "Is it arrogance… or confidence, I wonder?"
"K-Kid…" a voice croaked from behind me. "What… do you think… you're doing…?"
I didn't bother turning around. "Guildmaster Feng… when I saw your moves earlier, I thought to myself: this was the image of a man who has nothing left to lose. But now… I've reconsidered. You may not have anything to lose anymore, but… the city does. And if they lose you… the consequences would be unimaginable."
His eyes widened, as if suddenly coming to that realization.
"So. Don't be so selfish," I chuckled.
A brief silence ensued, but then, the Guildmaster began laughing deeply.
"Ha… hahaha… kid… who are you to call me selfish? Very well… I leave this… in your hands then. Show me… what you have."
I smirked and took out Dokujin, still stained with blood from the snowolves, before pointing it towards the woman after taking a deep breath to succumb to A.R.X.A.'s brainwashing.
"Prepare yourself."
She laughed. "Oh, done your heartwarming conversation? In that case… I'll make the first move. You're too arrogant, little kid. I will show you just how great the distance between the two of us is."
I raised an eyebrow. "Go for it.
She smiled seductively and blew a kiss, her eyes beginning to go from their original golden yellow to a flirtatious pink.
"Charm."
"…"
"…"
"…?"
"W-What? How did it not work?!"
As her eyes returned to normal, I snickered.
"Is that all you have?"
"T-Tch…" she growled. "Fine… I don't know how you managed to avoid being charmed, but… I have many different ways to torture you."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… unfortunately, it's not your turn anymore."
"… What?"
'Vanishing Clouds.'
In an instant, I closed the gap between her and I. The speed of Vanishing Clouds was far too fast for her to react to. Before she could do anything, I stabbed Dokujin straight into her left chest, where her heart was located. Her eyes widened as she looked into my eyes with fear. She had already used her defensive artifact on Guildmaster Feng - my attack was unstoppable.
Emotionlessly, I pulled my weapon back out, letting her limp corpse slip and fall onto the icy ground. Her eyes were still opened in shock and terror.
I then suddenly sliced my own finger open, letting the pain wake me up from my bloodthirst.
"Hah… hah…" I panted, letting the blood spill out.
I looked down at the woman's still-open eyes, filled with shock and terror. Unable to look at this any longer, after closing my own eyes, I bent down and closed hers as well. Then, taking a deep breath, I stood back up.
And as for the Phantoms all around me… they all suddenly disappeared in an enormous shower of dark light, which then collectively flowed into my body. The woman's corpse also had some sort of orb of energy come out of her body, both black and white in color. It was similarly absorbed by my body.
[Level Up!]
[Lv. 17 -> 30.]
[Obtained 130 SP and 36 AP.]
-
[Public Event Complete: Zero Hour]
[Claim your rewards from the 'Quests' tab of your System.]
With the Phantoms gone, all the remaining Hunters who were still alive on the battlefield immediately rushed over to where we were. They helped Guildmaster Feng up and supported him on their shoulders. Three pop-ups appeared in front of me, but I wasn't in the mood to read them, so I dismissed them, sending them to the Database.
"Kid… how did you do it…?" the guildmaster asked faintly.
"…" I turned around slightly to look at him, but didn't respond. His eyes slowly closed, probably falling unconscious. The Hunters glanced at me, but didn't ask any questions. Getting the guildmaster back to the city for healing came first.
Ming Hong and Hina-nee walked over to me, with the latter immediately pulling me into a warm hug.
"I knew you could do it, Kaze-kun!"
"Brother Kaze… truly ferocious. To think you defeated someone even Guildmaster Feng could not. Your strength now also feels a lot stronger than when we were fighting in the forest, somehow. Were you… hiding your real power before?"
I shook my head. "No… I'm not that strong, really. The guildmaster already weakened her by a lot - all it took was one final attack, something even I could muster."
"Ahaha, you are far too humble, Brother Kaze…"
The sudden leap in my power was due to me jumping so many levels, from 17 to 30 in an instant. I guess killing that woman, the leader of all the Phantoms, caused all the Phantoms to have been 'killed' by me as well, thus granting me all of their XP.
Yeah… that's right. I killed that woman.
I had done it. My first human kill in this accursed 'video game'. She was no player. She was a real human being of this reality plane, one that I had mercilessly slaughtered.
"Ming An and Ming Kang are tired after all that, so I will head on back first," Ming Hong suddenly said. "I will see you at the Hunter's Guild again soon, Brother Kaze, Lady Sakura."
I nodded in response. "Farewell."
With that, he left, along with the rest of the Hunters. The only remaining people on the battlefield now were Hina-nee and I.
"Be honest with onee-san," she said once everyone was out of sight. "How did you do it, Kaze-kun? Not get affected by that woman's charm, I mean."
"I…" I clenched my fists tightly and grit my teeth. "… Never mind."
"Nuh-uh, you're telling me today, right now, Kaze-kun. No matter what strategy you used, I want to know."
I sighed and looked off into the distance, where a mountain could be seen up ahead. Although I couldn't see very well since it was nighttime, it was shorter than Mount Valgan - but still, a mountain all the same.
"… Hina-nee… would you hate me if I said I felt nothing, even after killing a fellow human being?"
"You mean that woman?"
I nodded.
She smiled. "In karate, we're taught to only use force when needed, and only for self-defense. In my opinion… you acted only to defend yourself - nothing more. That was a life-and-death situation. If you hadn't killed her there, she would've killed you."
"… Yeah. I suppose you're right."
"And besides," she continued, leaning gently on my shoulder. "Even if you become a murderer, a cold-blooded killer, or anything else… I will never leave you, Kaze-kun. Even if you can't even be considered human anymore… I'll find a way to turn you back to normal. I swear it."
Given these words, it was clear Hina-nee had already suspected something was wrong with my humanity lately. Even though I hadn't particularly made any suspicious actions, she was still able to sense such a thing. Was this what they called a telepathic connection between siblings? If that was the case, then it was both a curse and a blessing - the former, in this case.
"Hina-nee…" I glanced down at her, peering into her beautiful black eyes. We maintained this position for a while, neither of us looking away or giving in.
Until at last, I sighed in resignation.
"Alright. I'll tell you the truth. But before that… let's head back into the city."