Not A Regressor-Chapter 280: Dogs And Wolves (5)

Kwon Oh-Jin stood in silence, staring at Riarc’s blood-soaked back as he steadily walked forward.

Logically, the smartest move would be to play along with the hunters and use them as guides. Of course, that meant the children would have to endure for a bit longer. However, they could always rescue them after successfully infiltrating the kingdom. That was the far more rational and efficient route.

“There are times when you simply can’t hold back, huh.” Kwon Oh-Jin bitterly laughed and turned his head.

He saw the young girl trembling in fear and the bloody boy who had been beaten while trying to protect her. Could he really call it rational to ignore the two children and chase only what was most beneficial?

“Tsk.”

What was rational and efficient wasn’t always right. The world wasn’t built that simply.

“Alright, alright.” Kwon Oh-Jin released his grip on Song Ha-Eun’s shoulder and turned around.

Following behind Riarc, blue lightning appeared in his hands.

“To be honest, I was getting annoyed from holding back too.”

Even if he was a scammer who made a living deceiving people, he wasn’t heartless enough to feel nothing watching the children being sold off into slavery.

The remaining hunters backed away in a panic, shocked by their leader’s sudden death.

“Y-You bastards...!”

One of the hunters holding Riru raised his sharp claws to her neck. “D-Don’t come any closer! Take one more step, and this brat dies!”

“Kyaaah!”

Kwon Oh-Jin and Riarc came to a halt.

“T-That’s right. Stay right there.”

Perhaps thinking their hostage plan would work, another hunter transformed his arm and held the boy. “Move even one step, and these kids are dead!”

Kwon Oh-Jin and Riarc exchanged glances.

“I’ll take the boy,” Riarc said.

“Okay.”

As if they had planned it ahead of time, they both kicked off the ground at the same time.

Bang!

Before the hunter could slash the girl’s throat, Kwon Oh-Jin’s wire shooter shot forward and tightly wrapped around the hunter’s arm.

“Tsk! D-Damn it!” The hunter violently tried to rip the wire off.

His muscles swelled, and brown fur spread across his entire skin. An incredible pressure surged through the tight wire as he fully transformed into a half-human, half-beast form.

This was no ordinary man, but a beastkin native to the Demonic District. With brute strength alone, he tried to snap the wire enhanced with Starstone dust.

Crackle!

Blue lightning flowed through the wire.

“Aaaaahhh!” the hunter, trying to rip off the wire with his bare hands, screamed in agony and twisted in pain.

The beastkin’s convulsing strength pulled Kwon Oh-Jin into the air.

The hunter, barely enduring the electric shock, violently flung his bound arm. “Die!”

Kwon Oh-Jin flew through the air like a tin can toward a sharp rock.

“Damn, this bastard is freakishly strong.” Kwon Oh-Jin smirked.

Beastkin didn’t have Stigmas like Awakeners, but they naturally possessed unnatural strength. However, brute strength alone didn’t determine victory in a fight.

The loose wire snapped tight. Just before Kwon Oh-Jin crashed into the sharp rock, he abruptly flew sideways, straight toward the hunter.

The hunter widened his eyes. “Huh?”

Kwon Oh-Jin burst forward in mid-air using Lightning Steps. Before the hunter could react, he took out Dantalian from his waist and shoved it between the hunter’s eyebrows.

Gush!

Blood burst from the hunter’s pierced forehead.

“Kyaaaaa!” Riru screamed as she stared up at the stream of blood pouring down.

Kwon Oh-Jin pulled her close to shield her from the blood that erupted like a fountain and rained down on his back.

“Ah... t-thank you.” Riru bowed with a dazed look.

As if to reassure the trembling girl, Kwon Oh-Jin gently patted her silver hair. The girl flinched at first from the unfamiliar touch, but soon blushed faintly and quietly accepted it. It seemed to calm her down a little.

Kwon Oh-Jin turned to look at Riarc.

“Grrrrrr!” Riarc slashed through the air with his claws as if tearing the sky apart.

Flash Lightning.

Where his claws had passed, a blade of blue lightning formed in midair. A sonic boom rang out as the blade of lightning shot forward.

The hunter holding the boy quickly turned away in shock.

“Ugh!”

The razor-sharp blade barely missed and grazed past the hunter.

“Haa, haa!” The hunter sighed in relief, thinking he had survived.

Clink.

However, the thick chain binding the boy snapped cleanly and fell to the ground. A fiery light burned in the eyes of the badly beaten boy covered in blood.

“Grrrr!”

“Aaaagh! Y-You little brat!”

The boy clawed at the hunter’s face. Bleeding from his wounds, the hunter roared and swung his fist at the boy.

“You did well, kid.” Before the fist could crush the boy’s skull, Riarc charged forward in a blur and bit down on the hunter’s neck.

The hunter's neck snapped, and he collapsed to the ground.

“W-What the hell?!”

The remaining hunters panicked after seeing Kwon Oh-Jin and Riarc instantly rescue the hostages. Looking at one another anxiously, they immediately began to flee.

“Where do you think you’re going, you bastards?!” Song Ha-Eun pulled out a cigarette from her coat and swung it like a staff.

A wall of flame erupted and surrounded the area.

“Ugh!”

“W-What is this fire?!”

The hunters stepped back in pain as their fur began to burn.

“I’ll handle the rest.” Isabella leisurely stepped toward the hunters.

Trapped with no escape, the remaining five hunters bared their fangs at the calmly approaching woman. Surely, it wouldn’t take much to tear apart one frail-looking woman.

In their half-beast and half-human forms, all the hunters charged at Isabella.

She calmly slashed her palm, and beads of blood fell to the ground.

Drip. Drip.

Just as the hunters quickly surrounded her, she commanded quietly, “Die.”

The droplets of blood on the ground swelled hundreds of times, forming thin threads of blood. Like a tangled thread unraveling, the blood threads shot out in all directions.

“Kugh!”

“Argh!”

The hunters who brushed against the blood threads were sliced into tiny cubes.

Smelling the thick scent of blood in the air, Isabella licked her lips as if savoring it.

“Hey, that face you’re making is kind of terrifying.”

“Oh my, what are you talking about, unnie?” Isabella playfully replied and changed her expression.

Song Ha-Eun laughed in disbelief and turned to Kwon Oh-Jin and Riarc. “There aren’t any more of them nearby, right?”

“Doesn’t seem like it.” Kwon Oh-Jin nodded as he undid the chains binding the trembling girl.

Freed from the chains, the boy desperately ran to Riru.

“Riru!”

“L-Leo oppa!”

“A-Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?!”

“Y-Yeah. I’m fine.” Riru nodded weakly in Leo’s embrace.

Seeing that not a drop of blood had stained her, Leo deeply sighed in relief and suddenly turned to glare at Kwon Oh-Jin’s group. “W-Who are you people?!”

His eyes were full of suspicion as he bared his teeth at Kwon Oh-Jin, or more precisely, at the black ears and tail.

“Why would someone from the Black Mane Tribe save us?” Leo asked, clearly on edge.

Even if Kwon Oh-Jin’s group had saved them, Leo didn’t easily let his guard down after suffering for so long at the hands of other tribes.

“O-Oppa, but they saved us—”

“Be quiet, Riru! They’re from the Black Mane Tribe! Who knows what they’re really after!” The boy stepped in front of Riru and took a defensive stance.

Kwon Oh-Jin sighed with a frown.

Great. Now they’re even more suspicious of us because of the fur color we chose.

Their disguises to easily blend in with beastkin society were now backfiring. After a moment of thought, Kwon Oh-Jin removed the fake ears from his head.

“There’s no need to be so on guard. We’re not from the Black Mane Tribe.”

Leo’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. “Y-You’re human?!”

“That’s right.”

“Eek! O-Oppa!”

“W-Why are demons from beyond the rift here?!”

Leo and Riru stumbled back as if having a seizure.

“Huh?” Kwon Oh-Jin cocked his head, puzzled by their reaction.

They showed even more fear toward humans than the Black Mane Tribe.

“What do you mean, ‘demons from beyond the rift?’”

“I-It's true! You’re demons from the black rift beyond the forest!” Leo fearfully shouted. “T-The chief of our Tribe told me that humans are even more dangerous than the Black Mane Tribe!”

“Hmm.” Kwon Oh-Jin had assumed they wouldn’t be wary of humans, but he had clearly underestimated things.

“Don’t be so scared.” Isabella gently said, trying to comfort the frightened child. “If we were going to harm you, why would we have saved you?”

She calmly and logically explained as she slowly approached the children. The warmth radiating from her presence briefly softened Leo and Riru’s expressions.

Leo looked dazed for a moment, but quickly shook his head.

“T-That’s—!”

“We’re not bad people, so you don’t need to be afraid.” Isabella approached Leo and gently caressed his cheek.

“D-Don’t touch me!” Leo slapped her hand away and glared at her, but Isabella didn’t back down.

She gently pulled him into her embrace and held his head. “You must’ve been so scared,” she whispered and hugged him close.

Her kind, soothing touch on his back quickly eased his hostile energy.

“D-Doing this won’t make me fall for...”

Just then, an unbelievably soft sensation pressed against his cheek. Maybe it was because he was a beastkin, his primal male instincts flared up even more than normal. Leo’s face melted into a dumb grin under the spell of that softness.

“I-I won’t fall for... hehe.” Without realizing it, the boy nestled deeper into Isabella’s arms.

Riru shot Leo a scornful look. “Oppa... you’re disgusting.”