Chapter 26

TAT!

The moment she confirmed I dodged the attack, she instantly closed the distance and struck again.

This time, I didn’t retreat—I met her head-on.

CLAAANG!

A dense clash of mana in its crystallized form.

The dragon’s foreclaws and the reaper’s fist materialized between us, colliding with immense force.

The shockwave blasted both of us in opposite directions.

She’s strong!

From that one exchange alone, I understood.

This woman was on a completely different level from the NL bastards I’d faced so far.

“Tch!”

She skidded back, frowning deeply, then glanced at her corpse-awakeners.

“Kahaak!”

They immediately rushed toward me from all directions.

Each wielded a different projected weapon—some close-range, some long-range.

‘So she was controlling them too.’

Of course, it was all bait meant to bind my feet.

Her true attack was what she delivered herself.

CRACK!

And sure enough, she slammed her fist into the ground.

A massive fissure raced toward me.

‘Not a chance!’

I leapt back and shot my fist forward.

At the same time, I fired Pale Note mana bullets at the incoming corpse-awakeners.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three consecutive shots.

The bullets pierced straight through the enemies in their path.

Five corpse-awakeners were knocked out instantly.

KWAAANG!

Right after, the ground beneath where I had been standing erupted violently.

Blue-glowing energy burst upward with chunks of concrete.

‘Gae Bolg—Piercing Strike.’

Instead of retreating, I dived back into the smoke and debris.

Clear as day—she would use that explosion to hide her approach and go for a follow-up attack.

My prediction was correct.

My continuous strikes collided with the shockwaves released by her heavy-fist technique.

PABABABABAM!

THOOM!

Every attack canceled out—but this wasn’t over.

‘Infernal Sphere. Destruction Fist—Caladbolg.’

A chained technique following Gae Bolg.

I added flames on top of it.

The finishing fist spewed a vortex of pitch-black fire.

FWOOOOSH!

‘Block this if you can.’

Even blocking it would cause severe burn damage.

No matter how strong she was, this combination attack—

SHHHK!

But she—

TATATATATANG!

—countered with a rapid-fire flurry of punches.

The sound was deafening.

Like a machine gun.

Each punch broke the sound barrier, ripping the air into sonic booms.

One hundred hits.

A hundred punches clashed against the storm of black fire.

My thirty-strike chain leading into Destruction Fist.

Her heavy-fist chaining into a hundred-hit barrage.

Two similar yet opposite-sequence combo attacks intersected.

KWAAAAAAAM!

The immense forces collided, creating a massive explosion.

An energy storm tore through the area, collapsing nearby structures.

The corpse-awakeners approaching were all swept away, and Darius barely survived inside a distant barrier.

It was lucky this was an abandoned ghost neighborhood—otherwise, dozens would’ve died instantly.

CRRRK!

“Hoo…”

“Tch.”

She and I locked eyes.

And both understood instinctively—

There would be no winner here.

WEEEOOO—WEEEOOO—

Sirens approached.

Police.

Even in this slum, where people didn’t respond even to gunshots, the earlier energy storm was too big to ignore.

No country in the world tolerated awakeners throwing power around in public. Being caught would be a huge hassle.

‘She can’t act freely now either.’

Even the NL, despite being tied to the government, couldn’t run wild past this point.

I prepared to escape.

Then she spoke.

“You. You understand English?”

I didn’t respond, but she saw it in my eyes.

“See you next time.”

She said that as if she hadn’t just tried to kill me moments ago.

I couldn’t help but retort.

“Why would I?”

“Shut up. If you get caught by someone other than me before then, you’ll die.”

“…What?”

And she just left.

“What the hell is she talking about?”

Don’t get caught by “other people”?

She left behind nothing but nonsense.

“Hey! Are you okay?”

Darius finally ran over to check on me.

Then he gestured urgently.

“Come on, this way! I know an escape route!”

He was local mafia, well-versed in the layout of the area.

For now, escaping the police with him was the best move.

“Fine.”

* * *

“Damn…”

While fleeing, Nana couldn’t shake off the feeling she’d made a mistake.

She should’ve held him down until the police arrived.

Then she and Yoo Shin-woo would’ve been arrested together.

The Anti-Awakener Strike Force would’ve shown up; resistance would’ve been impossible.

As an NL agent with government backing, she’d be released quickly.

Yoo Shin-woo, meanwhile, would’ve been dealt with one way or another.

If accomplishing her goal as a hunting dog meant using dirty tactics, she should’ve done it.

But—

‘Why… did I make such an irrational choice?’

She didn’t.

Because she didn’t want to finish Yoo Shin-woo in such a cowardly way.

‘Damn. This trashy brawler instinct…’

Parts of her forgotten past resurfaced.

When she first awakened—when she ruled the back alleys with her fists.

She wasn’t a monster-hunter.

She was a battle maniac who enjoyed fighting humans.

The stronger the opponent, the more she enjoyed it.

Fighting strong opponents increased stat growth.

That reward, combined with her innate competitiveness, created a synergy she couldn’t resist.

It gave her countless PvP experience—and earned her the title of Kalininskaya’s hunting dog.

But ever since becoming a hunting dog, all her missions were just killing weak targets far beneath her.

‘I found someone… different.’

For the first time since joining the organization—

She met a true rival.

Excitement. Exhilaration.

She didn’t show it, but her entire body buzzed with adrenaline.

Even their fighting styles were similar.

A fiery exchange of fists—the exact fantasy she had always dreamed of was realized today.

“Haa…”

Of course, this all happened because higher-ups misjudged Yoo Shin-woo’s strength.

Officially, he was only a Rank-9 titled awakener.

But realistically, he had the combat power of a Rank-7 like her—an anomaly.

They should’ve sent a stronger hunting dog after him.

‘I want to fight him again…’

More than anything, Nana wanted a rematch with Yoo Shin-woo.

The satisfaction of fighting someone on equal footing.

The expectation of how much she’d grow if she killed him herself.

Those two feelings fused into an overwhelming desire—

A desire to face him again.

* * *

The “escape route” Darius led me to was a sewer passage connected through the basement of an abandoned building.

He navigated the underground like someone truly accustomed to hiding in the shadows.

Since he lacked physical ability, he summoned his warhorse to move quickly, and I followed behind.

After weaving through the labyrinth of sewers and losing the police, we emerged in a shantytown in the middle of the city.

It resembled the old hillside slums of Seoul.

Darius led me into one of the shabby houses.

“Bro! This is my place!”

I didn’t intend to go that far.

Escaping police was enough.

I declined quietly.

“I’ll part here. See you next time.”

“Come on, rest a bit! The police will be swarming the city. This place is safe. …Ah, Mom!”

But Darius insisted.

Even his mother came outside and greeted me warmly—as if I were her son’s friend.

“I’m telling you, even my mom says to have some tea! Don’t be shy, come on! Hahaha!”

‘Well… he’s right that I need a place to lay low.’

No country would tolerate an awakener using power openly in the city.

And this was Russia’s capital—security would be even tighter.

The city was probably crawling with police.

They’d question anyone suspicious, especially an awakener.

If I got detained even briefly, Kalininskaya might find out my location.

I had to stay hidden for a while.

The only problem was whether Darius himself posed any threat to me.

‘…Manageable.’

After considering everything, he was a controllable variable.

His environment, combat ability—none of it could harm me.

Even with malicious intent, I could overpower him.

‘Use every useful resource.’

With that decision, I accepted.

“Fine. I’ll rest here.”

“Good choice, friend!”

‘…Friend?’

He led me to the dining table.

His mother served tea in Russian-style cups.

It was black tea.

Of course, I didn’t touch it.

Never consume food offered by strangers in a foreign region—basic survival rule.

“You were amazing earlier!”

Darius immediately began talking about the fight.

“I’ve never seen awakeners that strong fight up close! Only ever seen it on TV!”

“…”

“And it was fists! A pure fist-to-fist showdown! Honestly, it felt like a waste that only I got to see it!”

He poured out shameless praise.

I listened silently.

Then—

“…Hey, judging by your skills and money… maybe you and I could—”

‘Hm?’

Inside my cup, a small gnat had fallen in.

Common in a dirty neighborhood.

But when its wings and limbs suddenly dissolved on their own—?

That was not normal.

CLINK.

“H-Huh?”

I stood up, grabbed my cup, and poured the tea into a nearby flowerpot.

“H-Hey? What are you doing?”

Darius looked upset.

“Why would you waste that?!”

I ignored him and watched the flowerpot.

Then—

FWIP.

“Huh?”

Within seconds, the plant’s leaves fell off and the whole stem shriveled.

Poison—without a doubt.

But nothing in the real world caused such immediate, extreme effects.

This was made from materials found in dungeons—monsters or otherworld flora.

Meaning it was clearly designed to target awakeners.

Real-world toxins couldn’t harm us—hence these.

“…Hmph.”

SLAM!

“Aaagh!”

I grabbed Darius by the collar and slammed him onto the floor.

“W-What are you doing?!”

“If you thought you could kill me with such a sloppy trick, you’re mistaken.”

He brought me home and offered poisoned tea.

Who else could be the culprit?

“I didn’t do anything! I swear!”

He tried to explain, but it meant nothing.

“This is all a misunderstanding!”

Just as I wound up a punch—

THUD!

A heavy crash came from the kitchen.

“…M-Mom?”