Black Badger

It ate.

Before Hecate could launch her attack, the water dragon swallowed her whole. It had been worth squeezing out every last bit of stamina to issue the command.

I furrowed my brow deeply while maintaining control over the massive creature.

Return to the sewer.

But before the water dragon could lower its head into the sewer after rearing up toward the sky, a sharp light and sound pierced my senses.

Boom!

Damn it.

Silvia.

The bomb she threw struck the water dragon. It let out a shrill scream and twisted its body.

Fortunately, the hole didn't penetrate.

Scales fell off and blood flowed, but the hide was tough. It wasn't called Leviathan for nothing.

The water dragon didn't stop.

Instead of turning its head to attack Silvia, it twisted its body to flee into the sewer.

I gritted my teeth while holding onto control.

Hurry up and get in there—disappear!

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

Leviathan's eyeball exploded.

Gushing fluids and the ear-piercing scream of Leviathan.

I whipped my head toward the direction of the gunfire.

"Yoon."

And there, atop the giant's corpse, I spotted my mentor. He pulled the trigger, aiming precisely at Leviathan.

Around the giant's body lay piles of ore creature fragments and wolf creature corpses.

Come to think of it, this was the first time I'd seen my mentor fighting creatures.

I was awestruck by his skill in slamming bullets into Leviathan's mouth the moment it opened.

Kee-ee-ee-ek!

"Firepower's lacking."

Silvia, who had approached at some point, whispered to herself.

"You're going to lose it."

Her assessment was spot on.

Leviathan faithfully followed my command. Even with one eye the size of a human head gruesomely burst and its tongue riddled with holes, it successfully shoved its head into the hole in the asphalt.

My vision filled once more with scales.

The sound of water and sinking into filth.

Splash!

Splashing water, it returned to where it came from.

After confirming that the creature which had devoured my kin had fled into the sewer, I lifted my head.

Silvia raised her head as well.

"Did you tear off some flesh to lure it in?"

She clicked her visor up and looked up at me with her pale blue eyes.

"Maybe they're trying to eat you because you look delicious."

"Haha. Who knows."

"Hildebert."

As I replied softly, Yoon called my name.

He really moved without a sound.

I turned my head toward my mentor, who stood suddenly beside me.

"Yes."

My throat was seized.

Yoon dragged me roughly. My breath caught, but I couldn't resist. With my mentor's hand half-choking me, he headed toward an intact building, cleanly ignoring Leonard's "Take it easy!" cheer and Silvia's grumbling "Only the boring ones left."

Thud! The sound of Yoon kicking the door open.

Bang!

Followed by pain.

A small groan escaped me.

I glared at my mentor, who had slammed me against the wall, my brow furrowed in pain.

A killing intent stabbed at my skin through his gaze.

"I said I was giving you a chance to kill, not to let a killable bastard live."

In the desolate ruin, my mentor's eerie voice echoed.

Even with the helmet on, I could feel his chilling stare.

"Betrayal?"

"No, sir."

"Defiance of orders?"

"No, sir. I'm sorry."

"It didn't chew the Titan—it swallowed it and fled, right?"

"Yes. I'm sor—"

My breath was cut off.

As Yoon tightened his grip, I couldn't continue. Gasping for the scant oxygen, I looked at the man choking me.

I had no intention of betraying.

But I knew full well this could be seen as betrayal.

Only when I thought, "I'm really going to suffocate like this," did Yoon release his hand.

"Cough, cough!"

"Give me an excuse at least."

His murmuring voice was menacing.

I wheezed painfully and lifted my head.

"I will definitely kill it."

"When? Next time? After it causes even more damage?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't get swayed by pathetic sentiments."

Jerry Jones urgently called for Yoon over the communicator, but we both ignored it.

Yoon tensed his fingers again.

"If you pull something like this again, I'll kill you myself."

"Yes, sir."

"You just don't want to see it die by human hands, right?"

"Yes. I acted on foolish greed."

"Your reasons are none of my concern."

Yoon stated it plainly.

"Don't make Ye-hyeon regret picking you."

My breath caught again.

I stood still without resisting.

My breathing grew ragged. My vision blurred.

This man had an uncanny sense of when someone was on the verge of passing out.

"Cough, hack!"

"Well, it's obvious you'll keep being stubborn even after this warning."

He released his grip just before I blacked out.

"If you were some random nobody, I wouldn't care whether I let it go or not."

I had no energy to respond to his mutter.

Reflexively clutching my throat, I desperately sucked in air, inhaling the cool oxygen like a man starved for three days.

My blurred vision cleared.

In that narrowing field of view, I saw the man walking toward the door.

Coughing up the taste of blood, I watched Yoon return to the battlefield.

The man headed outside as if he hadn't just choked me in rage.

"Follow me."

Not a trace of anger lingered in his following words.

"We need to clean up the dregs."

My senior vanished from sight.

Left alone, silence crept in. In that chilling quiet, I panted and gathered myself. I should have moved right away, but I just couldn't. I'd lost quite a bit of blood from the wound Hecate inflicted, exhausted my stamina controlling the creature, and now endured this beating from Yoon on top.

If I relaxed, I'd pass out on the spot.

Leaning against the wall, I caught my breath and barely mustered some energy.

I dragged my corpse-like heavy steps.

"Ah."

And ran into the dreg seniors.

They were practically hiding behind the three psychopaths.

"Senpai."

"Hilde."

Isaac spoke.

Too drained to reply, I just blinked. Blinking several times cleared my vision.

The battlefield came into focus, looking quite different.

The battle was still ongoing.

But with Hecate gone and thanks to the seniors' efforts, the firepower had died down considerably.

At this rate, we could clean up the area before reinforcements arrived. Especially since those three were energetically slaughtering the remnants.

It didn't look like there was much cleanup left.

Thinking that, I walked toward the dregs standing behind the skilled seniors.

The ones who had been panting and tossing aside empty guns looked up.

I ignored those who opened their mouths to scold me only to close them upon seeing my wounds.

"You're bleeding a lot too, Hilde..."

Lucia, who looked the most intact, muttered weakly.

"I'm dizzy from all the blood loss..."

"The wound hasn't even healed yet."

Isaac muttered, eyeing my abdominal injury.

"So this is what delayed recovery means. Come here. I'll staunch it for now, as a temporary fix."

Why didn't Yoon like Isaac?

He seemed the most put-together among them. Sure, he'd fled quickly from the giant, and he was still hiding behind those lunatics, but those actions weren't entirely incomprehensible.

But I didn't have the energy to ponder that now.

I staggered toward Isaac, and he stapled my wound shut with something like a staple gun.

My left hand was freed.

"Thank you."

"No problem. But you really look bad."

Isaac frowned, examining my wound from various angles.

"We should send you back first. I'll support you later, so relax for now."

Ah...

It felt like he was saying that because he wanted to go back first himself.

My guess turned to certainty when he insisted on coming over to support me despite my refusal. Repeating that he'd get me evacuated first sealed it.

But whatever his motive, he was helping me now, so I decided not to take offense.

I decided to just rest until it was over.

I leaned my weight on my senior and thanked him.

Then I didn't move a muscle until Yoon, Silvia, and Leonard stopped shooting.

*

Reinforcements arrived shortly after the three sociopaths wrapped things up.

"You're late."

Naturally, Richard Green was at the front.

"Good work."

Familiar faces followed one after another.

Choi Ami. Ricardo Sordi. Jonathan Kudo. William Walker and Aki. Jason Tvain was there too. I identified all the faces dismounting from the motorcycles in a rush.

Only the top-tier ones came.

Most Badgers in B-5 Zone had returned.

It seemed only the skilled ones—especially those unscathed—had come to support Zone 7. B Zone was dangerous even with a full Badger squad, so after succeeding in their mission, most had portaled back to headquarters.

Sitting amid the ruins, I listened to the explanation and saw the familiar faces.

Even after Yoon's briefing, they scanned the surroundings once more before relaxing.

"Why is that guy acting like that..."

Ricardo's first words after removing his helmet.

I gave a wry smile to my senior staring at me in disbelief.

"I'm still sorely lacking."

"Did you get a transfusion?"

Ami no longer freaked out or screamed.

Instead, she hurried over, pulled out a blood pack, and injected it into my arm.

"The wound's so big, not sure if you can portal back..."

Did that matter?

Not knowing (or remembering) about portals, I couldn't fully grasp Ami's words. But I lacked the strength to ask.

So instead of replying, I just met Ami's eyes and gave a faint smile.

I kept my mouth shut after that too.

Even as Jonathan Kudo slowly approached the Ricardo who seemed to be barely holding back a lecture.

I stared blankly at the rising sun.

Until Richard Green gave Yoon a light situational report.

What had happened in B-5 Zone where they were.

"We were hit by an attack that split the ground."

I shot up from my seat.

Ignoring Ami's startled jump.

"It was like a white shockwave. We haven't identified what caused the attack."

Kyle.

From Richard's brief explanation, I knew the attacker.

The one behind that attack was Kyle.