Chick 250
by Cristae250
Red laser dots began to appear one by one on Dominic’s body.
One, two, three… five.
Five chick drones hovered around Groo, readying for attack.
“…Hentai?”
“Hentai?”
“Pi?”
Dominic, Bailach, and Mephisto each spoke up in confusion.
“Kidnapper!”
Groo shouted boldly as he jabbed his fork into Dominic’s shoulder.
Shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo—
At the same time, the drones fired in a straight line. Dominic moved quickly to dodge.
“Ugh!”
But he couldn’t avoid them all.
Three shots missed, but one struck his arm, another his thigh, and then there was the puncture wound from the fork in his shoulder…
He looked at the fork embedded in his shoulder.
You dare injure my body?
It wasn’t a magic sword, a holy blade, or even the work of a master craftsman.
It was nothing more than a toy.
And yet, such power.
This was clearly no ordinary human child.
“The new master is different from what I expected.”
A shade of surprise flickered in Dominic’s eyes.
Seeing this, Bailach’s expression turned savage. He threatened in a growl.
“Karmirak. Did you think you could lay a hand on my master and live?”
With his arm transformed into a monstrous claw, Bailach lunged. Dominic dodged backward.
“As I said, the name is Dominic.”
Dominic narrowly evaded Bailach’s claw, but an immaterial force was already drawing his body toward Bailach.
No choice. Dominic’s body began to dissipate into mist.
Only then was Groo freed from Dominic and landed safely on the ground.
“Hut-cha!”
Groo steadied himself and scurried over to Bailach, clutching his hands in both of hers.
“Master, are you hurt…?”
“I was worried!”
Bailach stiffened at her touch.
Her voice brimmed with concern, even as she tried not to let it show.
“Did the hentai do anything bad to Bayi?”
Groo circled Bailach with short, quick steps, checking from every angle.
“……”
There was no way he would be harmed. She should be worried about herself.
It was absurd, and yet, somehow faintly embarrassing.
He could have answered with a huff, but Bailach did not.
For the first time, Mephisto’s warning that Groo would be sad if he left truly resonated within him.
He was simply not used to receiving feelings like these.
Suddenly, his former master’s face surfaced in his mind.
Bailach had been the loyal guardian who kept Mephisto, the usurper, in check to the very end. Shea had sat arrogantly in the snowy wastes, watching indifferently as he was helplessly defeated.
He, who was accustomed only to the chilling gaze of his former master, found that Groo’s concern now gently thawed the hard, coiled part of his heart.
“Mephi! Are you okay?”
“Pi!”
Mephisto rubbed his cheek against Groo’s hand and let out a stream of chirps as if to report something. Groo, not understanding a word, nevertheless replied, “Uh-huh, I get it.”
Bailach averted his eyes and suppressed a smile at the absurd exchange.
“Bayi, what’s wrong?”
“……Nothing.”
Groo finally relaxed, lips curling into a loose, bashful grin.
“Let’s go home now.”
“All right.”
“Pipi!”
But just then, the mist began to envelop them again.
“Huh? This is…”
Bailach muttered, sounding troubled.
“It’s Karmirak’s dungeon.”
Karmirak?
As Groo puzzled over it, the world turned white before his eyes. The mist filled his vision.
In an instant, he couldn’t see even an inch ahead.
Tadadak—
From within the fog came the sound of a beast running on all fours.
Ack!
Groo swallowed a scream as Lucifer peeked his head out of Groo’s arms.
The sprout waved side-to-side, revealing Bailach’s face in the dim light.
Groo reached out and Bailach took her hand.
“Don’t ever let go.”
Nod, nod.
Groo tightened her grip with determination.
Right then, a huge black silhouette swept past them.
Tadadak—
“…?!”
While Bailach tensed and scanned their surroundings, Groo caught sight of something and screamed.
“Mephi!”
Karmirak, in his true form, was fleeing into the mist with Mephisto in his jaws.
Meanwhile, Sergey and Gidan, searching for Groo, were sprinting across the rooftops of stopped cars on a six-lane road.
Motorists recognized their light-footed S-class movement and leaned out windows to stare.
“Gidan? Sergey?”
“Hunter Gidan!”
Some even snapped photos, but the pair didn’t even notice, focused intently.
“Where to?”
Gidan checked his phone.
“Right!”
Sergey swerved immediately to the right.
Groo’s GPS location, as shown on the phone, was within a two-kilometer radius—not far.
Thankfully, Groo wore a GPS-equipped watch; otherwise, things could have gone very wrong.
They had to move before anything happened to Groo, before Joorim found out.
If an emergency arose, Groo would call for Joorim, but if that happened, Joorim would never forgive them for not staying by Groo’s side.
Just then—
Brrrr—brrrr—brrrr—
Both their phones rang out loudly at the same time.
[Emergency Disaster Alert]
[Ministry of the Interior and Safety>
Safety Notice: Checking for Great Dungeon occurrence in Sinsa-dong today.
Area will be under control. All S-class Hunters receiving this text, please stand by.
A standby notice like this went out only to S-class Hunters in times of major dungeon occurrences or other disasters.
Gidan and Sergey met each other’s eyes.
A Great Dungeon meant something S-class or above.
Which could only mean—
Their faces turned pale.
There was now only one possible inference.
‘That perverted bastard… did he really do something to Bailach?’
The two quickened their pace.
Joorim and Kazuki left the reception room, leaving the panicked Jeon Byeongho behind.
A lawyer could wrap up all matters tied to the “Inoue Haruna Special Match.”
All the weapons on display at the special event were years old.
Given the production dates, they were likely unpublished items made by the Japanese government, not by Inoue Haruna.
By claiming she made them, they were trying to raise Inoue Haruna’s value.
Joorim had checked for something to undermine those blocking his daughter’s path, and it turned out to be a worthwhile find.
Bzzz—bzzz—bzzz—
At that moment, both Joorim’s and Kazuki’s phones began to ring noisily.
A disaster alert?
Joorim was about to check the message when—
[It’s time.]
Suddenly, Shea’s voice resounded.
At the same time, a bone-deep chill swept over him.
Before he realized it, Joorim stood amidst a pure-white snowscape.
Face hardening, Joorim turned toward Shea.
“What’s the meaning of this?”
Upon hearing him, Shea, the master of the 99th floor, seated languidly on the Snow Throne, slowly opened his eyes.
Just as with Bailach, he sensed that his bloodline had approached Groo.
“……”
Shea, instead of responding, simply straightened his once-tilted head.
He tried to convince himself it had nothing to do with him, but he couldn’t help recalling the small, soft child with the slightly higher temperature.
The thought of such a delicate being disappearing in an instant filled him with intolerable anxiety.
[She truly leaves me unable to look away.]
Is this what they call emotion, the cause of such inexplicable acts?
Shea had existed for countless ages, but emotion was still an unfamiliar thing to him.
He recalled a member of his bloodline once appealing to him with emotion, but quickly erased the image from his mind.
Then he stepped down from his throne and walked across the snowscape.
The snowfield was both his own sealed subspace and a part of Joorim’s consciousness.
Shea grabbed Joorim by the shoulder.
At once, Joorim’s consciousness was left behind, seated on Shea’s throne.
Alone, left on the empty snow throne.
Without Joorim, Shea strode forward.
Soon, a bank of fog appeared, clouding his vision.
Through the mist, he saw a child with a small rabbit on their head.
The child gripped the hand of another child, looking around anxiously.
Shea walked right up to them.
“Hello.”
Groo turned and locked eyes with him.
Her soft coral eyes went wide.
“Dad?”
To her side, Bailach, still holding Groo’s hand, saw him and twisted up his face in recognition.