Chapter 93: Hope
Hunter Sector 7 – Red Valley
The air stank of blood.
Screams, growls, and the crunch of bones filled the ravine. The monster wave here was endless. E to A ranks were the front line—exhausted, breathing hard, bleeding from a hundred cuts, but still holding on.
Lance, a rank B blade specialist, was crouched behind a half-destroyed barricade, panting. His sword was cracked. His left arm dangled uselessly.
"We’re falling apart!" he shouted, spitting blood.
"No one’s coming, dammit!" a hunter screamed from above. "We are the reinforcements!"
A Rank A woman beside him unleashed a chain of explosions with her staff. The blast sent half a dozen monsters flying—but more replaced them instantly.
"Backline healers are all dead!"
"We need someone stronger up front!"
Behind them, Rank S and SS units were doing their best to lead.
One SS hunter, a man with a huge glaive and armor laced with gold trim, was holding off a beast with six legs and rotating jaws. His swings sent shockwaves, but even he was beginning to crack.
"They just keep coming!" he grunted.
He leapt, slashing through three more beasts, but his eyes darted up—something was wrong.
The sky above twisted.
A gate opened.
But not like the others.
This one didn’t crack open like lightning.
It spread like ink. Silent. Thick. Heavy. And then it pulsed.
The wind stopped.
The ground shuddered.
And then...
BOOOOOOM!!!
It crashed into the battlefield.
A single beast.
Tall as a building. Its body was armored in obsidian scales, limbs elongated, and smoke leaked from its joints. Its eyes glowed like coals—and as it stepped forward, everything fell silent.
An SSS-Rank monster.
A real one.
The SS-rank hunter turned pale. "No... no, no no—"
The creature roared.
KAAAAAAHHHHHRRGHHHHH!!!
The sound alone ripped through the mountain.
The shockwave blew the front line away like toys. Walls shattered. Bodies flew. E to A-rank hunters were thrown like feathers, many not even getting the chance to scream.
Dozens died instantly.
The creature moved. Fast. It blurred. One step and it crushed a Rank A lightning user. Another step and a Rank S bow user was ripped in two. It melted a tank with a breath, and impaled a squad with its tail like skewers.
"Fall back!" someone yelled. "Retreat!!"
But there was no time.
Another slash—and half the ridge was gone.
It was a massacre.
The SS hunter tried. He charged with his glaive glowing white hot. He struck the monster’s leg with full force—and his weapon shattered.
The beast didn’t flinch.
A swipe—and the SS hunter was gone. Just a spray of blood left in the air.
The rest of the battlefield froze.
No one moved.
No one spoke.
Hope started to vanish.
That was... until the air behind the monster shifted.
A small flicker.
Just one.
Like a black candle igniting in a storm.
And then—
FWOOM!!!
A fist collided with the monster’s face.
No buildup. No warning.
Just a flaming black fist.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The entire SSS-Rank monster flew sideways—sent crashing through three cliffs, smashing boulders like glass. The shockwave melted the surrounding area. The flames didn’t burn red. Or blue.
They burned black.
And floating just above the cracked battlefield—was her.
Lucy Black.
Hair tied in a lazy knot, leather jacket shredded at the sleeves, both her fists glowing with dense black fire. Her eyes cold. Her body relaxed like she’d just woken up from a nap.
"Sorry I’m late," she muttered. "Took me a while to get through traffic."
Hunters stared up from the rubble.
"Wait..."
"Is that...?"
"No way... that’s Lucy Black?!"
"Black Flame Queen...?!"
"SSS Rank?!"
She didn’t wait.
The monster was already recovering, standing again, snarling. But Lucy didn’t let it speak. Didn’t give it a chance to roar. She vanished.
BOOM!
She was already there.
One step. One fist. One strike—straight to its gut.
The black fire exploded from her knuckles. The monster howled. Its scales cracked.
She didn’t stop.
She spun midair—elbowed its neck. Grabbed its horn—yanked its head down and kneed its jaw.
Every hit was heavy. Every strike came with a blast of black flame. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t clean.
It was violent.
The monster snapped. Swiped. Roared. It swung a tail.
Lucy caught it with one hand.
The tail was the size of a truck.
She twisted it.
SNAP.
Then rushed it again.
"Hey, ugly," she said, mid-punch. "Let me ask you something."
BOOM!!
"What gives you the idea..."
BOOM!!
"...that you’re allowed to show up..."
BOOM!!
"...without saying sorry?"
She planted both her feet into its chest and launched it upward.
The monster was sent flying into the air.
Lucy’s eyes flared.
Black flames poured down her arms, curling like dragons.
She jumped—high.
Higher than most humans should ever reach.
And when she reached the apex—
She curled her fist back.
A firestorm gathered around her knuckles.
"Bad dog."
And then—
CRASHHHHHH!!!
She punched it down.
Straight.
Into the ground.
Like a meteor.
The entire sector shook. Dirt exploded. The shockwave leveled the battlefield.
When the dust cleared...
The monster wasn’t moving.
Just a smoldering crater.
Lucy dropped beside it. Arms crossed.
"...Tch. Tough guy, huh?"
Hunters slowly came out of hiding.
Wounded. Burnt. Alive.
They looked at her like she wasn’t real.
Like a miracle.
Yen was among them. She was covered in blood, trembling, her crossbow gone.
She whispered, "She saved us..."
Another said, "We were already dead. Then she came."
Lucy turned and cracked her neck.
She stared at the battlefield. The bodies. The craters.
She clenched her fists again. Black flame sparked up, still hungry.
"Where’s the next gate?" she asked.
One of the hunters limped forward, still stunned. "T-Two more opened near Sector 10... they’re... they’re losing badly."
Lucy nodded.
"Alright."
She kicked off the ground.
And disappeared in a boom of black fire.
Only a single word lingered behind her like smoke in the air.
Hope.
A/N
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