Under the moonlight, two men were running like gazelles being chased by a predator.
"Who the hell is he, Park Yoon-Jae?" The 1-star hunter yelled in fear to his brother next to him.
"How do hell do I know, Park Rim? He is a hunter, that's for sure, although I did not see the sigil on his body. With his strength, he must be at least 3-star hunter… We have to get to our boss. I'm sure he will be able to kill him." Park Yoon-Jae believed that his boss can handle anything. Even a monster like Lyden.
The two Korean brothers were born in America. They came to Jeju island to visit their family 6 months ago, but ever since the tower in the sea appeared, it was impossible to go back home, and no one was coming to save them.
So they decided to join the Huin Dong-Gali as hunters for protection for themselves and their family. However, they forgot the reason for joining in the first place and began turning into criminal like many of the members of Huin Dong-Gali.
Moments ago before running away, they heard the commotion and wanted to see what was happening. What they saw was at least a dozen Korean men chasing a white guy.
However, they were not going to help him.
Especially Park Yoon-Jae because over the months, he enjoys the feeling of seeing those who were weaker than him, begged for their life.
As the two ran with all their might, Lyden watched them beneath the full moon. He never lost track of them from the very beginning.
"It seems that they can speak English. I should capture one of them for information. As for the other one..."
Lyden jumped down from the roof and landed in front of the two.
The two stopped in their tracks. They could not budge forward due to the pressure of the young man in front of him. They felt like mice going against a tiger.
"Park Rim, run away. I will handle this. Get to the boss no matter what." Park Yoon-Jae said.
"But-"
"I say go, you useless bastard!" Park Yoon-Jae yelled at him with anger.
Park Rim ran away with all his might without looking back.
"I swear I will reach the boss, and he will get vengeance for the both of us." Park Rim swore to himself.
Lyden and Park Yoon-Jae were beginning to fight each other with the moon in the night sky the only witness.
"What is your name?"
"Lyden,"
"Why are you attacking us?"
"It is because y'all attack me first. Well, in your case, you just watch with an annoying smile. It seems like you like to watch people suffer."
"Is that it? If I plead to let us go, will you let us?"
"No"
A sigh of regret could be heard in Park Yoon-Jae. He looked back in his life and thought judgment day was here. And Lyden was here to punish him.
"So be it." Park Yoon-Jae was beginning to activate his aretisite.
"Bull Flow!" He shouted.
A small 2-star aretisite that looked like a bull with a skeleton tail came out of his back. In less than a second, it infuses himself into Park Yoon-Jae's tail bone.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"This is my armament type aretisite, Bull Flow." The red skeleton tail whip across the air. It was twice as long as him and at the end of it, a sharp point like that of a spear.
Park Yoon-Jae was not experienced in fighting other hunters before, but now he had no choice but to experience one. He dashed towards Lyden with his tail aiming at him
"You will die here to-"
BAM
"..tonight..."
Before Park Yoon-Jae could finish his sentence, Lyden already closed his distance against him and jabbed straight through his chest.
"You took to long. Next time, if you're going to attack, make it quick and discreet. Well, I guess there won't be a next time for you."
Park Yoon-Jae flopped to the ground lifelessly with a splat.
Lyden sighed as he stared at the lifeless body beneath his feet. He felt no satisfaction nor guilt from doing so.
'I became less emotional, unlike my old self.' Lyden thought, but he quickly decided to not dwelled too much in it.
Next, he inspected the dead body of Park Yoon-Jae for the aretisite. To his surprise, his aretisite was not there. It was reduced to a glittery liquid before it evaporated into thin air.
"It seems that hunters cannot be killed or else their aretisite died alongside with them." This was the first time he saw the death of a hunter and his aretisite.
It did not matter to him about the lost of Bull Flow. It did not suit him anyway.
"The other guy should have not gone far." Lyden listened carefully for the footstep of the other person running away.
It was not before long before Lyden went after him.
'This time I let him unknowingly lead me to his boss.' Lyden left the corpse bleeding on the floor and followed Park Rim right after.
With painful breathing, Park Rim ran so much that his legs were cramping up. Even then, he still ran with all his might.
"I'll come back to you, brother. I promise." He swore with a vengeance as he ran towards the den of the Huin Dong-Gali.
Eventually, he could see the place where the Huin Dong-Gali was located.
He ran inside and stopped at the door with a clownfish on it.
Bang! Bang!
"We have an emergency! There is a hunter out there targeting the Huin Dong-Gali!"
Park Rim banged on it pleading for someone to open up.
The door opened up by a young girl wearing skimpy clothing.
She guided him to a room that was filled with the smell of cigarettes.
There he saw the boss playing video games with two others.
"Boss Yang Seung-Joo!" Park Rim bowed before him without ever looking at him in the eyes.
"There is a hunter that came and is killing people. Five people have already died by his hand and my brother is fighting him now."
There was no immediate response.
He and his two other friends kept playing their video games.
Park Rim was frustrated but there was nothing else he could do but wait patiently.
"Your aretisite… Give me your aretisite and I will take care of it. If not, leave."
'Take my aretisite? You want to blackmail so you can take care of an enemy that is coming after your gang?! Shouldn't you protect your followers, you fucking asshole.' Park Rim hated him, but his younger brother insisted that he was a great guy.
He only treated his brother well because he was a 2-star hunter, but Park Rim was only a 1-star hunter. Yang Seung-Joo only saw him as a fodder. He did not care for anyone but himself.
"Well, what is going to be?"
"I understand." Park Rim stopped bowing to him and released his aretisite. It was a small worm with one horn on its head. "Here take my Drill Worm." He places it on the table next to Yang Seung-Joo.
Yang Seung-Joo put down his controller and picks up the Drill Worm aretisite.
"What does it feed on?" Yang Seung-Joo asked.
"It feeds on calcium..."
Yang Seung-Joo gave a wide smile like he found some treasure.
"Haha that is good that is really good. This is what I've been looking for. Honestly, I do not care for the ability of a 1-star aretisite." Yang Seung-Joo laughed in joy. "Do you know why this is valuable to me?"
Park Rim shook his head.
"You should know that aretisite feed on something within their host. But did you know that when they feed on something, they defecate another product inside your body?"
"I-I never heard of such a thing"
"That's because you have a 1-star aretisite. What they defecate is negligible to the human body since the liver can clear it out. However, the stronger the aretisite the more they produced the excess product. Mine feed on keratin and produce calcium. Now because of it, I am beginning to have signs of hypercalcemia."
"How do you know all this?"
"Because my dad was a doctor of some sort. Alright enough talk, for this gift, my friends will handle that person who dares go against the Huin Dong-Gali."
The other two who were on the couch put down their controller and got up to head out the door.
"You can leave it to them… Uhm, Park Rim, right?"
Park Rim nodded.
"Watch how those two 2-star hunters torture and then kill those who dare challenge us. So until then, I do not want to be disturbed..."
"Well, here is me disturbing you." A voice brimming with confidence was heard outside the room. "That is a nice piece of information that I heard."
The four men inside the room opened their eyes wide in shock.
Lyden had voluntarily entered the den of his enemy.