-Vol 3: Enemies in The dark-

-Realization!-

The raging fire burned everything around as if it was an unstoppable force. In such condition, those hunters who were within the island, running frantically to the shores, away from the forest.

But there was someone who was doing the opposite. Instead of running out, this person was running inside. With a speed that forced one to wonder if can be achievable by a human, he was running amidst the burning forest.

Obviously, it’s none other than Kenshin.

Instead of the earlier glee, right now his eyes contains urgency and dread.

It was after a few hours of setting the whole island in the fire, Kenshin suddenly regained his rationality. Before, as if he was in a trance, his actions were not under his control. His mind was clouded by his hatred.

The hatred, which originated from his trauma.

But usually, he should have suppressed this feeling. But, for some reason, he was unable to do so! Why?

He didn’t know the reason yet, but he knew he screwed up big time. The fire had spread beyond his control. He could do nothing but to watch as it burns down everything. Suddenly, as if remembering something, he opened the map in his UI.

In an instant, the map of the whole island was visible on his UI. Right now, there was a red stain rapidly increasing with each passing second. This red stain was the increasing fire. Amidst this red stain, several yellow dots were moving out and running towards the outer perimeter.

He took a breath of relief, seeing that not many yellow dots there. As it was in the middle of the night, the number of hunters present was extremely low. Besides, those who were inside this second floor, surely they won’t be a low-level hunter, right?

Kenshin was forced to reconsider that particular trail of thought when he saw a group, around ten, yellow dots huddled together, without moving. The red stains completely surrounded them from all directions, leaving them no way to run.

“This!!” Kenshin couldn’t help but stare at it in horror. What the fuck was this group doing? Why were they sitting while the whole forest was burning? Are they trying to die?

He wanted to scream at them, to tell them that if they wanted to suicide, they shouldn’t come under his car, even though his car was going in the wrong direction!

But, he, Kenshin wasn’t a cruel guy. He didn’t know what happened to him suddenly, forcing him to do such a thing, but he wasn’t a cruel guy. He simply can’t abandon these ten people, who were not running at a time of crisis.

In truth, he wouldn’t be acting like a hero if this fire was not a result from his own doings. But, this fire literally started from his hands. As such he didn’t want to feel guilty for it at a later date, besides he didn’t want to cause a mass genocide.

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Shit!!

Screaming to the heavens, he started running towards the direction where these yellow dots were huddled together. He couldn’t let them die today.

At that time, he made a mental note to meet Core and confront him about this. He wanted to know, exactly, what was it, that had compelled him to make such a mistake.

XXX

Utilizing Highspeed Movements to its limit, Kenshin ran towards the place. He was mindful to avoid places where the intensity of the fire was extremely high. Even he might die if he gets tangled up in that flaming mess.

“If you don’t keep quiet, I will bite off this piece of flesh!” as he was running, he suddenly heard a very vulgar statement, followed by a whimper of a girl. Kenshin’s senses, after increasing his PHY, increased so much that, he could even rival someone, with a skill related to senses. His five senses had strengthened beyond belief. Now, he could even hear things from a distance, impossible for a hunter of his level.

He immediately halted in his tracks. Concentrating on the place from where the sound came from, he discovered a group of people running to the east of his current location. They were constantly changing tracks and were now in the same way as him. From what he could observe from the map, he will meet them in the next three seconds.

Exactly, two seconds later, the bush in front of him rustled. From within emerged three individuals. They all were burly, middle-aged men. Kenshin observed the one in front was holding a girl of age around twelve or thirteen, under his armpit. Normally, it would have looked like the man was rescuing the girl, if not for his right hand vulgarly groping the little girl’s buttocks.

In an instant, he understood the situation.

“These fucking perverts!!”

XXX

The girl bit her bottom lip while silently enduring the humiliation of the man’s incessant groping. She swore to herself, if by some miracle, she had to survive today, she would immediately go to a nearby church, buy some holy water and bath in it.

Their filthy hands, she felt dirty just by being close to them, let alone being groped by him!

Suddenly, she felt the man carrying him, coming to an abrupt halt. Getting curious, she moved her head, only to see a man standing in the way. Her eyes widened, then narrowed to slit. She started to look at him suspiciously, trying to gauge if he’s just a passerby or an accomplice to them.

“Who are you?” the man asked.

This simple question gave her all the answers she needed. This person was indeed a passerby. Suddenly, she started to feel hope in her heart. Just as she was about to scream at him to save her, she stopped herself.

What if this person wasn’t strong enough? What if he had to be killed by them instead?

As a kind girl, she didn’t want to drag someone into the mess, even though there was a chance that she would survive.

She remained silent. She would rather suffer than dragging someone to death.

If Kenshin had to her thoughts, he would surely cry. This girl, she was too kind!!!

XXX

The three people completely disregarded Kenshin’s question. The boss in the front frowned and opened his mouth.

“You brat! Don’t try to be the hero here. The fire’s coming, it's better to run and save yourself. Don’t poke your nose where it doesn’t belong, or else, we will kill you before the fire could!” the boss threatened.

“You kidnapped that girl, right?” Kenshin directly came to the point. He didn’t have the time to waste breath with them. Those people were on the verge of being completely surrounded by the fire. He had to save them.

“Huh! What gave you that impression? Kid, I say, just scram from here! Rei, go and teach him a lesson!” the boss ordered to one of his subordinates.

“Yes sir!” the one on the left said while jumping towards Kenshin. His hands flashed as he brandished two daggers, holding them both in his hands.

“Kid! Do your damn job. Don’t blame me for this, blame your own nosiness for it” the man shouted, lunging at Kenshin, aiming his daggers to his neck.