Chapter 105 - Hunting

"Let's go, Eniyala."

I stir from my blank stare out of the window. "Right, right," I reply to Lynsel, who gently helps me to my feet. I pat Panko on his head, who purrs softly, before we step out of the suites we're now staying in and coming face to face with the rest of our group.

"Took you long enough, leader," Termi says jokingly. She stands next to a depressed Ro, who the entire party can agree that while he's much easier to handle than normal Ro, we can't help but feel sympathetic for his current state of mind. I know that I personally can empathize.

'I don't need to be thinking about Raeki,' I tell myself, tugging on a long strand of hair. Last of all, I look over to Yorun, who looks at me in total admiration, trying and failing to catch my eye.*

*<The tutorial would like to mention that his 'look of admiration' is emphasized. Eniyala just stupid and doesn't realize simply resting emo face, instead willing it be an "Oh Eniyala! I love you!" face.>

"Wait, where's Pantholeo?" I ask, almost losing myself in Yorun's dark eyes.

Termi points to a suite in the corner, and a few seconds later the faint sounds of a flush could be heard, and the door swings open, a large figure slipping out of the doorway.

"Sorry about that, you guys. All good."

While everyone covers their nose from the stench, a happy grin sits on his face. "You don't look sorry. Why do you have to go so often, anyway?"

The Hybrid shoots me a dirty look. "Look, after I spent a day buried in rocks, I have come to appreciate how nice a bathroom is, and being able to go whenever I want."

Termi stomps her foot. "That was three months ago, you idiot!"

Yorun leans forward. "Speaking of, why are we still here and why are we still with him? If Klum hasn't come back, it's because he's probably dead. We might as well leave this oversized cat somewhere and get going. Who knows what he's spilling to the Stringmaster right now."

"Yorun, hon… I don't think ya understand how heavy it is to promise on your own child," Lynsel objects meekly, earning himself a thoughtful look from Yorun as he contemplates what the larger man said.*

*<Yorun glared at Lynsel.>

"He could have made that whole story up."

I shake my head. "No. It's true. I used my Lie Detect, remember?"

Yorun turns his thoughtful look towards me.* "Yeah, but that was a new Spell. We don't even know if it works right."

*<Again, a glare.>

"We tested it on Termi several times. It works."

Yorun huffs cutely<angrily >. "Right. We did not need to know how masochistic you are," he says, glaring at Termi.*

*<…It's literally the same look. His face didn't change. She's just that head over heels… tutorial guesses? The doesn't know, this is dumb.>

Termi shrugs. "It's not like I could lie."

I wave my hands back and forth. "Enough, enough. The plan for today is the same as always. Someone go with Ro and look around for his sister or a way to contact her, since he doesn't have a phone and can't remember her Line. Pantholeo and I will look for those two throughout the city. We're two-thirds of the way through, so unless they're moving more than we predicted, we should find them in the next few weeks. Whose turn was it again for 'find the sister?' "

Everyone looks at Yorun, who sighs in exasperation. "Ugh, you damned snitches."

"Great. The rest of you, see you soon and keep an eye out."

We disperse, the gloomy Ro quite literally dragging a radiant* Yorun behind him, and Pantholeo and I heading down with the elevator, which Ro for some reason refuses to take. He calls it black magic, even though his Affinity is literally a sub category of Dark magic, and he doesn't even seem to realize.

*<Motherf— Yorun is actually gloomier than Ro here.>

I step outside shortly after reaching the ground floor, narrowly avoiding the wave of people in front of me. Pantholeo manages to step into a less crowded alleyway, kneeling as he shifts into a more feral-looking form. Once he's finished, he holds still to allow me to climb on his back, and he leaps into the air, launching us forward. I keep an eye on my Statbook, watching a grayed out line in particular.

(Klum {unavailable})

Party Stats didn't work outside of a certain range, so the minute Klum's name lights up, we'll know they're close.

As if to prove my point…

Fwip!

(Name: Klum)

(Age: 18)

(Lv: 29)

(EXP: 12010/34000)

(Class: Sword Saint's Disciple {Ready to upgrade})

(Health: 95/95)

(Mana: 136/136)

(Stamina: 93/95)

STR: 45 MAG: 20

AGI: 60 DEX: 25

VIT: 24 INT: 40

Free Stats: 17

(Skills:…

"They're near!" I call out in Pantholeo's ear, and he lifts his nose to smell the air, nodding in agreement.

He lands heavily, turning his head sharply to the right. I follow his gaze to see something black flying through the air at high speed. Even though it's hard to spot due to the speed, and the color is black, the way the material is flapping says that it's a humanoid body with some type of cloth on it. Pantholeo huffs, and I pat his back. "…Yeah. After it."

'Please be okay so I can kill you, dumbass,' I think solemnly to myself as we jump up into the air again to follow the flying figure.

* * *

"Are you really sure this is okay? I mean, broad daylight?" I ask, trying to hold back the uncertainty in my voice. Yauln huffs. "Look, worrywart, it's almost time already, so stop asking. They're more predictable in the daytime, so this is our best chance. The second they hear about the body is when they're going to start moving. It's not like you hid it, so—"

Brrrr.

{Body found dead…

{Large sponsor Harrield…

{Breaking news:…

Slapping the final sigil on her chest, Yauln becomes invisible to the naked eye. Even with my sight, all I can make out is her sky blue Mana coursing through her veins for the soft outline of her now birdy appearance, and the whitish glow of the invisibility sigil. Hidden talons grip my shoulders securely, and with a hard flap of her wings we are shooting up in the air, flying forward at high velocity for the top window straight ahead of us. The talons on my shoulder release with a "good luck, Klum," and now I am all alone.

Good.

Drawing the handle from the Inventory, I form it into a long black dagger, swinging it in a wide arcing motion. Incredibly plain, and thus unmatchable to my own odd style, Storming Moon. The wide arc easy shatters the glass in front of me, and I bounce off the ceiling before landing in a crouched position on top of a desk. I feel a fluctuation of Mana on my right, and I jump over the person, spinning my arm around to decapitate the person attacking me from behind. As I land on my feet, I turn to come face to face with the severed head.

"Hello, and goodbye, Nine," my distorted voice rings out clear. The man sitting calmly at the desk chuckles. "It took you long enough. You know, I don't tell any of my toys this, but I can always track their location using the strings attached."

A wide, unnatural grin sits upon his face, and I stand to my full height, staring him down. "You aren't Astil, are you?"

"How clever of you. However, I bet I can one up it," The Puppet's smile grows wider, as he stands on his feet, walking around the desk slowly.

"You're becoming famous in Rockend, did you know? Reports of a serial killer about, rumors that it's the Assassin Demon, making an appearance, but here's a wild hunch: You're not him. In fact, I would go so far as to say you're the Sword Saint, and working with a Figurine of MINE, if that wasn't wild enough."

A sneer flashes over his face; distorting the muscles wildly. I don't respond, seemingly frozen in place, as I try to reign in my emotions.

"Oho? That's quite an impressive aura you're emitting. I cannot exert my full force through only a Puppet, but…"

The air becomes so pressurized with killing intent that I can't breathe anymore. The very world itself seems to shake, and my body threatens to crush me. Despair wells up in my stomach. It feeds itself with the strength in my body. Making me feel small. Insignificant.

'I am nothing.'

And yet, I clench my fist, all but one finger, and lift it just enough to point it at him. He seems shocked and angry at this, of course, but his reaction is instead to laugh coldly. "You certainly are a Saint, I'll give you that. Your willpower is unparalleled. I wonder how much you can stand. When HE takes it all from you. When HE gains the power he needs. When HE ends up—"

"That's a lot of he's, jackass. What's next, you gonna sing 'Dirty Diana?' "

"… Who's Diana?"

I push off my foot, shaking off the extra weight dragging me down. Another pair of invisible hands tries to stop me as I do so, attempting to slow me further.

'This is the last one.'

I shake off the hands once more, dashing in. The man who isn't Astil screeches, the lower parts of his limbs rotating around with sickening cracks, morphing into sharp, meaty points.

"You're fucking disgusting," I note, leaping forward with a slash of my blade. The body that looks like the head of the Mafo family shakes violently, missing its head, and I watch out of the corner of my eye as the Strings become visible.

MOVE.

"No shit," I tell myself as I jump into the air for the final time. "Alternative Meditative Style: Receding Aurora."

I trace an shape similar to an infinity symbol with my blade, imbuing my Mana into it as I do so.

[Skill Mana Blade+ has been activated.]

Snip! Snap! Thwip!

The three strings break apart, fading into nothingness, and the body falls limp to the ground.

"And that's Ten. Glad I at least got lucky enough to learn how to mimic the sharpness of that guy's cut."

Despite the conditions finally being met, a sour taste remained in my mouth after the encounter, and though it couldn't be seen, my face remained contorted in anger.

"Who the hell are you, and where's Klum?!" A voice shouts from behind me. 'Oh no.'

I stand up slowly, turning my head to see the blue-haired woman standing by the broken window, azure fire curling around her fingers.

"Shit."

* * *

In a dark room…

The Stringmaster's smile falters when his connection is abruptly cut to his Puppet. His anger builds and builds upon itself, the very air around him growing denser, until he finally screams. "Fuck!!"

Clu-clu-clu-clunk!

He throws his hands down, snapping the table sitting in front of him. Elsewhere, 20 Mannequins, 5 Puppets , and the Doll and Figurine he are connected to all jump, whether forced by the movement of his four hands or in fear from the sudden scream in their heads.

"A reminder. If you find the Sword Saint, you kill him," he says coldly, releasing all of the connections.

He was going to need all of his strength to connect to two Figurines, after all.