Chapter 241: The Spirit Beast Slayer (4)

Grrr…….

It was then.

Bandal, who was held in Yuria’s arms, growled while looking at Dr. Edric.

At that reaction, Yuria was able to realize belatedly who the culprit was that made her mother that way.

Furthermore, who had caused the monsterization phenomenon.

“……It was that person.”

“Yes. That guy is the mastermind behind the monsterization phenomenon occurring here and there in the south. He turns spirit beasts into magical beasts and then consumes their cores to gain power. Johnny is helping him. I also just found out.”

“…….”

“I have no face to show you. Then or now, I am a Captain in name only and do nothing properly.”

At the bitter voice, Yuria shook her head.

“You don’t need to be sorry. The bad ones aren’t you, Dad, but them.”

“……Thank you for saying that. Anyway, as I just said, their target is you, Yuria. They intend to use a similar method on you.”

“They covet what is inside me.”

Yuria’s brow furrowed as if she had seen a bug.

Unbearable anger boiled up from deep within her chest.

“Tell them to try it. I won’t just sit back and take it either.”

Yuria placed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist.

It was then.

Dr. Edric’s voice rang out loudly across the open lot.

“Captain! The promise is still valid! If you take the wolf cub from her and kill it even now, I will immediately pay the 100,000 gold I promised!”

“Shut up!”

Ianco shouted quickly, lest Yuria misunderstand.

And he hurriedly explained.

“I didn’t promise. I only pretended to cooperate for a very short moment to get you out. Do not be swayed by their words.”

“That won’t happen, so you don’t have to explain every little thing, Dad.”

“……Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Ianco, feeling awkward, let out a dry cough.

“That is regrettable. I gave you enough chances?”

Dr. Edric snapped his fingers.

Snap-

As the sound rang through the open lot, the surrounding bushes moved here and there.

Looking closely, it was the Ianco Mercenaries hiding in the bushes.

“……They were all hiding here. This is why the camp was as quiet as a dead mouse.”

They were all wearing unified outfits.

They wore clothes that mixed green and ocher to blend in with the surrounding environment, and even the exposed skin was painted black for perfect camouflage.

And this was the essential armament that the Green Circle used to equip every day whenever they went out for spirit beast hunting in the past.

In other words, it was an act containing the meaning that they would hunt Yuria, the Divine Beast, and at the same time, a declaration of war that they would resume poaching activities in the name of the Green Circle.

‘Oh no.’

A deep sense of dismay crossed Ianco’s face.

Their target was Yuria.

Therefore, he had been picturing a scenario where Yuria would safely escape while he blocked Dr. Edric and Johnny.

But with this, that plan was impossible.

‘I cannot block all of them alone.’

To make matters worse, one more problem arose.

“……Huh?”

“Why!”

“Well, I can’t feel my mana circuit.”

“What?”

Yuria’s eyes, which had been murmuring ‘How did this happen?’ in confusion, suddenly widened rapidly.

“Dad. Did you happen to give me a Sandheim?”

Sandheim?

“If it’s Sandheim, isn’t that the snack you’ve liked since long ago?”

It became certain with Ianco’s answer.

“Uncle Johnny gave it to me. Saying you gave it.”

“……We’ve been having.”

It was the worst.

Magic was the only power capable of creating a variable in this situation.

But if that was sealed, they had to break through that encirclement with their bodies, but that was impossible unless one was Master rank.

Ianco knew better than anyone the fearsomeness of the synergy technique his mercenary group possessed.

‘……On top of that, Dr. Edric and Johnny won’t just stand by and watch.’

Even now, the hunt had already been in progress for a while.

On the surface, it seemed like they were just maintaining the encirclement and waiting quietly.

But in reality, they were constantly pressuring the isolated prey, wearing them down mentally and physically.

If that happened, the prey would be unable to overcome the psychological burden and charge at first, and that was the exact moment the hunters were waiting for.

However.

Being surrounded and outnumbered aside, individual skills were not that superior compared to the opponents either.

It was a disadvantageous situation in many ways, and no matter how much he racked his brain, a forced breakthrough was the only answer.

It was then.

“Let’s strike the head.”

“Hm?”

“I mean Dr. Edric and Uncle Johnny over there. Let’s strike those two first.”

Yuria continued.

“We don’t necessarily have to run away. It’s difficult anyway. In that case, it’s better to strike the head. If we subdue Dr. Edric, who set up this whole situation, the rest might be resolved easily.”

Ianco marveled at Yuria’s plan.

‘She is right. We can’t break through the encirclement, and even if we luckily break through, it will be hard to completely escape the pursuit. It is better to launch a surprise attack now and strike Dr. Edric.’

Of course, Dr. Edric was strong.

Enough to handle Ianco with one hand using the power of a spirit beast.

However, these two also had something to believe in.

“What they want is me. Naturally, they will have no choice but to hesitate to attack me. If we use that point, there isn’t zero chance of winning.”

Ianco also agreed.

The fact that they were not using weapons like crossbows or muskets while encircling them was proof that they were caring about Yuria.

‘This plan has a much higher chance of winning than forcibly breaking through the encirclement.’

Fortunately, Dr. Edric was standing alone apart inside the encirclement.

Given the situation, he must be letting his guard down.

“Watch out for the roots and vines popping out from the ground.”

“Yes.”

Yuria put Bandal down on the ground.

As she stroked his head, Bandal made his characteristic whining sound.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be right back.”

Having reassured Bandal, Yuria gripped her sword hilt and glared in the opposite direction, not where Dr. Edric was.

And as soon as the signal fell, the two dashed out in different directions simultaneously.

Thud!

Yuria ran toward the mercenaries in front.

Just as they were about to tangle, she suddenly twisted her direction.

And.

Boom!

She charged at full speed toward Dr. Edric.

It was the same for Ianco, who was running the other way.

His figure, which was traversing the open lot with the momentum to cut down Johnny in a single stroke, turned at some point and headed toward Dr. Edric.

“Haaap!”

However, Ianco immediately realized something suspicious.

‘Why is he not making any preparations?’

Dr. Edric was taking no action.

He was just staring straight ahead.

He just stood there blankly even though he had the ability to control vines with a single hand gesture.

Like a doll.

‘Did his body freeze?’

It was a surprise attack that happened in an instant, and since it was an attack covering from both sides, he might have been flustered.

However.

Ianco had already clashed with him once.

Dr. Edric was not afraid of fighting.

Above all.

‘He ate the Half-Moon Wolf’s core back then.’

The situation where he, who possessed excellent dynamic visual acuity, was not reacting at all until now could only be explained by one case.

A trap.

“Run, Yuria!”

But Yuria had already arrived before him and was cutting Dr. Edric’s arm.

At that moment.

Flash──!

Dr. Edric’s body disjointed into several pieces and exploded intense light and heat all at once.

Kaboom!

Swept by the shockwave, Yuria rolled on the ground.

She seemed to have fainted and lost consciousness for a very brief moment.

It was thanks to Bandal that she was able to wake up immediately.

Woof! Woof!

Beeeee, Bandal’s sound was heard piercing through the ringing tinnitus and her face became wet.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Bandal barking hard and licking her to wake her up.

“Ugh……”

Yuria hurriedly raised her upper body.

Her head shook madly.

“Blergh!”

Eventually, she vomited out the contents of her churning stomach.

Even so, the shock did not go away easily.

What was bigger was the mental shock.

‘To think he would dig a trap in a favorable position……’

It was frighteningly meticulous.

‘Ah right. Where did Dad go?’

Realizing she had heard Ianco’s voice right before the explosion, Yuria hugged Bandal and stood up while staggering.

And she looked around.

The mercenaries, who had released the encirclement before she knew it, were approaching her.

“Dad! Daaad!”

Yuria shouted for Ianco at the top of her lungs while taking a defensive stance so they could not approach.

“Let’s stop, shall we? The situation is already over.”

At that moment, vines shot out and bound Yuria’s body.

Yuria swung her sword to resist, but when the mercenaries rushed in as well, she couldn’t last long and was subdued.

Even Bandal, who was struggling, was taken away by a mercenary who approached.

Woof! Woof!

Bandal’s crying sound grew distant and then suddenly—cut off.

“Ban, Bandal……”

Dr. Edric and Johnny approached Yuria, who was left alone like that.

“We finally caught her. Good work.”

“Johnny’s help was big.”

“Haha. You flatter me.”

“It is the truth. But it is still too early to rejoice. Because the final process remains.”

“That is right. Now, bring him!”

As Johnny clapped his hands, the group parted, and Ianco, tightly bound in ropes, was dragged in.

Thud, Ianco fell to the ground with a sound.

“Dad!”

“……Yuria.”

Raising his head, Ianco smiled faintly.

“You are safe. That’s a relief. It’s really a relief.”

“Dad……”

“It will be okay. Do not worry.”

Yuria only shed tears silently.

She wanted to answer something, but the words didn’t come out properly because of the emotions choking her up.

“I was wrong, Doctor. How offended you must be that I ran away without keeping the promise. I apologize like this even now, so please accept it.”

“Hm? It is okay. It wasn’t an important promise. In the first place, as you can see now, I fully expected that you would betray me.”

“But your mood must be foul. I am talking about that.”

Dr. Edric smirked.

“You seem to have something to say, so stop saying things you don’t mean and say it. What is it?”

“Let Yuria go.”

“You know well that can’t happen.”

“Then I will not help you either.”

What Dr. Edric wanted was Yuria’s blackening.

And to trigger that blackening, a storm of negative emotions like anger, sorrow, and sense of loss had to precede it.

So what Dr. Edric came up with was the reenactment of the past.

Just like when Yuria was angry and disappointed about Ianco running a spirit beast factory and killing many spirit beasts in the past, drawing out her trauma by killing the Half-Moon Wolf cub in front of her this time too.

This was the requirement he had presented to Ianco.

“But if I do not kill the Half-Moon Wolf cub, you won’t get what you want anyway.”

“…….”

“What will you do? Will you let Yuria go? If you let her go, I will actively help in catching other Divine Beasts.”

“Puhahaha!”

At that moment, Dr. Edric suddenly burst into laughter.

At the sight of him bursting into mad laughter while even shedding tears, Ianco and Yuria were momentarily at a loss for words.

“What help can an idiot offer? It’s absurd. Kuh-kuh.”

“…….”

“Look here, Captain. You still don’t know? We don’t need the Half-Moon Wolf cub, it was just bait to hook you. What we needed was you from the start.”

At the same time.

Click-

Johnny took a musket out of his bosom and aimed it at the center of Ianco’s forehead.

“Think about it, Captain. From her perspective, I mean. Would it be a shock for a spirit beast cub she met a day ago to die in front of her eyes? Or would it be more shocking for her beloved dad to die horribly in front of her eyes?”

Ianco’s pupils dilated widely.

Ah.

The trigger to blacken Yuria was not the Half-Moon Wolf.

‘It was me from the start.’

Ianco’s eyes held Yuria.

“I lo……”

Bang!

His last words were completely buried by the massive gunshot that shook the forest.

“Daaaaaad…… Huh?”

Yuria, who was screaming, realized something was strange.

Ianco, who was trembling with his eyes tightly closed, was alive no matter who looked.

“……?”

“What is it?”

Dr. Edric also tilted his head and gazed at Ianco.

The forehead, where a blood hole should have been bored, was fine.

Instead.

Thud-

Johnny’s body leaned to the side.

With the head that should be on the neck missing.

Dr. Edric’s face distorted like a demon.

“How dare some lowly human interrupt my work!”

“It’s me, you son of a bitch.”

Dr. Edric turned his head to where the voice came from.

There stood a mercenary wearing the Green Circle’s combat outfit.

Woof!

Holding the Half-Moon Wolf cub in his arms.

“……What are you? A traitor?”

“No, no. That is what I hate the most.”

The mercenary took a mask out of his bosom, put it on, and spoke in a low voice.

“A thief.”

At the same time, a gunshot pierced through the forest once more.

Bang!

With a Puck sound, Dr. Edric’s arm soared into the sky.

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