Chapter 39: The Hunt [3]

Slowly I begin to move forward while listening to its voice ramble on and on about different things. It isn’t always clear what it is talking about but mostly it appears to be playing an innocent human.

As I get closer to it I can see the outline of a person standing in the doorway.

Zierel really do have unique variations, something I didn’t think I’d see much. Honestly I think Airi would be quite proud to see everything I’ve been doing out here so far.

How would she feel with this one though?

I know it isn’t a real person so I won’t be falling for its tricks.

“Yet you are already where it wants you,” The woman speaks up with disappointment in her voice.

Slash!

I dodge out of the way as a blade slashes towards me… But I do notice something with the person who is attacking me. Strings coming out from each part of their body.

It is a human body but it isn’t a human controlling themselves in the slightest.

I lift up my sword and patiently wait for them to strike again as I watch the strings closely; Each one seems to shake a bit when it’s getting ready to move.

Immediately it lunges forward, swinging the knife towards me.

Whiff! I dodge the attack easily but it continues to rush at me while swinging the knife aimlessly.

Each attack failing to connect.

I don’t really know what killing a puppet will accomplish since it may not be the only one it has. If it is smart, it’ll have more than one puppet for this situation.

So far they have been pretty smart with how they approach targets.

But I also don’t want to just play on the defensive this whole damn time either, that’s not really a good time. Cutting the strings will be enough for now.

With a swift motion my blade slices through the strings and then I jump back out of the way.

Thud! Clang!!!

The body hits the ground and the knife falls onto the floor.

“Cutting the strings is quite rude,” A voice speaks up with a bit of sadness.

My eyes immediately look towards the entrance of the building once again. After a moment passes I can see something standing in the darkness, eyes glowing bright red.

“Hybrid?” I question while gripping my sword tighter.

“A smart human, how interesting. Yes I am a hybrid,” It responds while coming out from the building.

Another human like Zierel wearing an all black suit with long silver hair, red eyes, and it is even wearing a pair of glasses. It doesn’t seem to have any weapons like the other one.

“Expecting a quick death?” I question with a serious tone.

“I have no intention of fighting you here, at least not right now,” He answers while fixing his sleeves.

I’m kind of glad he is choosing not to fight since I don’t know how strong he is at all. Hybrids are the exact thing Airi told me to avoid for the time being since I’m not strong enough to fight them.

This guy also gives me quite a bad taste in my mouth.

“A puppeteer. He definitely could win this fight easily but obviously he isn’t interested in the fight itself,” The woman says.

I’d consider it a good thing since I’m definitely not strong enough to take him on yet. I didn’t really know what to expect when I noticed the strings originally.

“A human who is surviving with an active infection is quite intriguing. I’d rather see what happens,” He speaks up with some excitement.

Wriggle! Wriggle!

My arm is going crazy after that response, why did that get her going? She is a real pain in my ass with the way she moves around in my damn arm.

Before I can speak… I notice that he’s gone.

Everything around me is silent once again, almost like nothing is here but me. Leaving me no choice but to push forward since the enemy is gone.

I don’t really understand the fascination behind a human surviving with an infection but I guess it gives me a chance to survive encounters.

That alone is quite a big card to have up my sleeve right now until I get strong enough to fight them. Other zierel aren’t much of a problem so far, just the hybrids.

With that last thought I begin to continue forward, watching everything around me with caution.

But after another hour of traveling I’m still met with silence as I find myself slowly reaching the market district. One of the biggest districts in the entire city itself.

It is hard to see it with how dark it it but I’m definitely not far. Walking in the dark is becoming quite normal for me at this point.

Nothing seems to be following me either which is surprising given the blood trail I’m leaving behind. Zierel are dying so you’d think that I’d be considered a problem.

“Zierel are smart, I’ve told you this before,” she chimes in.

“Exactly why I would expect them to come after me,” I reply with a calm tone.

“Because you aren’t the priority right now. Normal zierel can be replaced without a care in the world if they die,” She says with irritation.

I didn’t think much about how it works for them to replace their kind since I just want them all dead…

But if that’s the case, then it makes a lot of sense why they wouldn’t care. It just makes me wonder who the main priority is right now.

Light bearers? That seems like the logical conclusion but it also could be a dumb decision at the same time. If not light bearers, stronger humans?

Ones with powers that could pose a threat to them if left unattended. That is my only other guess.

Wouldn’t that make the academy a target for them to attack? They couldn’t do it though…. Because of the light protecting it.

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