Beast King's Secret

“Another horde is coming!” Miss Usagi shouted.

Daisuke took care of a large number of the monsters rushing toward us, especially the higher-ranked ones. The ease with which he dispatched them was impressive. Now I understood how he’d been recruited by a guild like Red Thunder.

“Touka, your turn!”

The rest of the magical beasts Daisuke had let slip through came running at me with urgency; their bloodlust could be felt even from a distance, but I was already prepared.

I quickly drew my two customized machine guns and fired burst after burst of bullets without barely stopping, and even when I ran out of bullets, I reloaded with such speed and fluidity that it was almost imperceptible. They were the results of the training I’d been doing thanks to Yu’s advice.

The monsters didn’t stand a chance, and although they were a considerable number for a single person, they all fell one after another until the very last one was taken down by my bullets.

Yes, they had definitely been a great purchase.

As I happily looked over the scene of dead monsters in front of me, I heard Miss Usagi saying something in the distance like, “She can be terrifying despite being so cute…” It was normal; even back at the academy many of my classmates thought the same thing.

“RROOOAAARGH!”

As I was reflecting a bit, a powerful roar echoed in the distance, and from within the mist another horde of monsters emerged, similar to the previous ones. This fog dome had been troublesome because of the sheer number of magical beasts appearing, but there were still no signs of the boss.

“Damn it! When will these things end?!” Daisuke exclaimed.

“Shut up and fight!”

The three of us continued advancing little by little as we carved our way through the magical beasts that kept coming without rest. It felt like an endless struggle, and I was starting to worry about the amount of ammunition I’d brought with me. But suddenly, the magical beasts stopped coming.

It was strange. Going from growls and gunfire to an almost sepulchral silence so suddenly was, at the very least, unsettling.

“Let’s take advantage of this and look for the boss. It shouldn’t be far.”

We followed Miss Usagi’s orders and searched the area. It was odd not to find the boss, but even stranger that there were no more ordinary monsters. Normally, those wouldn’t stop generating until the boss monster was dead.

An hour of searching passed. The monotony was beginning to take its toll and I started yawning, still with no clue in sight, but then Daisuke called our attention.

“Over here! Look at this!”

Miss Usagi and I ran to his location, and what we found was a rather gruesome scene.

The boss monster was there, but its body was covered in slash and stab wounds everywhere, and its jaw had been ripped off. The most terrifying part was that it was still alive. When it noticed our presence, it tried to crawl away, but it seemed the pain wouldn’t allow it.

This was similar to my first official mission, where they found the boss monster in the exact same condition.

“RROOOAAARGH!”

“There’s more?!”

We had no time to process the situation, because another horde of monsters approached at high speed. And not just any monsters—these were at least rank A, many of them.

“This is bad! Touka, fall back!” Miss Usagi ordered.

I ran far enough to keep my distance and prepared my weapons. I was ready to support them from the rear, but then I felt something. A presence behind me, one that exerted immense pressure.

I spun around quickly, aiming my rifle, and from the fog emerged a dark humanoid figure with red eyes and a wolf mask. A silhouette I had seen before.

“Hello. We’ve met before, haven’t we?”

“It’s… the Beast King!” Miss Usagi shouted, alarmed.

Both she and Daisuke tried to reach my position, but the monsters wouldn’t let them. They attacked without respite, and though they could handle them, the sheer number wouldn’t let them escape so easily.

The Beast King. Hearing that name awakened a flood of memories in me, all rushing through my mind at once.

Mr. Kuroki’s report after the incident at the academy; the deaths during my first official mission as a hunter; but above all, the attack on the Kyushu region—the attack in which my sister lost her life.

Remembering all that made my blood boil. The one responsible for so many of the tragedies I’d suffered was right in front of me… I had to make him pay!

“Die!”

“No, Touka!”

I ignored Miss Usagi’s shout and drew one of my machine guns to fire at the Beast King. The firing speed was incredible, but not enough. The Beast King dodged the trajectories of my bullets with agility and vanished once more into the fog.

“I see you’re trigger-happy, huh?” he said before disappearing.

I quickly pulled out my rifle. If my machine guns weren’t fast enough to hit him, then at least I’d use a weapon I was more familiar with.

I aimed around me, waiting for any sign—any movement or sound—to pull the trigger, and then it happened.

Thud

The sound of a step came from one side, so I immediately pointed in that direction and fired. The bullet tore through the thick crimson fog and seemed to hit the target, but when the body fell, it turned out to be just a low-rank magical beast.

It was a distraction!

But I realized it too late. The Beast King’s real target was me, and the next thing I felt was a powerful kick to my back that sent me flying several meters through the air before crashing onto the ground.

“Touka!” Daisuke and Miss Usagi shouted, still fighting against the massive number of monsters pouring in.

Despite the pain, I got back on my feet quickly and fired my rifle again and again at the Beast King, but he dodged every bullet as he approached. Before I could switch to my machine guns, he reached me, kicked my rifle away to disarm me, grabbed me by the neck, lifted me, and slammed me against a nearby wall.

“You really are stubborn, aren’t you?”

“Y-you… bastard…” I managed to say with difficulty.

His grip on my neck tightened, and breathing was becoming a problem. I’d lose consciousness at any moment—if he didn’t kill me first.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” he said, raising his other arm and pointing directly at my chest. “Now, be a good girl… and die.”

His bloodlust at that moment was overwhelming. It sent such a strong chill down my spine that I felt I could pass out from that alone, but I had to do something.

I couldn’t die now!

Before he could attack, I quickly drew one of my machine guns and fired point-blank. No matter how fast he was, it would be impossible for him to dodge every bullet from such close range.

Realizing my intent, the Beast King jumped back, but some of the bullets hit him. They didn’t cause any wounds—his clothing seemed very resistant—but his mask was affected, cracking under the impacts.

What I saw behind that terrifying wolf mask was even worse.

“Well played, well played…”

The face of the Beast King… the identity of the man who caused my sister’s death… was Yu?!

“What the hell?!”

“Mr. Takahiro?!”

My mind went completely blank. I couldn’t process anything in front of my eyes.

The Beast King—Yu—looked irritated and tried to step toward me, but then he stopped and, staring at me, gave a malicious smile.

Yu’s face, the same face that had given me so much warmth and trust, was now stained with the memory of that malicious grin—the one that had caused so much suffering.

“Touka! Are you okay?!” Miss Usagi asked, followed by Daisuke. It seemed they had dealt with all the magical beasts.

Even with our numbers now increasing, Yu didn’t stop smiling. He seemed to have something in mind.

“Well, things didn’t go the way I expected, so I’ll be taking my leave,” he said casually. “See you later, Touka.”

Yu vanished into the crimson fog, which dissipated shortly after. The boss monster was already dead.

I remained speechless. There was no way to express how I felt, and the only thing I could do was fall to my knees, powerless and overwhelmed by the situation.

“No… This can’t be! There has to be some mistake!” Daisuke exclaimed.

“There’s no doubt about it. That was Mr. Takahiro…” Miss Usagi replied somberly. “I’ll alert all units and guilds!”

“No, wait! We can’t—!”

“…you’ll… pay…”

Daisuke’s protest was cut off by my murmurs. The confusion was still there, but another emotion began to rise—one that overshadowed everything else I felt.

“You’ll pay for this!!!” I screamed with all the rage I had accumulated over the years.

Miss Usagi nodded and sent the alert.

The Beast King… was Yu Takahiro.

♂♂♂

Night had fallen. The agency was silent except for the old television playing my nightly dramas. Leaning back in my chair, feet on the desk, comfortable and ready to enjoy another night of entertainment.

Life is good.

There was also something that had been lingering in my mind these past few hours.

“I can’t wait to see Touka’s reaction tomorrow,” I murmured to myself.

I kept enjoying my shows, but then something happened.

BRAAAAM!

The door of my agency was destroyed—and not just the main one, but also the foldable garage door I still kept from when this place used to be a mechanic’s workshop. I never had the time or money to replace it.

On the other side, the culprits of the destruction stood there. They didn’t look like magical beasts or even vandals. No, they were hunters, dozens of them, and recognizing a few faces, I realized they were from all the major guilds in the country.

What’s going on?

“Yu Takahiro!” someone shouted from within the crowd—a familiar voice.

After a few seconds, the figure finally made her way through the hunters. It was Usagi, daughter of Red Thunder’s guild leader and Daisuke’s partner, though Daisuke himself didn’t seem to be among them.

“It’s over! Come with us without resisting, Beast King!”

“…What?”

Something was wrong. For a moment I thought it might be an elaborate joke, but knowing Usagi—and seeing the fury in her eyes—it was clear this was serious.

As I was still trying to process the situation, another figure emerged from the crowd. It was Touka.

“Touka!” I exclaimed, excited. “What’s going o—?!”

But before I could finish asking, she aimed her weapon at me.

That rifle that had so many times covered my back and supported me from afar was now pointed directly at my head—something she didn’t even dare do when we first met—and when I saw Touka’s expression, I lost all hope.

“You’re not getting out of this easily, bastard.”

Her cold words pierced my heart like daggers. The kind, warm girl I had known was nowhere to be found, and in her place, there was only fury.

I considered fighting and running, but if I did, they might discover the truth… if they didn’t already know. I had no choice.

I raised my arms in surrender, and they cuffed me quickly. They were special restraints designed to drastically weaken hunters.

Once I was captured, they dragged me out of the agency roughly. I didn’t even get to turn off the television, which kept playing my show. The last thing I heard before being thrown into one of the trucks was…

“Don’t worry, Kaito. He deserved it anyway.”