The Truth About the Most Annoying Hunter - Part 2

After leaving the cell room and reaching one of the laboratories, the panic flooding the place was considerable. Everyone was screaming, trying to understand what was happening, but the images from the cameras were clear.

Outside the Bunker, what appeared to be a monster of immense proportions was hammering the facility again and again from the base, at the bottom of the sea. I had never seen a magical beast like that before.

Additionally, in the surrounding cameras, it was possible to see how the outside guards and some of the agents were being attacked by flying monsters. There were a great many of them, so many that the guards couldn’t keep up. And as the beasts advanced, the cameras stopped working.

The situation was increasingly chaotic, but everything reached its lowest point when one of the radios crackled to life, transmitting the terrified voice of one of the Bunker’s agents.

“I-it’s the Beast King! He’s here!” the voice blurted out before the transmission cut off abruptly.

Everyone in the place screamed in despair.

“That’s impossible! We already captured him!”

“Don’t tell me that wasn’t the real Beast King!”

Panic had reached its peak, and in their desperation everyone began to flee, not without first ordering every guard and agent capable of fighting to go support the exterior front.

Within seconds, the place was practically empty. If not for the blaring emergency alarm and the blows from the colossal magical sea beast, the place would have fallen into complete silence.

There was no time to waste. I had to get out of here, but I wasn’t leaving without Mrs. Takahashi… nor without Yu.

I ran back to the cell room. On the way, I thought that, given the order to support the frontline, the guards would have left, and surely they would have the cell keys. I considered looking for them, but fortunately, they were still at the doors of the cell room. It seemed the prisoners were more important than I thought.

Taking advantage of the optical camouflage, I slipped behind one of them and, with a strong blow from my weapon, knocked him unconscious. His partner noticed and tried to react, but I was faster and did the same to him.

As expected, I found the cell keys shortly after searching their uniforms, and with them I ran to Mrs. Takahashi’s cell.

“Touka, what’s going on?”

“We have to go! The Beast King is here!” I said as I hurried to open her cell.

Mrs. Takahashi made a troubled expression upon hearing me mention the Beast King. Knowing the truth about his identity as one of the clones she had released, she must have felt guilty for all the chaos. Even so, she left her cell and looked at me resolutely.

“We can’t leave yet! We have to get Yu!”

“Yes! I know where he is, follow me!”

We both ran, although I had to slow down so Mrs. Takahashi could keep up. Still, I could tell she pushed her body as far as it would allow in an attempt to reach him as soon as possible.

She truly cared about Yu.

When we reached the room he was trapped in, it was already completely empty; luckily, no one was there. They probably assumed that since Yu was asleep, there was no way he would try to escape.

Mrs. Takahashi rushed to the capsule controls, but they were protected by passwords. Obviously, it wasn’t going to be that easy.

“Damn it!” Mrs. Takahashi cursed, hitting the capsule in frustration.

Without wasting time, she went to check the computers in the room for anything that might help her free Yu, while I tried to break the capsule with several hits and kicks, but it didn’t work.

“Get down! I’m going to try something dangerous.”

Heeding my warning, Mrs. Takahashi hid behind a bookshelf, and once I confirmed she was out of harm’s way, I fired at the capsule’s glass. The bullets shot out with force, their sound echoing across the room, but even though I’d used my rifle—my most powerful weapon—the glass didn’t show a single scratch, and the bullets only ricocheted in different directions. It was incredibly resistant.

“Nothing…” I muttered helplessly.

Mrs. Takahashi returned to the computers to try getting something out of them, and while I was thinking of another way to get Yu out, a strong shiver ran through my whole body; and not only that, but suddenly I began to feel a heavy pressure. It was a familiar feeling, but not a comforting one.

The lights went out, including the emergency alarm, leaving us in complete silence. We would have been in total darkness if the emergency lights hadn’t switched on.

Then, footsteps began sounding down the hallway, growing closer and closer, becoming more audible with each passing moment. The echo they made only made everything more ominous, and by the time we reacted, it was already too late. Standing in front of the room’s exit was him… the Beast King.

His trench coat and mask, dark and blending into the shadows, made it difficult to distinguish his figure, but that unmistakable oppressive presence, along with the bright red eyes of his mask shining vividly in the darkness, left no doubt.

“We meet again, Touka.” he said in an unnervingly calm voice.

Despite having broken into one of the most heavily guarded and protected facilities in the country, he didn’t seem disturbed or even tired. It was almost as if all of this were nothing but an ordinary day for him—something trivial, effortless.

“Bastard!”

This time I didn’t waste a second and fired with my machine guns, but just like the last time we met, he dodged every single bullet and approached me with overwhelming speed, and then—

BAM!

He struck my stomach with such force that it made me fall to my knees from the pain and lack of air. My breathing had become irregular, and every attempt to control it only worsened the agony. There was no way I could stand right now.

“You know, I wanted to thank you. If it weren’t for you, it wouldn’t have been so easy to have… Yu, I think he called himself… at my mercy.”

“You… Ugh… cof!”

“It was a hassle having to change my plans, but it was worth it. The look on your face when you saw the same face as your mentor’s was incredible,” he said cynically. “Although, now that everyone knows the truth, I suppose I don’t need this thing anymore.”

At that moment, the Beast King removed his mask and tossed it behind him, also pulling back his hood. Unlike Yu’s black hair, which had a distinctive white streak, the Beast King’s was long and completely white. Had I seen him before, I certainly wouldn’t have suspected Yu so easily.

“You really… are one of them.”

“Hm?”

Hearing Mrs. Takahashi’s barely audible whisper, the Beast King turned immediately. He was left speechless upon seeing the woman who had created him after so many years, but within seconds, his surprise turned into joy. A twisted smile appeared on his face—one that promised nothing good.

“I’m glad to see you after so many years, Mother,” he said with sarcasm as he approached her.

I tried to get up urgently, afraid he would hurt her, but I could barely stay on my knees. The blow he’d dealt me was truly devastating.

Mrs. Takahashi, trembling before one of her creations—now an international criminal, even a globally discussed figure due to his scale—could only stammer out one question.

“… W-why?”

“And you still ask?” he replied irritably. “You disposed of us, mere clones without a purpose. I’m sure you thought that would cleanse your conscience, make you feel better about yourself, but you never cared what happened to us.”

His voice grew deeper and more irritated with every word as he drew closer and closer to her. Mrs. Takahashi tried to put distance between them, but suddenly he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her with monstrous strength.

“I saw the worst of humanity, wandered without an objective or anything to hold onto… and you still ask why?”

Mrs. Takahashi tried to answer, but the strength of his grip made it impossible. All she could do was struggle uselessly to free herself while gasping for air.

“But it’s fine. After years of wandering without direction, I finally found a purpose. Something only I could do,” he added, now with a more motivated tone. “I decided to cast aside everything tying me to humanity and accept what I truly am: a magical beast. And now, you are the last human bond I have left to sever.”

Hearing those words, I tried to ignore the pain of the blow, and although I managed to get to my feet, I immediately fell after taking one step. I kept trying desperately, over and over, but I couldn’t get up. All I could do was watch.

“M-Mrs…!” I cried with difficulty.

“Goodbye, Mother,” the Beast King said before driving his arm straight through Mrs. Takahashi’s chest.