LIGHTNOVELONLINE What on earth is happening?
How did the Hunter get to where we are so quickly?
Even if they received information that we had escaped, this speed is nonsensical.
Could it be that our train, which was operating to catch the Outsider, was spotted by the Hunter?
If that’s the case, the speed makes perfect sense.
…But now is not the time to ponder such things.
The way the Hunter is crouching, glaring at me, is just terrifying.
Was there such a strong desire to catch me?
That burning gaze felt like it was going to engulf me!
No, we just agreed to not know each other anymore!
Why are they suddenly chasing after me like this?!
“Tanton!”
Agartha’s startled voice called my name.
It seemed that even Agartha couldn’t imagine the Hunter arriving here so quickly.
“Hunter, let go of this…!”
“Do you think I’d let go of someone like you?”
What the hell, this crazy bastard!
I haven’t even taken down the Outsider yet!
Because we were so overwhelmed, I couldn’t even speak properly.
Perhaps it was because I didn’t finish the job properly.
Changes began to occur with the Outsider, who was nearly subdued.
Wasn’t the hair that Asti had cut off suddenly growing back in an instant?
“What…!”
By the time I heard the Hunter’s voice, things were already unfolding.
The Outsider’s hair rapidly extended, surrounding us and separating me from the Hunter and the rest of our group.
Did they think that making us scatter a little would put them at an advantage?
“…Outsider.”
Did they ignore the scent I was emitting?
Or were they too distracted by me to notice?
At this moment, the Hunter’s gaze began to burn with a different meaning.
It felt like it was far too late already.
Soon, true to the reason for the encirclement, hair whips began to fly from all directions, striking our bodies.
“Ugh…!”
If it weren’t for the enhanced body given by the Outsiders, I wouldn’t have been able to withstand that shock.
The Hunter seemed to be in the same situation; they flinched and took the hits, and in a fit of rage, drew a dagger, cutting away all the incoming hair.
“Damn it, I’ll kill you right now.”
Maybe that’s why, but the Hunter’s eyes returned to their original state.
Could it be that the hair got cut by the Hunter’s blade?
The sound of the hair resonating and trembling sounded almost like a scream.
I thought I had a chance to attack.
Thud.
“…Huh?”
I felt something wrapping around my waist and when I looked, it was the hair!
Ah.
So that’s how it was.
I wasn’t the only one who got an opportunity to attack.
“Ahhh!”
My entire body was pulled somewhere, and the destination was right in front of the Outsider’s face.
To my eyes, their face, which only seemed like a calm woman, was smiling sweetly.
But the mouth that was widening as if intending to swallow me whole was proof that it was indeed the Outsider.
“Ugh, aaah! Scary! What is this?!”
To think that the Super Coward Mode was hiding such a form, how grotesque must the original be?
Even now, this version seemed quite bizarre to me.
I tried to free myself, but I was already wrapped up, unable to resist properly.
I wanted to spread the Dragon’s wings, but they wouldn’t even think of coming out from the shoulder blades.
“…Why did it have to end at this timing…!”
Without being able to resist at all, half of my body was now entering the Outsider’s mouth.
But could it be that they too cannot handle taking me out?
I felt pressure on my body, but it wasn’t painful.
It felt exactly like being stuck against a wall.
Of course, there was another problem.
…The clothing inside, excluding the doll mask, was gradually starting to melt away.
The soft yet firm texture of the doll mask was proof of that.
“Ugh, this feels gross.”
I exerted all my effort to escape, but in my current state without using the Outsider’s power, I was just a little stronger than an average human.
While I had become somewhat stronger due to the Interrogator’s powers, it hadn’t been long enough to invoke any dramatic changes.
How long do I have to be like this?
Was the Super Coward Mode diligently doing its job, or did the insides that should have been disgustingly vile look bright and soft?
However, isn’t it possible to loathe something once you know the actual truth, even if it looks this way?
While I was feeling my head getting fuzzy.
“…Don’t move.”
The Hunter’s voice reached my ears.
I could faintly hear the sound of a gun being loaded, indicating they were preparing to attack with a shotgun.
Could they really be planning to shoot me too?
No way?
Am I really going to die like this?
I worried, but on the flip side, I couldn’t figure out what I could do in this situation.
I had to trust.
That the Hunter was thinking about our past and would try to save me.
The feeling that there was no intent to harm me shown in their gaze had to be genuine.
As I thought this, I realized that the sound of the whip was getting closer, meaning the Hunter was approaching.
As I heard their footsteps close by.
Bang! Bang!
Two gunshots echoed out, and I could see the Outsider’s body burst from the inside.
And the liquid began surging towards my face like a tsunami.
“Uh, uhhhhh?!”
Of course, stuck firmly in the Outsider’s mouth, I had no way to dodge.
I got hit square on by the liquid and was flung outside.
And as I bounced out, the Hunter, who had been near the Outsider, couldn’t avoid being hit by the liquid either.
Thud!
As I hit the ground and got up, I saw the Hunter drenched in that liquid.
The damp liquid began flowing down over the Hunter’s clothes.
“…!”
The Hunter displayed a look of surprise, but the already soaked liquid began eating through their clothes.
If there’s any small consolation, it’s that I was here with just men.
If Asti or Agartha were here, it would have been quite a sight.
While I was too tense to forget that this was a prime opportunity to see the Hunter’s face, I was still on high alert.
Then the moment the Hunter’s clothes started to dissolve, revealing their form.
“…Crazy.”
Seeing that, I could utter no other words.
Because.
“….”
Where I had expected a firm chest, there was unexpected fullness instead.
And the physique I had anticipated to be rugged had a cinched waist and curves where they needed to be.
Such characteristics belonged to a woman.
Wait a minute.
Am I seeing this correctly?
Could this be another effect of the Outsider’s infection?
Or could it be.
Was the Hunter, the “Kill the Outsider” man, actually a woman right now?
Was what I joked about becoming a reality?
But it had to be true since the reality before my eyes couldn’t be mistaken.
Was the Hunter feeling shy?
They were looking at me with flushed cheeks, a face that, until now, had never been revealed—thought to be masculine, yet with a harmonious face and cold eyes, appearing like a beautiful woman.
“Uh… so.”
I felt like I had to say something, and while my mind was racing to find words, the Hunter suddenly lunged at me and pinned me down.
“Ugh!”
Realizing that they were a woman made me acutely aware of how monstrous the Hunter truly was.
How could someone with such a flawless body possess such strength?
As I thought about it, my eyes caught the smooth movement of two soft curves.
In a situation so incompatible, I couldn’t help but redden and swallow hard.
P-please control yourself…!
“…So this is how it ends, Leydan Tanton.”
Maybe because of the muffling from the scarf around their mouth, the Hunter’s voice sounded like that of a slightly lower-toned woman.
The outfit they wore and everything that had covered their face had all been devices to hide the fact that they were a woman.
“Well, given the circumstances, I have nothing left to say.”
The Hunter said, while pinning me down, their burdensome gaze fixated on me.
“You kept appearing in my dreams. In that nightmare where you always showed up at the end. The day I vowed never to see you again, your image of comforting me kept haunting me.”
C-comfort?
Wait a minute, could it be.
When I was gathering Nutricha and the Unconscious, was the woman who comforted me the Hunter?
Then all the clues began to align.
A strangely sensitive personality.
Awkwardness towards physical contact.
And above all, the moment I tried to strike at their chest, they easily overpowered me.
If they were a man, I’d wonder what on earth they were thinking, but as a woman, it was behavior that I could understand.
“And I realized recently just what those tormented feelings were. It seems that I need you. So, I thought that by any means necessary, I have to correct your rotten mindset. I know that even throwing someone into that bizarre space was a misunderstanding. But the more I discover, I must! Change your thoughts.”
A weirdly flushed face.
And the slowly moving body of the Hunter, as if preparing to do something.
All of this made it clear to me what kind of gaze the Hunter was sending me.
And in that moment of realization.
I thought that I had to somehow escape right now.
TN: No way! I read a comment from someone here saying that the true identity of Hunter is Nutricha. I thought it was ridiculous, but…