Mercy and Misfortune

"Uwaaaaaah----------!"

Unable to endure the terrifying agony, the fugitive dropped to his knees and began howling hoarsely. But having fully seen the true extent of his prey's abilities, the young man decided to press his advantage. He drew Blood Blade and charged at the fugitive!

The situation became completely one-sided!

Amid the agony, Goda also noticed Ye Chen approaching. Instinctively, he began wildly swinging his only remaining right arm. The final iron chain thrashed like a dying python, generating powerful gusts that temporarily shielded Goda within.

Yet Ye Chen remained unhurried. He simply stopped just outside the chain's attack range, raised his revolver at Goda's pain-addled head, and fired another shot.

Bang!

The bronze-colored bullet struck Goda squarely in the forehead. Though it could not pierce his skin, it still sent another violent shock through his already dizzy brain.

"Argh!"

Goda groaned in pain, and the chain in his right hand immediately slowed. Taking advantage of that opening, Ye Chen rushed forward with blade and revolver, closing to within three meters of him.

The sharp tip of the blade was about to touch Goda's throat.

"You bastard, I'll kill youuuuuuu----------!"

Feeling an unprecedented crisis of death, Goda could no longer care about anything else. Like a madman, he wildly swung his arm again, lashing the chain faster and more violently than before.

Yet Ye Chen, now unable to retreat beyond the chain's range, remained calm. His eyes coolly observed every movement his prey made before he responded.

He held the long blade horizontally in his left hand and raised the revolver high in his right. Whenever Goda's chain was about to strike him, Ye Chen used his left hand to swing the blade and knock the chain aside.

The instant his left hand completed the motion, his right hand came down and fired at Goda's head. When the chain swung toward him again, Ye Chen raised the pistol in his right hand and continued wielding the blade in his left to parry it.

This fluid style, in which cold steel and firearms complemented each other perfectly, was one of the Hunter close-combat techniques Lyle had taught Ye Chen for many years: the Close-Quarters Blade and Gun Alternating Technique.

Bang! Clang! Bang! Clang! Bang! Clang! Bang! Clang!

The young man's blade continuously blocked the fugitive's whipping attacks, while the young man's gun muzzle relentlessly pounded the fugitive's forehead.

In less than a second, Goda's head was struck by another four bullets. Meanwhile, the chain attacks he desperately unleashed while fighting off unconsciousness were all blocked by Ye Chen's bloodstained blade.

Even though Goda's body had been tempered by Nightmare, the bronze-colored bullets, whose power resembled small pebbles to him, still inflicted severe shock upon his dizzy brain when they struck his head one after another.

The moment Ye Chen saw his prey's mind reach its limit, he gripped Blood Blade in reverse with his left hand. The blade traced a smooth arc through the air, bypassed Goda's chain, and directly sent his last remaining right arm flying.

Slash!

Blood sprayed everywhere as Goda's final chain fell to the ground together with his arm.

At this point, the fugitive had no means of defending himself left.

The outcome was decided. Ye Chen's victory was assured.

Looking back over their entire fight, it had seemed dangerous, but from beginning to end, the fugitive had never landed a direct hit on the young man. Not even once.

Ye Chen had utterly crushed Goda in an almost unscathed state, destroying every means this prey had of resisting.

Everything seemed to be under his control.

And that was exactly what Ye Chen needed.

After all, in a Hunter's world, danger and suspense were the greatest taboos.

A qualified, seasoned Hunter would carry the word "steady" to its absolute extreme!

Thud.

The fugitive Goda, both arms severed, lay on the ground with a despairing expression.

Ye Chen swiftly holstered the empty revolver at his waist, gripped the blade with both hands, and pressed its edge against Goda's heaving throat.

The young man's intent was obvious: he was going to decapitate the prey and complete his hunt.

"Wait... wait." The crippled Goda stared fearfully at the blade hanging above him and muttered in terror.

Ye Chen ignored his voice. Silently, he raised the long blade slightly before bringing it down hard toward his prey.

"My wife!"

However, just before the bloodstained blade could sink into Goda's neck, Goda's sudden outburst made Ye Chen's movement stop instantly.

"My wife... My wife is still waiting for me to come home."

Seeing that Ye Chen had truly stopped, a faint hope immediately appeared on Goda's deathly pale face.

"Please... please spare me. I don't want to make my wife sad."

"If you insist on killing me, then please let me see my wife one last time before I die."

"Because I really want to see her again. The reason I escaped from prison was for her."

Hearing Goda's words, Ye Chen's expression immediately wavered. At that moment, the young man could not help recalling the back of the middle-aged man who had sat in the Prayer Hall of the church and raised him for seventeen full years.

In Ye Chen's eyes, although Lyle rarely showed emotion, seventeen years of care and teaching had made him like a father. If Ye Chen were to die someday, then perhaps, like the fugitive before him, he too would want to see his teacher one last time before dying.

Even just once would be enough.

"It seems you have someone important too, don't you? Then you must understand how I feel. So... please, let me go!"

Seeing hope grow ever greater, Goda quickly began sobbing and pleading, frantically playing every emotional card he could.

But what greeted him in the end was still Ye Chen's blade descending through the falling snow.

Slash.

A flash of cold light, and head parted from body.

Ye Chen's emotions had wavered, but his hunting instincts ultimately overcame his feelings. The blade still severed his prey's neck, bringing this brief hunt to an end.

As heavy snow fell, Ye Chen returned to the Old Church and nervously stepped into the Prayer Hall. His teacher, the middle-aged man named Lyle, was still seated in the front row.

"Teacher, I completed the hunt."

Ye Chen spoke uneasily, his tone containing not the slightest joy or pride in success.

Lyle had his back to Ye Chen and remained silent for a long time.

That deathly silence made Ye Chen's heart grow more and more anxious.

He knew that although he had ultimately taken the prey's head, his hesitation and indecision beforehand... had still angered his teacher.

"Before you left, I told you not to let mercy become your misfortune, didn't I?"

After remaining silent for a long time, Lyle finally asked coldly.

"Yes."

Like a child who had made a mistake before a parent, Ye Chen only dared to answer quietly.

"Then why did you still waver at the end? Did you know that if your opponent had been hiding some trump card you failed to notice, or if another prey had interfered, you might have been the one to die?"

Although Lyle's tone sounded as calm and level as usual, Ye Chen, who had lived with him for seventeen years, could still sense that he was suppressing the anger in his heart. He only dared to continue nodding in fear.

"Did you know that your prey was a lying, vile, utterly worthless scum? No one was waiting for him to come home, because he had destroyed his own home. His wife had already been tortured to death by him before he went to prison."

Ye Chen froze at those words. His face turned utterly grim as regret over his own naivety began to fill him.

By the end, Lyle's voice finally erupted under the force of his anger.

"Did you know that what you just did... could have turned you into the prey!"

The middle-aged man's voice resounded through the cold Prayer Hall, carrying an extreme Oppression that blasted all the rows of benches behind him into splinters. Countless wood chips struck Ye Chen's face.

Although the young man understood that his actions had indeed been wrong, the sight before him still stunned him. In Ye Chen's memory, no matter what serious mistakes he had made in the past, Lyle had never expressed his emotions so openly. Yet this time... was completely different.

Within that burning anger, Ye Chen vaguely sensed something out of place, as though Lyle's feelings contained several other emotions as well.

It seemed like anxiety.

Teacher... what was wrong?

While questioning this in his mind, Ye Chen hurriedly lowered his head and apologized. After losing control, Lyle fell silent once more. After a very, very long time, he spoke again.

"Forget it. Remember this: do not make this mistake again. I'll say it once more—do not let mercy become your misfortune."

The young man nodded desperately, his face full of remorse.

"For now, I'll consider you qualified for the first trial. The sun has not yet set, so we can proceed directly to the second trial. What do you think? Do you want to rest for today, or finish them both in one go?"

Having regained his composure, Lyle steered the conversation back on track.

Hearing this, Ye Chen unconsciously looked at his hands.

Although he had just fought a dangerous battle with Goda, thanks to correct decisions and decisive actions, Ye Chen had not suffered a direct injury from beginning to end.

If he had to name anything, it was only that when he had repeatedly knocked aside the chains with Blood Blade, the terrifying force had left his wrist somewhat sore and swollen. With only such a minor injury, he could clearly continue the trial.

The young man clenched his open hand into a fist, felt the still-abundant energy within his body, then smiled and confidently answered his teacher:

"I think it would be better to finish them together."