Hunter / The Void

The man turned around, smiled, and waved to the people standing outside the closing door. They smiled back and nodded at him.

"Clatter".

The door closed gently.

Chapter Seventy-Three: The Hunter

"Drop--"

The phone that Lin had bought in advance to contact Himeko rang. Lin picked it up to contact her and ask about Otto's situation.

"Human beings."

Yue suddenly strode forward, startling Theresa and also drawing Lin's attention, who had already answered the phone.

Himeko's urgent voice rang out from the loudspeaker. "It's coming!"

What's coming?

The moon's cold whisper also rang out:

"Something is coming."

Just then, a sound of "shattering" from the depths of broken memories came from above.

Something is coming.

Lin also felt it; that twisted, strange feeling reached its peak at this moment, and a sense of danger, originating from the entire world or from outside of this world, swept over his whole body.

My whole body was being pricked by needles, causing pain to my skin.

"Click".

"Bang!"

This was so sudden.

It's like a bottle of soda that's been shaken violently, and then the cap is suddenly opened, causing a large amount of gas and liquid to gush out.

He suddenly looked up, and a crack that stretched across the entire sky appeared, shattering with a deafening roar before anyone could even look up!

"Howl!"

In the sky reflected in gray and black pupils, like flowing, viscous blood, howling aliens emerged from the cracks and descended from the sky.

A chill ran straight up to the top of my head.

The Hunter.

The Quantum Sea is home to countless unknown creatures. Some, like the crew of the Hyperion, can move using special abilities or vehicles, while others... are entirely "native natives" of the Quantum Sea.

Calling them natives isn't entirely accurate. They likely fell into the Quantum Sea from the World Bubble or the Complete World for various reasons, and were then corrupted by the unique energy and Honkai Energy of the Quantum Sea, eventually becoming monsters that specifically hunt the Quantum Sea and the World Bubble.

In other words, Hunter.

Deeper within the Quantum Sea lies something even more indescribable... but the most representative of these superficial "calamities" is the Hunter.

Why did the Hunter enter this World Bubble at this time? There was no Hunter in the previous loops.

But the answer to this question is almost instantaneous, requiring little thought.

Because the Hunter come from outside the World Bubble, they are not affected by the rules and anomalies within the World Bubble before they enter it.

But... at this time... is it a coincidence?

He had no time to think further. The bizarre Hunter had already landed on the rooftops of buildings or on the streets, roaring as they began to attack humans!

"Roar!"

Lin rushed out without saying a word, followed closely by Yue. Kallen and Theresa exchanged a glance, both seeing the surprise in each other's eyes. They didn't know what kind of monsters these were, but judging from Lin's expression, he wouldn't stand idly by.

"Bang!"

Lin grabbed one of the Hunter' blades, which was about to pierce the man lying on the ground; his left eye gleamed with an iridescent light.

"Inch-force - Opening the Heavens".

"Bang!"

With a single punch, Lin smashed the Hunter's head open and turned to charge at the next monster without hesitation. At the same time, in the distant sky, the Valkyrie forces of Schicksal had also set out and were engaged in the first round of combat with the Hunter.

Yue's petite figure moved among the monsters, her bare hands making her as deadly as those armed Valkyrie. She expressionlessly turned every Hunter in her path into mincemeat.

What these things are is unimportant; what matters is that Lin is attacking them, and since they are not human, he can act with impunity...

"Ugh! Mom... Dad..."

Suddenly, she jolted and turned to look at a corner not far away, surrounded by three mantis-like Hunter.

Before they could act, Yue raised her hand, Honkai Energy transformed into a tangible beam of light, slicing them in half from the center of their bodies. Strange purple-blue blood spurted out from the half of their bodies that were still standing on the ground!

She stepped onto the car roof and leaped lightly to the corner, where she stared blankly at the scene before her.

The little girl I just saw in the dessert shop is now wailing inconsolably in front of two mangled corpses with their eyes open.

"Hey, you..."

"Mom... Dad..."

The little girl didn't notice the moon, and perhaps she didn't notice the three monsters from before either. She simply lay on the bodies of the two people who had once gently comforted her, mixing her tears with her blood.

Childhood innocence is gone forever.

Yue noticed the two corpses and, at the last moment, shielded the little girl from the fatal attack.

Why...

The moon is incomprehensible.

Just like when Himeko pushed Hayashi away and was killed by her, it was something she couldn't understand.

Asphyxia.

It's heartbreaking.

This time, even though she wasn't the one who killed anyone, she felt something even more terrifying...

The little girl's appearance gradually became her own in her eyes.

The image of the little girl holding hands with her parents and smiling as they walked out of the dessert shop lingers in my mind.

"Howl!"

A Hunter leaped from the rooftop and pounced on the silver-haired girl who was looking down without flinching, its foul-smelling mandibles ready to crush her head.

"Bang!"

But it crashed into a transparent wall, and the girl silently raised her head, looking at the howling monster that was less than a few centimeters away from her.

Distortion.

Ugly.

Ferocious.

It has no consciousness whatsoever; all it possesses is the most basic instinct—the instinct to slaughter all living beings.

I am different from them, right?

Unlike these lowly monsters, she killed for...

It is for...

"..."

The girl lowered her head and looked at her clean, white hands.

Suddenly, the image of Lin's blood staining his own palm reappeared.

The girl is filled with fear.

Her hands were trembling.

She realized something.

She was no different from these monsters in essence.

"Forest!"

A giant sword slammed the Hunter next to Lin into the ground, and then a lithe crimson figure appeared beside Lin, wearing simple combat armor. He drew the giant sword and cut the two monsters that attacked again in half with one stroke!

While fighting back, Himeko solemnly addressed Lin, who had shattered the Hunter's core, saying, "What exactly is going on? Otto suddenly told me that monsters are going to attack this world. Is this the Honkai? Why is it different from the last time?"

"This isn't Honkai." Lin pulled his bloodied hand out of the monster's body and said with a chilling look in his eyes, "But it might be more troublesome than Honkai."

Chapter Seventy-Four: Emptiness

The cracks overhead were sending down wave after wave of endless monsters. These Hunter of the Quantum Sea, in that ocean where there was no concept of time and space, were monsters born purely for destruction, with neither reproductive nor survival issues. So unless a way was found to stop their attack, they would not stop even if they filled the entire World Bubble!

Lin Fei grabbed the wing of the Hunter that was trying to fly away, slammed it heavily to the ground, and pulled it by the wing roots with both hands!

"Sizzle!"

He ripped a pair of deformed wings off the monster's body, skin and flesh still attached, then gathered his Honkai Energy and crushed the Hunter's head with a single stomp!

"Bang!"

Leaving the limp, dead monster behind, Lin rushed toward the next Hunter was about to attack the crowd.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two gunshots rang out in quick succession from not far away, and the transparent and light blue monster beside him fell to the ground. Two figures running at top speed among the monsters were also rapidly approaching.

"Lin, what exactly is going on?" Kallen stood shoulder to shoulder with him as they fought the enemy. She saw the shocking scars in the city, the endless stream of monsters, and the apocalyptic cracks that stretched across the entire sky and were still widening.

What exactly is going on?

"An emergency." With Theresa and Kallen's help, Lin's pressure lessened considerably. He leaned on his knees and took a breath, his cold gaze sweeping over the crack in the sky that had opened up space.

He actually wanted to know what exactly happened.

What is it about this World Bubble that attracts Hunter to come here?

Moreover, such channels should only be easily opened when the World Bubble has completely decayed.

As the rift widens, the Hunter of the Quantum Sea will no longer be confined to Canghai City, but will descend upon the entire world.

With the arrival of the Schicksal Transporter, squads of Valkyrie joined the defense of Canghai City. The disaster only temporarily ended when the last Hunter in the rift was killed amidst the devastation of the city at sunrise and sunset.

"Human, are you... alright?"

Theresa looked hesitantly at the man leaning against the wall, leaving a trail of blood. His black eyes, still bearing color beneath his black hair, were exhausted, and his entire body was covered in wounds.

"Fine..."

Lin's soul seemed to have left his body. He collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted, staring blankly at the crack in the sky that had doubled in size, before looking down at his surroundings.

This place is like the hell described in mythology.

Monster and human corpses were mixed together indistinguishable, and blood of various colors painted the broken walls and ruins with a hideous array of colors. Not even carrion birds lingered there, making it look like a dead city.

No, this city, which was full of laughter and joy just a few hours ago, is now a dead city, deathly silent and still, where no life can survive.

Is it over?

Fresh blood.

Theresa desperately craved blood; it was her sustenance and her instinct. But now, faced with blood that could almost submerge her feet, she had no appetite whatsoever.

Nausea.

For the first time, seeing these bright red things made her want to vomit.

"No." Lin's answer startled her. He leaned against the wall, stumbled, and slowly stood up. "It's just the beginning."

Once the passage is opened, Hunter will relentlessly attack until the World Bubble is completely destroyed.

"Bang!"

A sharp pain in Lin's head caused him to lose his balance and fall to the ground again. Theresa rushed over and helped him up. "Are you really alright? You're so badly injured..."

"..."

Lin turned his head and saw Theresa's worried expression. To her, Lin was just someone she had just met, but she could vaguely sense the connection between them.