In Terra, a Hunter and a Bad Woman

Chapter 38

With Sora joining them, the atmosphere between Maria and Texas noticeably eased.

The heavy silence gradually regained some vitality.

Unfortunately, after chatting for only a while, Sora had to leave first to finish her idol work.

After she left, Maria silently rose to her feet as well.

"So... it's over?"

Texas looked at Maria in surprise.

She still had many things she wanted to say to Maria.

But Maria shook her head.

"The tea party will have to continue later. Right now, we need to deal with something else..."

"Something else...?"

Texas was puzzled, but Maria silently turned to look outside, where the crowds flowed...

Outside, on Lungmen Commercial Street, the dense stream of pedestrians pressed shoulder to shoulder.

She could sense that ever since Sora had arrived, a faint gaze had been watching them.

And when Sora left, that gaze vanished as well.

It put Maria on alert.

As she turned, she quickly locked onto her target.

Several suspicious figures, their faces obscured.

"Is that her?"

Several people muttered as they carefully tailed the Lupo girl with bright yellow hair ahead of them. One of them held a promotional photo in his hand.

The person in the photo was unmistakably Sora!

"It should be her... that's right." Another companion murmured softly. "I heard she's close to Penguin Logistics. Just now, I saw her eating and chatting with someone from Penguin Logistics. If nothing unexpected happened, she should be the target we're looking for."

"If that's the case... is everyone ready?"

The man spoke again, asking in a low voice.

What he received were affirmative answers one after another.

Since they had all gathered here, it meant everyone was prepared.

At this point, there was no way they could back down.

"I'll count to three, then we move together. All right?"

"Yeah!"

Everyone nodded in unison.

Their pounding hearts made them nervous, and quite a few of them felt their whole bodies trembling.

Yet even so, their eyes looked exceptionally crazed.

Clearly, even at this point, they had no intention of turning back.

But before they could truly make their move, two aloof women silently blocked their path.

Without a word of nonsense, without even giving them time to react, Maria decisively kicked one of them unconscious.

A dull thud spread out, quickly drawing the attention of nearby passersby.

They immediately noticed Maria and the others facing off. Some frowned and wanted to step forward to mediate.

But once they saw the face of the man on the ground, fear appeared on their faces, and they hurriedly left the area.

As if they had seen some cursed plaguebearer.

At that moment, Maria also saw the strange crystals on the man's face and slowly frowned.

"You'd better not touch those."

Texas frowned and silently stopped Maria from reaching out to touch them.

Though simple contact wouldn't infect someone with Oripathy, not everyone had the patience to learn that.

Most people simply regarded those suffering from Oripathy as hopeless sources of plague, believing that contact alone could easily infect them.

And Maria's appearance was already so distinctive. If she reached out and touched him, everyone would soon know what had happened here.

Then plenty of people would surely start whispering about Maria behind her back... Texas didn't want Maria to face something like that.

"Is that so?"

Maria neither confirmed nor denied it.

Still, she did listen to Texas and chose not to keep touching him. Instead, she turned to look at the few people still standing.

Her sharp eyes quickly noticed the paper in their hands.

Her decisive nature meant she paid no attention at all to the hostility on their faces. She walked forward and snatched the sheet from one of them.

"As expected... your target... was Sora?"

Maria spoke clearly and calmly.

And from that one sentence, the surrounding people understood what was going on.

"These bastards... these bastards wanted to hurt Miss Sora?"

"Of course. Infected are nothing but animals!"

"Hit him! Hit him!"

In an instant, cries of condemnation surged in from every direction.

Every face was filled with utter disgust.

Quite a few people even picked up whatever they could find and hurled it over.

In only a few moments, those people who had been standing there dumbfounded were beaten bloody.

Several fled in a sorry state, but one failed to escape in time and was surrounded by the remaining crowd.

Though no one dared approach him, the various pieces of trash thrown at him successfully blocked off his escape routes.

"Wait... don't leave me behind!"

The man called out to his companions.

But unfortunately, in the face of such danger, none of them dared turn back and linger.

The clamor was endless.

And now, Maria understood what Sora had meant earlier when she said she had a little popularity, and she also understood what it meant for Infected to struggle to survive.

The man had wanted to attack Sora... Naturally, such a thing would be condemned. Some people were Sora's fans, so it was only natural for them to be angry.

But the crowd's reaction now had clearly exceeded Maria's expectations... In her experience, few things could make unrelated people condemn one person with such unity.

Instinctively, she realized they weren't all condemning the man for trying to ambush Sora.

More of them were simply condemning him because of that so-called Oripathy.

It left Maria silent. Turning her head, she ignored the people around her and silently stared at the pale man before her.

Facing the overwhelming curses and hostility around him, facing the crowd pouring in from every direction and sealing him in completely, and looking up at the sliver of sky blocked out by towering buildings...

The crushing pressure constantly wore away at the sanity of the man who remained.

His breathing became more and more rapid. Blood vessels filled his eyes, and his expression grew increasingly twisted.

Eventually, he gradually stopped blocking the stones and trash thrown by the others. He no longer covered his face with his hands, instead glaring viciously at everyone around him like a beast driven into a corner!

Maria keenly sensed that something was wrong.

She knew that look far too well.

Countless people she had driven into a dead end had worn the same expression.

They wouldn't place their last hope in defense. At the final moment of their lives, they would choose to strike back without hesitation!

To vent their despair through violence.

"Everyone! Get back!"

Maria shouted sharply.

But the crowd was still a beat too slow.

The crazed man's eyes were bloodshot.

With a roar, he charged toward the surrounding crowd.

Scorching light gathered around his body. In an instant, everyone understood what he intended to do.

He was going to blow himself up! He was going to infect everyone here with Oripathy!

In an instant, the people who had just been righteously indignant turned pale with terror and scrambled to flee in every direction.

The crowd scattered, but there were always children who couldn't run fast enough and were caught by him.

Naturally, Maria wouldn't just stand by and watch something like that happen.

Without any hesitation, Maria rushed forward and decisively kicked the man into a nearby shop.

But by then, the flames had already outrun the sound and reached Maria!

There was no time to escape with the girl. Maria immediately wrapped the girl tightly against her body with her coat.

A thunderous boom erupted in an instant. Maria could clearly feel the girl in her arms trembling so hard that she couldn't even cry.

Shockwaves kept surging outward, while shards of glass and all sorts of debris screamed past her ears!

Orange-red flames burst forth, spewing thick black smoke.

A moment later, everything fell silent...

The people nearby who had survived the disaster shakily raised their heads. Many who had been caught in the aftermath wailed where they lay, but more people hadn't lost their conscience. Rather than causing trouble at a time like this, they chose to help others as best they could.

Through Maria's blurred vision, a woman with fluffy hair rushed toward her, her face streaked with tears.

If nothing unexpected happened, she should have been the girl's mother.

Lowering her head, Maria looked at the little girl in her arms, whose eyes were wide and brimming with tears, yet who had forgotten to cry. Maria silently stood up.

"Ma'am, your child..."

"Eva!"

The woman snatched her child from Maria's arms and clutched her treasure tightly, staring at Maria with terror on her face.

She offered no thanks, left no words behind, and didn't even say the most basic thank you. She looked at Maria as though she were a disaster.

Then she left with her child.

Looking around, everyone nearby was watching Maria with hostility.

Not long ago, Maria had still seen several people looking at her with admiration, but now... every gaze was filled with hostility and wariness.

And all of it stemmed from the crystal embedded in Maria's shoulder...

A black Originium Crystal...

Sorry, Lady Maria

Was it because of this...?

Seeing the sharp stone piercing through her shoulder, Maria's expression didn't change. Under the terrified gazes of the crowd, she slowly pulled it out of her body.

The sound of flesh, bone, and stone scraping together was faint, but everyone who heard it felt a chill crawl down their spine.

They simply couldn't imagine someone remaining expressionless through such pain.