Immersion. (2)
It was too early to draw conclusions. Woojin had only just located the target.
A mutant aberration in human form.
Concealed behind a rock, Woojin observed it carefully. For some reason, the mutant stood motionless in place—like a scarecrow in a field of rye.
Several differences from ordinary abominations stood out immediately. Even judging by its silhouette alone. The ones Woojin had seen so far all had sagging, bloated bodies, as if they might melt into the ground.
But this one was thin.
More precisely—
"…As if it's been forcibly compressed."
It looked as though invisible hands were constantly wringing its entire body. Its flesh twisted like a braided pastry. Perhaps due to that distortion, its head kept twitching restlessly from side to side.
Each time it moved, the iron mask hanging over its face wobbled precariously. It was almost a miracle it hadn't fallen off yet.
"Most likely a Dark Order priest."
Practically certain.
Earlier, Braknark had said that this mutant had been spotted even before the gnoll tribe fled south. That was before the Second Expedition began.
Humanity had only recently set foot in this region. Chronologically speaking, this mutant was not someone who had belonged within the Order Alliance's territory. It must have been a Dark Order priest who had long resided in the Demonic Realm.
And with that iron mask…
There was little reason to doubt the assumption.
"What should I do?"
The deliberation did not last long.
"…Let's kill it first."
There were no other aberrations nearby at the moment. If this mutant truly acted as a commander among them, it would be wise to eliminate it in advance.
Having made up his mind, Woojin moved.
He was deep in enemy territory—causing a major disturbance would be unwise. The plan was simple: assassinate it quickly, seize any spoils, and withdraw.
He approached silently from the mutant's flank. The distance between them steadily shrank.
Crack—
The sudden sound of bone grinding.
Without warning, the mutant's head rotated backward like an owl's. Its rotten, blackened eyes met his.
Immediately, its arm lashed out like a whip. Woojin swiftly raised his machete as a shield.
Claaang!!
The blow was both fast and heavy. Yet more than the force of the strike, Woojin was unsettled by something else.
How did it notice me?
He had approached without a sound, masking even his scent with tree sap. Yet the creature had somehow detected him.
There was no time to ponder. The mutant charged straight at him.
Woojin sidestepped like a matador avoiding a bull. The creature's head followed his movement.
And in that instant, he realized—
…This one can see.
Unlike ordinary aberrations, this mutant's eyes still functioned.
The iron mask had partially obscured the detail earlier. Now he saw clearly—its eyeballs protruded halfway from their sockets, each swiveling independently in different directions.
Its field of vision was abnormally wide.
That was how it had perceived his ambush.
Whoosh—
The mutant lashed out again.
This time, Woojin reached directly toward the attack.
He grabbed the incoming wrist and held it fast, then swung the machete in his other hand. The honed blade sliced across both of the creature's eyes.
"Ghk—Graaaargh—!"
The mutant shrieked wildly, thrashing to break free of Woojin's grip.
He had no intention of letting go—
Pop!!
It felt like a balloon bursting inside his grasp.
Instinctively, Woojin released the wrist. The mutant staggered backward, now free.
Woojin flexed his hand once, thoughtful.
…Did it release the compression in that instant?
The creature's flesh had been twisted and compressed like a tightly wound braid. It seemed to have momentarily undone that distortion, unleashing explosive force—like a drawn bowstring snapping forward.
Crack—!
Both of the mutant's arms twisted violently in opposite directions as they gathered power. The distortion became so extreme that its wrists lost their original shape, sharpening into lance-like points used in jousts.
It leveled both spear-like limbs at Woojin. Its nostrils flared wildly.
Judging by the scent of blood on the machete, it seemed to be gauging his position through smell.
"What an interesting trick."
Distortion.
A mysterious ability he had never seen before.
He would have liked to observe it longer—but multiple presences were approaching from all sides. The surrounding abominations had heard the commotion and were converging.
Observation time was over.
Woojin lunged forward.
The mutant thrust its right arm.
Whirrrrr—!
The sharpened tip spun like a drill as it shot toward him. The attack method was so bizarre that anticipating it was difficult.
Woojin chose the simplest solution.
He met it head-on with a weighted punch.
Boom—!
Something shattered violently.
Naturally, Woojin's fist was unharmed.
The mutant's wrist dangled limply like a broken fan.
But it still had a left arm.
It thrust again.
Of course—
Woojin still had another arm as well.
Slash!!
With the machete in his right hand, he drove the blade straight into the creature's brow. The steel bit deep, splitting its head apart like firewood.
The mutant tilted stiffly and fell.
Dead.
The once-compressed body melted and sagged outward, like a deep-sea fish dragged suddenly to the surface.
"What a revolting sight…"
Muttering to himself, Woojin rummaged through the corpse.
Soon, he spotted the inner core.
He secured it deep within his clothing. Then, swinging the machete like an axe, he struck a nearby tree.
Black sap oozed from the split surface of the tree.
Woojin hurriedly smeared it over his body once more, then climbed up a thick tree nearby.
…Before long, a swarm of abominations gathered and began circling the corpse below.
"If I'd dragged that out any longer, things would've gotten troublesome."
He had heard a rough explanation from Braknark beforehand, but the mutant's ability had been far more dangerous than expected. It made him understand, all over again, why the gnoll tribe had abandoned their territory.
Still, having fought one himself, he now had a feel for it.
"Since I'm already here… I might as well hunt a few more before heading back to the barrier."
That meant going deeper.
Woojin glanced down. The earlier commotion had drawn a large number of abominations to the area.
"Moving on the ground won't be easy."
He would have to travel differently.
Fortunately, the forest was dense. Using both arms and legs like a monkey, Woojin moved freely from tree to tree.
After venturing deeper…
He spotted another mutant aberration similar to the one he had just killed.
Standing atop a tree branch, he looked down at it.
"…It doesn't seem to have noticed me."
The mutant was scanning its surroundings, but it never once thought to look upward.
Woojin drew his machete.
Then he leapt.
A grim shadow of death fell over the mutant.
Slash!
The blade swept cleanly across its neck.
The creature's head separated without a sound. Like trapping a flying soccer ball, Woojin stopped the falling head with the top of his foot before it hit the ground.
Then he kicked it hard.
The head flew into the distance and smashed against a rock, bursting apart. The nearby abominations turned their attention toward the noise.
Meanwhile, Woojin calmly retrieved the inner core.
Two now.
"So this is how I'll hunt."
Having grasped a workable method, he simply repeated it.
Deeper into the forest he went, hunting mutants one by one.
Occasionally, however, he encountered creatures that looked far more troublesome.
"That one's enormous…"
It wasn't humanoid—but it was far larger and more dangerous.
A rhinoceros aberration.
Likely formed from one of the gnolls' war rhinos that had been assimilated.
Woojin crossed his arms, contemplating.
How should he deal with that?
Part of him wanted to charge straight in. But a beast that large wouldn't go down easily. It would cause a massive uproar, drawing every abomination in the forest.
"No need to overreach."
Tempting prey—but better to pass. Losing multiple mutant kills over a single massive one would be inefficient.
So he continued scouring the forest, eliminating mutants that could pose future threats.
And then—
A thought occurred to him.
"I guess I chose to stay here because I wanted to do this from the start."
He had refused to return to the barrier with the delegation.
After coming all the way to the Demonic Realm, it would've been a waste not to hunt at least once.
Time passed as he continued the slaughter.
Eventually, the number of noticeable mutants dwindled. His pockets bulged with collected inner cores. And a considerable amount of time had gone by.
It was time to head back.
"…Maybe I'll take down that one from earlier before I go."
The rhinoceros aberration.
End things properly.
But when Woojin circled through the forest again, the massive creature was nowhere to be seen.
"…Did it leave the forest?"
Unfortunate.
He would have to postpone that hunt.
With that conclusion, Woojin turned back. If he delayed any longer, those he left behind might grow worried.
Though he had endured two exhausting days, the thrill of hunting again made his steps light as he returned.
—
Back at the gnoll barrier—
Woojin found himself facing an unexpected situation.
Braknark, standing beside him, looked visibly shaken.
"Where in the world did you get something like this?"
He gestured toward Woojin's pack.
Inside lay a single inner core—large as a melon.
Woojin scratched his head.
"…It's an abomination's inner core."
"Truly? I've never seen one this large."
"It's not a common sight."
Abomination inner cores had a peculiar trait.
When placed together, they merged—fusing into a single mass.
Woojin had been aware of that.
But he had grown careless while immersed in hunting, and hadn't expected mutant cores to retain that property.
As a result, all the collected cores had fused into one enormous lump.
After hearing the explanation, Braknark grew tense—like someone handling explosives.
"It would be best to burn it. If that thing gains a new body… we may face something uncontrollable."
"…You're right."
It felt wasteful—but no matter how he looked at it, consuming this would be insanity.
Even now, the fused core writhed faintly, as if alive. Like freshly butchered meat still twitching.
Leaving it unattended would invite disaster.
"It needs to be dealt with properly."
Crackle—!
Woojin summoned lightning once more and seared the massive core.
It blackened and charred.
But he didn't stop there.
He stomped on it repeatedly, crushing it underfoot—like stamping out lingering flames.
Soon, only black ash remained.
Braknark exhaled in relief.
"That's a load off our minds."
"I'll be more careful next time."
Woojin replied—
Then suddenly, an ominous thought crossed his mind.
"…No one tried to eat that earlier, right?"
A bad feeling crept over him.
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