An immense quantity of Mana Material had manifested into something worthy of the White Wolf's Den.
Consciousness awakens. The brain immediately begins processing thought. The self is established.
The first thing felt was not resentment, but exhilaration.
Eyes that pierce through darkness. Ears that pick apart distant echoes with precision.
The senses, now activated, flood the brain with vast quantities of information. The power filling every inch of the body is understood. And so is the way to use the sword hanging at that waist.
If one had to draw a comparison, it was the king of Silver Moon. The thing that existed at the end of countless grievances and ideals.
The appearance resembled the person who had copied it, but its very nature was fundamentally different from a human's.
The human skull covering the face was still proof of being a wolf. Yet in truth, it was closer to a human than a beast.
The vast Mana Material accumulated in the White Wolf's Den was reconstructing what had originally existed — the Phantom known as Red Moon — into a far higher being.
Countless silver wolf knights, possessing wisdom and wielding weapons with mastery, were born.
They were vassals. Elite knights who served the boss of the pack.
Silver Moon, which had perished leaving behind nothing but grudges and curses, had now — more than ten years after its death — finally reached the form it was always meant to take.
Originally, with this much power, the magical beast known as Silver Moon would never have been wiped out.
There had been power. The five Hunters who had invaded were far more capable than the Hunters who had once hunted Silver Moon out of greed, but they were no match.
Even the giant wielding the spear — the strongest among them — was no formidable opponent against a pack united under the boss's command.
The spear strike held enough force to pierce through heavy armor, but it meant nothing if it didn't land.
Strength, agility, technique, and even intelligence — the boss now surpassed everything the Hunters, the humans, had to offer.
Unlike the other wolves, the boss held no grudges. Only exhilaration.
The sight of foolish Hunters prostrating before its power, thrashing about in vain even as they realized they were outmatched, the moment hope crumbled from their expressions and gave way to despair — all of it was absurd, and irresistibly entertaining.
So entertaining, in fact, that the boss let the Hunters who fled in directions with no exit slip right past.
The White Wolf's Den was a hunting ground.
For the pitiful prey that stumbled into the den, death was all that awaited. Not a single one could escape the boss's blade.
The boss would give death to the foolish invaders who defiled its stronghold. Corner them. Give them hope. Then crush that hope into despair. The sight of Hunters writhing in agony would surely relieve the boss and its companions of their boredom.
In the long run, it should probably think about expanding the den as well, but that could wait until more companions joined.
It was just as the boss was considering whether to go after the Hunters it had let slip that it heard a roar from a companion — close to a scream — from beyond its hearing.
And then, it encountered them.
The Mourning Specter, grinning from ear to ear.
§ § § If one had to draw a comparison, it was — wind.
Shadow. Thunder. Fire. Or perhaps, a storm.
"...Huh?"
Gilbert let out a vacant sound.
He had absolutely not blinked. Without the slightest warning, the boss was sent flying.
By the time its body bounced off the ground with a dull thud, the Grinning Skull was already standing right in front of me.
"Wha—"
Rudolf, who had been standing beside her, eyes stretched to their limit, stared at the Grinning Skull that had appeared point-blank.
The base of the long spear in his hands clattered against the ground. Not so much a glare as a blank, shell-shocked gaze — the look of someone who simply could not comprehend the situation.
Before the battle-hardened Hunter could so much as move a finger, the Grinning Skull spoke.
From beneath the mask came a muffled, yet slightly high-pitched and oddly cute voice.
"Just checking, since you never know — Klye-chan?"
Tinno, clinging to my arm, tried to hide behind me.
The Grinning Skull didn't so much as glance at her.
"That thing... might be our new member, by any chance?"
A voice devoid of tension. Seeing her behave exactly as always, I felt inexplicably reassured.
The boss, sent flying all the way to the far wall, rose to one knee and stood. Its eyes locked onto the Grinning Skull, who had turned her back to it.
I don't recall knowing anyone this dangerous... well, actually, I do know someone even more dangerous.
Everyone except Tinno was frozen in fear at the Grinning Skull's continued talking. No — Tinno was the most terrified of all.
I forced my stiffening face into motion and managed a smile.
"She's not. Also, could you take off the mask?"
"Yeah, you're right. Oh thank goodness. I mean, I thought it probably wasn't Liliz-chan, but she was wearing a similar mask, you know? Oh, this fell on the ground. It's yours, right, Klye-chan?"
Ah, this one's really sharp.
Liliz held out the Star of Silence. Her voice had that slightly sweet quality to it.
Whenever she used her own name as a first-person pronoun, it was a signal that she was furious.
And then, with a deliberately theatrical gesture, that hand touched the mask and removed the thing that had completely concealed her features.
Nobody could move. Gregg, Gilbert, and the rest — even the boss, whose back she was facing — could do nothing but watch.
Long pink-blonde hair, worn loose, undulated in waves.
Flushed skin. Small lips. A straight nose. And above all, those radiant pale-pink eyes.
A delicate, pretty appearance — yet there was a dangerous quality about her, as if she might explode at any moment.
Luda swallowed hard.
"A... a hu... man? Wh... what?"
"That's impossi—"
Gregg took an involuntary step back, overwhelmed.
At that moment, Liliz turned her gaze toward the rest of the party, as if only just noticing they existed.
"What? You mean you don't know about me, Liliz-chan?"
Those eyes blazed with fierce light. Her cheeks twisted into a smile, but those eyes were not smiling.
"And you call yourselves Hunters? With Klye-chan here? Squatters? I can't believe it. In this very Imperial Capital —"
The mask she removed — the Grinning Skull, the party symbol of the Mourning Specter — clattered to the ground.
And then, Liliz addressed the boss, the Hunters, all of them together, with an imperious sneer.
"That there are people who don't know about us — the Mourning Specter."
If one had to draw a comparison, it was — wind.
Shadow. Thunder. Fire. Or perhaps, a storm.
That small body brimmed with the energy of a blazing sun.
Everything about her spoke to the nature of the Hunter known as Liliz Smart, the Peerless Shadow.
So, what is she doing here?
The face, the bearing she had shown — everything about it was the genuine article.
Everyone was struck speechless. Liliz spoke to me, my head full of questions.
"Sorry, Klye-chan."
She did not look sorry in the slightest.
Her small lips trembled, as if suppressing a sob. As if barely holding back a flood of emotion.
She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment, but she would not cry.
"Liliz-chan is so, so sad. I worked so hard, clearing the castle and rushing back, and there was nobody here, and then I heard Klye-chan went to the Treasure Hall with just a handful of people..."
Her voice was breaking apart. Her skin flushed, and her eyes blazed with even greater energy. The air around her was visibly distorting.
It was hot. The heat rising from her body invaded the cold cave air and reached us.
She's revving up. She must be still buzzing from having just cleared the Treasure Hall.
It's well known that high concentrations of Mana Material can make a Hunter's temperament more volatile.
Also, she ran all the way back from the castle? That shouldn't be within running distance. What's going on?
"So sad. So sad. And so—"
And then Liliz spat out the words.
"—embarrassing!!"
Her brows twisted. Her eyes narrowed. Her cheeks, her lips, were drawn tight.
"I believed in you, you know. I thought there had to be some mistake. Surely Klye-chan was just a little worried, but there was no way my, Liliz-chan's, precious disciple..."
"Can't even manage a simple 'garbage disposal'... properly."
Her expression made everyone except Tinno visibly unsettled. Tinno had gone beyond unsettled — she looked like she was about to die.
The chattering of teeth kept reaching me through the palm that gripped my back. It's okay, she's not going to kill you, stop being so dramatic.
"W-wait, what are you—"
"Huh? You, shut up! Can't you see Liliz-chan is apologizing right now?!"
The words burst out of Gilbert just as he was about to speak — and he was embedded into the wall.
A heartbeat later, the heavy sound of armor being pierced reverberated through the cave. The ground shook. The laws of nature were unraveling.
Eyes rolled back, armor caved in, hands twitching in spasms. A noble sacrifice.
Gregg rushed over, helped him up, and splashed a potion on him.
The kid's got guts, sure, but he really ought to check who he's picking a fight with. Liliz-chan's the fastest draw of anyone.
Without so much as glancing at the opponent she had just taken down, Liliz looked at Tinno, who was cowering completely behind me.
"Hey, Tin? What do you think Liliz-chan should do? Hey? Was Liliz-chan's training insufficient? Was it not enough? Was the training not enough? Or was there no talent? Were you slacking off? Not up to par, huh? Your 'hunger' for power? Hey — hey — answer me! You piece of garbage! I never raised a waste like you! Because of you, Liliz-chan is going to be despised! How dare you embarrass me! Die! If you have no motivation, then die! Croak before you ever cause Klye-chan any trouble! Bite off your tongue and die!!!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, big sister. It's all my fault. I'm sorry for causing trouble. It's because I'm weak, I'm sorry, please forgive me."
Tinno apologized like a broken music box as Liliz screamed at her in that menacing voice.
"Don't apologize to Liliz-chan! There are other people you should be apologizing to!"
Everyone was stunned. Even the boss was taken aback.
She tried her best. Tinno really tried her hardest. And Liliz-chan wasn't wrong either. The one at fault was me, for taking on that bizarre request.
But right now, if I said "I'm the one to blame," Liliz would surely turn on Tinno. That was the kind of person she was.
So I pressed a hand on Liliz-chan's shoulder — who looked ready to lash out at any second — and spoke.
"Liliz, Tinno did really well. She defeated a Phantom, and she found the people who became the rescue objective for this request. Yeah, yeah, she did great."
What right do I have to say that?
Everyone here who knew the full context was surely thinking the exact same thing.
But Liliz, who didn't know the circumstances, looked up at me with round eyes. Her tone shifted back to normal as she looked up at me.
"Huh? She did well? Really?"
"Yep, yep. Apparently they all worked together and took down one of those big white ones. That's pretty impressive, honestly."
"...One? Only one? Does she... even deserve... to live?"
I couldn't figure what had struck a nerve. Liliz tilted her head at me in puzzlement, even as I tried to compliment her.
I felt like I was trying to pacify a wild beast.
"She does. I want her to live. And you've gotten really good at holding back too — good job, good job."
"Oh! You think so? I'm amazing, right? I learned how to hold back! Because Klye-chan kept insisting."
Liliz's expression flipped on a dime. Her anger from moments ago vanished, replaced by good spirits.
But she hit him dead on, didn't she? Hold back? Where exactly was the restraint?
Well, the fact that Tinno's alive at all is huge progress. The old Liliz would have killed her without hesitation.
Training patience into a genocide monster — am I a genius or what? Not that I actually did anything.
At the perfect moment, Tinno's feeble voice came through. Years of serving as Liliz's apprentice had not been for nothing.
"I'm sorry for the trouble, Mastaa."
"You've got talent too, Tin. You just lack motivation, effort, and the will to die. Since you're a hundred times weaker than me, you should be training a hundred times harder."
"Yeah, yeah. Sure."
I had no idea what she was saying, but surely between Liliz and Tinno there existed something like master-and-disciple affection — some bond that transcended words.
She was still stomping the ground irritably, but it seemed Liliz's anger had finally subsided.
She was fickle, and you never knew where her triggers were — but at least her moods didn't last long, so that was something.
While they had been at each other, the boss in its full-bone mask hadn't moved a single step.
It simply held its sword at the ready, watching Liliz's every movement with those observant eyes.
Despite having taken a blow from Liliz, it showed no visible damage. Unlike Gilbert, not a single crack had formed in its armor.
Footsteps. From the direction Liliz and the others had come, a new figure emerged.
A massive body that nearly reached the ceiling. It had to duck to fit through the passage, and I recognized it.
A silver-furred wolf knight — the one we had encountered in the boss room. Its weapon was a massive firearm suited to its towering physique.
Originally designed for strafing fire, the heavy weapons wielded by Phantoms drew from an advanced physical civilization that had once flourished in an ancient age. Many of them were things modern civilization could not reproduce, making them a formidable challenge for Hunters even in the best of circumstances.
The boss looked at the Wolf Knight — far larger than itself — and then pointed its chin toward us.
Could it be that the reason it hadn't attacked all this time wasn't merely biding its time — but waiting for reinforcements?
For the boss, the only one it needed to wary of, the only one who could truly be an enemy, was Liliz.
The rest were six half-dead Hunters, one able-bodied but underpowered Hunter, and me — whose only asset was a high certified Level.
And the prestige of a certified Level meant nothing to Monsters or Phantoms.
Without even turning around, Liliz let out a surprised voice.
"Oh? There's still more? Then... Tin, pick one."
"...One... big sis?"
"Don't... disappoint me."
Against a heavy weapon with such overwhelming suppressive fire, the distance between them was roughly ten meters. Far too far. And the boss was right beside her.
One step forward and she'd be riddled with holes. On this narrow path, the enemy wouldn't even need to aim. No matter how skilled Tinno was, dodging was impossible.
"I... I'll cover you. I'll make an opening, no matter what."
The grinding sound of armor scraping together. Rudolf, who had been frozen until now, gripped his shield and stepped to Liliz's side.
The large green-painted shield he raised was chipped in places and covered in fine scratches, but it was as thick as a small wall.
It didn't have the breadth to cover his entire body, but it could block most of the bullets. He seemed reliable. Nice guy, this one.
Liliz glanced at it from the corner of her eye — and her expression fell.
"Ugh... never mind. I've lost interest."
"Wha... what...?"
"I was going to let Tin handle it, but Liliz-chan's tired. I need to cool down. And because of Tin... 'we're' being looked down on... which is so... incredibly... unpleasant — ah, I can't take it anymore."
She picked up the mask. Pressed it to her face, as if hiding the expression that looked close to tears.
Almost simultaneously, gunfire erupted.
The Wolf Knight's enormous weapon — large enough to need both arms to hold. The muzzle flashed, and for an instant, it tore through the gloom.
The target was Liliz — and all of us clustered around her.
But nobody fell.
Liliz opened her outstretched left hand. Bits and pieces of metal clattered to the ground.
They were the fragments of the bullets that had been about to rain down on them — and had simply vanished.
The Wolf Knight turned its weapon toward her, startled.
Satisfied with that reaction, Liliz roared. Ah, she's angry again.
"A puny firearm like that — there's no way it's hitting anything! You trash! Weapons ripped from a physical civilization? We've long since transcended that! Don't you dare underestimate us based on your own pathetic standards! Stop treating me like a joke! Aaaaaaaaaaah!"
A storm of bullets rained down. The narrow cave shook.
Liliz didn't move a single step. And that alone was enough to make the incoming bullets disappear. Spent rounds, stripped of all force, clattered across the ground.
She roared without the slightest shortness of breath.
"This is how you defend against wide-area attacks — like this, and this, and this! Tin! You mean to tell me you struggled against attacks this slow, this low in power?! What have you been watching all this time?! You can do it too, can't you?!"
No way in hell.
Luda had gone deathly pale. Perhaps she could actually see the movements.
I watched Liliz, who was going absolutely wild, with a gentle smile.
I couldn't see it myself, but I knew what she was doing.
Because one of the reasons I had given up on my dream of becoming a Hunter — completely and irreversibly — was seeing her do this.
What Liliz was doing was simple. She was catching bullets — bullets packed with enormous energy — with her bare hands, then discarding them.
I understood the principle, but it was something that had moved beyond concepts like speed.
The very first time she had demonstrated this for me, as if showing off a brand-new toy, the smile on her face was one of my core traumas.
A Treasure Hall that required that kind of monstrous ability — that was simply beyond what an ordinary person like me could follow.
The strafing stopped. She had emptied her clip.
I was mildly curious how the Wolf Knight would fight without ammunition, but it would never get the chance to find out.
Liliz dusted off her hands lightly and looked at the Wolf Knight and the boss.
I couldn't see the expression beneath the mask, but I could more or less guess.
And then — the devastation began.
It was as if the process had been skipped entirely, and only the result was visible.
"Phantoms in armor — you kill them along with the armor! Wearing armor doesn't mean you're tough! Kill them from above! Blow their heads off! Kill them however you like! This is the most fun there is, isn't it?!"
A single step closed the distance. Before the Wolf Knight could ready itself, a kick was unleashed that tore through its thick black armor like a sheet of paper.
The massive body was hurled against the wall, leaving only an impact crater behind before vanishing.
"Swords — grab them! Catch them! Dodge them! Do whatever you want! What's the problem? Tell me!"
Slash after slash was launched at speeds impossible to follow with the naked eye. She dodged every last one by a hair's breadth, then — as her words had promised — caught the afterimage between her fingertips.
The boss tried to retreat, but the blade wouldn't budge.
"You do it with a 'bam'! If you dodge, it doesn't hit! If it hits, you can't dodge! Do it with style! Do it like your life depends on it! Got it? You get it, right? Don't be so complacent with your talent, you idiot! Move faster! Live faster! Tin doesn't have time! Train a hundred times harder than me! The gap is only going to widen, you sloth!"
I couldn't understand half of what she was saying, but the torrent of abuse was too much — Tinno, who had been pressed against my back, finally broke down and started sobbing. Poor thing.
You are absolutely not cut out to be a teacher, Liliz.
"And I was in such a good mood too. Scum!"
As if delivering the final blow, her foot — clad in that boot-shaped Treasure Weapon, the Origin of the Heavens — kicked upward violently into the boss's stomach.
The leg pierced through the armor with ease and plunged into the boss's torso. The body convulsed, and a soundless scream echoed through the cave.
Blood splattered, spattering onto its skull mask. I really should have picked a different symbol...
"Liliz, feeling better?"
"Yeah... a little."
Her voice was calm now, nothing like the tirade from before. Tinno stifled her sobs, as if terrified of upsetting her mood further.
Liliz forcibly wrenched her leg free from the boss. It was probably still alive, but the wound was absolutely fatal. It wouldn't have long.
Now apparently having lost interest, Liliz walked toward me. Her boots were soaked in blood, and her clothes and skin were spattered with it.
Overwhelming power. Utterly thorough violence. The ultimate extreme of talent, with something fundamentally missing from her humanity.
A genocide monster named Liliz Smart — the Peerless Shadow — who I still couldn't believe could function normally in human society.
Luda and the others crumpled to the ground, legs gone weak.
Unbelievable, right? That's our Thief.
Well, calling her a Thief... more like a Bandit, honestly. I always thought so too.
Liliz removed her mask. She brought her blood-stained fingertips to her lips, looked at me alone, and offered a slightly bashful smile.
"Oh, I forgot to say it. I'm home, Klye-chan."
"...Welcome back, Liliz."
Liliz-chan threw herself into my arms, and I held her close.
Her body was scalding hot, as if she had swallowed fire.