The First Hunter

Chapter 39. An Eight-tailed Fox, Part II

Translator: Khan

Editor: RED

3.

Thunder rolled across the land…

The sound awakening the stillness of Aso Mountain began to spread.

The source of the sound was a tank. There were forty-five tanks of Type 90, fifty-five tanks of Type 74, and so a total of a hundred tanks were moving toward Aso Mountain. It was a great thing in many ways.

‘The number of tanks in Japan, which did not need to have a large army in the first place, is not so many, and after the emergence of monsters, the number of tanks in Japan operating properly does not exceed four hundred.’

So, the sight of the tanks moving forward was obviously spectacular.

“Isn’t this enough… to kill the Eight-tailed Fox?”

‘Even if we don’t kill the Eight-tailed Fox, this firepower could give it a fatal blow!’

‘Yes, I was unnecessarily worried. Even it is a monster, it is hopeless in the presence of modern weapons? Nothing to fear!’

It was such a spectacular sight that the hopes of the people who were watching the scene became more intense than their despair. But the man, who was watching the scene with black Eyes like a camera lens, was different.

‘Firepower is powerful, I’m sure.’

The appearance of the tanks in his eyes was not a spectacle.

The word “devastation” that filled his head.

‘I’m sure they will start with a big blow if they’re going to use firepower against a blue-grade monster.’

‘The firepower that a hundred tanks can show is overwhelming. It is also true for monsters. It is Kim Tae-hoon and the Armored Hunting Unit that proved it, more than anyone else.’

‘But it’s not true for the dark blue-grade.’

Kim knew better than anyone else the reason why modern weapons were valid against monsters, and why they are powerful.

‘The fear range is not comparable.’

‘The horror of modern weapons is not the firepower, but the shooting range. It is frightening that the shooting range is a few kilometers or dozens of kilometers; however, missiles can hit the target accurately from hundreds of kilometers away.’

‘Then, how far is the range of the fear used by a dark blue-grade monster?’

The fear range of the blue-grade monster Kim Tae-hoon had confronted was about several kilometers. In the case of a monster with Howling, it was possible to attack with the fear even farther away.

‘At least five kilometers, and if someone is below the D rank of Energy, he is helpless even with the help of any relics and items.’

‘If I keep that in mind, the fear range of the dark blue-grade monster should be at least five kilometers in radius. It is similar to the effective range of the latest tanks.’

‘The scope of activity is even more incomparable.’

‘The bigger problem is that the scope is not fixed. The monster moves with absurd speed, ignoring the law of physics. The fear also moves according to the movement of the monster.’

‘Unless the members of the armored forces are filled with Awakeners above the C rank of Energy, and unless they raise resistance to the fear with relics and items… they are sacrifices.’

At this moment, Kim was able to see why a hundred tanks were gathered there.

The tanks were sacrifices, sacrifices to hold the Eight-tailed Fox for a while.

‘They used a hundred tanks as bait…’

It was a huge offering.

‘If someone said he had to use a hundred tanks as a sacrifice to kill a monster, everyone will say that he is a madman. Apart from the money, the tactical value of a hundred tanks is beyond description. Crucially, a hundred tanks are not something someone can produce in a moment even if he wants to produce more tanks later. It is fatal beyond the level of sacrifice.’

‘They took decisive action.’

However, Kim Tae-hoon was rather admiring of this fact, rather than surprised.

‘A tank is certainly the best bait to kill time against a dark blue-grade monster.’

‘It is impossible not to use bait to hunt a dark blue-grade monster.’

‘Then, what should we use as bait?’

‘It’s hard to use a human being as bait. They are too weak to use as bait. No one hangs a tubifex on the fishing hook to catch a whale. But the tough hard bait is meaningless; someone can’t catch a shark by hanging a diamond on a hook.’

‘A bait is needed to attract the attention of the prey and to make time. In that sense, the tanks have enough power to attract the attention of the prey.’

‘As soon as a hundred guns burst out flames, the moment the shells fall near the Eight-tailed Fox, it will run to the tanks with all its might to tear the tanks apart. Even if it is an Eight-tailed Fox, it will take a lot of time to crush a hundred tanks. Of course, it is not something anyone can do. It is a terrible idea.’

But Kim Tae-hoon was not surprised, and he did not think the man who had made such a judgment was scary. The scary thing was the monster that made this sacrifice natural just by looking at its face.

He heard the roar in the distance.

So, the battle began.

4.

The simultaneous gunfire of a hundred tanks began to shake Aso Mountain, and the pure white Eight-tailed Fox revealed itself.

The monster who showed up was not so big for having dark blue eyes. The length of its body, except for the tails, was about ten meters, and the tails were similar to the length of the body. In total, it was twenty meters. Although it looked bigger because of its bulging tails, it certainly didn’t give them anything overwhelming by its physique.

Of course, it wasn’t a good story. On the contrary, its small body, which did not fit in with its dark blue eyes, made the Eight-tailed Fox a more frightening being.

“Fire!” Guns thundered.

It was not easy to hit a twenty-meter target several kilometers away. And what if the twenty-meter target could run up to two hundred kilometers per hour in some situations?

“Fire! Fire with aim!” Cannons roared.

‘Fuck, how can I hit that?’

In fact, firepower was meaningless. Even he was happy to recognize the fact. The distance between the Eight-tailed Fox and the Tank Unit was greatly reduced with each blink of an eye, and every time the distance was reduced, the soldiers’ rationality of the Tank Unit began to drop with terror.

“Ugh!” In the end, there were a lot of people who died of drowsiness or heart attacks. Unable to release the fear, it just led to death with its presence. That’s what happened two minutes after the battle began with the gunfire of the tanks. Even that horror was just the beginning, not the end.

Bang! The tanks around the Eight-tailed Fox to turn over with a loud noise.

Telekinesis! The Telekinesis of the Eight-tailed Fox, beyond the expression of being strong and startling, began to turn tanks into dead frogs. Toward the overturned tanks, it showed a beastly appearance that meant it had succeeded in hunting.

Kkiiii!

The golden claws and teeth of the Eight-tailed Fox began to tear the metal of the tanks like paper, just like a beast ripped open a bat’s skin and eating the flesh and intestines in it. It was the meal time of the ferocious beast that no one should interfere with.

Tutututu! It was the sound of dozens of helicopters that interfered with the meal time of the predation. All the helicopters that appeared and surrounded the Eight-tailed Fox had Torii, used at the doors of a Japanese shrine, hanging beneath them.

The helicopters began planting the Torii around the Eight-tailed Fox. Their number was forty-eight!

“Put Mana into the Torii!”

The Awakeners clung to the forty-eight Torii. They shivered like aspen leaves, touched the legs of the Torii, and began to inject their Mana.

The Torii began to shoot out various light pillars with strange cries and sounds.

Gyareureureu!

For the first time, a cry came from the mouth of the Eight-tailed Fox because of the light pillars. The dark blue eyes of the Eight-tailed Fox flashed sharply. It shone its eyes toward the Torii surrounding it, and the plants and stones that had been crushed and scattered around the Eight-tailed Fox began to rise up as if they were in zero gravity.

The Eight-tailed Fox was going to shatter the Torii, which were getting on its nerves, using the powerful Telekinesis that even overturned the tanks.

Kkii, Kkii, Kkii! But the Torii did not easily break down, even though they were making an eerie sound that seemed to die right away.

Gyareureureu…! There was no difference, even though snarls came out between the tight golden teeth of the Eight-tailed Fox. It was not just about the power of the Torii.

“Hoo! Hoo!”

“Hoo, hoo!”

It was because of the Golden Altar of the Konjikido that appeared on a palanquin carried by four men. It was the moment when what was considered a precious treasure that people were not allowed to photograph, the first national treasure of Japan, and it was the moment when it left the temple of Chuson-ji and showed its appearance to the world for the first time in the last ten centuries.

Gyareureureu!

The effect of the relic was certain. The great Telekinesis of the Eight-tailed Fox began to lose its power. But that was it.

‘Not enough.’ Kim Tae-hoon, who just watched the battlefield quietly, began to gauge the battlefield again at this moment.

‘They only weakened its Telekinesis. The Eight-tailed Fox is an overwhelming monster without its torrent of Telekinesis.’

It could weaken the Eight-tailed Fox, but the teeth and claws that had been used to ravage the armor of the tanks were still there.

‘This will only make the Eight-tailed Fox angrier.’

Krr!

Above all, in exchange for weakening the Telekinesis of the Eight-tailed Fox, they had to face its anger. In the dark blue eyes of the Eight-tailed Fox, a powerful murderous spirit that could not be compared to before was now visible.

‘Its view narrows as angry as it is.’

At the same time, the Eight-tailed Fox had to pay the same price as the moment it released its anger and murderous spirit.

So, Kim was able to see the card that Japan presented against the Eight-tailed Fox next.

‘Now is the chance to hold the Eight-tailed Fox and try a close-up fight, when its vision is narrowed.’

As if to respond to Kim’s expectations, a group of warriors began to rush toward the angry Eight-tailed Fox.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

It was the Samurai who started the race. There was no sign of fear in their eyes as they threw themselves into the fear of the Eight-tailed Fox, their hearts skipping, and even breathless. But it was not because they had great courage.

“We don’t have much time!”

“I’ll take the left!”

“Then I’m on the right!”

Kamikaze.

It was possible because they got the power beyond their ability for a while in return for being like a mayfly. Their purpose was to put the Seven-Branched Sword into it.

‘They’ll try to put in the Seven-Branched Sword.’

‘As soon as the Seven-Branched Sword is stuck into the body of the Eight-tailed Fox, weakened by the Golden Altar of the Konjikido and forty-eight Torii, the Eight-tailed Fox is virtually a blue-grade monster. Of course, it is still an absurd monster that we are not allowed to fight against.’

‘Musashi will appear then.’

But Musashi was different.

He and his Sword Kusanagi could execute a fatal attack on the Eight-tailed Fox after it had weakened to a blue-grade level. He didn’t have to attack many times, anyway. The Kusanagi was not a long-term weapon. Musashi could attack with the Kusanagi three times at the most. And three times was too many. It was ideal to finish it with a single blow when hunting.

‘A blow.’

Because of this, Musashi would try to kill the Eight-tailed Fox with only one attack.

‘If he hits the head of the Eight-tailed Fox with a blow…’

‘That’s the reason for failure.’

Kim Tae-hoon was able to figure out here why they failed to hunt the Eight-tailed Fox after such preparation, determination, and sacrifice. At the moment he grasped the fact, he was no longer an audience.

5.

A hundred tanks were used as bait. The number of Awakeners used was five thousand five hundred and forty-nine. And so far, the number of Samurai put into Kamikaze was forty-seven.

“Hoo!”

The face of Musashi, a battlefield in front of him which would inevitably result in a costly victory, was more peaceful than ever. It was not a pretense.

‘The time has come.’ He felt more serenity than ever. There was only one reason.

‘Now it was time for me to be the sun that will illuminate Kyushu. By killing the Eight-tailed Fox, the Kyushu region will be also filled with the same tranquility as Tokyo.’ That scene was glimmering in the eyes of Musashi.

Simply put, Musashi was already sure. It was not just anyone who could kill the Eight-tailed Fox, but God’s wish in heaven.

‘Man proposes, God disposes.’ He prepared everything and even heaven wanted to do this, so he did not have any reason to doubt he would fail, rather than look for the reason for failing.

“Lord!”

And the time had come.

“The Seven-Branched Sword is put in!”

The moment he heard it, Musashi opened his eyes.

6.

The Eight-tailed Fox was still powerful. No matter how great the relics were, they were still just garbage in front of its claws and teeth. In fact, no one had even been able to counter the Eight-tailed Fox after it was weakened by the Golden Altar and the Torii.

It was simply a fight between a fox and mice. All the mice could do was run as hard as possible and attract the attention of the fox. That was what the samurai who became Kamikaze were doing. They tried to do their best to irritate the Eight-tailed Fox and attract its attention. They made the Eight-tailed Fox obsessed with catching the mice.

Kyaang!

And when the Eight-tailed Fox began to get angry beyond the level of mouse-catching, when everything was focused on it, a samurai leaped up and fell on its body. In the hands of the falling samurai, was the Seven-Branched Sword with the seven sword tips. One of those seven tips stuck into its body.

The depth was not deep, just of two joints of a finger; it was a scratch, compared to a person.

Kr!

But when Seven-Branched Sword was stuck in its body, the Eight-tailed Fox felt that this attack was more powerful and dangerous than any attack it had ever received. The dark blue eyes of the Eight-tailed Fox, which felt the fact, shone ferociously.

At the same time, translucent beads appeared at the end of its eight tails. The translucent beads that appeared began to sweep around it at a tremendous rate. The telekinetic beads that showed up began to hit everything around it.

Boom! The power was enormous. They were like wrecking balls used to break down buildings, the power to make hard concrete and rebar lumps into cookie crumbs at once.

“Keuaak!”

Of course, the power was enough to make a human body into meatloaf. It was done in an instant. The samurai, who were bustling around the Eight-tailed Fox like mice, flew hundreds of meters away from it and became meatloaf.

Pook! At that moment, the Seven-Branched Sword stuck in the back of the Eight-tailed Fox drove in on its own. The second tip of the sword was stuck into it. In other words, the Seven-Branched Sword was deeply set in now, deep enough that its depth could not be measured with finger joints now!

Keheng!

A painful cry came out of the Eight-tailed Fox’s mouth, and at the same time, it began to shake its body to relieve the pain.

It was just an instant, of course. At that moment, a black man appeared near the Eight-tailed Fox.

Tsreung! The sound of pulling a Sword from its scabbard sounded as soon as he appeared.

Poowhat! It emitted a huge light that so intense that it blinded everyone.

Crunch! The light that emerged cut everything apart. The first thing to be cut was the ground. A gap appeared which they could not measure right now.

Then it was the head of the Eight-tailed Fox. There was nothing to interrupt it. There was not even a cutting sound. The light cut down on its head and soared into the sky.

Click! The last sound was the one of the light that had appeared like that entering the sheath.

‘It’s over.’ At that moment, only Musashi was able to feel that all the situation was over. It was a proper intuition.

‘It’s over now.’ He cut its head off. Needless to say, it was perfect. Now its head would fall to the ground, and its body would be spraying blood like a fountain. There could not be any more definite finish. At least to Musashi, no, to all the Japanese, cutting off the head meant death. That was common sense.

But that was the reason for its failure. This world was already beyond common sense.

Boo-woong! It was a moment. As soon as the Eight-tailed Fox’s head was cut off, its telekinetic beads approached the front and back of Musashi, like clapping with both hands to catch a mosquito.

Bang! Two great forces struck Musashi’s body, and his body and armor were crushed in the air by the absurd attack. The third telekinetic bead flew toward the floating body, and the crushed body of Musashi was smashed away like hitting a fly with a fly swatter. All this was done in an eyeblink.

‘Khuck!’ This was done in such a short time that there was no time for Musashi to scream at the blow. Even those who saw it could not understand what was happening now.

Thud! The Eight-tailed Fox’s head, cut off in the midst of all that was happening in a flash, fell to the ground.

A man fell down on top of the Seven-Branched Sword stuck it in the body of the Eight-tailed Fox.

Thunk! The fallen man, wearing Hahoetal, drove all the tips of the Seven-Branched Sword into the Eight-tailed Fox’s body, and its dark blue eyes on the ground grew bigger, like a flash lamp.

‘I can hear it.’

But the man did not stop, because he knew the common sense that had not changed even in this age when all common sense was denied, this time of monsters.

‘I can hear the sound of its heart.’

‘The common sense is that monsters die when their hearts are stabbed.’

And at this moment the man put the common sense into practice.

Tsuneung, Tsuneung, Tsuneung!

The three swords on his back showed up, and three swords were simultaneously stuck into the one place where its eight tails were gathered, its backside.

The attack was not the end of it.

‘Its heart beats.’

The sound of the heart-pounding on his eardrum was still intense, even though three swords had been stabbed into it.

‘More swords.’ It was was a where he needed more swords. The man was not embarrassed by it. There was no reason to panic. Around the Eight-tailed Fox were powerful relics, the Swords used by the samurai.

Swish! Now the Swords moved to the heart at the back of the Eight-tailed Fox, following the orders of their new master.

Kya, kya! As the number of Swords that were inserted increased, the number of shrieks that its severed head yelled out increased, and in the end, it was no longer able to spit out the last shriek.

That was the end of the Eight-tailed Fox hunting.

‘I killed the Eight-tailed Fox.’

But the man’s hunting was not done. ‘Now they have to pay for the burning of the Tripitaka Koreana.’

The body of Kim Tae-hoon was covered with ice thorn armor, and at the same time, a ring of fire was created around him.

Ice Blaster announced the start of a new hunt!