Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 114

Hilde went to the administration office in the mid-ranked hunters’ quarters.

The administrative staff handed her a note.

It was a message from lower-ranked hunter Eugene.

Hilde’s heart sank for a moment, but she kept her composure, thanked the staff, and went outside. After hesitating for a while, she checked the note.

The contents were simple.

Just asking if she was doing well these days, if she was working hard, and finally telling her to take her axe to Zepetia.

Hilde carefully folded the note and put it in her pocket.

Though she didn’t show it, she felt immense relief.

“After doing something like that…”

When parting with Eugene, even if caught up in the moment, she had outright confessed to him.

And after boldly telling him to wait, she never imagined he would contact her first wanting to meet.

Back then she was too embarrassed and lacked the courage to meet him so she refused, but thinking about it now, what she did was truly pathetic.

To confess first then refuse when asked to meet….

Hilde had become increasingly sensitive lately due to not only self-loathing, but also guilt and worry about Eugene filling her head.

And today when the note came from Eugene, thankfully there wasn’t the slightest hint that he was disappointed or angry with her.

Rather, he was asking after her well-being and telling her what to do to become stronger, just like before.

Eugene remained the same as ever, then and now.

“Sigh…”

Feeling such immense relief at that fact, Hilde leaned against the wall, slid down, and let out a sigh.

“Really, why did I do something like that…”

Though it was done boldly, it was unforgivable in many ways.

She knew Eugene was deliberately maintaining distance and boundaries with her.

So she pushed a bit forcefully, but looking back now, she had only caused trouble.

That earnest person must surely be troubled and suffering.

She didn’t think Eugene would accept her confession.

Because that’s the kind of person her senior was.

Too earnest and upright, he would have considered their difference in status.

Just as Pieta said.

If it was a noble man and commoner woman, something could be worked out somehow.

Though unsightly and vulgar in form, whether as a concubine or maid, it could be smoothed over somehow.

But the reverse was never forgiven.

Though she thought it unreasonable and unfair, it was an unavoidable reality.

If her senior met such a miserable end because of her confession….

“…I have no choice.”

There were only two paths.

One was for Hilde to give up on Eugene.

Of course, rejected.

The second was for Hilde to build up enough authority to breakthrough such obstacles head-on.

In the end, what needed to be done remained unchanged.

Become strong, stronger and even stronger until reaching higher-ranked hunter.

If a noble obtained the position of higher-ranked hunter, no one would dare interfere carelessly.

So….

“…I’ll go now.”

Hilde returned to her quarters to get her axe and headed to Workshop 3 after a long time.

But there was no response no matter how much she knocked on the workshop door.

When she had gone with Eugene before, there was at least some verbal response.

She considered the possibility that Zepetia was out, but soon shook her head.

The Zepetia that Hilde remembered wasn’t someone who went out.

After waiting a bit longer and knocking one more time, she just opened the door.

Workshop 3 maintained the same gloomy and dim atmosphere as before.

“Excuse me. Ms. Zepetia, are you here?”

But there was no answer from Zepetia.

She wondered if she was really out, but that couldn’t be.

Zepetia was an extremely timid and introverted person.

She wouldn’t go out alone….

…Unless she went with senior?

If it was Senior Eugene, he might have made time specially to take that pitiful woman outside.

As expected, it would have been better if senior had gone to the neighboring country like Jacob said.

But why did he suddenly return?

Could it be related to why Jacob suddenly stopped writing letters?

“Ms. Zepetia?”

Looking more carefully, she saw Zepetia facing the wall in a corner.

“…No, no, please stop, stop it, go away…”

Zepetia was muttering to herself while looking at the wall.

No, more precisely, she was looking at the giant automaton doll leaning against the wall.

That massive mechanical being was connected to huge containers around it.

Being made of glass or something similar, the contents were clearly visible – brains packed densely in brightly glowing liquid that shone even in this darkness.

At a glance there seemed to be dozens of brains in each container, and there were quite a few such containers.

“This is… what…”

Even so, this went beyond just being strange.

Beyond strange to bizarre, and somehow dangerous looking.

And Zepetia continued muttering while clutching her head.

“No, no, no, get out, get out, get out…”

Hilde placed her hand on Zepetia’s shoulder.

Zepetia trembled violently and slowly turned her head toward Hilde.

Zepetia’s eyes were red.

“…Help me.”

At that moment, there was a creaking sound from the automaton doll leaning against the wall.

The doll’s empty black eyes began glowing red and steam hissed from its joints with a sound like playing a flute.

Then the tubes connecting to the scattered containers shook violently and all the brains inside shriveled up and were sucked into the automaton along with the liquid.

“…Impossible.”

Hilde was momentarily caught off guard by the presence she felt from the automaton.

It was a small opening, but fatal.

“…!?!?”

The automaton swung its massive arm at Hilde.

Hilde hurriedly blocked but, due to that momentary gap, couldn’t properly reinforce her defense with magical power.

Hilde’s body was sent flying and crashed into the wall.

“Ah, aah… no…. Please…”

Zepetia remained collapsed in front of Pinocchio, still unable to move.

The steel plate on Pinocchio’s chest crumpled and split apart like the maw of a steel creature.

A grotesque arm without skin emerged from inside and instantly grabbed Zepetia.

“He-help me! Eugene! Eugene!!”

Zepetia was sucked inside with a scream.

“…Ah.”

Automaton Pinocchio spoke.

Though it originally had no speaking function, the curse power raging wildly in its drive system turned the automaton’s intense ego and thoughts into real language.

That voice was… identical to someone in Hilde’s memory.

“I’m… back…”

“Im-impossible….”

Hilde staggered to her feet.

Her arm that blocked the attack hung limply as if broken, while she used her other arm to prop herself up with the axe like a cane.

“You are… definitely…”

“Y-you….”

Pinocchio turned its head to look at Hilde.

It trembled violently and something sprouted like a small plant seedling from the middle of its face where a nose should be.

“You, you you, youyouyouyou…!?”

“You should… definitely be dead…”

What sprouted where the nose should be writhed and transformed into some kind of being.

Hideous fur, thick forearms, knife-sharp claws.

And above all, a face split in two.

“Iron Hans…!”

“Y-you… witch!!!!”

Pinocchio let out a roar approaching a scream.

Pure hatred surged and shook the space.

The curse within the mechanical heart that spewed toxic steam devoured that hatred and instantly grew to swallow everything.

Reality was being consumed by madness.

Hilde tried to flee outside immediately.

But it was too late.

Pinocchio’s curse began swallowing beyond Workshop 3 to consume the entire Development Department.

“Wh-what is this…?!”

“Run! Everyone according to the manual…!”

“It’s not complete yet…!”

Not just the craftsmen but all staff were swallowed by the curse.

All machines and weapons gathered toward Pinocchio and merged into one mass.

Before anyone noticed, Pinocchio had become a giant and stood up.

“What is that?!”

“Wh-what should we do?!”

Everyone at the Order headquarters who saw that sight, including the guards outside, cried out in panic.

“Wi…”

Pinocchio, now somehow taller than the Order’s highest tower, opened its mouth.

“Witch!!!!!”

Behemoth Pinocchio had descended upon the heart of the Order headquarters.

There were almost no precedents for this situation, and no hunters who could respond immediately were present at this moment.

Except for one.

“Get Sir Crowty here immediately! You there go to the lower-ranked hunters’ administration, and you to the office!”

Though only a lower-ranked hunter, one bearing the 8th-rank insignia proving him a veteran of reversals began commanding the nearby 9th-rank hunters.

“The rest of you patrol the surroundings to check for injuries! This is an emergency! Everyone else stay alert and surround the Beast!”

“Y-yes sir!”

As a commander emerged, the chaos at the scene gradually began subsiding.

“Ah, uh… f-first…”

A lower-ranked hunter who still looked quite young raised his trembling hands to aim his rifle at Pinocchio.

The moment his finger was about to enter the trigger guard, Eugene who had been commanding the scene darted over like lightning and grabbed the barrel, lifting it upward.

“Don’t provoke it carelessly! Wait until a higher-ranked hunter arrives!”

“Eek, y-yes sir…!”

When Eugene glared at him with blazing eyes, that young hunter froze while gasping.

“Hold position until the Beast moves!”

Eugene shouted loud enough for everyone around to hear.

As he said, after becoming giant and letting out that great roar, Pinocchio hadn’t moved an inch from that spot.

After an eternal-feeling instant where no one moved passed, someone capable of responding to this incident arrived.

“What’s happening?!”

The first to arrive was, of course, Crowty.

His usual tired bureaucrat-like demeanor had completely vanished, and that appearance of being fully armed and razor-sharp truly exuded the presence of a higher-ranked hunter, the Order’s strongest combat force.

At his waist were the twin artifact weapons of higher-ranked hunters – the pistols ‘Marishka’ and ‘Verona’.

Like Sephira’s Robera, their color was beyond pure white approaching bleached, and rather than the common revolver form, they resembled modern semi-automatic pistols.

“8th-rank hunter Eugene. Report the situation.”

Spotting Eugene who had been commanding the scene, Crowty called to him.

“The entire Development Department has been consumed by the Beast. We don’t know if the people inside are dead or alive and haven’t been able to assess specific damages. For now we’ve evacuated all injured outside and surrounded the area with lower-ranked hunters.”

“Hmm, well done. You haven’t attacked yet, I assume?”

“No. The Beast also hasn’t moved since causing the initial disturbance.”

“I see….”

“What’s suddenly happening?!”

“Are we under attack?”

Afterward, nearly 10 higher-ranked hunters including Latina and Runius gathered in one place.

“I’m judging the opponent as a behemoth. We will now begin behemoth hunting. I, 2nd-rank hunter Crowty, will take command.”

They arrived and Crowty properly activated his command authority.

“The target still isn’t moving. Anyone with thoughts speak now.”

“Information first.”

Runius Millith raised his hand first.

“We need to send lower-ranked hunters to probe its reactions.”

His words were perfectly orthodox.

The most important thing in behemoth hunting is information.

The expected role of lower-ranked hunters when facing a behemoth is to be the vanguard gathering that information.

“That’s…”

But while called vanguard in words, they were really just sacrifices.

Whether 10 or 100, lower-ranked hunters had to be sent to their deaths indefinitely until some information was obtained.

Crowty already knew what the most correct judgment for a commander to make in this situation was.

“Not yet…”

Even Crowty needed time to steel himself before sending masses of subordinates on such suicide missions.

“…I’m ready.”

And faster than Crowty could steel himself, a veteran hunter who had already prepared himself stepped forward.