The First Hunter Chapter 37

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Chapter 37 – Turf War (4)

 

10.

 

It was an empty lot packed with dirt, ready for a building to be built.

 

Kim Tae Hoon was standing in center of the vacant lot, there were a number of Mek Clan soldiers and a decent amount of awakened hanging around the surrounding area carrying out a mission they were assigned, they were waiting for the right moment to fulfill their mission.

 

‘I just need to pull the trigger.’

 

‘All I have to do is act as I’ve been ordered. It’s not difficult.’

 

While they waited, they went over their commands over a hundred times.

 

All of that was up until the point the demon snake appeared after chasing after the Howl Kim Tae Hoon had given off, the moment when a giant, 20 meter long snake that could swallow a car whole appeared.

 

Ah!

 

They went stiff.

 

Fear, the demon snake had yet to utilize that terrifying ability.

 

Those who laid eyes on the beast would easily imagine their own deaths.

 

Like that, they stiffened.

 

Awoooo!

 

It was the Howling, Kim Tae Hoon had used it once again to help the soldiers come back to their senses.

 

Afterwards, the demon snake snapped its gaze towards Kim Tae Hoon, and the other soldiers began to move.

 

“Water!”

 

“Water!”

 

The first thing to move was a fire truck.

 

Kwa kwa kwa!

 

Two firetrucks shot out strong columns of water into the air, soaking the ground as though it were rain.

 

Kyaaa!

 

The demon snake that was watching Kim Tae Hoon eyed the water nervously.

 

The water falling like rain, especially in this cold weather, was much more irritating and troublesome than the bus had been when it crashed into it.

 

So naturally, the demon snake would try and smash the fire trucks that were spraying water.

 

Seuk!

 

A sword slash swept across the snake’s skin, but it didn’t leave a cut deeper than a finger.

 

The demon snake’s eyes began to move around when it got injured

 

Swik!

 

It saw a sword flying through the air.

 

It defied all laws of physics, and even the birds could not compare to it.

 

Kya! Kya!

 

The demon snake was having trouble dealing with the flying sword.

 

The snake went upright and chased after the sword, but the sword evaded its attacks. The flying sword kept making small wounds on the snake’s body.

 

But there were no deep wounds.

 

Most of the wounds were only as deep as a pinky.

 

The demon snake’s giant body, considering its thick skin and flesh, the wounds were nothing but a drop of blood, they were nothing but mere scratches.

 

Because they weren’t deep, they didn’t stop.

 

‘All according to plan so far.’

 

If the sword stabs deeply, then the would would be deep. But in the end, that’s it.

 

That’s why Kim Tae Hoon had practiced cutting and slicing lightly. There were no deep wounds, but only wounds that were just barely deep enough to draw blood.

 

Of course, it would be impossible to kill the snake with only that.

 

“The water cover is complete!”

 

“Get out! Get out of the firetruck!”

 

But that’s why he had prepared the firetrucks.

 

The purpose of the fire trucks was to spray the snake and irritate it.

 

“But will it eat the pesticide?”

 

“Although it’s a half water and half pesticide mix, it won’t have any effect if it doesn’t go in the body.”

 

They had poured pesticide into the fire trucks beforehand.

 

If it were to enter its body through the wounds, then the effects were show to show. The pesticide was a medicine for death.

 

It was also the reason why they chose a plot of land packed with dirt. The dirt will mix with the mixture and turn into mud, which would cover up the snake’s wounds, becoming a vector for the transmittance of the pesticide.

 

It would be the same if traces of mud entered the snake’s mouth and entered its internal organs.

 

But above all, this was just the beginning.

 

Kyaaa!

 

‘The beast is focused solely on the sword.’

 

Seeing that the snake was chasing after the sword, he fished out an arrow from his belt.

 

Yi Sun Sin’s Arrow.

 

This arrow that lacked any fletching was different from other arrows. Its shaft was covered in a layer of ice.

 

And the ice, of course, was not ordinary either.

 

It was poisoned ice.

 

Furthermore, it was no different from tetrodotoxin. [TN: Tetrodotoxin is a neurotoxin found in pufferfish and other toxic marine animals.]

 

Blowfish poison.

 

When Kim Tae Hoon had first heard of the demon snake, all thoughts of hunting it through strength were thrown out the window. Instead, he decided on a softer approach utilizing poison.

 

In fact, the place where he had heard the story, a sushi restaurant, had inspired him.

 

The idea to use blowfish poison.

 

Afterwards, Kim Tae Hoon had collected the toxins from the various blowfish found in sushi restaurants around Bucheon.

 

Its efficacy was also verified.

 

There wasn’t much to be scavenged from the blowfish that were prepared for consumption, but he was still able to retrieve some toxins, which he tested by leaving poisoned birds on the floor for scavenging monsters to eat.

 

So he knew.

 

The amount of poison he was able to gather from the blowfish wasn’t enough to deal a fatal blow to the snake.

 

So it wasn’t really a big deal.

 

As long as the snake stumbled, wavered, or lost focus just a small bit, it was more than enough.

 

That’s all he wanted.

 

The arrow flew towards the snake that had pushed Kim Tae Hoon to the back of its mind, ceaselessly chasing after the sword.

 

Puk!

 

Then like small syringe, the tiny, needle-like arrow entered the giant demon snake’s body.

 

‘It’s done.’

 

Through his Telekinesis, Kim Tae Hoon felt the tactile feedback of the arrow piercing the snake.

 

At the same time, the arrow’s presence disappeared from Kim Tae Hoon’s senses.

 

‘It starts now.’

 

Everything until now was nothing but the prologue.

 

This wasn’t a simple battle. The interior of Bucheon City was the battleground between predator and prey, a battleground where the winner would occupy the center of the city and become the ruler.

 

All or nothing.

 

‘First is the mortar.’

 

It was only natural to prepare for all out war.

 

A mortar shot would signal the start of the war.

 

A mortar’s firepower far outstripped that of a rifle. But in return, it was difficult to operate. There was not a single case where a mortar had been succcessfully used against a monster until now.

 

There was not enough distance to take aim, and there was not enough room for it to be effective.

 

But, simply put, if a target were to enter the blast zone, then there was no weapon more effective than the mortar.

 

Especially now since the target was bigger than a tank. Even if they wanted to miss, it would be difficult to do so.

 

Even more, it wouldn’t be hard to find one or two artillery operators within a hundren Korean men.

 

Kim Tae Hoon lifted his head and looked at the snake that was still struggling against the sword.

 

The flying sword’s movements were toying with the snake. The demon snake acted as though it were possessed by the agile flying sword, which would close in on the snake whenever there was a gap in its defenses, as though it were racing towards a finish line.

 

Kyaaa!

 

There was only the sword in the snake’s eyes.

 

It saw only the sword and nothing but the sword.

 

Now, Kim Tae Hoon began to attract the demon snake. He guided the snake towards the center of the vacant lot by use of the sword and his Telekinesis.

 

‘Now.’

 

All that remained was to give the signal.

 

As soon as the other side received his signal, a mortar shell would streak across the sky.

 

At that moment.

 

Shya!

 

The demon snake’s eyes changed.

 

Its eyes which had been focusing only on the sword began to give off a golden light. It wasn’t just a regular glow.

 

‘Ah.’

 

Aura.

 

Something that couldn’t be called anything other than an ‘aura’ spread out across the vacant lot.

 

Those who were exposed to it froze.

 

It was like they were buried.

 

It felt as though the demon snake were seeing through their entire bodies and was dissecting them.

 

Before long, the demon snake began to focus on the flying sword, after which it began to follow the source of the sword’s power until it found the Telekinesis user.

 

Of course, it was Kim Tae Hoon.

 

Chiureub!

 

The Yellow Eyed Demon Snake stared at Kim Tae Hoon and flicked its tongue.

 

11.

 

‘It caught me.’

 

As soon as the demon snake’s eyes changed, Kim Tae Hoon felt that the snake was no longer looking at the sword, but the power moving the sword.

 

So when the demon snake turned towards Kim Tae Hoon, he knew he was right.

 

‘I’m going to die.’

 

Kim Tae Hoon would be eaten and killed by the demon snake today.

 

It wasn’t some vague guess or a gut feeling.

 

He had already experienced death before. Thanks to Napoleon’s Golden Goblet, he had a clear feeling of what it meant to face certain death.

 

However, those various scenes and experiences didn’t flash before his eyes.

 

‘It’s going to kill me.’

 

There was never a moment up until this point where Kim Tae Hoon had wanted to die. He had done all he could to stay alive.

 

During all that, he had learned. He had learned what he needed to do in order to survive in the middle of a sea of death.

 

Tenacity, a stubborn attachment to life.

 

‘Then before I die, it will die first.’

 

To kill before being killed.

 

Kim Tae Hoon’s body began to move.

 

The Energy in his body responded to his will to live. It freed Kim Tae Hoon’s body from the shackles of the demon snake’s eyes.

 

However, the demon snake’s gaping maw had already cast a shadow over Kim Tae Hoon’s head.

 

Escape?

 

No, it was impossible.

 

His flesh and bones let him know. His seasoned body let him know that the chance had already passed.

 

So Kim Tae Hoon didn’t try to escape.

 

Instead, he did the opposite.

 

Kim Tae Hoon threw himself into the abyss that was the snake’s mouth.

 

Like that, Kim Tae Hoon was sucked inside the snake’s body.

 

Kag!

 

A sound resembling that of something being caught in the snake’s throat rang out. As it was going to consume its prey, the morsel had suddenly thrown itself into its own throat.

 

But of course the demon snake didn’t really mind.

 

As far as it was concerned, Kim Tae Hoon wasn’t a creature that had poisons inside of it.

 

No, it wouldn’t really have mattered if he was poisonous. The demon snake’s eyes had seen all.

 

Kim Tae Hoon was the only one that could bare its teeth at the snake while the rest were nothing but prey to be hunted down at its leisure.

 

Gulp!

 

So he swallowed Kim Tae Hoon whole.

 

The demon snake began to crush Kim Tae Hoon.

 

Buudeuk!

 

The body was being forcibly compressed– flesh was ripped off the bones while the bones themselves grinded against each other until they snapped.

 

That sound even reach Kim Tae Hoon’s ears.

 

Buudeuk!

 

It was the sound of death.

 

The loud sounds of his bones knocking against each other reached his eardrums from inside, but he didn’t focus on those sounds despite being near to death.

 

But Kim Tae Hoon ignored that sound.

 

‘Let’s hear it.’

 

What he was listening to wasn’t from himself but something else.

 

• ·····Dugeun!

 

It was the slow heartbeat of the demon snake’s heart.

 

Dugeun!

 

After waiting what seemed like an eternity to hear the next heartbeat, Kim Tae Hoon ordered the sword that was still linked to him through his Telekinesis.

 

The sword flew and stabbed towards the sound!

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