Chapter 34
What had clearly been a human head turned into block pieces and scattered in all directions.
The remaining Candles were all flustered at the sight.
"W-what!"
"This bitch!"
Perhaps they belatedly realized she wasn't someone suitable to be taken hostage.
The Candle who quickly pushed the Immortal Woman away from his chest took out a dagger and stabbed it right into her head.
"Ah."
The Immortal Woman's voice spread out.
Though no wound was visible, it must have been a fatal blow.
There wasn't the slightest change in the Immortal Woman's expression.
She just looked at the Candle with an indifferent expression.
"W-what, why aren't you dying?"
The Candle stepped back as if frightened.
But it was already too late.
The Immortal Woman, whose mood had been disturbed, charged straight at the Candle.
After that, the situation flowed one-sidedly.
All the Candles who rushed at the Immortal Woman were hit by her fist and sliced through the air while floating, and when one guy's right chest area was hit, he scattered like feathers and disappeared.
It was truly overwhelming violence.
After the pain-filled sounds were heard for a while, when the sounds finally stopped, all the Candles who hadn't fled and remained were collapsed.
"Oh, my head is all jumbled up and in a mess..."
The perpetrator of this terrifying act just said these strange words and pulled out the dagger stuck in her head with a cute "pop" sound.
No, how can a person be that strong?
Is it because the Immortal Woman also ate the Chef's food earlier?
But she was too skillful for that, as if it had always been her own strength.
Such a strong being probably isn't an ordinary person...
"Oh! The snow is red!"
The Immortal Woman crouched down and fiddled with the snow.
To my eyes, it just looked like Lego pieces scattered around, but the Immortal Woman must be seeing it properly.
Maybe the real mental patient isn't me but this woman.
Yeah, I'm pretty normal, right?
Laydan Tanton, this guy's past just gaslighted me.
After finishing my self-rationalization, I approached the Immortal Woman.
"Are you okay?"
"What do you mean?"
"No, you just fought like that."
"Fight? What are you talking about? More importantly, who are you again?"
When I asked if she was okay, she tilted her head as if she didn't understand what I was saying, drooling a bit.
What, she forgets what just happened too?
At this point, she's just senile.
I tried to continue the conversation, but she seemed to have become curious about the 'red eyes', ignoring my words and just caressing the snowball full of Lego pieces.
Well, who am I to worry about whom?
She's a person who's fine even after eating Outer God food.
"Hmm... so these are all corpses?"
A scene that's hard to believe is a murder scene.
Would it look like this where children had tipped over a toy box and played?
I looked at the minefield dotted with Lego.
Just as putting together broken body parts doesn't bring a person back to life, resurrection would be impossible.
I knew these were all corpses, but maybe because of what I could see, I was indifferent.
Besides, they were humans who tried to kill me, and I was a person who looked at the surface rather than trying to understand the inside.
That's that.
"I wonder if there are any good items."
You might think it's a bit heartless, but I should loot.
If you decided to rob, shouldn't you be prepared to be robbed?
Since the city and Candles are enemies, if I bring evidence of defeating Candles, it might help in building achievements.
There were bags placed around the Lego humans.
There wasn't much inside.
Half-eaten jerky pieces, a water bottle that I don't know how long they've been carrying, and something like firewood.
I guess they were just mobs after all.
"Oh, food."
I don't know when she approached, but the Immortal Woman snatched the piece of jerky I was holding and chewed it right away.
Nom nom nom.
I wonder if she doesn't get tired of eating even after eating the Chef's food like that.
"Oh...?"
Then she tilted her head holding the firewood in my hand.
"What's this?"
"It's a human hand."
This firewood is a human hand?
Seeing that it looks transformed, is it an item related to Outer Gods?
"It must have been so dried and twisted that it couldn't even eat. How pitiful."
She said that while firmly chewing the jerky.
She really had a strong stomach.
Come to think of it, those Candle guys said something about embers to us.
...I had a thought, but were they burning city people and using them like firewood?
The bodies of humans blessed by the hearth burn well.
Like a small hearth.
That means the bags of these guys contain divided human body parts.
It seemed better to ignore this useless information for now.
***
After defeating all the Candle gang, we walked through the blizzard for a long time.
The footprints we had been following must have been those Candle guys', as they had long since disappeared.
Even after wandering around for a long time, nothing was visible.
I couldn't help but think we might have really gotten stranded.
"Ria."
When I called Ria, perhaps because it was cold outside, she only poked her head out slightly.
While looking at Ria smiling happily as I scratched her hair, I said:
"Which way should we go from here to get to Rondan?"
Despite my request, she seemed to dislike coming out, so she just stuck out one arm and pointed somewhere.
Sigh.
Could it be the direction where an Outer God is again?
"Ria."
As if she understood the intent of my call, this time Ria shook her head vigorously as if to say no.
It's a bit untrustworthy.
If there were only communicable Outer Gods, I wouldn't care, but there were also those caterpillar-like things attached to the Gardener's rose.
We'd have to consider whether that caterpillar was an Outer God in the first place.
Right.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
If we don't go the way Ria is pointing, how are we going to find Rondan in this vast place?
I was in no position to grumble, so I just looked at Ria with a trusting smile.
Ria even gave a thumbs up as if to say really trust her this time.
Let's give it a try.
Worst case, can't we just beat them up and knock them down?
Now that I've become this strong.
...Or so I thought.
"It's hunting time!"
A sharp girl's voice was heard from far away.
The sound heard was a massive engine noise.
Choo choo honk honk.
Despite the huge sound, the cute noise that was heard didn't result in something trivial.
A huge vehicle passes in front of us, causing snow to explode.
"W-what?!"
A car that looked completely out of place with the times, something you might see in Mad Max, was crossing the blizzard.
"It's a horse!"
The Immortal Woman shouted excitedly, jumping up and down.
No, how is that a horse?
How ferocious must a horse look to become such a huge car?
Just because there's a cat sticker on the car doesn't make it cute, you damn mode!
Unaware of my thoughts, the two girls holding the steering wheel laughed.
"It dodged."
"It dodged! This prey is quick, isn't it?"
Seeing their appearance wearing leather jackets and helmets, I could tell at a glance.
Those things are Outer Gods!
Outside, where the hearth's protection doesn't reach, the probability of encountering Outer Gods increases exponentially.
Especially at the adjacent boundary, given the characteristics of Outer Gods gathering around the hearth.
I glared once at Ria who was poking her head out of my pocket.
Ria became very tearful, shedding tears little by little and flapping her body.
Seeing her look so wronged, it seemed this Outer God had suddenly popped out.
I couldn't help but sigh.
Fortunately, it didn't seem to be a Greater Outer God as it didn't have a big impact on the surrounding area or do such things.
Still, looking at its mobility and power, it seemed quite strong even among Lesser Outer Gods.
Even with enhanced physical abilities, it seemed difficult to fight against an Outer God.
Let's try talking first.
Being able to communicate with Outer Gods was the greatest weapon.
"Hey! You two there!"
Could they hear my voice?
"Oh? Sister, that human is talking to us?"
"Usually they're too scared and busy running away when they encounter us. This is unexpected."
It was natural since normally just encountering an Outer God requires a mental resistance check.
As they said, the Immortal Woman was unable to come to her senses in real-time.
"Uheh."
Wait, was she always like this?
"Yes, prey! Can you hear us?"
"Hello~"
I shouted loud enough to be heard over the car noise in the distance.
"Yes, I can hear you, so let's talk!"
Could that have been unexpectedly moving?
The two sisters clapped their hands together.
"Caw! It can communicate, it can!"
"This is completely the first time."
They were just like when encountering a Lesser Outer God, not knowing what to do with excitement.
If we do well, we might be able to communicate.
"We didn't come to fight you! So how about we pretend not to see each other?"
All the Outer Gods I've met so far often retaliated because humans attacked first.
So I meant that I had no hostility, let's go our separate ways.
However, the answer that came back was different from what I thought.
"We can't accept that."
What?
The calm-looking girl said:
"There's no way a hunter would leave their prey alone, right? Even if animals can communicate, it's just interesting."
"Ah, isn't that the famous line of the Candle with the scar on his face?"
"...Be quiet."
The two seemed to be trapped in their own world.
"People wearing masks enjoyed catching people. So that's why we're doing it."
"Yes, that's right! If sister likes it, I like it too!"
"You were on your way back from catching people too, weren't you?"
Oh no.
From the context of the conversation, it didn't seem like they would just let us go.
Feeling a sense of crisis, I immediately blew the party flute.
Piririri!
But nothing happened.
"...The path is too narrow. I can't cross over this."
...We're screwed.
Do we have no choice but to run away?
But how do you run away from a car?
Ria tugged at my collar and pointed to a place.
It was the direction she had pointed to at first when showing the way.
I wondered why she was pointing there.
"To think the prey would walk in on its own."
A heavy voice was heard from the direction Ria pointed.
Among the people I knew, there was only one person with such a voice.
"...Mr. Hunter?!"
"Yes, it's me."
Ah.
So this is why people who are stranded cry when they see the rescue team.
"You came to save us!"
Normally, the response might be 'I've been caught too', but.
Our Hunter was different, very different.
"I didn't come to save you. I just happened to find you while coming to catch Outer Gods."
Click.
The heavy sound of a double-barrel shotgun was heard.
"It's hunting time."