The Hunter's Od Chapter 96: A Valuable Asset

Chapter 96: A Valuable Asset

Jagger stopped dead.

The heavy gunner shifted her grip on her rifle, though she didn’t raise it. The silver-haired lancer watched without expression, her posture perfectly still.

"Orders for ?" Jagger asked, and there was sothing dangerous in the calm.

"You are one of a few hunters that have killed a Herald and received the title that ca with it," Ulna said. "Therefore, you are a person of interest, which ans you are now a valuable asset to the provisional governnt, and your skills and knowledge could be used for the betternt of the nation. You will co with us for debriefing."

Jagger let out a bitter laugh. "That explanation is just a fancier way of saying I don’t have a choice." He looked Ulna dead in the eye. "So, I’ll spell it out for you. I’m not going anywhere with you. You have no authority over ."

Jung stepped forward again, his knuckles white around the grip of the Scavenger Fang and shield. Abdul and Nico shifted into a loose, defensive formation around Jagger, ready to fight if it ca down to it.

Ulna’s jaw tightened. "I would highly recomnd you reconsider that decision."

"Or what?" Jagger leaned in.

Her fingers twitched once at her side.

Rhea finally spoke, her voice weary. "Everyone, please calm down. We’re all on the sa side here." She took a step closer, between the two groups, "The city is collapsing, monsters are crawling out of every dark corner, and we’re arguing about authority after we all nearly died." She looked from Ulna to Jagger and bowed her head slightly. "I owe you my life. But please understand, you are important to us as a nation. We have lost too many, we cannot afford to lose soone like you."

"Your choices no longer affect only you." Ulna cut in, her tone sharp, though she didn’t challenge Rhea’s presence.

Jagger felt his arm tense, and for a split second, he was about to lose control. ’Ophilia, calm down!’ He managed to keep the thought from manifesting.

Rhea’s words seed to land better with Jung, Abdul, and Nico. The trio’s tense shoulders relaxed a fraction, their gazes flicking between Ulna and Jagger with uncertainty.

"What about us?" Abdul asked, his deep voice rough with exhaustion and suspicion. "Do we get dragged in too, or are we just collateral that got lucky?"

Ulna’s gaze shifted to him, then to Jung and Nico behind him.

"Every person of interest we can secure is another step toward stability. Another chance to push back," she said. "Awakened survivors, combat-capable hunters, people with useful classes or skills, all of you matter now. This isn’t the old world anymore. Nobody gets to pretend they’re separate from what’s happening."

Nico let out a weak, humorless laugh, still pale from everything that had happened. "That sounds like a fancy way of saying everyone belongs to the governnt now."

"That sounds like survival," Ulna replied.

Jagger’s eyes hardened, his gaze falling on the werewolf’s smoldering corpse, then the sound of the monster closed in on them from afar, and he was brought back to his own senses.

He wasn’t just fighting for himself. His group trusted him to lead them. A wave of anger and disgust washed over him, but it wasn’t directed at Ulna. ’Ophilia, what do you think?’

’The logical choice is to accept,’ Ophilia said, her tone unusually asured. ’It is temporary. Accept their invitation, gather information, assess the strength of their so-called governnt, and leave the baggage behind. The more you know, the better equipped you will be to act when the ti cos.’

Jagger took a slow breath, then let it out. He looked from Ulna’s cold face to Rhea’s exhausted one, then back to the worried faces of Jung, Abdul, and Nico.

"We can’t stay here any longer. Monsters are making their way here from the explosion," Jagger said, his voice low but firm.

Ulna studied him for a mont, then gave a short nod. She understood what he was saying. He was willing to co. Willing, for now.

But her expression hardened just as quickly.

"That does not change my orders," she said. "We hold this position until the recovery squad arrives."

Jagger stared at her. "You want to stay in the middle of a blown-out street covered in blood, next to a Herald corpse, after an explosion loud enough to wake half the district?"

"Yes."

"That is stupid."

"That is procedure."

The heavy gunner shifted slightly, not quite looking at either of them. "Captain... he’s not entirely wrong."

Ulna shot her a glance, but before she could reply, Abdul pointed toward the werewolf’s body.

"Doesn’t matter anyway," he said. "Look at that thing."

Everyone’s eyes followed.

The Herald’s corpse was lting.

Not all at once, but steadily. Fur peeled away in wet clumps. Blackened flesh sagged from the bones in smoking strips. Thick, tar-like blood bubbled out from the wounds and hissed where it touched the road. The massive body was collapsing into itself, losing shape with every passing second.

Abdul grimaced. "If they wanted the body, they’re too late. This thing’s turning useless."

The silver-haired Valkyrie crouched slightly, watching it with cool focus. "Its structure is destabilizing."

The heavy gunner snorted. "Fancy way of saying it’s rotting into soup."

Jagger’s eyes narrowed on the center of the beast’s chest. "Then forget the body. Just take the monster core."

Ulna looked at him. "You know where it is?"

Jagger didn’t bother answering. He started forward.

Jung imdiately moved after him. Nico stayed rooted for half a second before hurrying after them with visible reluctance.

"Why are we going closer to it?" Nico muttered. "It was bad enough when it was alive."

Jung adjusted his grip on the shield. "Because Hyeong-nim knows what he’s doing."

Nico frowned. "That is not comforting. You sound way too sure for soone who got impaled twelve hours ago."

Jung glanced at him. "At least I’m moving."

"That’s because you have the face of a guy who charges into disasters on purpose."

Jung blinked. "What kind of face is that?"

"The loyal idiot face."

Abdul let out a tired breath that might have been a laugh. "Both of you shut up."

By then, Jagger had reached the corpse. Up close, the sll was worse. Burnt fur. Rot. Acid. Blood. The werewolf’s chest cavity had partially collapsed inward, exposing a ss of broken ribs and black-red tissue that still twitched faintly as it lted. Buried deep inside, sothing pulsed.

A core.

Larger than the others he had seen. Dense. Jagged. It shone with a dull gold-red light, like molten tal trapped behind fractured glass.

"There," Jagger muttered.

He crouched and shoved his hand straight into the dissolving remains.

Nico gagged imdiately. "Nah. I hate that. I genuinely hate that."

Jagger ignored him. His fingers found the core, closed around it, and ripped it free with a wet, tearing sound. Thick black ichor splashed across his wrist and dripped down onto the pavent. The core sat heavy in his palm, glowing steadily.

For a second, the whole street seed to go still.

Then ca the screech.

High. Sharp. Close.

Ulna turned instantly. "Contact."

Shapes burst from the smoke-filled alley to their left.

Three ghouls.

They ca fast, low to the ground, limbs jerking with unnatural speed. Their jaws hung open too wide, green light burning in their empty eyes.

The silver-haired Valkyrie fired first.

Her long rifle scread, and an azure beam punched straight through the lead ghoul’s skull. The body snapped backward into the wall and dropped.

The second ghoul leaped over it, claws stretched wide.

The heavy gunner stepped in and fired.

Her compact weapon discharged with a brutal pulse. The ghoul’s torso exploded apart midair, flesh and bone scattering across the side of a wrecked car.

The third one made it through.

It lunged straight for Nico.

"Shit!"

Nico stumbled back, raising his left hand on instinct. The ghoul’s claws slashed down toward his face, but Jung slamd sideways into it with his shield, knocking it off balance. Abdul stepped in at once and cut cleanly through its neck.

The head dropped. The body followed a second later.

The street fell still again, but only for a breath.

More movent stirred at the far end of the road.

Not three this ti.

A cluster of shapes spilled out from the ruins, drawn in by the explosion and the blood. Ghouls. Goblins. Smaller scavenger-things skittering low between abandoned cars and broken glass.

Nico stared at them. "Okay. Now we leave. Now we definitely leave."

Ulna raised her hand. "Valkyrie, hold formation!"

"We don’t have ti for formation," Jagger snapped, backing away from the dissolving corpse with the core still in hand. "The body’s finished. The core’s here. That’s all you’re getting. Move."

A goblin shrieked and rushed them.

Jagger flicked his wrist. The Scavenger Fang appeared in his hand. He threw it in one clean motion. The knife spun once and punched through the goblin’s eye, dropping it instantly. A second later, it dissolved and returned to his grip.

The Valkyries opened fire.

Blue beams ripped through the street, cutting down the front line of monsters in flashes of light and bursts of gore. The silver-haired lancer took the rooftops, dropping anything that tried to flank. The heavy gunner tore apart a lunging ghoul with another pulse blast. Rhea, still wounded, fired slower but with deadly accuracy.

Jung planted himself in front of Nico without being told. Abdul moved with him, sword working in short, efficient cuts whenever anything slipped through the rifle fire.

A ghoul broke wide from the right and hurled itself at Ulna.

She didn’t even flinch.

She stepped aside at the last second, caught its arm, and twisted. The creature slamd face-first into the pavent. Ulna drew a sidearm of blue light and fired once into the back of its skull. The body jerked and went still.

"More on the roofs," the heavy gunner barked.

The silver-haired Valkyrie pivoted and fired upward. One silhouette burst apart in a flash of azure. Another leaped anyway, dropping through the smoke straight toward Jagger.

He turned too late.

Jung intercepted.

He surged in with a shout, shield raised high. The ghoul crashed into it and drove him back a full step, claws shrieking against tal. Jagger stepped in at once and buried the Scavenger Fang into the creature’s throat, ripping it sideways. Black blood spilled over Jung’s shield as the body collapsed.

Jung exhaled sharply. "You good, Hyeong-nim?"

Jagger yanked the blade free. "I was."

Nico, still half-panicked, muttered, "This is the worst group outing of my life."

Abdul cut down a goblin that got too close and snapped, "Then stay alive and complain later."

Then a new sound rolled through the street.

Engines.

Heavy. Multiple. Fast.

Everyone heard it.

The chanical roar grew louder, rising above the screeches and gunfire. Headlights cut through the smoke at the far end of the road, bright beams sweeping across broken storefronts, monster corpses, and lted Herald remains.

Humvees.

Several of them, armored and moving in formation.

One of the lead vehicles swung sharply into the street, tires grinding over shattered glass and gore. Mounted weapons on top pivoted imdiately toward the incoming monsters.

Ulna exhaled through her nose. "Recovery squad is here."