Chapter 102: The Agency (Second Update)

‘Die! You wretched Fang Hunter.’

The black claw swung out, but it only made it halfway before its arm broke and fell to the ground.

Then came another strike, and the upper part of its forehead vanished entirely—cleaved open to reveal the brain inside.

‘Don’t get too excited, Fang Hunter. My comrades won’t let you get away.’

Only a mouth remained on the Corpse Hound as it cursed with hatred for the final time. Its body, covered in black beastly fur, cracked into numerous fine fissures, turning it into a fragile glass vessel.

Crack! Crack!

With each new crack, it edged closer to collapse. Within the fissures, faint glimmers of orange-red light flashed out, and in a blink, the half-human, half-beast monster shattered into heaps of ash.

The Curse power channeled into the cursed blade could not be ignored. Once touched, a Corpse Hound—an otherworldly creature—would be annihilated without any chance of survival.

At most, there might be slight individual differences, like stronger resistance, but in battle, it could only hold out briefly before its demise.

(Oh no! Its death throes were way too loud. This way, I’ve just stirred up trouble.)

Thanks to her sharp hearing, she could pick up the disturbances from the floors above.

The ‘boss’ had roared with all its might before dying. That was its way of alerting its Corpse Hound comrades in the building about their enemy, the Fang Hunter’s arrival.

Now, all the Corpse Hounds were on the move.

A bloody slaughter was unavoidable and drawing near.

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Exiting the back door of the building, Kuranaga heard the roars echoing from behind her.

Quickly, she also caught the staccato sounds of gunfire.

Sensing danger, she broke into a sprint.

The reasoning was simple: ordinary gangsters wouldn’t stir up trouble here.

Against a Corpse Hound—especially a group of organized ones—a normal human stood little chance.

Their strength surpassed any human’s, plus their terrifying regenerative healing made them nearly immune to serious injury. Meanwhile, their attacks were too horrifying.

Even she, who appeared quite frail, could easily snap an adult’s limbs.

That gunfire… likely meant both sides were clashing. In close combat, Fang Hunters always formed small squads of several people. They’d burst out in ambushes, using firearms to weaken unsuspecting Corpse Hounds, then finish them off with their Exorcism Blades.

Some skilled Fang Hunters, sticking to ancient traditions, would jump straight into battle with blades drawn, adapting to different situations with varied tactics.

Her comrades hadn’t expected this building to be uncovered at all.

Running as fast as she could, she knew she had to flee this stronghold immediately.

(Since this place was found, fellow comrades, including me, might be exposed. I need to prepare to leave this city first.)

As for ‘Fang Hunter’—she’d only ever heard stories of them, never encountered one directly. Her comrades warned her that Fang Hunters were extremely dangerous.

Fang Hunters mostly hid as modern-day secret societies. For ages, they’d hunted down Corpse Hounds.

They didn’t adhere to the law. Being organized as an Agency, they readied all sorts of outlawed weapons and resorted to any methods to win.

Put simply, they were scoundrels. Once targeting an enemy, they’d creep up unnoticed, using tricks like disguises, ambushes, lurking, or poisoning to handle Corpse Hounds—methods many would call sneaky.

That made sense. Humans lagged way behind in physical power against Corpse Hounds. In a head-on fight, humans only had a shot with a few experts; most times, victory was slim.

Conversely, humans excelled at sneaky tactics—their worst deception was creating that otherworldly weapon called the ‘Exorcism Blade.’

Still, no ‘blade,’ no matter how strong, was useful without hitting its target.

Humans had inferior strength, muscle endurance, and reflexes. Close combat gave Corpusse Hounds the upper hand.

‘If you meet a Fang Hunter who doesn’t use modern guns and only an Exorcism Blade, you have to be extra careful… Because they might be bred soldiers, leagues apart from regular Fang Hunters in actual combat.’

She recalled someone cautioning her like that, but she couldn’t summon the face. Anyway, she hated fighting and feared death. For now, fleeing was best.

‘Clang!’

At that sound, she slowed a beat—she’d never dealt with anything like this before.

The scent shifted from faint to intense, exploding behind her in an instant.

Likely, someone was watching a shadow leap off the building’s balcony. They’d waited patiently, setting up this moment.

As the figure landed, light flashed out—no, it was a swinging blade, electricity sparking from the sheath as it struck her back.

Overwhelming killing intent surged with the blade’s light, like a venomous serpent latching onto its prey.

Darn it!

Barely, she tossed out the small bag in her hands, flinging it toward her back. That electric-like strike veered off by a hair.

It only grazed her clothes, the cursed steel failing to pierce her skin.

Thanks to that, she survived and escaped.

Kuranaga sped up, leaping onto the wall by the alley. With superhuman strength, she bounded onto nearby rooftops and finally slipped away from this trap.

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‘I’m so sorry. I said I came to help… but I ended up letting the last one get away.’

The speaker was a petite girl in a blazer uniform with short hair. Tears welling, she apologized tirelessly to Amasue Suetora.

‘It’s fine. We’ve actually located the list of suspects. Using the Agency’s network to follow leads shouldn’t be too hard.’

Amasue Suetora sighed: ‘Still, the escaped Corpse Hound must be dealt with quickly. I’ve alerted the Agency’s Cleaners to handle the aftermath here.’

No, the blunder was his own fault.

Due to stubbornness, he’d acted solo for years, overlooking basics out of habit.

Originally, confronting swarm-like Corpse Hounds required filing reports to the Fang Hunter Agency. Teams trained in CQB by semimilitary experts would lead the fight.

Over the past decade, the Agency had ditched outdated hunting styles. New management stressed teamwork, though he and a few Fang Hunters persisted with solo tactics.

About thirty Corpse Hounds roamed the building floors, but none escaped once he spotted them. In the high-rise, they didn’t dare jump away—fearing spies below.

Falling from such height, even a Corpse Hound body would be wrecked. With slowed regeneration and ambushing Fang Hunters waiting, that spelled doom.

…The Fang Hunter Agency split into units. Standard combats fell to blade-wielding primary hunters; equipment upkeep and intelligence gathering went to the Intelligence Team; the Clean-Up Team handled aid and mopping up.

Near the building, small vehicles appeared—Cleaners sealing off the site, barring outsiders from this ‘hunt zone.’ That included finishing duties, often wiping tracks.

Behind the Agency leading the Fang Hunters, there was some government support, though most top officials knew nothing.

Unseen dealings smoothed Agency operations. For instance, that earlier gunfire had come from light-weapon-wielding Corpse Hounds shooting at him.

Neighbors dialed the police, reporting gunshots they heard nearby. Officers brushed off the calls fast.