The Highest Bounty

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Halley slipped down from the trunk of the big tree she had been on. She was still holding the grilled thigh, which more than half had been eaten by her. She chewed on the remaining meat as she made her way toward the three men.

Biggie had thought that the poker-faced woman would continue hiding on the tree and watch things unfold, waiting for the three of them to fight it out with one another until it was almost the end before she took them down in one go. Nevertheless, the first thing she did was reveal herself on her own accord. Biggie wondered what she was thinking.

The three men looked at the grilled thigh in her hand. There was no question about it, the person who had built the fire was the woman in front of them; her expressionless face made it seem as if she had gone through an operation to keep the way her face looked permanent. The bearded man thought of the corpse without legs he had seen in the bushes when he saw the thigh in her hand. It was easy to guess what sort of meat she was eating.

“I initially planned to take a seat and enjoy my grilled meat while watching what would happen between the three of you. Nevertheless, I was only disappointed by your performance. No one took the initiative to start a fight, and you all even found time for idle chit-chat.” Halley shook her head.

“This is a waste of time. I"ve decided to take things in my own hands. However, before that, there"s still a spectator among us. Get out here!”

Halley looked toward the big tree that Biggie was in.

The three men were taken aback. They had come from the direction where Biggie was in but did not notice anything unusual.

Biggie felt a little helpless about the situation. He had been discovered and had no choice but to slide down from the tree trunk. He walked toward the rest of the people. “When did you realize I was there?”

“I heard your stomach growl when I was grilling my meat. My five senses are heightened compared to the average person. Any sound that is not in harmony with my surroundings won"t escape my ears.” Halley looked at Biggie, still without expression.

“I was not expecting someone with such good hiding skills to be a kid.”

“Don"t look down on kids.” Biggie knew that the poker-faced woman was very skillful, but he still had some pride in his swordsmans.h.i.+p.

“I"ve never looked down on an opponent,” Halley could vaguely feel a sense of danger from Biggie that was an intuitive thing. Not only did she have heightened senses, but she had good intuition especially when it came to danger; she was more sensitive compared to ordinary people. Biggie"s warning caused her to take interest in the young boy in front of her.

“You"re hungry, aren"t you?” Halley handed the rest of the thigh to him, completely ignoring the existence of the others.

“I"m sorry. I don"t eat human flesh,” Biggie rejected her offer immediately.

Halley suddenly recalled the huge man"s corpse she had found when she heard Biggie"s words. His corpse was complete, but it had a stink left behind by Necrophagous Black Beetles. “You can"t be that person who ate those bugs, could you? Those Necrophagous Black Beetles are so disgusting to look at, and they have a strong stink about them. Compared to them, it should be much easier to consume human flesh, shouldn"t it?”

“I"m a chef, and I think that using our own species as ingredients is inappropriate. That"s why I reject such food,” Biggie gave his reason.

“Hey, are you two done with all the chatting?” feeling annoyed that he had been ignored, the bearded man shouted at both of them.

“If you don"t want it, I"ll throw it away. I"ve had my fill, anyway,” Halley said as she casually threw the leftover thigh to the side. Then, she finally looked at the bearded man and the others.

She sized up the three men and shook her head. “You"re all too weak.”

“You must be joking. You"re just the same as us. We"re all Rank 1 Gene Bodies. What right do you have to say that we"re weak?” The plump man sneered.

“I think you"re misunderstanding something. Gene level and combat effectiveness are two different things. I may just be a Rank 1 Gene Body, but my combat effectiveness is far superior compared to all of yours,” Halley explained emotionlessly.

She unsheathed her sword without warning after she was done talking. The first swing of her sword was directed at the plump man"s throat.

However, the gleaming sword did not stop there as it went straight for the young man"s throat right after. Then, like the spit of a venomous snake, the sword went for the bearded man"s throat.

The plump man immediately fell to the ground along with the young man, both of them clasping their hands over the arteries on their necks. As for the bearded man, he managed to block Halley"s attack with his sword. Nevertheless, he only managed to do so barely, and Halley"s attack made him realize just how big of a gap was between both of them. He felt as if something ma.s.sive had crashed into him with her attack. Additionally, the sword in his hands almost fell to the ground when he blocked her attack.

“It"s pointless,” Halley"s low voice reached the ears of the bearded man. Her sword was like an agile snake. After her first attack, it suddenly changed directions and once again went for the bearded man"s throat.

The bearded man swung his sword once again and a ‘ding" was heard. It was the sound of metal clas.h.i.+ng against metal. The bearded man clearly felt feedback from his sword, and Halley"s attack seemed slightly stronger than before. Her attack caused his right hand which was holding on to his sword to tremble a little.

Nevertheless, Halley showed no signs of stopping her attack. The tip of her sword changed directions once again as it went straight for the bearded man"s throat.

There was another ‘ding", and the bearded man completely lost his stamina to move his right hand after the attack. Finally, his sword fell from his hands.

The next thing he knew, Halley"s sword came from a different direction and went through his throat in a single thrust.

The bearded man fell to the ground unwillingly. On the other hand, the other two men whose arteries had been torn open at their necks were already dead.

Only now did Halley finally turn to look at Biggie. “You had the chance to escape.”

“I know.” Biggie was fully aware that he could have taken the time to escape and hide while Halley was battling the bearded man even though it was for only a few seconds. With his hiding skills, it would have been difficult for Halley to find him in a short amount of time.

“I had planned to escape while each of you fought amongst yourselves. However, you called me out. As for the reason why I didn"t escape, well, it"s because after watching your fight carefully. I"ve realized that I don"t have much of a chance of winning. Moreover, a good friend once told me that whenever faced with a challenge, the right thing to do is face it and not run away from it. That"s because running away will never solve the problem. Whatever needs to happen will happen eventually.”

“Sounds like that person is a very good friend of yours. Unfortunately, we"re enemies. Otherwise, I"d really like to meet that person.” A slight smile appeared on Halley"s poker face. Even though it was only for a brief moment, it was enough to prove that she was capable of smiling.

“You"re a very special person, but I won"t let you go because of that. In fact, I"d like to fight you with everything I have. Out of respect for you, I won"t eat you after you die. Where do you wish me to bury you?”

Biggie looked around him and his eyes fell on the big tree he had hidden on top of previously. “You can bury me at that big tree. What if I win? What do you wish me to do for you?”

“Bury me by the stream where the green gra.s.s will be my companion,” Halley told him her last wish and testament.

“If we are done with our last wishes, let"s fight!” Biggie gripped the hilt of his sword and his body went into defense mode as he prepared to block an attack.

Halley started moving as well. Her sword was as agile as a snake, and her attack points were habitual as she targeted Biggie"s throat and arteries on his neck.

Biggie decided not to defend himself as he lifted up his sword. His blade was quick and precise as it clashed with the tip of Halley"s sword. He had not expected the swordsmans.h.i.+p knowledge in his mind to be capable of enhancing his attack even though his body was only that of a seven-year-old. It was powerful enough to go against Halley.

Both of them were forced backward because of the clash, but they quickly went for each other once more after regaining their footing, clas.h.i.+ng with one another again. It was the blade of one"s sword against the tip of another"s sword. Both of them refused to back down.

The third and fourth clash quickly followed… The sound of metal clas.h.i.+ng continued to be heard as their fight surpa.s.sed the level of Rank 1 Gene Bodies. Even those who were Rank 2 or Rank 3 Gene Bodies would lose quickly in such a battle of high skill.

Biggie slowly began to regain his muscle memory with each clash they had. He was no longer using the swordsmans.h.i.+p he had inherited from Darkness, rather, he was using his own method. It came naturally to him as it gave his fight an uncanny effect.

Halley felt very pressured by this. She had initially thought that she had the upper-hand as she had a faster attack speed compared to Biggie. Nevertheless, Biggie was able to take her attacks, and his strikes always came after hers. He used the blade of his sword to respond to the attacks she made with the tip of her sword. While it looked like he was attacking, it was in fact a form of defense.

After exchanging a few attacks, Biggie"s body began to acclimatizing to the battle"s level of power. He started to gain speed until he was on par with Halley. Additionally, his moves began to become more difficult to predict. It took only a few more minutes before Halley"s advantages were all exhausted. On the other hand, Biggie was now the one coming at her with full force as the advantage s.h.i.+fted to his side.

“How is this happening? I"ve practiced my swordsmans.h.i.+p ever since I was three-years-old. It"s been eighteen years now, and I"ve never stopped training for a day. My teacher told me that I had a Monster Ranking and am gifted in Kendo. He didn"t allow me to enhance my gene level because he wanted me to train my basic abilities and build a strong foundation. Why is it that this kid right in front of me has basic skills that surpa.s.s my own?” Halley could not understand the situation.

Halley"s swordsmans.h.i.+p was overpowered by Biggie"s attacks that had become more fierce. Additionally, Biggie performed moves that were rather unpredictable and powerful. Each move he executed was lethal, almost capable of killing her. It was completely different from how he had started out-with amateur swordsmans.h.i.+p that was easy to figure out. Halley even began to suspect that the kid in front of her had been intentionally trained to become an a.s.sa.s.sin.

Both of them had no primary power and no Righteous Force. Their defense capabilities were at the same level as ordinary people. Normal swords were enough to wound them. It was because of these reasons that their basic skills could be displayed in their fight. There was no question that Biggie"s basic skills were stronger than Halley"s.

The tides of the battle had completely turned. Halley had struck ferociously at the beginning, but all that was left for her now was to defend herself. She had no means of predicting where Biggie"s next attack would appear. Biggie"s swordsmans.h.i.+p had the intention to kill. There was no chance of surviving even a single slash from him. If she got hit, the only result she would face was death.

Halley"s body began to give in under such high-strung attacks. All of a sudden, there was an opening in her defense, and Biggie"s sword found its way through, slicing her throat in one fluid motion.

Biggie finally managed to release himself from his fighting trance when he saw his opponent take his attack. Halley clasped her neck as she fell.

Biggie sheathed his sword and stood at one side, quietly watching Halley fall as a pool of blood surrounded her.

Halley looked at Biggie, and a smile appeared on her frosty face. “You can finally go back and meet your friend…”

It was a few minutes later when that blooming smile left its permanent mark on Halley"s face. Biggie carried her body with great difficulty as he walked toward the stream. He wanted to fulfill her last wish and bury her by the stream so she could be accompanied by the green gra.s.s…