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Chapter 152: Hunter or Hunted

According to Jim, the first step to becoming a freelance Hunter was to register as so at the guild. Since Finn was originally a Phantom Slayer, that was the guild he was supposed to go to.

With Iris on his back, he stepped into the teleporter at Squadron 154’s headquarters. In his mind, he held no emotion for abandoning Octane, Fanatic, and Reaper. The truth was, they were slowing him down. He just didn’t see a point in telling that to them outright, so he chose to merely do this instead. It was cruel, but Finn didn’t care. He just wanted to kill Ghosts. That was all.

A bright white flash surrounded him and Iris, and in the next instant, they found themselves standing in front of the familiar heaven-piercing tower of the Phantom Slayers HQ. It stood gloriously on top of a white cloud, the same one they were standing on right now and somehow not falling straight through.

Boldly, they strode on into the guild… having no idea what was waiting for them.

*****

“Wait, is that…”

“That’s him, isn’t it…?”

“The girl matches the description as well…”

As Finn and Iris waited in line to see a receptionist, they heard several murmurs rippling through the crowd of Ghost Hunters. An uncomfortable feeling crept up the two’s backs as they felt dozens of gazes on them, ready to lash out at any moment. Ghost Hunters hunted Ghosts… and Finn was the prey.

“Finn… I don’t like this…”

“… Me neither,” Finn muttered in reply, ready to activate his weapons at any given notice. 

Suddenly, with a roar, a Ghost Hunter jumped out of his seat and drew his sword, heading straight towards Finn.

“Haha! If I capture you, the reward will be mine!”

“Keep dreaming—I want that reward money!” Another shouted, joining in. 

Soon, everyone in the room was rushing towards Finn, weapons drawn and Angelicas activated. The receptionists were too terrified to interfere, and instead just hid behind their counters.

“… Hmph. A bounty on my head, is it?” Finn muttered. “Very well.”

Leaping up into the air, Finn activated the wings on his armor, and levitated there like a fallen angel. Iris followed, spreading her own wings as well and pulling out her guns. She didn’t want to kill these Ghost Hunters, but this was just the reality of the situation.

The two Ghost Hunters who had charged forward first jumped up towards Finn in an attempt to strike him down with their weapons, but Finn had more than just a few tricks up his sleeve.

‘Devil’s Timing.’

In an instant, his surroundings slowed down, his senses sharpened. All sounds seemed to fade away, with the exception of the two Hunters’ breathing. That gave away their location… and their life.

Before they could even blink, Finn thrust his hands outwards, one to his left and one to his right, instantly penetrating through the tough armor of the two Ghost Hunters with the sharp metal claws on his gauntlets, forged by none other than Archon.

“W-Wha…!”

“H-How… he’s… blind…”

The two poor souls were confused, but they would be taking those questions to the grave as Finn flung their bodies backwards, sending them crashing into a couple of tables and chairs. 

More Ghost Hunters jumped up towards them from behind, but Iris planted a bullet in their heads and swiftly reloaded her weapon.

“Finn, we can’t hold them off for long!”

Finn kicked another Hunter away in the chest and sank his sharp claws into the eyes of another, causing them to scream in agony. Then, sensing the heat of a fireball coming towards him, he quickly raised his gauntlets and crossed them in an X-Shape for defense, utilizing the Vortex Shield modification to its full potential and reflecting the attack back towards the caster.

“GRAGH?!” The Hunter, not expecting this, was immediately engulfed in his own flames, burning to death. In an instant, fire began spreading throughout the room, burning through the wooden and leather furniture. Momentarily, the Ghost Hunters had their attention turned away from Finn.

Naturally, he didn’t let this opportunity go, and took this chance to call upon his most powerful ally yet.

“Come, Raiju.”

“ROAAR!” With a loud roar, Raiju appeared on the battlefield, slamming into the marble ground and crushing several Ghost Hunters and knocking away countless more.

“Iris!” Finn called out as he leaped onto Raiju’s back, and Iris nodded towards him before quickly flying over. He caught her hand and pulled her in beside him. “Raiju—straight through the wall!”

“I can’t say I like ramming into walls, but I’ll do it just this once!” Raiju growled, taking a step back, then launched himself forward straight into the wall of the tower, tearing through with simple brute force. Finn and Iris covered their faces to avoid getting hit by the debris, but some of the other Ghost Hunters weren’t as lucky.

“Tch-! There’s no road, and we can’t take the teleporter!” Iris yelled.

Finn glanced back slightly, hearing the angered footsteps and roars of the Ghost Hunters eager to hunt him down, then quietly issued his order.

“… Jump, Raiju.”

“W-Wha… are you crazy, Finn?! This is up in the clou-“

“Jump!” He said again, and Raiju obeyed.

Charged with lightning, Raiju sprang upwards into the Heavens. Then, building up static charge, he dove down, aiming to lessen the damage done to himself by spreading the impact with his electricity chain to nearby objects.

Finn and Iris held on tightly to Raiju’s fur as they fell downwards like a meteor of lightning, the wind cutting through their skin and air pressure threatening to make them suffocate. But amongst all this, Finn was still able to speak.

“Iris… when I say ‘now’… open your wings and fly…!”

“H-Huh?! But what about you?!” She cried back, eyes widened in surprise.

“Just do as I say!” Finn yelled in annoyance, gritting his teeth.

“A-Alright!”

Iris was terrified. Not by the fall, but by Finn’s anger. He usually was the cold, emotionless type, but she now knew he could yell too.

“Get ready!” Finn shouted through the loud wind. They were nearing cloud-level, having jumped into the heavens before falling. “3… 2… 1… now!”

“Ngh-!” Iris opened her wings just as told, and immediately, she was risen into the air, acting like a parachute. Thank god Mavrick’s craftsmanship was good… otherwise there’s no way this armor would’ve been able to withstand that sudden change in momentum and would’ve most likely snapped instead, dropping Iris to her death.

Meanwhile, however, Finn’s journey was not yet over. Raiju was heading straight in between two tall buildings in the city, and it looked to be made out of concrete. If he smashed into that from this height… even a Heavenly Beast would sustain heavy injuries.

“Tch… Zelestria!” Finn suddenly yelled, with no other option.

[On it!]

Sensing what he wanted to do immediately, Zelestria took control of Finn’s mana flow and helped redirect them. Right as they entered the shadow of the two buildings, six long and powerful tentacles shot out of Finn’s back.

“Hnnngh…!”

Finn spread them so that they dug deep into the two buildings’ walls, forcefully slowing their fall. Since the tentacles were part of Finn’s body, this hurt like hell, but there was no choice. Better pain than dead.

Debris and chunks of the wall of the buildings fell with them as Finn and Raiju continued their descent, showing no sign of stopping. Finn’s tentacles felt like they were on fire, but he did not give in.

“Come on… come on…!”

CRASH!

With a loud, earthshaking impact, in the end, Raiju and Finn still both hit the ground like a meteorite. Smoke rose from the crater where they landed, and the passerby stared at the fog in silent shock, mouths agape.

“Argh…” Finn groaned, coughing out red blood with a mixture of black. His tentacles were stained with black blood, and Raiju was in no better shape. His once glorious form was now filled with scratches and wounds, golden blood flowing from his injuries. 

They were both nearly dead.

But… both also still felt pain.

And pain was proof that they were—barely as it may be—alive.