SrCuervo
patreon
219
🕑 Added 2025-07-09 05:30:09 +0000 UTCA New Beginning From the End of the World
Chapter 219 - A Promise
The sudden gunshot took all the hunters by surprise. They all stared in shock at the man who collapsed to the ground, disbelief etched across their faces.
In their memory, this kind of hunt was nothing new. When they had surrounded their prey in the past, those people would tremble and curl up in corners, waiting to be captured.
But now, a prey had actually killed one of them. The unprecedented situation left several of them stunned.
“No!”
Soon, a few of them regained their senses. One of them, the white-haired old man, suddenly lunged forward and dragged the fallen man’s body closer.
The elder who had spoken first looked down at the corpse with a dark expression and muttered through clenched teeth, “Find them!”
Naturally, the rest of the group didn’t hesitate. They understood this prey wouldn’t be easy to catch, so they all became more cautious, gripping their weapons tightly as they climbed through the windows of the clothing store almost simultaneously.
Crash!
The shattered glass hit the floor and exploded into fragments. But after entering, the hunters found no sign of the two targets. Someone asked:
“Where are they? Did anyone see them?”
“No!”
Another, scanning the area closely, replied:
“Maybe they ran upstairs... or they’re hiding somewhere.”
Hearing this, a hunter on the left side of the store called out to the one on the right:
“You go up. We’ll search down here.”
“Got it!”
Maybe because of their numbers, the hunters on the right responded immediately and ran toward the stairs.
Meanwhile...
Second floor of the clothing store.
“It’s fine... it’s fine, leave me here!”
Inside a fitting room, Jason sat in a chair, pressing on his wounded thigh, his face twisted in pain.
“Didn’t expect to get hurt... I’m sorry, Alicia.”
“Don’t talk… Don’t say anything. I’ll protect you.”
After lowering him down, Alicia quickly crouched, pulled out her dagger, and cut open a section of his blood-stained pants, revealing the nasty hidden wound. Then she took out medical supplies from her backpack and began cleaning the wound swiftly.
Fighting through the pain, Jason heard something and murmured:
“It won’t matter if you treat the wound and we still end up dead... You need to be ready.”
“Then take care of yourself too...”
After wrapping the wound in gauze, Alicia heard movement coming from downstairs. She shut the fitting room door and found a hiding spot, gripping the barrel of her machine gun in her left hand and a pistol in her right.
Tap… Tap… Tap…
No sooner had she hidden than she heard a rush of footsteps coming up the stairs. Then five or six figures appeared on the steps.
“Find them!”
With that command, the hunters scattered, carrying melee and ranged weapons, wandering around the clothing display area.
Seeing them split up on their own, Alicia raised her eyebrows in surprise but quickly realized it was a chance. She holstered her pistol, took hold of the machine gun’s barrel, and silently set her sights on the closest hunter.
Because of her build, she couldn’t engage them hand-to-hand like Jason could. Without tools, taking someone down unnoticed would be nearly impossible… unless she had overwhelming strength.
One hunter walked among the clothing racks, occasionally knocking them over, completely unaware of the danger creeping up behind him.
A pale hand suddenly clamped over his mouth. Caught off guard, the man couldn’t even scream. The sharp barrel of the machine gun drove into his throat.
No matter how much he struggled, blood gushed everywhere. Alicia held her hand tightly over his mouth, preventing any sound from escaping.
A few seconds later, the body went limp, arms falling lifeless.
Making sure he was dead, Alicia quickly emerged and pushed a nearby row of racks over the corpse to hide it.
Fortunately, the other hunters were still occupied and noticed nothing.
After eliminating one, she stayed crouched and silently crept toward another. But this one always faced her direction, making it very difficult to strike without making noise.
Then an idea came to her: she picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it to the side.
The gravel slid across the dusty tiles, then hit the base of a rack with a sharp clack.
“Huh?”
The hunter heard the noise. Frowning, he slowly walked toward the source.
He didn’t get far. His body was yanked into the racks, and moments later, a row of them toppled to the ground.
Alicia glanced up at Jason, checking on him.
To her concern, one of the hunters was approaching the fitting rooms and began opening the doors one by one.
When he was just about to reach the one where Jason was hiding, Alicia moved quickly, but it was already a bit too late. The hunter had arrived.
Alarmed, Alicia drew her pistol. If the hunter found Jason, it would all be over.
But before she could fire, the fitting room door suddenly swung open. A large hand burst out, grabbed the hunter by the neck with brute force, and yanked him inside.
The door slammed shut.
A moment later, it opened again, and a hand reached out with a thumbs-up gesture directed at Alicia.
“Thank God...”
Alicia exhaled in relief. She realized she didn’t need to worry so much. Even injured and unable to move, Jason still had the strength to defend himself.
Wasting no more time, Alicia moved again in silence, closing in on the remaining hunters.
On the first floor of the clothing store...
The hunters were still searching at full speed. The racks, once neatly arranged, were now a mess. Cabinets were open and clothes littered the floor, but they still hadn’t found anything.
“Damn it!”
The same hunter who had shouted earlier kicked over a small stool nearby.
“Where the hell did they go? Has anyone seen them?”
The rest gathered around. They had already searched every corner of the first floor, without a trace of the targets.
“Calm down, Old Wolf. We’ll find them and avenge your son. They’re probably hiding upstairs.”
One of the hunters straightened up, walked to the stairs, and shouted upward:
“Hey! Have you found anything yet?”
“Shhh...”
But only silence came from the top of the stairs.
He frowned, ready to shout again, but at that moment, a voice called back from above:
“I got them! Hurry up!”
