Chapter 29: Understanding the Red Horned Tribe
Outwardly, Kev didn't seem as panicked.
The last thing he wanted his opponent to pick up on was his fear.
"How could I not?" Kev replied to Dakun coldly. "Your servant tried to kill me. When he failed, you sent a mutated Revenant after me. When he failed, I knew someone else would come for my life or you'd show up yourself. I was hoping to leave this accursed place without facing more trouble, but this works just fine. I'll get rid of you here and now and save myself the headache later."
As he finished, a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.
"You speak as if victory is already in your grasp," Dakun scoffed.
"You're definitely someone who hasn't come in contact with humans from Earth yet," Kev said. "That's why you don't realize the immense danger you're in. And it's going to cost you your life."
Unable to believe him, Dakun said, "I am in immense danger? When did that happen? You're bullshitting to scare me. Such childish tactics only work on reta—"
Dakun hadn't finished speaking when Kev took out his fully loaded gun and pulled the trigger.
A range of fifty meters.
It might seem like a lot.
But a bullet could travel that distance in a very short time.
Dakun, despite being a class holder, couldn't see it coming, much less dodge it.
Bang!
The sound of the gunshot had just exploded when Dakun was hit in the foot.
He collapsed to the ground as an intense pain gripped him.
Tears flowed out of his eyes.
Snort flowed out of his nose and wretched screams rang out of his mouth as he clutched his injured foot.
From the hole in the shoe, blood flowed out.
"What the hell just hit me?!" Dakun cried out.
His words went unheard, drowned by another gunshot.
A bullet struck his uninjured leg, and Dakun writhed on the ground like a bug now crying even louder.
His cries were like the wails of a pig being butchered, extremely unpleasant to the ear.
"You don't reveal yourself to an armed man after aiming for his life. That's suicide. That's the mistake you made."
Kev's eyes glistened with a desire reminiscent of a butcher putting his knife to work to slay a pig.
Silently, he walked forward while pulling the trigger ruthlessly in rapid succession, putting one bullet after another into the monster wailing on the floor of the tunnel.
Dakun.
He might look like a human, but Kev hadn't forgotten for even a moment the monstrous things he had done.
His worst crime was raising a Revenant.
Revenants can't remain alive unless they continuously hunt down living beings.
Who knows how many people this sick pervert had fed it?
He deserved to die brutally!
Dakun had never seen a weapon so dreadful before. It looked harmless with no sharp points. Who could've thought it carried such immense might. He was totally caught off guard, reduced to a writhing and crying mess, at the mercy of the man who wanted to watch him suffer until his very last breath.
Kev wasn't going to stop until he had executed Dakun.
Dakun didn't want to die. He fought through the immense pain and, with trembling hands, slapped his gourd.
Particles of light streamed out in every direction.
Anything they touched turned invisible, vanishing from sight.
Suddenly, Dakun was gone.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Although his target had disappeared right before his eyes, Kev didn't stop firing, shooting at the exact spot where Dakun had vanished from.
"Argh! Urgh!"
Cries of agony rang out.
The invisibility spell shattered like glass, and Dakun reappeared.
Immediately, Kev put a bullet through his head. He had realized his mistake and didn't want to give Dakun another chance to pull a trick. He just wanted it to be over.
Dakun's cries were cut short.
There was a hole in the middle of his brows, and blood flowed from it continuously.
"What do you think? Is he dead?" Kev asked his guide.
"Who's the paranoid one now?" His guide taunted, not missing the chance to get back at him for what he had said earlier. Then she answered his question, "No human could survive that."
"He's a human? I heard he's from the Red Horned Tribe," Kev said.
"Did you expect him to be some kind of devil with horns sprouting from his head just because of his tribe's name? New arrivals really do have some silly ideas," Natasha felt amused.
"New arrivals?" Kev raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you call people who've just arrived in the Abyss?"
"Yes," Natasha confirmed.
"Tell me about the Red Horned Tribe," Kev requested.
"I don't know much about them," Natasha admitted.
She had lived a very sheltered life.
It was only due to a certain event—not too long ago—that she had changed her lifestyle and started exploring about the dark side of the Abyss.
The number of books she had read on the said subject was pitiful.
Her understanding of Abyss and the danger lurking in it wasn't deep. But even so, it was considerably more comprehensive than Kev's.
Her words continued to appear in the book.
"But I'll tell you what I know. The Red Horned Tribe is made up of humans native to the Abyss. They're mad cannibals, they eat the weak and the useless in their tribe and they treat outsiders like prey. They've been cut off from civilization for as long as anyone can remember. It wouldn't be wrong to say they've lived under a rock for hundreds of years. Their knowledge is limited, but they possess two unique evolution methods. The strongest among the two has the potential to elevate a person to a rare mid-rank class holder."
'No wonder Dakun grew up so twisted. Coming from that tribe, anyone would turn out a monster,' Kev thought.
"Where do they live?" Kev asked.
"I-I don't know." Natashe replied, "But I can find out for you. However..."
"However what?" Kev asked.
"That'll cost extra," Natasha revealed.
"The cost isn't an issue. I just want the answer as soon as possible," Kev replied.
He still didn't know where he was, but he intended to find out. If the tribe's territory was nearby, he didn't want to blindly wander into it and lose his life without even realizing how it happened.
"Anything else you're curious about?" Natasha asked.
"Not for the time being," Kev replied.
"Then, I'll go and get the information you need. You can hold onto my corporal body until then," Natasha said to Kev.
"Why do that?" Kev asked.
"You don't need to act ignorant. I know my presence brings you comfort, so I'm leaving a part of me with you. Be glad. I wouldn't have done this for any other man," Natasha replied.
"Whatever you say."
Kev rolled his eyes but put the book in his backpack anyway.