62 - Chapter 60: Rescue
When Natalia arrived at the dimensional gate, the officials had already finished preparing for her entry.
Having spent the last few hours anxiously monitoring the gate's stability on their equipment, they looked like devout believers witnessing the Second Coming the moment she appeared.
Ignoring the starstruck officials, she grabbed her gear and stepped straight into the gate.
The interior of the gate took the shape of a massive circular arena.
"Hmm..."
As she stood in the center of the arena, scanning the empty spectator stands, a heavy iron grate on the far side ground open, and a monster crawled out.
Standing easily two and a half meters tall despite its hunched posture, the creature had grayish skin, long limbs, and a frame that looked deceptively scrawny for its massive bulk.
It was a troll.
Trolls were a troublesome species, often appearing as boss monsters in mid-to-high-rank gates.
In Natalia's current situation, it was the worst possible opponent.
The reason, of course, was the troll's absurd vitality.
Even if you shredded its heart or crushed its skull, a troll's body would rapidly knit itself back together.
They weren't truly immortal, of course. If you kept inflicting wounds and forced them to regenerate repeatedly, they would eventually run out of energy and die.
Under normal circumstances, it would be nothing more than an annoyance to Natalia, never a real threat.
But right now, with time being of the essence, it was a different story.
"Tsk."
Natalia holstered her gun with an annoyed click of her tongue and drew the machete she wore at her waist.
Feeling the familiar weight of a blade she hadn't drawn in ages, she gave it a few experimental swings to get her bearings.
All the while, her eyes never left the troll, sizing it up.
Let's see. Is that axe in its right hand its only weapon?
If so, this would be simpler than she'd thought.
Even though she was already warmed up, Natalia kept swinging the machete in a steady, rhythmic motion. The troll merely watched her, making no move to strike first.
Then, the moment the troll's focus wavered, lulled by her repetitive movements—
Now.
She seized the split-second opening and lunged forward.
Slipping past the troll's lax guard, Natalia closed the distance in a flash, her machete slicing through the air.
The blade sheared clean through the troll's right wrist, sending the hand holding the axe flying.
Because of their insane regenerative abilities, trolls had little use for pain. In fact, for a creature that didn't need biological warning systems, a lack of pain receptors was actually an advantage.
With such dull nerves, the beast didn't thrash or howl in agony just because its hand had been severed.
Naturally, the bleeding from the stump stopped instantly, and a new hand began to sprout right before her eyes.
As expected.
Natalia had anticipated this, of course. Her only goal had been to disarm the beast.
While the hand was still regenerating, she slipped behind the troll.
Leaping onto its back—which was surprisingly broad despite its scrawny frame—she wrapped a heavy metal chain around its neck and pulled tight.
"Kgh...! Urgh...!"
At last, the troll, which had remained completely unfazed by the loss of its hand, began to panic.
Regeneration couldn't fix a lack of oxygen. Desperate to breathe, the troll thrashed like a bucking bronco.
"Gah...! Ack...! Gyaaaah!"
It choked and sputtered, flailing its arms wildly behind its back, but to an S-rank Hunter, bare hands were no threat at all.
Before long, the troll's face turned blue, and it collapsed. Natalia, escaping with nothing more than a few minor bruises, unwrapped the chain and stepped off its back.
"Phew..."
After that, a steady stream of monsters poured into the arena. It was a lineup worthy of the venue.
A salamander, too hot to approach, was quickly put down with a hail of rifle fire. A cockatrice, capable of petrifying anyone who met its gaze, was reduced to raw chicken after she predicted its movements solely by watching its feet.
When a physical-immune ghost appeared, she deliberately let it possess her, only to activate the sealing circle engraved on her own body. She took some spiritual damage in the process, but it was well within manageable limits.
An Undine water spirit was instantly pacified with a mild jolt of lightning magic, and a swarming horde of insects proved to be nothing more than mosquitoes before an electric fly swatter.
Dispatching each threat with ruthless efficiency, she soon found herself facing the gate's boss.
The boss was a Living Armor—a predictable choice, given the arena theme.
Tricks won't work on that thing. I'll have to take it down with raw power.
With that thought, Natalia raised her right index finger.
Mana surged into her fingertip, compressing the energy of her entire body into a single point, dense enough to rival a black hole.
"Don't bother moving. You can't dodge this anyway."
Before the Living Armor could even react, Natalia thrust her finger straight through its breastplate.
At first, it left only a neat, finger-sized hole.
But a split second later, the delayed shockwave caught up, blowing the hole open to the size of a watermelon.
The residual energy backflowed, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that temporarily blinded her.
The Living Armor, famed for its impenetrable defense, had been obliterated in a single strike.
"Phew..."
With the gate cleared, Natalia let out a long sigh, pulled a high-grade fatigue recovery potion from her bag, and downed it.
Outside, the entrance of the floating gate began to ripple.
Seeing this, the Portal Management Department staff went pale.
"W-What? Is the Gate Overflow starting already? This is way ahead of schedule!"
"No, wait... according to the readings, the energy levels are stable. Did she already clear it?"
"Are you an idiot? She just went in! There's no way she's already done—"
The senior official's scolding died in his throat.
Stepping out from the rippling gate was none other than Natalia.
"H-How is she already..."
The staff stared at her as if she were a ghost, though their shock was mixed with profound relief.
Without giving them a second glance, Natalia walked away as the gate collapsed behind her.
She headed straight for the location where Han Su-hyeon was being held, a lead she had squeezed out of the police.
Stopping near the target building, Natalia pulled out a small glass vial. It was a secret parting gift from the researcher she'd consulted about the Belladonna.
Inside was a tiny, fly-like monster.
It was a familiar of the monster Beelzebub.
Natalia uncorked the vial and slipped her finger inside.
The familiar reacted instantly, fluttering up to perch on her fingertip.
A mental link snapped into place, binding the creature to her will.
The familiar's primary ability was shared vision.
Suddenly, Natalia's left eye began projecting everything the insect saw.
"Good. Go."
At her command, the familiar buzzed silently toward the building.
As much as I'd love to kick down the front door and beat everyone to a pulp... securing the hostage comes first.
She needed to slip in undetected and ensure his safety before making a scene.
Guiding the familiar through the interior, Natalia mapped out the building's layout, searching for any sign of Han Su-hyeon.
It didn't take long for her to commit the entire floor plan to memory.
More importantly, she managed to pinpoint the exact room where he was being held.
Alright, let's move.
With the recon complete, she recalled the familiar and approached the building.
She bypassed both the front and back entrances.
Instead, she slipped into a narrow alleyway between the buildings.
According to the familiar, there's an unlocked window on this side.
Tucked away in a blind spot and relatively small, it was no surprise the guards had overlooked it.
Of course, even a neglected window had a basic security sensor.
But it was a cheap model, easily fried when Natalia ran a small electrical current through it to trigger an overload.
With the alarm disabled, she slid the window open. It was a tight squeeze for her chest and hips, but she managed to wriggle through without much trouble.
Once inside, she didn't just barge out. Instead, she slipped the familiar under the door crack to scout the hallway.
Clear.*
Confirming the coast was clear, she eased the door open.
She continued her stealthy advance, using the familiar like a reconnaissance drone to spot any guards ahead of time.
Thanks to her careful approach, she reached her destination completely undetected.