Chapter 83: The Hunters
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: PlumSauce
The Medusa of myth had been powerful: steel hands, a back covered in scales, venomous fangs, wings growing from her back… In truth, the one beheaded by the hero Perseus was probably the “Prime Gorgon,” romantically called the “Mother Medusa”. Later Gorgons had evolved differently; they interbred with Cave Lizardmen, Homo caecofossor1, and other species. Over generations, their bodies became smaller, and their distinctive traits subtly shifted.
A Gorgon’s face was her deadliest weapon. Anyone who looked upon it would turn to stone. In return, she could not see her own reflection, for the petrifying effect worked on herself as well. Over centuries, through hybridization, modern Gorgons had undergone astonishing — or rather, regressive — evolution. They are all blind now, never able to see their own faces, nor the faces of their kin.
Some misunderstood their power, believing the petrifying curse came from their eyes. They let down their guard around modern Gorgons, whose eyes are closed, only to meet unfortunate deaths. The true danger was not in the eyes, but in the face itself.
Now, in the West Bay City office’s isolation room, there indeed sat a Gorgon named Peggy. She was bound to a bed, wore a straitjacket, her head completely encased in a rubber mask, the snakes atop her head restrained with rune-inscribed ropes.
Hearing the intruder mention a Gorgon, Erica felt her heart sink.
The figure in black robes was impenetrable; he wore sunglasses. Could he also be a Gorgon? But his voice sounded male — were there male Gorgons? She pressed the hidden alarm button at the front desk, the kind used in banks, which would alert West Bay City staff and notify them of a security breach.
“Sir, please cooperate with the procedure,” Erica said, handing him a form. “Regardless of your requests, please fill out this simple registration form first…”
She had no expectation that he would comply; she just wanted to buy time.
Carl and Lathander, the closest hunters in the office, emerged immediately after receiving the alarm signal. Less than half a second after their appearance, the intruder suddenly drew a gun and pressed it against Erica’s forehead.
He pulled her into his arms. Erica felt the gloved hand against her, the skin beneath hard and cold.
“Gorgon!” she shouted before being choked into silence, hoping to warn her colleagues of the intruder’s possible species so they could prepare defenses.
While the intruder held Erica hostage, Lathander and Carl dared not attack. They had no idea how fast this creature could pull the trigger.
Lathander said, “!@@#￥%+￥#￥%*&…?”
Erica frowned. “What are you saying? Even I don’t understand!”
“#￥%%￥￥#.” Lathander stuck out his tongue. Slightly longer than a human tongue and dark in color, it bore small metal studs along the sides, giving it the appearance of an octopus arm.
Carl translated, “He’s saying, ‘I just added two new tongue piercings — it hurts.’ Oh, the previous sentence was, ‘Please calm down, tell us what you need.’ This is directed at the…guest.”
Erica couldn’t believe it. “Demons heal quickly. How can tongue piercings still hurt?”
Lathander muttered something else. Carl translated again, “Normal nails don’t work; you need silver nails to burn the hole before inserting the jewelry… You masochist. Uh, that last one was me talking about him.”
The intruder remained silent as he listened, face obscured behind veil and sunglasses — whether his expression was amazed or not, none could tell.
As a hostage, Erica desperately thought of Instructor Jere, Coraci, Smith, John, Liz, Carolyn… No, never mind Carolyn; she wasn’t good at protecting hostages.
“Release the Gorgon,” the intruder demanded. “I know she’s here. Her name is Peggy, right? Give her to me.”
“I’m afraid not, sir,” Carl said, stepping forward to negotiate. “She’s extremely dangerous. I understand you’re excited, but think carefully. Your actions benefit no one. Put down the gun and let’s talk calmly, or else we…”
Erica felt the tension spike. Sure enough, Carl continued, “…or a large number of hunters will arrive and capture you too. Trust me — you won’t beat them.”
Erica snapped. “Enough! Are you negotiating or trying to provoke him?!”
The hand at her neck was steady. Luckily, the intruder did not waver at Carl’s foolish words.
Lathander shot Carl a disapproving glare. Carl whispered, “Isn’t that right? John told me we must guard against dark creatures, and we must not be afraid of them…”
But I‘m afraid, Erica thought hopelessly.
The intruder seemed to know he couldn’t linger; once more hunters gathered, escape would be impossible. He began moving farther inside, keeping his hold on Erica, unaware of the isolation room’s location. He intended to interrogate her.
Erica did not want to give it away, but her gaze betrayed her — when hiding a location, one instinctively looks toward it.
As the intruder approached the isolation room, Lathander carved a rune on his wrist with his fingernail. A black blade extended from the back of his hand, like a fist-sized dagger.
Just as he and Carl prepared to strike, the intruder noticed their intentions and turned, yanking his veil aside.
All three instinctively averted their eyes and closed them tightly. They guessed this one, too, was a Gorgon, and seeing his face would turn them to stone.
With her eyes closed, Erica felt herself pushed aside and stumbled to the floor. She heard Lathander scream, as if witnessing something extremely astonishing.
Erica was scooped up by someone moving rapidly toward the exit.
“Force-field gun!” a voice shouted from inside the room — it was Lathander. So the one carrying her must be Carl.
Though unsure, Erica retrieved her own force-field gun at her hip and fired. Within half a second, she and Carl were enveloped in a spherical barrier. Then in a split second, there was a violent explosion, sending shards flying and ripping through the room.
Erica opened her eyes, shocked at the chaos unleashed outside the barrier.
Carl moved with the speed of a bloodkin, carrying Erica out the door. Still, it wasn’t far enough — if Erica hadn’t had her gun, they would have been caught in the blast.
“Where’s Lathander?” Erica called.
Carl looked as if he were about to cry. He shook his head. “He ran in to stop him, and I had to save you…”
“Stop who from what?”
“Lathander, he tried to stop that… thing,” Carl explained. “That guy isn’t a Gorgon! He deliberately made us think he was, taking advantage of the moment we closed our eyes… He blew the isolation room door open. Erica, do you think an isolation room door can be blown open?”
The girl glanced at the gaping hole in the building. “I guess… Yeah. Our place isn’t a bank vault…and even bank vaults can be blown open, right?”
“I always thought isolation rooms were indestructible.”
“Only relatively speaking,” Erica said. “No supernatural creature is stronger than explosives.”
Carl pressed his body against the force-field barrier. “I wonder how Lathander’s doing… Do demons fear explosions?”
“You never learned, huh?” Erica asked.
“I remember…maybe? Or maybe not…”
Soon, other hunters and exorcists arrived, fire trucks rolling in behind them. The fire was brought under control, and Lathander stumbled out from the back door. He was injured, badly, but luckily his self-healing ability as a demon was strong. He summoned every ounce of energy to escape before the firefighters could see him — a severely burned being regrowing flesh would have horrified any ordinary human.
The Gorgon in the isolation room had been rescued; there were no remains left behind. As for the intruder… From Lathander’s and Carl’s descriptions, he was definitely not a Gorgon. He was a Stone Man — a humanoid being with intelligence and features resembling carved stone. He wore a headscarf and sunglasses to conceal his taupe, angular, stone-like skin.
Stone Men were extremely rare, usually confined to South Africa, virtually nonexistent elsewhere. Legends said that after trade routes opened, some adventurers discovered them and brought them abroad. Their peculiar appearance made it impossible for them to return home by themselves; even after gaining freedom, they wandered alone.
Stone Men had no gender and were infertile. Their species reproduced in a unique way: when an individual grew old enough, it would revert to stone in its homeland, and new Stone Men would grow from the stone. A Stone Man in a foreign land would remain forever isolated, without kin or descendants.
Erica recalled what she’d heard before: Stone Men could bore through earth and stone, useful both underground and in caves, but also for destroying man-made structures. The intruder had breached the office exterior wall but couldn’t open the metal walls of the isolation room, so he resorted to explosives.
The Association had no idea how the Stone Man had protected himself or the Gorgon during the blast. Perhaps, like Erica, he had certain storage or defense items. In any case, they had escaped.
Carolyn arrived, taking in the wreckage. “Can you believe it… They just made a hole in our building! Our defenses didn’t work?”
Smith stood beside her, helpless. “The protective compounds in the walls are mainly to keep dark creatures out. They can’t stop every attack. This building’s old — only the load-bearing parts have steel reinforcement. The rest? No internal metal support. I know it sounds flimsy, but most old West Bay City buildings are the same. And the isolation room — its walls have steel panels, yes, but aside from the magical protective layers, the door is basically the strength of a reinforced security door. Gas explosions could even breach that. Anyone determined enough, with the right chance, could blow a hole in almost any building…unless we built something like the Stark Tower. Plus, no Association anywhere has experience with Stone Men; we lack operational knowledge.”
“I didn’t even believe Stone Men existed when I was younger,” Instructor Jere said. “And yet this one wanted to rescue a ‘Medusa’? What is he trying to do?”
The Stone Man was one thing, but the Medusa was far more dangerous. She was a criminal, and now freed — who knew what she might do in West Bay City? Capturing two rare beings simultaneously required many people.
Instructor Jere pulled out his phone and dialed John. His vacation was supposed to start today, but now they had to call him back. John, a bloodkin with the ability to turn into mist, was perfect for reconnaissance; a Gorgon’s face cannot petrify three things: ordinary objects, spirits, or those who could transform into mist.
John answered while driving Coraci’s car. He had already delivered the Prison Cart sphere with the incubus, packed a few things, and left home half an hour ago. Understanding the gravity of the situation, he prepared to turn around immediately — but first, he needed to tell Coraci.
“I’m really sorry,” he said, driving and talking, bloodkin reflexes keeping the car steady. “Looks like I’ll have to postpone my trip for a few days. Can you wait for me there?”
“Of course,” Coraci replied, seated on the bus. According to the map, he was still an hour or two from the small town. After disembarking, he would have to follow the map and walk for a while before reaching John’s house.
“I’ll tell my parents a friend is visiting. They’re really friendly; no need to worry that they’re bloodkin.”
“I’ve never worried,” Coraci said with a smile, leaning against the window.
Before hanging up, Coraci asked about the new disturbance at the Association. After hearing John’s account, he covered his mouth and lowered his voice. “I once heard a story from my mother…Mira. Usually, people look at a Gorgon’s face and turn to stone. However, if a Stone Man looks at one long enough, he becomes human. And even after turning human, continuing to look won’t petrify him.”
“Really?”
“This isn’t in any book. Since Mira said it, I think it’s likely one of the Arcane Covenant’s research conclusions. John, if you’re going to tell the Association, you’d better find a plausible excuse — who else would believe it?”
John reacted quickly. “I think…it was three years ago, what you told me during an endless conversation.”
“Alright… fair enough,” Coraci replied.
He hung up and continued staring at the dim country road, occasionally humming along to the old songs playing softly in the bus. If he had been driving instead of riding, he might have noticed a black car trailing the bus ever since leaving Darling Town.
At the wheel was Old Peter, with Young Peter beside him — the same hunters who had appeared in Darling Town. In the back seat sat a woman, talking on her phone and giving instructions to someone.
After she hung up, Young Peter glanced back. “Are you sure it’s him? He doesn’t match the photo you gave us, and we didn’t see any special abilities. Most importantly, his behavior seems completely ordinary…”
“I’m certain it’s him, if the details you reported are accurate.”
“Of course they’re accurate. But which detail makes you so sure?”
The young woman smiled. “His interactions with John Lockland.”
She kept her gaze fixed on the bus up ahead, thoughtful. The headlights from the oncoming lane fell across her face. She was Lucian’s assistant, Charlotte.
Author’s Note:
This scene merges the side plot with the main story…finally. John and Coraci can’t really live their lives entirely in secrecy forever — they need to resolve this somehow.
Also, Coraci had sensed that the “father and son” at the incubus cult were hunters; he wasn’t wrong — but he hadn’t realized they weren’t observing the incubus, they were observing him.
And those two NPCs weren’t fixated only on “Coraci” — there were plenty of others like them acting as informants, constantly watching potential targets.
Lathander and Carl might seem bumbling, but in reality, they are quite skilled fighters — far beyond ordinary humans like Liz and Carolyn.
From The Unthreatening Creature Protection Association’s Guide to Unscientific Monsters:
Gorgons
The Prime Gorgon refers to Medusa herself. Over time, they hybridized with Cave Lizardmen, Homo caecofossor (blind cave-digging human subspecies with no pigmentation), and other groups, forming today’s Gorgons: bipedal, roughly human-female in height and appearance, with hair composed of writhing snakes.
- All Gorgons are congenitally blind. They cannot see each other’s faces nor their own reflections.
- Gorgons appear female, but they have two biological sexes. Male Gorgons also possess female secondary sexual characteristics.
- Any living creature that sees a Gorgon’s face turns to stone. This is not caused by the eyes emitting rays but by the face itself. Closing one’s eyes prevents petrification — but doing so may leave one vulnerable to other attacks, like being grabbed.
- Lifespan: Gorgons live slightly longer than humans, typically 150–200 years.
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