Where’s the pig?

I quickly pulled out the field guide. Using the glow of its display, I swept the area. Hesh and Tom, tense as well, switched on their watch lights to scan the surroundings.

If the field guide had sounded an alarm, that meant it was here.

“Ugh.”

Hesh spotted it first.

All our heads snapped ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) toward him.

And there it was, standing where his light pointed.

In the corner of the underground parking garage. A massive presence filling the space.

“How the hell is it that big?”

The words spilled reflexively from Tom’s mouth.

I wanted to say the same, but shock clogged my throat.

A pig. Only, not the size of any pig I had ever imagined. It was nearly the size of a mid-large SUV.

From its pig head, dozens of eyes rolled wildly and locked on us.

“Call the senior—”

Boom!

A shockwave hammered our ears as if our eardrums would burst. Without a sound of footsteps, it was already beside us. We dodged by a hair’s breadth. Like Tom and Hesh, I flung myself aside, rolling across the concrete.

“How is it that fast?!”

Hesh gasped as he chambered his gun.

Bang!

The bullet seemed to hit dead on, but it had no effect.

The pig, which had just slammed into the wall, twisted its body. Its rolling eyes fixed on Tom, still sprawled on the ground.

“Tom!”

“Idiot! Why’re you pulling a gun?!”

Bang!

Instead of scrambling away, Tom fired. The shot struck one of its eyes. Pop! A wet spray burst out.

Dozens of eyes, yet hitting one in this darkness was impressive.

But the pig didn’t scream or falter. It simply raised a front leg to crush Tom.

Thud!

If I hadn’t slid in and dragged Tom out of the way, he would have been pulp.

From across the garage, Hesh shouted.

“Nice!”

“Run, you fool!”

I yanked Tom to his feet and shoved him back.

“Guns don’t work!”

“What about you?”

Tom resisted, asking back.

“Why are you—”

Boom!

The pig slammed into the spot we’d just occupied.

We dodged narrowly, but now it was right beside me. Instinctively, I drew my sword. With the target so close, there was no time to hesitate.

I gripped the hilt and swung.

“Ah.”

The blade bit into its hide.

I felt the hardness of the outer flesh through my hands. The rushed swing lacked force. Worse, the angle was wrong. To pierce this skin, I would need a vertical strike, not a horizontal one. If I pulled the blade free and drove it down, it would go in much cleaner—

But my body went flying.

“Hilde!”

Crash!

A heavy impact enveloped me. I rolled with a drum barrel across the floor. Its body blow had smashed into my stomach. Heat flared through my belly. That had landed solid. My legs buckled; I couldn’t stand.

If my regeneration were as good as the others, I’d be back up by now.

Boom!

I wasn’t crushed beneath its hooves only because Tom leapt in and dragged me away.

“Can you run?”

“...Not yet.”

Thankfully, I still had the sword in my grip.

“Lend it to me!”

Hesh shouted, shining his watch light our way.

“Keep running! I’ll stab it with this!”

He was right. Me holding onto it now was useless.

I thrust it out to him. The moment Hesh snatched the sword, the pig barreled into us again. Tom and I rolled right, Hesh left.

The beast turned toward Hesh, drawn by the cry he let out.

“Uraaaaaaah!”

Why scream like that?

I cringed with secondhand embarrassment. Tom turned his head aside too, clearly sharing it. Still, I was grateful—he had bought our chance by drawing its gaze.

Hesh charged it head-on.

Thwack!

But his grip on the sword was wrong.

Boom!

Our brown-haired peer went flying, slammed into the wall by its body just as I had.

A tremendous crash.

Yet Tom, supporting me, didn’t look worried.

“He’ll be fine.”

And indeed, Hesh sprang up.

His watch beam, flipped upward toward the ceiling, soon steadied again. Out of the shadows, the pig re-emerged. This time it halted, giving off a strange groan. It seemed the strike had hurt after all.

Problem was, the sword was still stuck in its body.

Hesh bit his lip and raised his gun.

“If we blind all the eyes, it won’t see!”

“Then I’ll pull the blade out.”

Feeling the heat in my stomach fade, I gathered strength in my legs.

Tom turned his head, locking eyes with me.

“Then I’ll keep the light on it.”

“No. Your recovery’s poor. If you clash with it again, who knows how bad you’ll get hurt.”

“If I keep thinking like that, what’s the point of being a Badger?”

At my flat retort, Tom shut his mouth.

I straightened, no longer leaning on him. My recovery wasn’t as extraordinary as the others’, but it was decent. My battered body was already coming back. I could run again. I could reclaim my sword from where it was lodged near its ear.

‘Too thin. Too short.’

That thought whispered through my head. The blade was good quality, but thinner and shorter than what I favored.

Next time, I’d need something heavier, longer.

What sword did I use before?

Bang! Bang! Bang!

My thoughts snapped back.

Hesh was firing, bursting eye after eye. Fluid splattered. Through narrowed vision, I caught the charging beast in the dark.

It didn’t stop.

Boom! Hesh barely dodged once more.

“Here.”

Tom whispered beside me.

A beam of light carved a path through the garage. At the far end, the huge creature turned its bulk.

I ran for it.

More precisely, for the sword stuck in its ear.

The blade gleamed as it caught the watchlight in the shadows. I seized it.

“Hey! Careful—”

Shhhlick!

Blood sprayed.

I tore the sword free and slashed vertically. A straight red line opened.

Yes. That went in properly.

The creature shrieked, twisting toward me. My hand, slick with blood, clenched tight on the hilt.

Too thin, too short. Not enough to drive with full force. But a sword was still a sword.

“It’s coming again!”

“Dodge!”

Thud.

Rumble, crash!

The charging pig slammed against me. I braced the blade flat, catching it head-on.

Damn, it was strong. My stance was fine, but its power pushed me back. My body skidded, slammed into the wall.

Still, it wasn’t like before.

“This one—”

I heaved, forcing my arms to redirect its weight.

“—is the last.”

I pulled the sword in a sweeping half-circle.

The creature staggered back. My comrades’ lights pinned it in place.

Its balance wavered. The opening was clear.

That moment, when it tried to steady itself, was always best.

Slash!

I leapt in and drew the blade downward.

Screeeeech—

The sound of its throat ripping.

A piercing death cry rang through the garage. My stroke was long, from above my head down through its chest. Flesh split. Blood drenched me. It burst in my face, soaked me head to toe.

Coughing, the beast toppled.

Thud.

It bounced off barrels and crashed onto the floor.

The copper stench of blood filled the air. Silence fell. No movement stirred in the underground garage. My peers froze in place, panting, shining their watchlights on the corpse.

Their eyes stuck on the massive carcass, absorbed by the shock of the fight we hadn’t expected.

The sound of a keypad broke the stillness.

“What the—”

Click! The lights flared on.

“What the hell are you kids... No, fuck, what is this? Why the hell is a pig here?”

“And why’s it so huge?”

Jason Trevain cursed as he stared down at the carcass. Behind him, Leeho froze at the sight.

Our two seniors stood over the dead beast.

And just like that, we’d solved the mystery of the missing food supply.

***

The parking garage was suddenly crowded.

While we’d been running for our lives, the mentors had arrived.

Familiar faces followed behind Leeho. Two of the shooters who’d gone after the witches. They appeared, neat and fresh like when Carl and Angela had shown up, coming for their rookies.

Soon the garage was noisy.

The place once filled with darkness and blood now overflowed with light and chatter.

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Hesh. How did you end up down here?”

“Well...”

Each of my peers talked with their mentors.

The air settled into something normal again. Relief seeped through me, my taut muscles loosening. I turned toward the seniors, still squinting against the harsh lights.

There they were—Leeho and Trevain, grimacing at the pig corpse, muttering that they’d never seen one so big.

I just wanted to go home.

That weak, drooping thought lingered in me.

Until a voice came from the corner.

“Not bad.”

I jolted upright.

“Oh, come on!”

“As I suspected.”

Turning, I saw Yun. A faint smile played on his lips.

The moment my tired eyes met his, goosebumps broke across my skin. In his right hand, he held a sword nearly identical in size to mine.

Why was he walking toward me with a sword?

And hold on—how did he even know how I’d fought? When we were clashing with that creature, it was just the three of us here.

Why was he coming at me with a blade?!

Everyone else was warmly praising their mentees, yet here he came—

Clang!

I blocked his sudden swing with my own sword.

All eyes snapped toward us. I felt their stares pierce my skin. But I had no room to care, and Yun clearly didn’t either.

That crooked smile didn’t leave his clean-cut face.

He kept his grip firm, his voice low.

“Anything you need to say right now?”

“...What?”

“If not, we’ll just spar here and now.”

His cold smile stretched longer.

“Better to carve it into your body before you forget.”

Insane!

No, wait—

“A bigger—”

Yun fixed his gaze on me.

I felt the baffled stares of everyone. What the hell was he blurting out?

But I couldn’t think about them. I was too busy desperately parrying his strikes.

“A... a bigger sword, please...”

Yun blinked.

Silence fell.

Broken only when Hesh shouted, “Hilde! You’re bleeding!”

At that, Yun finally lowered his sword.

And I managed to return safely to Hesh and Tom’s side.