Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest

Chapter 424 97.2 - Breaking Down

"Estelle."

As the name "Estelle" left Irina's lips, the atmosphere shifted drastically. The calm night air turned heavy and oppressive, and a suffocating aura of death enveloped her.

Astron's demeanor changed in an instant. His eyes, which usually held a detached, calculating coldness, transformed into black voids, void of any warmth or light. His entire presence radiated a chilling, almost tangible malevolence. The pressure emanating from him was unlike anything Irina had ever felt, and she struggled to breathe, her vision beginning to blur as the weight of his killing intent bore through her body.

'This is…..'

It was an insane amount of killing intent. For this whole time that she had lived, this was the first time she was feeling such a thing.

'He really wants to kill me. Right here, right now!'

She shuddered, her body shaking uncontrollably. The world around her seemed to turn black as if Astron's very essence was consuming the light. Despite the terror coursing through her veins, she forced herself to stand her ground, refusing to back down.

"You…" Astron's voice was low and filled with a dangerous edge. "How do you know that name?"

The intensity of his gaze made Irina feel as though she was staring into the abyss itself. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she summoned every ounce of her courage to meet his gaze.

"I knew it," she said, her voice trembling but resolute. "Those were the events of the past."

Astron took a step closer, the pressure increasing. Irina felt as if her lungs were being crushed, but she refused to look away.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," he hissed, his voice barely more than a whisper yet filled with lethal intent.

"...Urghk….." It felt like he was strangling her down. With his hands covered on her neck. But she knew he was just standing still without moving. It was the result of his intent.

"Grrr….."

However, even if one had such a strong killing intent, that wouldn't mean they could kill everyone walking around. This world didn't work like that.

She started forcefully expelling her mana and strengthening her own aura. The fire in her chest burned, fighting against the intent.

She was once again regaining control of her body once again. She felt like breathing became easier, as did moving her mouth.

Now that it came down to this, she had no reason to back off. If she were to confront him, if she were to become his enemy, she didn't want to stay in darkness where she didn't know anything about him.

Just like a side heroine who just stood there as an accessory. She didn't want something like that.

"No. I know everything," she said, her voice growing stronger as she forced herself to stand tall. "Estelle was your sister. She was a good-natured, kind individual. A strong young girl who bore the responsibility of the village."

Astron's expression remained cold and unreadable, but Irina pressed on, drawing from the fragments of memories and visions she had pieced together.

"She was a strength to her younger brother, who was rather weak," Irina continued. "You grew up together, your bond unbreakable. You spent your nights together, sharing your dreams and fears, supporting each other through everything."

The intensity of Astron's killing intent began to waver, the pressure easing slightly as Irina's words struck a chord within him.

"But then, the demons came," Irina said, her voice trembling with the weight of the memories. "They took her from you. They took everything. And you were forced to watch it all happen, powerless to stop it."

Astron's eyes flickered with a mixture of pain and anger, the darkness within him shifting as the memories resurfaced. Irina could see the torment in his gaze, the agony of reliving those moments.

"She lost her life at the hands of those monsters," Irina said softly, her voice filled with empathy. "And you were left to bear the weight of that loss. The guilt, the anger, the pain—it has haunted you ever since."

For a moment, there was silence between them, the oppressive atmosphere lifting slightly as the truth hung in the air.

Irina took a step closer, her eyes never leaving Astron's.

"Yeah, you are right," Astron replied. But instead of feeling like reminiscing about the past or being in pain, his eyes were cold. "All these were right." He said, his eyes turning cold once again. "You already know everything."

SCHLINK! Under the glowing moonlight, he drew the blades, getting them out of nowhere.

"That is why you already know what I am going to do." He mumbled.

Irina's heart raced as the realization struck her. He wasn't just angry—he was ready to kill her. The light flashed before her eyes as the blade approached her neck with terrifying speed.

She was caught off guard, unable to react in time. The swiftness of his attack left her no room to defend herself. The world seemed to slow down as the blade drew nearer, and at that moment, Irina felt a deep sense of regret. Not because she was about to die but because she couldn't help the person who had once helped her so much.

As the blade hovered millimeters from her neck, she sat there, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and determination. "Do you really think this is what Estelle would want you to do?"

The words hung in the air, and for a split second, everything stopped. The blade remained poised at her neck, but it did not move further.

Astron's eyes widened slightly, the cold void in them wavering. The question seemed to pierce through his rage, reaching a part of him that had been buried under layers of pain and anger.

And that was at that moment of exploitation that she had been waiting.

'That is right. No matter what, you are not an inhumane machine. You are a human, too.' "Is this how she would want her brother to act if she were here? To remove anyone that comes close to him?" she pressed on, her voice gaining strength with each word. "Is this your way of coping with your loss? Constantly training to no end, tiring yourself out? Constantly trying to detach yourself from the world, never having anything for yourself to do?"

Astron's grip on the blade tightened further, his eyes reflecting the turmoil within him. Irina's words were like arrows piercing through the armor he had built around his heart.

"Is this how you respect the life that was saved by the person you loved the most?" Irina continued, her tone filled with both challenge and compassion. "Is this the value you put into her efforts to make this life possible?"

"Do you think I wanted that!" Astron's voice broke through Irina's words, filled with anger and anguish. For the first time, his usually calm and emotionless face was contorted with raw emotion. "Do you think that was what I wanted? Do you think I wanted to live like this, huh?!"

Irina took a step back, her eyes wide as she watched the storm of emotions erupting from Astron. The intensity of his feelings was overwhelming, and she could feel the weight of his pain in every word.

"I never wanted this!" Astron continued, his voice trembling with rage and sorrow. "I never wanted to live in a world where I had to constantly train, constantly fight, constantly detach myself from everything and everyone. Do you think I enjoy this? Do you think this is what I chose?"

His grip on the blade tightened, his knuckles turning white. "I was supposed to be the one who died. It should have been me! Estelle was the one who deserved to live, not me! She was strong, kind, and everything I wasn't. She was the one who should have had a future, not me!"

Astron's eyes were cold as he continued, his voice cracking with emotion.

"But instead, everything was taken from her. Her life, her dreams, her future. And I was left here with nothing but guilt and pain. I don't deserve anything good in this life. I'm not someone who should have happiness or peace. I'm supposed to pay for my weakness and my inability to protect her."

He paused, his chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath. "Do you know what it's like to feel that kind of guilt every day? To wake up every morning knowing that you're the reason someone else is dead? To know that no matter what you do, you can never make up for it?"

But the more she listened, the more she got angry. After all those things that they did together, this guy was doing the same thing to himself again and again.

The hatred he had towards himself.

She knew it all too well. She knew how this felt.

After all, she, too, lost someone, maybe not in the same manner as him, but in a similar way. At that time, she didn't know what he was going through or how he was having a hard time. And at the end of the day, he lost himself at the expectations thrown at him.

She still remembered the face that he made when he lost himself. That was why she couldn't tolerate it. She couldn't tolerate being in the same position once again.

To be the one who is unable to help. To just stand back and watch everything.

"I know."

Thus, she stood up.

"A certain someone told me that I was not the only person who lost someone in this world. As a reminder of my own actions."

She was getting angrier with each second.

'Who does this bastard think he is? Does he think the world revolves around him? Does he think just suffering alone will make everything right? Does he really think nobody wants to be on his side?'

The more she thought about it, the more she got angrier at him.

"But it seems that bastard has forgotten to say the same thing to himself."

Fire once again burned around her body, stemming from her heart.

"So let me tell him for his own sake."

She brought her face closer to him.

He got somehow taller, and he was now towering over her a little. But that didn't matter at that moment.

"You stupid bastard. You are not the only one who lost someone in this world. You are not the only one who is in pain."

"….."

Astron's eyes widened slightly, but he remained silent, absorbing her words.

"But you are certainly one thing," Irina continued, her voice unwavering. "You are a coward. A coward who is afraid of making any connections just because he is afraid to lose someone once again."

The accusation hung in the air, and Irina could see the impact it had on Astron. His expression tightened, but he didn't look away.

"And what an irony it is," Irina said with a bitter laugh, "that I fell for such a cowardly bastard."

Without giving him a chance to respond, Irina closed the distance between them, her heart pounding in her chest. She reached up and cupped his face with her hands, her eyes locked onto his.

Then, with a surge of emotion, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his.

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