Chapter 34: The Horn Tiger
The White Dome was expanding rapidly.
What had been a mere half-mile radius from its center, the White Dome had already swallowed all of Tech Row Boulevard and had now expanded to nearly a mile.
The gap between it and Tech Row High School, where Walfred and Lauren were staying, was barely a quarter mile.
’At that rate...!’
It would reach them soon.
Even a rough estimate said thirty minutes, no, he couldn’t even guarantee ten. Realizing there was no time to dawdle, Walfred shook Lauren roughly.
"Lauren! Wake up! Hurry!"
"...Mmm. Is it morning already?"
Lauren opened her bleary eyes.
But all she could see beyond the window was heavy darkness. Realizing it wasn’t daylight yet, she looked back at him in confusion.
"Huh? It’s still night, so why..."
"Get up. Now. And pack your things."
"Wh-what’s going on?"
"The White Dome is growing. If we don’t run right now, we might get swallowed too!"
"...!"
Lauren’s eyes went wide.
Every trace of sleep vanished from her face.
Grasping the situation instantly, she scrambled to gather her things. In no time, Walfred and Lauren had finished preparing and bolted out of the classroom.
"Run!"
The two of them sprinted across the schoolyard.
Walfred and Lauren burst through the front gate and tore down the narrow alley. Lauren, running frantically to keep up with Walfred, shouted from behind.
"B-but where are we going?!"
"As far away as possible!"
There was no real destination.
Right now, the only thought in his head was to get away from the White Dome. So they ran in the opposite direction, toward the Crown Heights area.
’If we can just get past the South Brooklyn Tunnel...!’
From there, it would be flat ground.
Then they could pick up even more speed. With that thought, Walfred stole a glance at the White Dome, still expanding without pause.
’More importantly, why is it suddenly doing this?’
It had only been growing by inches at a time. So why was it now expanding like it had gone haywire?
Just as the question dominated his thoughts.
He suddenly recalled one of the characteristics of the White Dome that Bauer had mentioned.
[If a living creature enters the White Dome, the dome’s territory expands dramatically after a delay of at least one day and up to three days.]
The moment he recalled that explanation.
Walfred realized why the White Dome had suddenly gone out of control.
’Someone went inside!’
And not just one or two people.
For the White Dome to be expanding that explosively, dozens of people must have entered at minimum.
Worst of all, non-Awakened people who couldn’t access the Hunter Community were being swallowed by the White Dome without knowing a thing.
’It might not just be the Silicon Alley District. The entire city of New York could get swallowed by the White Dome.’
A true worst-case scenario.
It might have been an exaggeration, but that was how alarming the White Dome’s rate of expansion was.
The silver lining was that Walfred was far faster than the dome’s growth. In the meantime, he passed through the South Brooklyn Tunnel and entered a residential neighborhood.
And then.
He froze.
Walfred stopped in his tracks.
Lauren, who had been following five yards behind, stopped right along with him.
"Mister? Why... Gasp!"
Her eyes flew open in shock.
She immediately understood why Walfred had suddenly stopped. It was because of the monster standing right in the middle of the residential alley.
"Grrrrrr!"
A beast even more massive than a two-and-a-half-ton truck.
Snow-white hide with black stripes.
And a sky-blue horn jutting straight up from the center of its forehead. After taking in its appearance, Walfred muttered with a low groan.
"...Horn Tiger."
A beast-type monster, and B-rank no less.
He’d seen it recently on the Info/Strategy Board.
The thing had powerful resistance to frost, wind, and light attributes, and once a fight started, it was a nightmare opponent that unleashed devastating frost magic from its horn.
For Walfred, it was practically a natural predator.
’Of all the times...!’
The White Dome behind him, a Horn Tiger ahead.
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
But there was no time to hesitate, so Walfred immediately activated [Frozen Weapon]. He had to force his way through.
But then.
"Grrrn?"
The Horn Tiger’s gaze suddenly shifted past Walfred to what lay behind him. A moment later, its pupils contracted into vertical slits and dilated wide.
Flinch!
The massive predator trembled.
Like a prey animal face to face with its natural enemy.
A moment later, the Horn Tiger whipped its head away as if Walfred didn’t even exist. Then it fled down the opposite street at full speed.
"Wh-what?"
The Horn Tiger vanished in the blink of an eye.
Walfred stared blankly at its retreating form, then turned around. What filled his vision was the White Dome, growing without end.
"Ha..."
A hollow laugh escaped him at the sight.
A terror that sent even B-rank monsters turning tail and running. What on earth was inside that thing to provoke a reaction like that?
For a moment, curiosity surpassed his confusion, but there was no time to pursue it. Walfred snapped back to his senses and picked up the pace again.
Da-da-da-da-da!
As they raced down the icy streets.
Lauren, who had been following behind Walfred, began to slow down. The fatigue she’d built up from pushing herself during the day’s trek had caught up with her.
"Hah, hah!"
Lauren stumbled, her legs giving out.
Walfred stopped and walked over to her.
"Get on my back."
"...What?"
"Climb on. You’re at your limit."
"B-but then your skill, mister..."
"It doesn’t matter, so get on. Every monster out here is running away from that thing anyway."
There wouldn’t be any monster fights until the White Dome stopped expanding. When Walfred insisted again, Lauren finally climbed onto his back.
A notification appeared saying [Frost Domain]’s skill effect had been deactivated, but fortunately [Snow Walker]’s speed buff was still in effect.
After all, [Snow Walker]’s activation condition only required standing on snow or ice.
"Here we go. Hold on tight!"
Walfred kicked off the ground with everything he had.