MHGA Chapter 237 – Thus the Kirin Becomes Fire
"What happened?"
V paused, startled by the way Kairo Retsu was groaning and clutching his head.
Don't tell her—something happened to this organization right after she joined?
"No! I mean—it's something serious in a different way!" Kairo panicked. "Why the hell is Kirin heading for Arasaka Tower… F**K! We were supposed to hunt it out in the Wastelands! If Kirin's charging Arasaka Tower now, both of our plans are screwed!"
"Kirin… attacking Arasaka Tower???"
David had literal question marks in his eyes.
He hadn't even had the chance to stand at the top of Arasaka Tower yet—and Joseph had already spirit-photographed an image of Kirin blasting the tower with furious lightning?
Kirin rebelled faster than he did?
He was still looking for backup—and Kirin, a mythical beast, was already charging Arasaka Tower?
Should he be asking Kirin to help him fight Arasaka?
As David spiraled into this string of thoughts, Arasaka Raizen was also stunned. "Kirin? That monster is attacking Arasaka Tower? Why? Wait—is it already doing that?"
"What the fk is a Kirin?" V was completely lost, still not caught up to the "Kirin plotline." "FK! How is there still more going on?!"
"No choice—we'll have to see for ourselves. There's a ridge right above this camp that's great for observing Kirin…" Kairo groaned, rubbing his temples. He rummaged through a supply chest and pulled out several binoculars, leading the group to the ridge top. They laid low on the hillside and cautiously peered toward Kirin's location.
The area—originally one of the rare patches of vegetation in the Wasteland—had now been completely stripped bare.
Even the cacti that grew in the Wasteland had been uprooted, leaving the land riddled with dug-up holes. Kirin's territory looked like it had been torn apart.
"Why are there so many holes?" Raizen was puzzled. "What's going on? Where is the Kirin?"
Just as he finished speaking, a loud rumble echoed in the distance.
The group raised their binoculars—just in time to see Kirin furiously stomping the ground, looking violently agitated, as if it were searching for something.
"F**K! What kind of monster is that?!" V cursed aloud.
The next moment, they saw Kirin dig up a chunk of cactus root and pounce on it, devouring it ravenously.
But even after wolfing that down, Kirin clearly wasn't satisfied. It immediately began digging again with frenzied intensity…
"…Why do I get the feeling this thing's starving out of its mind?" V asked, face full of confusion.
"Uhh… it might actually be starving," Kairo rubbed his chin awkwardly.
To be fair, the Hunters hadn't intended to challenge Kirin that often—they hadn't even finalized a proper hunt plan yet.
But Kairo had still brought along Kazuma, Joseph, Tanjiro, and the others now and then to challenge Kirin casually…
Partly to test their skills—and partly just to throw materials its way, hoping to keep it from going truly berserk.
Now, seeing Kirin's eyes glowing red with hunger, Kairo was starting to worry—was it about to start eating people?
"…It doesn't eat humans, right?" Raizen asked hesitantly.
After accepting that the Hunters were from another world, he was seriously beginning to suspect Kirin might be some kind of man-eating beast.
"It probably… doesn't," Kairo replied with a guilty look. "You know how it is—people in Night City are half acid, half iron. Pound for pound, they're fifty percent metal. I doubt Kirin would eat that…"
"PROBABLY?!" Raizen's eyes widened in horror.
"F**K! You guys brought this thing over here?!" V was incredulous. "What kind of Hunters are you?!"
"How is this our fault?! That's an Elder Dragon! You guys might not know what that means—but in the Hunter field guide, that's a full-on natural disaster class!" Kairo said, completely aggrieved. "We've done everything we can to feed it! Who would've thought that the biggest problem Kirin would face in this world… would be starvation?!"
Kairo threw up his hands. "Even if there were just a small forest, it wouldn't be like this! But all around Night City, it's nothing but cacti and dry grass… not even a single green belt in the city!!"
"You Cyberpunk people ever think about environmental protection, huh? Kora!?" Kairo flung the blame back without hesitation. "Ever heard of sustainable development, huh!?"
He wore a mournful expression as he continued, "Our mythical beasts used to live in energy-rich, lush, balanced ecosystems. Then somehow, they got pulled into this sh*thole called Night City… Look at it! Kirin's starving to the point of red-eye rage! It's tragic just thinking about it…"
"And Kirin's even a herbivore! It wouldn't attack humans out of hunger! There are records of Kirin raising children in Hunter archives, you know!"
Kairo ranted at length, enough to make Arasaka Raizen actually feel a bit ashamed.
V, however, finally retorted, "F**K! Like the environment was my fault! Night City's been a dump since the day I was born!"
"It's all because of those damn megacorporations," Raizen muttered, clenching his fists.
Meanwhile, David had fallen deep into thought.
"Guildmaster… is it possible… that the reason Kirin is heading for Arasaka Tower… is because it's hungry?" David suddenly said, eyes widening as something clicked.
"Huh? What would a starving Kirin be doing at Arasaka—eating steel? Munching on relic chips?" Kairo scratched his chin. "There's nothing in that tower a Kirin would want to eat… Wait."
Kairo paused.
"Raizen, didn't you say Saburo was gathering huge amounts of materials in Arasaka Tower to mass-produce that drug…?"
Kairo and Raizen exchanged a glance.
Realization hit them both.
And right at that moment, they heard V's alarmed scream:
"Enough yapping!! That THING is RUNNING!! It's headed straight for Night City!!"
"WHAT?!"
Kairo shouted and grabbed his binoculars, peering back toward Kirin.
Then the Guildmaster saw it.
Kirin—no longer digging—was charging straight toward Night City, eyes glowing bright red. Overhead, the clouds churned, and thunderheads began to gather and darken ominously.
"F**K YOUR MOTHER—ZONE CHANGE!!"
Kairo hurled the binoculars aside and slammed open the Gathering channel:
"EMERGENCY ASSEMBLE!!!!!!!"
"Kirin's going to Arasaka Tower to BECOME FIRE!!!"
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