ch 254
Became a Swordsmanship Instructor at the Academy
Chapter 254
"Who is it?"
"Jinsu. He's in Guam and says the streets are full of monsters right now."
"What? Then..."
"Yeah. It seems like it's started."
If it were just a simple accident of a few monsters escaping from a portal, there would be no reason for Jinsu to speak like this.
I headed straight to the guild office with Se-jin.
When I turned on the TV, every channel was busy reporting breaking news about Guam.
Orcs and Goblins throughout the city center, along with Trolls and Ogres.
"I searched and it seems like monsters have only poured out in Guam."
As Se-jin said, our Republic of Korea and other countries still seem fine, but it's only a matter of time.
"At the latest, in a day or two, our country will become like that too. First, bring mother-in-law to our house."
There might be shelters near mother-in-law's house, but they won't be safer than our house where Luciel has laid various magical protections.
"Yes. I'll bring her and immediately spread the word to the guild members too."
"Yeah. Ask mother to contact relatives too and tell them to prepare to evacuate to nearby shelters. I'll go to Guam for a bit."
"You're going to Guam now? You just said Korea will soon become like Guam..."
Se-jin's complexion hardened considerably, seeming worried that I was going to Guam.
"I don't plan to stay long. I'll just find Jinsu and Minhee and bring them back."
Jinsu contacted me saying he's currently dealing with monsters around the hotel and asked me to take at least Minhee to Korea.
Minhee is also a proper S-rank Hunter, but right now Minhee isn't alone.
Fortunately, I had been to Guam before, so I immediately used teleportation magic.
Above Antonio International Airport.
The airport is still intact, but smoke is rising from not far from the airport.
Helicopters and fighter jets are also flying around, and the roads are completely jammed with cars that have flocked to evacuate.
It seems like every car on the island is heading toward the airport. It's probably not a very good choice.
Kieek!
A Wyvern spots me and lets out a shriek.
With aerial monsters like this around, will planes be able to take off?
It would be better to evacuate to shelters instead.
SWOOSH!
I sliced the Wyvern approaching me with Mental Focus and expanded the range of Absolute Domain.
I can feel the energy of all living creatures within the range, and while there are quite a few people and monsters, there doesn't seem to be any heterogeneous or particularly strong energy.
Since it's still early, have the Demons not appeared yet?
Thinking it's fortunate in this misfortune, I activated Mental Focus.
THUD!
As if giant hail were falling, aerial monsters including Wyverns flying above the airport began to crash down.
Not only aerial monsters, but also ground monsters from Ogres about to attack cars to Shadow Reapers massacring soldiers.
I turned all monsters within the Absolute Domain range into chunks of meat.
Since Jinsu said the hotel he's staying at is also near the airport, he must have breathed a sigh of relief too.
I took out my phone, opened the map app, and headed to the hotel Jinsu had told me about.
Using my movement technique to the fullest, I arrived in 3 minutes and found Jinsu spacing out in front of a large Ogre corpse.
There were several people nearby who looked like Hunters, all with bewildered expressions like Jinsu.
"Lee Jinsu, why are you like that?"
"Tea... Teacher? The monsters suddenly... Don't tell me you dealt with this, Teacher?"
"Yeah. I've cleared all the monsters in the vicinity."
"A-all of them? How on earth did you..."
"That's not important right now. Let's go get Minhee first."
"Yes... Yes."
I went into the hotel with Jinsu and brought the two of them to the guild.
"Teacher, thank you so much."
"Thanks for what. Anyway, hurry up and contact the people around you first."
"Contact them? Can't we take our time letting them know we're okay...?"
"Not that, tell your parents, friends, and relatives to prepare to evacuate to shelters."
"What? Then don't tell me what you warned us about..."
"Yeah. Soon, monsters will start pouring out in Korea too, just like what you two saw in Guam."
After warning the kids, I used teleportation magic again to return to Guam.
The reason I came back was because I felt heterogeneous energy at the edge of the Absolute Domain I had spread just as I was about to return.
A sticky, damp, and dark feeling. It's the Demonic Energy I felt when treating Luciel's wounds before.
The energy wasn't as strong as I thought, so it doesn't seem to be the Demon King.
In the original work, the Demon King's descent happens a month after portals worldwide are liberated.
Of course, since the original has been twisted, there's a possibility he might appear faster, but still, it doesn't seem to be the Demon King.
It's probably a Demon who came out for reconnaissance or scouting.
I spread Absolute Domain again and expanded my senses.
The life energy of people around that guy was disappearing rapidly, so I used my movement technique to the fullest.
The closer I got, the more clearly I could feel its energy.
At this level, it's definitely not the Demon King.
Of course, it's not a level to be completely disregarded, but it's at a level that our Se-jin, Do-hyun, or Lee Ji-sung could handle sufficiently.
After running for about 5 minutes, I encountered it.
A cow-like head with two giant horns,
A giant body about 10 times the size of an Ogre and two black wings about 2 meters that seemed small compared to the body.
Most notably, a red whip hanging from its waist.
There had never been cases of Demons appearing from existing portals, and such a creature never appeared in the original novel either.
But based on Luciel's description, there's one I can guess.
Demon Realm 1st Corps Commander Balrog Sprout.
The corps commander most favored by the Demon King, who I heard has tremendous strength bursting from his giant body, uses magic skillfully despite his physique, and above all, is a madman who enjoys slaughter.
It seems like he hasn't noticed me, so I killed my presence more and approached.
"P-please spare me."
"James!"
Looking closer, there's a person caught in its hand.
The only human energy I can sense nearby is those two.
The rest are all...
They say he's a madman who enjoys slaughter, and it seems like that person will also die if he applies just a little more strength, so I urgently used Formless Sword to cut off its arm.
At the same time, I used Blink to leap through space and saved the man from the severed arm.
—Hoho, you cut my arm?
Like when Kainakan or Luciel first spoke to me, I hear a murky voice in my head.
Can't he feel pain?
First priority is to save the man I rescued and the woman I can see over there.
I carried the rescued man and moved to the woman's side, took both of them, and came to the airport using teleportation magic.
The man was unconscious and the woman seemed to be trying to thank me, but I didn't have time to receive such greetings, so I used teleportation magic again.
When I returned to where Sprout was, the arm I had cut was intact.
I hadn't heard that he has excellent regeneration, so did he heal it with magic?
—Seeing the magic method, it's the method of those despicable ones I hate most... Are you a lackey of the Heavenly Realm?
"Shut up, when will the Demon King descend?"
—You even know that our Demon King will come, you don't seem to be just a simple lackey.
With those words, he takes out the red whip from his waist and swings it.
No, he tried to swing it, but the whip just disintegrated into pieces and disappeared.
This place is already within the range of Absolute Domain.
Unless he uses Absolute Domain like me to interfere, he can't cause me any harm.
—H-how did you destroy the Magic Whip! You bastard, what are you?
The leisure disappeared from his voice echoing in my head.
Honestly, I could have dodged or blocked it, but I deliberately smashed it to show the superiority of power, and it's effective.
"Only I ask questions. When will the Demon King descend?"
—*You lowly human dare... Gwaak!
THUD!
With those words, I activated Mental Focus and severed both legs, causing a loud sound and dust to rise.
"Only I ask questions."
The severed leg area bubbles up with green light.
It looks like he's regenerating with magic, so I controlled magic, but it seems he's using magic with his own Demonic Energy, so I can't stop it.
Well, it doesn't matter.
I just need to cut faster than he can regenerate.
I used Formless Sword once again.
This time the target is both wings.
Swoosh, swoosh!
KUWOONG! KUWOONG!
The two wings attached to his back fall off.
"Aaaaaak!"
The wings seem to be somewhat painful as he screams.
—How on earth... You bastard, aren't you human?
If he can't use Absolute Domain, not only can he not harm me, but he also can't block attacks.
"I told you only I ask questions, didn't I?"
Next I cut the arms, then the torso, then slice the entire body piece by piece while asking questions, but he didn't answer until the end.
Luciel also said it would be difficult to extract information from Demons.
As they say, there's no match for stubbornness. I tried asking just in case, but it doesn't seem to work.
I can't sense any energy so I'm certain, but since he's still a Demon, just in case, I used Samadhi True Fire to burn him cleanly to finish and returned to the Ares Guild office.
Se-jin isn't visible, and as soon as I arrived, my phone vibrated in my pocket, so I took it out and saw it was Se-jin.
—Where are you now? I confirmed that Eunseo and Minhee came earlier, but they said you suddenly disappeared...
"I'm in the office, where are you?"
—I finished spreading the word to guild members and I'm at the Blue House now. You should come here too.
"Okay. I'll come right away."
I had visited the Blue House several times before, so I immediately moved to the President's office, but it's empty here.
Is this not the place?
I spread Absolute Domain and tracked Se-jin's energy, and I can feel it from underground.
It seems like they're having a meeting in a bunker underground at the Blue House.
Going down, I met armed Hunters.
They looked somewhat surprised when I suddenly appeared, but it seems they received advance notice as one person stuck to me and guided me.
Following the guidance down, I found Se-jin, the President, the National Security Office Director, the Hunter Department Minister, and all the other important people gathered.
I lightly bowed my head in greeting and sat next to Se-jin.
But somehow Se-jin's expression isn't good.
The atmosphere seems a bit strange too.
"Oh, Hunter Kang, welcome. Is what Guild Master Kim said true?"
As soon as I sit down, the President throws a question at me.
"What did Guild Master Kim say?"
I can roughly guess, but I'm not a mind reader, and asking me right after I just arrived is a bit much.
"She said the time Hunter Kang warned about has come, and we need to use all media as soon as possible to broadcast evacuation messages and evacuate all citizens."
She spoke well.
"Yes. That's correct. Soon, monsters will start pouring out in our Republic of Korea too, just like in Guam."
"Look here, Hunter Kang. The portal detection system is still operating, but no special abnormalities are being detected in our country. Are you certain that our country will change like Guam?"
"If we evacuate citizens believing your words and nothing happens, how will we handle the aftermath..."
"Rather than hastily broadcasting evacuation messages now, wouldn't it be better to watch the situation a bit more? Looking at your silence, it seems like you're not confident either."
Irritation surges within me.
So this is why the atmosphere was strange and Se-jin's expression was bad.
The President isn't saying anything either, but... no, not saying anything means taking the bureaucrats' side, doesn't it?
Se-jin did say this President seems to be the type who gets swayed a lot by those around him, but I didn't know it would be to this extent.
If it were former President Kim Chul-hwan, this would never have happened.
Right. The administration has changed, and since I haven't been active externally recently, they seem to be taking me lightly.
Every minute and second is precious right now.
It can't be helped.
I have no choice but to completely overturn things once.