Boss Raid
“Grrraaaaah….”
An Upper-class Abyss exhaled its final breath and died.
The humanoid Abyss tossed the corpse aside without a second glance, then slowly swept its gaze across the surroundings.
In that moment, nothing remained around it but the countless bodies of its own kind. Not a single living thing was left. No creature remained over which it could assert dominion—nor any that might bare its fangs in defiance.
All that was left now were the countless humans standing along the ridge above.
For reasons it could not fathom, the humans were not attacking—but that hardly mattered. It was a weapon. A being engineered to eradicate every life form that entered its sight. Surrendering once more to that instinct, it prepared to move, intent on wiping out every last one of those innumerable humans.
Then—
“Grrrr….”
In the next instant, human presences suddenly registered all around it. Seven of them, as if they had just descended from the sky. Instinct told it that each of them possessed power of an entirely different caliber from any human it had encountered before.
But that fact meant nothing to it. Whether the enemy before it was strong or weak, its sole purpose was to destroy them utterly. The finer details were none of its concern.
Nine Guild Master-class hunters had been deployed to take down the humanoid Abyss in question. A few of the adjutants had raised eyebrows at the inclusion of not only Are but Gwon-sun as well—but I had already taken steps beforehand to ensure the Guild Masters wouldn’t push back on that point.
It hadn’t been anything elaborate. I’d simply arranged a mock battle that doubled as training, so the Guild Masters could see the two women’s capabilities for themselves. Both of them had demonstrated combat power that held its own against any ordinary S-class hunter, and the Guild Masters had naturally come to understand why I’d insisted on putting them on the field.
Of course… Are was one thing, but with Gwon-sun it did feel like I was pushing it a little…
From Gwon-sun’s perspective, this wasn’t just another sortie—it was a process she had to overcome in order to settle a comrade’s unfinished business. Because she had thrown herself into it with everything she had, she had earned the Guild Masters’ recognition despite her slightly lacking skill, and that was why she could stand in that position now.
“All right, then… time I got started myself.”
Having finished delivering the operational overview, I left the finer points of command during the battle up to the individual adjutants. I trusted that even if they struggled to grasp the big picture, they were more than capable of doing their jobs within the framework I’d laid out.
And sure enough, they had succeeded—exactly as I’d scripted—in slaughtering the fifty thousand black monsters that had been here, leaving only the humanoid Abysses.
Even so, from this point forward…
From this moment, when the worst-case scenario could render every effort so far meaningless, I had to step in and handle things myself.
Nine people… Much easier than controlling thirty at once, but given what we’re up against, I can’t afford to let my guard down.
Steeling myself, I placed my hands on the seven connection buttons and spoke in a calm, even voice.
“We will now commence the final operation. Guild Masters—and you two—please begin combat.”
The Abyss stood before them, regarding them with cold, pitiless eyes. Its form was that of a pure-white human woman, but from its waist rose a massive dragon’s head, fixed on them with predatory intent—and the sight alone stirred a primal dread.
It was a monster so overwhelming that even a hunter’s heightened instincts screamed in warning. The aftermath of slaughtering its countless kin had left minor wounds scattered across its body, but nothing that could be called a critical injury had survived that bloodbath.
Once more registering just how dangerous the being before them truly was, the Guild Masters tightened their grip on their nerves.
“Well, well… Looks like we’ve ended up fighting one hell of an absurd monster.”
“Agreed. I never thought we’d run into something we couldn’t beat one-on-one.”
Even in a situation like this, the two Guild Masters managed a touch of levity—but their hands clenched hard around the greatsword and anti-materiel sniper rifle they respectively held.
A terrifyingly powerful foe, the likes of which they had never faced. They had watched the creature fight from a distance, but neither of them had the faintest idea how or from where it would strike.
Then—
Into the ears of the two women, who had been wound tight with tension, came a calm yet crystal-clear voice.
“Dajeong. Juwol. Fall back three meters.”
“!”
“Ah—right!”
Following the order, the two immediately pulled back. They had no idea why the command had been given or why they needed to move—but the adjutant in charge of command had spoken, so they obeyed.
And right after—
CRACK!
“!”
“Ghk—!”
In the next instant, the Abyss’s enormous head slammed down into the exact spot where they had been standing. Realizing that a fraction of a second’s delay would have led to something they preferred not to imagine, both women felt a chill race down their spines—and at the same time, found themselves automatically marveling at Adjutant Lee Jinhyun’s eye for reading a situation even they hadn’t registered.
And then—
“Don’t stop there, either of you. A follow-up strike is coming!”
Jinhyun’s tone had sharpened just a fraction. The two women who had become the creature’s targets immediately threw themselves backward again—and the Abyss stuck to them like a shadow.
It looked determined not to let its chosen prey escape. Its speed was so blistering that even those two, among the absolute elite of all hunters, could only barely dodge its attacks.
“Damn it! What the hell is this thing?!”
“Juwol—beside you!”
In a flash, the black dragon head lunged in from the side. Guild Master Juwol dropped low and slipped past it by a hair—but the head immediately switched targets, barreling straight toward Dajeong, who had been running alongside her.
“Son of a bitch!”
The sheer urgency of the moment tore a curse from Dajeong’s throat as she drove her greatsword toward the creature’s skull. But—
“Kh—!”
The instant the blade struck, Dajeong knew with absolute clarity: that blow hadn’t even managed to pierce its hide. Still, she used the lodged sword as a lever, vaulting clean over the creature’s head and escaping the attack.
A relentless barrage of strikes, and two women dodging them by the barest of margins. And yet, for all of that, neither of them showed the slightest intention of counterattacking the monster hounding them.
The reason was simple. Once the roulette of that monstrous creature had landed on them, their mission was to flee and draw its attention—not to attack.
In that moment, the assault on the creature was being carried out by the remaining five.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Guild Masters Ara and Kara pressed the pursuit from the flanks, pouring fire into the target. Wearing sunglasses and dual-wielding a pair of black-and-white pistols, the two women tore across the ground at blistering speed, relentlessly jamming rounds into the face of the black dragon head as it chased their two comrades.
“Kueeeek!”
These were no ordinary bullets—specially manufactured depleted-uranium mercury rounds. Combining the penetrating power of radiation and mercury, the large-caliber shells delivered terrifying piercing force, slowly but surely reducing the creature’s face to an irreparable ruin.
“The other head is about to react. Ease off the attack for a moment.”
“Okay!”
Following Adjutant Lee Jinhyun’s order, the two holstered their fire for a moment and reloaded their spent magazines. On the opposite side, the other hunters’ attacks continued, and the creature’s gaze—which had been drifting toward them—shifted once more, swinging between the hunters fleeing head-on and those pressing the assault from the other flank.