Chapter 169: Moth to a Flame
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 169: Moth to a Flame
I had no intention of wasting time like this when I didn’t even know how far Heuksan had gone.
Hearing my resolve, Ahyu's demeanor shifted in an instant to that of Cheon Hong-ryeon.
As she drew a sword amidst a flurry of camellia petals, an overwhelming, tyrannical aura poured out from her.
“Yes, that’s my husband.”
Ahyu, too, seemed satisfied with my choice.
“It’ll be faster to just capture them all.”
“Wait!”
Just as Ahyu let out a chilling smile, a man who spoke fluent Korean suddenly appeared before us.
He had a noticeable mop of curly blond hair and wore pitch-black glasses, reminding me of a foreign engineering student.
However, the energy he exuded was unmistakably that of an S-rank hunter.
‘This must be Pentagon, the S-rank hunter from the US.’
He was famous for protecting the entirety of America's defenses and was also known as a hunter who had greatly contributed to the nation's current power.
“You must be from the World Returnee Association, here about this incident, correct?”
Alterz keeps track of most S-rank hunters. So, they likely treat any powerful individual not in their database as a returnee, which would explain his question.
“And you must be Mr. Kang Ha-chan, the world's only SS-rank hunter.”
He said it as if he recognized me as well. Being called that was still a bit embarrassing.
It seemed Seol-hyang and the Hunter Management Bureau's efforts to build up my reputation were finally paying off.
“Seeing as you've approached us to talk, can I assume you have no intention of fighting?”
“Yes, of course. We at Alterz have no intention of treating the World Returnee Association or Mr. Kang Ha-chan as enemies.”
That was welcome news, as we had no desire to confront Alterz either.
I glanced at Seol-hyang, Eunhyeon, and Ahyu, and all three readily retracted their hostility.
Seeing this, I turned back to Pentagon.
“You mentioned ‘this incident’ earlier. I'd like to confirm if we're here for the same reason. Could you tell us what happened?”
“Yes, of course.”
Pentagon was immediately cooperative.
At the same time, he waved a hand behind him, and the S-rank hunters who had been on standby revealed themselves without protest.
That confirmed they had no intention of fighting.
“To start, the incident on our end is the kidnapping of Lord Wolfgang Vegas.”
I flinched at the word ‘kidnapping.’
Could Heuksan have actually kidnapped him? Why would she do something like that?
Just as I was thinking how complicated things would get if Heuksan really had kidnapped Vegas, Pentagon continued.
“The ones who kidnapped Vegas were people we've never seen before. And if we've never seen them, it means they aren't hunters.”
“Wait. ‘The ones’ who kidnapped him?”
At that moment, I realized the conversation was taking a strange turn.
“Yes, there were about four of them. We considered the possibility that they were returnees, but we concluded the World Returnee Association would have no reason to do such a thing.”
He was right. The Association had no reason to do something like that.
Even if the relationship between Alterz and the Association wasn't great, Vegas had always stayed out of the way of returnees.
“That’s right. The World Returnee Association has no reason to commit such an act.”
Seol-hyang interjected, having also noticed the strange direction of the conversation.
“So, for now, we were considering the possibility of dimensional invaders.”
Hearing his next words, Seol-hyang and I looked at each other.
We both had another idea.
“...But with the current dimensional instability, dimensional invaders have been appearing exclusively in Seoul.”
“Right, and we're monitoring Seoul very closely,” Seol-hyang added. “It's definitely not dimensional invaders.”
There was the case with the Blood Demon and the Great Slaughter Emperor, but we've strengthened our vigilance even more since then.
We could effectively rule out dimensional invaders for now.
If that was the case, the implication was simple.
“High-level dimensional entities with intelligence.”
Since I had personally encountered them recently, I said it with a tone of conviction.
Seol-hyang also grimaced and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“Even we can't monitor every single dimensional gate across the globe. If dimensional entities entered from a region outside our surveillance, it's entirely possible.”
Even with returnees spread across the world, their reach had its limits.
In places like Iceland, where human presence was scarce, a dimensional gate could open and go completely unnoticed.
If intelligent, high-level dimensional entities had slipped in through such a place, neither the hunters nor the World Returnee Association would have any way of knowing.
“...Still, I can’t believe they were able to enter the Tower of Revelation.”
Hearing Seol-hyang’s words, I glanced at Baeksan.
I was looking for confirmation that our theory was correct.
Baeksan’s eyes met mine, his brow deeply furrowed.
“Kang Ha-chan, I told you things were moving faster than expected.”
Baeksan spoke, having listened to our conversation.
“The Tower of Revelation didn't originate on Earth.”
His next words made my eyes widen.
I suppose that makes sense, given the countless dimensions that exist. But what Baeksan was saying now felt far more significant than that.
“Before appearing on Earth, the Tower of Revelation existed in another dimension, and the beings who lived there climbed it.”
Baeksan slowly recounted what he knew.
“But for some reason, the Tower left their dimension and moved elsewhere. And this time, its destination was Earth.”
A Tower of Revelation that travels between dimensions.
I didn't know what it meant, but his story made me realize one thing.
“...So the dimensional entities that just entered are from the world where the Tower of Revelation used to be.”
Affirmation filled Baeksan’s eyes.
Though she couldn't hear Baeksan, Seol-hyang’s eyes widened as if she had grasped the entire situation.
“They intend to climb to the final floor of the Tower of Revelation, even if it's in another dimension.”
“What in the world is on the top floor of the Tower?”
“It's...”
Baeksan moved his lips, but no sound came out.
Sensing this, he pressed a hand to his mouth and clicked his tongue.
“In any case, they'll be aiming for the top floor. They were the ones who gave me the most trouble when I was climbing the Tower.”
If their reason for kidnapping Vegas was to extract information about Earth, where the Tower was now located, it made perfect sense.
Having grasped the general situation, I looked at Pentagon, who was simply listening to our conversation.
“May I ask one more thing?”
When I asked, Pentagon nodded as if it were no trouble.
“By any chance, have you seen a woman with white hair and red eyes pass by?”
“That woman...”
Pentagon replied, seeming to recall something.
“Yes, she was spotted passing through after the four unidentified individuals took Vegas.”
So, it was confirmed that Heuksan had entered the Tower.
“Understood. Then we’ll start climbing immediately. If we find Vegas along the way, we’ll prioritize his rescue.”
“Ah, in that case, we’ll provide support.”
He offered to have Alterz hunters accompany us.
“I'm sorry, but we can't accept.”
“What? But our colleague is involved, so you don’t need to refuse...”
But I had to decline.
It wasn't because their support would be inadequate.
“Don't be so dense. It's because you can't keep up with us.”
Ahyu’s blunt remark, tossed out as if to say ‘don’t be a nuisance,’ was rude.
But unfortunately, she was right. They would only slow us down.
“Hah, I've heard enough. Just because you're a returnee, you look down on hunters.”
“Arthur.”
Just then, a short man shot us a glare filled with displeasure.
Pentagon quickly tried to stop him, but the young man called Arthur was already showing us his hostility.
“There's a limit to how much you can disrespect us. We can't keep up? We're S-rank hunters.”
I didn't recognize his face.
He had to be a recently awakened hunter.
“Hmph, is that so?”
His comment had lightly provoked Ahyu.
“I'll give you ten seconds.”
Ahyu stepped forward.
“I won't attack at all. So come at me with everything you've got.”
She said it as if this were the simplest way to show him the difference in their power, an arrogant smile spreading across her face.
Hearing this, Arthur’s thick, caterpillar-like eyebrows furrowed fiercely.
He then held up an empty sword hilt.
“Let's see if you can still say that after ten seconds.”
For those who had transcended human limits, ten seconds was more than enough time to kill an opponent dozens of times over.
As such, Arthur scoffed at the ten seconds Ahyu had offered.
“Excuse me.”
Pentagon gave me a troubled look, silently asking me to intervene. I looked at Arthur and asked.
“Is that man a hunter who awakened a physical-type ability?”
“Ah, yes, he is, but...”
“That's a relief.”
I let out a short sigh of relief at Pentagon’s words.
“At least he won't die.”
The moment I spoke, Arthur unleashed a blue sword aura and charged at Ahyu.
The sword aura, so intense it seemed to throw off sparks, showed that his power output was far from ordinary.
Simultaneously, a blue light erupted from his body as he swung his sword down at Ahyu with swift movements.
CRRRRAAAAASSSSH!
A violent storm erupted between him and Ahyu, a testament to his power.
Even as the swirling wind whipped through my hair, I simply watched the scene unfold.
“Ugh?!”
At that moment, a bewildered cry burst from within the storm.
Arthur's blade had clearly struck Ahyu's neck, but it hadn't left so much as a scratch.
“What are you doing?”
Camellia petals danced around Ahyu's body, faintly scattering her magi.