Headwind

Headlines that had been nothing but praise for the Dungeon Management Department and the Hunter Special Affairs Bureau flipped to condemnation within a matter of days.

Of course, it was the Iljin Party's scheme.

"The rats are cornered, so they're barking up a storm."

Political dirty tricks like this.

Hanul could only laugh.

He was far too strong for schemes of this caliber to touch him. He was merely playing along with the hollow shell of the rule of law because his niece was a minister. But if they crossed the line?

They would need a lesson.

"I don't care about myself, but daring to touch Eunha…"

He was still deciding how to handle it when the phone rang.

It was Min Sehee, Eunha's secretary.

"I was about to call you anyway. How is Eunha right now?"

"Is that so. Understood. You won't need the materials."

"The National Assembly audit is going to become the place where we hold those bastards accountable for their crimes."

Min Sehee seemed to fall into a stunned silence, unable even to ask what he meant.

Creak—

The door to the Director's office opened.

Lilith entered with Seo Jihun.

"Perfect timing. Anyway, take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it that way. I'm hanging up now."

"The materials are ready."

Seo Jihun set the documents on the desk.

They contained information on the Iljin Party National Assembly members who had paid bribes to the Elixir Cult and received refined pills in return.

Hanul flipped through the pages one by one.

It was a spectacle.

Men who had siphoned national budget funds to fatten a cult. An endless, filthy list of those who had abandoned all human decency in pursuit of immortality.

Then his finger stopped on a particular name.

Kwon Taejun, floor leader of the Iljin Party.

Beside his name, the details of a secret pact with the Japanese faction were meticulously recorded.

"Kwon Taejun. So this bastard is the core of the current mess."

"Yes. Moreover, according to the data I analyzed from materials received through the Veteran Guild, he also appears to have ties to the backing forces in Japan."

Hanul rose from his seat.

Once the target was set, the destination was obvious.

Yeouido National Assembly Members' Office Building.

Iljin Party Policy Coordination Room.

The assembly members, with the National Assembly audit looming, were reviewing their final strategy. The table was piled high with venomous question sheets designed to crush Kang Eunha and Hanul.

"Let's corner Minister Kang Eunha so hard in this audit she can't even breathe."

"And Special Affairs Director Kang Hanul—how long does a nobody like him think he can stand above the law?"

"Exactly! Public opinion is already on our side."

Assemblyman Park, Kwon Taejun's trusted subordinate, waved a document and laughed heartily.

"But Representative Kwon still hasn't arrived?"

"He said he still has some cleanup left regarding the Chinese lackeys. He'll be here soon."

The arrogance of men drunk on victory hung heavy in the conference room air—when the thick soundproof door, which had been firmly shut, opened without warning.

Click-clack—click-clack—

Lilith entered first with elegant steps.

Hanul followed behind her, expression indifferent.

"What the hell? Who gave you permission to come in here!"

"Why aren't you calling the security! Drag these ignorant bastards out right now!"

"W-wait! Isn't that Hunter Bureau Director Kang Hanul?!"

"Hah! Why are you here!"

Led by Assemblyman Park, several members shoved their chairs back and stood. They jabbed fingers and shouted. But only some of them. The rest flinched the moment SSS-rank Hunter Kang Hanul actually stood right in front of them, fear taking hold. Yet when Hanul made no move to use force?

The thought that they wouldn't get hit made them bold again.

"Get out! A subject of the National Assembly audit has no business barging in here!"

"What, are you going to kill us too with summary executions like you did those criminals?"

"The people are watching!"

Hanul ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let out a short laugh.

"The people? The ones who turned those people into elixirs and swallowed them don't get to say that."

"W-what!"

"How dare you run your mouth! I'll sue you for defamation!"

"Ahh, that 'truthful disclosure of facts' defamation, you mean?"

"F-facts! W-we never did anything like that!"

"Get out right now, I said!"

One of the assembly members strode right up to Hanul's face and jabbed a finger into his chest. In that instant, Lilith's eyes flashed with a chilling crimson light. Her usual composure was nowhere to be found.

"How dare you move that filthy mouth and those filthy fingers in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠front of him."

In the Demon Realm, such a thing would have been unimaginable. Merely allowing it to happen would have required her, who served at his side, to atone with her life.

Lilith flicked her fingers lightly.

Crunch—!

An invisible, massive gravity slammed down on the assembly members' shoulders without mercy.

"Guh···ghhh!"

"Ghhhk! This crazy woman······."

Screams rang out as their spines shrieked against the marble floor. That was only the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beginning. From behind Lilith, a bizarre yet beautiful violet mist billowed forth. The Succubus Queen's signature brands of illusion and agony sank into their souls.

"Aaaagh···save me!"

"Damn it, what are the security Hunters doing! Get these bastards···aaaagh!"

The assembly members' vision turned blood-red like a scab. The carpet seemed to transform into thousands of thorned snakes coiling around their bodies. Crimson brands seared into their skin as their flesh burned. They flailed at empty air, raking their own faces with their nails.

"Aaaagh···save me!"

"Ghhh!"

Lilith stepped forward elegantly and planted her foot on an assembly member's head. Crack— her heel drove into his temple.

"Confess your sins. Collusion with the Elixir Cult, bribes from the Japanese faction, and every filthy conspiracy to frame our Director."

Lilith's voice was sweet and yet chillingly cold.

"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything, just stop this pain!"

Lilith glanced back as if to ask what he thought. Hanul swept a cold gaze over the assembly members crawling on the floor.

"We need to dig out more information on their collusion with the Immortal Realm forces. Even the smallest detail is fine."

"Leave it to me. However, I will need a space for the interrogation. I would rather not use Hatchery's domain."

Lilith's gaze suddenly settled on empty air in the distance.

"May I use a Leviathan?"

Three Leviathans currently floated in the skies over the West Sea, deploying interlocking barriers to contain the aftershocks of dimensional rifts from the Immortal Realm. Borrowing an internal space was entirely feasible.

"I'll give you one."

"Thank you. I will remodel it into a perfect interrogation chamber."

"I'll open a dimensional transfer array right now using my mana as the medium."

Crackling—

Mana erupted from Hanul's fingertips, twisting the dimensions as a medium. In the center of the conference room, a passage opened to Leviathan No. 2 floating over the West Sea, revealing its interior.

And then.

Crackling— crunch! Grind!

The moment Lilith's mana touched it, the cold biometallic walls flushed a deep blood-red. The interior transformed in an instant into something resembling a pleasure district of the Demon Realm. Crimson lighting and dreamlike mist clouded the vision. A space that was lavish yet bone-chilling. Mirrors embedded throughout the walls spat out thousands of copies of the assembly members' terror-stricken faces.

"U-uaaagh! What is that!"

"Save me! I don't want to go! Please!"

The assembly members screamed. The overwhelming demonic energy flowing from beyond the dimension made them wet themselves in terror.

Lilith gestured. Violet mist snared their necks like shackles. Their bodies were dragged like beasts, vanishing one by one into the blood-reeking pleasure space.

The hellish screams cut off in an instant.

Only the scent of blood remained in the empty Policy Coordination Room. The aftershock of opening the dimensional gate overloaded the mana, and the fluorescent lights died. Hanul stood alone, gazing at the darkness beyond the window.

He should be arriving soon.

A short while later, footsteps echoed from the corridor. The heavy door opened again, and Kwon Taejun stepped inside.

"What the hell? Why is it so dark in here? And why aren't any of the security Hunters around?!"

Kwon Taejun frowned as he scanned the room. The assembly members were gone. In their place, a faint metallic scent of blood hung in the air. He stopped instinctively.

In that moment, Kwon Taejun staggered with a brief wave of dizziness. He pressed his temple and forced his mind to clear. A cold presence in the darkness. SSS-rank! By Immortal Realm standards, he had reached the early stage of the Decision Realm. There was no way someone like him would fail to pierce the darkness just because the lights were out.

Hiding with stealth so complete I couldn't detect it, and only now revealing himself?

"You're Kang Hanul?!"

Kwon Taejun's eyes narrowed. He grasped the situation in a single breath and muttered low.

"So that's it. You came first and cleaned up the old men who were here."

A brief silence.

Then Kwon Taejun's shoulders shook as he burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! I like that one thing about you. I've always hated living shackled by things like the rule of law when you have power."

"You don't look strong enough to be saying that."

"True, I'll admit it. The old me was like that. Not just me—even those so-called SSS-ranks weren't strong enough to overturn a nation."

He took a step closer, releasing his aura.

"But it's different now. The dimensional barrier to the Immortal Realm is crumbling. I'm growing stronger at a rapid pace even as we speak."

Kwon Taejun clenched empty air.

"A new world is about to open. Someone of your caliber is qualified to be my comrade. How about it?"

"You trash-talked me and my niece in the media and now you're saying that? When all you did was get stronger off elixirs made from human ingredients."

Hanul's violet eyes flashed as if they would pierce straight through Kwon Taejun's heart.

"More than anything, daring to put yourself on the same level as me. It's almost offensive."

"Then we'll just have to settle it with strength."

Kwon Taejun pulled a small pill bottle from his coat. Without hesitation, he tossed a pill into his mouth. Instantly, a bizarre sense of wrongness erupted from the pill. At the same time, Kwon Taejun's body accelerated explosively. His fist, charged with the elixir's energy, drew a golden trajectory as it aimed for Hanul's heart.

Crack!

The air screamed as it tore apart. Triumph gleamed in Kwon Taejun's eyes. With this overwhelming power gained after taking the elixir, even an SSS-rank shouldn't walk away unscathed.

But Hanul didn't so much as blink.

He simply raised a hand and caught Kwon Taejun's fist head-on.

Boom!

The shockwave of the collision cracked the conference room floor like a spiderweb. Kwon Taejun's pupils contracted in shock. His full-powered strike hadn't budged an inch, as if it had slammed into a massive cliff face.

"Is that all?"

The moment Hanul's cold voice reached him, violet light flickered in the hand that held Kwon Taejun's fist.

Thud—!

Hanul's hand blade tore through Kwon Taejun's defenses without mercy and buried itself in his side. The sound of bones shattering rang clear in the silent room. Kwon Taejun's body crumpled like paper and flew across the room, slamming into the far wall.

"Guh······!"

The subordinates Kwon Taejun had brought with him. Or more precisely, the lackeys Myojin had attached to him. Every time Hanul swung his hand, violet afterimages flashed like lightning and sliced their throats. It was a one-sided massacre. In mere seconds, the elite Hunters lay strewn across the floor.

"U-uuuuh······."

Kwon Taejun crawled across the floor in terror. Hanul nudged the pill bottle that had rolled from his hand with the tip of his foot.

"Eat more. There's something I want to observe."

"W-what?"

"I said swallow them. I need to observe something."