Alteir's Declaration of War
Hurried footsteps pounded across the floor.
"Do… Do-ha!"
Association President Kim Hee-jae and his secretary Roseina rushed toward Do-ha, faces tight with urgency.
"Has something serious happened?"
"Th-this… look at this!"
Without further explanation, the Association President thrust a tablet straight at Do-ha.
A tap of the play button.
A building erupted in a sudden, violent explosion on the screen.
Then, as the smoke settled—
Huh? That guy is…
A single figure stepped into view.
"I am Alteir, boss of New Age. The place that just exploded was a building where the Demon God Cult was living. And this one here…"
Alteir, wearing an eyepatch over one eye, stepped slightly back from the camera and dragged someone forward by the hair.
"…is one of the bishops of the Demon God Cult."
The soft rasp of steel leaving its sheath filled the recording. Alteir drew the sword at his waist and, without hesitation, severed the bishop’s head.
The horrific scene played out with no mosaic, no censorship of any kind.
Blood sprayed across the frame.
"Demon God Cult. I declare war on you. From this day forward, any cultist I find will die exactly like this.
I will chase you to the ends of hell, cut off your heads, and rip out your hearts. If anyone knows the location of a cult base, tell me. There will be a bounty. That goes for governments as well. If you know where they are, I am willing to work with you."
The video froze the moment Alteir’s venomous words ended.
"This clip is spreading across the entire internet right now. Every country has gone into emergency mode."
They were scrubbing the footage as hard as they could because of how brutal it was, yet they could not erase every copy. On the dark web, the video already sat at the top of every list.
"Hmm. Looks like this guy is seriously pissed."
"Exactly. He used to stay completely underground. Why is he suddenly acting out like this…?"
While the Association President looked troubled, Do-ha stroked his chin, lost in thought.
He moved within just a few days.
The whole reason Do-ha had spared Alteir in Alfheim was so the man would fight the cult. And already, only days later, Alteir had flattened one of their strongholds.
That meant less work for Do-ha himself.
Perfect. Get even angrier.
What kind of face was the Pope making right now?
Was he furious?
Or did he dismiss it as a passing storm and refuse to care?
He’s probably panicking.
They had thrown a noble-rank demon at the man, yet Alteir was still walking around just fine.
If you cannot handle a bomb that dangerous, you should never light the fuse in the first place.
They had gone and lit it themselves, and now it had blown up in their faces.
"When was this filmed?"
"Early this morning. The location in the video was Brazil, apparently."
Do-ha quietly raised his power and began tracing Alteir’s mana signature.
Wherever the video had been shot, the man would still be somewhere nearby.
Huh? He’s in Canada right now?
Having locked onto Alteir’s position, Do-ha gave a small nod.
The man who had been in Brazil at dawn was already in Canada.
If left alone for even a little while longer, Alteir would keep tearing through the cult on his own.
I was hoping he might destroy the cult base whose location I already know, but after waiting a few days it seems he still hasn’t found that one.
The base Do-ha had learned about while torturing Shurike was in Britain.
If he waited long enough, Alteir would probably hit that one too—but there was no telling when. Better to move himself.
Before I head to the dwarf kingdom, I should wipe out at least one more cult base.
Those insect-like cultists multiplied the moment you gave them any breathing room.
Having finished his thoughts, Do-ha handed the tablet back.
"Let’s not make any official response."
"Pardon? Is that really all right?"
The Association President looked startled.
The video was everywhere, and every nation was on high alert—for good reason. An SSS-rank awakener had openly declared war.
He claimed the war was only against the cult, but there was no guarantee the fallout would spare ordinary civilians.
"If SSS-rank Alteir starts rampaging inside Korea, the casualties will be enormous. And if you happen to be away when it happens…"
"It’s fine. The moment he sets foot in Korea, I’ll know."
"How would you—?"
"I pulled some of his mana earlier."
Do-ha casually explained everything that had happened—the fight against the demon, and the entire mess between Alteir and the cult.
"…Just what are you, Do-ha…?"
"By the way, how’s the magic study going?"
"Haa… I’ve been studying whenever I can spare a moment."
Three magic circles flared into existence at once with a sharp surge of power.
"Oh!"
Do-ha’s eyes widened in genuine surprise.
How long had the man even been learning magic? And he was already doing triple casting?
"Of course, triple spell is still a ways off."
"That’s right."
Casting and spell were completely different things.
Forming the magic circles was casting; channeling actual magic through those circles was spell.
"From now on, stop increasing the number of castings. Focus only on layering spells onto the circles you already have."
"Is that really okay? Canteas told me to keep increasing the castings…"
"That’s because that guy is a lich—no, a necromancer."
Unlike ordinary mages, necromancers prioritized multi-casting first.
It made sense; their main form of attack was summoning.
They prepared multiple circles in advance so they could slap a spell onto them at any moment and call forth undead. That was why multi-casting always came first for them.
But the magic the Association President was learning was white magic, not black.
What he needed now was not more castings, but multi-spell—the ability to use several prepared circles at the same time.
A sudden, massive explosion rocked one corner of the room.
"Wh-what was that?!"
Kim Hee-jae and Roseina spun around, instantly dropping into combat stances.
Had an enemy appeared?
"Ah—sorry. Did I startle you?"
Selenia approached and bowed her head.
She had been teaching Baek Chul spirit arts; her concentration had slipped at the last moment, and the wind force had detonated.
"Huh?! Se… Selenia!"
The moment she drew near, Roseina startled and hurriedly offered a respectful greeting.
Why was Selenia here?
"Roseina! It’s been so long."
"Selenia, how are you even here…?"
"Selenia, you said? Ah… hello."
Kim Hee-jae had already heard everything from Roseina—what Alfheim was, the existence of the queen who ruled it, and even the queen’s daughter who was called the next queen.
"This is my superior and teacher, Kim Hee-jae."
"A pleasure. I am Kim Hee-jae, President of the Korean Hunter Association."
"I am Selenia. I don’t really have a title worth mentioning. If I had to pick one… perhaps Do-ha’s companion?"
"What?!"
"?!"
Both the Association President and his secretary snapped their heads toward Do-ha at the same time.
"A-ah, no, that’s not—! Partner. We’re partners."
Do-ha hurriedly corrected himself for the two of them.
Technically “companion” could mean partner, so Selenia wasn’t entirely wrong.
But in Korea the word carried a rather different implication, so it needed fixing.
Watching the four of them, Canteas sprawled on a bench with a thoroughly unimpressed look.
"Look at them having the time of their lives. Ugh. I hope it just starts pouring rain."
The sight of the four of them laughing and chatting so cheerfully made his stomach turn.
Late that evening.
Do-ha picked up Un-jeop-bi-jang. Canteas eyed him.
"You’re really going?"
After the Association President and secretary had left, Do-ha had finished thinking something through and ordered Canteas to quietly leak a single piece of information to New Age.
The location of the cult base in Britain.
The very place he had learned while torturing Shurike, now handed over to New Age.
"The atmosphere’s ripe. By now New Age is probably already locked in a hard fight with the cult."
If he went now, he could clean up both groups at once.
He had been waiting all this time precisely for a situation like this to develop.
"What if Alteir shows up too?"
The man’s power was SSS-rank.
Canteas wasn’t worried about Do-ha himself, of course—but if two or more bishop-level figures were present at the cult base, even Alteir could end up under concentrated fire.
"Don’t worry. This isn’t the first or second time I’ve walked into a mess like this."
Do-ha smiled at Canteas.
If anything, he hoped there would be plenty of cultists and New Age members waiting for him.
"You stay and watch the house, just in case."
Having finished dressing, Do-ha glanced at the closed doors.
Selenia was in his room; his grandfather was sleeping in the master bedroom.
Now that he had even killed a noble-rank demon, the time was approaching when his existence would gradually become known.
"You’ll be fine going alone?"
"Moving alone is more convenient this time."
"All right. Be careful."
"And don’t even think about following me."
It wasn’t that he doubted her strength. This time, truly, solo was simply easier.
"I wasn’t going to follow you anyway."
What was he talking about?
Why would she bother tagging along?
Being able to rest at home was better.
"I’d rather stay."
"…No wonder you’re nothing but bones with that lazy attitude."
"Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden?!"
Leaving the flaring Canteas behind, Do-ha opened the front door and stepped outside.
The door closed with a solid thud.
At that moment—
The door to the small room opened. Selenia glared at Canteas with a sulky expression.
"You two were getting along so sweetly, weren’t you?"
Listening from behind the door, it had almost sounded like a married couple.
"What?! You were awake?"
He hadn’t sensed her presence at all…
Neither had Do-ha, for that matter.
"Did you forget who I am?"
"…Fair point."
That morning she had told the Association President she had no particular title, but in truth a few people knew her other name.
The Silent Owl.
That was Selenia’s moniker.
She hated it, of course.
It was a name that pointed straight at an assassin.
A high elf, of all people, being called an assassin.
"Even Do-ha didn’t notice…"
"I’m sure Do-ha noticed."
"Huh?"
Canteas tilted his head at her words.
"Earlier he said not to even think about following him, remember? That was aimed at me."
Canteas had thought the warning was for him, but it wasn’t.
Do-ha’s senses had been directed at her; he had known she was awake.
That was why she had stayed quiet, just as he asked.
"You’re not planning to follow him, are you?"
"I don’t even know where he’s going."
"Want me to tell you?"
"No. Even if you told me, I wouldn’t go. Do-ha already has everything planned out. If I tagged along I’d only get in the way."
"That’s some serious trust."
"I already miss him. Do-ha…"
"Oh, for fuck’s sake."
Canteas turned his back with open irritation.
These two were rubbing salt in his wounds…
He was going to burn down every cherry tree near the house one of these days.
"Canteas."
"Shut up."
"Hand me that smartphone thing. I can’t sleep anyway, so I might as well study Earth."
He tossed the phone over at her words.
"You know how to use it?"
"Do-ha gave me a rough rundown earlier. I should look up good places for a date."
"Hey! If you’re going to mess with me, give the phone back!"
"Hehe. Just kidding."
Selenia lightly tapped the top of the fuming Canteas’s head.
Somehow, no matter how many decades she spent teasing him, Canteas never stopped being entertaining.