Entering the Millennium Ancient City
Arriving early was fine and all, but... there was absolutely nothing to do. My sister spent the spare time explaining the other S-class hunters to me, but I wasn't particularly interested, so I only half-listened. She mentioned that Daehyeon's S-class was a Mage, while the S-class of the current number-one guild, the Blood Alliance, was a Tank. She briefly went over the names, guilds, and abilities of the other four S-class hunters. The rank two S-class was an archer, and the others were melee combatants? The party composition itself wasn't bad.
"One tank, four melee fighters, two ranged attackers, and one healer..." The party composition was actually quite solid. Apparently, the rank two S-class archer possessed a special ability that gave him an infinite supply of arrows, making his suppression capabilities truly extraordinary.
"Hmm..."
"If we add you to the mix as an S-class healer, Sis, the party balance becomes perfect."
"I see."
Well, the Millennium Ancient City was a place I could clear on my own if I really had to, so the abilities of the other members didn't particularly matter to me. Still, if they were competent, it would make my life a lot easier.
The bigger issue, however... was the people who had already turned into subspecies. That race-changing ability couldn't be reversed with something like purification. It seemed that those who possessed the latent talent to become subspecies among the awakened had their race altered and their minds brainwashed. Tragically, even if they somehow regained their senses, they could never turn back into humans.
Furthermore, even if they did snap out of it, they were no longer human, which made letting them live a highly delicate issue. Those who had ceased to be human... how to handle them would be a major problem. I hadn't brought it up yet, but it was something I absolutely had to address once the meeting started.
"Did the Daehyeon hunters return in one piece?" I asked Daehyeon's S-class hunter.
"They did. But you're quite young to be speaking so casually to me."
"My apologies. But I have no intention of speaking formally to anyone."
His expression soured, clearly uncomfortable with my attitude.
"I can't tell if you're arrogant or just insolent..."
"I'm both."
"Sis..." My sister was sitting on pins and needles because of my attitude.
But this was just how the Saintess of the other world was. I suppose you could say my position forced me to become this way. Constantly moving from one battlefield to another, dealing with self-important nobles and high-ranking officials—all those tedious chores had twisted my personality. I knew it, but... it was hard to fix now.
At any rate, it was a relief that the Daehyeon hunters were physically fine. An hour later, all the summoned S-class hunters had arrived. Man, they're all so old... None of them were younger than me; everyone was my senior. They were so advanced in years that even Namgung Min looked like a mere child in front of them. Most of them were in their forties, and some were even in their fifties...
The atmosphere in the meeting room wasn't particularly heavy. Park Young-shik, the Guild Master of the current number-one guild, the Blood Alliance, and an S-class Tank—was his epithet 'Iron Wall'?—led the meeting. He cracked jokes frequently to keep the mood from getting too grim. Of course, the targets of his jokes didn't look very pleased.
"Daehyeon really drew the short straw this time, didn't they?" he provoked, pointing out the massive losses Daehyeon had suffered in this incident.
"Hey, Young-shik, knock it off." Daehyeon's Vice Guild Leader, the S-class Mage Kim Young-chol, quietly shot back. Perhaps because they were both in their fifties and of similar age, they seemed quite close.
"Hehe, that's why I told you it would've been better if you'd joined our guild back then." It seemed there was some history between them. The other hunters simply remained silent.
"Anyway, let's first share the information my guild members brought back." Daehyeon's Vice Guild Leader summarized the findings. The enemies looked exactly like humans, could use magic, and possessed outstanding physical capabilities. Though their race remained unknown, they exhibited a terrifying toughness, not even flinching when their arms or legs were severed.
"Furthermore, the most critical issue is that they possess some sort of brainwashing ability." He explained how they had encountered the initial investigation team as enemies. He even noted that the brainwashed hunters seemed stronger than before, wielding powers similar to the monsters inside the gate. I decided this was the right moment to drop a hint.
"Hmm. If that's the case, then it might not be simple brainwashing, but rather a process of turning them into their own kind."
"Mmm..." The others reacted as if they hadn't even considered that possibility.
"What do you mean by that?" Namgung Min was the only one who reacted normally.
"They said the victims used powers similar to the monsters, right? And they used blood magic? Doesn't that sound exactly like vampires?" This was more than enough of a hint.
"Vampires... Could it be?" A few of the attendees immediately caught on.
"So, you're saying the investigation team was attacked by vampires and turned into vampires themselves?"
"Yeah. Otherwise, it wouldn't make sense, would it?" After I spoke, the atmosphere in the meeting room grew even heavier.
"We must close this gate at all costs."
"The possibility of humans turning into monsters... That's something we never even considered." Listening to the others, it seemed gates containing vampires had appeared occasionally in the past. Hunters had been bitten before, but none had ever transformed into vampires. No wonder they hadn't connected the dots.
"In other words, the danger level of this gate is S-class." A gate that turned humans into monsters. There was no need to even debate the difficulty; the sheer hazard of it made it S-class.
"If even a single monster from that gate escapes, we'll have a zombie apocalypse on our hands." Well, not everyone could be turned into a subspecies... but if hunters and awakened individuals had a high probability of turning, it could genuinely trigger the end of the world.
"That poses a serious problem. What should we do with the infected hunters?" The atmosphere in the room turned ice-cold at the words of Kang Seung-ho, the Guild Leader of the Goguryeo Guild and an S-class archer known as the 'Divine Archer'.
"Ahem. Nix, was it? Let me ask you. Is there any way to cure them?" He was asking if I could heal them. I wanted to give them good news, but unfortunately...
"Well, I can't say for sure without seeing them myself, but it's highly likely impossible." The word 'impossible' must have struck them like a bolt from the blue.
"My power is strictly for healing. Reversing a human who has already transformed is a completely different story." If the subspecies' conversion process was a simple infection, purification or detoxification might have worked. But it didn't. I knew this for a fact because I had tried it myself in the other world.
"Is that so..."
"We must keep the possibility in mind, so if we encounter them, let's aim to capture them alive first." The meeting drew to a close. In the end, they decided to form an S-class raid party to clear the gate as quickly as possible. Furthermore, if the monsters truly were vampires capable of turning others, physical contact could be dangerous. While magic was fine, they agreed to avoid direct physical attacks as much as possible.
"We'll finally get to see what an S-class healer can do." The other S-class hunters looked at me with eyes full of curiosity. They seemed eager for the chance to witness my abilities firsthand.
"Also, I'm bringing my sister along as my bodyguard."
"The Silver Butterfly Sword shouldn't get in the way." Even for S-class hunters, they felt incredibly casual about this. Was this really okay? Once the meeting concluded, we agreed to gear up and gather in front of the gate. Since we were at a baseball stadium, we were able to change comfortably in the players' locker rooms.
"Fufu."
"You seem to be in a good mood."
"Of course I am. We're finally going into a gate, aren't we?" I had been feeling stifled because I hadn't been able to enter a gate for a while. Just the fact that I was going into one, regardless of the reason, made me happy. Of course, with so many S-class hunters around, I doubted I'd have to fight directly, but it was still a great opportunity to gauge the skills of Earth's top hunters. If they were all on the level of the Sword Saint, it would be quite a spectacle.
"Aren't you excited to see the other hunters in action?"
"Well, I've already seen most of them..." This was something I hadn't expected.
"O-oh, really?"
"Back when the concept of guilds wasn't as established, we used to run joint operations quite often." She explained that while operating in guilds was the norm now, it hadn't been the case in the past. Naturally, some of the people she had worked with back then had become S-class hunters, and they shared a decent amount of history.
"I'm pretty well-acquainted with Tuwang and the Divine Archer." Tuwang was the Guild Leader of the 10th-ranked Royal Guild, right? And the Divine Archer was the Guild Leader of the 6th-ranked Goguryeo Guild. Judging by his title, he must be the archer who used a bow.
"Anyway, all I have to do is protect you, right, Sis?"
"Yep." When we arrived in front of the gate, the fully geared hunters were already gathered. Namgung Min wore his usual martial arts robes, while the others wore the sturdy armor typical of hunters. The only exception was Tuwang, who uniquely wore a massive monster skull on his head. Was that a helmet crafted from a beast he had personally slain?
"Ahem." As I slowly walked over to join them, the men, for some reason, couldn't bring themselves to look at me properly. They cleared their throats and averted their eyes. This was exactly why I hated form-fitting clothes.
"Ahem. You should have thrown something over that." It seemed my aggressively voluptuous figure was a bit too much for these older men to handle. But hey, this was my gear, so what was I supposed to do?
"Sword Saint, you should have paid more attention."
"She's an S-class hunter! You should have at least provided her with a robe like yours!"
"It's because you lack such basic consideration that you're still unmarried."
"Tsk, tsk." For some reason, our Guild Master had become the target of their nagging, and I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. The Sword Saint silently endured the criticism from the other S-classes before suddenly slipping off his outer robe and gently offering it to me.
"Ahem. Please, wear this."
"I'm fine, though?"
"Well, I am not fine, so please wear it." Shrugging, I took the robe and draped it over my shoulders. Wrapping it tightly around myself managed to conceal my figure, if only slightly. Not that I really needed to, and it wasn't particularly effective anyway...
"We'll take a quick photo before you head in!" There was no need to ask what the photo was for. The person waiting with the camera was a reporter. It was just a publicity stunt for an article to show the public that we were heading in to clear the gate. At any rate, we lined up and took a quick photo. There was some bickering over who would stand in the front or the side, but for some reason, everyone actively avoided standing next to me.
"Why is everyone acting like that?"
"They probably don't want to cause any misunderstandings."
"Misunderstandings?"
"They're all married men." Ah, well... I wasn't stupid enough to not understand what she meant by that. I guess I was just too beautiful for comfort. In any case, I was pushed to the very edge by the other men, and even in that corner, my sister and Namgung Min were positioned to keep a buffer between us. Even so, the married men fought a desperate battle amongst themselves to maintain as much distance from me as possible. Once the photo shoot was over, we finally prepared to enter the gate...
"Ah, the Daehyeon hunters." The ones who had failed the raid... or rather, the ones who had brought back the information.
"Are they coming too?"
"Yes. They will follow behind us to clean up and secure the areas we clear." Indeed, that was a necessary role. With them joining us, our numbers swelled quite a bit. Finally, we were about to enter the Millennium Ancient City gate.