Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: National A-Rank Demonus
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A national A-Rank Demonus.
In other words, a gate known as the seed of disaster had swallowed an entire nation, transforming the country itself into a hellish gate.
Before it stood the representative teams from the ten nations dubbed superpowers.
The Demonus weakening operation—delayed by about an hour due to a petty squabble between China and South Korea—was finally about to begin.
"Opening the gate."
"The branch chief's order has come down! Open the gate!"
"Open the gate!!"
There was no grand send-off ceremony.
With death as their close companion, this was war.
No celebrations, no barrage of camera shutters from reporters.
Just a faint, steely tension brushing over them.
Clank! Screeeech! Thud!
"Kieeeek!"
The massive, heavy door to hell swung open.
A colossal beast's roar shook the hearts of every representative team.
"Let's move."
The natural command to advance came from Do Shin, who had seamlessly become the overall commander of the Demonus weakening operation.
The heavy footsteps of the representative teams' hunters—churning up the dirt before the gate—stepped one by one into the maw of hell.
All the agents guarding the gate bowed their heads deeply to the hunters marching into hell of their own accord and shouted.
"God bless you!"
"God bless you!"
Without sparing a single glance at the agents, the hunters from each nation's team launched their massive campaign to weaken the hellish gate.
Two hours had passed since entering the San Marino Demonus and simply walking.
In the eerily quiet atmosphere devoid of monsters, the barren, ruined land and crumbled asphalt revealed that this had once been a road traversed by cars.
Just as the representative teams' tension began to ease slightly...
The leader of the Spanish team, Do Shin, walking at the forefront, raised his hand.
"Halt."
"Halt!"
The leaders of each representative team glanced at their maps, puzzled, and asked Do Shin.
"We still have a long way to the joint spot."
"Has something happened?"
Do Shin said nothing, simply staring straight ahead in response to the leaders' questions.
Then, the leader of the UK team, positioned right behind the Spanish team, pushed past all the other leaders to stand beside Do Shin.
He gazed in the same direction as Do Shin and unstrapped the massive axe bound to his back.
"The Mercenary King's disciple...?"
The world's top S-Rank powerhouse—excluding Do Shin and Yong-un—the monstrous figure currently ranked in the S-Rank top tier and leader of the UK team. The Mercenary King's disciple shouted.
"We'll know if we ask. Battle stations!"
"Battle stations!"
At the Mercenary King's disciple's words, the UK team moved in perfect unison.
"Uh, battle stations!"
"Battle stations!!!"
The pre-storm silence ignited into a blazing intensity in an instant.
The slackening thread of tension snapped taut, and every representative team drew their weapons.
Do Shin, who had been silently staring ahead, finally spoke.
"A decent number. We need a team to take point."
"Point? Naturally, that would be us..."
One of the UK team members started to raise his hand at Do Shin's words.
But his intention was immediately checked by the Mercenary King's disciple standing right in front of him.
"Shh."
"Huh? Surely it's us..."
"Say it after you see that."
A serene plain where not a sound could be heard.
At the far end of their gaze, beyond the desolate earth, silhouettes of monsters hidden by swirling dust clouds began to emerge one by one.
And every hunter's breathing grew ragged from their pounding hearts.
Because...
Rumble rumble rumble.
Their numbers far exceeded expectations.
"Wh-what the...?"
Hundreds of monsters charging across the vast plain in formation.
The earth-shaking tremors and dust clouds they kicked up gripped onlookers with sweaty palms.
"That's why I stopped us. Now do you get it? Why we can't stick to the plan."
"They said dozens per wave... Why...?"
The Mercenary King's disciple scowled at the UK team member's words.
"Something's off. This Demonus... gives me a bad feeling."
The sudden horde of absurdly numerous monsters left every representative team's hunters clamping their mouths shut.
Do Shin turned from the monsters to eye the hunters and asked.
"I'll ask again. We need point. Any team volunteering?"
Every leader's face twisted in grimaces.
With a monster horde of that size charging, what mad team would proudly step up to lead?
In this situation, the vanguard would lose at least half its members to death.
No answer came to Do Shin's question, so he let out a wry chuckle.
"Knew it. Had to check since it's been a while."
Thud.
Do Shin stomped lightly, and yellow mana erupted from his body like a bomb blast.
As the mana settled around him, he clenched his fist and spoke.
"Thanks. Now I know the Demonus weakening op hasn't changed since way back. Brothers in arms? Bullshit. Shouldn't have spouted that crap before coming, you bastards."
Almost no one would fail to grasp what Do Shin meant.
"A-hem..."
Just before deployment for the Demonus weakening operation.
All the leaders who had approached Do Shin and Yong-un to build some camaraderie had said things like:
'We'll take point!'
'We'll ensure no losses for Spain and Korea.'
'Just leave it to us, haha!'
Of course, they knew those were just words to curry favor, but no one expected this right from the start.
"Thought you'd at least try, but whatever. Wasn't expecting anything anyway."
"B-but..."
The leaders who wanted to protest that even volunteering for point didn't warrant this swallowed their words.
No matter how dire, they were the ones who had said it.
The leaders of each nation averted their eyes and held their tongues.
Do Shin scanned them once, then shook his head.
And he looked toward one figure at the very rear.
"What about you?"
"Isn't the answer obvious already?"
A curt reply in a familiar voice.
All the leaders turned to the voice's owner.
"Do what you were gonna. I'll back you up."
"Kahahaha! Knew you'd say that. Let's smash that formation once."
The only hunter who could share such banter with Do Shin, leader of the Korean representative team.
Yong-un kicked off the ground lightly, vaulting over the heads of every representative team.
He landed beside Do Shin and summoned his Crimson Demon Aura.
"We clash in the center—I'll take right, you left. Neutralize the whole formation's momentum. Think you can handle it?"
"No problem."
Thud!
Do Shin slammed his fists together before his chest.
A fiercer aura visibly surged, enveloping his body.
"Definitely different from before."
"Had some restrictions last time. But a Demonus is another story."
Smirk.
"No restrictions here at all. Meaning it'll be different from before, Yong-un."
"Surprise me."
"Kuhuhu, just watch."
Rumble rumble rumble.
The terrifying march of monstrous hordes charging from afar.
Do Shin and Yong-un locked eyes on their center, directing their summoned auras in their own ways.
Then, kicking the ground, they shouted to everyone.
"Point is us two! The rest, clean up the rear!"
"Charge!"
"Charge!!!"
Bang!
A gunshot-like crack echoed from Do Shin and Yong-un's steps.
Fierce headwinds blew, but the high-rank hunters behind pierced through, chasing Do Shin and Yong-un.
"Let's go!!"
"Waaaaah!!"
The hunters' roars reverberated.
And at the forefront of the formation now missing Do Shin and Yong-un, the Mercenary King's disciple gripped his massive axe, leading all the teams in a frenzied charge.
The main reason they joined the Demonus weakening operation:
To witness the power of world S-Rank #1 Do Shin and #4 Yong-un up close.
The massive mana explosion from Do Shin and Yong-un halved the charging horde of hundreds of monsters.
Their desperate speed became poison as the vanguard crumbled and scattered.
Uncontrollable momentum caused them to trip over the fallen front, while airborne monsters from the lead crashed into the mid-ranks, toppling and killing many from the middle back.
Do Shin and Yong-un.
The catastrophic damage inflicted by just those two.
It showed with their own eyes why the initial clash between vanguards mattered so much in war.
The opening collision, called half the battle's outcome.
The toppled monsters couldn't recover, and the hunters' follow-up assault slaughtered over half before they could regroup.
"Krooooar!!"
But monsters were monsters.
True to their genes surpassing humans in combat, even with over half their comrades dead, they bared their teeth again.
They unleashed attacks on the pushing hunters, gradually evening the tide once more.
"Hup!"
Thud! Crunch.
The Mercenary King's disciple's massive axe cleaved the air.
Amid the throng of hunters, he carved a path uniquely littered with monster corpses.
The axe looked impossibly heavy just to behold, yet the Mercenary King's disciple swung it hundreds of times without fatigue, endlessly dismembering monsters.
Slash! Thud.
Thud thud thud.
The axe swung in a wide arc and slammed into the ground.
Five nearby monsters split in two, spraying blood.
"Gone too far ahead?"
Setting down his massive axe for a breather, the Mercenary King's disciple glanced back.
But with the UK team no longer right behind, he sighed deeply.
"Gotta go find them?"
He kicked the axe's head on the ground.
It arced high in a perfect parabola, landing neatly on his shoulder.
The moment he turned to search for the UK team...
Surveying the chaotic battlefield, the Mercenary King's disciple's eyes widened in shock.
"Damn, got too focused?"
One existence had captured his gaze.
A creature he thought they wouldn't encounter until the joint spot!
Strolling casually through the blood-soaked slaughter like it was a walk in the park—a horrific bastard,
The most dangerous and cautious presence in the Demonus.
Grayish skin, emanating a thick demonic energy that felt oppressively ominous, crossed right in front of the Mercenary King's disciple without a care.
"Demon!"
Flap.
Humanity's ultimate foe, possessing power incomparable to mere monsters.
The bastard flaunted bat-like wings on its back, flapping them to stir up dense demonic energy.
"How is that thing here now...?"
Shock was fleeting.
Demonic energy gathered in the demon's hand, poised to unleash.
"Can't let that filthy bastard kill anyone."
Clank.
The Mercenary King's disciple readjusted his grip on the axe over his shoulder and hurled it upward.
Whoosh! Whirr~ whirr~ whirr~!
"Kerato... guh!"
Splat!
The very instant it tried to activate a skill with gathered demonic energy.
The hurled axe buried deep into the demon's chest, pinning it to the ground.
Thud.
He planted a foot on the demon's chest as it vomited blood.
Crunch!
"Guhack!"
He yanked out the massive axe.
A gush of blood sprayed from the demon's mouth.
"Bye."
And the Mercenary King's disciple swung, severing the demon's head.
He had slain one demon, but his expression as he rose showed no relief.
Because...
Flap! Flap!
It wasn't over.
From the distant plain where monsters had charged, a unit of demons was now flying in.
Flapping their grotesque bat wings, no less.
"Goddamn it..."
At least dozens of demons.
"How do they know to swarm here...? The plan's going to hell."
Facing the monsters and demons massing as if to end the entire war here, the Mercenary King's disciple's fingertips trembled.