Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: The Sliding Fortress
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A massive rumble echoed through the air.
The high-rank hunters from ten powerful nations participating in the San Marino Demonus weakening operation froze in place, their eyes snapping toward the source.
Spain, China, the United States, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Brazil.
Even from afar, the thunderous noise made every last one of those elite hunters from the world's superpowers shrink back in instinctive fear.
"W-What's going on...?"
"Forget that—what the hell just happened?"
"Did the boss show up or something?"
In truth, it wasn't the noise that made them flinch.
Just before the roar, an overwhelming surge of energy had swept through, vast enough to pierce every Demonus in existence.
That was what had forced every hunter to brace themselves.
But what followed plunged them all into even greater shock, freezing their faces in identical expressions of disbelief.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gung!
"The... the fortress..."
"The fortress is collapsing!"
The central stronghold of the San Marino Demonus—the boss's castle.
It was crumbling amid the deafening crash.
An impregnable bastion that had stood unchallenged for over a decade.
Yet now, without a single warning, it was collapsing on itself.
But amid their shock, the sharp-eyed hunters among them shouted, amplifying the horror even further.
"Hold on! What is that?!"
"It's not collapsing! Look closer—it's sliding!"
"Huh? Is that even possible?"
"The fortress is sliding!"
The castle wasn't crumbling.
The ground wasn't shattering into pieces.
From lower left to upper right, it had been sliced clean—like tofu cut by a razor-sharp blade—and the upper section was gliding smoothly to the left.
A colossal fortress sliding down without resistance, just like kids on a playground slide.
The moment every hunter confirmed it, an indescribable wave of terror washed over them, goosebumps erupting across their skin.
"Who in the world could...?"
It was the stuff of pure fantasy.
A massive castle in the distance, severed so perfectly, sliding away.
Many hunters rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
It was then, as they witnessed this impossible sight—
Chijijijik.
A voice crackled from the radios that had gone silent.
Chijijijik.
In the grim aftermath of devastating losses,
the transmission they'd all been desperately hoping for finally came from headquarters.
Operation terminated.
Those long-awaited words echoed through every super-nation hunter's radio.
Three weeks and three days.
The San Marino Demonus weakening operation had come to an end.
But as always, a chill wind blew through the gathered GHO Italy branch after the op wrapped up.
Unlike before, a suffocating heaviness crushed the conference room—no casual chatter could pierce it.
"Final briefing commencing."
Maintaining the oppressive atmosphere, the GHO Italy branch operations chief gripped the microphone.
Then a voice boomed toward the grim-faced chief—the War God's.
"Where's Branch Chief Pamellino? Why's the ops chief doing the briefing? Isn't ending the operation the chief's call?"
At the War God's words, hunters atop their seats glanced at the chief from the leaders of various nations, now markedly changed.
The ops chief bowed his head and spoke heavily.
"Branch Chief Pamellino... has passed away."
Branch Chief Pamellino was dead?
The War God who spoke, along with every other hunter, wore stunned expressions.
"The chief? We ran the weakening op—why'd Pamellino die?"
It was a sensitive question, but the War God couldn't hold it back.
Before representing Spain's team in the op, he was a key figure tied to GHO HQ.
The ops chief, well aware of that, couldn't dodge the answer.
"As all you hunters felt, you'll remember the mana surge incident."
How could they forget?
Countless hunters had lost their lives then.
"At that time, the chief mobilized every agent and charged into the Demonus."
The ops chief hung his head.
His voice faltered from the mic, laced with raw grief echoing through the room.
"He went out to minimize damage to the hunters in the op... I should have stopped him."
The mana surge had plunged GHO Italy into an unprecedented crisis.
The worst situation since managing the San Marino Demonus.
Pamellino had chosen what he saw as the best course to protect the hunters in the weakening op.
But that best choice led to the worst outcome.
"Like you hunters didn't know, we had no idea either. That the mana surge was... that kind."
No one could have known.
That the mana surge was Marquis Gristarin fully awakening and mastering the gray-black orb in the sky.
And the result?
Their own forces turning weapons on allies, slaughtering each other in the ultimate catastrophe.
"In this weakening op, we lost 38 agents, with 47 seriously wounded and 122 lightly injured."
An unprecedented mana surge.
Unprecedented devastation.
And on top of that, the branch chief's death.
It was a massive blow to GHO.
Yet one doubt lingered in the War God's mind from the chief's words.
"If the chief's dead, shouldn't we call him former chief? No new one's been appointed?"
His words were cold—beyond detached, icy.
But no one judged the War God harshly for his sharp, frigid question.
This wasn't some ordinary GHO branch. It was a wartime outpost defending a Demonus.
A leaderless bomb without a fuse, where combat could erupt any second.
Yet the leader's seat remained empty.
But at the War God's words, the ops chief erupted with pent-up fury instead.
"There is no next chief!"
"What?"
"Our branch chief is Pamellino—one and only!"
The War God's face twisted.
Pamellino's death was tragic, no doubt.
But separately, leaving the chief's position vacant was unacceptable for a branch handling the San Marino Demonus.
No matter the circumstances—even the chief's death.
Fighting a war without a leader was as good as going to battle unarmed.
Furious, the War God opened his mouth to reprimand the chief.
"What the hell is this...?"
"The San Marino Demonus has been cleared."
"...?!"
The War God was so shocked he barely registered his own words being cut off.
"Cleared...?"
"Yes. Hunter Yong-un, please come forward."
The ops chief wiped tears with his sleeve and stepped back.
Then the conference room's rear door opened, and Yong-un strode in.
He mounted the podium directly and took the mic.
He pressed a button on the podium, projecting a massive screen displaying the San Marino Demonus mana distribution map and monster counts.
"A picture's worth a thousand words. Better to show than tell."
The moment the projector lit up, the distribution map and numbers stunned the hunters into silence.
"I-Is that... really cleared?"
The map bore no resemblance to what they'd seen upon arrival. Shock rippled through them.
Areas once stained red were now pristine.
The red dots marking monsters had vanished almost entirely—barely visible now.
And the largest cluster, the central hotspot?
Gone entirely, replaced by blank white—as if carved out.
In other words! From this moment, the national A-Rank San Marino Demonus, a 20-year calamity, was no longer a Demonus.
That wasn't all.
Yong-un pressed another button, and the GHO Italy branch's largest CCTV feed appeared.
Many frowned at the empty lot on screen—what was this now?
But amid the puzzled hunters, the War God reacted differently.
"No way!"
His unexpected outburst piqued curiosity, easing furrowed brows.
The War God shot up, ripping down the projector screen in one yank.
Woo-dududuk.
The screen tore away, revealing the Demonus vista beyond the window.
"F-Fucking hell..."
The thing they'd seen daily before the op was gone.
The massive fortress looming at the center, blocking the full view of the Demonus.
It had vanished.
In its place, a vast empty lot.
"Ah..."
Many hunters trailed off, speechless.
They craned necks, stood from chairs, peering out.
Rubbed eyes, shook heads—it was undeniably gone.
The symbol of the San Marino Demonus.
The boss fortress they had to conquer someday—Marquis Gristarin's stronghold.
The space it had concealed was now a gaping void.
The War God whipped his head around with a whoosh.
He glared at Yong-un.
"That..."
And in Yong-un's hand, something familiar caught his eye.
"Ops chief."
But the War God's words cut off again.
Yong-un, his task done, called the chief.
As if scripted, the chief took the podium Yong-un vacated.
He pulled out prepared documents and proceeded with the op termination per protocol.
"Final briefing commencing."
The San Marino Demonus weakening operation.
Its outcome was both the greatest triumph and worst tragedy of all prior weakening ops.
Clearing a national A-Rank Demonus—the ultimate achievement.
Yet of 972 A-Rank hunters, only 312 survived—the ultimate loss.
These highs and lows exposed to the world the responsibilities hidden behind the "superpower" label that GHO had tried to bury.
"Reality moves fast when it comes to spreading info, huh."
Yong-un glanced up from related articles on his phone, murmuring lowly.
"Soul-Exterminating Ghosts."
Kung!!!
In the long corridor from the conference room to the branch chief's office,
midway, a clash of energies erupted before Yong-un.
The powerful shockwave shook the building, shattering walls and nearby objects.
The War God appeared, his fists blocked by Barum and Myung-un.
The War God's yellow mana collided with Barum and Myung-un's black demonic energy, sparking lightning in all directions.
Pajijijik.
"Yong-un."
The War God's demeanor was different from usual.
Once brimming with playful fighting spirit, now—after clashing with the Soul-Exterminating Ghosts guarding Yong-un—he radiated pure battle lust.
Kwajijik.
The Soul-Exterminating Ghosts were strong.
Among real-world hunters, they held top ranks—their power proven in this Demonus.
But even their strength wasn't enough to match the War God yet.
Kwadududuk.
The War God unleashed his signature yellow mana, shoving Barum and Myung-un back.
Their feet dug into the ground, carving four furrows as they slid.
And between them, the War God's battle-hungry eyes met Yong-un's.
"Why the hell do you have that?"
"This, you mean?"
Yong-un pointed to the Demon-Slaying Sword at his side.
He smirked at the War God's words.
"You turned into a daemon like Damon?!"
Then it hit him.
During the World S-Rank tournament,
the War God was one of the few who'd witnessed Damon's transformation by the Demon-Slaying Sword firsthand.
"Withdraw your mana."
Swipe.
It was then.
Directly behind the War God, locked in clash with Barum and Myung-un, a dagger hovered at his throat.
"S-Rank assassins, huh."
The War God scowled at the dancer's figure pressing the dagger to his neck.
The Shadowless Assassination Technique was formidable.
Even for the War God, he'd barely sensed her presence in that split instant.
Not unreasonable to peg her as an S-Rank assassin.
But the War God wasn't just shocked by the dancer's technique.
Starting with her, fleeting presences flickered from all directions.
Thud. Thud thud.
The Poison Witch's hand touched the War God's back, and Cheon-il's fist pressed his side.
The entire Soul-Exterminating Ghosts had concealed their auras and closed in to point-blank range.
The War God, fists extended.
The Soul-Exterminating Ghosts encircling him.
The two sides bared their fangs over Yong-un.
"You wanna die?"
"Do you want to die?"
The War God's battle-lust glare clashed with Myung-un's murderous stare.