Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: Arrival of Death Demon Cry
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"Everyone, get out of the way!"
Daisy and Marina had no choice but to harden their expressions the moment they arrived in the lobby of the GHO Korea Branch.
The thick, fishy stench of blood hit their noses as soon as they stepped onto the first-floor staircase.
Even without seeing ahead through the crowd of people, they could tell something was wrong.
Something big had happened.
"The Branch Director and Deputy Director have arrived. Clear the way, everyone!"
The security team leader pushed through the crowd, parting them to the left and right as he led the way.
The Hunter guards protecting the GHO Korea Branch quickly shoved the crowd aside at the team leader's advance.
And then they saw it: the floor drenched in blood.
"You've finally arrived."
The leader of D.D.C., speaking in a British accent, grinned while hoisting a blood-soaked man by the collar.
Every time Pollant's arm moved, the man—who looked as good as dead—flopped around like a puppet with its strings cut.
Blood sprayed in all directions with each jerk, instantly reminding Daisy of Deputy Director-General Charlie's official notice.
Her face twisted in displeasure.
"What's with that look? Haven't you heard from Deputy Director-General and the War God?"
Pollant shrugged his shoulders.
Only then did Daisy snap out of it and start managing her expression in response to his words.
"Are you the Death Demon Cry team?"
As she spoke to Pollant, Branch Director Daisy scanned the Hunters standing around him in their black leather long coats.
'Ten of them.'
Excluding Pollant, Death Demon Cry had ten affiliated Hunters.
Marina, having tallied the numbers just like Daisy, sent a telepathic message to the non-Hunter Branch Director Daisy, true to her S-Rank magic-type Hunter status.
[They're all powerhouses.]
"Looks like word got through."
Pollant snorted at Branch Director Daisy's nod.
Then he casually tossed the man in his grip forward.
Thud.
"Spears, Ollie."
The man hit the ground limply.
At Pollant's command, two figures in black leather long coats from behind stepped toward the fallen man.
The blood pooled on the floor sloshed against the shoes of the two Death Demon Cry members.
Not caring in the slightest, the ones called Spears and Ollie extended their arms toward the man.
And then they drew upon their mana.
"Are you the leader, by any chance?"
Pollant replied to Branch Director Daisy's question.
"That's me. Why? Got a problem with that?"
"This is Korea. Even if we're under GHO, if you use this as an excuse later, we'll have nothing to say to the Korean Hunter Management Agency."
"Doesn't matter. We've got plenty of justification."
No matter how much they were GHO Hunters, unprovoked murder in a foreign country was a grave crime.
It was common knowledge to anyone registered with GHO, Hunter or not.
Yet Death Demon Cry's Hunters acted as if that common sense didn't apply to them, brazenly carrying out their deed in plain view.
"Justification alone won't convince the Korean agencies..."
Just as Daisy pointed that out.
Pollant cut her off.
"He's a Demon Cry."
"...What?"
Surprise flashed across Daisy's face.
"A Demon Cry. You know? Demon Cries get summary execution regardless of nationality."
"What kind of standard is..."
"You'll know when you see it. Begin."
Spears and Ollie nodded at Pollant's words and activated their skills with the mana they'd gathered.
Thin threads like spider silk extended from their fingertips in dozens of strands, binding the man.
Then black mana began leaking from the levitated man's body, drawn along the thin mana threads by Spears and Ollie.
That wasn't all.
"Ugh..."
Splat. Splat-splat.
Blood erupted from all over the man's body.
It was gruesome enough to make everyone's skin crawl and faces grimace.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Blood spurted everywhere.
The people around dodged it, stepping back or shifting aside.
But amid it all, a petite black-haired girl in a black leather long coat stepped forward, her heels clicking through the blood-soaked floor.
And then.
Fwoosh.
She unleashed a dark gray mana—similar to the man's but slightly different—in all directions.
The blood splattering toward the girl scattered away instead.
In front of everyone watching, the girl pointed at the man and began drawing in the air with her finger.
A circular pattern embroidered with strange symbols.
Finally, she drew what looked like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs in the empty center and shouted.
"Exile."
Then something astonishing happened.
The man, thought to be dead, suddenly glowed with black patterns across his body and transformed into dark gray demon-like skin.
That wasn't all.
"Grrr... GRRAAAAAH!!!"
A beastly roar escaped the man's mouth.
The girl didn't stop at the sight.
"Exile."
A change unfit for her small, beautiful voice.
Swoosh.
"GRRAAAAAH!!!"
A dark gray demon face with black horns protruded from then retracted into the man's face.
"Exile."
The girl's chant continued.
And finally.
Bang!
Thud.
Target eliminated. Demon contract terminated.
A phantom resembling a demon burst from the man's body and vanished into thin air.
Like a Christian exorcist slaying a devil.
The man's body, writhing like a demon's, went limp and slumped.
The patterns etched across his skin vanished in black flames.
And the man...
Thud.
Died.
Death Demon Cry.
True to their name, they were the world's top extermination unit when it came to Demon Cries.
'First time seeing this...'
Marina couldn't recover from the shock.
A Demon Cry having their contract forcibly severed without turning fully into a demon.
How could they extract the target's mana by force and terminate the contract outright?
But unlike her shock, Marina's rationality gradually returned, bringing calm.
'In the end, it's still killing them.'
She couldn't forget the guards disposing of the dead man's body.
She'd never heard of Death Demon Cry forcibly ending a Demon Cry's contract and saving the target.
Demon Cries could be executed on sight with no legal issues.
Thus, outside GHO, each country's Hunter agencies formed teams to kill them immediately upon detection.
Plain and simple.
Demon Cries only had one answer: death.
In Marina's eyes, Death Demon Cry's ability to capture and kill Demon Cries didn't seem all that different from other Hunters.
"You said you'd only handle the Demon Cry... Just curious, but can you end the contract without killing them and let them live?"
Daisy seemed to share Marina's curiosity.
Marina stared at Pollant with the same questioning look as Daisy voiced her doubt.
"Of course. We've done it hundreds of times already."
Pollant glanced at his Death Demon Cry members standing behind him.
They all nodded without hesitation.
"Then why that man..."
"I said we can end the contract without killing them. Didn't say we'd let them live."
Daisy and Marina both furrowed their brows.
Pollant smirked at their confused expressions.
"You two aren't like those hypocrites pretending to be saints, believing these scum can be reformed, are you?"
Pollant leaned back in his chair.
"Wake up. Do you think guys who've done it once won't find it harder the second time? And the second time, they'll be sneakier, hiding deeper before starting up again. That's what those fucking trash do."
They called British English aristocratic.
British English had distinct accents based on class.
Pollant's English, as Daisy knew, was the aristocratic tongue of highborn British gentlemen.
But she'd never imagined such venomous curses could spill from aristocratic English.
Pollant grinned wickedly like a devil.
He slammed the table between him and Daisy.
"Come to think of it, you haven't asked why we're here."
Sneer.
"Acting like you already know?"
Daisy averted her gaze at Pollant's words.
"Looks like I hit the mark. Yong-un. You know where that guy is, don't you?"
Marina glanced at Daisy.
It was just as Daisy had said.
That was why Pollant had come here.
'Same reason as the Mercenary King!'
Tap. Tap.
Pollant's fingers drummed the table, building tension.
Then he leaned forward abruptly, bringing his face close to Daisy's.
"Spit it out quick. I don't want to feel like last time."
The Mercenary King, soaring to unreachable heights under the name Royal Class.
Even Death Demon Cry's brutality couldn't dent that reputation.
No, it only rose higher, frustrating them.
'Not this time.'
Pollant steeled himself inwardly, but his tongue licked his lips devilishly.
'My master said it: to catch a devil, become one.'
Pollant followed his master's words well.
Now, he was a devil worse than any Demon Cry.
A demon-slaying devil who killed any Hunter contracted with demons on sight.
"Not talking? You have no idea what I'll do if I miss him again. I don't want to go down in Death Demon Cry history as the leader who killed civilians. Help me out here."
Daisy was speechless at Pollant's ferocity.
What he was doing was undoubtedly for humanity.
How many had died because of demons?
Yet somehow, separate from that, Daisy had a bad feeling that telling Pollant what she knew would lead to something awful.
"Hurry up!"
Pollant slammed the table again, exploding in anger at Daisy's stalling.
Eyes squeezed shut, Daisy ignored her intuition and chose.
To cooperate, as Deputy Director-General Charlie had instructed.
Thud.
Daisy pulled a hidden paper from her bosom and placed it before Pollant.
"Coordinates. I figured if you got here without a plane, you'd have a teleporter Hunter with you."
Only then did Pollant wipe the menacing look and smile.
"Smarter than you look."
Marina felt chills at how Pollant's expression flipped in an instant.
Pollant eyed Marina up and down briefly, then licked his lips again.
He immediately handed the coordinate paper to Spears behind him.
"Spears. Move out."
"Yes, Leader."
"R-Right now?"
Daisy tried to stop Pollant, who was about to leave, with a shocked expression.
"I told you. I won't miss this chance. While there's time, we're moving. Spears, what are you waiting for? Teleport."
As the member called Spears began gathering mana.
Daisy grabbed Pollant's hand and shouted.
"You can't! He's strong enough that even the War God couldn't handle him. This chance you've seized could turn into your grave!"
Daisy's urgent expression.
Pollant raised his hand amusedly, stopping Spears.
"Oh ho, interesting. But do you know?"
"What..."
"That when it comes to Demon Cries, we're stronger than the War God? Heh~"
Pollant's unusually long tongue extended.
"If the War God were a Demon Cry... he'd be dead by our hands too. Spears?"
With those shocking words to Daisy, Pollant showed he hadn't stopped Spears to heed her advice.
"Teleport."
Spears channeled his mana, and they vanished before Daisy and Marina's eyes.
"Warp."
Flash.