Chapter 28
Chapter 28
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Demon Gate Erupts
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Crackle-crackle.
The moment every hunter's tension began to ease.
Without any warning whatsoever, dark blue lightning flashed repeatedly at the entrance to Bupyeong Station.
"Wh-what the hell?!"
The dark mana that hit them all at once plunged every hunter into extreme tension.
"Is this... a demon?"
Gulp.
The sound of someone swallowing hard echoed.
It might have been their own. Or someone else's.
But no hunter near Bupyeong Station had that sound in their heads.
Their attention was fixed on one thing alone.
The dark mana pouring from Bupyeong Station. And the dark blue flashes.
Tremble.
The weapons in every hunter's hands shook faintly,
their palms slick with sweat.
Fear. And extreme tension.
These weren't words that applied only to the hunters stationed outside.
Crackle-crackle-crackle.
The GHO's elite hunters, witnessing the dark blue sparks right before their eyes, staggered back.
The sight of the director frozen in terror didn't even register with them.
"N-no way Myung-su..."
In a situation where a demon could burst out at any second, what good was the director?
Leaving the immobilized director behind, the S-rank hunters put distance between themselves and the demon gate.
Then, Maria scowled fiercely and whipped her head around.
Toward Yong-un, the root of all this chaos.
"This is all because of you..."
Step. Step.
A murderous urge to beat Yong-un to death—for royally screwing everything up—surged within her.
But.
"......"
Maria couldn't bring herself to speak at the sight of Yong-un in her line of sight.
Step. Step.
His footsteps descending slowly, like some middle-aged guy out for a casual stroll. His utterly impassive expression.
And those unknowable eyes of his.
'How the hell is he so damn calm in a situation like this...?'
The moment their eyes met.
Maria's gaze locked onto Yong-un—not the demon gate.
Swipe.
Yong-un's shoulder brushed past her.
From facing her head-on. To her side. To his back receding into the distance.
"Maria! What are we gonna do?!"
Right then.
The black hunter shook the shoulders of the dazed Maria.
Snapping out of it, she shook her head and glanced at the demon gate.
But only for a moment.
Her eyes shifted once more to Yong-un's retreating back, which had entered her view alongside the gate.
"The plan's completely fucked. The dark mana's power is beyond what we expected. But its sheer volume exceeded our estimates."
"That bastard's fault. Was 'stay put' too hard to understand? Or are you just a thick-headed idiot?!"
The two S-rank hunters, excluding Maria, spat out their words laced with fury.
Especially the usually quiet S-rank hunter, who coldly assessed the situation and added his piece.
"It wasn't just the demon causing the gate overload. By now, that guy's overflowing with power. Maria! What do we do?!"
As the urgency mounted, the quiet S-rank hunter put force into his voice.
"Maria!"
Does he have some kind of charm skill or what?
Only after the black hunter's shout did Maria's gaze finally detach from Yong-un.
She rolled her eyes, belatedly taking stock of the situation.
"So. What we need to do next is..."
"Don't bother racking your brains. You colorblind fools."
Just as Maria was deep in thought.
Yong-un's low voice rang out.
Passing the director—who was frozen stiff—he strode toward the gate and called out.
"This land isn't yours."
As he walked on, Yong-un casually turned only his head to glance at the GHO elite hunters.
"That fucker..."
True to his hot-blooded nature, the black hunter's body lurched forward.
But the calm S-rank hunter blocked him, grabbing Maria's shoulders and shaking her.
"You gonna let him go like that? If that guy walks in and dies, we'll be on the hook for whatever happens next. Maria! Get a grip!"
"So... what should we..."
"Forget it. I'll handle it. You two just watch."
Pushing the hesitant Maria aside, the black hunter took action.
"Stop!"
But contrary to Maria's words, the calm hunter blocking his path stepped aside.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"The secret support leader can't make a proper call, so I've gotta do things my way."
Bang!
A sound like a hammer slamming the floor rang out, and the black hunter—who had been advancing step by step—sprang forward like a coiled spring.
S-rank hunters were S-rank for a reason.
His speed was far too fast for any normal eyes to track.
It took barely three seconds for the black hunter, standing at the subway's end, to reach the middle where Yong-un was walking.
Cleaving the air, he closed in behind Yong-un in an instant and raised his hand.
And in that instant, as he reached to snatch Yong-un's nape—
A massive impact boomed, followed by a guttural death rattle.
"Gahk!"
Whoosh.
The air quivered.
The wind, unable to keep up with the black hunter's speed, belatedly swept through the entire subway before vanishing.
And the ensuing gust rushed into the three gaping mouths.
The GHO elite hunters' and the director's.
"Ugh..."
The groan echoing through the subway came again in agony.
Dizzying pain gripped his neck, coupled with suffocating breathlessness.
It all poured out in a single groan.
Then, Yong-un's calm voice rang out as he clutched the black hunter's throat.
"I don't know what your words mean. But from you trying to block me, I get one thing. What happens to this land doesn't matter to you one bit."
"Grk... grrrk..."
Yong-un's once-calm eyes turned icy cold.
He slammed the black hunter straight into the subway floor.
Boom!
"Ugaaak!"
The impact cracked the subway floor. The black hunter's limbs shot up high before flopping down limply.
And in that state, with eyes closed, he made no move to rise.
"Hey, lady."
Director Baek Myung-hee, stunned by the unfolding scene, stared at Yong-un with a trembling voice.
"Y-yes...?"
"Tell them I didn't kill him. But if they block me again, next time I'll make an example."
"B-but..."
Swipe.
The director reached out, but Yong-un had already turned away.
Before the gate leaking unstable, incomplete demonic energy.
Yong-un's steps didn't hesitate even at the gate's threshold—he strode right in.
The surrounding scenery shifted abruptly as he slipped inside.
"Similar environment to that baron fellow."
The changed landscape felt familiar.
The ground was split open, red flames spurting from the cracks.
Numerous monster corpses littered the area, with a gray-skinned man perched atop them.
Since he'd been through this before, Yong-un expressed his disappointment.
"Would've been nice if it was a marquis."
The demon atop the pile of corpses stood as Yong-un shook his head.
Grabbing a black sword embedded in a body—his face twisted in rage, as if furious at something—he slowly descended the mound.
"Ptoo. Still better than nothing."
Suddenly, he grinned at Yong-un.
"I was in a foul mood thanks to some spineless rat."
Pop!
That lasted only a moment.
The demon's form vanished from midway up the corpse pile, soaring high before plummeting swiftly toward Yong-un.
The black sword, arcing to cleave Yong-un in two, sliced through the air thick with dense demonic energy.
And then.
It swung down at Yong-un with full force.
Clang! Whoosh—
The clash of immense powers sent shockwaves gusting wind.
It shook the ground where Yong-un stood, producing a deafening roar.
"Kekekeke."
"No different from before."
Unlike the demon's full-force swing, Yong-un—who'd blocked it with his arm—wore a serene expression.
No, it was filled with regret.
As if reading Yong-un's emotions.
The demon, intrigued by his blocked attack, twisted his face.
"Before? Have you fought a demon like me prior?"
"You're a baron too, huh."
"Oh ho!"
At the word "baron," the demon's downturned lips curled up to his ears.
"You fought me before or something?"
"As if."
"Then how'd you know I'm a baron?"
"No different from the last one."
As he spoke, Yong-un's arm moved.
His arm slithered like a snake along the demon's blade, clamping down tight on its hand and hilt.
"Strength. Demonic energy volume."
"...What the hell is this?"
Panic was brief—Yong-un's arm surged with demonic energy, ripping away the demon's sword and arm in one go.
"Graaaahhh!"
Blue blood sprayed into the air.
The severed arm flew through the sky, while Yong-un now held the black sword.
"A blood-crazed magic sword. Not quite on the level of a Demon-Slaying Sword."
"Ughhh..."
The demon clutched the stump of his arm, biting his lip.
He whipped his head around to glare at Yong-un.
"Wh-what are you? How... a mere human..."
Sss.
The demon's bewildered words cut off there.
A blue crack like thread spread from his neck, and his head lolled backward.
Blood gushed into the air once more. Yong-un reverse-gripped the black sword in his hand.
And in that stance, he hurled it—piercing the fallen demon's head.
Crackle-crackle-crackle.
The gate-clear phenomenon followed.
Yong-un gave the crumbling gate world a once-over, then reached in to pluck the mana stone from the demon's heart.
He turned to the empty air and spoke.
"Gonna stay hidden? It's all over—come out whenever. I'm busy, so I'm heading out."
Not waiting for a reply, Yong-un took the demon sword and strolled leisurely out of the collapsing gate.
"Ugh..."
"Coming around?"
Clutching his head, the black hunter pushed himself up.
"Where's that bastard?"
Forcing his shaky vision to focus, he steadied his churning gut.
Then, as soon as his wits returned, he whipped his head left and right, searching for someone.
But the scene that met the black hunter's eyes wasn't the one from before he blacked out.
White walls. White ceiling.
And the drab blue blanket he was lying under.
The surroundings made it obvious where he was. His gaze locked onto the white hunter seated in a chair.
"What happened?"
The white hunter delivered words that were hard to believe.
"Looks like shock wiped your memory. You lost. And clean."
"Bullshit."
The black hunter's face twisted in rage as he roughly yanked out the IV needle in his left hand and sat up.
"You think I'd buy that crap, even from you?"
He crammed his feet into the shoes on the floor and bolted for the door without another word.
Knowing full well what he was thinking, the white hunter blocked his path.
"Move."
"Better if you don't go. Even if you do, nothing changes."
Just an A-rank.
The director had proven it. And before that, GHO intel confirmed Korea had only one S-rank.
Even his face.
Lose to some no-name A-rank punk? Himself—an elite S-rank hunter?
To the point his teammate of over five years admits defeat?
"If you're joking, cut it out. Block me, and you won't walk away unscathed."
He shoved the white hunter's shoulders hard.
The white hunter stumbled back far but refused to yield, blocking the path again.
And tossed out the unbelievable.
"Think I'm joking? Then think about it. While you were down, what happened to the demon gate."
At the white hunter's words, the black hunter—who'd been about to shove him aside—froze.
"Demon... gate?"
Only then did he recall the demon gate that had been viciously spewing black mana before he collapsed.
The horrific disaster on the verge of opening, triggered by Yong-un's forced gate overload.
"Gate's cleared. That A-rank who laid you out went in solo and stopped the disaster."
The black hunter's eyes went wide.
But only briefly.
They returned to normal as he shook his head.
"Don't lie. No way solo..."
"It's the truth."
Right as he dismissed it and kept talking.
The hospital room door opened, and Maria's voice rang out.
"What?"
A furrow creased the black hunter's brow at Maria's firm declaration.
But undeterred, Maria spoke with a hardened expression.
"It's true. The demon gate's cleared. It was a baron-level demon, and it didn't make it out. Because of that A-rank hunter who knocked you out."