Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Clearing the Demonus
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The name "Demonus" wasn't chosen lightly.
Unlike Gates, Demonus weren't the kind of thing that could be cleared. Nations managed them on a national scale, reducing their numbers and weakening their forces—that was the extent of it.
A nation's power surpassed that of a Demonus.
Yet the reason they couldn't clear Demonus recklessly was simple.
The damage caused in the process of clearing a Demonus.
It was something no nation could ignore.
However, there was a group that had been inside such a Demonus for hours now, determined to clear it.
Yong-un and his followers.
"How long has it been?"
The minister, who had rushed over in a few strides, asked Captain Kim Hyun, the commander of the unit stationed there.
The captain saluted and shouted back.
"Three hours and thirty-two minutes!"
"Just like Hunter Yong-un."
Death's Sea Village—a place where everyone had given up after not even making it 200 meters.
Yet here they were, fighting for three hours and thirty-two minutes straight.
Massive shockwaves and explosions visible even to the minister's eyes proved they were still locked in battle.
The relentless shockwaves and blasts.
To the hunter combat units who had spent their lives sealing off Demonus here, it was a moment of anticipation and exhilaration.
"This is a historic moment."
It would be a lie to say he'd never imagined it.
But he never dreamed it would happen on his watch.
Captain Kim Hyun was a veteran who had been stationed here for fourteen years.
Even he had never witnessed a battle like this in his life.
It was a tense, thrilling moment where even daring to dream of clearing the Demonus felt possible.
"It won't turn into history of a different kind, will it?"
Captain Kim Hyun wiped the smile from his face at the minister's worried tone.
"My apologies..."
What other kind of history could there be?
Failure to clear the Demonus.
The death of Hunter Yong-un and his team.
It would be a massive loss for the entire Republic of Korea—a snapping of a glory just beginning to rise.
That was why the minister had tried to stop Yong-un's group.
He always cherished Korea's top hunters.
Yong-un and his team might be irreplaceable talents Korea would never see again.
He couldn't show weakness in front of his subordinates, but if possible, the minister wanted to clasp his hands and pray.
'Please... just come back safe. You don't have to clear it. Just return unharmed.'
Was it the minister's prayers?
Or his efforts guarding this place for hours?
BOOM!
After one final, colossal explosion unlike any before...
The Demonus fell utterly silent.
No more sounds came from within to signal they were still alive.
The minister's widening eyes peered into the fenced-off Demonus.
Togma's presence was overwhelming.
He appeared to be the leader of the bull-headed demons of immense strength.
The raw power was so monstrous that it made Jeong-won's arms tremble violently just blocking it.
Dodging cratered the ground; blocking shook her body so hard her arms nearly tore off.
"Nngh!"
Her lips were already split and bleeding from biting down so hard.
But Jeong-won didn't stop.
'If I stop here...'
Her gaze fell on Jong-hyun collapsed on the ground and the ruins of the pension.
Jeong-won's eyes widened in fury.
'Everyone dies.'
Togma's fist brimmed with demonic energy.
"It's over."
Togma knew Jeong-won had surpassed her limits and was on the verge of collapse.
Irritated by her refusal to fall, he decided to deliver a blow she'd never recover from.
Wham!
Unable to muster even a wisp of pure energy, she raised her sword to block Togma's demonic fist.
The blade shattered into fragments that scattered everywhere.
Shards grazed Jeong-won's body, drawing blood.
Yet she endured, head bowed but standing tall.
"Persistent."
Togma's irritation boiled over. He clenched his fist tighter, summoning even more demonic energy for a devastating swing.
Breaking the sword was just the start.
He intended to pulverize her frail body along with it.
Thud!
The colossal demonic energy that had ruled Jumak-dong for so long erupted.
No one but Sandra could have blocked it; it shook the earth and waves.
But after the attack, Togma's face twisted in rage.
"Again?! How the hell...!"
As he pulled back his massive fist, he roared in fury at the impossible.
But only for a moment.
"No, of course not. Then what are you?"
A new figure emerged from behind where his fist had obscured Jeong-won.
Togma nodded in satisfaction at his own fist.
"Impressive for a first try. Well done."
The newcomer—the supreme one over them all.
Yong-un smiled and pushed on Jeong-won's shoulder as she stood with her head bowed.
Her body toppled over stiffly, like a wooden doll, and lay peacefully on the ground.
"No way... she was already unconscious? How was she even standing?"
Togma couldn't comprehend Jeong-won's mental fortitude.
Yong-un shifted his gaze from Jeong-won to Togma.
"Because it's the Dragon Guard."
"Bullshit! You'll end up the same! Before me, Togma, no one—"
Splat! Splurt.
As he bellowed like thunder...
Togma's eyes bulged wide.
His massive pupils reflected the blue demon blood unique to their kind.
His gaze creaked toward his right arm.
"It's... gone?"
The iron-like arm that could pulverize any foe.
It had vanished without a trace.
Splat! Splurt.
Painlessly, his left arm followed. Only then did Togma's eyes fix on Yong-un.
"H-Huge...? Grraaaah!"
The moment he met Yong-un's cold, heavy gaze...
Forgotten agony crashed over him like a tidal wave.
Losing both arms was horrific, even for a demon.
His knees buckled, head slamming into the dirt.
"Shut up."
Yong-un's small hand rested on the howling Togma's head.
With a smile, he channeled demonic energy and spoke.
"Doesn't the Dragon Guard sleep?"
"Gaaahhh!"
Death's Sea Village.
Jumak-dong Demonus.
Togma, its ruler, was done.
A massive mana stone lay where his head had burst.
Yong-un picked it up and extended his hand toward the collapsed pension.
Debris scattered, revealing the fallen Sword Tiger inside.
"Protected your body with a single strike while unconscious, huh?"
Yong-un chuckled at Sword Tiger's relatively minor wounds and laid him beside Jong-hyun.
He placed the mana stone from killing Togma next to Sword Tiger.
"Is that your limit?"
Having slain Togma and tidied up, Yong-un turned toward Guisalhon-myeol and Sandra.
The space thick with poison clouds from what seemed the Poison Witch.
Sensing Guisalhon-myeol's assassins within, Yong-un stomped lightly.
"Urghhh..."
At the center of the poison cloud remained only the Poison Witch, spewing nosebleeds amid the dark green miasma, and Sandra.
"Kyaahhh!"
The Poison Witch and Sandra writhed in agony.
The Nost clan demons between them corroded away with screams of torment.
Having never wielded such vast poison before, the Poison Witch clenched her teeth, forcibly controlling it with her willpower.
But Sandra, her body dying from the poison, wore a different expression.
A smirk that wouldn't fade.
And linking them through the lethal poison was a long, grayish tendril.
"I-I can't stop it..."
"It won't stop. Come with me. Perish with my kingdom!"
Madness filled Sandra's eyes.
The Nost clan's skill transformed their physical bodies into ethereal spirits.
But Sandra, leader risen to viscount, had an extra ability.
Seizing control of an enemy's skill.
'Tough bitch.'
She had planned to dissipate the poison and kill her outright.
p>But Sandra didn't know.
A poison demoness's miasma raged even wilder without control.
So Sandra decided to drag them all down with her everything.
"If I can't have it... everyone dies!"
Her mad eyes and face showed death meant nothing.
The Poison Witch and Sandra's gazes turned to where Guisalhon-myeol's assassins had been.
Empty air, but they had witnessed it.
The grandmaster embracing all the assassins, phasing into the void with his skill.
"St-Stop!"
The stealth skill exclusive to Carnage Society elites had a fatal flaw.
Perfect defense and offense, but no attacks or movement possible while stealthed.
Having given the grandmaster the secret manual of their ultimate technique, Sibimu-hyeong-gong, he could manage minimal motion based on it.
Even that strained his current mentality to utter just short words.
Their hazy forms began solidifying.
Sizzle.
"Nngh!"
The Poison Witch's poison grazed the revealed parts.
The grandmaster groaned amid black smoke.
"Il-gwi-hon!"
His sustained focus crumbled under the poison's pain.
The vanished Guisalhon-myeol assassins' bodies reappeared.
"Urghh!"
"It hurts!"
Mu-hee and Cheon-il cried out from the corrosion.
"Nooo!!"
"Urggghh!! Urrghh!!"
The Poison Witch screamed, the grandmaster bit down till his gums bled.
Their fragile focus wavered.
In agony, the Guisalhon-myeol assassins faded again, exposing the grandmaster's back.
Sizzzzz.
Thicker black smoke corroded his back.
Poison seeped in, greater pain wracking him.
Yet the grandmaster ground his teeth harder, eyes rolling back to protect Guisalhon-myeol.
"S-Stop it!"
As the grandmaster neared death, the Poison Witch teared up, trying to control the poison.
"Give up."
Corrosion outpaced even a viscount demon's regeneration.
Yet Sandra smiled, thinking of mutual destruction over pain.
The Poison Witch couldn't dispel a skill that hijacked control.
'Maybe I can survive.'
As Guisalhon-myeol reached their limit, Sandra's smile deepened.
"Yes, die! Die! Then give me the demon eye!"
Sandra's madness intensified over time.
Unable to move in the poison, she reached out.
The more she moved, the faster her hand corroded.
Yet the Poison Witch's control slipped further.
Whoooosh.
The poison clouds intensified.
"Gaaahhh!"
The grandmaster's focus snapped.
The fully exposed Guisalhon-myeol assassins faced the poison.
"Ahh... please!"
Seeing them, thick tears streamed from the Poison Witch's eyes.
Thinking of her screaming comrades, she clenched her fist.
Without hesitation, she punched her own face.
Thwack! Thwack!
"Die! Die already!"
Since leaving the lab, parting from Ho-gun and Jeong-won.
Guisalhon-myeol were the first she'd felt precious.
Better they die by her hand than...
Grit.
'I'll die.'
What reason to live killing comrades, of all things?
"Stop!"
Thwack! Thwack!
Ignoring Sandra's cry, the Poison Witch battered her face.
To die before her comrades exposed to poison.
"DIE!!!!!"
Nosebleeds and bruises from furious punches, desperate screams.
Her wish for death halted her fist.
Her swollen, tear-streaked eyes snapped open.
Yong-un stood before her, unleashing fresh floods of tears.
"Well done."
"It's... over..."
Seeing Yong-un's face, the Poison Witch rolled back her eyes and collapsed.
When the master loses consciousness, the technique normally dissipates.
But uncontrolled poison was a catastrophe.
"Y-You...!"
Poison swirled into a raging vortex like a dragon ascending.
Sandra gaped at Yong-un amid it.
The being who'd overlooked her from the sky was now before her, unnoticed.
"Too early to be surprised. It's just beginning."
Yong-un snapped his fingers.
The vortex spun wilder, rising into the air.
Whoosh.
The poison lifted off the ground, engulfing Sandra.
Perfectly timed, the grandmaster fainted, releasing the assassins' stealth.
"Ah..."
Cheon-il and Mu-hee looked up.
"Is this... Poison Witch sis's poison?"
No words but "natural disaster."
The poison dragon devoured all life in hellish fury.
Under Yong-un's control, its lethality rivaled any weapon.
Whirrrrr!
The wind screamed like slashing blades.
"Kyaahhh!"
Trapped within, Sandra shrieked as her body tore apart.
Rotation dozens of times faster than the vortex.
It accelerated, compressing.
Yong-un slowly clenched his fist.
"Kyaahhh!!"
The poison dragon, laced with Sandra's screams, shrank to dark green rock size.
Rock to human-sized.
Human-sized to ball-sized.
Finally, a tiny orb in his palm.
Fling.
Yong-un tossed it skyward lightly. It rocketed up and detonated massively.
KABOOOOOMMMM!!!!
Was the world ending?
The explosion shook the earth, redirecting clouds.
Cloud-shrouded Death's Sea Village, Jumak-dong.
Sudden sunlight pierced through.
At its center, Yong-un eyed the fainted Poison Witch and grandmaster.
"Well done. You held out longer than expected."
Il-gwi-hon and Sa-gwi-hon stared blankly.
Sam-gwi-hon and the fallen ones—Yong-un smiled.
"You've gained priceless experience money can't buy. Surpass this nightmare, and you'll reach greater heights."
Yong-un smiled gently.
Sa-gwi-hon Mu-hee asked,
"What if we can't?"
"You'll be weeded out."
"......"
"That lineage's ghost soul name will vanish."
"Terrifying..."
Mu-hee bit her lip.
Yong-un's smile faded to the supreme one's gaze.
"What is mine must be the best. I won't drag along those without the will. To stay by my side, to claim the world—don't get weeded out."
An order to conquer the nightmare.
Another way of saying cultivate unbreakable will.
Mu-hee smiled at once.
"I knew you'd say that."
Her gray-glowing eyes knelt on one knee to Yong-un.
"Don't worry. We, chosen by the Supreme One—we'll overcome and stay by your side forever."
Yong-un looked to the blazing sky at Mu-hee's words.
Korea's sole C-rank Demonus.
Death's Sea Village, Jumak-dong—cleared in a day by Yong-un, Dragon Guard, and Guisalhon-myeol.
A historic moment.