Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Mad Castle's Debut
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Three minutes ago.
A twenty-meter-high crimson oval pulsed with light, like a heart about to burst.
It was an unsettling sight for anyone to behold.
In front of the gate, police and military forces had joined to form a massive defensive line, and two thousand hunters had gathered.
Fortunately, the Dolphin Guild, New Zealand's ace team, had arrived quickly and was assigning positions to the hunters.
The number of hunters grew rapidly with each passing moment, but their anxiety remained.
The gate's violent fluctuations were simply too unstable.
"Hoo."
Eldor, the Guild Leader of the Dolphin Guild, stood at the very front, enduring the oppressive anxiety.
"What's Hunter Min Ha-na's position?"
"She'll arrive within thirty minutes."
"Any news of support from other hunters?"
"No definite news yet."
"Please, we need more time."
It was a Double S-rank gate.
The pressure was too immense to muster any courage.
They had gathered under a national order, but this was beyond anything he could handle.
Just as his anxiety peaked...
His vision was flooded with crimson.
It felt unreal.
*No way...*
The thought had barely crossed his mind.
The crimson oval, which had been an empty, mirror-like space, began to fill and rapidly expand.
"Uh..."
He was too bewildered to speak.
*BOOM!*
With a deafening roar, the red light shattered into transparent particles, causing a spatial distortion.
A Dungeon Break.
Monsters began to pour out of the black, distorted space that resembled a demon's maw.
—Dungeon Break in New Zealand!
The entire world heard the news, but there was nothing anyone could do.
"We're turning back."
The same went for the members of Mad Castle, who had been approaching the gate.
Following the manual, the helicopter pilot aborted the approach and prepared to return.
"Please land."
"What?"
"We're getting off here. Everyone, get ready."
Bae Wang-sik did not choose the safe path.
"Are you sure about this?"
"We'll save whoever we can."
Tears welled up in the pilot's eyes at his words.
"As a citizen of New Zealand, thank you."
"Save your thanks for after the operation. This is just the beginning."
The pilot landed the helicopter in a wide meadow.
Stepping onto the meadow, Wang-sik immediately pulled out his smartphone.
He could see the situation on the ground through a channel provided by the Australian government.
After checking the drone and CCTV feeds, Wang-sik was speechless for a long time, as if he'd been struck from behind.
The other members were the same.
"Those crazy sons of bitches..."
Only a single monster had emerged from the gate.
The Death King.
It was an undead monster known as the worst of the worst.
There were no records of it on Earth. Even Wang-sik had only heard stories; this was the first time he'd seen it himself.
A ten-meter-tall cloak of black demonic energy formed its body, and an intense red light emanated from its skull-shaped face.
Its massive, fifteen-meter-long scythe, reminiscent of the Grim Reaper, laid waste to the surroundings with a single swing.
Even without direct contact, the shockwave from the scythe extended for a thirty-meter radius.
"I heard it was sealed in the Magic Tower..."
Wang-sik hadn't expected the Magic Tower to go this far.
They had unleashed a creature on Earth that had been sealed even in Azelan.
It was a monster unranked on Earth, yet so dangerous in Azelan that the continent's heroes had to unite to face it.
On the screen, the Death King swept the area with its massive scythe, then let out a monstrous shriek toward the sky.
Then, their worst fears came to pass.
Green clouds gathered in the sky and soon began to rain.
A deep green rain.
The raindrops that hit the ground stained the earth black and released a thick vapor.
Screams erupted as people were caught in the powerful acid rain.
"Aargh!"
"Aaaah!"
This was why the Death King was called a calamity.
The green clouds spread wider, and the attacks of the Awakeners trying to fight back couldn't even penetrate the demonic energy surrounding its cloak.
After a while, the screams died down, and the green rain stopped.
All that remained was the madness-fueled Death King.
Those who had stood against it were annihilated.
* * *
*Clap, clap, clap!*
The sound of applause filled the hall.
A transparent crystal had instantly filled with red energy.
It was only at ten percent capacity, but considering the crystal's size, it was an immense amount.
Everyone clapped with joyous expressions, but Oh Min-jae could not.
He could only stare blankly at the crystal filling with red.
Once the first attack succeeded, a mage stepped forward before the audience and gave a slight bow.
It was a gesture that could have seemed arrogant, but no one pointed it out.
Falcon, an 8th-floor mage.
He was the gate's architect.
Receiving the audience's attention, he finally began to explain the project's details.
Normally, such explanations were given before the gate opened, but his confidence was so high that he had waited to show the results first.
"We sent the Death King through this gate."
Everyone looked shocked at the mention of the Death King.
It was one of the three monsters sealed within the Magic Tower.
"A wise investment."
"I regret not investing more."
"If you had told me beforehand, I would have bet my entire fortune."
Such was the significance of the name "Death King."
It had been the centerpiece of a battle so fierce it was recorded in the history of the Azelan Continent.
But the explanation didn't end there.
"However, the calamity is not over for them."
The mage pointed to the two still-empty crystals.
"Another rapid gate will open. The monsters we've sent through this one are Hell Ants."
"Hell Ants?"
After the impact of the Death King, the mention of Hell Ants didn't elicit much of a reaction.
They were monsters classified as C-rank even on Earth.
As if he had expected this, Falcon continued.
"Each gate contains three thousand Hell Ants. What do you think will happen when they emerge?"
A total of six thousand Hell Ants.
The thought was horrifying. And Falcon added an even more shocking prospect.
"It doesn't end with a single attack. Hell Ants have a habit of building nests after they raid."
"Ah..."
"That's right! It's not just a raid!"
"How could you think of such a thing!"
Once Hell Ants establish a territory, they burrow underground and build nests.
"The Hell Ants will continue to expand their territory until the last human in that land is dead."
Applause erupted once more.
*Get a grip.*
Oh Min-jae chastised himself for spacing out and scanned his surroundings.
*I have to stop the Hell Ants.*
If the Hell Ants poured out, that land would become uninhabitable.
Those creatures had an incredible reproductive rate.
The problem didn't end there.
*It could become a foothold.*
It meant they would have a place from which to safely trigger Dungeon Breaks.
*I have to warn them. Quickly.*
But the question was how.
If he tried to leave now, it would definitely look suspicious.
Oh Min-jae quickly scanned the area. He saw a man in his late twenties nodding with an arrogant expression.
*Daler.*
The eldest son of the Marquis Halo family, who had recently become its head.
He was known for being a total scoundrel, but as the lord of a major central city and the head of a historic family, no one dared to cross him.
Oh Min-jae subtly approached him.
Since many people were already moving around as if at a social gathering, it didn't look strange.
After all, networking among nobles was one of the purposes of such events.
As Oh Min-jae passed in front of Daler, he subtly stepped on his foot.
"Oh? My apologies."
"Watch where you're going."
Even for a scoundrel like him, the setting prompted him to hold back, at least for the moment.
*Just act like you always do.*
Feeling pressed for time, Oh Min-jae moved on to the next step.
*I didn't want to go this far.*
*Thud.*
Oh Min-jae, having tripped on a chair, lost his balance and stumbled.
"Aagh!"
The scream wasn't Oh Min-jae's.
In his haste, his hand had landed squarely on Daler's private parts.
Daler hunched over, trembling.
"A-are you all right?"
Oh Min-jae leaned in toward Daler with an apologetic look.
"Oh dear, I hope they're not broken, are they? You're not even married yet, what if they're broken..."
*Smack!*
In the end, Daler's fist connected with Oh Min-jae's face.
As if that wasn't enough to vent his anger, he started stomping on the fallen Oh Min-jae.
Fortunately, eyes had been drawn to them since Daler had cried out, so the mages on guard rushed over to stop him.
But Oh Min-jae's face was already a bloody mess.
In the end, Oh Min-jae was able to leave under the pretext of receiving medical treatment.
"I don't wish to be in the same room as that man. I'll be leaving."
Once he was out the door, there were no further restrictions. In fact, they seemed satisfied to prevent any further incidents and allowed him to descend to the ground floor.
After descending to Majit through the Magic Tower's teleportation circle, Oh Min-jae went straight back to the trading company.
As he entered in his blood-stained clothes, Aisi ran over with a shocked expression.
"Master!"
Leaving her stunned, Oh Min-jae immediately took out a crystal orb enchanted with communication magic.
"Seok-yeong! Contact Wang-sik right now! There are two more rapid gates! You have to find them!"
He delivered the news, forgetting the blood that was once again trickling from his split lip.
Oh Min-jae's information was immediately relayed to Wang-sik.
"Hell Ants..."
The C-rank monster, Hell Ants.
They grew up to a meter in size, were covered in iron-like shells, and could shatter boulders with their mandibles.
Still, they were classified as C-rank because a C-rank hunter could handle up to three of them without much trouble.
But if a break occurred now and they established a territory, New Zealand would become uninhabitable.
"This is Mad Castle. A rapid gate must have appeared somewhere by now. We have to stop it."
—We've already identified it. But we don't have the forces to stop it.
The command center on the other end of the line was filled with shouting. The situation was just that chaotic.
—Hunter casualties are already high, so we don't have many spare forces.
There wasn't enough time to get a detailed report.
"Where are the closest reinforcements?"
—We've received word that a team has departed from Russia. They're expected to arrive in eight hours.
At least Gregory had complied with Wang-sik's wishes.
But eight hours was too late.
"Where are the rapid gates located? Gather all available forces for support."
There were hunters who had originally been converging on the Death King's location.
But there were only about five hundred of them.
And most of them were B-rank hunters or lower.
"I need command authority over the hunters who are gathering now."
—What are you planning to do?
"Mad Castle will protect New Zealand."
The person on the other end was silent for a moment. Then, they replied with conviction.
—I'll report to the Prime Minister immediately.
Ending the call, Wang-sik looked at his comrades beside him.
"We need to deal with the rapid gates first. There are three thousand Hell Ants in each one."
"Three thousand? That's a lot."
"We have to handle it before a break occurs."
That meant they had to go inside the gates.
"What about the Death King?"
"I'll hold it off."
"Can you do it?"
Wang-sik smiled at his anxious comrades.
"Have you forgotten who I am?"
His expression was full of confidence.
"If I can't stop it, no one can. I'm Earth's only hope."
Wang-sik looked toward the distant area where explosions could be heard.
"A hero saving the world needs a trial of this magnitude."
"You really want to joke around in a situation like this?"
"Of course. I've always wanted to say that. And I'm not alone."
Wang-sik put an earphone in his ear.
—It's me!
Oh Min-jae had arrived at the base.
"We have a supporter. That's our Earth Defense Force."
Mad Castle's debut had begun.