Chapter 158: Episode 158

“This is C-4! Monsters have entered a state of confusion after losing their commanding entity!”

“This is C-5! Confusion confirmed here as well!”

Selegma was dead. The Tanzanian Front and the Egyptian relief forces seized the opportunity, annihilating the disoriented monsters with even greater ferocity. I cleaned up the surrounding mobs and approached the bisected Selegma to retrieve its magic stone. The stones from the plant-grown fodder monsters were pathetic, but from the company captains up, their value was significant.

Hmm.

Is it still alive? Only its upper body remained, its mouth gaping open and shut. The magic stone was likely in its head. I should get it quickly and go.

Just as I extended my arm to cast a spell.

“Zni Na GuozI Nail.”

Selegma spoke. I froze, and then the creature went completely limp.

I was speechless.

Goosebumps prickled across my entire body.

“Sunbae! Is something wrong?” Yeon ran over.

“Ah, no. It’s nothing.”

As I tried to brush it off, the sky suddenly darkened as if night had fallen. I looked up.

’THUD!’

A mountain-sized skeleton crashed down before us, kicking up a cloud of dust. I saw Han Yoonjeong, riding her sand carpet, grin and put a radio to her lips.

“This is Pharaoh. Legion Commander Colossus has been eliminated.”

Once again, cheers erupted from all corners. Looking at the skeletal remains of Colossus, I clicked my tongue. A certified rank-2 hunter was unbelievably strong.

Now that both legion commanders were dead, peace had returned not only to Tanzania but to the entire Uganda region.

“We’re finally going home!”

“I really thought I was going to die.”

“Did you see me stick my sword in that company captain’s head?”

The soldiers chatted cheerfully. Our command staff, however, had moved on to a more sensitive topic.

“So, what are we going to do with this one?” Han Yoonjeong asked, pointing.

Her “gift” turned out to be Hakan, bound in sand ropes, struggling as he floated in the air.

“What is the meaning of this?! Let me down!” Hakan protested, but Yoonjeong just yawned and glanced my way, leaving the decision to me.

“This is a grave insult! To do this to a commander officially dispatched by the Global Alliance!”

“Pathetic, Hakan,” Samia scoffed. “You are a deserter. Do you really think a deserter who abandoned everyone and fled alone still retains command authority?”

“And you’re also under suspicion of intentionally blocking communications,” Karim, who had been hiding behind Samia, quickly added.

It wasn’t just them; the other hunters radiated a chilling hostility.

“It’s a misunderstanding! I was just hunting monsters elsewhere!”

“The guy who didn’t show his face for seven hours, without a word or any radio contact, is saying that now?”

“The battle was so fierce I had no chance to respond! I was knocked out for a while after a monster sent me rolling down a hill!”

He just kept denying it. Yeon’s courage had become legendary among the soldiers, but the perception of Hakan, who hadn’t shown his face at all, was equally poor among both the regular army and the dispatched forces.

More accurately, all the dispatched forces now followed Hong Yeon. The atmosphere was ripe for punishment. But dealing with an Alliance commander ourselves without concrete evidence could cause problems. It was best to handle this cleanly.

“Everyone. Care to hear something interesting?” I took out my smartphone and downloaded the video Ea had just sent. I switched to speaker mode, turned the volume to maximum, and played it.

“This is HI-157! We’ve detected Colossus leading its legion down!”

“This is HQ. Reception clear. HQ will inform the field. From now on, report everything to HQ first.”

’Kzzt.’

“We need to inform the field immediately! It’s a pincer movement! At this rate, we’ll be annihilated!”

“We’ve already reported to the field. Don’t concern yourself with it further.”

“Already reported? What do you mean? How can we believe you when you’ve cut all communication lines and won’t even let us into HQ!”

“A soldier’s duty is to obey. Do not question orders.”

’Zzt!’

“This is Dispatched Forces Commander Hakan. I have received HQ’s report and taken the necessary measures. Our forces are retreating to Dodoma, so rest assured.”

“Then at least let me speak with Commander Hong Yeon for a moment!”

“Haha, you really don’t get it, do you?”

A heavy ’thud’ echoed through the speaker.

A chilling silence fell over the crowd. In that moment, all my suspicions were confirmed as fact.

“Disgusting bastard!” Scorpion drew his scissor sword in a rage.

“H-how could you…” an officer from the dispatched forces stammered, trembling with a deep sense of betrayal. “How could you do this to us?!”

“Curious?” I asked, then played a new file. “Hakan Abdullah. Nationality: Turkish. Age: thirty-one. A certified rank-3 hunter with the Global Hunter Alliance and World Nations Peacekeeping Forces. And here’s a little-known fact…” I lowered my phone and met Hakan’s eyes with a smile. “You’re also a major shareholder of the global military corporation, PHC.”

To be precise, a company Hakan controlled was a major shareholder. He had cleverly maintained his ties to PHC in a way that wouldn’t interfere with his official activities.

“And PHC is the very company buying up land at the Suez Canal and covering it with unmanned weapon systems.”

“…Ah!” a hunter exclaimed.

They were part of the faction that advocated dropping nukes on Africa and establishing a Suez defense line to cut the continent off from the world, all to stop pouring enormous resources into a lost cause. PHC was leading that construction, the company most directly invested in the Africa abandonment argument.

“I guess I’ve been living too naively,” I said with a shrug. “I can understand the arguments of those who want to abandon Africa. But still, with so many people risking their lives here on the front lines…” My gaze turned to Hakan. “I never imagined someone would stoop to backstabbing them.”

At this point, even demonkin seemed preferable. At least they were consumed by a disaster and purely wished for humanity’s destruction. People like Hakan had simply abandoned their humanity, blinded by greed.

The argument for abandoning Africa was based on the premise that the situation was irreversible. But with Tanzania and Uganda liberated, that argument loses its power, creating problems for numerous interested parties.

The ones who would suffer most are PHC. Their massive construction project would become a colossal waste of money. I suppose they couldn’t just stand by and watch that happen.

“Aren’t you going to say something, deserter?”

Hakan opened his mouth with a resigned smile.

“I…”

’THWACK!’

A dull thud echoed as Hakan’s head snapped to the side. Scorpion, his eyes bloodshot, had struck him with the hilt of his sword. He raised the blade.

“Die.”

The scissor sword descended in a fierce arc, but a shield of sand materialized and blocked it.

“I’ll let you beat him, but you can’t kill him,” Han Yoonjeong said sternly, raising her index finger.

Scorpion bit his lip and stepped back. But he wasn’t alone. Several others approached, their faces grim.

“Dave died because of that bastard!”

“You tried to kill forty thousand people for money? Are you even human?”

Emotions were boiling over, especially among those who had lost someone precious in this battle or had been stationed in Tanzania for a long time.

“Stop!”

“Have you all gone mad? What’s wrong with you?!”

The staff officers, their faces red, desperately held back the furious crowd.

“Everyone.”

I spoke up, and the noise subsided.

“If we kill Hakan here, our anger might fade for a moment, but that’s all it will be. An empty revenge.”

The crowd fell silent.

“If you trust me, I will take responsibility and escalate this matter. I will make it much bigger,” I said, looking around at the crowd. “For the good of all of Africa.”

The crowd remained silent.

Fortunately, the heated atmosphere began to cool. I nodded to the Tanzanian hunters, who tied Hakan securely and loaded him into a transport vehicle.

Just then, a message came through.

“This is Search Team 3! We found something strange while searching Selegma’s garrison! We think you need to see this for yourselves!”

* * *

I left the troop management to the military officers. The four of us—myself, Hong Yeon, Han Yoonjeong, and Samia—headed to the garrison. A few remnant monsters wandered about, but with their command structure gone, they were no threat. We walked right past them.

The garrison was a spacious cave, and the stench inside was overpowering. Living fields coated every surface. We covered our noses and pressed forward.

“It’s right here,” the search team leader said, pointing.

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“A dungeon gate!”

There was no doubt. At the end of the cave was a dungeon gate. Hong Yeon stroked her chin, her expression troubled.

“This is strange. I heard taves monsters were an evolved form of restricted area monsters. But a dungeon gate…”

Samia nodded.

“It’s unexpected. Perhaps what we thought we knew was wrong.”

Han Yoonjeong walked right up to the gate and stood with her arms crossed.

“Leaving a dungeon unchecked could cause other problems. We should probably clear it.” After a moment, she lightly touched the gate.

’Zap!’

A mana spark flared. She grimaced and pulled her hand away.

“Tch. We can’t get in like this.”

“Let me see.” I approached and placed my palm on it, but it crackled, refusing entry.

Hong Yeon put a hand on her hip.

“It seems we can’t enter through normal means. We should report this to the Hunter Alliance.”

“Zni Na GuozI Nail.”

I placed my palm on the dungeon gate and muttered the words.

And then.

“Whoa!”

My body was violently sucked inside.

* * *

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