Chapter 180: Episode 180

The assault team, led by Hong Yul, moved to the front line in Daejeon. In the center of the city, a giant over ninety-eight feet tall was crouched as Korea’s most renowned hunters poured firepower onto it.

But the disaster wasn’t just taking the abuse; the monster suddenly shot out one of its arms.

A group of hunters was sent flying, and the Immortal escaped through the momentary opening in their encirclement.

“Dammit! Which bastards broke the DPS cycle?!” Im Namjin, commander of the defense team, yelled as he rushed forward. Just then, a red flash streaked across the sky, and Hong Yul appeared.

The Immortal’s face and Hong Yul’s, appearing upside down in mid-air, met for a brief moment.

“Hi there.”

The ninety-eight-foot giant was slammed into the road, face down. The hunters’ jaws dropped. They hadn’t even seen her throw a punch. The sight made the efforts of so many hunters pouring firepower just to hold the Immortal in place seem utterly ridiculous.

Im Namjin and the Enforcement Bureau agents, who had been rushing over, let out sighs of relief.

“You made it.”

“Yep.”

Following her, Frost and the elite hunters of Unix appeared. Frost gave a silent nod first, and Im Namjin returned the greeting.

“Ms. President. Did you really decide to send Unix as the final assault team?” Im Namjin asked in a low voice.

“Yeah, it is what it is. You handle things out here.”

“I will accompany you. We don’t know what might happen inside the dungeon.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I need at least one guy I can trust out here, don’t I?” Hong Yul said with a laugh, patting the shoulder of Im Namjin, who was much taller than her. “I’m counting on you. Wimp.”

“…Yes, ma’am.”

While everyone was tense, not knowing when the Immortal might rise again, Hong Yul nonchalantly climbed onto the fallen creature. A dungeon gate was open on its chest.

“Assault team! Follow me.”

“Yes, ma’am!” they responded.

Without hesitation, Hong Yul threw herself into the gate. Frost and the Unix hunters followed.

“Will she really be okay?” an Enforcement Bureau agent asked Im Namjin cautiously. Hunters were always sensitive about who they entered a dungeon with. But…

“Do you really think Frost and all those assault team members combined could do anything to the Association President?” Im Namjin countered.

“W-well, no, but…”

The one and only certified rank-1 hunter in South Korea. Her absolute power was etched into the minds of all hunters. In fact, those who had fought alongside her didn’t even consider her human.

“We trust and wait, just as we always have. That’s all we can do.”

* * *

Passing through the Immortal’s gate, Hong Yul entered the disaster’s dungeon. There was nothing special around her—just a field, the kind commonly seen in dungeons.

’Huh?’

Just then, she spotted an unconscious man.

“Hey, are you okay?” She approached and checked on him. He was unconscious, but thankfully, still breathing. Judging by his clothes and certified badge, he was a rank-4 hunter from Blackguard.

“President. What is it?” Frost and the Unix guild members, who had come through the gate after her, approached.

She turned to look at them. “Hey, healer!”

Among the guild members, one shot her hand up.

“Y-yes! Certified rank-4, Ahn Yeonhee!”

“Heal this guy. Now!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

The Unix healer used a recovery ability on the fallen Blackguard member and administered a spare potion.

“Agh…”

A moment later, the man regained consciousness. He sat up, wincing from a headache.

“Ah, President…!”

“Yeah, it’s me. What happened in here?”

The Blackguard hunter recounted his memories. They had entered the dungeon after receiving a request for aid, following Unix’s vanguard. Everything had gone smoothly until they discovered the Boss Zone in the crystal cave. The problem was the boss.

“A crystal dragon. It was a boss monster of rank-8 or higher.”

It was a beast of a completely different level, he explained. His party members fell one by one, and he, also injured, was ordered by his guild master to run to the exit for support. However, he was attacked by monsters on the way, his wounds worsened, and he lost consciousness right in front of the gate.

“A crystal dragon? A draconic-type monster?”

“Yes! There’s no doubt.”

If this was true, an average assault party wouldn’t be enough. It would take a party with several rank-3s or one that included a rank-2 to clear it.

“Where’s the Boss Zone?”

“I’ll explain.”

After hearing the location, Hong Yul looked at Frost. “I’m going on ahead. There might still be survivors.”

“Wait a moment, President! In times like these, we must be cautious—!”

But she was already flying far away, trailing red sparks. Frost, who had been staring blankly after her, let out a small sigh. “Let’s go, too.”

* * *

Hong Yul arrived at the crystal cave the Blackguard hunter had mentioned. The corpses of monsters were scattered all around, indicating a fierce battle had taken place some time ago.

The cave’s walls, ceiling, and floor were all made of transparent, sparkling crystal. It certainly felt like a place fit for a boss monster.

She strode past the monster corpses. When she reached the far end of the cave…

“…What’s this?”

She discovered the corpse of a giant dragon. She bent down to examine the body. One side of its chest looked like it had been torn out, and the inside was empty—a sign that a magic stone, or something similar, had been taken from its body. This had to be the crystal dragon the hunter had spoken of.

’He said they were on the verge of annihilation, so who killed this? And if the dungeon boss is dead, why hasn’t the dungeon been cleared?’

“Well, I’ll be.”

Putting the pieces together, she let out a dry laugh and straightened up.

“So that’s what this was all about? Something this pathetic?”

From all corners of the cave, hunters began to reveal themselves.

Three parties from the number-one guild, Unix, two parties from the number-four guild, Blackguard, and two parties from the number-eight guild, NIX.

More than fifty hunters appeared. She was surrounded, but Hong Yul just snorted, completely relaxed.

“You think I wouldn’t notice you hiding behind a concealment scroll? All of you, come on out.”

A moment after she spoke, the empty air shimmered and peeled away, revealing a group of archers. Behind them were bound people, their eyes and mouths covered. They seemed to be the members from the smaller guilds who had gone in with Unix during the first assault. Hong Yul clicked her tongue.

“President.” At the cave’s entrance, Frost appeared. With every step he took, a cold sheet of ice coated the floor and walls. “You have gone too far.”

“This is fun. Is this whole surprise party your idea?”

“Yes.” Frost smiled faintly and spread his arms. “Everyone here is fed up with your tyranny.”

“Hah. You pathetic bastards.” She shook her head.

“You’re a legend, so I wanted to let you live if possible… but you crossed the line. In this era of crisis, when everyone must unite, there is no longer a need for a despot like you who runs wild, relying only on her strength.”

The guild members from Unix, Blackguard, and NIX all aimed their hunting devices and took combat stances. Every single one of them was a certified hunter. Not only Frost, a rank-2, and the guild masters who were rank-3s, but even the rank-4s and 5s were individuals specialized in interpersonal combat.

Hong Yul remained silent, unimpressed.

Just then, Hong Yul’s expression hardened. A thick gas was seeping into the cave. A chemical gas made from the spores of a Melaith—something she despised—was spreading throughout the cave. It had a potent poisoning and paralyzing effect, and most importantly, it drastically lowered mana sensitivity, making it a fatal debuff for someone like her. Of course, all the guild members here had taken an antidote and were unaffected.

“How did you know about this, too? You really came prepared, didn’t you?”

“This is only natural. From now on, as hunters, we will hunt you.” Frost’s lips curled into a smirk. The main event of this cave wasn’t the crystal dragon, but Korea’s Association President, Hong Yul.

“I told you, this is fun,” she laughed out loud. “You idiots are still acting all smug, completely clueless. Can’t you read the room?”

Frost was silent.

“You think you’re the first to try this shit? Remember the Hound Guild, the former number-one?” She licked her lips. “They vanished one day, right? That’s what happened when they came at me. Eclipse, Eisen, Metria. Same story.”

’Crack, crack.’

She cracked her knuckles.

“Get a clue. You’re the ones being hunted.”

“All units, prepare for combat!”

The hunters unleashed their killing intent and lowered their stances. From all directions, hunting devices and menacing artillery were aimed at Hong Yul.

“You’re all dead.”

Cloaked in red mana, her eyes wide, Hong Yul charged. The artillery roared to life, and the battle began.

* * *

“Ah, aaaagh!”

A hunter who had collapsed onto his rear stared, his eyes wide with terror.

“M-monster!”

’Swish!’

The neck of the hunter who had uttered those words was sent flying by a sharp, crimson line that shot through the air. Everyone here was the same, every single one of them wearing a look of pure terror. A certified rank-1 hunter, a being who had reached the pinnacle of humanity. Her power was beyond anything they had imagined.

“Ahahahaha!”

Hong Yul, clad in red mana like a garment, was on a rampage. Every time her hand swiped through the air, the hunters’ bodies split apart like tofu.

Her Unique Ability, Scarlet Flare, was a mana-based power specialized in tearing and rending enemies. Every time she swung her arm, the very space around her seemed to tear into five pieces, and every time she stomped her foot, hunters’ bodies were ripped from their suits. By cloaking herself in Scarlet Flare, bullets, cannonballs, psychic powers, and even curses were torn apart and dissipated.

’What a terrifying monster!’ Park Seongjin, the certified rank-3 Guild Master of Blackguard, gritted his teeth. When he first heard Frost’s plan, he had thought it was perfect. Hong Yul had yet to fully recover from the injuries she sustained in the grade-9 dungeon in Africa. She had also cleared several disaster dungeons in a row, leaving her stamina at an all-time low. On top of that, they had deployed a triple-layered chemical gas that she was extremely averse to. Even they, who had taken a two-hour antidote, were staggering from its toxicity.

After crippling her condition to this extent, she was still human. She should have shown an opening. But right now, she was overwhelming a raid party of fifty of the Republic of Korea’s finest.

’Even a rank-9 monster wasn’t like this! Is she even human?’

“Guild Master! Healing is complete!”

After receiving the healer’s aid, Park Seongjin took a deep breath and calmly assessed the battle. Belatedly, he realized something was wrong.

The battlefield was in complete chaos. Amidst the clouds of explosions and gas, they were nowhere to be seen—the certified rank-2 Frost and the key members of Unix, who should have been the most active.

’Don’t tell me.’

What did their absence mean in this situation? Park Seongjin urgently raised his voice.

“Wait! Association President Hong Yul! I have something to say!”

The moment he shouted, a red sword aura cut through the cloud of explosions and slammed into his shield device.

’Clang!’

“Ack!”

Every time he blocked one of Hong Yul’s attacks, his pride and joy, the S-grade shield-type relic ‘Black Aegis,’ was being torn to shreds.

From within the thick smoke, a pair of menacingly glowing golden eyes stared at him. A chill ran down his spine.

“Wait! Just a moment! Frost and the Unix bastards have disappeared!”

Hong Yul’s steps came to an abrupt halt.

“We’ve all fallen into his trap! For now, we need to stop fighting and escape the dungeon together—!”

Just then, Hong Yul’s body blurred into a red afterimage and appeared behind him. She pulled back her fist, and Park Seongjin, utterly terrified, raised his Black Aegis.

A roar that shook the entire cave erupted. Park Seongjin felt a shock that seemed to convulse not just the arm holding the shield, but his entire body, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“So.”

Over the shield, a pair of terrifying golden eyes stared directly at him.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you all tried to kill me, does it?”

“P-president!”

“Ah, don’t worry. I’ll kill all of you, then send Frost along to keep you company.”

This was a truly nasty nightmare, Park Seongjin thought. He had messed with someone he never should have touched.

* * *

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep