Ch.105Just a Big Sandbag?

“Is that a monster…?”

“I-it seems so?”

Gojillia, the colossal monster that would essentially guarantee humanity’s defeat if it took even one step into the city center.

Somehow, this massive creature had been knocked backward by none other than another monster…

“Are there two enemies?”

“What…?”

“The enemies… there are two of them, right?”

Normally, it would make sense to take out the smaller one first.

BOOM.

“Wh-what?!”

“Damn, the buildings around us…!”

Was it because the monster weighing hundreds of tons had fallen over?

Though it had fallen backward onto a mountain path with no human presence, the impact still affected buildings kilometers away in the city center.

Even Japan’s world-renowned earthquake-resistant architecture…

“The b-building!”

“The building is collapsing!”

The sudden impact must have been equivalent to a magnitude 8 earthquake or higher.

Unable to withstand the force, a large building began to collapse toward the civilians and Hunters who were watching Gojillia.

“Quickly! Evacuate the people first!”

“It’s impossible! There are too many people!”

Maybe Hunters could survive, but ordinary citizens would certainly be crushed to death under the falling debris.

‘Should I destroy the building? No, that won’t work… the fragments would spread even further.’

The underground shelters couldn’t be used for fear of Gojillia stepping on them.

Facing this unprecedented crisis in Osaka, Japan’s A-rank Hunter Shirako found herself in an impossible situation.

“Damn it all!”

All she could do was embrace the children nearby, trying to protect at least a few of them.

Thud.

She thought there was nothing else she could do, but then…

“Grrrr…”

“Y-you?!”

A pitch-black monster leaped toward the falling skyscraper, shouldered the entire building, and landed on the ground.

At first, she thought it was just a battle between monsters, but seeing this action, Shirako fell silent.

And at the same time, she realized.

This monster standing in the middle of humans who were about to be crushed, holding up a building…

It was the one reported to have protected people at an amusement park in neighboring Korea just a few months ago.

“So it’s definitely Jam… Jam…”

“The Monster of Jamsil?”

“…! That’s right! It’s that monster reported in Korea.”

“Ah, the one that fought on humanity’s side!”

Why was it here?

More importantly, was the report about a monster siding with humanity not just sensationalist fake news after all?

Meeting its gaze, Shirako didn’t know where to begin.

If there was anything she wanted to say, it was:

“Help us…”

“Captain?!”

“If you’re really on humanity’s side, please help us.”

With the bunkers and shelters designed for monster attacks now useless, if there was any hope for humanity who could only escape above ground…

“We’re currently executing an operation to evacuate all Osaka citizens by boat to Tokyo.”

“……”

“We don’t know if Gojillia can swim or not. So please buy us time until people can reach Osaka Port.”

In this situation, where even Kitsune Hosen, the head of the Kitsune Family and a National Authority-Level Hunter residing in Osaka, was nowhere to be seen, the only being they could rely on was this monster—classified as National Disaster-Level by Korean standards.

But still, it was a monster.

“Captain, this is absurd!”

“It’s still a monster! That thing!”

Whether it fought for humans or not, it couldn’t possibly understand human language.

The surrounding Hunters showed strong opposition to Captain Shirako’s plea to a mere monster, but…

The creature simply nodded.

“…!”

“Huh?”

“D-did it just…?”

Just like a human indicating understanding, it nodded slightly.

And then.

RUMBLE.

“Wh-what?!”

It hurled the entire skyscraper it had been holding like a shot put toward Gojillia, which was beginning to rise.

WHOOSH!

CRASH!

“KRAAAAAAAA!”

The building hit Gojillia square in the face as it was getting up.

Then the black monster immediately charged toward it.

***

“Shinwoo is doing well.”

“A human transforming into a monster. It’s truly unbelievable, even seeing it with my own eyes.”

Meanwhile, as they watched him gradually luring Gojillia toward the mountains, the Villain’s Troupe leader Katarina and Ookami were preparing their next move.

“Hello? Master. So should we proceed with the plan now?”

“Yes. Katarina and the Villain’s Troupe should guide people from nearby cities who haven’t evacuated yet toward the Hunters.”

“Haha. Understood. But why us specifically? I thought you would value our strength for combat.”

“Ah, th-that’s…”

Click.

Ookami cut off Katarina’s call mid-conversation.

“The reason is obvious, boss.”

“Obvious?”

“We’re ‘villains,’ aren’t we? Hunters and other Kitsune family members might evacuate people, but they can’t move the hikikomori who are locked up and hiding in their homes. We can do that by ‘force.'”

“…Ah! That’s right!”

“If we’re talking about Japanese hikikomori homes, they must have PlayStations and Nintendos, right?!”

“…Dorothy?”

“Hehehe! I’ll take the lead, boss!”

And so, Dorothy, unusually energetic today, took the lead.

Seeing her eyes sparkling at the prospect of looting, Katarina understood that although their position was somewhat unglamorous this time, it reflected the master’s wish to prevent any casualties.

“Alright then, Villain’s Troupe! Let’s head out to steal figurines and game consoles from hikikomori rooms!”

“OHHHHH!!!”

“When you put it that way, it really does sound lame…”

“I agree.”

They headed toward the nearest visible town.

Meanwhile…

‘Whew, this is tough.’

Shinwoo faced Gojillia alone, having left the Villain’s Troupe behind.

Currently, he was struggling with this monster that needed to be knocked down but not killed.

‘I’d like to just blow it up right away, but then all the organs and flesh inside would scatter everywhere.’

In the pre-purchased expansion pack 1 of Hunter’s Blood, there was some information about Gojillia. To summarize briefly, this wasn’t a monster that could simply be killed.

If they eliminated it, various harmful substances would flow out from its body.

Just as whale carcasses contain methane gas harmful to humans, Gojillia’s body contained massive amounts of toxic gas that could cause fatal damage even with minimal exposure.

To defeat it, they needed someone who could purify all the toxic gases that would be released when it exploded.

Ring ring.

Click.

“Mr. Shinwoo, can you hear me?”

“Grrrk!”

“Um… I don’t think you can understand me, so I’ll just tell you.”

“Grrrrrk!”

Fortunately, we had exactly one such person.

“As you instructed before you left, we’re creating the World Tree.”

“Grrrrrk!”

‘Well done!’

The World Tree, known as the universal panacea in the Hunter’s Blood universe.

From the previous battle, I had figured out that Amaterasu, the incarnation of the Kitsune family and a hidden boss, fought using the World Tree.

Based on this, I asked Princess Kurumi to prepare a World Tree to deal with Gojillia’s corpse.

“KRAAAAAAAA!”

At the same time, we needed people who could buy time until the World Tree sprouted its leaves.

“I never imagined that the being who defeated me twice would be such a young Korean man!”

Even I couldn’t fight a monster over 1KM tall alone.

So I requested help from three people.

BOOM!

Russia’s immortal, Lorensky.

“I guess that’s why I felt a connection with you, Shinwoo.”

SLASH.

Katsuo, who becomes the final head of the Kitsune family in the original story.

“Han Shinwoo! It’s surprising that your 20-year-younger self knows how to defeat this creature!”

And even my son from the future who had undergone kaijufication.

Sophia was currently guarding Kurumi, who needed to concentrate on growing the seedling with Amaterasu.

“Let’s each take one limb!”

“Then I’ll take the right arm!”

“I’ll take the left leg!”

“Grrrrrk!”

“I’m not sure what Shinwoo is saying… but just handle the rest!”

“Grrrk!!”

To bind this monster that seemed to touch the clouds…

The four of us simultaneously attacked the four points where its tendons were located in its arms and legs, exploding, cutting, and blasting them—but not killing it.

BOOM!

“KIEEEEEEEEEK!”

“Got it!”

“Excellent effect.”

“Let’s keep pushing forward.”

“Grrrrrk!”

‘Yes!’

With its limbs damaged, Gojillia fell forward this time.

We could finally breathe a sigh of relief as we managed to stop it just before it reached the city center.

Fortunately, despite its size, it was basically just an enormous meat sandbag.

…But we didn’t know at the time.

Thinking about it, a boss from the brutally difficult Hunter’s Blood expansion pack wouldn’t be this easy.

“Grrrr…”

“Huh?”

“KRAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Gojillia somehow managed to raise its body again.

It lifted its upper body and began to swallow something, despite not having eaten anything.

WOOOONG.

“Wh-what?”

“What is that?”

“I’ve never seen this technique even in the future.”

It suddenly started creating a massive sphere in its mouth.

And the place it was aiming at…

Was where they were currently gathering power to grow the World Tree.

“Wh-whaaaaat?!”

“Master!”

“Grrrrrk!”

“Mother!”

It was the Kitsune family’s territory.