Ch.10636. The Beginning of the Struggle (3)

The struggle had begun.

A battle between two guilds with Busan’s fate at stake. And the outcome was crucial enough to determine Flame’s future.

But I remained calm.

An S-class villain. And Hell Blood Demon Lee Seon-woo, who would later rank among the top 50 highest villains in the original story, had joined Dead Arms. However, I had already formulated this plan with the worst-case scenario in mind.

‘That’s why I came here instead of heading directly to Yeongdo.’

The original plan was for our elite forces to head to Yeongdo while the remaining allied guild hunters engaged Dead Arms’ hunters in battle at Busan Port.

Dead Arms’ guild master, Seong Tae-seok. That guy is an incredibly cruel hunter, but he’s a coward who hates getting even slightly injured.

So, at first glance, it seemed like the right answer would be to have only our elite forces move quickly to target him, since he would obviously be hiding in Yeongdo.

‘But it was obvious there would be a trap.’

Even if our elite forces succeeded in taking down Seong Tae-seok, if numerous allied guild hunters died, expanding our influence in Busan would be meaningless.

Later, they needed to work here as members of Flame’s Busan branch, as hunters affiliated with this location.

Maintaining all that fighting power was necessary for Flame to grow further.

So a month ago, I deliberately leaked information to the guild master of a guild called Climber, whom I already knew was Dead Arms’ puppet.

‘So the guys who showed up here probably never imagined that I, Soso, and Pyo Seong-hoon would come to this place.’

Clang-clang-clang-clang—

The sound of clashing swords echoed from all directions. The sound of exploding magic spells followed in succession. But what could be heard clearly at Busan Port, where the rain was getting heavier, was the panic-filled screams of the Dead Arms guys.

“Why, why is Lee Min-su here?! Didn’t they say he was heading to Yeongdo?”

“Damn it! Min-su, catch that bastard first! Those blue flames are dangerously nasty!”

“With the rain, his firepower should be much weaker than usual! Don’t be afraid, just charge at him.”

“We… we have to face that crazy flamethrower? This is suicide!!”

I had engaged in battle with Dead Arms-affiliated hunters several times before. Since I had demonstrated my skills in those justified battles, the Dead Arms hunters seemed to panic just at the sight of the blue radiance characteristic of my azure flames.

“He’s just a mage anyway! If we close the distance, this bastard can’t do anything!”

However, a few fearless ones among them rushed at me.

‘They have decent skills.’

No, these were guys whose sword paths weren’t difficult to read with my eyes. But their speed and the intensity of the ferocious aura on their swords seemed quite high for local hunters.

‘They must have taken that drug.’

Without panicking, I dodged their sword strikes and ignited Parma’s Holy Fire.

Soon, green flames engulfed the bodies of the four hunters who had rushed at me.

“Argggh! F-fire! I’m on fire!”

“It’s raining, don’t panic! Push him back!”

But mere rainwater could never extinguish the Holy Fire, a renowned sacred artifact of the Cross Society. The guys rolled around in puddles trying to put out the fire, but it wouldn’t go out.

Holy Fire is a flame of divine power. That’s why it can’t be used carelessly against beings who aren’t monsters or demons, especially humans.

It’s a sacred flame that would actually harm me if I tried to use it against humans. But it consumed these guys quite easily.

‘So those suspicious drugs they were taking must be related to demons.’

After easily dealing with those who rushed at me, no one dared to approach me recklessly anymore.

Then I checked my in-ear device. Unlike the simplified in-ear devices that hunters used, which functioned like mini-maps, the one I used maximized augmented reality features, filling half my field of vision like a game screen.

‘There are no allied casualties yet.’

I could see the movements of our allies at a glance. Among them was a blue dot that kept disappearing and reappearing as if teleporting, making it difficult to track its movement.

It was Soso. She was making a significant contribution, moving between various containers. The container warehouses were made of metal, so one could easily get trapped inside them if not careful, but Soso effortlessly cut through the metal with her sword.

The area was like a maze filled with containers. Dead Arms guys were secretly positioned in every alley, but…

‘So far, we have the upper hand.’

Our allies weren’t getting lost. Just as they had spies in the allied guilds, I had also bribed quite a few of Dead Arms’ puppets with the help of Manager Yoon Tae-hyeong from the information team.

So I already knew the layout of this place. I matched the real-time information I had with what I was seeing and relayed information to our allies through the in-ear device.

“Our allies’ momentum is fierce! Let’s completely push them back like this!”

After easily taking down a few hunters, Pyo Seong-hoon approached me.

‘Pyo Seong-hoon’s skills are impressive too.’

A skilled person who would be recognized not just locally but in the central region as well.

“Everything is going exactly as you said, Deputy Branch Manager! All the hunters participating in today’s battle have received your operation briefing, so they’re following your instructions very well! At this rate, victory is ours!”

Moreover, the allied guilds clearly had the upper hand so far, so his morale seemed high.

‘Yes. Given the current situation, it’s natural to be excited.’

And it was as expected. Dead Arms’ counterattack was by no means easy to handle. After taking that suspicious drug, they seemed to have increased their hunter rank by at least one level.

While the elite of the allied guilds might be fine, most of the regular allied hunters were B to C rank. So normally, they should be pushed back by the suddenly strengthened Dead Arms hunters, but they were highly motivated, following my operations and Soso’s movements.

‘Operation alone might not have been enough. I’m glad I asked Soso to wear that outfit.’

Fear of death and the difficulty of facing Dead Arms guys who had taken suspicious drugs—the allied hunters knew this too.

But they were wielding swords alongside Soso, the Little Heavenly Demon and successor to the Heavenly Demon Sect. With Soso demonstrating swordsmanship that seemed beyond human, the allied hunters, many of whom were disciples of the Heavenly Demon Sect dojo, didn’t lose heart even in this life-or-death battle.

I checked our allies’ movements through the in-ear device. The alliance was clearly pushing Dead Arms back.

“We’ve completely cornered them in a dead end! We need to secure the victory now!”

Pyo Seong-hoon shouted with momentum. But I didn’t get excited. I needed to be even more calm.

‘As Pyo Seong-hoon says, we’re about to surround them, but no. This surely won’t end so easily.’

I carefully examined the surrounding terrain and the map displayed on my in-ear device. The map, linked to an oscilloscope, showed real-time atmospheric MCI readings of the surroundings.

As expected, this place, which wasn’t even a dungeon, had abnormally high contamination levels. I sensed it.

At that moment, Pyo Seong-hoon said:

“Then we’ll charge forward like this and completely take control of Busan Port…”

But my response was completely different from what he expected.

“Attention all allied hunters! Everyone retreat from your current positions immediately!”

“Deputy Branch Manager? What are you saying? Right now, we clearly have the advantage…”

“We must retreat. And form formations with nearby allies exactly as I’m transmitting through the in-ear device! You must gather around the clerics!”

Pyo Seong-hoon was bewildered, but seeing my serious expression, he quickly shouted:

“Follow the Deputy Branch Manager’s orders immediately! Hurry!”

And 10 seconds after I gave the retreat order…

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—

A powerful explosion erupted from the center of the container area.

***

“A-are you okay?”

Soso quickly approached me. Despite the continuing downpour and the aftermath of the recent explosion in the area, Soso’s clothes remained completely clean. As an awakened practitioner of the Heavenly Demon Arts, the aura shield naturally formed around her body protected her.

And Soso, dressed like the female lead of an Oriental romance fantasy in traditional Muguk attire, was looking at me.

“I’m fine. More importantly, quickly check the status of our allies…”

Despite my reassurance, Soso still looked like she wanted to embrace me out of concern, but seeing Pyo Seong-hoon and the surrounding hunters, she maintained her dignity as the Little Heavenly Demon.

“Is everyone alright?”

The allied hunters responded in unison to Soso’s question.

“We’re fine, Little Sect Leader! I mean, Branch Manager!”

I quickly checked the status of our allies through the in-ear device. Despite the unidentified explosion, fortunately, there were no casualties among our allies.

“The Deputy Branch Manager was right. Without the retreat order, our allies would have been caught in that explosion, and more than half might have… died.”

Pyo Seong-hoon was sweating cold. It wasn’t an ordinary explosion. Defying the heavy rain, pitch-black smoke was rising from the center of the explosion.

“What kind of explosion was that… ugh!”

And inadvertently, Pyo Seong-hoon retched.

“I-I’m sorry. Suddenly my stomach feels terribly nauseous…”

Soso also looked around with a puzzled expression.

“A strange smell is spreading after that explosion. Could it be…?”

The smell of rotten eggs was spreading nearby. To be precise, it was the smell of sulfur.

If the recent explosion had been a volcanic eruption, it wouldn’t be strange, but such a thing couldn’t happen at Busan Port.

‘No, if my guess is correct, something similar might have already happened.’

I checked our allies’ formation through the in-ear device. As expected, the allied hunters, with whom I had built trust over three months, had gathered around the clerics as I had instructed.

“Clerics, cast purification spells on each squad! And gather around my squad’s position until further orders!”

After giving these instructions, I quickly attached Parma’s Holy Fire to Pyo Seong-hoon, Soso, and a hunter named Jeong Yu-ha who formed a squad with me.

“What is this…?”

Jeong Yu-ha exclaimed in surprise. The green fire that had been roasting Dead Arms hunters just moments ago—her reaction wasn’t strange.

“Mmm…”

But soon her cheeks flushed red. Parma’s Holy Fire was literally a sacred fire, allowing even me, who wasn’t a cleric, to create divine power effects with it.

========================

[Atmospheric MCI]

*Within 50m radius: 223

========================

‘The magical contamination level in the area has more than doubled.’

If that was the case, the result indicated by that index was obvious. The recent explosion was undoubtedly created by the aftermath of a demon being summoned.

This terrible sulfur smell was familiar. It had to be.

It was the same rotten smell that emanated from Crosel and that demonized priest in the Ashen Forest.

And soon, the expressions of my companions became serious. They seemed to have guessed that this was no ordinary situation from my expression.

“It seems this won’t be easy. But if you follow my instructions, everything will be fine.”

But I spoke calmly to them. In response to my words, the allied hunters answered in unison.

“Yes, Deputy Branch Manager!”

And I conveyed to them in a composed voice:

“It seems a demon has been summoned at Busan Port. The two of us from Flame are familiar with how to deal with demons. Please follow my operations from now on.”

“A demon…”

At my words, Pyo Seong-hoon’s expression became filled with tension. But with an even cooler head, I prepared to issue the next set of instructions.

‘If the suspicious drug that Dead Arms hunters took is related to demons, then soon…’

KYAAAAAAAK—

Simultaneously, the Dead Arms hunters who had been neutralized by the allied hunters rose from their places, twisting their bodies in grotesque ways.

I shouted at the same time:

“Clerics, all at once, bless the weapons of your respective squads!”

And I took out Parma’s Holy Fire, which I had only partially used until now, and spread it fully in the air.