Ch.14449. To the Village of the Snow Woman (1)

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

With a massive explosion, the building collapsed. Hunters nearby hurried to take cover.

“Damn it! Watch out for the building debris!”

I heard a Flame guild member shouting through the earpiece. It was the voice of Pyo Sunghoon, the head of the Busan branch.

‘Our casualties…’

Fortunately, the vital signals displayed on the earpiece screen hadn’t decreased.

I quickly traced the source of the spell that caused the explosion. Rather than visual information, I first checked the atmospheric MCI fluctuation values.

Those changes could help locate villains, especially demon contractors or demons themselves, much faster.

“Demon confirmed! Priests nearby, hurry with blessing spells.”

At my command, Flame guild members—except for Raid Team 1—swiftly formed formations around the priests.

And one guild member was moving rapidly toward the coordinates I had identified.

A single point moving at a speed incomparable to other guild members. It was obviously Soso.

“Team Leader Yeon can handle this alone. The rest of the squad, please move to the coordinates I’m indicating!”

I was monitoring not only the status of our guild members but also the movements of other allied forces in the coalition.

Flame guild members moving according to my operating instructions were holding strong, but not all allies in the coalition were fighting as cohesively as Flame.

Pyo Sunghoon, who had approached me, said:

“The nearby battalion seems overwhelmed by the demon. While we in Flame are accustomed to following the anti-demon combat methods established by the Deputy Leader…”

As he said, when facing demon contractors or demons, the MCI quickly reaches its limit. Rushing in relying solely on awakening abilities proves highly inefficient.

Hunters are closer to mercenaries than regular troops. Even in the three-nation coalition, while the elite of each command can perform beyond special forces level,

The regular hunters filling out the numbers couldn’t display exceptional movements in this battlefield.

“It’s hard to survive in this hellish battlefield without proper operating. Let’s hurry to support them.”

Pyo Sunghoon nodded at my words.

Lee Seonwoo. And the wide-area spells used by the Count of Ghoul. Such spells were set up like booby traps throughout Nagoya city.

Through those spells, masses of monsters were also summoned. The resulting battle had been going on for four days now.

From the morning when today’s battle began until now, just before sunset, our allied hunters’ casualties were not small. Hunters were still dying.

“H-help me! We can’t handle demons like these! It’s at least an S-class demon! The villains near the demon are A+ class…”

“We must hold on… Wait! The 7th Regiment! Flame is here!”

Hunters who were helplessly being overwhelmed by a demon—a massive mammoth-shaped one—spotted us and shouted.

The 7th Regiment was Flame’s unit in the three-nation coalition.

“They recognize us immediately. Flame must have become quite famous.”

As Pyo Sunghoon said, Flame had performed remarkably in the previous battlefield in Osaka.

Particularly, the exploits of S-class hunters Yuri and Soso were widely known throughout the coalition. Both were already being treated as S+ class hunters.

“And our guild also has Saint Arin with us.”

As Pyo Sunghoon mentioned, Arin, who had become a saint, had surpassed even the fame of those two.

Arin’s existence, freely using Ayel’s divine power.

The Saint was an asymmetric force like a nuclear weapon when facing the Red Lake allied with demons.

I said to Pyo Sunghoon:

“We don’t need to be too famous though. That means our enemies will know about us too.”

As I said, the villains’ demeanor changed upon confirming our reinforcements. Those who had been slaughtering hunters near the massive demon suddenly turned their gaze toward me.

“7th Regiment? Damn it! Flame hunters… Wait, that hunter is… Death Reaper Min-soo! We need to kill him first!”

It seemed my name had become famous among the villains as well.

“Too late.”

But my spell had already been prepared for casting from the moment I confirmed their positions.

Near the massive demon, blue-white flames were flickering. I detonated those flames.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

All at once, six red dots, including the demon, disappeared from the earpiece. Beside me, Pyo Sunghoon spoke quietly:

“As expected of the Deputy Leader’s spells… The title ‘Flame Master’ is truly deserved. There’s a reason villains call you the Death Reaper.”

“That’s just overestimation because I use flame spells. There are greater monsters on this battlefield…”

CRACKLE-BOOM!

At that moment, with a sound like lightning striking, the darkening evening sky brightened again.

I continued:

“Like that Light Emperor.”

Light Emperor Jeon Taehyun. The president of the Korean Hunter Association. And the one reigning at the top of the Five Great Celestial Powers seemed to be in combat.

Even from a distance, I could tell. In that moment, dozens of monsters and villains had evaporated in the aura of lightning he created.

Shortly after, Yuri and Soso joined me. The intense urban warfare continued well into the night.

***

Finally, the fierce battle in Nagoya city came to an end.

The Red Lake had already seized eastern Japan in advance. So the villain forces gathered in Nagoya were on a different level from previous villains.

Commander-level villains were all demon contractors. And the wide-area spells applied throughout the city provided numerous offerings to demons.

“Thus, the commander-level villains we faced were at least S+ class. Even Helena of the Twelve Apostles was present. The demons summoned by these Red Lake villains were as dangerous as greater demons. And the number of monsters exceeded several thousand, but…”

It was now the afternoon of the day after the battle ended. The coalition commanders had gathered for a debriefing.

The person giving the briefing was Choi Seunghoon, the Secretary-General of the Korean Hunter Association.

After pausing briefly, he continued:

“Thanks to the efforts of the three-nation coalition, we successfully recaptured Nagoya city.”

The commanders’ expressions brightened at his words. Most of the commanders here were hunters affiliated with Hunter Associations.

Most held SS-class licenses and were guild masters of major guilds or field supervisors.

In response to Choi Seunghoon’s words, Association President Jeon Taehyun spoke:

“It was an extremely dangerous operation, but thanks to everyone’s efforts, we succeeded. Having sent the coalition’s main force to Tokyo first, if we had failed, it would have been a diversion that greatly depleted the coalition’s strength.”

The Association President was right.

The Red Lake villains in Japan had concentrated most of their elite forces in Nagoya.

But the coalition’s intelligence command had obtained information that two of the elite—the Twelve Apostles and Four Demons, Seo Munyeom and Juan Soriano—were not among them. Those two remained in their base in Tokyo.

The fact that these two core members of the Red Lake weren’t in Nagoya despite having taken over Japan meant they had reasons they couldn’t leave Tokyo.

“Nevertheless, we’ve received news that the coalition’s elite led by Grand Duke Andrei and Patriarch Yeon Sehwi have entered Tokyo. With those two, we can trust they’ll minimize the summoning of greater demons.”

Most meeting participants nodded.

As Jeon Taehyun said, what Juan Soriano and Seo Munyeom had planned in Japan was the summoning of greater demons—dozens of them simultaneously.

So instead of fighting in Nagoya, the coalition’s main wing rushed to Tokyo to stop them.

And the villain elites gathered in Nagoya were faced by the coalition forces affiliated with the Association.

A commander leading Manseong’s elite team spoke:

“It wasn’t an easy operation. Although Juan Soriano and Seo Munyeom were absent, most of the Red Lake’s elite stationed in Japan were here in Nagoya.”

“Park Soohyun Team Leader, or rather Division Commander, is correct. Although the villain forces in Nagoya weakened slightly as they chased after the coalition forces heading to Tokyo, it was still not easy.”

Korea’s major guilds, Slavian Kingdom’s elite knights, and Mu Nation’s large sects had joined forces, so the coalition forces temporarily followed a military-style organization.

That’s why their forms of address for each other were somewhat awkward now.

The commander continued:

“That’s all thanks to the Association President, or rather, the Commander-in-Chief’s exploits.”

“That’s right. We could once again confirm the reputation of the Light Emperor. Especially since you personally faced the Twelve Apostle Helena and the greater demon Morax…”

“Indeed, the battle of the Five Great Celestial Powers is beyond human realm. It was an honor to witness the Light Emperor’s combat again.”

Not just that, all the commanders of major corporate guilds spoke about Jeon Taehyun’s achievements.

The de facto ruler of Korea. And the Commander-in-Chief of the coalition forces. Along with such real power, Jeon Taehyun had reached the pinnacle of hunters worldwide through sheer might.

Even though everyone gathered here was a leader of a mega-guild,

They couldn’t help but praise Jeon Taehyun’s performance in this Nagoya battle. Indeed, his achievements transcended human limitations.

He personally defeated Helena, the Queen of Poison, who ranked just below the Four Demons among the Twelve Apostles, and the greater demon Morax she had successfully summoned.

Not only that, but more than ten high-ranking villains and nearly a hundred monsters—all annihilated by the lightning aura he created.

Even with the support of coalition hunters, it was an achievement beyond an individual.

But two people in this meeting room didn’t agree with that opinion.

Jeon Taehyun’s right-hand man and the Association’s Secretary-General, Choi Seunghoon, said:

“It’s true that the Association President achieved great results. But the number of villains and monsters gathered in Nagoya approached ten thousand. So what we waged wasn’t a battle but a war. And in that war…”

“The guild that played the most crucial role was Flame. It was the 7th Regiment, not me.”

And the person who spoke after Choi Seunghoon was none other than Jeon Taehyun himself.

At that moment, all participants focused on one young woman.

“Isn’t that right, Regiment Commander Yuri?”

That young woman was Flame’s guild master, Yuri Tarkovskaya, whom Jeon Taehyun had mentioned. Jeon Taehyun continued:

“And Flame has an excellent operating chief. Someone who even possesses S+ class hunter combat skills.”

At Jeon Taehyun’s words, Manseong’s commander inadvertently spoke:

“By Flame’s operating chief, do you mean that hunter Min-soo Lee?”

Jeon Taehyun nodded.

“Yes. The hunter called the Flame Master in this battle.”

Flame had already become Manseong’s biggest competitor. But at this moment, even Manseong’s commander couldn’t deny Jeon Taehyun’s words.

As if reading his thoughts, Choi Seunghoon continued:

“As you can see in this after-action report, at the most dangerous moments of this battle, Flame’s support was always there. And the one who gave those support instructions was Min-soo Lee. Or rather, Captain Lee. Would you like to see the screen?”

All participants focused on the screen.

***

The fierce battle in Nagoya city had concluded.

After the afternoon commanders’ meeting at headquarters, Flame’s executives also held a brief meeting.

In that meeting, Yuri shared what had happened at the commanders’ meeting.

‘Association President Jeon Taehyun and Secretary-General Choi Seunghoon highly praised Flame.’

Those two were the top leaders of the coalition forces. As such, Flame’s guild members’ morale rose upon hearing their evaluation.

“They especially praised you, Min-soo.”

Soso, lying under the blanket, said. It was late at night now. I was with her in her quarters.

I sat at the edge of her bed, putting back on the clothes I had taken off. Soso’s expression, looking at me, was languid yet slightly flushed.

After all, we had just spent time together in bed.

I responded to Soso’s words:

“Really? They were probably just being polite.”

“But Yuri was so happy about it. She couldn’t hide her smile while looking at you during Flame’s executive meeting.”

“Well, Yuri is Flame’s guild master. She has reason to be happy.”

I knew why Soso was subtly bringing up Yuri. But I pretended not to notice.

Then Soso carefully asked:

“You’re going to Yuri now, right?”

I nodded.

The villain forces in Nagoya, once their defeat was certain, had withdrawn all their forces.

They probably headed to Tokyo where Seo Munyeom and Juan Soriano were. That meant Yuri and I could now head to her mother’s hometown.

After hesitating briefly, Soso said to me:

“Was what you told me true? That Yuri is just being friendly because of your purpose? Is that really the case?”

I calmly replied:

“I’ve told you many times. I have no feelings for Yuri. I need to fulfill my role as the Colorless Key, so I have no choice.”

Soso looked relieved at those words. She said:

“Yes. Alright. I’ll believe you.”

I kissed her forehead and left her quarters.

Tonight, I needed to leave with her for Yuri’s mother’s hometown.

But when I briefly stopped by my quarters to pack, I met an unexpected person at the bottom of the building.

She said to me:

“Senior. Let’s talk for a moment.”