Ch.16255. Flame Master Lee Min-su (1)

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Explosions echoed from all directions.

The Three-Nation Allied Forces, which had been scheduled to withdraw, were thrown into chaos.

“W-what’s happening?! Weren’t the Red Lake elites supposed to have retreated?”

“AAAARGH!! M-my arm…”

The Allied Forces were caught in a surprise attack.

The enemy was too powerful to be mere remnants of the Red Lake forces. Magical energy surged from all directions.

The ambient MCI had already exceeded 300. In such conditions, most hunters would inevitably reach their limit in an instant.

I was monitoring the battle situation in real-time from Tokyo’s urban district.

‘This is dangerous. Our command structure might completely collapse at this rate.’

Even the headquarters seemed to be in disarray.

Given the wartime situation, the intelligence division directly under headquarters was highly capable. But even they appeared to have fallen for the villains’ deception tactics.

They had definitely received intelligence that the Red Lake elites occupying Japan had retreated. Yet the villains remaining in Tokyo now were abnormally powerful.

‘All of the Allied Forces’ elites have already withdrawn to their home countries. In this state…’

The Allied Forces still had superior numbers.

Only the elites had withdrawn. The commanders leading the regular units remained. But the problem was that the absolute difference in strength couldn’t be overcome by numbers alone.

“The ambient MCI is still rising. At this rate, Tokyo is becoming an epicenter. Without a doubt, a Greater Demon is being summoned!”

Team Leader Seo Du-ho’s voice came through my earpiece. At the same time, I heard Yuri’s voice.

“What are the headquarters’ orders?”

“They’ve ordered a complete withdrawal to Yokosuka!”

“That’s bullshit! Tokyo is already full of enemies! According to what’s showing on our earpieces, it’ll be absolutely impossible to withdraw with our current forces!”

Yuri was right.

Enemy forces were being reported in real-time through our earpieces.

As Yuri said, red dots were increasing across Tokyo in real-time. Though not numerous, the ambient MCI displayed from those red dots was abnormal.

‘Does this mean they’re all demons?’

Or they could be demonized villains. Either way, it was the worst news for the remaining Allied Forces.

“With magical energy readings that high, they must be at least S+ rank villains or demons.”

I nodded at Pyo Sung-hoon’s words.

While villains and hunters use the same ranking system, when the ambient MCI—the magical energy—completely dominates an area like now…

It effectively means the villains’ ranks increase by one level.

‘To think there are more than 30 such enemies now…’

The difference in rank becomes absolute the lower the hunters’ ranks are.

With the Allied Forces’ elites gone, the majority of the remaining forces consist of B and B+ rank hunters.

‘In terms of numbers, we still have close to 4,000.’

Moreover, they’re all veterans with plenty of combat experience. In a normal raid or battle, they would be considered elite forces.

But the enemies they faced were too powerful. Even with 100 times more personnel on our side, it would be useless.

‘If the exchange ratio becomes 100:1, it’s meaningless.’

The magical energy of these abnormally appearing villains was overwhelming.

According to intelligence gathered so far, villains this powerful weren’t supposed to be in Japan. This meant these villains had suddenly grown stronger.

That was undoubtedly evidence that a massive spell had been cast over all of Tokyo.

It seemed like a domain-type spell similar to what Lee Sun-woo of the Twelve Apostles or the Count of Ghouls had used.

If even the intelligence division hadn’t noticed traces of spell usage until now, Red Lake must have deliberately delayed its activation until today.

Not only villains, but hundreds of magical beasts were also appearing simultaneously.

‘Those bastards…’

This timing—when all three nations’ elites had withdrawn—must have been ideal for them.

And the sacrifices for this spell were clearly civilians, not Allied hunters. For magical energy to surge this rapidly, civilian casualties must already be in the tens of thousands.

“Reports of civilian casualties… this is… impossible… unbelievable!”

Team Leader Seo Du-ho’s report came through my earpiece. My prediction was correct.

The villains had split their forces in half—one group engaging the Allied Forces while the other deliberately massacred civilians.

They were creating sacrifices to strengthen themselves. My head spun at the thought.

‘Tens of thousands… they’ve truly gone mad.’

The number of civilian casualties was skyrocketing in real-time. This meant Red Lake had already decided to destroy Tokyo.

‘That’s an abnormal decision.’

Even villains typically didn’t engage in such indiscriminate slaughter.

Their slogan wasn’t world destruction. They only wanted a new world order ruled by demons and evil gods.

Therefore, mass-murdering civilians who could become followers and slaves of evil gods didn’t make much sense.

Of course, there were plenty of villains who enjoyed killing due to their desire-driven thinking, but such planned mass slaughter was uncommon.

This suggested that Red Lake’s goal was never to occupy Japan. They intended to use Tokyo as a thorough sacrifice.

‘This must have been planned for quite some time.’

A spell capable of processing tens of thousands of sacrifices would have taken a very long time to set up.

So Tokyo itself had essentially become a massive breeding ground created by Red Lake.

‘Soul-Stealer Seo Moon-yeom. That man.’

The Fourth Demon, Seo Moon-yeom, who had been operating in Tokyo for a considerable period. He was now summoning something in Tokyo.

The strengthening of villains was just the tip of the iceberg.

If tens of thousands, or eventually hundreds of thousands of humans were sacrificed, whatever appeared at the end of that offering…

Would certainly be an enemy that the current Allied Forces, without their three nations’ elites, could never face. And with such dangerous forces remaining…

There was a high possibility that Seo Moon-yeom himself had stayed behind to personally direct the summoning of the Greater Demon. I hurriedly spoke through my earpiece.

“There’s a high possibility that Seo Moon-yeom remains! Quickly determine his location…”

After finishing my words, I cooled my head more than ever before.

I couldn’t make even the slightest mistake from now on. I needed to think of the best move.

‘I need to act quickly.’

I could never allow things to proceed as Seo Moon-yeom wanted, even if it cost me my life. Shortly after, reports from hunters came through my earpiece.

“Seo Moon-yeom! Soul-Stealer Seo Moon-yeom’s location has been confirmed! He didn’t leave Tokyo and remains here!”

My thoughts were correct.

And this was the worst possible news for the Allied Forces remaining here.

I quickly issued orders to the Flame personnel through my earpiece.

***

The Allied Forces remaining in Tokyo were in great confusion.

Headquarters had ordered a retreat to Yokosuka, but they too had belatedly grasped the situation.

The entire metropolis of Tokyo had already been engulfed by the spell’s domain.

Even if they attempted to escape, it was impossible to evade the eyes of the upper-rank villains already strengthened by sacrifices.

‘We’d be lucky not to get stabbed in the back.’

So belatedly, headquarters ordered the 4,000 hunters—no, about 3,800 after 200 casualties—to:

– Survive until reinforcements arrive.

But even that order was essentially a death sentence for those remaining. Pyo Sung-hoon was now moving quickly through Tokyo’s streets.

An hour ago, he had been with Team Leader Lee Min-soo, but Min-soo had temporarily gone elsewhere to assess the battle situation in Tokyo.

Jung Yu-ha, moving alongside Pyo Sung-hoon, spoke.

“Soul-Stealer Seo Moon-yeom summoning a Greater Demon… With this level of magical energy, it must be a top-tier Greater Demon for sure! Damn it!”

Through their combat experience, both had grown to S+ and S rank hunters respectively. But Jung Yu-ha’s expression was filled with fear.

Soul-Stealer Seo Moon-yeom. He was the strongest among the Four Demons.

And he was an executive of the Red Lake, a massive villain organization, one of the Twelve Apostles. Among those Twelve, he was considered one of the top three core members.

A most notorious villain who had been evaluated as SS rank more than a decade ago.

He had even driven the Heavenly Demon Yeon Se-hwi to the brink of death. Hunters couldn’t possibly be unaware of his infamy. The number of hunters he had killed exceeded hundreds.

‘And all of them were skilled enough to rank within the world’s top 1000…’

Such a Seo Moon-yeom was now in Tokyo. Thinking about him, Pyo Sung-hoon was unconsciously overcome with fear.

But now, all the elites who could face Seo Moon-yeom were gone from the Allied Forces. Association President Jeon Tae-hyun, Grand Duke Andrei, Heavenly Demon Yeon Se-hwi—all had returned to their home countries.

He spoke with a trembling voice.

“This might be our final battlefield.”

At those words, Jung Yu-ha’s eyes also filled with fear.

If they were facing only Soul-Stealer Seo Moon-yeom, perhaps all the remaining hunters combined could capture him, regardless of the sacrifice.

But there were dozens of villains under his command. And each one was terribly strong and cruel.

Moreover, most of the hunters here were below A rank. Allied morale was now at its lowest.

“I’m almost at my limit… With magical energy this strong, Seo Moon-yeom and… the Greater Demon he’s summoning…”

If S-rank hunter Jung Yu-ha was nearly at her limit, hunters below her rank must be even more desperate.

Pyo Sung-hoon checked his MCI through his earpiece.

Currently 72. His limit was 90, so he hadn’t exceeded it yet, but the earpiece already displayed an orange warning light.

‘Even the command structure is collapsing.’

Though called Allied Forces, they were essentially a guild alliance.

There were hunters from major corporate guilds and smaller guilds, but now without a central focus, everyone was in disarray.

They swung their swords to survive, but swords filled with fear were dull and blunter than clubs.

Some hunters were already hallucinating after exceeding their limits.

“AAAARGH!”

A summoned magical beast devoured hunters who had turned their backs to flee. Half a hunter’s body disappeared in an instant.

Similar scenes continued everywhere. At this rate, even thousands of hunters would be annihilated without accomplishing anything.

It was then.

[This is the 7th Regiment! All Allied Forces converge on Sumida Ward. I repeat. Sumida Ward. Converge on the designated point! All Flame personnel are heading there.]

The 7th Regiment meant Flame. It was a wireless communication from Flame executives.

‘That voice is Deputy Director—no, Team Leader Lee Min-soo.’

Flame’s main operator, Lee Min-soo, was issuing orders through the Allied Forces’ communication channel.

Pyo Sung-hoon’s eyes widened.

“Could it be that Team Leader Lee… has found a solution?”

At those words, Jung Yu-ha’s trembling also stopped.

“Team Leader Lee Min-soo?”

There was temporary confusion following Min-soo’s transmission. The 7th Regiment was an independent regiment, not a superior unit of the remaining Allied Forces.

[What nonsense! Sumida Ward… Reports indicate Seo Moon-yeom is there! The Greater Demon is definitely being summoned there! Are you suggesting suicide?!]

But Min-soo had apparently anticipated such resistance and immediately responded in a calm but cold voice.

[Shut up. The 7th Regiment includes the daughter of Grand Duke Andrei and the daughter of Heavenly Demon Yeon Se-hwi. Not only that, but a saint ordained by the Vatican Pope is also with us. If you have a head on your shoulders and want to survive, you know which side to choose.]

With that, Min-soo ended his transmission. But shortly after, Jung Yu-ha hurriedly shouted.

“V-villain! That’s definitely one of Seo Moon-yeom’s direct subordinates…”

The magical energy around them surged once more.

At Yu-ha’s words, Sung-hoon looked straight ahead.

A massive sword covered in flesh and blood. A man holding a giant blade that could cut through not just people but enormous beasts in a single stroke was glaring at the two of them.

That man, or rather villain, gave a sinister smile.

“Heheh. For the great Soul-Stealer… an awakened one would make a more delicious sacrifice.”

Both of them raised their swords simultaneously. But Sung-hoon couldn’t help breaking into a cold sweat.

The magical energy emitted by that villain made the surrounding air shimmer like a heat haze.

It was undoubtedly SS-rank villain level magical energy. While there were a small number of SS-rank hunters among the remaining Allied Forces, the villains were continuously growing stronger.

‘Damn it. They keep using civilian victims as sacrifices…’

Moreover, 200 awakened hunters had already died. Even S+ rank villains equivalent to himself were growing stronger like the villain before him due to that spell.

He instinctively felt that he and Yu-ha alone couldn’t face this villain.

‘Damn. But if we don’t kill this guy, we can’t join Team Leader Lee Min-soo… no, the Flame people.’

Barely calming his trembling body, he surrounded his sword with aura. Anyway, he couldn’t die like this.

But his reaction was too late. The villain’s great sword was already rushing toward him.

“Guild Master!”

Jung Yu-ha unconsciously called him by his former title. She seemed to have sensed what was about to happen.

‘Damn it. That guy’s sword is much faster than I expected…’

He saw the great sword flying toward his chest. In that moment, Pyo Sung-hoon sensed his death.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

But Pyo Sung-hoon didn’t die. There was a massive explosion, and the recoil sent him flying backward, but he was unharmed.

‘W-what happened?’

As the black smoke created by the explosion cleared, the figure of a young man appeared within.

“Are you alright, Director Pyo? I’ve dealt with that one. Let’s hurry to Sumida Ward.”

After briefly checking his condition, the young man turned around and walked forward.

At that moment, Pyo Sung-hoon remembered the scene he had just witnessed.

A spear glowing blue-white had pierced through the villain’s body. And immediately after, a massive fiery explosion had occurred.

‘An SS-rank villain… turned to pieces with a single strike?’

Frozen in place at the unbelievable scene, Sung-hoon quickly gathered his wits. He said to Jung Yu-ha:

“Let’s move with Team Leader Min-soo!”

Following the man who had created the explosion—Lee Min-soo—the two left the area.