Ch.7726. The Heart of the Caldera (3)

Warm and soft.

A moist and sweet sensation transmitted through lips and tongue.

Arin trembled as if startled. But her body relaxed in my embrace. Her pure white nun’s habit was thinner than I expected, making Arin feel closer.

Arin moved her arms around my back. Thus, the two of us shared a kiss while feeling each other’s body heat.

‘What am I doing…’

Until I completed my revenge, I had resolved not to accept anyone’s heart.

But now I couldn’t think of anything. No, I was afraid. Mina, who had been resurrected as a demon. But clearly, from Mina’s own lips, Siwoo was dead. That’s what she said.

I’m confused. I can’t understand at all why Mina became a demon. No, perhaps I can understand a little.

The tragedy of Eins. All those tragedies happened because of me. Beyond a villain, a demon. Even that pure and noble soul of Mina. The fact that she herself sold her soul to a demon. The source of all those butterfly effects must be me.

“Haa… haa… Senior… it’s okay…”

For a moment, our lips parted. But Arin didn’t get angry at the sudden surprise kiss and embraced me once more.

The familiar scent and warmth. When I was suffering from panic attacks for most of the day after regaining consciousness. She was the Arin who had comforted me.

The sensation transmitted from Arin. That warm and soft feeling. Her trembling eyes calmed me down.

I kissed Arin again. This time more actively. Right now, I want to forget everything. I don’t want to think about anything.

‘Arin said… it’s okay.’

I felt disgusted with myself for having such selfish thoughts.

But Arin’s embrace was too comfortable. And the sticky, sweet sensation of the kiss made me forget my fear about the seriously twisted story of Aka Hunter.

At this moment, I sincerely wanted to hold Arin. I wanted to feel her body. My hands moved more boldly. Arin didn’t refuse.

The urgent breath spreading from her nose, felt right in front of me. After briefly parting lips, Arin said to me.

“Senior… I love you. Everything is fine if it’s you.”

With those words, I could no longer hold back everything I had been suppressing. As I met Arin’s lips again and my hand reached behind her back.

Someone entered the barracks.

“Minsu! Arin! Are you here?”

The two of us hurriedly separated from each other. A familiar voice. It seemed Yuri had entered the barracks.

I’m not sure if she saw the two of us just now, but Yuri, who approached the cot, looked the same as usual.

No, she looked a bit serious.

“I’m glad you’re awake.”

“Yes, Guild Master.”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes. Thanks to Arin…”

Unconsciously, Arin moved closer to me, pressing her body against mine. Yuri glanced at Arin and said calmly.

“The nuns of the White Cross Society are indeed different. Reliable. With Arin’s holy power, it’s much better than going to some mediocre hospital.”

At those words, Arin smiled brightly and replied.

“You don’t need to praise me so much. I’m just earnestly praying to the Lord for my wish.”

Yuri was silent for a moment. But as if nothing had happened, she stated her business for coming here.

“This S-rank cooperation mission. The rank might change.”

***

Another day passed.

But the Flame guild members still couldn’t return to headquarters. The situation with the cooperation mission had become serious.

And the five members of Flame who had been deployed on the reconnaissance mission were now in the meeting room of the newly established attack headquarters in Paju.

[Paju-Kaesong Crocel(SS) Countermeasure Meeting]

On the large screen installed in the meeting room, meeting materials with the official name of this mission were displayed.

“In the end, as we were informed in advance. The mission has been upgraded to SS-rank.”

Yuri said. Father Stefano’s expression hardened at her words.

Having been unconscious for a day, I only heard the full story yesterday. Father Stefano said he had been very busy.

After hearing Flame’s reconnaissance results, the archbishop of the White Cross Society’s Far East Diocese had come here immediately.

Yuri and Soso, who had directly entered the boss area, and Father Stefano and Arin, who had gone to its threshold—the archbishop’s reaction to their testimonies was reportedly very serious.

“Since the archbishop, who contacted the Vatican, has made a conclusion. It’s only natural.”

That highest-ranking cleric declared through holy power that a new demon had appeared on earth after 5 years.

“Not a black magician who contracted with a demon or a villain. To think that Crocel, one of the 72 demons serving the King of Wisdom, would appear here in Korea like this…”

Tension filled Stefano’s face.

Demons are beings of an entirely different dimension from ordinary monsters. Even in the other world of Ailetan, direct appearances of demons were rare.

“In fact, most are just illusions created by villains who have contracted with demons. Rather, demons find it extremely difficult to manifest on earth because of their enormous power. Without a medium…”

Demons, known to exist in hell or the netherworld. For such a demon to manifest on earth, a special medium capable of materializing the demon was needed.

“I suppose Chae Mina was that medium.”

Yuri said. As she suggested, the archbishop also agreed that the one who summoned the demon Crocel to earth was indeed Chae Mina.

“Sister Yuri’s words are correct. The evidence of a medium. And the very ominous sensation that I, a priest of the Lord, and Sister Arin felt at that place. So even if we want to deny it, we cannot deny the appearance of a demon.”

That’s why all members of the reconnaissance party from a few days ago were attending this countermeasure meeting.

It was a meeting attended directly by the Secretary-General of the Hunter Association and the archbishop of the diocese. Besides those two, many high-ranking officials from the Association and corporate guilds were participating.

The archbishop of the Far East Diocese was someone who would soon become a cardinal, just below the Pope.

So no matter that Yuri and Soso were daughters of the Five Great Celestial Families, this was not a meeting they could casually attend.

However, the five party members were highly praised for successfully completing reconnaissance at the epicenter where the demon was summoned and all surviving.

“Before we begin the meeting. The archbishop has something to say first.”

And behind the podium in the meeting room stood Choi Seung-hoon. As he briefly stepped aside, a cleric wearing black priestly garments, unlike ordinary priests who wear white, took the podium. He appeared quite elderly.

Archbishop Enrico, as the head of the Far East Diocese, spoke fluent Korean.

“Everyone must have been surprised by this natural disaster that has occurred after 5 years. Even the Vatican held religious meetings all night, so it’s certainly a serious matter. However.”

He paused briefly before continuing.

“First, I would like to express my gratitude to the believers of Flame who, without fear, successfully completed the reconnaissance mission even at the epicenter where the demon was summoned.”

Father Stefano looked very surprised. And Yuri also seemed momentarily surprised by those words.

Secretary-General Choi Seung-hoon is a cardinal who observes proper etiquette. For someone like him to first express gratitude to a mere guild.

‘It was indeed no easy feat.’

Everyone survived from that epicenter where the demon had awakened.

Above all, he seems to highly appreciate the fact that they conducted specific reconnaissance to identify the demon while all were in a situation beyond their limits.

“To show no wavering in the face of demonic temptation and illusion. That is something the Lord would be very pleased with.”

And the fact that there were two clerics from the White Cross Society in the reconnaissance team also seems to be a consideration in his praise.

‘There might be political intentions as well.’

But for me, it was a very satisfying outcome.

Flame was originally assigned to reconnaissance in Zone C. Yet I deliberately spoke to Choi Seung-hoon to change it to Zone A reconnaissance for that reason.

‘Having our merits recognized directly by not only the Association but also the Vatican. It’s the best result.’

And there were no casualties in Flame’s reconnaissance team. Yuri stood up and paid her respects to the archbishop’s praise.

“It was thanks to the Lord’s grace that protected us.”

Though a brief response, she addressed the archbishop with the etiquette of the nobility of the Slavic Kingdom. A graceful greeting without any flaw.

The meeting participants seemed momentarily surprised by her greeting. I hadn’t been conscious of it until now.

Indeed, the thought that she was a grand duchess crossed my mind for a moment. Thus the meeting began and continued for quite some time.

The two-hour meeting ended. During the meeting, the members of Flame conveyed all the information and special circumstances gathered from their reconnaissance.

And the tactics shown by the three people when entering the boss area seemed to have surprised the meeting participants considerably.

“I didn’t expect the theory from the paper I sent would be used in such a short time.”

After the meeting, Choi Seung-hoon came to see me again. I bowed my head to him.

“I survived thanks to you, Secretary-General.”

“No. I too have essentially verified my theory through you, Minsu. Of course, I thought you would be able to use that theory sufficiently in actual combat, but to immediately produce that level of power in a real situation…”

He held onto me and went on at length about the resonance compression spell I had used this time. He wanted to talk more, but.

With the SS-rank dungeon attack imminent, his position didn’t allow him to spare more time, which he greatly regretted.

“Instead, I’ll email you the calculation formula for the spell I used.”

“Would you? That’s something I was going to ask you directly, so thank you very much.”

He urgently grabbed my shoulders and shook them, which startled me. Though a combat mage, he is ultimately a scholar. Since I had produced practical results for the theory he created, his reaction was natural.

‘There are eyes watching here…’

Of all places, this was a gathering of high-ranking officials from the Association and corporate guilds, so their gazes were burdensome.

But at that moment, I remembered something I absolutely had to say to Choi Seung-hoon.

“Secretary-General. May I ask you for a favor in return?”

“What favor? Even if it’s a personal request, that’s fine. If it’s from you.”

“It’s certainly not that.”

After discussing that favor, our conversation concluded.

“I understand for now. After the demon attack is over, there will definitely be proper rewards for Flame’s contributions. We’ll talk again then.”

“Understood.”

I hurriedly left the meeting room. And two days later.

Under the leadership of the Secretary-General, the attack on the SS-rank dungeon, Paju Crocel, began.

***

Yuri was in her office at Flame’s headquarters. She had been reading materials sent by the Association all morning.

Two weeks had passed since the Paju Crocel attack.

Flame was excluded from that attack mission. As the advance team that completed reconnaissance, they could participate in the preliminary meetings.

But not just anyone can participate in the attack team for an SS-rank dungeon. Even Yuri, an S-rank hunter, fell short of the qualification requirements.

‘Especially since it was a demon that appeared after 5 years.’

Even the Association’s special unit and corporate elite teams that were originally designated as the attack force had all their members replaced.

Since Secretary-General Choi Seung-hoon was directly leading the attack, the hunters directly facing the demon were SS-rank hunters. And even the hunters in support roles were composed of S+ rank hunters.

But the Crocel attack achieved only half its goal. They succeeded in preventing Crocel from leaving its domain, but they failed to eliminate the great demon.

‘They barely managed to send it back to the netherworld.’

That means they drained its power so the demon couldn’t manifest on earth. In fact, just by preventing the demon’s earthly manifestation, it could be considered a satisfactory result.

Still, it meant that the great demon could appear on earth again once it recovered its power. People who knew the situation weren’t satisfied.

‘But in the end, it was a beneficial cooperation mission for Flame.’

After checking all the Association’s materials, Yuri called a Flame employee to her office. Shortly after, Minsu arrived.