Episode 633. Demon

A week has passed since Lee Hoyeon held a press conference targeting the entire world.

Even after a week, the Gate to the Underworld in the Pacific Ocean remained, and the hellish monsters that attacked humans were still present, but humanity’s response to attacks had drastically changed.

The ‘Monster Strategy Guide’ published by Lee Hoyeon was a breath of fresh air.

Thanks to the strategy guide, which detailed how to deal with every monster, casualties during the process of subjugating the hellish monsters decreased noticeably, and naturally, civilian damage also reduced significantly.

It wasn’t just the strategy guide.

The magic tool ‘Underworld Mana Infuser’ became an essential item for all hunters.

S-class hunters learned to harness Underworld mana to destroy the black pillars, and lower-ranked hunters could also absorb Underworld mana into their bodies to more easily defend against monster attacks.

Lee Hoyeon had changed the world.

KWA-A-A-NG-!

The west coast of America.

A one-eyed giant, an ice spear lodged in its forehead, stumbled and collapsed onto the coast.

Even monsters that were once objects of terror became considerably easier to hunt once it was known that their foreheads were weak points.

“At this rate, we won’t even need backup. Heh heh.”

“Ross. It’s not over yet, so focus. Don’t you see those bastards?”

Steven chided his fellow hunter, staring straight ahead.

However, even he, saying such things, couldn’t imagine losing the battle.

Five hellish monsters remained on the coast. And five Demonkin.

We called for backup, conscious of the Demonkin alongside the monsters, but the Demonkin weren’t as strong in combat as expected.

The current forces here are enough to subjugate them.

“Got it. Let’s finish quickly and grab some drinks… Huh? Wait a second, what is that?”

Ross, who had been grinning while rolling his shoulders, frowned.

Darkness was blooming among the Demonkin behind the monsters.

“That’s…”

Steven felt a sense of familiarity in the ominous darkness.

Since he too was using an Underworld Mana Infuser, he quickly recognized the nature of that darkness.

“Underworld mana…?”

He had experienced the Underworld mana emanating from monsters multiple times, but never had he encountered such dense Underworld mana.

The mana felt even more intense than when he had accidentally gotten close to a black pillar.

“Damn it! Attack quickly before it does anything weird!”

Ross drew his sword and shouted.

The combat power of the monsters and Demonkin had long been assessed in previous battles.

We just need to subdue them before they do anything strange.

But at that moment.

An arm suddenly burst forth from the Underworld mana created by the Demonkin.

The gaunt arm, looking like nothing but bone, moved around as if searching for something to grab, then seized the head of a nearby Demonkin.

The demon crushed the Demonkin’s head and slowly pulled its body out of the mass of darkness.

The demon, with thin limbs like a water strider, slowly crawled out.

The bizarre sight, even at first glance, sent shivers down the hunters’ spines.

“W-what is that? A new monster?”

“Backup. Requesting backup…”

Just as the hunters couldn’t hide their panic.

The demon waved its long arm.

KWASAK-

With a single, incomprehensible gesture, the remaining monsters and Demonkin nearby were split in two.

The demon moved its thin legs and bit into the Demonkin’s neck.

CHYAP. CHYAP.

The unpleasant sound of blood spurting and flesh being devoured.

“…”

The hunters gulped.

They were speechless at the incomprehensible situation.

Their hearts pounded, and their bodies screamed to run.

The monster before them was an enemy they couldn’t possibly face.

As soon as the hunters grasped the situation, they slowly backed away.

KKII-GI-GI-GIK… KKII, KKII-GI-GIK…

However, the demon soon turned its head and looked at the hunters.

Having found new prey, the demon rose and moved towards the humans.

DEUD-EU-DEU-DEU-DEUK. KKA-DEU-DEU-DEU-DEUK…

It sounded like the gears of an old machine being forced to turn.

Sounds that shouldn’t come from a living creature could be heard.

“R-run. Run… Run away!”

POOSHUT-

Ross, the first to move, slumped down.

A large hole had opened in his abdomen as he fled.

“Ah, ah…”

KWADEUK-

Ailey’s head exploded as if hit by a hammer, her knees buckling from the shock.

To the monster before them, they were like flies.

“…”

The overwhelming sense of powerlessness, the inability to do anything.

Just the approach of that thing made every cell in their bodies tremble with fear.

They knew they would die if they stayed still, but their feet wouldn’t move.

Overwhelmed by fear that transcended comprehension, their limbs ignored the brain’s commands.

“Ah…”

KKUEDEUK-. KKUGEUG…

Watching the unidentified lifeform slowly approach.

Steven waited for his own death.

---

KOONG-!

The last Minotaur’s belly ripped open as it fell to the ground.

Over thirty monster corpses lay scattered along the coast.

Even though hunting monsters had become easier, thirty-odd monsters would normally require hundreds of hunters to take down.

Yet, this scene was the achievement of just one person.

“Wow. So that’s Lee Hoyeon. I thought I was pretty good at hunting hellish monsters myself…”

“They say there’s always someone better. Is that what they mean?”

“…Forget heaven or whatever, that man is scarier than the monsters.”

The American hunters swallowed hard, watching Lee Hoyeon hunt the hellish monsters.

They had come because the Hunter Association president said he was sending reliable reinforcements, but they never expected this.

While they just watched, he single-handedly took down five times the unit’s quota.

All that remained on the coast were messy chunks of flesh and bloodstains.

And it took less than ten minutes, leaving the hunters utterly bewildered, bordering on despair.

‘Clean.’

Unlike their feelings, Lee Hoyeon paid no mind to the hunters.

Compliments like that were nice at first, but hearing them for a week straight was starting to get a little old.

As he brushed the sand off his body and approached the hunters, the unit’s captain nervously spoke to him.

“L-Lee Hoyeon-nim. You’ve worked hard.”

“Where next?”

“What?”

“The other areas that requested support.”

“Ah, Sector C. We received reports that Demonkin appeared there as well, so support was requested.”

“Understood. I’ll head over there.”

Lee Hoyeon gave a slight bow and headed towards Sector C, gathering his mana.

He could hear the hunters bidding him farewell from behind, but that wasn’t important.

‘…Not enough.’

For the past few days, he had been working to stabilize various countries by hunting monsters.

Just as Lee Hoyeon had thought, without the black pillars, monsters posed no threat to humans.

Since the press conference, he had apprehended almost all the brainwashed humans and resolved the monster issue, so the world was stabilizing faster than expected.

The problem was that monsters were far too easy an opponent for Lee Hoyeon.

No matter how many of those monsters he hunted, they couldn’t grow stronger.

“…Sector C, right.”

He had to finish the task at hand first.

However, after helping with monster hunts until today, he planned to perhaps conduct magic research with Professor Im Sol in America starting tomorrow.

It seemed like that would be a faster way to get stronger.

“But isn’t this Sector C?”

Lost in thought as he walked, he arrived at Sector C.

But strangely, there was no sound coming from Sector C.

“…”

It’s impossible for there to be no casualties on a battlefield.

Perhaps the hunters had been annihilated.

But if that were the case, they should at least hear the sounds of the monsters that killed the hunters.

Why could they hear nothing at all?

A sense of unknown anxiety made Lee Hoyeon quicken his pace.

– KKII-GIK. KKII-GI-GIK…

Just then, an unpleasant sound drifted through the damp air.

The noise alone was repulsive, accompanied by the chilling scent of blood.

Only then did Lee Hoyeon spot the demon sitting on the coast.

Its body was thin and elongated like a water strider, and every movement caused the thorns on its limbs to scrape, emitting a screeching sound.

The creature was swallowing an unidentified bone, perhaps unaware its mouth had turned red.

It was a familiar appearance to Lee Hoyeon.

“…Karkus.”

A demon that first appears in the original work.

Karkus.

Its repulsive appearance made it unforgettable, even if one didn’t want to remember it.

While other demons possess intelligence and observe situations slowly, Karkus relies more on instinct.

That’s why it reveals itself first.

KKII-GI-GI-GI-GIK-

Hearing its name called, Karkus turned its head and looked this way.

Karkus tilted its pointed head back and forth, examining Lee Hoyeon, then threw aside the bone it was eating.

It had concluded that the human before it was food.

“- Hu… man…. If strong… tasty…”

“Bullshit. You damn insect.”

Lee Hoyeon drew up the mana within his body.

Actually, he had anticipated this since the Succubus Queen appeared.

It’s typical for demons to scout Earth before the Demon King descends.

“Should I call this lucky? Tsk.”

Lee Hoyeon had been gathering information from the field daily and investigating personally, but not a single demon had been discovered until now.

In other words, that thing was the first demon to appear on Earth.

Lee Hoyeon casually surveyed his surroundings.

Torn clothes and the shattered Hunter Association badges.

It seemed the hunters assigned to Sector C had fallen victim to it.

Although casualties had occurred, Lee Hoyeon meeting Karkus was a stroke of luck.

He couldn’t imagine how many more victims there would have been if he had let this one escape.

DU-GEUN. DU-GEUN.

It had been a long time since his heart pounded this fast, not since his battle with Lucifer.

[‘Combat Sense’] was awakening his body in preparation for the upcoming battle.

His rapidly heightened senses picked up minute sounds, and his mind grew sharp.

“Eyes open. Heart.”

Karkus was still tilting its head, observing him.

A demon.

The apex predator of the Underworld ecosystem.

They were arrogant because they were the strongest, relying solely on instinct.

Therefore, it didn’t attack until Lee Hoyeon assumed an offensive stance.

From Lee Hoyeon’s perspective, it was quite fortunate.

“Blood Beat.”

The blood within his body circulated rapidly.

His mana circuits expanded, and potent mana enveloped his body.

Only then did Karkus feel the shift in aura and begin to move.

“Sky-Piercing Palace Deployment.”

HWA-AH-AK-

But it was too late now.

Lee Hoyeon glared at the demon before him with eyes shining gold.

“- Human… tasty… strong human… no, demon…?”

Karkus seemed flustered by the sudden surge in power and swayed its body back and forth.

If it weren’t holding a skull in one hand, it might have seemed somewhat cute.

“Arc Conjuration.”

Underworld mana bloomed from Lee Hoyeon’s body, and three mana spheres floated above his head.

He had used every doping method available, yet his heart was still pounding.

That just meant the demon before him was that strong.

“I did need a sample, after all.”

There’s no known way to strategize against demons.

So, I can’t make a strategy guide, but hunting even one would be a great help to humanity.

Heh.

Lee Hoyeon’s lips curled up unconsciously.

The sense of exhilaration he felt after so long excited him.

A sample?

Yeah. It would be helpful to have one.

But it wasn’t important to him.

What was important to Lee Hoyeon was Karkus’s very existence.

He needed a fight against a strong opponent who threatened his life.

He had to break through his limits and become stronger through battle.

Feeling the combat sense filling his entire body, Lee Hoyeon initiated the battle with the demon.