Chapter 976: Bird In A Cage [Pt 2]
"Y-you bastards! You have no right to encroach on this territory!" The Vice-Director of Seoul's Hunter Association, Seo Hwa, yelled in anger.
Her misty purple hair danced behind her head as her eyes glowed in determination. She wielded a sword, and aura steadily danced around her.
Behind her were her comrades, fellow South Korean Hunters.
At this point, the Hunter Association had dispatched every single manpower they could muster to protect their building from the intrusion of the Zenith's forces.
Hunters were usually very busy, either raiding Dungeons or handling the rapidly increasing Dungeon Breaks.
As a result, even though this was the Headquarters of the South Korean Hunter Association, they had barely a hundred Hunters gathered to defend their territory.
Compared to their measly number, the Zenith's assault force numbered at least a thousand, with four of the Pillars taking charge of the team.
Needless to say, they were both outnumbered and outmatched.
"Your crimes include conspiring with the Shadows of Light, hoarding useful information that would benefit humanity, among others."
"W-WHAT?!"
"You should surrender while we're still being nice about it."
The air crackled with tension as Seo Hwa heard of these abominable accusations.
"What shit are you trying to pull right now?" Yelling crassly at the Pillars before her, she brandished her blade and instantly recognized them as her enemies.
"You will not trespass on our territory, and not with baseless accusations like that."
The Pillars were not only discourteous to the Hunter Association, but also highly disrespectful to the Korean government.
It was almost as if they disregarded any form of authority and autonomy they wielded. Seo Hwa instinctively knew that if she backed out now, it would shame both her country and her superiors.
"Hehe. Very well, then. I didn't want to do this, but... you leave me no choice."
Even though the Pillars spoke this way, the expression they had on their faces were that of utmost delight.
It was certain that they would enjoy every moment of the fight, reveling on subduing those weaker than them.
"[Skill Activatio—]"
"Okay, let's all just calm down." A voice suddenly emerged from above the two parties engaged in their scuffle.
The confident tone, and the intimidating presence it exuded, caused both parties to temporarily ignore the other to look above them.
"Mr Leonard! Mr Midas!" Seo Hwa exclaimed in surprise.
According to what she had been briefed on, these two were not meant to show any affiliation with the Hunter Association. In the eyes of the public, they were independent agents.
'What are they doing here?' She asked herself, her eyes widening in surprise.
"We sensed the presence of intruders, so we decided to see what was happening."
"A-ah, I see. But—"
"Aha! It's just as the Zenith thought! The two Busan Heroes were affiliated with the Hunter Association, after all. Yet you lied about your relationship." One of the Pillars, the Pillar of Humility bellowed.
The members of the Zenith all laughed, pleased with the fact that their position had been further strengthened by the appearance of both young men.
Looking at them, they seemed to be no more than teenagers, yet the maturity and power they exuded was enough to garner caution from even the Pillars of the Zenith.
"Shut up, idiot. We were invited here as guests. How does that make us affiliated with them?" The one with the golden hair that covered a portion of his eyes spoke with a flippant smirk.
"You're the ones who are the uninvited guests here. If you continue to cause trouble, we're going to have to ask you to leave."
Looking at things objectively, the Zenith was most definitely in the wrong.
They had been to rash and forward in their action. They also didn't regard the South Korean government at all.
However... what of it?
In the end, the one who had the most power was the one who could do whatever they wanted.
It was why the Grand Symposium ended up favoring Chad, despite the several implications his actions caused.
The reason why these Zenith Hunters could so brazenly show up was because they were completely confident of their victory.
They were stronger, after all.
"Hahahaha! You bastards really have no tact. You're really going to rebel against the words of the Zenith?"
"Zip it, retard. What's the point of following the Zenith when they're about to consume the South Korean Hunter Association." The golden haired boy spoke again, causally disrespecting the leading Pillar.
"You really have a big mouth. I'll look forward to making you—"
>WHOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHH<
In a sharp streak, too fast for anyone to notice until it was too late, a golden arrow shot past the Humility Pillar, grazing his cheek and flying off without doing much else.
"A-ah... ahhh...?" Blood slowly dripped from the slit that had formed, and widened eyes of disbelief followed.
No one could fully explain what had just happened.
No one but the two who floated in the sky.
********
"This shouldn't take very long." Kuzon smirked, golden strings appearing all around him.
He could definitely take on all of them without much of an effort. The only problem was—
"You're right. Don't kill them, though."
Yeah, it was Jared.
"Why?"
"It's part of the plan, obviously."
It was at that moment that Kuzon finally reached the limits of his patience. Not in the sense that he was angry, but that he simply wanted transparency.
"Tch. There's something else you're not telling me, Jared."
"I don't tell you lots of things."
"This one is important. I can guess it's also part of your plan. These people... they're the Shadows of Light, aren't they?" Kuzon sighed.
"Oh? Looks like you figured it out already."
Jared's smile made him clench his fist a little in annoyance, but he controlled himself.
"Well, I can clearly sense the Blood Stone that they have in their possession. It's the same as the one that attacked me."
The most compelling evidence, however, was the identity of the 'Humility' figure that was currently leading the rest.
He was the partner of the one Kuzon faced, as well as the one that Jared defeated and let escape.
At this point, it was certain that the Zenith's Pillars were the same s the Stars of the Shadows of Light.
"Then you know why we can't kill them." Jared's words interrupted Kuzon's thoughts, and the latter shrugged.
"Fine. I understand." Whether it was to kill or to merely incapacitate the targets, it would only take a moment.
"[Original Magic: Marionette]"
The golden threads around Kuzon multiplied rapidly, each forming blades that remained suspended in the sky.
The blades numbered hundreds, and they kept increasing as each second passed.
Before the troops beneath them could even comprehend what was occuring, the blades were now over ten thousand.
"Isn't this overkill?" Jared asked, a bead of sweat falling from his face.
In response to this, however, Kuzon only shrugged in nonchalance.
"I'm just following the plan. Beat the shit out of them, remember?"