Chapter 99

Trap (1)

The dry telepathy resonated in my head.

- Coordinate verification complete. A Mana core containing 18,100 Mana is required to transfer one human species to the user's destination.

It's very expensive.

Frowning, I injected the Mana core in it.

- It's now ready to be used.

I pulled the devil's sword that was remained stationary far away with psychokinesis and pushed it into the gate first.

There was no admission fee for the devil's sword as it was treated as an item.

I then dragged the sacred beast's body, which was tangled into the sword-energy-woven net, into the light.

After confirming the transfer location...

Swoosh!

The scenery changed.

'Ugh! I-it is too close.'

The shriek of the sword echoed through my mind.

"Such a wuss."

Even if it's a sacred beast dug from the ground, the sacred power must've remained to a certain degree. The devil's sword that was in close distance with it acted like it was about to die.

Swish!

With psychokinesis, I floated the devil's sword high up in the sky.

As its distance with the sacred beast widened again, it looked like it could relax again. The whining mental wave stopped as well.

'By the way, why have you come here?'

A gray plain stretched vastly.

It was inside the dungeon that only I, Hibiki, and Nate knew about.

That time again, I moved directly from dungeon to dungeon without going through Earth.

The place where the [Door of Hope] vomited me out was near the newly planted tree seedlings, which were placed by tilling over the preexisting plants.

"What do you mean why have I come here? Isn't that obvious?"

The seedling colony wasn't yet enough to be called a forest, but it could be considered within the standards of landscaping projects in small parks.

I was internally impressed.

"It's growing so fast. It should bear fruit in a little while."

Then...

Dududududu!

I heard a large crowd rushing in nearby.

"That's fast."

They released a roar that silenced a mutter.

"Rarghhh!"

A legion of monsters gathered, and their charge caused clouds of dust to rise.

The army's shadows were enough to cover the horizon.

'Why are there so many of them? Is this place on the verge of collapse?'

The devil's sword, who didn't have any idea about what was going on, wondered.

I shook my head.

"It's not a collapse. Most of them were in the vicinity before I came and are rushing in because they smelled me."

'But they're too dense compared to the area of the dungeon.'

In terms of tree management, the two recently took care of the monster density to prevent it from rising too much. Nevertheless, they quickly gathered again, crossing the dungeon boundaries.

I paid attention to the tree colony once again.

"Well, the effect is evident."

It was the trees that attracted the monsters beyond the boundary into the dungeon at a rapid pace.

Taking back my glance, I lowered the bound body of the sacred beast and flew, using the next energy formation, high into the sky.

Shhhhhh!

I grabbed the handle of the devil's sword that had been floating in the air.

Whoong!

The Mana injected into the blade was amplified several times over, turning it into blazing purple sword energy.

I held it firmly and aimed it down at the group of monsters rushing in from all directions.

I then raised the sword and hacked it to the ground without hesitation.

Swish!

Following the trajectory, a dense purple rain linking the blade to the ground was summoned.

The brilliant heavy storm bombarded the ground.

Boo-boo-boo-boom!

With a blast, the earth was crushed like a sheet of paper.

Heavy shock waves and intense energy storms tore the legion of monsters swiftly as they ran below the artillery barrage.

The monsters' shrieks and screams that had been ringing so loud it almost tore my ears off were quickly silenced by the catastrophe I caused.

However, even as that took place, the rain of sword energy avoided one area above the ground. The land with the sacred beast and trees was missed as if invisible lines blocked it.

After a little while...

On the ground, brutally-torn-apart monster corpses extended for miles like a red carpet.

It was complete annihilation.

'... I'm going to go crazy.'

The devil's sword, who was looking at the scene, lamented.

"Why are you the one that's going to go crazy when I'm the one hunting?"

I clearly understood what it meant, but I pretended to be unaware.

The devil's sword replied as if he was shocked by the cruel sight before us.

'You've become more like a monster than a hunter.'

It hoped for me to die soon so that it could skip to the next owner, but it wailed since it seemed like that possibility was farfetched.

It kept going.

'Well, you've been consuming so many damn cores...'

The devil's sword delivered bitter telepathy as it watched almost all the hunting by my side.

In between the process of handling guild work once a week and dealing with tasks such as achievement quests and finding aliens, I hunted in my spare time.

At that moment, the cores were used for items such as the [Door of Hope] and Mana absorption. I had no choice but to collect it diligently.

Shh!

As I pointed my fingers below us, the Mana core that the monster legion had in them came up to me.

Like a group of fireflies flying in unison, sparkling blue crystals flocked in from all directions.

[Mana Drain!]

I instantly absorbed the cores flowing in like the Milky Way.

Just like a stream of water was sprinkled on the crusty dried ground, the Mana stored in the core spread into my body instantly.

"Now, then."

I came down to the ground again, positioning myself a little further from the sacred beast to avoid the overreaction of the devil's sword.

After setting my foot on the ground, I swung my sword once more.

Boom!

I dug through the ground, and a large hole that a couple of trolls could be buried in was created.

I then lifted the sacred beast, tied with a purple net, into the air.

'It looks bizarre no matter how many times I look at it.'

Black tentacles stretched 360 degrees in all directions wriggled to make a fuss, but it couldn't escape from the net. The tentacles that clumped up by being tied together looked like tree roots.

Screech!

The base of the tentacles connected the center of its body to the stone pond that was aboveground and the idol of Igras-Sho.

After moving the sacred beast's position a little, the tentacle part below was inserted into the hole.

"It feels like repotting a plant."

Burying only the tentacles in the soil, I left only the pond and the statue above the ground.

As I filled the gap of the hole...

Drrrrrrrrr!

I immediately felt a slight vibration under my feet.

The environment suddenly changed, but the sacred beast didn't attempt to run away.

It's originally not the type to move from place to place, but rather the type to wait for food while burrowed.

And the changed environment was...

'There's plenty of food everywhere.'

I could feel it stretching out a thick tentacle underground.

The food there had been torn apart mercilessly, so it's a mess, but it wouldn't affect its absorption of nutrients.

The most important part was that there was a lot.

"Look."

Indeed, the monster corpses, which dyed the gray land with thick bodily fluids, were gradually buried underground.

The devil's sword exclaimed.

'So, this is what we were aiming for.'

I nodded.

"The feeding environment would be better here than the forest."

I took a look at the bottom of the pond, where the waterless exposed floor was.

As if to prove my words, moisture was already collecting in it.

"The holy water will fill in soon."

The devil's sword raised a counterargument.

'However, since you buried the sacred beast in the ground, the sanctification began around this area. I can feel it right now, and the monsters will notice it. They won't be approaching here from now on.'

The monsters didn't touch the forest where the sacred beast was buried in Shepherd 2 Dungeon.

The hunters had to kill the beasts themselves and drag them into the woods.

But I had taken that into consideration.

"I don't think you need to worry about that."

With the sword in my hand, I flew up into the sky once more.

The place where my gaze reached was near the boundary of the dungeon.

The devil's sword could see where I was staring.

'No way?!'

He was naturally surprised.

It wa as if the fresh air naturally permeated the place where the stagnant air escaped.

As soon as the beasts in the densely populated land disappeared, new monsters beyond the barrier crossed one by one.

Looking at them for a while, they faltered a little as they approached the place where the influence of divine power reached.

However, their hesitation didn't last long.

They moved into the Holy Land.

'Did they overcome their instincts? They are ignoring the urge to avoid sacred power, and they're flocking here!'

"To be exact, relatively bigger instincts have overcome smaller ones."

I saw a cluster of trees arranged as if to surround the sacred beast.

"The trees' ability to attract monsters is powerful enough to suppress their resistance to divine power. It's like they're addicted to drugs."

'What the hell must that be...?'

"You'll notice when it bears fruit."

'Hm?'

I finally finished setting the basics.

Monsters would constantly flock around the sacred beast from then on, so I just had to clean it regularly like what I just did.

With that method, it was possible to secure the holy water at a much faster pace than the Matap Guild had managed so far.

First of all, the number of monsters rushing in was incomparable.

Shepherd 2 dungeon had been expanded five times, and although I had never expanded the place, the difference was still obvious.

'Most importantly, this dungeon won't collapse even after a long time.'

In my experience in the future, that was the case.

"Now, shall we go back to Earth?"

It's time to move on to the next stage.

'Securing the sacred beast and transplanting it was easier than I thought.'

I was prepared to take a few days to do it, but it didn't even take a day.

I mumbled as I looked down at the devil's sword.

"You're much more useful than I thought, aren't you?"

'... What?'

The devil's sword let out telepathy as if it were sincerely dumbfounded.

I didn't care about the reaction and kept thinking.

It was a Mana amplifier, a brainwashing device with a 50% chance of success, and a divine power detector with tremendous accuracy.

Items that were useful in so many ways were rare.

'Certainly, without the devil's sword, I would have had a lot of trouble finding the sacred beast. It wasn't a coverable area by [Penetration], that dungeon.'

The conclusion of the contemplation was the following:

"Okay, I'll use you well for the rest of my life. If there's a function that you haven't told me yet, spill it already."

'...'

The devil's sword didn't even answer back as if it's left speechless.

Listening to a deep sigh that penetrated my mind, I thought about Arthur Clifford that time.

My work had been finished much earlier than I thought, so I didn't have to let him be anymore.

When I returned to Earth, I'd take care of him.

*

"Seo Jin-Wook is starting to move."

When Arthur Clifford heard the news, it was late at night. Seo Jin-Wook, who had completed the burglary, returned to Earth just a few days later.

He could've never imagined that Seo Jin-Wook robbed the treasure of Shepherd 2 Dungeon.

Since Seo Jin-Wook disappeared with only the sacred beast instead of Clearing the dungeon, the system message that came up when coming into contact with the Gate remained unchanged.

Therefore, it was natural that the guild members who guarded outside the door didn't notice the change.

It was as Seo Jin-Wook planned to deal with Arthur Clifford in Korea.

"Is he alone?"

"Yes, it is said that he drove himself and just got on the highway."

Arthur's eyes flash.

"Okay, let's get it done by the end of the day. I've been in Korea for far too long."

He looked around at his minions from England.

All seven of them, except for Arthur, which was an SSS-Class, and one that was an S-Class, were all SS-Class.

'I can't believe I'm using this many resources only because of him. I think it's a little bit of a waste, but...'

Due to Arthur Clifford's personality, he wanted to keep all operations free of any blemishes.

The persistence of not leaving a single possibility brought Arthur Clifford to where he was at that time.

'Seo Jin-Wook, that bastard, he's unlucky. I can't believe he's moving in the same day when all the forces I've summoned had been mobilized.'

From Arthur's point of view, he couldn't even imagine that Seo Jin-Wook waited until that day to deliver a single strike on purpose.

"Who's the target other than Seo Jin-Wook?"

"The two are believed to be staying at home."

"Okay, we split from here, as instructed beforehand."

"Roger!"

Five people chased after Seo Jin-Wook with a car, while the other four headed to the Guild Master's house.

Arthur Clifford was obviously included in the five men who pursued Seo Jin-Wook.

As the vehicle moved, Arthur reminded the four people with him about the operation plan again.

"Once again, capture comes first. If you kill him before he reveals information, all of our trouble will go to waste."

"Yes!"

"It's forbidden to use stealth, blink, or any heist type magic in front of him. It's troublesome if his unique skill copies those magic skills."

In Arthur's head, there was no assumption that they would lose the battle with their numbers.

His most feared option was to kill Seo Jin-Wook by mistake or make him copy magic such as blink and then using it to run away.

"It would be a disaster if he escaped by jumping through space all of a sudden when we thought that we caught him."

Arthur continued his instructions.

Most were based on the information provided by Seo Moon-Ga-In.

"At the time of his promotion, his active Mana was just over 30,000. However, there is a rumor that his potential Mana is unprecedentedly high. Assuming that it has been activated steadily after the screening, his current Mana is estimated to be around 35,000."

The guild member asked back when he heard that.

"Isn't that overrated? Him being able to activate 5,000 again in a matter of months?"

"If he's not at that state, it would've been impossible for the three of them to stop an A-Class break."

The guild member replied with a smile.

"No way, that's because of the dragon perk."

Many hunters witnessed a black dragon in the place where the A-Class break was stopped.

Unlike Orcs and humans, the dragon's solid body was extremely slow to decay, so people couldn't tell whether it was an undead dragon or a living dragon.

What's certain was that one of the three had the ability to control the dragon.

"Even if there was a dragon, it doesn't change the fact that the break was stopped with only three people. Considering that the dragon's performance is more than 90 percent, it's still true."

Both the basic assumptions and hypotheses were slightly off the mark.

"The reason for sending four SS-Class members to his house was in consideration of the chance that it might not be Seo Jin-Wook who controlled the dragon. It could be the ability of the target left over there."

"Well, that's true."

While they were continuing their conversations like that...

"Seo Jin-Wook's car stopped."

The hunter of the Matap Guild magically observed Seo Jin-Wook walking after getting out of the car.

Without getting out of the vehicle himself, he chased the movement with his magical gaze from a long distance.

And a little later, he saw the scene that he expected.

"... There's indeed a Gate here! There are no government management personnel or isolation facilities around. It's an undiscovered Gate!"

Arthur nodded.

"It's as she said."

On the day the two met, Seo Moon-Ga-In said the following:

'Seo Jin-Wook's official record of Clearing dungeons is too poor compared to his growth rate. His record could be counted with my fingers. With that level of combat experience, it's impossible to achieve SS-Class instantly, activate Mana... and even stop A-Class breaks. I'm sure of it. Seo Jin-Wook is hunting in dungeons via undiscovered Gates without the government's knowledge!'

Her guess was right.

"Seo Moon-Ga-In would go wild for joy."

It would only be a matter of time before Seo Jin-Wook saw the end of his career if that was reported to the government.

The Celestial Dragon's reputation would also be greatly damaged.

"But let's do the tip-off after we get our hands on him."

"... Ah, Seo Jin-Wook has entered the Gate now!"

"Let's head out, too."

Five hunters climbed the mountain through the darkness.

They soon saw the Gate where he entered.

"It's a B-Class dungeon."

Arthur read the message.

Dungeon Information

It was easy for an SS-Class hunter to roam alone in there.

"Okay."

There was no better place to capture Seo Jin-Wook than in a dungeon.

They could completely block off witnesses, and they could hide the noise and flashes from the battle.

"As planned, one stays as contact, and the rest goes into the dungeon."

If they went inside, they couldn't communicate with the outside world, so one S-Class was left behind in order for them to be able to go back and forth between the dungeon and Earth in case of emergencies.

The other three SS-Class and Arthur entered the dungeon.

In preparation for the event, they also packed one returning stone, so there was nothing to be worried about.

"Finally, it's the moment that I've been waiting for."

Entering the blue brilliance of the gate, Arthur smiled satisfactorily.

The key to extending the Gate's life on the brink of collapse was beyond that brilliant light.

The guild's continued growth and Arthur's dazzling glory seemed to unfold in front of him.