Chapter 85 – Agency Occupation (6)

The Villain named Kei used even those he called comrades as if they were disposable.

The Villains fighting the knights exploded.

Katrinne urgently cast a defensive barrier around herself.

*KABOOM!*

The barrier shattered, and Katrinne went tumbling across the floor.

She was already severely weakened from opening the dimensional gate and summoning the knights.

“??냯묎야◆”

Corrupted language spilled from the knights’ mouths.

Katrinne didn’t even have the strength to answer.

Her eyes kept trying to close.

She hadn’t wanted to use the dimensional gate if she could help it.

In fact, when she first crossed over to the world where the Mister lived, she had possessed the full power to traverse dimensions.

Though not as strong as before.

Eleven years after the Hero had come to this other world.

Katrinne, having fully awakened her powers as a priestess, faced the moment she had to fulfill her promise to the Hero.

The Hero wanted to return to the world he came from.

Hearing those words, Katrinne felt a pang of disappointment.

Of course, home was important to everyone.

The Rania territory, where Katrinne herself was born and raised, was precious to her.

This place held memories of living with her beloved parents.

The town’s merchants, knights, and soldiers.

Even the ordinary citizens were people she knew well enough to have recognized on sight.

All these people were connected to her.

A hometown is a good way to express a person’s life.

But the Hero’s hometown…

She wondered if there was anything good for him there.

The Hero had said he was an orphan.

He’d said he didn’t know anyone there either.

In other words, no one was waiting for him in that world.

He knew he would be alone, yet he was determined to go back.

Katrinne couldn’t understand it.

He could just stay here.

Here, he had achievements he had accomplished.

Here, the people he protected loved him.

Yet she couldn’t understand why he would abandon all of that to leave.

Katrinne watched blankly as the Hero made his final farewells to the people of the territory.

The moment she would have to lose another family member—one who had been with her since childhood, protecting her after she lost her parents early—was only a few hours away.

The fated hour arrived quickly.

She asked him one last time.

As expected, his resolve was firm.

Katrinne realized.

The reason the Hero wanted to leave this other world.

He had protected so much here, but he had also lost just as much.

He wanted to leave this other world so he wouldn’t have to remember the people he couldn’t protect.

Once she realized that, Katrinne could no longer hold him back.

All she could do for him now was promise him a peaceful life.

She, too, made up her mind.

She said her final goodbye to the Hero. And then she opened the barrier for dimensional travel.

She wanted to close it again immediately, but she didn’t want to disappoint him.

Forcing her eyes to stay open made her feel like tears would burst out at any moment.

She didn’t want to let him go.

He was family; she couldn’t understand why they had to part.

When she closed her eyes and opened them again.

“What, did it fail?”

He muttered.

It was strange. There was no way it could have failed.

Just then, Katrinne looked outside.

The dimensional travel had succeeded. The problem was that she, too, had traveled through the dimension with the Hero.

Of course, there was a bigger problem.

…Her entire territory had come with them.

Katrinne was as bewildered as the Hero. At the same time, for some reason, a sense of relief washed over her.

“I’m hungry.”

That was the first thing Katrinne said upon setting foot in this unfamiliar world.

“댁궗??2二”

She could hear the knights she had summoned from the floating island calling her.

She tried to open her eyes, but sleep was pulling her under.

She had moved the poor children to the floating island, so they would no longer be used as bombs by the Villains.

The dimensions were completely different, so their spells wouldn’t work either.

“빈셿??? 뵤홁하랴”

“닿구붾대젃”

The aftermath of the explosion caused a distortion in the dimension.

A Gate.

The spell created by the Villains descended upon this place, and monsters began to pour out.

The knights began to crush the attacking monsters.

These were the knights who had once fought alongside the Hero; they were not weak enough to be defeated by mere monsters like these.

The problem was that the enemies were relentless.

“Don’t worry….”

Katrinne murmured softly.

“He’ll be here soon….”

No one could understand who she was talking about.

The knights prepared for death, brandishing their fierce swords to protect their young lord.

“곸뚯IDE?”

The translation level of the knights, who hadn’t been loaded with the proper protocol, was abysmal. But they showed their intent through their actions.

They cut down monster after monster pouring from the Gate, protecting their lord.

But they soon reached their limit.

Their strength as knights remained, but since they had just crossed over, their connection to the system was extremely unstable.

In other words, they couldn’t properly use their awakened abilities.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed.

Katrinne smiled faintly and whispered weakly.

“See, I told you he’d be here soon….”

At Katrinne’s words, the knights looked ahead.

*KABOOM, POW!*

Monsters were struck by something and spun like tops on the ground.

Thrown and smashed by something, the monsters began to let out screams.

The countless kobolds pouring out were being virtually annihilated by a man wielding a two-handed sword.

“?닋….”

The knights looked at the Hero’s face, their lips trembling as they whispered softly.

“Huh…?”

While wiping out the monsters, the Hero spotted the knights.

His knightly order, who had been with him for a long time.

Even when the Demon King’s army was dominating the continent, it was the Hero’s knightly order that stood against the tide.

When the Seven Kingdoms went on a rampage, repeating senseless slaughter, it was also the Hero’s knightly order that stood at the forefront with the people’s support.

The Hero and his knightly order, who had achieved glorious deeds, met again in a new dimension.

“명뀛/봼?02”

My lady. The Hero has arrived.

The knights reported to their lord.

“씌슱곗 ◆ 곳곷덋”

We think we can go back now.

The knights urgently reported to their lord.

*THWACK, WHACK!*

Slicing the necks of kobolds, the Hero walked confidently forward.

The knight with the poleaxe, growing more desperate, began to shake the sleeping lord awake.

“대읇앹땗쟤”

My lady, you are safe now.

“뚯쇰씁??샖?”

We think you can send us back to the territory now.

Despite the knights’ desperate pleas, Katrinne slowly lost consciousness.

Just seeing the Hero in her line of sight brought her a sense of relief.

***

I eliminated all the monsters clinging to them.

The knights seemed to be acting awkward around me.

Was it because it had been a while?

First, I checked on Katrinne.

I brushed back her bangs and placed a hand on her forehead; she had a slight fever.

Exhaustion from overexertion. What an idiot.

This is why I still can’t take my eyes off her.

You never know what might happen.

What good is being the best priestess if your stamina is so pathetic?

I turned my head and looked at the knights.

The three knights awkwardly raised their hands in greeting.

“Knights? How did you get here?”

I don’t get it.

Did they come out of that Gate holding hands with the monsters or something?

“?댸읋갸?”

“What, is the translation protocol not working properly?”

“댻흝? 갸걔뷿”

I can’t understand a single word. No, I can’t even guess.

“Take off your helmets. Let me see who you are.”

The armor they’re wearing is from the Rania Knightly Order.

They’re probably not in league with the Villains.

But that Siegfried fellow also came here as a Villain. I need to confirm who is who.

Fortunately, they seem to understand me.

The knights took off their helmets.

The members consisted of one with long black hair, one with long blonde hair, and a bald black man.

Rawin, Leon, Vincent.

It’s been a while for all three.

“You’re all familiar faces.”

“댺훑 햬지지습?”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re saying it’s good to see me, right? I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s good to see you too.”

I don’t understand it, but I’m glad these guys showed up.

No, that can’t be right.

The timing is too perfect. Could it really be this perfect?

‘No way.’

Katrinne has the power of a priestess.

More importantly, she’s also the master of that floating island up there.

It’s possible her dimensional abilities have reawakened.

One thought leads to another, but for now, it’s best to get out of here.

The monster cleanup is still ongoing in this area. There could be a Villain hiding somewhere.

“Alright, everyone, let’s mo—”

“Shit.”

I couldn’t believe my ears.

I turned around and met the eyes of the black knight, Vincent, who seemed to be nothing but eyes and teeth.

I could see him grinning brightly at me.

His teeth are unusually white.

Is it because he has healthy teeth?

“Escape has failed.”

“Terrible. It was very nice not seeing you for a while.”

“Laugh. He experiences no translation errors with us.”

The three knights started to laugh, baring their teeth.

Look at these guys.

It was so absurd that I couldn’t help but give them a gentle smile.

“What does that mean?”

“He makes that face when he’s thinking bad thoughts.”

“He is a friend like a little Hitler.”

It seems their translation system has recovered a little.

The problem is that these idiots haven’t noticed.

I think I’ll need to give them some mental re-education once we get out of here.

The monster wave was ending now.

Looking out the window, it seemed the Gate containment measures were also finished.

Elite Hunters from other guilds, having finished their cleanup operations, were returning one by one.

Many S-ranks had arrived, but the mastermind-level Villains had all already fled.

I could see the Tushin Guild just entering the Gate barricade.

The Holy Knight, Seol Ji-hoon, who would look right at home standing in a white snowfield. And next to him, Ryu Ji-yeon, dressed entirely in black.

She said she respected me the most.

I hear she’s been making a name for herself lately with a skill called Shadow Doll.

She found my location and is now smiling unpleasantly.

‘The Company Man.’

That one is the Company Man.

My intuition is telling me.

Judging by the fact that I’m feeling the same uncomfortable sensation I get from him.

*Thud, thud.*

I heard the footsteps of several people approaching from behind me.

Seven Awakeners with their hoodies pulled down low.

Sensing a suspicious aura, Katrinne’s knights went on guard.

I raised a hand to make them lower their guard.

For now, they were allies.

“This side is clear.”

The leader among the men in hoodies said.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t catch the ringleader, though.”

“Same here.”

With that, the men began to exit the agency.

They are the moderate faction.

The one Seo Hyun-ji belongs to.

I thought the moderates wouldn’t make a move.

‘I guess this incident was that much of a crisis for them.’

Villains who had only operated in the shadows until now had openly occupied a Hunter agency.

Not only that, they had broadcast a blatant provocation through a live stream.

In other words, the full-scale war against the Villains was about to begin.

A very active one.

But something feels off.

‘Is this all they wanted?’

The leader of the Villains.

That guy Kei secretly gathered a huge number of people to occupy the agency.

He even came up with a meticulous plan and used bait.

The live stream also feels too weak if it was just to provoke the Hunters.

‘Most importantly.’

Seol Ji-hoon and Ryu Ji-yeon of the Tushin Guild.

Those two, who are definitely Villains, didn’t participate in such a big event.

No, they even went as far as to help wipe out the Villain organization.

There’s something more to this.

***

“Kei.”

“What.”

Kim Yeo-jin looked back.

The empty seats on the tour bus, once filled with their comrades, were conspicuous.

For the first time, the Villains had come to the forefront and devastated the agency.

But the sacrifice was too great. Of their fifty comrades, only ten made it out alive.

It was a crushing defeat.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Kim Yeo-jin muttered.

As her body, heated from battle, cooled down, her emotions became dry.

As if sensing her mood, Kei opened his mouth.

“Don’t worry. It was a necessary sacrifice.”

“Of course, I believe you.”

Kim Yeo-jin replied.

The Kim Yeo-jin in battle and the Kim Yeo-jin in normal times were completely different people.

Right now, her eyes were very calm and gentle.

“Thanks to this sacrifice, we will be victorious from now on.”

Kei muttered, smiling faintly.

“Don’t you think so, Wizard System?”

In front of Kei was a tightly sealed flask.

*Bubble.*

Floating in the thick green liquid, sending up air bubbles, was a ‘brain’ connected to electrodes.

“No, Mister Regressor.”

As if responding to Kei’s words, a bubble rose to the top of the flask.