Chapter 161 – Demon King [The King's]

“What… what do you mean by that?”

Han Myeongho asked.

Nam Hanseok merely wore an inscrutable smile.

“Prime Minister. You’re making a mistake now. How can you casually talk about Vice Chairman Lee dying or not dying!”

Kang Bonggil feigned anger and shouted at Nam Hanseok.

As expected, Nam Hanseok only wore an inscrutable smile.

As the one who brought it up remained silent, it was ultimately Han Myeongho and Kang Bonggil who grew impatient.

Knowing the other party was a D-Rank Superhuman, they couldn’t very well resort to violence.

“L-Let’s pretend we didn’t hear that and get up now. CEO Han, let’s go!”

Kang Bonggil abruptly rose from his seat. Following his glance, Han Myeongho also stood up.

Only then did Nam Hanseok open his mouth.

“CEO Kang, you have quite the showmanship, don’t you? Heh heh heh.”

His voice halted Kang Bonggil and Han Myeongho’s steps.

“Please sit down first. The conversation isn’t over yet.”

Kang Bonggil and Han Myeongho briefly looked at each other before quietly sitting back down.

Nam Hanseok took a sip of coffee and continued.

“Let’s be honest with each other.”

Nam Hanseok set down his coffee cup and stared intently at Kang Bonggil and Han Myeongho.

“Frankly, you two, and me. What’s the reason the three of us are facing each other like this? Isn’t it because of Vice Chairman Lee Siguk?”

The two couldn’t deny it.

“Then it’s simple, isn’t it? If Vice Chairman Lee Siguk just disappears, there will be no one to stop us. At least within the government cabinet and JH Group.”

It wasn’t a wrong statement.

JH Group, the National Hunter Federation, and even the cabinet and parliament.

The fact that all these entities interlock and operate like an organism, like a precise machine, is only possible because there is a controller named Siguk.

Wielding the visible power of an A-Rank Hunter and the invisible power of capital, controlling the National Hunter Federation—the strongest single armed group in South Korea—and based on that, governing the country.

That is the source of Siguk’s dominance.

In other words, if Siguk were to disappear now, it means the foundation of all that dominance would vanish.

Namely, it means those who have been suppressed and living quietly under Siguk could rise up.

“Words are easy, but how is that possible? I, I might believe the country is torn apart, but honestly, I can’t believe talk about the Vice Chairman disappearing or dying.”

At Kang Bonggil’s words, Nam Hanseok grinned.

“That’s not wrong. He is an A-Rank Hunter, after all.”

Nam Hanseok took a sip of coffee and continued.

“But that doesn’t mean he’s an immortal being.”

Han Myeongho, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.

“Do you have some separate measure in place?”

“Measure… Let me be honest. I haven’t done anything. In fact, saying there’s nothing I can do is more accurate.”

“Then…”

“America.”

Instantly, both Han Myeongho and Kang Bonggil showed expressions of having realized something.

Although their origins were as thugs, thanks to leading JH Group’s commodities and construction divisions over the years, the two had acquired a somewhat high-society perspective.

“Ah… right. There’s America.”

Kang Bonggil exclaimed in admiration.

“Indeed, as the Vice Chairman grew closer to Russia, foreign policy also leaned pro-Russia.”

Han Myeongho analyzed.

“Now do you understand why I’m so confident?”

And Nam Hanseok, looking at the two with a slight sneer.

“Right now, Vice Chairman Lee Siguk is in Africa. The place with the Necromancer, called the world’s strongest Villain, even the Demon King. No matter how strong Vice Chairman Lee Siguk is, it would be difficult to endure easily there.”

Nam Hanseok downed his coffee in one go. Then, setting down the cup, he concluded.

“If America’s A-Rank Hunters attack him all at once there… will he really be able to survive?”

Looking at Nam Hanseok’s grin, Kang Bonggil and Han Myeongho’s expressions brightened in turn.

Thud-!

The last Death Knight fell.

“Whew…!”

Siguk let out a deep sigh.

The Death Knight, mangled by his sword and fists, seemed completely incapacitated on the outside, but the severed finger joints twitched slightly.

Considering the damage inflicted on the Death Knight, it was highly likely it would get up within 30 minutes.

‘……’

Siguk’s gaze turned to the other Hunters.

Many A-Rank Hunters were still alive and breathing, but a significant number of B-Rank Hunters had become corpses lying on the ground.

And the city was swallowing their corpses.

“Damn it…”

Ivan Ivanov gritted his teeth as he watched the B-Rank Hunters’ corpses being sucked into the ground.

Beside him, Olande Pompidou drank a Mana Potion with a disgusted expression.

Liu Yaofang leaned on his staff, panting with a tired look, and Julia Texon, who hadn’t been much help in the fight against the Death Knights, silently caressed her gun.

“We need to prepare for the next battle.”

Siguk approached Ivan Ivanov, who was snorting with an angry expression, and spoke.

Ivan Ivanov gave no reply.

“30 minutes. At most, within 30 minutes, they’ll wake up again.”

“Goddamn it…”

Ivan Ivanov’s expression darkened.

‘If we fight like this again, even the remaining B-Rank Hunters will die. Goddamn it…’

No matter how he thought about it, it was nothing but a meaningless war of attrition.

As the Undead Legion would keep reviving unless the summoner was killed, it was an absolutely disadvantageous environment for the Hunters.

To Ivan Ivanov, who was becoming increasingly depressed by such thoughts, Siguk spoke quietly.

“Just hold out this one time. The summoner’s location is almost pinpointed.”

Ivan Ivanov’s gaze sharply turned to Siguk.

“What does that mean?”

“It’s hard to explain. But if you just hold out this one time, I will eliminate the summoner next, Nikolayevich.”

Siguk’s expression showed no trace of a joke anywhere.

Ivan Ivanov silently looked at him for a moment, then nodded.

“All survivors! Prepare for combat!”

Buffing the surviving Hunters with his Dragon Roar Skill, Ivan Ivanov prepared for the second round against the Death Knights.

Meanwhile, Siguk quietly vanished from sight.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

30 minutes later, short seismic waves shook the ground again.

Death Knights that had been lying on the ground rose again, and new Death Knights emerged from the earth, attacking the Hunters.

“Ura!”

Ivan Ivanov let out a battle cry and buffed all Hunters. Then he smashed the head of a Death Knight charging at him with his fist.

Olande Pompidou floated into the air and unleashed a barrage of spells, while Liu Yaofang froze Death Knights with Frost magic, letting melee dealers shatter them.

The surviving A-Rank and B-Rank Hunters fought the second round against the Death Knights, relying on each other as much as possible.

Thwack-!

Siguk, who had hidden himself with his Atomization Skill, also smashed the heads of a few noticeable Death Knights.

• Master. I found it.

Meanwhile, the news Siguk had been eagerly awaiting was delivered through his Familiar.

‘Good. Summon me using the Abduction Skill.’

• Yes, understood.

Soon, Siguk felt as if someone was pulling his body.

Despite the unpleasant feeling, Siguk silently surrendered to it.

Soon, the scenery before his eyes changed.

Instead of the battlefield where Hunters and the Death Knight legion fought under gloomy darkness, Siguk maintained his Atomization Skill and used his All-Seeing Eye Skill within a space submerged in even darker darkness.

‘That’s it.’

In the darkness, one object was captured by Siguk’s All-Seeing Eye.

It was more appropriate to call it an object than a person.

Because it lacked the vitality a person should rightfully have.

Siguk quietly approached it.

It showed no reaction even as Siguk approached.

It just sat there with a blank expression, holding a round, dark orb in its hand.

‘This is a shell. That orb is what performs the summoning role.’

Ignoring the mere shell, Siguk directly swung his sword at the black orb.

Clang-!

Sparks flew, and a scratch appeared on the black orb.

The object holding it showed no reaction.

Ignoring the thing that resembled a mannequin, Siguk swung his sword again.

Clang-!

This time, quite large sparks flew, and the black orb cracked slightly.

Thwack-!

When Siguk struck with his third sword, cracks finally spread across the entire orb.

Thwack-!

Finally, when Siguk swung his sword for the last time, the black orb split in half.

The black orb, split in half, soon shattered into pieces.

‘What about the situation outside?’

In response to Siguk’s question, the Familiar, who had summoned Siguk here and remained outside, replied via Telepathy.

• All the Death Knights have fallen, Master.

‘Good. Summon me back there.’

• As you command.

The Familiar used the Abduction Skill again.

Using Siguk’s hair that it held as a medium, a connection point was created between the space where it was and where Siguk was.

Leaping through that connection point, Siguk was summoned right in the middle of the battlefield.

“We won!”

The Hunters were cheering.

And rightfully so.

In the midst of a difficult fight, the entire Death Knight legion had lost function and crumbled.

However, the expressions of the Assault Team leaders, including Ivan Ivanov, weren’t entirely bright.

Siguk approached them, having released his Atomization Skill.

Ivan Ivanov nodded at Siguk and spoke cautiously.

“Seeing that this fortress is still intact, Ululu Tumbebe clearly isn’t dead.”

Then Olande Pompidou, Liu Yaofang, and Julia Texon nodded.

Ivan Ivanov continued.

“For now, please strengthen the Hunters’ defensive posture. We don’t know when or where he’ll appear.”

The three nodded and dispersed.

Ivan Ivanov asked Siguk.

“What happened?”

“There was an orb commanding the Death Knight legion somewhere inside that tower. The guy holding it, who looked like a Necromancer, was practically no different from a corpse, so I think that orb was the core.”

“Damn… that’s beyond common sense. What about Ululu Tumbebe?”

“I didn’t specifically search for him.”

“Well…”

As they conversed, Olande Pompidou, Liu Yaofang, and Julia Texon reorganized the ranks of the B-Rank Hunters, who were ecstatic about surviving.

The other A-Rank Hunters also obediently followed their instructions.

Finally, they finished reorganizing the ranks.

Confirming this, Siguk and Ivan Ivanov headed towards the Hunters.

At that moment,

“Kheh heh heh heh heh heh…”

A bizarre laughter began to be heard from somewhere.

The Hunters all looked around, searching for the source of the sound.

But the laughter seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.

The Hunters all tensed up.

Because there was one single word to explain this bizarre phenomenon.

“Kheh heh heh heh… Not bad. You foolish beings.”

As the voice echoed from all directions, Ivan Ivanov also looked around and shouted.

“Ululu Tumbebe! Your forces are practically finished now.”

“Kheh heh heh heh… That is the crystallization of your arrogance, and the mistaken judgment stemming from it.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“You still don’t understand? You foolish being.”

At that moment, the fortress walls surrounding them began to move.

Moving rapidly enough to be seen from afar, the walls began to take on a form.

“W-what is this…!”

Ivan Ivanov watched with a bewildered expression as the walls gradually transformed into what looked like a tail of something.

“Get out of the fortress now! Quickly! As fast as possible!”

Then, Siguk shouted in a very panicked voice.

“Hurry! We need to escape as fast as possible!”

Saying this, Siguk was the first to run out.

Ivan Ivanov and Liu Yaofang followed, and soon Julia Texon also began to flee the fortress.

Olande Pompidou chugged two Mana Potions in a row, then Teleported the surviving A-Rank Hunters outside the fortress.

The B-Rank Hunters, who were neither here nor there, began to escape the fortress at their own maximum speed.