A Red Gate had opened above the Thames in London.
Kim A-rin's objective was to hold back the monsters pouring out of that crimson rift.
With other Hunters lending their strength alongside her, it seemed like they'd be able to wrap things up without too much trouble.
An A-rank Gate was no small thing, but with the forces currently assembled in London, everyone agreed they had more than enough to handle it.
And yet.
—Drip.
—Drip, drip, drip.
—Shhhhhh……
*…This isn't good.*
The moment a downpour began falling from the English sky, something felt off.
No matter that Kim A-rin was an S-rank Hunter, her power source was lightning.
Using her lightning in a rainstorm like this meant the Hunters around her would get caught in the current too.
But if she held back to keep her allies safe, she couldn't fight at full strength.
"Hey, Kim. You don't look so great. Something wrong?"
"…I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."
"If you're not feeling up to it, don't push yourself — let the backup handle it. An S-rank like you is too valuable to risk~."
Still, having an S-rank Hunter present was better than not, so Kim A-rin ended up waiting near the Red Gate alongside the others.
Even if she couldn't unleash her full lightning output, an S-rank Hunter's baseline combat ability was nothing to dismiss.
In truth, the other Hunters alone were capable of containing an A-rank Gate shock.
The British Hunter Association had assembled their forces with what some might call excessive caution, all for the safety of London's citizens.
They had taken every precaution, accounting for every worst-case scenario.
But thorough preparation didn't guarantee the best outcome.
"Damn it, fall back! There are too many of them!"
The battle line that had seemed so unshakeable crumbled under the relentless tide of monsters.
The sheer volume far exceeded anything a typical A-rank Gate shock should have produced.
Each individual monster was unremarkable, but the raw numbers alone were enough to slowly push back even the front-line tanks.
And above all else — the boss monster, standing immovable at the heart of the battlefield.
"Dave! The river! Look at the river!!"
"Wh-what the hell is that……?!"
—BOOM.
—BOOM BOOM BOOM.
[ Entity: Desert Wraith Sovereign (A) is performing a 『Ritual』. ]
The boss monster, which hadn't taken so much as a scratch from the Hunters' sustained ranged assault, activated some kind of skill at fixed intervals.
[ Entity: Desert Wraith Sovereign (A) breathes life back into its fallen servants. ]
—Twitch.
—Twitch, twitch.
—……Flash!
"…You've got to be kidding me."
A chilling skill that resurrected every monster the Hunters had already killed.
"Fall back."
Sensing the situation turning critical, Kim A-rin stepped forward immediately.
She tightened her grip on her rain-slicked spear and took her place at the very front of the Hunter line.
If she, an S-rank, held the vanguard, she could at least buy enough time for the others to regroup.
—Flash.
She wrapped lightning around her long spear, forging a thunder lance, and began cutting down the monsters at the front.
She bought time alone — so the Hunters who had been swept up in the monstrous wave could get back into fighting formation.
Kim A-rin held the line by herself.
"Hah, hah……"
But even Kim A-rin couldn't escape the same dilemma.
To end this endless battle, she had to somehow punch through the swarm of monsters in front of her and bring down the boss beyond them.
—HMMMMM────!
[ Entity: Desert Wraith Sovereign (A) breathes life back into its fallen servants. ]
But the monsters kept reviving before she could even reach the boss.
Ignoring the monsters charging at her to reach the boss was next to impossible.
On top of that, mid-boss-tier monsters were beginning to appear one by one.
The attacks aimed at Kim A-rin grew heavier.
—Stagger.
"…!"
In the end, it was Kim A-rin who started to give out first — not the monsters.
The monsters revived endlessly, but Kim A-rin's stamina was finite.
And with Hunters still nearby, she couldn't sweep them all away with a single lightning strike.
"Damn it, Kim! Snap out of it! We need to get out of here right now!"
She blinked once, and in the reflection of a shattered window she caught a glimpse of herself — collapsed on the ground.
Her fellow Hunter's face, drained of all color, spun in her vision as her sight swam violently.
At the edge of her fading view, a countless horde of monsters was still hurling itself at the Hunters.
Kim A-rin understood what that meant.
Death.
*……Sis….*
As something cold dripped steadily from her forehead, Kim A-rin's dimming eyes conjured an image.
Her sister's face — the blank, stunned expression she'd wear when she heard the news.
The face of the family she'd left behind alone in Korea.
Just imagining that face made her chest ache with guilt, and a faint tremor crept into her breath.
Her eyes and voice had gone wet without her noticing.
"Kim A-rin─────!"
Was this what they called your life flashing before your eyes?
Now she could even see her sister sprinting toward her from somewhere beyond — vivid and real.
As if Ji-woo had actually come to England, not just in her imagination.
—Sway, sway.
—Sway, sway.
"You're alive, right? You're not dead?"
"…Sorry……"
Even then, Kim A-rin thought the figure in front of her was a hallucination, and began saying the things she'd never gotten to say.
As if leaving behind last words.
"Even without me……don't……skip meals……"
"……!!"
Ji-woo, far more flustered than Kim A-rin, immediately grabbed her face with both hands.
Telling her to get a grip.
Letting tears fall from those young eyes, one drop at a time.
—Slap, slap.
—Slap, slap.
"You, you little— what did I tell you. Don't do anything dangerous, I said that, didn't I. Didn't I say that."
"Sis……? Is that……you……?"
Only then did Kim A-rin realize the face in front of her wasn't a dying vision — it was real.
The tears falling onto her shoulder were too warm to be a hallucination.
And more than anything, it was too quiet.
Just moments ago the noise of countless monsters swarming in had been enough to burst her eardrums.
[ Entity: Desert Wraith Sovereign (A) loses its form and reverts to sand. ]
"…Huh……?"
Her consciousness hadn't fully returned, but some instinct made Kim A-rin shift her gaze.
Away from Ji-woo right in front of her — just slightly behind.
Past the monsters, inexplicably shattered into pieces, toward the boss monster beyond them.
And then, finally.
—CRUNCH.
—CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH.
To the familiar dragon, crushing the massive boss monster between jaws even larger than it was.
"……Sis……?"
"I'm right here, you idiot! Look at me!"
Ji-woo, alarmed by Kim A-rin's still-glazed eyes, grabbed her face again.
But Kim A-rin was still staring past her, at the scene unfolding behind.
—Crumble.
Monsters pouring out of the crimson rift, torn into dozens of pieces the instant they emerged.
A small, solitary light standing alone on a bridge over the Thames, grinding the monsters to nothing by itself.
Everything that came within reach of that light turned to dust and collapsed without a sound.
The radiant figure reached the very edge of the Red Gate at last.
"Tch."
A click of the tongue — and the small light vanished into the Gate.
Not long after, when Kim A-rin blinked and opened her eyes again.
"Hey."
—Whoosh────!
"Smash it."
A dungeon stone, covered in strange pulsing flesh, was hurled into the air by a single girl.
And the enormous dragon's jaws, splitting wide open toward the dungeon stone she'd thrown.
—■■■■■■■■■■─────!
A violet breath erupted with ferocious force, engulfing the dungeon stone flung high into the sky.
No — beyond the dungeon stone of the Red Gate.
It dyed the grey sky behind it entirely violet.
"What in the world is that……what……?"
"…Get it together! It's not over yet."
"Keep your head on if you don't want it taken off!"
By then, the Hunters were gradually reforming their lines and driving back the remaining monsters.
Every Hunter had been thrown off by the sudden appearance of unknown entities, but the moment they judged them to be on the same side, the Hunters did what they were there to do.
The tide of battle had reversed in an instant.
No one was retreating from the great crimson rift in the sky any longer.
And so, as time wore on.
—Slash──!
The last remaining monster was cleaved in two by some Hunter's blade and fell still.
The Hunters, each catching their ragged breath, slowly turned their heads to look.
At the enormous dragon that had reduced far more monsters than any of them to pure ash.
No.
【❮(P) Avatar Manifestation: Gaia's Devoted❯: Deactivated.】
[ Entity: Arkiel returns to her master's side……. ]
—Click.
—Click.
At the beautiful woman who had *been* the dragon.
"W-wait!"
"…………"
One Hunter, in better shape than the rest, summoned the courage to ask who she was.
The woman turned slowly to face him.
"…Be grateful for her grace, mortals."
That was all.
The woman of unknown identity, who had been a massive dragon moments before, turned and walked away on those words.
—Click.
Past the bodies strewn in every direction.
"………!"
—Click.
Past the Hunters who flinched the moment their eyes met hers.
—Click.
—…Pause.
"…I was commanded to bring you."
"…………"
She had stopped at Kim A-rin, who was barely breathing where she leaned against a lamppost.
And then, she lifted the exhausted Kim A-rin into her arms in what people commonly called a princess carry.
—Click.
—Click.
She walked again, past the Hunters and the bodies, heading somewhere.
The Hunters around them could only watch in silence.
The overwhelming presence pressing down on them made it impossible to even cautiously call out.
And watching all of this from a distance — other onlookers.
"Um, Miss Erdi."
"What."
"Did we really need to hide? We could've just taken Kim A-rin to the hospital ourselves…"
"…Shut up and watch."
Erdis Arcana said that, and once again cast a perception-distorting spell over Ji-woo.
She wanted Ji-woo to see for herself — to witness firsthand how the world would react when Ji-woo's power, and the power of those she commanded, was laid bare.
She wanted Ji-woo to understand, through this very moment, why she had arranged for only Arkiel to reveal herself and not the rest.
*…You've passed off something troublesome, haven't you. You.*
It was Erdis Arcana's second lesson.
And her second complaint, directed at the old student who now existed as nothing but a soul.
【Entity: Null gazes at Entity: Lee Ji-woo and smiles quietly.】
***
"So. Who is she. That woman."
"I'm afraid I don't know either."
"You're telling me that's your answer, Association Head!!"
Bang. A rough fist slammed down on an expensive glass table.
Reflected in its surface — a face trembling with fury.
And across from it, the Korean Hunter Association Head, still wearing an unhurried expression.
Kang Baek.
"She openly saved Hunter Kim A-rin. That makes it obvious she's connected to Haetae — which means she's a Korean Awakened! And you're telling me you don't know who she is?!"
"That may well be the case."
"She's a Korean Awakened and you don't know?!!"
With another shout, the middle-aged man — whose name was followed by the title of Minister — pressed on.
"In case you don't grasp the severity of the situation, allow me to spell it out for you, Association Head. Without any prior coordination whatsoever, a Korean Awakened caused a scene in London, England. And completely out in the open!"
"Thanks to her, dozens of Hunters were saved. Add London's civilians to that count and the number goes even higher."
"You dare say that to my face——!"
His jaw clenched, lips trembling. The man exhaled sharply and resumed his explanation.
"I may be blind when it comes to Hunters, but even I have never seen a Hunter that powerful. I've never even heard of one!"
"Regrettably, neither have I."
"If other countries find out we've been hiding a Hunter that powerful all this time, what do you think happens?"
At this point in time, Hunters were synonymous with national power.
Every time a powerful new Hunter emerged, national power rose with them.
Put another way, the appearance of a new S-rank Hunter alone was enough to generate diplomatic friction.
Other nations would suspect why such a powerful Hunter had been kept hidden — and what the intent behind it was.
"From this point on, Korea becomes a dangerous nation. A nation capable of deploying a war machine like that anywhere in the world without anyone knowing!"
"That is a possibility."
"Then why are you so calm about it!! How can you possibly say you don't know who that woman is, Association Head!!"
"However, Minister."
Kang Baek, unmoved by the continued outbursts, opened his mouth.
Your words have merit, certainly. But.
"They only did what needed to be done. Why are you treating them like criminals?"
A Hunter's role is to save people.
The mysterious female Hunter who had achieved the miracle of zero casualties had fulfilled that role faithfully.
Nothing else needed to concern him.
That was someone else's job.
"Ensuring there are no misunderstandings — that is your role, Minister."
Politics was the domain of politicians.
He would cooperate where cooperation was due, but Kang Baek drew a clear line: don't expect anything beyond that.
"…One more thing, if I may add."
—Smoothly.
"The one who should be watching their step right now isn't another country. It's that woman, and the Haetae Guild."
Hadn't the Minister just said it himself?
That even someone blind to Hunters had never seen anyone that powerful before.
"I'd suggest starting with how to win them over."
"Wh-what……!"
"There's no guarantee they won't cross over to another country."
Now, isn't that right?
That question left the Minister's face white as a sheet, and on that note, Kang Baek turned and walked away.
Only after stepping out of the official residence did he finally take out his phone and make a call.
To another S-rank Hunter he needed to win over — immediately.
"Hunter Yoo Do-a. Why don't we meet first?"
[ I'm sorry. I'm a little busy right now. ]
"Still, I think this old man may have something left to offer. Can't we make it work?"
[ …Are you coming right now? ]
"Most likely, yes."
[ …Haah…… ]
