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Baaaaang!-

Baang!-

Every time an explosion sounded, they felt a strong vibration running through the walls around them.

The round table between them shook.

"What's going on?"

Park Hyun-chul shouted into the intercom.

-It seems to be a raid.

“What do you mean? A raid?”

-I’m sorry. We can’t contact the front gate security team, and the cameras are inoperative.

“Check that out quickly!”

-Yes, we’ll... aaaaaaaaaah!

Baaaaaang-

Beep- beep- beep- beep-

“Hey, what’s going on?”

A scream and another explosion sounded, and contact with the situation room was cut off.

The alarm stopped ringing.

Silence came over the room, and the council grew still.

“What the hell is going on?”

Kim Mi-eun asked Park Hyun-cheol.

“It seems to be a raid. Who told us about the Shadow Guild’s collapse?”

“Our Phoenix Guild has a contact planted in the Shadow Guild. They said they were beaten by Lee Byeong-gi, working alone. Our contact barely survived too.”

At her response, they each wore an expression of disbelief.

"What the heck are you talking about? Why is Lee Byeong-gi there? Does that mean the BnS Guild's assassination and lure operation failed?"

Choi Woo-min pressed Kim Mi-eun for answers.

“We’re sorry.”

Kim Mi-eun bowed. She couldn't believe the operation had failed, but this raid was even more unbelievable.

No matter how lax the hierarchy of the Meeting of Nine was now that Oh Young-seok wasn't around, Choi Woo-min still wouldn't have said a word to her.

‘I was told he was a C-Rank... Even with B-Rank Woo Seol-ah helping him, he shouldn't have been able to take on the Shadow Guild. There must be someone backing him up.'

No matter what she was thinking, Choi Woo-min continued.

“I can't believe it. The old man of the Shadow Guild isn’t an easy opponent. Are you saying that even the Elders were beaten?”

Choi Woo-min's voice rose. Kim Mi-eun just kept bowing her head, apologizing.

Park Hyun-cheol briefly glanced at Kim Mi-eun, who said she was sorry with a ferocious expression, and continued.

"That's a matter for later consideration. For now, we need to deal with this raid."

“Do you think it’s the BnS Guild this time too?”

That response came from Kim Jeong-hee, who was in the same guild as Kim Mi-eun and ranked 7th.

However, they all couldn’t agree.

As far as they knew, the BnS Guild's strength was poor except for the B-Rank Woo Seol-ah.

Besides, she was just a Proby who had recently Awakened.

“If not the BnS Guild, who the hell is it?”

“What does it matter? We just have to crush them when they come.”

Park Yong-ro replied.

With his two-meter-tall frame, he usually tried to solve everything with brute force.

“It’s impossible to invade this place from the outside unless someone lets them in. Let's watch the situation here for now.”

Park Yong-ro responded with a smirk to Lee Geun-gu, who ranked 9th.

“Hey! Your guts must be small, just like your rank. How can we find out about the situation when we can’t even monitor it?”

“You’re crossing the line.”

“Shut up. I'll go out and deal with them myself."

After saying that, Park Yong-ro stood up and headed for the door.

“Yong-ro, sit down.”

Park Hyun-cheol stopped him, but Park Yong-ro was a haughty man.

“You older people wait here. This youngster will take care of everything.”

Wheeing-

Park Yong-ro opened the thick iron door and stepped out. The conference room fell into silence once again.

Before long,

Booom!-

Thud!-

Booooom!-

The teacups on the round table vibrated, causing the water to ripple.

When the sound stopped, the intercom rang, and Park Hyun-cheol answered.

"Who is it?"

-You don’t need to know that, but I see you sent a wild boar, huh?

They seemed to be talking about Park Yong-ro. Park Hyun-cheol's forehead creased.

'Did Yong-ro go down that fast?'

Park Hyun-cheol was confused, but the voice on the intercom kept taunting him.

-The wild boar is all cut up for me to eat. Wanna come check it out?

“Lee Byeong-gi!”

Kim Jeong-hee shouted.

She knew his voice thanks to the reports she had received during their operation against the BnS Guild.

However, Kim Mi-eun expressed her doubts.

“Lee Byeong-gi must still be in Yeoncheon right now.”

In terms of time, Kim Mi-eun couldn't believe he could already be here.

She had just received a call from her contact with the assassins in the mountain. Even if he had flown by helicopter, he couldn’t reach them so soon.

But even though Kim Mi-eun thought it was strange, Lee Byeong-gi's voice continued to flow from the speaker.

-Never mind. I'll make you crawl out by yourselves. Otherwise, I'll demolish the entire building. Though, it'll be pretty tough for you to get out then.

With that warning, several explosions echoed, and the meeting room started to tremble as if an earthquake was occurring.

The walls split, and the plaster dropped off while the furniture scattered.

“Stop bluffing. We will come out.”

-I'll wait.

When Park Hyun-chul hung up the intercom, the Association members started whispering.

“President Park, will we be okay? It seems that Park Yong-ro lost... we don’t know what they've prepared.”

Lee Geun-gu couldn’t hide his concern. He was sure that it wasn’t just one raider outside there.

Park Hyun-cheol had the same thought, but he believed in his own strength.

“Are you saying that even after you have experienced my skill yourself?”

Faced with Park Hyun-chul's confidence, Lee Geun-gu's expression softened.

“Indeed, with President Park’s skills, C-Rank hunters can easily surpass a B-Rank combat power.”

“You know it then. I'm going to warm up."

Park Hyun-cheol was a hunter known for being a challenge to deal with, even among the top rankers.

Among the nine members, it was said that if Oh Young-seok and he faced each other in a group battle, rather than one-on-one, the side led by Park Hyun-cheol would prevail.

When he stood up, the others stood with him. Even if it weren't for his skills backing them, they were proud of their abilities as hunters, and their eyes were filled with confidence.

However, Kim Mi-eun and Kim Jeong-hee looked at Park Hyun-chul, then looked at each other.

‘I don't like this. If things get dicey, we gotta scram.'

Kim Mi-eun and Kim Jeong-hee silently communicated with each other. Joining the Meeting of Nine was just a ploy by Oh Young-seok to increase his influence in the Association.

They kept close to Oh Young-seok for money, honor, and power but they didn’t risk their lives for their work.

In this operation, they only commanded, leaving the other hunters to do all the dirty work.

And just then…

Swooosh-

Suddenly, water poured from the ceiling, soaking them.

The sprinklers had activated.

“You’re playing a funny prank, huh?”

Park Hyun-cheol raised his magic power and laughed evilly, and the water was scattered around him.

Seeing his huge grin, the other members felt a chill run down their spines.

***

After clearing the Shadow Guild, I had flown to the Guild Association at top speed, using the combined Heavenly Demon Air-Stride and Stealth techniques.

As a result of questioning the hunters serving as security at the main gate, I knew that the Association's higher-ups had been called in for an emergency meeting about the Phoenix Guild incident.

If it were the executives of the Association, there was a high chance they would be the rankers from 2nd to 10th, excluding Koh Tae-wook of the Hunter Management Bureau, who was ranked 8th, and Oh Young-seok, whom I had killed.

“All the people that would typically be hard to find are gathered here. I’ll need to deal with them all at once.”

[Good. Kukuku.]

According to what I remembered prior to my return, this group was called the Meeting of Nine.

They were known to take care of various controversies in the political and business world after taking bribes.

Of course these were just rumors that floated around.

On the surface, they took the lead in wiping out the monsters that emerged from Gates and supported Korea's citizens.

[They do all this evil while pretending to be righteous on the outside.]

“Before regressing, I also thought those were just rumors. But a few years before I passed away, I started to believe them to be true.”

[There were people like that in the conventional factions. Wouldn’t my school, which boasts of its strength openly, be more honest?]

“It depends on who you ask.”

[Since you have learned my martial art skills, you should walk the path to becoming the strongest with dignity. Kukuku.]

“I can agree with that. Kukuku.”

[I told you not to imitate my laughter.]

“That is up to me. Wanna move on to the next part of the show?”

[Hold up, don't get too carried away. Don’t you have to deal with those from the Meeting of Nine?]

“I got some juice left. Plus, I still have the Two Hearts title.”

So, the second show began.

There was no need to use the fake Demonic Dragon Blade against the hunters residing in the Guild Association, the Bone Club was enough.

Enjoying the thrill after a long time, I broke all their limbs, made them unable to move, and put them aside after hitting their Movement Points.

In the process, I destroyed the cameras and trashed the building as I went through it.

I didn't leave the documents and data storage devices that seemed to contain the Association's secret ledgers.

The surviving hunters were busy fleeing, but I didn't pursue them. My goal was simply to bring out the people from the Meeting of Nine.

But despite this chaos, they didn't move.

“I think there was a situation room around here.”

I remembered the structure to some extent because I had stopped by here for training before my return.

However, I couldn't remember exactly where the meeting room was.

When I went to the situation room, someone was talking to a hunter in the meeting room over the intercom, so I beat him up and threw him into a corner.

There, I obtained the blueprints for the Association's building and found the meeting room.

“Whoa, this is totally a bunker. It seems to be completely resistant even against bombs."

[Is it hard enough to resist Strong Energy?]

"It's built of thick steel and concrete, so it's possible to crack it, but it'll take a lot of inner power. I'd rather not waste my energy, so I'll just call them out instead."

The meeting room was also set up as an emergency evacuation point, so there was no need to expend energy trying to break through the bunker.

If I could just get them to come out by hurting their pride, that would be much easier.

After all, the Top Ten were all proud hunters.

When I buzzed them over the intercom and taunted them, I could feel a thick, murderous aura radiating from them.

[One of those proud guys crawled out on his own.]

'If I defeat this guy, they'll all crawl out at once.'

There was no need to avoid him, so I shot weak energy toward the approaching killing aura, and it hurried closer.

The owner of that murderous aura was Park Yong-ro, known for being ranked 4th.

“Huh? Are you alone?”

That's what he said as soon as he arrived.

“I thought it would be a rat, but it turned out to be a bear.”

“I don’t think you can say that when you look like a wild boar.”

“You're just a brat who's still wet behind the ears… Where’re your manners? Kid, don’t you know how to respect your elders?”

“Respect depends on the person, and for people like you, it’s a waste.”

“Oh my, look at the way you talk. You stay right there. I’m going to pull your eyes out.”

Park Yong-ro readied his huge warhammer and attacked.

I hadn't anticipated such a straightforward attack with that weapon.

His skill was Lv. Max Electric Shock. As soon as he swung that weapon, his skill activated.

I'd be shocked and paralyzed the second I got hit, so I had to be careful or else I'd be in trouble.

I countered his movements with the Heavenly Demon Royal Stride and swiftly swung the Bone Club with the Perished Soul's Eight Fists.

“The first move is mine!”

Whack!-

Booom!-

“Gasp!”

His head spun violently, and he struck the wall with a wet thud.

As the name of the first form suggested, his soul must have come out halfway. I continued with the second form, Soul Grabbing, and the third move, Soul Hitting.

Whack!-

Thud!-

Pugagagak -

Boooom!-

Park Yong-ro, receiving the three moves in succession, crashed into the wall and ceiling, then landed on the floor with a roar.

The perfect three-hit combo! The bone felt perfect in my hand.

His head, chest, and waist were crushed into minced meat.

[Hehe, now you can infuse energy into weapons other than blades.]

"Hmm. If I infuse Strong Energy into the Bone Club, will it become Strong Bone Energy?”

[Kukuku. I guess so.]

I put Park Yong-ro's chopped body aside and buzzed the intercom from outside the conference room.

Despite my provocation, Park Hyun-cheol remained unexpectedly calm and only started moving after I shook the building a few times.

“Have some water before you come out!”

[Looking at you, you're also really energetic.]

The Heavenly Demon said that when I had tampered with the conference room sprinklers.

Not long after that, the soaked members of the Meeting of Nine appeared.