Chapter 42: Morbid Reminder, & Where It All Began

A/N :

" " : Dialogue,

' ' : Thought,

[ ] : System, Akasha, Minerva,

"Italicized text" : Telepathy,

« » : Artificial Intelligence,

| | : Sung Jin-Woo's System Panels, Sung Jin-Woo's System Messages,

"Bold text" : Shadows & Deathborns.

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Narrator POV

The chaos brought by a new S Rank Gate was significant, but Japan's officials rushed to calm it down as quickly as possible. They put a full evacuation of Shinjuku underway within mere hours of the Gate's appearance, and they did so with as much manpower as they could provide.

Thanks to the swift action, they had been able to calculate that the evacuation would be finished within two days. And they had called together every single S Rank Hunter in Japan, or at least they would've, if they weren't also being plagued by multiple A Rank Gates around the country, so they had to spare one S Rank per guild to face those Gates.

This left them with only 21 S Rank Hunters to face the Gate. While this would have been more than sufficient to take on any other Gate, Japan was unfortunately faced with an S Rank Gate, a level that has been notorious for causing the deaths of scores of S Rank Hunters.

Japan's officials had come to the logical conclusion that they needed aid from other countries, preferably the aid of a National Rank Hunter. But even that direction came with its own issues, mainly the cost of hiring any of them.

They couldn't bring themselves to ask Liu Zhigang for aid as he was Chinese, not that he or any Chinese Hunters had extended a helping hand, and Christopher Reed and Thomas Andre were more likely than not, going to ask for exorbitant amounts of money for their payment.

This left them with two options, to ask Siddharth Bachchan for aid, which even then could only give them a shaky chance at clearing the Gate, or to ask Korea for aid via one of the Dominion Guild's members.

"Asking Korea for any of the Hunters from the Dominion Guild would be for the best. So far, they don't have any clear animosity for us, and with the deals they have struck with multiple nations, the Hunters of the Dominion Guild would have little need for money." One of the officials pointed out, which was met with some agreeing nods, and some murmurs.

"And why would they help us, when they're busy with Gates that have been plaguing them just like everywhere else in the world?" Another one of them said, referring to the way that Gates have been appearing at an increased rate all over the planet, causing most nations to keep their Hunters from traveling to other countries, so that they would be present in the event that a high rank Gates opens within the country.

"There is someone we could get." Another official said. "Really? And who exactly are you going to suggest we ask for aid?" The Prime Minister said in an exasperated tone. "Yuri Orlov." The name caused a short wave of disgruntled groans to be elicited from many of the other officials.

"That money grubber?! That's your pick?" The Prime Minister said, unable to see an actual fitting rationale for such a decision. "It will cost far less than trying to hire a National Rank Hunter. And he can help us buy time, so that we can gather all our Hunters to clear the Gate. That way, we won't have to rely on the aid of other countries' Hunters for us to fight back." The official said, taking the pride of the country as priority.

Despite the fact that asking Korea for aid was less likely to have any negative repercussions to the nation, the prospect of their own Hunters clearing an S Rank Gate was far too tempting in the eyes of Japan's officials.

And so against their better judgement, they decided to employ the aid of Yuri Orlov, who had gained the moniker of Saviour, due to him using his barriers to block countless Gates on the verge of breaking. They quickly sent the Vice Chairman of their Hunter Association to Russia to negotiate a deal with Yuri, and much to their ire, he had called up an exorbitant price for his services.

Despite the Vice Chairman of Japan's Hunter's Association going with 2 S Rank Hunters as his bodyguards, they were helpless to resist Yuri's abilities.

True to his reputation as a money grubber, Yuri used shameless tactics to ensure that his pockets got fuller at the expense of others. He knew of the current trend of the increasing number of Gates, and so he deduced that Japan wanted to use his abilities to buy time for their Hunters to clear other less threatening Gates, so that they could all come together afterwards to clear the S Rank Gate in one fell swoop.

Seeing that he could profit from the situation, he went as far as he could without fully turning them off. "Fine. Since you're so desperate for help, I'll help you. For every day that my barrier holds the Gate back, you'll pay me 50 million dollars." He said with a smile, exposing his full mouth of golden teeth.

"I believe that should be easy enough for you to pay." Yuri said, a greedy, gold filled smile on his face. Knowing that he had no chance of turning the negotiations over to their side, the Vice Chairman of Japan's Hunter acquiesced to Yuri's demands, hoping that they hadn't made the wrong decision.

...

Back in Korea, the Dominion Guild's members were moving about the country, raiding and clearing Gates with extreme efficiency. And due to the special privileges they enjoyed, each of them was allowed to raid Gates seemingly alone.

Of course, each of them had soldiers within their shadows that mainly aided with the gathering of monster corpses and mining of magic stones, with the only one of them that needed actual help in raiding a Gate unscathed being Cha Hae-In.

Dante also decided to make what he felt was his first major alteration to reality since his arrival in this universe. Using a facet of his omnikinesis, he altered the truth of this universe, making it so that his act of rescuing Sung Il-Hwan was public knowledge.

To make sure that there was no one even trying to disturb Sung Il-Hwan, he also made it so that he had already planned to join the Dominion Guild, but had taken time to rest from hunting. After all, they wouldn't force a Hunter that had been trapped inside a dungeon for years to return to hunting so quickly.

And so, while Japan was trying to save themselves, Korea was celebrating getting another active S Rank Hunter, all but one person.

...

Sung Jin-Woo had cleared his last dungeon for the day, and had processed all of the loot from the Gate at the guild building. But throughout the time of the raid, even until now, he had been plagued by thoughts of the Carthenon Temple.

|Time Left: 18:27:17|

The countdown to the Temple's reappearance was less than a day, and the point when the S Rank Gate in Japan would break was even closer. Sung Jin-Woo just held his hopes that Japan's citizens would have been fully evacuated from Shinjuku before the Gate breaks.

...

It was noon in Tokyo, and Yuri Orlov, clad in his armor, was standing in front of the S Rank Gate with a grin on his face and a flask of vodka in his hand. Around him, many soldiers and employees of the Hunter Association were moving frantically, placing a massive amount of magic stones in the areas around the Gate using trucks.

He had arrived in Tokyo almost 7 hours ago, with many reporters clamoring to know his strategy for holding back the monsters from the Gate. He boasted of his abilities, thinking that regardless of the rank of the Gate, they would work flawlessly as they had always done before.

Unlike other Hunters who only made regular barriers, his abilities allowed his barrier to absorb the mana from its surroundings, making it so that as long as a source of mana was present when he placed a barrier, the barrier would stabilize without any more input from him.

He looked at the magic stones with a smile, as a Hunter Association employee walks up to him. "200,000 tons of magic stones, huh. These should be enough to fuel up the magic power of the magic circle." He said, treating the Gate as a regular one.

"You wanted to know how my ability keeps the monsters in, right? Well, I'll tell you. First, I'll cast a barrier magic circle around the Gate, and fill up the necessary magic power with the magic stones, helping the barrier stabilize. And from then, the magic circle will gather its own magic power." He said, then took a swig of vodka from his flask.

"Ah, Mr. Yuri! I don't think alcohol...!" The Hunter Association employee started, but Yuri interrupted him. "It's just a toast, to calm my nerves." He said, then gulped down the remnants in the flask.

"Besides, if this goes well, not only would I be able to contribute greatly to the clearing of the Gate, but everyone involved would very likely gain National Rank Hunter status. You wouldn't want me to be nervous now, would you?" Yuri said with a cocked brow, and the employee timidly shook his head.

As the last truck dumped its load of magic stones, Yuri activated his skill, creating a huge magic circle that covered the Gate, and shortly after, a barrier dome covered the Gate and the areas around it. As time passed, the barrier seemed to get even stronger.

Eventually the Gate broke open, and monsters began stepping out of it. Humanoid figures that were as tall as highrise skyscrapers walked out . These monsters that would easily serve as boss monsters in some of the highest level A Rank Gates were coming out as if they were regular mobs.

"They're Giants!!" One of the Hunters present shouted with great concern. Japan's S Ranks took small steps back, but kept themselves ready to attack in the case that Yuri's barrier fell. Yuri, however, stayed in place, confident that the Giants would be unable to get past his barrier.

"Come at me!" He shouted at them, and to his credit, the barrier didn't budge even when the Giants began pounding on it furiously. They tried different things; punching the barrier, ramming it with their shoulders, throwing themselves at it, but it was all futile.

This went on for 45 minutes, and seemingly giving up, the Giants went back into the Gate. Everyone present was greatly shocked, as they had never seen or even considered such a thing happening. Even the few reporters that were recording from rooftops and helicopters were left speechless.

*Clap*, *clap*, *clap*, *clap*. The lone clapping sounds grew into many, and soon morphed into excited cheers of joy from many of the people around. Yuri turned to the people, basking in their adulations.

In his mind, he felt that he had done more than Sung Jin-Woo or any of the Dominion Guild's members had. After all, no one knew what exactly Sung Jin-Woo fought within the S Rank Gate that opened in Seoul, and as far as he was concerned, they had to work together to clear the Jeju Island Gate.

He grinned, showing of his gold teeth to the reporters and everyone else around him. But unfortunately, reality was far crueler than they had expected.

*Thud!* A small earthquake caused the ground to rumble, and drew everyone's attention to the Gate, where a single Giant was stepping out. They all watched in fear as the Giant crouched to pass through the humongous Gate.

Its steps continued to quake, making even the military tanks that were on standby to bounce. Its size made the previous Giants look diminutive in comparison and would cause anyone with megalophobia to die from fear.

But more than anything, its atrocious mana caused a spread of terror to assault every single person within the area. No one was spared from it, not even Goto Ryuji, Japan's strongest S Rank.

After coming out, it stood straight and looked around, before suddenly slamming into the barrier. The impact was so great, that the earthquakes from before seemed miniscule in comparison. A shockwave was released from the impact, sending the trucks flying into buildings.

But the worst part of the damage was something that none of them thought would happen so soon. *Crack!* The barrier had gained spiderweb-like cracks from a single impact. While everyone was definitely terrified by this, none were moreso than Yuri Orlov himself.

As far as he knew, no monster should be able to even scratch his barriers, even if they were made on the fly, let alone done with as much preparation as this one. Yet the Giant had drastically reduced its integrity with a single attack.

The Giant saw that a simple attack like that wouldn't take down the barrier, so it to several steps back, then sprinted at full tilt, throwing its entire body at the barrier.

*Crash!* *Boom!* With the sound of shattering, an explosion went off, signifying the destruction of the barrier. And almost immediately, the motes of light that illuminated the magic circle dissipated away.

"Uwaaaa-uwaaahkk?!?!" Yuri screamed unintelligibly. And the Giant, after destroying the barrier, reached down and grabbed him, breaking many of his bones. Yuri screamed out as the pain wracked through his body.

As he desperately thrashed around in pain, the Giant brought its hand above its mouth, then dropped him. *Gulp.* Yuri's screams were never heard again. Immediately after this, the Giants from before came out of the Gate in droves, with even more Giants of the larger size spilling out of the Gate with them.

On this day, humanity was given a terrifying reminder of the destructiveness of an S Rank Gate, and a new understanding of the power that Hunters that could clear such Gates held.

...

While that misfortune befell Japan, Sung Jin-Woo was waiting in front of a Gate that he had asked Dante to help him book. It was a simple B Rank Gate with werewolves as the mobs. At least that's what it was going to be for about an hour more.

He quickly cleared it of any monsters, which took 15 minutes, as he took them out all by himself. He waited as his shadows collected the corpses and mined the magic stones, and soon.

|Time Left: 00:00:01|

|Time Left: 00:00:00|

|The location where the key can be used will be revealed.|

And he felt it, a mana signature he hadn't recorded in his mind, yet his body was familiar with it. He stood up, then used Shūndō to quickly go to the source of this feeling, and soon he was there, in front of the familiar gigantic doors once more.

He looked at these doors and thought of all he had gone through to get here, and he realized the contrast between now and then. He came here initially as the weakest Hunter in Korea, and even possibly the world, and now he has returned as the most powerful Hunter in the world.

As he stepped forward, a notification popped up.

|The door to the Carthenon Temple is currently locked.|

|Please use the key provided.|

He brought out the black key from his inventory, the slotted it into the keyhole on the door, and pushed it open. He stepped into it with a resolute expression, and another notification popped up.

|The holder of the key has entered.|

As it popped up, the doors slammed shut behind him, but he paid it no mind as he spread his senses around the entire room. "Now that I'm here again, I can feel it clearly. These statues. They aren't demons or even living beings." He said, then looked at the largest one seated on a stone throne at the end of the room.

"Even you, who's meant to be a god, are nothing more than a puppet. And at the end of the day, a puppet can only move with a puppeteer. Isn't that right, Architect? Or should I call you something more familiar, Kandiaru?" He said, as he stopped in front of a stone statue that had wings reminiscent of an angel's, had a hood over its head, and was holding a tablet in its hands.

"So you've come at last." The statuesque being spoke, with a pair of glowing eyes, and a wide grin on its face. "Yeah. And this time, things are gonna be different." Sung Jin-Woo said, looking him in the face.

Chapter End.

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Word Count: 2,771