Chapter 30

Fire. There was fire everywhere. Buildings are destroyed and roads have been smashed.

The smell of death is present in the air; many lives were taken.

The 'Gate Barrier' Plan failed. The gate broke open and A-Rank Monsters called Giants stormed out of it. The barrier that the famous 'Barrier Master' Yuri Orlov set up was shattered in an instant in front of dozens of giants that came out at once. This resulted in not only an S-Rank Barrier Master's death but also the people around him. Namely the Hunters Association employees and hunters that served as the first line of defense.

Many of the hunters tried to fight the grants but miserably failed. The Draw Swords Guild, who was near the gate, also fought and managed to kill a few giants before all of them suffered from minor to serious injuries, but despite the injury they suffered, none died as they made a 'strategic escape'. As for the Ryūchi Guild, they were not in the area as they only have a few high-rank hunters with them and only have 2 S-Ranks in the guild. That was the Guild leader Ryuu and the vice-leader Tomoe.

Currently, a helicopter aircraft is flying above the city in ashes. Inside the aircraft are two reporters that were tasked with recording the scene.

"This is... Terrible..." Muttered one of the men inside

The person beside who was holding a camera replied while looking at the burning buildings below "Yeah, look at the destruction they've caused... It's as if their only purpose is to destroy everything..."

He paused for a moment as he see a giant fighting a bunch of soldiers. But sadly, the soldiers below failed and some of them were picked up and eaten. "The most bizarre thing is that they actually eat humans... Normally, monsters just want to kill us. Even savage creatures like wolf monsters never eat humans... But these giants—"

But he was interrupted by the person beside him "Then let's get out of here fast! If they somehow managed to get us at this height then..."

The person paused for a moment and thought of a horrific thought that flashed across his mind. In his mind, their helicopter was grabbed by one of the giants and got swallowed whole. He shivered at this thought.

Seeing the person beside him getting terrified, the person holding the camera replied back and made him assured. "Don't worry. They don't seem to have the capability to jump because of their body mass. If they can; we would have died a long time ago..."

It was at this moment that the two of them saw an ominous figure at the gate where the giant monster came out of.

It was... A giant. No, it was the giant of all the giants. It was the biggest one present.

And it was just there... Sitting... Menacingly!

It was doing absolutely nothing and was just sitting there as if it was overlooking everything that was happening.

The two people inside the helicopter looked at the giant at the gate and made some speculations. "Why does it... Look like it's guarding the gate?"

But he was interrupted by the other person. "No, it looks like it's waiting for someone, weirdly enough..."

The two of them sighed synchronously as one thought was present in their minds. 'I just hope we get out of here... Fast.'

The person holding the camera sighed again and made a comment. "Out of the 51 giants that came out... We only eliminated about 14 of them..."

"I wonder if they can still be stopped?"

* * *

Meanwhile, above Mt. Nantai located in the Nikko National Park, a green beam of light passed by above. It was none other than Toneri heading back.

'I fucked up; I done fucked up.' He thought

He made some occasional stops while going back and while on those stops, and so, he managed to watch some news. Turns out, it had already been 2 days since the hate had opened. He was seriously confused at that time and questioned himself like:

'5 days? Hasn't it only been like 2 days since I went out?' Or 'How long have I been in that mountain...'

All in all, he fucked up big time.

And so, sparing no time, he immediately headed to Tokyo. Although he knows that it is already in flames; he still needs to go. After all, as part of the contract, he has to be present during the raid (Which he wasn't). So he will SURELY get some negativity from the Japanese Hunters Association.

So, the big question. How will he save his skin? Simple. Try to kill as many giants as possible and save many people. If he does this, surely they will overlook his incense, right? Anyways, it's a gamble.

On the way to Tokyo, he saw many vehicles going in and out of the capital. All of them were military vehicles like tanks and trucks carrying soldiers. There were also camps nearby where tents were set up where healer-type hunters are healing wounded people covered in bandages.

'Shit, I knew it...' Toneri cursed internally. He wasn't a big fan of what he's seeing right now. Dead bodies of hunters that died during the giant's attacks were placed at a different location and their families can't even go near them either because they aren't allowed to or they can't recognize their family members. It was just... Sad.

Leaving the scene, he landed on top of a tall building nearby and temporarily deactivated the Tenseigan Chakra Mode. He looked in the distance and saw the raging fire and the destruction the giants made. He activated the Tenseigan and focused a bit more and saw a creature in the distance. It was the giant guarding the gate and it was... Looking at Toneri. Directly. And it was smiling, ominously.

Seeing the smiling giant looking at him as if he is near, Toneri squinted his eyes and thought: 'If that giant is still guarding the gate, then that means Sung Jin-Woo still hasn't arrived yet...'

Toneri lowered his eyes and looked down at the former capital of Japan, Tokyo. Giants were present destroying everything in their path.

Toneri stayed silent for a moment and gathered his thoughts. After about 10 minutes of thinking, he made up his mind. 'Right... That one ability I still haven't used until now...'

It was at this moment, however, that a voice came from behind him. "A little bit late of you showing up now, huh?"

Toneri already sensed him, unlike before when they first met. It was Ryuu. He was in his armor which is colored all-black. The horns on his head were still visible, but they slowly disappearing. Meaning he just used his ability.

Toneri turned around and replied. "It was inevitable. A gate that large was surely gonna releases some nasty monsters. Even if you have another S-Rank present, what does it change? Just look at Draw Swords. Despite having more than 5 S-Ranks in their guild, they still had to retreat."

Ryuu stayed silent for a while and shrugged. "I know."

He then went near Toneri and also looked down at Tokyo. "So, what are you gonna do now?"

"What do you mean?" Toneri asked

Ryuu didn't answer immediately and said slowly. "You... Have a plan, don't you?"

Toneri didn't answer his questions and just made a slow nod. It was at this moment that something caught his attention.

In another distance, a monster with the upper body of a man and a lower body of a fish was fighting a giant. Its colors were dark and purple. It was none other than a summon of Sung Jin-Woo.

'He's here.' Toneri thought

He then looked at Ryuu again and opened his mouth. "Can you leave for a moment?"

Hearing this strange request, Ryuu looked at Toneri for a moment before nodding. He didn't say a word and just went back down the building, leaving Toneri alone on the rooftop.

Sensing that he really did leave, Toneri stayed silent for a moment and made a hand seal to which a shadow clone appeared that looked exactly like him.

The Shadow Clone looked at Toneri and nodded to which the latter also nodded.

After that, his shadow clone disappeared leaving him alone once again.

He made another hand seal consisting of: Dog, Boar, and Ram in order.

After the hand seals were done, white smoke filled Toneri's body. After a minute or so, the smoke dissipated and Toneri's appearance changed.

What replaced his appearance was a tall man with fair skin and a stern expression. His eyes are bright and sharp, amber in color with glowing yellow pupils set in the shape of diamonds. He wears red eyeliner on the lower lids of his eyes.

His attire is elegant and form-fitting, consisting of a beige dress shirt, a brown and amber waistcoat, slim black trousers, black dress boots, and black gloves with twin silver archer rings on the thumbs. A neckpiece with a white tie pinned at the throat by an amber gemstone is present. His left ear is adorned with a jeweled tassel earring. Over everything, he wears a long dark brown tailcoat with dragon scale patterns.

Toneri breathed a gasp of air and focused his eyes on the giant at the gate. 'Time to drop the meatball.'

•—•—•—•—•

A/N: Was it cringey? It was cringey wasn't it? Whatever. Just bear with me for 2 more chapters or so.