CH : 202 Jeju Island Raid (V)

Witnessing all this the Ant monster glanced at her with curious eyes as he was sure she shouldn't be standing up as her body was broken beyond repair yet she was standing here.

Boom…

With a single movement the Ant monster threw Baek Yun-Ho and now was standing in front of

Cha Hae-In was ready to devour her as he wanted the thing that gave her enough strength to stand up with a broken body.

Just as his head moved suddenly cold spread all over the surrounding area as next

'What…. Who is this?'

'Isn't this….??'

Everyone felt a chill and all of them had felt this chill before. Besides the camera man and the Ant monster

It was then.

From the cold air, a familiar melody voice came out.

– "Hey, didn't your ant mama teach you it's not cool to hit women?"."

—--------

One year before the Korea-Japan united raid team came knocking on the island….

The ant queen began thinking.

– 'We must leave this island.'

Other lifeforms that should've served as their food source had all disappeared from the island, and the incidents of its children devouring each other occurred frequently now. There was no source of food on this island to sustain the citizens of the queendom now that its population had swelled up to several thousand strong.

– 'This can not continue.'

Abandon the existing nation and seek out a fertile land overflowing with other lifeforms to establish a new one – if the domination of the island was the queen's first task, then this problem would be its second one.

However, the queen remembered. It remembered all the powerful invaders that stepped on the island several times before.

The queen's forces managed to repel them, but the nation had to suffer great losses as well. Far too many of the queen's children had to be sacrificed. Would its children be able to defeat those beings if they went to another land?

– 'Need stronger soldiers.'

– 'Need a General a King'

It needed a single most powerful soldier to lead the citizens of the nation. And so, the queen decided upon the direction of their evolution.

Half a year later.

By gathering the magic power it already possessed, as well as all the nutrients it had amply absorbed before, the queen gave birth to a brand new life. It was the greatest combat weapon imaginable, born solely for the sake of dealing with the strong humans.

The queen's determination to create the most powerful soldier there was, combined with the original order of killing all humans it heard in its head, created a horrifying monster that simply exceeded all common sense.

The monster was born with the skill, 'Gluttony'.

By consuming its opponents, the lifeforms around him, this new monster could turn their magic energy as well as a portion of their knowledge and skills into its own.

– 'I want to become stronger.'

The monster realised what its powers were early on and began devouring its own kin, but the queen left it alone. What this monster wanted was the same as the queen's desire, after all.

The queen was greatly happy as 'he' grew stronger and stronger day by day.

It was happy because 'he' had already exceeded the power of 'his' mother now. And without encountering a single hitch, the army 'he' would lead was getting closer to completion as well. That was why.

– 'Just a little more time….'

In the midst of that….

The human invaders entered this land once more. Their numbers were lower this time, but they were far stronger than before. However, the queen laughed at them.

In preparation of the ants waging war against humanity in another land, this should serve as a great opportunity to test out the powers of 'him'.

The queen, as usual, sent out all of the soldiers guarding its castle along with 'him'.

Just as the queen desired, 'he' went out and completed the first mission 'he' was given. But when 'he' returned, the queen was already dead.

'He' was enraged.

And thankfully, there were enough strong humans left on this island that would serve as the outlet for 'his' rage.

First of all, the king of the humans was killed. And then, it systematically annihilated all the subordinates next to the dead king. One of the subordinates cried out before he got killed off.

He asked just what the hell 'he' was.

After devouring humans through the skill 'Gluttony', 'he' now possessed the ability to reason. 'He' then began thinking to himself.

'What… am I?'

Up until that point, 'he' was a soldier of the queen.

But now, with the queen's death at the hands of the humans, what should 'he' call itself now?

A sole existence that must lead the remaining soldiers of the queendom. 'He' only knew one word to denote such an existence.

'….King.'

'He' had killed off the enemy king already, so 'he' had definitely satisfied the requirement to become one now.

Grab.

The ant king is about to bite onto the head of the few remaining humans. But, then….

– "Hey, didn't your ant mama teach you it's not cool to hit women?"."

A playful melody voice could be heard and

Suddenly, the ant king's head swivelled in the direction the voice came from. There was an enormous cold aura rushing out like a fierce storm from where the voice was.

That level of power couldn't have come from a common foot soldier.

'…..A king?'

Immediately sensing that an enemy that could threaten itself had appeared, the ant king slowly rose up and waited for the owner of the voice to reveal itself.

***

Just what kind of a calamity was this?

The TV station's situation room used to be enveloped in the celebratory mood, but now, everything felt sombre and dreary like a funeral.

The 'live' broadcast showing up on the viewers' TVs suddenly got cut off with the entrance of a strange, winged ant monster. Understandably, they began flooding the station with phone calls of angry complaints and urgent inquiries.

Ringgg…!

Ringgg….!!

One of the employees walked over to the station's director and cautiously made his report.

"Sir, our communication network is about to collapse from all the calls made by the irate viewers."

The station's director raised his head.

"So what? Are you suggesting that we should broadcast live the scenes of our Hunters getting ripped to shreds by a single ant monster??"

"N-no, sir."

The broadcast got cut off just as the Hunters were getting one-sidedly beaten up by that mysterious ant monster. It was understandable that the curiosity of the viewers would skyrocket.

However, that didn't mean they could broadcast the scenes of Hunter Mah Dong-Wook getting tortured, nor the moment that Hunter Min Byung-Gu got devoured.

The director buried his face in his hands and let out a helpless moan.

"It's over…. It's all over."

The once-in-a-lifetime gamble where the fate of his station rode on, was now going down the drain because of one d*mn ant monster.

"It's over….."

Heavy, grim silence filled up the situation room. No one person was brave or dumb enough to open their mouths now. Except for one, that was.

"Huh??"

The producer staring at the real-time feed with an ashen complexion suddenly opened his mouth.

"D-Director!!"

"….What now?"

"Someone just walked into the Ant tunnel out of nowhere!"

The director didn't bother to raise his head up and grimly replied.

"Unless it's Jesus or God himself, don't report to me every little thing that happens over there. Got that?"

"However…!!"

"….It's all over."

Realising that talking wouldn't get him anywhere, the producer increased the previously-lowered volume up way higher.

Kiieeehck-!!

Kiieehck!!

The situation room was immediately filled up with the screams of the ant monsters.

The director quickly raised his head up out of sheer shock. It wasn't just him, either. Everyone present within the situation room all rushed to the live feed monitor. And soon, sounds of "Oh, oh!" came out amongst those watching the screen.

"…"

The director sitting there in a daze finally managed to lift his butt off the chair. When he came in closer, the employees stepped aside to let him through.

The screen of the live-feed monitor was reflected in the director's eyes.

"Oh, dear lord….. Jesus holy Christ."

The director suddenly began calling out to Jesus, which he didn't even believe in, to begin with, and hurriedly shouted out to the rest of the employees.

"What the hell are you all doing here? Why aren't getting ready to start broadcasting this?! Are you going to take responsibility if we lose out on the current audience rating?!"

The producer hurriedly tried to dissuade his director who didn't even bother to hide his boiling excitement.

"But, sir! If we start broadcasting again, we'll be showing the live feed, instead! There won't be any delay in the transmission, and everything will be shown in real time, sir! We won't be able to do anything if another emergency situation breaks out!"

The delayed transmission time of ten minutes between the feed and the broadcast had run out by now. Which left the director with the decision of going with either the real-time feed, or end the broadcast altogether right here.

"….It's all or nothing."

"Pardon me?"

"We've already stopped broadcasting midway, anyway. Things won't get any worse than it already has."

"Well…. I, I guess so…?"

A Hunter's sudden appearance was caught on camera. No one could tell whether it was a Korean or a Japanese person. Heck, it was unknown if it was a Hunter at all, but with its appearance, the director's gamble that seemed to be over for good suddenly gained one last shot at glory.

The director issued a new order with a determined expression firmly etched on his face.

"Switch it on. Switch it on, now."

He then pulled a chair closer to the producer and settled down there.

"Our station's fate rides on that man, you got that?"

***

"Euhhhk!"

Even though he was being pushed into the figurative cliff, the cameraman didn't regret anything. Anyone would've dreamed at least once of doing something like this when they were young.

…To become a hero.

If that was impossible, then at least, to become a support to the true hero.

During the time he did menial jobs for the TV station and earned his experience that way, he never imagined that he'd be blessed with an opportunity to do so in his lifetime.

But then, he Awakened into a rank A Hunter, and by earning experience fitting for his rank, he was able to get to this point in his life. Thanks to that, he got to clearly capture the scene of Hunters proudly representing South Korea successfully raid the boss of a rank S Gate.

'I'm the one who caught that on film. Yes, me.'

And with the footage he captured, many people would come to know the valiant sacrifices these rank S Hunters made for the purpose of the extermination of the ant monsters. That was more than enough for him.

He felt like all of his efforts spent in studying filming techniques and working as a Hunter was finally being paid off here. But, if there was one thing he was a bit regretful about, then that would be….

'Dad…'

His father, who looked after the cameraman all alone after they lost his mother to cancer. Thinking that he'd not get to see his father again, he felt a deep pain in his heart.

Kwajeeck!!

His shoulder was bitten, yet he couldn't feel a thing. His arm had stopped moving a long time ago.

He was originally a Tanker, so he was able to endure somehow, but this really was his limit.

Plop.

He knelt down on the ground. Even then, his head was filled with the thoughts of his father.

'Why did my last conversation with dad have to be me asking him if he had his breakfast?!'

If he knew this would happen, he might have talked for a lot longer.

'On that day, when dad came for a visit to Seoul, I should've cleared up all of my schedule….'

However, time was a ruthless, unrelenting b*stard and regret always arrived one step too late.

The cameraman raised his head. The horrifying fangs of the ant monster were nearing his head.

He no longer had any magic energy left to activate the 'Fortification' skill, so he wouldn't be able to defend against the monster's attacks now.

Tears formed on the edges of his eyes.

'Dad, I'm sorry.'

It was then.

Kwajeeck!!

Accompanying the noise of the outer shell being crushed, the bodily fluid of an ant got splashed on the cameraman's face.

"….Huh?!"

An ice blade emitting cold energy, silvery gleam had cleanly stabbed through the ant's head.

The cameraman raised his head and followed the blade, only to find another 'ant' with a long Ice spear 'plumage' stuck to the top of its head standing there.

"Just what on earth is…..?!"

***

Esdeath calmly scanned her surroundings.

'.....'

An ominous, creepy air blew in from the other side of the cave.

'.....?'

Esdeath shifted her gaze over to where that eerie aura was coming from. There was this one individual among the masses of ants. It looked similar to the others, but it was a completely different type of monster compared to the others.

'Ah, so that's the one.'

Esdeath instantly recognised the 'ant king'. And likewise, the ant king recognised Esdeath as well.

Taking its time, the ant king slowly walked over to her.

"A human… you seem to possess a pretty strong aura."

It even imitated Goto Ryuji's speech pattern.

Hunters immediately recalled the nightmare of a few moments ago and flinched grandly as soon as spotting that ant monster. On the other hand, Esdeath showed no outward ripples and simply stared at the creature without saying a word.

Eventually, the ant king stood before Esdeath.

"Are you the king of humans?"

"Huh, would you look at that—a talking insect? Now I've seen everything," remarked Esdeath, her tone laced with playfulness and amusement. "Now let me ask you something: Are you the King?"

When Esdeath replied with a less than impressed expression on her face, the ant king's own expression crumpled unsightly.

"I am the King"

"Any one who must say 'I am the king' is no true king."

Hearing Esdeath's answer and looking at the smirk on her face The Ant king had enough.

The power the queen bestowed it with, and the power it gathered through the 'Gluttony' skill – the moment the ant king unleashed all of its magic energy, its body suddenly ballooned up greatly in size. Its height, which used to be around the same as Esdeath's, grew by at least 1.5 times taller.

The ant king then screeched out loudly right in front of Jin-Woo's nose.

Kiiiiiieeeeeehhhhhk-!!!

Esdeath didn't even blink once, and instead, a smirk formed on her lips.

"Was that supposed to impress me? You're quite the insect if you think that's worth showing off," Esdeath retorted, her tone tinged with disappointment.

And then, she himself unleashed her own cold energy.

****

"All communications with Goto and his team have been cut off?!"

The Association President Matsumoto Shigeo's complexion became ashen. The Association employee next to him presented a receiver and asked politely.

"Would you like to hear the last communication, sir?"

Matsumoto Shigeo snatched the receiver away from the employee's hand and put it on his head, before nodding once.

Soon, the recorded sound clip began playing.

– "An ant…. You seem to possess a pretty strong aura."

– "You are… the king?"

– "That's right. I'm the king."

– "Goto-san!!!"

– "Uwaaahk?! Uwaaahk!!"

– "Keok!!"

– "Euh, euhhh…."

– "You, you!! What, what the hell are youuu?!"

Beep.

"That's where the communication ends, sir."

Matsumoto's face, as he took off the receiver, was as hard as a rock. The creepy noises and the horrible screech the monster made in between the chatter – he couldn't picture any other situation where those sounds would come out of.

'An ant monster using a human language? And Goto Ryuji was killed by that thing?!'

Such an eventuality was not within his calculations. He and his compatriots had definitely planned everything out, and made preparations for every eventuality, so why….

The ends of Matsumoto Shigeo's fingers trembled almost imperceptibly.

"….Sir?"

Only after he realised that the gazes of his employees were focused on his trembling fingertips did Matsumoto Shigeo carefully hide his hands. He quickly changed the topic.

"Where is the monster that…. No, where is the talking monster, right now?"

He couldn't bring himself to say the words 'the monster that killed Goto Ryuji'.

"It's disappeared, sir."

"What do you mean, disappeared??"

It was a creature capable of killing Goto Ryuji. So, how could the satellite equipped with the magic energy detection camera keeping a close eye on Jeju Island not pick up on such a powerful monster?

The employee seemed to have figured out what his boss was about to say, and he pointed at the monitor once more.

"That spot of light is the magic energy emitted from the monster at that moment."

The magic energy detection camera displayed the emitted magic energy as spots of lights. The bigger the spot of light appearing on the monitor, the more powerful the existence was.

Once spots of lights belonging to Goto Ryuji and the Hunters around him disappeared, the larger, brighter light vanished quickly, as well.

"Oh, my god…."

Matsumoto Shigeo spat out a shocked gasp. The unknown enemy was in perfect control of its magical energy.

'That was why…. Because it was such a monster, that….'

That was why the research team failed to notice the creature before.

It was, without a doubt, a perfect failure. And as a punishment, Japan just lost ten of its elite Hunters. Among them, the best Hunter in the country. As a result of a single oversight, it was a very, very painful price to pay. Even worse, the price most likely hadn't been fully paid yet, either.

'When that nonsensical monstrosity crosses the ocean and enters the country….'

Even though Matsumoto Shigeo tried to shake them off, the horrifying images continued to fill up his head. It was then.

"We found it! The b*stard has reappeared again!"

Matsumoto Shigeo's eyes shot open wider.

"Where is the creature?"

"It's inside the ant queen's chamber, sir."

"…."

Only the ants returning to the ant tunnel, as well as the Korean Hunters facing off against them, remained in that place. They must be fighting with everything they had, but unfortunately, their opponent this time easily exceeded everyone's imaginations.

'In the end, even the Koreans will be finished for good.'

That's what he believed, but then, Matsumoto Shigeo's brows shot up instantly.

'…..???'

There was another spot of light that suddenly appeared right next to that horrifying monster.

"W-what's the meaning of this?!"

Matsumoto Shigeo gasped out in sheer astonishment and quickly looked at his employees. One of the employees, affiliated with the research team, urgently shook his head.

"It, it's also our first time seeing this, sir."

That spot of light was as big and bright as the monster's. No, it was definitely even bigger than that.

What was even more astonishing was the fact that there were hundreds of smaller light spots swirling around that large one.

Even the head researcher of Japan's research team, who had been analysing the spy images for many years now, had never seen such a phenomenon before.

'Ah….!'

Seeing the mesmerising sight of the sea of lights repeatedly separating into tiny pieces before gathering back together, all those present couldn't help but gasp out in admiration.

However, Matsumoto Shigeo didn't have the time to leisurely stew in his emotions right now.

"The Korean team! They must be broadcasting the raid even now, aren't they??"

If the Korean team was still strutting around like that, that could also mean that the broadcast was still ongoing. Matsumoto Shigeo was beset with curiosity and wanted urgently to find out just what was going on here.

"The Korean team's broadcast!! Bring that up to the main monitor!!"

When he shouted out, the super-large screen in the middle of the Japanese mission control centre was immediately filled with the image of a certain young woman having a stare-down with an ant monster.

After seeing that woman's face, Matsumoto Shigeo nervously swallowed his saliva. The lone strand of sweat trickled down his temple and pooled on the bottom of his chin.

'That woman…. That woman is the source of that massive light spot??'

And then, the giant ant monster standing in front of that woman. That thing was at least over 1.5 times larger than regular ant monsters. They were only looking at the thing through the monitor, yet the sheer pressure emanating from that thing managed to quicken their heartbeats.

'…..'

Matsumoto Shigeo's expression hardened even further.

It was then.

The ant monster made its move.

***

The ant king's powerful fist about to slammed into Esdeath's face.

SLAM!!

In a split-second maneuver, Esdeath intercepted the incoming strike with her hand, effectively halting its advance. However, the relentless force behind the attack persisted, causing her heels to dig into the ground, threatening to give way under the immense pressure. Yet, just before her footing could falter, a cold energy enveloped them, freezing every molecule in its icy grip, locking every molecule in a state of perpetual stillness. With unwavering resolve. As she stomped down and withstood the hit.

'….!!'

The ant king had struck with all of its might behind that punch, so it couldn't help but get taken by surprise.

"You can… withstand my power?"

The ant king struck out with a simple plan to kill this puny human in one hit, but instead of sending him flying away, the whole thing simply ended with her hand completely blocking the attack and slightly digging her into the ground.

Too bad, there was no time to remain surprised, because Esdeath's own fist flew in afterwards.

Swish-!!

SLAM!!

The ant king was smacked right in the middle of its face, and it flew away to crash into the wall on the far side of the cavern.

Kaboom!

As if a meteor had collided there, the wall caved in deeply. Although it was only for a short while, the impact force was powerful enough to shake the entire ant tunnel.

"What kind of an ant talks this much?"

***

When the 'live' broadcast got suddenly cut off, and the static screen showing the message of about the station encountering 'technical difficulty' appeared on their TV screens, countless viewers were left devastated and stunned by what they saw.

"The Hunters…. What's happening to the Hunters??"

"What was up with that ant just now?!"

"What the hell! How can you cut the broadcast off right there?!"

The scenes of an ant monster suddenly appearing without warning, and then proceeding to systematically dismantle the Hunters one by one….

The viewers celebrating after the death of the ant queen felt like a bucket of cold water was poured down on them by that horrifying scene. Not too long afterwards, the static screen with the 'technical difficulty' message went away and the emcee appeared there, instead.

– "Ah…. everyone, this news just came in."

With a sorrowful voice, he relayed the death of Hunter Min Byung-Gu. And he also added that the safety of the Hunters remaining in the ant tunnel couldn't be guaranteed, either.

"God d*mn it!!"

"They got the ant queen, so why are they dying now?!"

"What about Japan?"

"Isn't it supposed to be a united team or something? Where are the d*mn Japanese?!"

Some people raged on, some people worried about their safety, while some others grieved.

The news of the Hunters risking their lives potentially meeting with a grisly fate spread out like an uncontrollable wildfire. Weirdly enough, the audience rating actually rose higher than ever before, even though the raid broadcast had been cut off for a while now.

– "Ah!!"

The emcee's expression brightened considerably after receiving an urgent message.

– "I just heard the news that an unknown Hunter has appeared on the scene right at this moment! We will immediately recommence with the broadcast right away."

Those words were more than enough to inject much-needed vitality into the fatigued eyes of the viewers staying put in front of their TV screens.

Soon, the live feed was restored, and….

"What the heck?"

"This…!!"

The viewers were greeted by the frozen walls to their TV screens, and they all shot up from their seats.

They then saw those different kinds of ice weapons waves falling upon waves of ants flooding into the ant queen's chamber. The camera moved around to take in the unfolding events, before locking onto a single young extremely beautiful woman back.

She was too far away and it was hard to see what she looked like.

– "The falling weapons are apparently the creation of that Hunter on your screen. Also, I just heard that most of the Hunters are alive and safe, as well!"

The viewers watching on with nervous tension all cried out in elation from that news. And then, they began cheering for that unidentified Hunter.

"Yes!! Go and slesh them all!!"

"You're doing great!! Push them back!!"

"Let's go!!!"

And finally….

When that unidentified Hunter lifted his hand up and an even greater number of weapons materialised completely massacring the ants….

Woooooaahhhh!!!

People punched the sky with their fists and celebrated wildly.

Those who had lost their families and friends to the ants and sought revenge shed tears as the cathartic moment played out on their screens. As if he was waiting for the perfect timing, the emcee's heightened voice came out from the speakers just in the nick of time.

– "Ah!! We finally identified the unknown Hunter!"

The eyes and ears of every single viewer out there were now turned towards their screens.

Just who was that woman?

Just what was the identity of a woman capable of rescuing rank S Hunters from a place crawling with rank S monsters?

– "She's the eleventh rank S Hunter of South Korea, Esdeath!! She's a Mage-type Hunter specialising in ice magic!!"

And so, the viewers grew even more cheerful from the fact that a Hunter possessing such an incredible ability was not a Japanese, but a Korean like them.

Countless ants were soon taken care of in no time at all.

Just as the Hunters were getting ready to escape from the ant tunnel, yet another wave of ants appeared.

"Uh?! Uhhh??"

"Isn't that…?"

The ant monster that appeared just before the broadcast got cut off the first time was now leisurely walking forward while pushing past the swarm of ants. Since there weren't that many ants with wings to begin with, and the shape of its face was different from everything else, it wasn't that hard to tell that monster apart.

The viewers were instantly thrown into confusion.

"What the hell? I thought that b*stard was already dead?!"

"Why is that thing appearing again?!"

The winged ant monster stood before Hunter Esdeath.

Those viewers who understood a bit about the compatibility of different abilities grew deeply anxious when the two stood face to face.

"Aigoo! She's going to get killed here!"

"Why would a Mage-type give up on the safety of distance like that??"

"It's not too late, so run away!"

That monster was strong enough to blow away Hunter Cha Hae-In, a melee-type Hunter, with a single blow. They thought that it was beyond obvious how things would turn out now.

It was already distressing enough to see those two glare at each other in close proximity, but then, the d*mn ant monster suddenly grew larger and larger as well.

Every viewer watching their TV screens cried out in shock.

And then…

Pow!!

Those with weaker constitutions squeezed their eyes shut at that moment. They thought that the moment the monster's punch found its target, the Hunter's head would explode.

However, contrary to their expectations, the Hunter was fine.

'Huh??'

'Mage withstood a punch strong enough to knock out the Tanker Mah Dong-Wook in one hit?!'

The eyes of the viewers grew wider and wider.

And then….

SLAM!!

The ant monster got shoved deeply into the cave wall.

"….."

"...."

Most viewers required a little bit of time to process what just transpired.

But when the camera zoomed in on the ant king half-buried in the cave wall…..

Waaaahhhh!!!

Yet another round of loud cheering exploded out.

***

"Heok!!"

The cameraman's jaw fell to the floor.

When Hunter Esdeath was struck by the ant's fist, he flinched in surprise. Even Cha Hae-In nearly lost consciousness from that hit.

But then, Hunter Esdeath blew away the ant monster, instead. The very same monster that toyed around with six rank S Hunters as if it was nothing. No wonder she'd gasp out a "Heok!"

'Were the rank S Hunters that weak?'

No, of course not.

The Korean Hunters bravely fought and managed to defeat the rank S boss, the ant queen.

So, the mutated ant monster that made an utter fool out of those Hunters was the weird one. And Hunter Esdeath, who blew away that weird mutated ant, was an even weirder one.

Gulp.

The cameraman suppressed his agitation and swallowed his dry saliva.

The reactions of other Hunters weren't all that different, either.

While everyone was staring at Esdeath with excited eyes, only Choi Jong-In began looking around in his vicinity. And he could see mountains of ant corpses. He initially thought that those were the result of the Hunters working together while he was out cold. But now, having witnessed Esdeath's power, his thoughts had changed.

'Can it… Could it be…. Miss Esdeath alone was responsible for….?'

After taking a rough count of the dead ants, Choi Jong-In's eyes began trembling non-stop.

Kiiieeehhhhk!!

A beastly screech exploding out without warning caused his head to snap back.

The ant king extricated itself out of the wall and displayed its rage. The air within the ant queen's chamber was quivering noticeably.

'Ho-oh?'

Esdeath stared at the ant king with a genuine surprise. The damage she dealt was nearly healed.

'Is it because… of the exoskeleton?'

The black, tough shell covering the entirety of that thing – whatever that thing was, it had already exceeded being a normal organic matter.

In that case, he'd use brute force to shatter that shell. The thing that could break one's armour wasn't a sword or a spear. No, it was a hammer.

Esdeath's shoulder and arm muscles expanded, thick veins bulging visibly on her jade skin. The air grew thicker and heavier as it descended all around him.

The ant king stopped screeching and shifted its horrifyingly crumpled expression towards Esdeath.

"You dare!!"

As the two of them walked closer, the distance between them shortened faster and faster. Soon, Esdeath and the ant king stood right before each other again. And then, without a hint of hesitation or mercy, they began exchanging countless attacks, each thumping hit carrying all their might.

Slam!!

Kaboom!!

BOOM!!

The Hunters watching from the sideline were all stupefied into silence.

The shock wave from the collision of magic energy whenever Esdeath and the ant king exchanged blows rocked the ant tunnel itself. It was so severe that these top-ranked Hunters, renowned for their mastery over wielding their magic energy, felt their innards tumble.

"Woo-wuoop…"

"Are you alright?"

"I, I'm fine."

The cameraman was only a rank A, but he still tried his best to suppress the contents of his stomach from rising up. He was even experiencing vertigo, too.

'Woo-wook….'

Even then – even as his complexion paled greatly, he could still maintain his smile all because….

Slam! Slam!! Slam!!!

'How can a lone Hunter do that against such a monster….?'

….Because, he saw a ray of hope.

Kwa-boooooom!!

Hunter Esdeath might be getting wounded from that exchange, but the outer shell of the ant king was definitely being broken as well.

****

Please do write some comments to get more chapters.

Give some comments and POWERSTONES💎💎💎 to this new book to show your love and support my fellow readers