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Chapter 151: The Ruler of Incheon

“There they come!” some Hunters on watch shouted.

The Hunters who had left last night to search for survivors were returning.

“There are survivors with them, too!”

Countless people were following them in rows.

From the city reduced to ashes by the cataclysm, people were coming back after rescuing others that were hiding there.

“Goongje!”

“We’ve returned!”

It was Jeong In-Chang and the princess alongside the Hunters of the League Guild and the Association. They looked exhausted, and there were clear traces of battle on them, but their expressions looked cheerful.

As if they were proud to have rescued the survivors.

“I think there are at least ten thousand people there?”

“I guess there is a reason you’re late.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong and Yeo Seong-Gu smiled as they talked to the returning party.

Jeong In-Chang recognized Lee Jun-Kyeong and waved his hand to greet him. The survivors came in one by one, but soon, Yeo Seong-Gu’s expression hardened.

“We’ll become full in no time.”

Although Inha University was a large campus, it was nowhere enough to accommodate all of the residents of Incheon.

It wouldn’t be enough.

The Hunters searched every day, and they would be welcomed back as they rescued survivors.

However, the survivors…

It was becoming increasingly difficult to accommodate them.

Moreover, the same went for their food.

The food that returned with the search party from within the city of ashes was finite, and they weren’t sure when it would run out.

“Still.” Lee Jun-Kyeong looked over at Yeo Seong-Gu as he said, “We’ve finished up handling the surroundings, and as there are also more Hunters joining us, we can still expand further.”

The land that had been taken away from them by the cataclysm they were also getting underway of claiming it back.

They would clean up the monsters around them and repair the buildings that were still standing.

The survivors were divided into zones, and as they kept taking care of the monsters, the longer they would be able to hold out.

“I’m back!”

Lee Jun-Kyeong smiled at Jeong In-Chang, who had entered Inha University and shouted out once again.

***

The Hunters gathered in an undergraduate office at Inha University.

There was the person who was in charge of the Incheon branch of the League Guild, and the person who was in charge of the Incheon branch of the Association. In addition, even Lee Jun-Kyeong, Yeo Seong-Gu, Jeong In-Chang, and the other Hunters with leadership positions within the Guild, along with other related members, were there.

The undergraduate office was full.

"The situation outside...”

The reason they had gathered was that every time someone would go on a search, they would gather information from the Hunters, who had come back and collect it all.

Incheon was a place where their communication abilities were intermittent, and a veil was cast over like a divide.

For them, the sooner they gathered the information, the better.

"It\'s serious."

Jeong In-Chang was leading the meeting.

The Hunters already respected him after he volunteered to go on a search party without taking a break.

“The number of monsters has decreased considerably, but…”

Jeong In-Chang continued, displaying the photos he had taken with a cell phone camera on a screen.

“The remaining monsters are gathering in one place.”

Looking at the picture that appeared on the screen, it was enough to frighten the Hunters.

"Oh, my God..."

"Is that...?"

Hundreds, thousands—no, tens of thousands of monsters were gathering in one place.

Moreover, it was hard for them to find traces of a city anymore.

Lush forests and trees were grasping the collapsed and burning buildings, wrapping the cement in their roots.

It was unbelievable to think that this was something that had occurred in just a few days.

The Hunters sat quietly, shocked into silence.

“However, fortunately, the monsters are moving in the direction of City Hall, so more people than I thought had survived.”

“...”

Lee Jun-Kyeong was thinking as he listened to Jeong In-Chang’s report.

The ruler of Incheon.

The being that they would have to deal with.

‘It’s at City Hall.’

Its location was evidenced from the monsters gathering on that spot.

Being a ruler was an unusual and special existence.

A boss monster from a collapsed gate would no longer have the ability to lead any monsters.

However, the existence of a ruler meant that these monsters, even the many boss monsters that were born from the collapse of many gates, could be led by something.

Only by knocking it down would the monsters scatter.

It was easier to deal with unorganized monsters than with monsters that had congregated into groups. Moreover, as long as another ruler wasn’t born until the end of the cataclysm, the monsters wouldn’t be able to survive any longer and die.

Or at least, that was what happened in history.

Jeong In-Chang’s report had ended, and next, it was Yeo Seong-Gu’s turn.

“We’ve successfully made contact with the outside world.”

Yeo Seong-Gu was the unspoken leader of this survival base. It was only natural for them to follow him, who had made plans and prepared for many things.

However, most of them didn’t know about the existence of Asgard, or even Yeo Seong-Gu’s true identity.

Thus, the existence of the Bifrost and many other things were secret.

“We succeeded in communicating with the outside world using a method that we had prepared in advance…and we were able to hear the circumstances outside,” Yeo Seong-Gu said in a heavy voice. “Fortunately, not all of Korea is like this.”

“Whew.”

"That\'s a relief."

Many Hunters were relieved by this.

They were happy to hear that things were okay outside, even if their own situation was poor.

“However, that just means that it’s not all like this. In fact, there are still many places that seem to be in a similar situation to Incheon. The areas that are still okay have Hunters who are evacuating people…”

What he had just said was something that was obvious.

“And they are trying to see if they can rescue the isolated areas.”

They continued to feel relieved. However, there was something that he didn’t say: what Lee Jun-Kyeong had told him.

‘Whether it happens early or late, all of Korea, no, the entire world, will end up like this.’

Evacuating the survivors was the right choice, and it was something that had to be done. However, it would still take a long time before they could rescue the isolated areas.

Still, there was no need to erase their hope.

“Furthermore, I also contacted several locations overseas.”

Yeo Seong-Gu had used the power of the Bifrost, which had slightly recharged, not to move, but to reach out to his contacts.

“Most of the foreign countries have situations that are worse than it is here.”

“...”

“However, nothing has been decided for certain yet. The power of humanity that we’ve built up so far isn’t weak.”

Yeo Seong-Gu had highlighted the main subject.

"Thus, we move."

***

The purpose and direction of Lee Jun-Kyeong’s party had been decided.

They would retake Incheon and advance to Seoul.

As Lee Jun-Kyeong’s body was recovering, he quickly moved with the Hunters of Inha University.

“Kya!! You’re so good at saving people?”

“Did you say that you were Siegfried?”

“No! What sort of ogre is…”

Jeong In-Chang had been searching around Incheon every day without a single day of rest in order to rescue more survivors.

It had been a while since Inha University had filled up, and they had started to use the surrounding buildings to build the survival zone. Moreover, they were beginning to widen their zone as well.

Jeong In-Chang was also working on a special mission.

“Although I’ve never seen the being that we call the ruler… I can feel a powerful force near City Hall. I’ll work on getting information about that bastard as soon as possible.”

It was the enemy that they would have to deal with, sooner or later. Thus, his duty was to get information about the ruler of Incheon.

Lee Jun-Kyeong gathered the information that he had brought him.

He combined that with what he had in the Book of the Demon King and what was written in history. However, there was no mention of what type of ruler it was anywhere.

All he knew was that after a struggle with the ruler, eventually, humanity won, and some people were able to survive the delayed cataclysm.

Then, at some point, humanity succeeded.

That was all the information that Lee Jun-Kyeong had.

As he had said before, the book of the Demon King wasn’t an encyclopedia. Instead, all it contained was the life experiences of the Demon King, an autobiography of his life.

Therefore, although there were some rare pieces of information that others didn’t know, there wasn’t anything written about things that the Demon King hadn’t known.

They would just have to figure it out themselves.

‘With my strength, combined with them…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong worked hard to acquire information and also recover his strength in order to deal with the ruler.

‘I have to do this.’

The only person who could topple the ruler was himself. The others could never handle something like that.

Even if they were able to, they wouldn’t be able to get rid of them as surely as he could.

Lee Jun-Kyeong looked out the window again.

It was a shifting world.

[<The Sky of the Apocalypse> looks down on you.]

He desperately needed the aid of this bastard.

“Then, for now, Hunter Jeong In-Chang, no, Siegfried…”

Jeong In-Chang’s reputation, which hadn’t yet been widely known, was skyrocketing. Yeo Seong-Gu had even deliberately started the meeting by stating his title to the participants.

“He will rescue the survivors and obtain information regarding the ruler. The others will be in charge of food procurement, dealing with the monsters, and locating where the veil starts.”

The meeting then concluded with a clear and concise arrangement of duties by Yeo Seong-Gu.

“Whew…”

Yeo Seong-Gu’s long and heavy sigh.

It seemed to imply a long fight to come.

***

A few more days passed, and Inha University and the surrounding areas had all been restored.

No more monsters were to be found, and people had already started restoring the ruined city.

Although their actions were quick, considering the fact that less than ten percent of Incheon’s total population had survived, it was terrible.

The rest of the residents had either died or were trapped somewhere, waiting to be rescued.

They would be having a horrifying experience, marred by despair.

However, there was something that gave them hope as well.

Something had started happening.

“I’m a Hunter now too!”

“Me too!”

Ordinary people had begun to awaken as Hunters, one by one.

The only way to become a Hunter had been to prove oneself by risking one’s life by entering a gate filled with mana.

However, only a few people would risk their lives for the sake of becoming a Hunter. Even if those people entered a gate, that didn’t mean they would necessarily all become Hunters.

But, things were different now.

‘Incheon, the entire world. It’s all undergoing gateization.’

Mana was filling up everywhere, and thus, the eyes of the Sponsors began to reach all over.

As the Sponsors who had yet to find any Incarnations came into contact with those they approved of, they began to choose their Incarnations, one by one.

Those who used their weapons to protect their families.

Those who were full of rage, wanting to destroy everything.

Those who had been consumed by grief and despair.

The Sponsors began to choose their Incarnations according to their individual tastes, leading to the birth of Hunters.

“Those who have just become Hunters, if you want to participate, you’ll have to get training from us temporarily!”

These people had just become Hunters.

Although they were supposed to have an Association to manage them, all they had at hand to handle them were the remaining members of the Association, along with a couple of League Guild members.

Those who had become Hunters needed education, especially in this desperate situation.

‘Or, they might not use their powers in the proper direction.’

There were even some people that were calling for destruction and rage. If things weren’t managed, then they could end up directing their strength to a group that was completely innocent.

Education was a necessity, and many things were taking place under Yeo Seong-Gu.

And, now.

“Are you ready?” Lee Jun-Kyeong said to Yeo Seong-Gu.

"Yes."

Tension hung over his nodding face.

“Let’s leave in an hour.”

Today, Lee Jun-Kyeong and his group would be leaving Inha University.

The survivors of Inha Unversity had already established a system, and as long as their work went well, they, too, would soon be able to join with the others.

Those who had just become Hunters were still weak, and the Hunters of the League Guild and the Association all unquestionably listened to Yeo Seong-Gu.

They would find stability and a system here.

Thus, the party was ready to leave.

“Whew…” Yeo Seong-Gu sighed.

Moreover, there was another reason why they were ready to leave.

“To think there is a Human-like monster…”

It was that just yesterday, Jeong In-Chang had successfully scouted out the ruler after numerous rounds of reconnaissance.

Jeong In-Chang, wanting to save even more people after rescuing quite a few people already, headed to City Hall and saw it there.

It was a little bigger than a human, but still had a human-like appearance.

However, it had some differences as compared with humans, like pointed ears. It led the gathering of monsters.

‘It was like it was building a kingdom…’

According to Jeong In-Chang, it looked as though it was building a kingdom.

He said that it had its minions pushing away broken buildings, using the forest and trees to build something similar to a structure.

Yeo Seong-Gu seemed to be deeply troubled by the new type of monster.

“How strong is it? What do you think?”

The only person that Yeo Seong-Gu could ask was Lee Jun-Kyeong. Lee Jun-Kyeong tapped at his temple as if he was trying to remember.

“Odin…?” he said cautiously.

He continued as he saw Yeo Seong-Gu’s wide-eyed expression.

“But not yet.”

“What?”

“As time goes by, it will become stronger. However, it’s still in the early stages of the cataclysm. So, I don’t think it’s reached that stage yet.”

"That\'s a relief,” Yeo Seong-Gu said, his expression relaxing as if he was relieved.

‘It’s just that it’s not at that level yet…’

Lee Jun-Kyeong’s expression remained firm.

It wasn’t as strong as Odin, but it was still at a level that would be hard for him, Jeong In-Chang, and Yeo Seong-Gu to deal with together.

Lee Jun-Kyeong had already clashed with Odin, who had been wearing a black robe, and already knew how easy Odin had been on him.

Moreover.

‘Why did he let me live?’

That fight had also raised questions.

However, questions were a luxury at this point.

Lee Jun-Kyeong got up.

"Let\'s go."

The time had come to hunt down the ruler.