Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 261 : Dark Star (1)

Dark Star (1)

The form of the dark star was castle-like in its upper part, but its lower portion was conical.

In other words, it was like a single, gigantic stake.

If such a massive object were to fall to the ground, everything below it would undoubtedly be swept away.

"I-It's falling!!"

The hunters dispatched to the scene put as much distance between themselves and the dark star as possible.

The one fortunate thing was that the people nearby had already been evacuated.

'They said everyone was evacuated due to a simple dungeon or gate manifestation.'

So as to minimize public confusion as much as possible.

But that didn't mean the severity of the situation had changed much.

Just looking at the Internet, news from all over the world was being posted simultaneously.

"...... It's not falling?"

"But it is slowly descending."

What everyone thought would crash straight down to the ground with a bang was, fortunately, slowly descending toward the earth.

At this rate, the waiting hunters would have enough time to escape.

Of course, whether that was really fortunate was unclear......

"But doesn't something seem strange?"

One of the hunters spoke up, wondering about the present situation.

"Strange how?"

"The Internet, I mean."

Thinking what was so strange about the Internet, he looked over, and the hunter wore an expression of complete incomprehension.

"I thought this kind of situation could cause some trouble with the Internet."

"......!"

Now that he thought about it, it made sense.

The Internet might not get cut off immediately, but at least with the sudden surge of people trying to check the current events, there was a high likelihood of system overload.

But it didn't feel like that.

If anything, everything seemed much faster than before......

Ring ring!!

At that moment, everyone's cell phones started to ring simultaneously.

And it wasn't only the hunters on the street.

Everyone hiding in shelters, everyone waiting at home—their cell phones.

Or any kind of video device they had, all at once, received the same broadcast.

It was a broadcast delivering real-time updates on the situation.

***

"They're all connected."

At Alencia's words, I nodded.

Now, we needed to act independently from the hunters of the association.

"Things will get underway soon."

Gates and dungeons would begin appearing rapidly, influenced by the sharply increasing magic power.

So far, monsters hadn't emerged from dungeons or had remained in specific places because there wasn't enough ambient magic power.

But now that problem was resolved, they would no doubt run rampant as if this world were their own.

This world would gradually become like their homeland.

"As I said, the heart of this operation is Alencia and Shin Ah-yeon."

Since I had explained this several times already, everyone nodded in understanding.

Of course, this work was not to be carried out by Unique's members alone.

For one, Ardan was here, and other S-rank hunters would also be chasing Jin Su-hyuk with all their might.

"We probably won't be able to meet properly again until things are resolved, so I'll say it now."

Space trembled as spread magic began to resonate.

Signs of a gate forming.

And then, the tremor of a dungeon's creation began to shake the entire area.

"Everyone, don't get hurt."

Ah-yeon, Yeon-ji, Soo-ah, and Alencia.

They were all precious members of Unique.

As I looked at them, everyone nodded.

Some looked determined, others a bit embarrassed.

'I said the same thing when we fought the Demon King.'

I stood up and calmly walked outside.

Back then, we had nothing to lose.

All we had were things we needed to get back.

But now, it was different.

There was so much to protect.

Because of that, this could be an even harder fight than before.

"I may not remember, but I was probably by your side back then too, right?"

Just as I reached the company's front entrance, Ah-yeon said that.

Like when I thought of the battle with the Demon King, Ah-yeon seemed to have similar thoughts.

"Of course."

"Then that's fine."

Grasping the staff made from the branch of the World Tree, Ah-yeon stood by my side.

As the magic in the area reached its peak, that resonance grew all the stronger.

And when it hit its zenith—

Ah-yeon's expression changed.

A look of bewilderment.

And I felt the same.

'This is......'

It was expected that magic power or demonic energy would erode the world.

It was also expected that dungeons or gates would be generated.

Divine art.

The power that had filled the dark star and the heart began to flow out.

'Did something go wrong?'

No, that wasn't it.

I saw a world with countless currents moving.

Within the mingled world of demonic energy and magic power, a golden thread of light softly spread.

It was divine art, and yet it was somehow different from before.

"This is strange, isn't it?"

Ah-yeon seemed to be seeing it too.

This bizarre flow.

No, perhaps she was feeling it even more clearly than I was.

The divine art now manifesting wasn't coming from the "Demon God's Heart."

Golden threads spread across the entire country, converging on a single point.

'The awakeners created by Jin Su-hyuk.'

They were the people who'd become awakened for a limited time using divine art.

Now, those powers were being drawn together, one by one, into a single place.

As if returning to their rightful master.

'The Goddess of Wishes.'

This divine art resembled Estella's power, but it was not Estella.

Instead, it was a new power, created by fanning the embers not to let the flames left by her be extinguished.

Benadic once said:

'By the will of the bracelet, I came over to this world.'

That much, Estella's lingering feelings remained fiercely within the divine art.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

Ah-yeon gripped the staff made from the World Tree branch tightly, gazing at the point where the golden threads converged. She looked like she had a lot to say but didn't put it into words for me.

Surely, Ah-yeon must have realized—

Who it was that was gathering divine art into a single place now.

And, who the 'Demon God' was.

***

The sluggishly moving castle finally descended to the earth.

The black cone pierced the ground, transforming all around it as its center.

This did not simply affect the 'Seoul area.'

The dark star's power began to burrow deeper into the earth by the moment, spreading its influence globally.

"The sky......"

Someone spoke.

The sky that had been clear moments before was turning black.

It was a sudden change.

It had been an ordinary day.

Even when the dark star appeared, that hadn't changed, and everyone thought tomorrow would come as usual, just as always.

But now, everyone in the world realized—

Something was different.

It felt like a sign of the world's end.

Calm and silence.

Amidst the anxiety, as if fallen to the eye of a typhoon, many people hid themselves and struggled to learn about the current situation.

Some searched the news, others watched live video updates.

And among them, there was one thing that caught everyone's eye.

A message abruptly delivered to everyone.

It was a link to a broadcast from Alencia—one of the most influential people in the world right now.

"Monsters are starting to gather around where the dark star landed. All the nearby hunters have escaped, and chances are high that Jin Su-hyuk is there."

Alencia relayed this message and checked the number of people connecting to the link.

'A million, right now.'

A staggering number.

But thinking that this link was connected globally, it wasn't actually that many.

'At the very brink of crisis, not many want to watch something like this.'

Yet they needed to see.

They had to, for Ah-yeon's magic to be activated.

'Golden threads.'

Yes, Alencia could see them too.

She was a Saintess, after all.

This wasn't mere divine art.

It was Authority.

Someone, not Ah-yeon, was using the Authority of Wishes.

'And furthermore......'

At that moment, different reactions started appearing all over the world.

Most of them were at a level that the different countries could handle, but the strongest of all were converging on Korea.

Of course.

Since the 'dark star' was in Korea now.

So most S-rank hunters from other countries—apart from a minimum number—were also dispatched to Korea.

'There are two powerful forces approaching here.'

Even on a global scale, these were exceedingly strong.

One of them, Alencia was especially familiar with.

He closely resembled 'Cade,' who had once fought her.

'No, it's not just that.'

Even aside from Cade, it was familiar.

This power was definitely......

"Ryan Knox."

As if reading Alencia's thoughts, Soo-ah spoke up.

"Huh?"

"Ryan Knox is coming."

Alencia—less sensitive to magical readings—didn't fully sense it, but Soo-ah was certain.

Blessed by mana.

Just like people said, Soo-ah's eyes began to see the same 'color' that she had seen with Ryan Knox.

"W-Wait, unni. Ryan Knox is......."

"Ryan Knox should be in the United States."

It was Eugene Garland, who was also on standby at Unique, who responded to Alencia's words.

Even excluding Alencia and Soo-ah, Unique still had five more S-rank hunters.

"When you consider he came here without even telling us...... there can be only one reason."

"No way. All the way up to Odyssey, there was never any sign of that from Ryan Knox."

"There really wasn't."

Eugene agreed.

Certainly, when they helped stop the Grand Canyon incident, Ryan Knox had had nothing to do with the demons.

"But it seems that's no longer the case."

Soo-ah gripped her sword.

If both struck here at once, it might be impossible to properly protect Damian.

'One is a demon, the other is Ryan Knox with Cade's power.'

Now they understood why Cade had disappeared so leisurely at the very end.

This time, instead of Owen McGregor, they meant to use Ryan Knox as a successor.

'Or rather, maybe not just as a successor.'

Cade had definitely died in the demonic zone.

The one coming here now was a "monster" who had absorbed the demon's heart.

To be precise, it was similar to what happened with Ji Yeon-hwa.

The difference was that Ryan Knox had not just absorbed a heart but had become something entirely new through divine art.

In the past, he might have been called the 'Demon God', but now that had passed to the 'real one.'

"I'll take care of Ryan Knox."

"By yourself?"

At Alencia's question—could she do it alone—Soo-ah nodded.

Of the two presences, Ryan Knox's was stronger.

"...... But the problem is, it's not just Ryan Knox."

Those two weren't everything.

It was best to conserve Alencia's strength as much as possible.

More than that, if anything were to happen to Alencia, everything would fall apart.

Without her, Ah-yeon couldn't use her magic.

'None of Grand Nova's S-rank hunters have made a move.'

Most of them were weaker than Ryan Knox.

But one.

There was only one more to be as wary of as Ryan Knox.

Kang Min-gi.

The strongest hunter in Korea, known as the Martial God.

And Jin Su-hyuk's right hand man.

Now that the incident was in full swing, he who had been silent till now would begin to move.

With no way to know where he would go, Soo-ah would have to face Ryan Knox alone.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

I was wrong in my guess.

Apparently it was Ryan Knox who succeeded Cade's demon heart.

Now that I think about it, it's fitting, he's Owen McGregor's right-hand man.

21 chapters left.

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