KUUUONNGGG!! CRACCKKK….

With a strong crash, a huge mountain moved up and down.

The expressions of those looking at it were filled with unbelief and fear because everyone knew that that mountain was not just an average mountain. They knew what its building blocks were like. The greatness of its composition could be expressed as follows:

'The wall is made of the most expensive material in the world.'

'A legendary luxury, made by grinding trillions of won.'

't.i.tan Dust.'

That was the raw material that they used, which was made of eight and tier-nine monster carca.s.ses.

Rumor has it that even 10 Tear monsters have been ground up in there too and if that's true, that pile would be the most expensive heap of trash in the world. Although the U.S. had the original technology that made it possible, the material was so expensive that they had to take out what had been buried in their old laboratory archives.

Two palm-sized remains of 10-tier monsters cost billions of dollars, but an entire body of such a valuable monster was all ground up in that. The Invincible palace was insane. The composition of that special wall, which was made up of hundreds of grounded nine-tiered monster bodies, had been well announced worldwide.

There were many talks of how excessive and unprecedented luxury it was but now, those who have said that have shut their mouths.

That wall, which seemed unbreakable, was shaking right now. Something beyond that wall was flexing its strength. The fear was contagious. Everyone that gathered here was seasoned hunters, there were no rookies in their ranks. All had at least 10 years of field experience… their lowest ranking member was a five-star hunter, and there were 8000 of them! That kind of great army was set up 500 meters apart from each other.

From the hunters, some of them were retired or went into hiding.

Since these super-humans age slower, age meant just numbers to them. They had varied experiences among them and were the ones who should be encouraging other hunters, but even they were in panic and spreading fear.

KUOOONNGG!!!!

Once again, a loud cras.h.i.+ng sound shook the ground, and the hunters instinctively retracted back a few steps.

"Weaklings! Are you even true hunters!? We are the front-liners! Don't Back down!" An old man with a ragged figure, sleek bald head, and scars on his rugged face, shouted out loud and clear. He was a Busan native who had a nickname 'white shark' and had the ability of a seven-star hunter. Although he retired early due to his disillusionment with the world, he was considered to be able to compete with Kwon Je if he had grown steadily.

There were also people there who weren't feeling well.

Those who once gained fame, but lost some of their bodies due to an accident, and retired, all took part in this operation, the hunters, who bore the significant household names in Korea, were all gathered as well.

KOOOWWW

"Argh!"

Some of the weak-hearted crept back.

"Don't go back!"

"Keep your ranks!"

The clan masters and officials of each Clan chanted like a maverick, however, the number of people stepping down was starting to increase one by one. Even with that huge wall, the vibrations continued. It's obvious that from the moment the wall collapses and monsters pour out, h.e.l.l will break loose. Many of the young hunters here included the senior hunters who grew up sheltered by their clans.

This was the first time for them to play a gate defense of this magnitude.

Moreover, the recent tragedy of the Dark Earth Gate was lodged in their minds.

The 9-tiered monsters are horrifying enough, but a bunch of unbelievable monsters - 10 tier 11 tier - have been spotted.

Since this was a mandatory mission, any hunters abandoning this would have all their a.s.sets confiscated and immediately get registered as villains to be pursued by the Hunter's Office. If it wasn't for such drastic consequences, most of them would be gone by now.

"d.a.m.n it, are we going to be ma.s.sacred."

"Yo, let's run."

There began to be voices of skepticism about the battle among the young hunters.

It was then...

"The Hunter's creed number one! A hunter does his best for human development and survival!" An old man shouted, the desperate tone of that voice held those who were retreating to where they were.

That one voice became two and soon, it became three until a fourth one followed their cries. It was all old people who raised their voices. They have gone through the time of the lawlessness in the era of the great fusion. Their voices caught the young hunters. The older people who have always treated them as babies and nagged at them, they awakened their spirits.

And after a while… Everyone there shouted the Hunter's Creed.

"A Hunter keeps the safety and life of civilians first!"

"A Hunter is the barrier to the front line and its last resort!

"Let's sacrifice our lives to save humanity and protect our honor!

"Remember those who abandoned a thousand lives like a candle to save a single life!"

During the Great Convergence period, the creed used to go from mouth to mouth among hunters. It was spoken almost like spells when the hunters had to jump into life-or-death situations, and then it became the hunter's credo that had to be memorized by all.

The Hunter's creed, which was learned and memorized in the first hour at the Hunter Academy was considered by the modern hunters as a relic of a dim memory. But now, as soon as the hunter's creed spat out from an old soldier's mouth, the people who backed down went back to their positions.

"d.a.m.n it…"

A young hunter, standing in his position again, touched the air-conditioner at his waist while cursing a little. He was a slumdog until a few years ago. Fortunately, he was praised as a Debaucher for his natural awakening.

The training was hard and afraid of monsters, he overcame them all and became a five-star hunter in a short time. He became the pillar of the family and the pride of his friends. He was able to collect sports cars that he wanted so much, and he even had a girlfriend who was as pretty as a celebrity and now that he was trying to make a living, this happened.

His heart cried out for immediate retreat, but he couldn't walk away.

Was it pride? No, it was his stubbornness.

"I will never die."

He felt like he didn't deserve to die yet.

"If the barrier is breached, the first line of blockage will be the responsibility of the military. All hunters should be aware of this and follow the instructions of each clan conductor. We're also trying to stop the Dark Earth Gate around the world right now." A man's voice was heard over their headsets and it was numbingly calm.

"Finally, the Master Archer is now directly infiltrating the Dark Earth to block the gate. That's all you have to do. Let's all be one and defend the Earth. We are humanity's last hope."

Those words set everyone's hearts aflame. If they couldn't stop them here, then the earth would be in h.e.l.l.

The lawless age of mankind, which was only taught in textbooks, would be brought back.

KUKUKUKUKUNGG!!

Once again the wall blocking the gate shook violently. This had brought fear to everyone here, but the hunters have strengthened their spirits.

#2

"Hmm…" Ruler's eyes widened, this was a series of events that he had not expected. The energy gushed from the dungeons of the ancient people erased those creatures in a moment.

"Were they still alive?"

It was an unexpected blow. Ruler remembered the dungeons of the ancient people. The dungeon continued to defend themselves from the infiltration by his followers but stopped working at some point and then came back to life. No, it showed a stronger attack that went beyond what he had seen in the past.

They were only a bit of a nuisance to him before, but he still knew their strength. But now, it quickly disposed of those creatures who were not much less powerful than Ruler himself.

"You would probably have a hard time after my departure."

"It doesn't matter, their limits were clear anyways," the immortal monarch replied as if nothing mattered. The capabilities of the ancient Dungeon were just in its vicinity, he would be fine.

"I'll have to go back to my original plan," Ruler closed his eyes and then, all his divinity in the Dark Earth woke up.

He commanded all the creatures that obeyed his divinity to...

"Attack the Earth."

#3

There was a clump of red energy on top of the highest rock on the mountain filled with the wind that seemed to freeze everything. At the center of it was a woman standing upright. Even in the freezing cold, the redness that flowed from her body, which was covered with only one piece of clothing, was spreading out to all of her sides.

How long had she been there? The redness from her body prevented her from the invading snowflakes, but the round circle surrounding her was full of ice.

Her eyes, which had been closed, flashed open at some point.

Tub tub tub... tub tub…

As she rose from her seat, and pieces of ice covering her body shattered and fluttered everywhere. But, she looked to one place as if she didn't care about it. Then, at last... she felt it.

"It's him."

The wait was worth it.

She was Jaehw.a.n.g's last resort in case he lost Ruler. Only Goongi was capable of this because she tracked Ruler's Mana when she met him before.

At first, Goongi rejected this plan by Jaehw.a.n.g.

Even though Jaehw.a.n.g had gotten stronger, it was too dangerous to send him alone. They have never parted, he was her other half. But because of Jaehw.a.n.g's pleading, Goongi could not reject him much longer. She was the only person in the world he really trusted.

"But why is it." She could not feel Jaehw.a.n.g's energy, she could feel him anywhere in the world. That meant he was right now in the Dark Earth, which meant there was only one thing for her to do…

"Stop him."

Sh…Shhh….

Her body disappeared.

This was where Baeklin's technique had already set up a mobile spell that could let her travel anywhere in the world came into play, although only once.

A short time later, she appeared on Mt. Baekdu's Cheonjiyeon.

"This is where he chose."

It's a bit of a coincidence.

The place Ruler chose was South Korea.

It was too exquisite to be a coincidence.

The most recent of them was the Dark Earth Gate, located deep and remote, where the 9-tier Monster was raided and not yet fully developed. Of course, there was also a Hunter army deployed here, but their number was smaller than elsewhere.

"KUKUKUNG!"

A wall made of t.i.tan dust explodes...

Thousands of hunters around the gate looked more scared than nervous.

Looking at it in the air, Goongi took out a portable radio from Infinity Storage. They had promised to contact each other once Ruler was located.

"Old man!"

"Goongi, your highness." A thick voice came over from the other side, it was Kwon Je's. He was stationed at the south of the Gyeonggi province gate.

"You got the location right?"

"Ah! Yes! Huh? This is…" Kwon Je was also surprised at the location that came up.

"Come here right away!"

"On my way! Please protect this area while I am gone!"

"Obviously!"

After she was done, Goongi stared sharply at the monsters that just broke the gates and were coming through. She could feel Ruler hiding among them.

"I'll run around for you."

DRRRRR!!!

Her body bulged up and a few moments later, a figure resembling a tiger, yet hundreds of times as large, appeared in the air. Goongi, after transforming back into her real form, fell downwards.

"I'll finish you!" Her cry shook the mountain stream.