327 — Sword Ghost

“……”

A dark, gloomy tent.
A place commonly called a military hideout.

At its center.
Seated in a chair, Yu Seha closed his eyes and meditated.
He controlled the power flowing through his body perfectly, wasting not a single bit.
The usual application of [Complete Devour] he had practiced repeatedly was completely halted.
He gathered even the energy he would have spent and disciplined himself.

‘Good.’

He opened his eyes and clenched, then unclenched his fist.
His condition was perfect—no weakness anywhere—and his equipment was excellent.

A black special coat and the protective suit visible beneath it.
It was a Unique piece of equipment called the <Black Eye>, provided by Dragon Sword Mir.
Given how rare such equipment was, it would not be an exaggeration to call it the most precious armor in the world.

Thud, ku-gu-gung—!
Shockwaves from the fierce bloodshed beyond the hideout’s window erupted.
From afar came the shouts of struggling hunters and the splatter of blood.

Yu Seha listened silently—because, having become an entity of the ‘Above’, he possessed a sense beyond ordinary perception.

Countless lives consumed themselves in clashes; winners and losers were decided, yet half the victors rarely lasted long before another being killed them.
It was the typical pattern of war.
Seated in silence, Yu Seha turned his gaze toward a faint approaching sound.

Thud, thud.
A woman approached without bothering to hide—beautiful, cheeks flushed, her body wrapped in a heat that made one blush.
It was Ju Ye-young.

No matter how you looked at it, she seemed more like a ‘noona’ than Ju Na-young’s mother—a woman who looked unnaturally young and fit the term better.
Her body was smeared with blood, her full-body dragon flames and wings displayed—proof she’d been in intense battle moments ago.

Ju Ye-young stood before Yu Seha and bowed respectfully.
Her attitude clearly that of someone addressing a superior, Yu Seha smiled wryly.

“…There’s no need for that. You were the commander from the start, Ju Ye-young Hunter.”

Ju Ye-young shook her head decisively.

“I think I said something similar before, but I can’t accept that. The one who will decide the final victory of this war is Yu Seha.”

After speaking, Ju Ye-young purified the blood from her hands with fire and took a pad from her arm.
Inside were reports listing the current power structure and battlefields.
She was literally a <Clan Master> with the authority of a combat commander.

Yu Seha listened silently to Ju Ye-young’s explanation.
A week ago, Moon Ha-yeon’s declaration of war had provoked this final battle.

The place she unleashed demonic energy—the slum that had now been completely cleared—was also the location of Tartarus’ main base.
Moon Ha-yeon had returned there, killed all the hunters guarding it, and expanded her own forces.
She was, in short, a Demon King who had appeared in the mortal world, and those who answered her call were surviving villains, a horde of Minions.

“Even after a massive extermination they still number this much… they’ve somehow gathered again.”
“We suspect some were directly injected with Magi by Moon Ha-yeon herself to turn them into Minions. A total of 950. It’s nothing compared to us, but not a force to be ignored.”

Among them, Moon Ha-yeon had made two Minions her retainers—barely S-rank fighters, but still present.

“How about the S-rank Minions…?”
“Don’t worry. I took care of one and the rest were handled by Su Ok-bin. In addition, other factions are also reporting victories here and there.”

In fact, the true danger to this assault was internal. It’s often more frightening to have incompetent allies than a powerful enemy.
Despite the large-scale appearance of villains and the declaration of war, many people placed obstacles—saying things like, “Let’s wait a bit longer,” “Isn’t one Dragon Sword Mir clan enough?”, “We already won once; do we have to pour more budget into this?”

They’re not idiots. Well, a few truly didn’t grasp reality, but they were rare.
Their motives were the sort of adult affairs—power struggles and dirty deals turned into chances to swindle others.
Fortunately, those efforts were smashed to pieces; the culprits were stripped of rank or quietly disappeared.

“All of that is thanks to Yu Seha having done the groundwork in advance. Thanks to that, we could rapidly gather hunters.”
“You’re gilding it too much.”
“It’s not gilding; it’s the truth.”

What Yu Seha had done for four months—consolidating power to Su Ok-bin, Ju Ye-young, Divine Light Garam, and Natsu & Yuri—had truly borne fruit.

After finishing the report, Ju Ye-young bowed her head, unfolded her wings, and headed back to the battlefield.

The battle continued.
Yu Seha looked beyond the window at a sky blackened by demonic energy.

He couldn’t help but think, ‘Why now?’ Moon Ha-yeon was not foolish.
This wasn’t a surprise attack; openly declaring war like this was practically suicidal. Still, Yu Seha decided not to dwell on it.

‘Anyway…’

He would go ask her in person. He also planned to deliver an item he needed to hand over.

Yu Seha waited.
Since arriving at this hideout, as always, silently…
He tapped the ground with the tip of the [Sword of the Saint] at his waist.

……

Yu Seha knew. No—moreover, all the famed hunters fighting fiercely now knew.
No matter how many they had, no matter how many S-rank powerhouses there were,

‘That man…’

The moment he revealed himself—the moment that man drew his sword—the situation would tilt in an instant.
Hellish wailing and pandemonium would fill the place; a blood-soaked tragedy would dye the ground red.
Stopping that—and finishing it—seemed like his mission.

‘No.’

Yu Seha shook his head. He denied it. It was wrong.
Stopping it was his to do, but finishing it was not.

‘Master…’

And it was Moon Bora’s task.

Thirty minutes, an hour.
And then a few more minutes…

Suddenly Yu Seha opened his eyes.
He rose from his seat and turned his body.

He placed his hand on the hideout wall—sturdy outer walls and armor—and passed straight through the matter itself, emerging outside.

Yu Seha exited at an odd spot instead of the entrance.
A woman in combat gear guarding the entrance was startled and called out at his sudden appearance.

“…!? Yo, Yu Seha Hunter? Is something wrong—”
“—Bow.”

It was a bewildering command, but the woman bowed without hesitation—flat as a turtle, because orders from above demanded obedience.

Sleeng.

Yu Seha drew the [Sword of the Saint] like lightning.
Gentle mana—‘aether’—wound along the fissure of a blade that looked as if it might shatter at any moment.
He executed a single slash toward the air.

Up until then the woman was puzzled.
‘Why cut at a place where there’s nothing…?’

Soon, the phenomenon that appeared answered that question.

Boom—!!!

“Eek!”

A deafening roar exploded as shards of intangible sword energy shattered and scattered in all directions, some the size of thumbnails embedding in the ground and razing the area.

“…H-hiiik…”

The woman clenched her teeth and looked back.

A building in the distance was sliced like a cube steak and collapsed.

The woman was, after all, an A-rank hunter. When Yu Seha swung, she sensed some unknown mass of force slam in that direction.

“C-crazy…”

She had a premonition: not just herself—those more than 400 hunters who had rushed out in alarm would have died all at once if Yu Seha hadn’t diverted it.

With terror in her eyes, she looked up at Yu Seha. She’d heard the rumors and now recognized once again that the man before her was a monster on an entirely different level.

Yu Seha, expressionless, spoke.

“It’s starting now. Pull back from the front lines as much as possible and wait. From now on, strategy doesn’t matter.”
“…Ah, a… Al, I understand… S-sorry…”
“It’s fine. There’s no need to force yourself to speak.”

Yu Seha walked forward.
With a single step he moved as if folding space, and before he knew it he had arrived at the fierce battlefield.

For a moment he paused in a swirling crimson vortex, and Su Ok-bin—a white-haired beauty in combat gear—emerged.

Su Ok-bin was crossing walls using Yu Seha’s <Sharing>, currently demonstrating the power of a lower S-rank.
She swallowed dryly, her face pale.

“Yu Seha.”
“Yes.”

Yu Seha followed the direction she indicated with her gaze.
In the distance he saw the one place hunters couldn’t enter.

Like a statue carved from black marble, a two-story divided temple stood.
He exchanged a glance with an elderly man standing proudly—an eyepatch over one eye and a missing left arm—but his imposing presence was terrifying.
No one dared meet his gaze except Yu Seha.

There was no doubt.
‘Sword Ghost.’

Sword Ghost—So Hang-woo.
It was a reunion after one year and six months.