I was Mistaken for a Noble Hunter Chapter 111

Demon (3)

 

The mansion is located at the very center of Nami Island, where the villain organization Devils Pang had settled.

The altar created by their boss, Han Yeoul, was in a hidden space within the basement.

It was a place that would normally be impossible to find.

There were many security measures, but more than anything, it was tightly concealed, making even searching difficult.

“Is it this way?”

However, Kang Ian, who now had a quest navigation displayed before his eyes… was different.

He simply had to follow the arrow and destroy anything that blocked his path.

Crack!

At a glance, it looked like just an ordinary wall, but once he broke it, a hollow space appeared inside, revealing a passage just large enough for one person.

This was already the third time he had broken through like this.

‘If I had come here without knowing anything, finding this would’ve been difficult.’

No… beyond difficult, even if he had defeated all the villains, he might not have found the altar.

That was how well the boss, Han Yeoul, had hidden her precious altar.

It was just that Kang Ian had been casually destroying everything along the way!

After breaking through several twisted paths like that, he finally arrived in front of the altar.

At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a marble structure stacked in tiers… but the moment he saw it, chills ran down his spine.

A dense malice could be felt.

He could hear the will of Valhalla in his mind, shouting firmly:

 

< Knight! Destroy that wicked abomination at once! >

< Do not leave even a single fragment of stone in this world! >

 

Even without that command, Kang Ian had no intention of leaving it alone.

He immediately drew his longsword.

Fwoosh!

As he approached the altar, a tangible black aura emanated from it.

An energy that corrupted the human mind… like the very origin of evil.

Even a high-tier B-rank hunter would have lost consciousness from it, yet Kang Ian’s eyes remained clear.

The will of Valhalla was protecting him.

Slash!

Crunch!

He even released sword energy, splitting the altar cleanly into two large halves.

Kiiiiaaaahhh

A ghostly wail echoed out, and the sinister aura flowing from the altar disappeared.

It seemed to have lost its function once split apart.

However, Kang Ian did not turn back.

He swung his sword several more times, continuing to destroy the altar.

First horizontally… then vertically… and then diagonally.

Kuaaaahhh!

Once again, a monstrous scream erupted from the altar.

The malice and sinister energy that had seemed to vanish surged back toward Kang Ian… but had no effect whatsoever.

Craaaash!

Boom! Boom!

Even then, Kang Ian’s arms did not stop.

He kept swinging and smashing… until eventually, the entire altar was reduced to dust.

At that moment…

Ding!

 

[You have destroyed the altar of the demon ‘Malphas’.]

[Nobility +5000]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[You have completed the quest.]

[You have reached Level 20.]

[Visit the Sanctuary at your desired time to receive your quest reward.]

 

As the messages poured out before his eyes, Kang Ian froze for a moment.

‘F-five thousand Nobility?’

What was this? Had he been hit by a demon’s mental attack? Was he hallucinating?

But even after rubbing his eyes and looking again, it was certain.

‘…This is insane.’

At this rate, it felt like he should just go around looking for altars from now on.

 

***

 

What Han Yeoul had obtained from the gate was a book describing a method of gaining power in exchange for offering sacrifices to the demon ‘Malphas.’

Parts of the book were torn, so she didn’t know it was a demon… she simply thought it was an otherworldly being.

But in truth, it didn’t matter.

It was something that granted her power.

Unable to overcome her desires and nature, she had become a villain… but her level was only that of a B-rank hunter.

In fact, while her ability’s scale was large, in actual combat against people, she could be considered among the lowest of B-rank hunters.

The reason the government couldn’t eliminate her recklessly was that her poison might spread as far as Seoul, not because she was strong.

Because of that, she always wanted to grow stronger.

She wanted to become an A-rank villain… one even the government couldn’t touch.

Then, while clearing a gate that had appeared on Nami Island, she obtained the ancient book.

A book stating that by building an altar and offering sacrifices, one could receive power.

Naturally, she hadn’t believed it at first… but when she tried a test offering and truly gained power, she was shocked.

After that, she began cooperating with the villain organization All Wars, with whom she had been on good terms.

They had long been involved in vile acts like human trafficking, making it easy to procure offerings.

As they collaborated on many operations, they became deeply connected… but then they were destroyed by Lim Gayeon.

Deeply linked to the altar, Han Yeoul received a revelation:

If she killed Lim Gayeon… who had become an enemy of the altar, and offered her as a sacrifice, she would gain power beyond anything before.

That was why she had sent killers after Lim Gayeon and lured her here.

“But why… why was the connection suddenly cut? I didn’t do anything. Was the altar discovered? But I hid it so well… how? Who?”

Having lost her connection to the otherworldly power, Han Yeoul muttered to herself repeatedly.

Her subordinates naturally fell into confusion seeing their boss like that.

At that moment…

Crash!

The door to the room they were in was smashed open.

“Th-they’re here!”

“Damn it! Fire!”

Bang! Bang!

Rat-tat-tat!

Pew-shh!

Villains began firing guns and using ranged skills.

Lim Gayeon, who entered head-on through the door, moved like an animal, swiftly dodging everything.

Running along the walls, she fired her pistols, counterattacking each time… none of the villains’ attacks hit her, while hers never missed.

“Ugh!”

“Argh!”

With every shot, one person fell.

Every bullet hit either the head or the heart.

“A-ahhh! Spare me!”

After several such instances, a cowardly one hid behind cover.

Lim Gayeon simply fired at an unrelated angle, causing a ricochet.

The hidden enemy was struck through the back of the neck and collapsed.

Rat-tat-tat!

“Die!!!”

Someone sprayed a machine gun, but it only followed the space where she had been a moment too late.

Even though nearly all of Devils’ Fang were present, they were gradually annihilated by Lim Gayeon alone.

“B-boss, what do we do? At this rate, we’ll all die!”

One subordinate shouted to Han Yeoul.

But she, still mentally broken, could not respond.

She only kept muttering to herself.

“It’s not connecting… the connection… please… don’t abandon me…”

“Damn it! Why is this crazy bitch acting like this at a time like this!?”

Thud! Thud!

“Ghk”

Lim Gayeon’s bullets had now taken down even the subordinates standing right beside Han Yeoul.

Han Yeoul looked forward with a despairing expression.

Lim Gayeon stood there, wearing a tight combat suit, a sniper rifle slung across her back.

At some point, she had already arrived right in front of her.

Only Han Yeoul and Lim Gayeon remained alive in the room.

“Man, this is exhausting. Working this often isn’t really my style. You’re seriously a hassle.”

After running around with dual pistols, Lim Gayeon, seemingly low on nicotine, holstered one gun and took out an e-cigarette.

Only after taking a deep inhale did she look like she could finally breathe again.

“So, are you just going to stay like that?”

“…I can’t win anyway.”

Lim Gayeon wasn’t just good at long-range sniping.

She was also quite capable in close combat.

For Han Yeoul, who ranked at the very bottom of B-rank hunters, there was no way she could win… even if she tried a hundred times.

Moreover, her poison didn’t work.

Even though her connection to the altar had been severed, she had been spreading poison around… but Lim Gayeon was completely unaffected.

Seeing her expression, Lim Gayeon seemed to realize what she was thinking and smirked.

“Oh, this? A friend gave it to me. Pretty effective.”

As she said that, she raised her gun.

Click

“Anyway, since you’re not going to resist, that’s a good choice. Saves me the trouble.”

She pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang!

 

***

 

By the time Kang Ian destroyed the altar and reached the third floor, Lim Gayeon had already finished off all the villains.

‘Ah… I should’ve told her to take it slower…’

Looking at the fallen villains, Kang Ian swallowed his disappointment.

He had gained 5000 Nobility from destroying the altar, but it still wasn’t enough.

He had rushed over, hoping to gain something more… at least to take down the boss himself…

“Oh, you’re here?”

Lim Gayeon was already waiting, smoking an e-cigarette in the now-ruined room.

“D-did you kill them all?”

“No. I only subdued the boss. You said killing her would spread poison, right? Someone like her can’t be killed carelessly.”

Lim Gayeon lightly nudged Han Yeoul, who lay collapsed at her feet.

She had shot only the tendons in her limbs to subdue her, then knocked her unconscious.

“Y-you did well.”

Kang Ian had to suppress the gloomy feeling that there was nothing left for him to do.

Shortly after, the military entered.

With Han Yeoul down, the poisonous fog had disappeared, allowing special forces to move freely.

“Are you two alright?”

“Yes. We’re fine.”

“Thank you for your hard work. From here on, we will take custody of the remaining Devils Fang members.”

Fully armed soldiers wearing gas masks restrained the subdued villains, collected the corpses, and took them away.

The team leader of the special unit was a C-rank hunter, so there seemed to be no issue during transport.

“The military got here really fast, didn’t they?”

Kang Ian asked out of curiosity.

It was so fast that it seemed impossible unless they had already been nearby.

The team leader answered briefly:

“We were already en route to Nami Island.”

“Really? Were you planning to subjugate Devil’s Fang?”

“Something like that. Our original mission was actually to support Hunter Kang Ian and extract you if any problems occurred.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I heard it was an operation planned at the strong request of the Hunter Association.”

Kang Ian didn’t think much of it, but due to recent events, both the Association and the government had been in an uproar.

They had learned about his ability to purify dangerous zones.

Because of that, even Russia’s second-in-command had entered the country, and the CIA had begun moving.

That meant the information was credible, so the Korean government couldn’t stay idle.

However, while they were still debating how to properly treat him, Kang Ian had suddenly gone to Nami Island.

Upon learning this belatedly, the government dispatched special forces.

They needed to protect Kang Ian, after all.

In the end, all they did was clean up the aftermath…

‘This is convenient.’

Still, Kang Ian was quite satisfied with just that.

The most troublesome part of situations like this was the cleanup… and now the soldiers were handling it, so he could just head back.

Thanks to that, he was able to comfortably return to Seoul in the back seat of a vehicle they provided.

“If you’re tired, you can sleep.”

Lim Gayeon, sitting beside him, said that.

Though Kang Ian wasn’t actually tired… since all he did was destroy the altar, he nodded.

“Yes. Then I’ll excuse myself.”

He wasn’t planning to sleep… he was going to access the Sanctuary.

He had once wondered what happened to his real body when he was drawn into the Sanctuary, so he had installed a camera at home to check.

It looked just like he was sleeping.

He thought he would probably wake up if something dangerous happened, but just in case, it was best to access the Sanctuary in a safe place.

Also, being beside Lim Gayeon was probably safer than anywhere else.

So Kang Ian relaxed and entered the Sanctuary.

Shrrr

As he closed his eyes and wished to go to the Sanctuary, his vision shifted, and before he knew it, he was standing inside it.

‘Now then… let’s see what I get.’

He had completed the quest and reached Level 20.

Tezeros, with wings of light spread wide, stood imposingly.

And Kang Ian confidently stepped forward toward him.