Chapter 20
“Protect me, knights!”
““As you command, our queen!””
The Wraith Queen ‘Isabella’ and Isabella’s Wraith Guards.
This was the overpowered combination that cornered the female protagonist and Kim Hye-seong’s party.
At times like this, Isabella, a melee fighter, became a ranged damage dealer who unleashed vicious curses. To stop her curses, they had to get past her guards.
The problem was that the guards respawned one or two at a time in real time.
Since this was their home turf, they could appear anywhere, making it easy to get surrounded in an instant. If you let your guard down even a little, their swords and spears could run you through.
That was exactly why the protagonists had nearly died here.
They had to protect their companions while also enduring a barrage of curses, leaving them helpless against the onslaught.
Still, thanks to the protagonist’s buff—a narrative convenience found in every story—they grew even stronger and managed to fight their way out.
Hong and I didn’t have anything like that, but we didn’t need it.
“Hong, give them one big hit.”
“Yes, Princess!”
I already had the strategy to beat them in mind, so I didn’t need that kind of shortcut.
“Here I goㅡ!!”
Whoosh! Bang!!
Hong brought her enormous hammer down on the ground with all her might.
Of course, she didn’t just swing it down.
“‘Mount Tai Ascension’!!”
Rumble! Kraaash!!
It was the stance she took to use ‘Mount Tai Ascension,’ one of Hong’s sorceries.
Sharp, spear-like rock spikes burst from the ground, impaling Isabella’s guards as they slowly respawned around us.
With the guards being eliminated faster than they could respawn, we could now focus our attacks on Isabella.
The way to deal with Isabella and her guards was simple.
Defeat the guards faster than they could respawn, then immediately concentrate your attacks on Isabella.
Of course, that was easier said than done. There weren’t many Hunters with an area attack capable of taking down a group of A-rank monsters all at once.
ㅡThat was why the two protagonists had struggled.
‘Time to finish this.’
Once we’d figured out how to counter them, victory had already tilted in our favor.
The Wraith Queen was only about half as strong as she’d been described in the story, but I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this much on my own.
It was possible because I had Hong, summoned with my ability.
ㅡIf I’d called the other two as well, we could’ve cleared it even faster.
‘Heaven-Cleaving Slash.’
Whoosh! Shhk!
Using the Heaven-Sundering Sword’s ability, I swung my sword.
At the same time, a blue crescent-shaped blade appeared and cut through the Wraith Queen Isabella.
【Death Mansion, boss monster ‘Wraith Queen Isabella’ has been defeated.】
【You have gained experience.】
【The Gate Core has appeared.】
【Destroying the Gate Core is optional.】
As soon as I defeated the boss, several notifications appeared in midair.
Flash!
Then a clockwork-shaped mechanism appeared on the throne where Isabella had been sitting.
It was the ‘Gate Core,’ the energy source that sustained the Gate.
A Gate is only cleared once its Core is destroyed. This grants a grace period to escape, after which the Gate automatically disappears.
However, the by-products from Gates have many uses.
So if the location where a Gate appears doesn’t cause much inconvenience, people leave it intact.
Death Mansion was one such Gate. The by-product obtained here, ‘Wraith Hem,’ was used in many places as a high-quality fabric.
A-rank magic stones obtained from monsters in A-rank Gates were also valuable by-products.
So we could leave the Gate Core alone and just leave the Gate.
“Hong, good work. You can go back now.”
“Was that powerful one earlier the last enemy?”
“Yeah. So go back to the Dokkaebi Mansion and get some good rest.”
“That’s a shame. Still, I had fun, Princess! Call me anytime you need me! See you!”
Fwoosh!
Hong vanished amid a flare of dokkaebi fire.
Then Yura and Park Chae-rin, who’d been filming near the entrance, came over.
“You did great, miss! By the way, did that girl from earlier disappear?”
Yura spoke to me first.
“She’s my summon. She said she could go back, so she just did.
“Ah. I see. I never imagined you could summon an intelligent being like that.”
I could understand why Yura found it fascinating.
Most summoning abilities called forth things like animals, so summoning a dokkaebi like Hong, who looked human, was unprecedented.
So it would be best to keep it secret that I could summon two more like Hong until I became head of the family.
ㅡOtherwise, it would only make Yoo Ho-ryeong even more wary of me.
“But that Wraith Queen seemed a lot stronger than an A-rank Gate boss monster should be. You did well to beat her. I was watching for a chance to step in, just in case.”
“It was probably just as you sensed, Yura. Take a look at that magic stone over there. It belongs to the Wraith Queen from earlier.”
I pointed to the Wraith Queen’s magic stone lying on the floor.
Yura’s eyes widened when she saw it.
“It’s twice the size of the magic stones I remember. No, three times as big. …That’s the size of an ordinary monster’s magic stone from an S-rank Gate, isn’t it?”
“Is that true, Lady Yura?”
Park Chae-rin, standing beside her, asked in a surprised tone.
“Chae-rin, you’ve never been in an S-rank Gate, right?”
“No. I’ve only been in A-rank Gates.”
S-rank Gates were dangerous simply by existing, so the moment one appeared, people mobilized every available force to clear it completely.
As a result, since Gates didn’t appear often to begin with, not many Hunters had experience with S-rank Gates.
Even in the Sword Emperor family.
“Then you should remember this while you have the chance. This is the size of a magic stone from a monster in an S-rank Gate.”
“Then….”
“That’s right. The Wraith Queen we just fought wasn’t some A-rank boss monster, but… a monster you’d expect to find in an S-rank Gate.”
“You mean you defeated that monster with just your summon by your side!?”
“That’s right. I’m surprised, too.”
Judging from what Yura said, the Wraith Queen in the story was probably an intermediate boss-level monster found only in S-rank Gates.
There were two kinds of boss monsters in S-rank Gates: intermediate bosses and main bosses.
As the name suggested, an intermediate boss was like a gatekeeper located before the depths where the main boss, the master of the Gate, resided.
Though somewhat weaker than the main boss, an intermediate boss was by no means weak.
They were so powerful that it took twenty A-rank Hunters just to fight one.
That was what made S-rank Gates dangerous.
It meant that even more A-rank Hunters would have to take on the main boss monster.
There were far more A-rank Hunters than S-rank Hunters, but not nearly enough to call them plentiful.
As a result, the risk of keeping an S-rank Gate under control was simply too high.
If a Gate Break occurred due to a single mistake, it would mean the end of the country.
In the story, countless countries from both the communist and free-world blocs had already fallen for that very reason.
North Korea on the Korean Peninsula was a prime example.
“Miss, we should make this known publicly. If boss monsters are left alone, the worst could happen.”
“I don’t mind. People’s lives could be at stake.”
I wholeheartedly agreed with Yura, who considered the matter serious.
This was a chance to completely change the minds of those who thought it was too much trouble to go all the way to a boss monster.
ㅡThere were probably several Gates like this in the Sword Emperor family, too.
“We should hurry out first. The monsters will start respawning soon, beginning in the areas where they were killed first.”
“Yeah.”
◈
When we left the Gate, a tense atmosphere awaited us.
On one side was the Council of Elders, led by Yoo Hyeok-jin, and on the other was the head-of-family faction led by Yoo Ho-ryeong.
‘They’re probably doing this because of me.’
I knew exactly why they were acting like this.
Since the Council of Elders had unilaterally allowed me to enter the Gate, Yoo Ho-ryeong was probably protesting that.
But this was a Gate managed by the Council of Elders in the first place.
Whoever used it, there was nothing to stop them as long as the Council of Elders gave permission.
“Don’t be so unreasonable, Head of the Family.”
As Yoo Hyeok-jin had said, Yoo Ho-ryeong was being completely unreasonable.
Did he know that himself?
“She’s my daughter, Elder Council Head. I can’t accept you doing this without my permission. If something had gone wrong, could you have taken responsibility?”
He was spouting complete nonsense.
The sheer audacity of acting as though I were his daughter now, when he’d practically abandoned me.
“Head of the Family, that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard all year.”
Yoo Hyeok-jin, who knew the whole story, made a face like he’d bitten into something nasty, his muscles bulging as if they would tear through his suit.
“Great-Granduncle, what’s going on?”
I calmly walked over and stood beside Yoo Hyeok-jin.
Only then did the two of them realize I’d come out of the Gate.
“You’re out, Seol-a. Not long after you went in, the Head of the Family arrived, so I was keeping him from entering.”
“I’m glad you’re safe, daughter. Did you give up and come out partway through?”
Yoo Hyeok-jin had been very kind to me from the start, so his reaction was only natural. But Yoo Ho-ryeong’s response was utterly unpleasant.
All the more so because it was obvious he was only pretending to be worried.
More than anything, the phrase ‘give up partway through’ rubbed me the wrong way.
I could sense his dark desire for me to have given up exploring.
“I killed the boss monster and came out. Team Leader Park Chae-rin filmed it, so you can watch the video.”
Unfortunately for him, I’d completed my exploration of the Gate.
At my words, I saw Yoo Ho-ryeong’s expression twist slightly.
But he quickly put on that false expression again.
“Next time, tell me before you do something like this. If something happened to you, wouldn’t it break your father’s heart?”
“Well, is there a problem?”
“Daughter?”
“Don’t call me daughter. It’s unpleasant. The only people who can call me familiarly are Great-Granduncle and Yura here. You, the father who’s always wanted me dead.”
“!!”
At this point, we were completely at odds.
I’d only kept my head down because I was powerless before awakening. Now that I’d awakened and become a proper Hunter, I had nothing to fear.
Especially not Yoo Ho-ryeong, who’d neglected his training and rested on his laurels, leaving his skills stagnant—or even diminished.
More importantly, I had the Council of Elders firmly in my corner.
There was nothing to fear.
“I’ll come to claim the head-of-family seat soon. That great position is far too good for someone like you.”