The Late Game Healer Is Way Too Strong – Chapter 204

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟒: 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐞 3

“When will the backup arrive?”

Min Si-joon greeted Choi Sung-il with a question.

He was delighted to see another S-rank Hunter facing off against the Azure Dragon that was wreaking havoc on the Tower.

It was unknown how the monster had appeared, but they would be able to defeat it if they received support from the major guilds in Seoul and the HSIU.

However, Choi Sung-il’s expression darkened at the question.

“Mr. Choi? What do you mean by that. . .?”

“The backup will be significantly delayed.”

“What are you talking about? Delayed backup?”

Min Si-joon asked incredulously, as if he had heard something absurd.

A monster of that size would require all the Hunters to gather their strength, assuming it was an S-rank gate.

Monsters were creatures whose physical form was directly proportional to their strength.

They had a core inside them that was highly influenced by mana.

Since their physical form was directly or indirectly affected by mana, the larger the core, the greater the influence of mana.

Therefore, just as a monster in the form of a goblin or kobold could never be strong, a monster in the form of a dragon could never be weak.

In other words, the Azure Dragon glaring fiercely from atop the Tower must have been a monster that was greatly influenced by mana.

Sensing the powerful magical energy coming from it, Min Si-joon asked again.

“Is there a reason why we can’t receive immediate support from the HSIU or other Heptagrams?!”

If they had to face such a monster, a delayed reinforcement would mean that they would arrive after the destruction of downtown Seoul.

Choi Sung-il moistened his lips and let out a sigh.

His face was filled with confusion, as if he was struggling to say something difficult to say.

“I hesitated to tell you because I didn’t want to raise false hopes, but. . .”

“What is it?”

“That. . . Right now, the same monster has appeared in three other locations.”

“What do you mean. . .”

Min Si-joon looked at Choi Sung-il with a bewildered expression.

He was already struggling to figure out what to do with this one monster, and now he was hearing that there were three more of the same kind?

“Listen carefully, Hunter Min Si-joon. The one we’re facing is the Azure Dragon. Because the ones that appeared in the other locations were. . . the Vermilion Bird, the White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise.”

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

Han Tae-chi let out a groan.

He was torn between amusement and curiosity when he heard the news that monsters had appeared in four different locations.

The Azure Dragon that he had seen up close was so fearsome that Han Tae-chi had decided to go to the area with the least damage.

Surely, not all of the four monsters that had appeared would be like the Azure Dragon.

However, when he actually arrived at the damaged area, he was greeted by a sight that was completely different from what he had expected.

“What the hell is that. . .”

His voice trailed off, unable to form coherent words.

The monster that had suddenly appeared in the middle of downtown had the shape of a giant turtle shell.

However, its face and legs were retracted inside the shell.

Han Tae-chi sighed and sank to the ground.

He was not a combat Hunter.

He was not a tanker, a healer, or a support Hunter.

He was just a bookworm who loved magic and research, and he was good at it.

He was the kind of person who could happily live for weeks or months without seeing sunlight.

‘I shouldn’t have come out today.’

Of course, he couldn’t not come out, as it was a meeting of the guild leaders, and as the acting Guild Leader of the [Mad Dog Guild], he had to participate.

If he had skipped out on it. . .

He thought of Siwoo’s icy glare and swallowed hard.

“Anyway, how are we supposed to deal with it until backup arrives?”

He already knew that the monster was the ‘Black Tortoise’ from the information he had heard, but he had no idea how to fight against a mythical beast.

“Haven’t you figured out a way yet?”

“No, not yet. . . Huh, who’s there?!”

Han Tae-chi was startled and turned his head without thinking.

Red Ear and Volk were standing there, looking at him. He didn’t know when they had arrived.

“Wh. . . When did you arrive from the US?”

“Not too long ago. We arrived at dawn today.”

“Did the President come with you?”

“No, the Master still has work to do, so he will arrive in a few days.”

Red Ear surveyed his surroundings with a tired expression.

The Black Tortoise, which had crushed several buildings, remained motionless inside its shell.

It was an ominous silence, like the calm before a storm.

“Hey, old man. Should I go and test the waters?”

“Hmph. If I could live as simply as you, how wonderful that would be.”

“Why are you being difficult, old man?”

“Because you’re talking nonsense.”

Volk snorted at Red Ear’s nagging.

“First, we need to make that turtle stick its head out. Do you have any ideas, Hunter Han?”

“For now, I’m going to try with the items I have. However, I’ve never tested them on a monster of this size before. . .”

Red Ear stroked his long beard, deep in thought.

In fact, the best course of action would be to leave the monster alone.

As long as it remained where it was and didn’t cause any damage, there was no need to provoke a sleeping lion.

‘The problem is that we can’t leave it alone forever.’

Just because it was quiet now didn’t mean they could live next to a bomb that could explode at any moment.

And another reason was that the monster was not staying still because it wanted to, but because it was gathering strength.

In fact, there were some monsters that waited for their mana to accumulate in their cores for several days after coming out of the gate, trying to adapt to the different mana concentration in this world.

Since there was so little information available about this ‘Black Tortoise,’ they couldn’t afford to leave it alone, if only to eliminate all possibilities.

‘It would be nice if we could wait until the other locations are pacified, but. . . We don’t have time for that if we want to find the mastermind behind this incident.’

Before leaving for the scene, Red Ear had a brief conversation with Siwoo.

He had asked for his opinion since this monster incident was unusual.

Siwoo had instructed him to properly distribute the personnel in Korea and added that the most important thing was to catch the one who had summoned the mythical beasts.

An incident of this magnitude could not have occurred naturally.

Someone must have done something while the rankers were away in the US.

And the worst-case scenario was that the summoning of these mythical beasts was just a means to an end, and that there was another ultimate goal.

━That’s why we have to catch that guy.

Siwoo had given the order to suppress this incident by cooperating with other S-rank Hunters and HSIU Hunters.

‘The master is fanning the flames in this old man’s heart. Then I shall do as he commands.’

Red Ear’s eyes glinted as he took out a magic item from his pocket.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

The rebellion in the banquet hall was quickly suppressed with the deaths of the high-ranking rebels.

Despite being outnumbered, the members of 〈Pandemonium〉 had managed to overpower and trample other Hunters, fueled by Awakener drugs.

The suppression was even more difficult because the traitors were mostly high-ranking Hunters.

Who would have thought that the world’s 2nd, 5th, and 7th ranked Hunters were from 〈Pandemonium〉?

After tearing Skinner in half, Siwoo killed the other members one by one with his bare hands.

Many who witnessed the gruesome sight were awed by Siwoo’s strength, and some eventually dropped their weapons voluntarily.

Siwoo checked on his companions, panting heavily.

They all looked exhausted, but none of them were seriously injured.

“Master, are you hurt anywhere?”

Namir approached Siwoo first and asked about his well-being.

“Yeah, other than being drained of mana, I’m fine. Are you okay?”

“Yes. . . Giovanni’s poison doesn’t have an antidote, so shouldn’t you get a checkup?”

“There’s no need.”

Just then, a group of people approached them.

They were Edward, Marquis Charles, and other high-ranking officials.

“You look fine from the outside.”

“Why does it sound like you don’t like that I look fine?”

Siwoo replied to Edward’s playful remark.

“Ah, this is Marquis Charles de Bernadotte, the president of the 〈World Hunter Association〉. And this is Hunter Min Siwoo, a special agent of the HSIU and the one who uncovered this incident.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Please call me Charles.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord Charles.”

Marquis Charles was a gentle-looking old man.

He greeted Namir politely as well.

“I came here because I have a few questions for you. And there is something I need to tell you.”

“Please go ahead.”

“First, about Giovanni Barberini, who caused this incident. . . Do you know of any place where he might have escaped? Such as the nearby 〈Pandemonium〉 headquarters?”

Siwoo blinked at Marquis Charles’s words.

What was this old man talking about?

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. We will cooperate with the US Department of Homeland Security to send in a counter-terrorism unit.”

“Hmm. . . Lord Charles.”

“Perhaps we should call Hunter Shamal from India. Edward, weren’t you close to Shamal?”

“Excuse me for interrupting, but you don’t have to worry about Giovanni.”

Marquis Charles looked at Siwoo with an expression that said he didn’t understand.

“Giovanni is dead.”

“What are you talking about? Giovanni is dead. . . Why?!”

“Because I killed him.”

Everyone except Edward was shocked by his casual statement.

They had left the banquet hall under the protection of the HSIU and the Association as soon as 〈Pandemonium〉 caused a commotion, so they had not seen how it had ended.

Therefore, they did not know that the man standing before them had torn apart the members of 〈Pandemonium〉 with his bare hands.

“Wait, I don’t understand what you’re saying. . .”

“There’s a body outside the banquet hall.”

Siwoo pointed, and his subordinates rushed out and brought back a body that was ‘assumed’ to be Giovanni’s.

“W-Well, it’s only the lower half. . .”

The employee who had moved the body barely managed to report, holding back his nausea.

Edward, who had been observing with a handkerchief over his mouth, shook his head and asked.

“Hey, man. What happened to the upper half? You didn’t eat it because you were hungry, did you?”

“I don’t know. I punched him and it flew away.”

“. . .That’s a very reasonable explanation.”

Marquis Charles, who had been listening to their banter, staggered and examined Giovanni’s lower half closely.

“It’s definitely Giovanni’s clothing. Of course, we’ll need to conduct a DNA test to be certain. . . But did you really kill Giovanni? He’s one of the strongest Hunters I know.”

In Europe, Giovanni Barberini’s reputation was absolute.

In terms of ranking, Shamal, who was currently ranked 1st, and Choi Dae-soo, who had been excluded from the ranking because of his entry into ‘Mistilteinn’, were higher, but Giovanni’s popularity in Europe far surpassed theirs.

Furthermore, Marquis Charles had experienced his strength firsthand on several occasions.

Not only in various fighting competitions, but also in places with an audience, such as this ‘World Hunter Comprehensive Ability Measurement Competition’, Giovanni had proven his stardom without a doubt.

It was only natural that Marquis Charles would find it hard to believe that Giovanni, who had been a traitor, was now dead.

“Marquis Charles. He was a despicable guy, but I can vouch for his skills.”

“No. . . Giovanni was a top-ranked Hunter. Excuse me, but what is your rank?”

Siwoo looked at Charles and Edward’s expressions and replied with a smirk.

“I’m about to find out.”

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• Feeling like a lazy Naruto? This is How You Stop Procrastinating and Conquer Your To-Do List Like a True Hokage
• Navigating the Digital Dojo: How to Deal with Your “That” Uncle and Auntie on Facebook
• Cursed Hands: When Anime Fandom Goes Too Far
• How to Not Die Like Jiraiya: A Guide to Staying Alive
• Kakashi Hatake: The Ultimate Husbando? A Deep Dive into the Sharingan of Our Desires