𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟖𝟒: 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 2
A few days later.
Thirty lower-class devils were gathered in one place.
They flapped their wings from time to time, glaring alternately at Kraken and Merlin with demonic energy in their eyes.
Each of them had a threatening aura and sharp hostility.
『Our king has ordered us to follow your instructions.』
The devil representing them stepped forward, revealing his fangs.
The devils and the demon race had only a pact, not a relationship where they could interfere or command each other.
Because of that, the devils did not hide their discomfort.
In particular, they directed blatant murderous intent toward Merlin rather than Kraken, exuding demonic energy.
The reason was Saint Germain.
It had been uncovered that he had killed devils, processed their hearts, and manipulated the test subjects.
Because of that, the devils could not help but hold fierce hostility toward 〈Pandemonium〉.
Some devils lamented that their authority had fallen to the ground and wanted to invade 〈Pandemonium〉 to kill them all, but they regretted that they were unable to do so due to the restraint of their superiors.
Of course, it was impossible for the lower-class devils to defeat Merlin with their abilities.
『I am Sabnack, the representative of the lower-class devils. We are very displeased with this situation. You better explain yourself.』
Sabnack asked in an overbearing manner, his large body like an Alaskan grizzly bear.
“It’s simple. We need your help to buy us time to proceed with the project. I would appreciate it if you cooperate.”
Kraken told them in a low, husky voice.
『This is strange. Isn’t this something you could have done with 〈Pandemonium〉 or the demon race? Why are you asking us devils for help?』
“〈Pandemonium〉 no longer has enough personnel. And our demon race does not have anyone with wings, and it is still difficult to move because of the peace treaty we have with humans.”
Kraken’s explanation was simple but left no room for argument.
The peace treaty with humans was something related to the demon race in the first place, and the devils were excluded from that treaty.
The devils were not part of the demon race, and their numbers were not that large. Above all, most people did not know that the demon race and the devils were different.
Sabnack looked at him with suspicious eyes after hearing Kraken’s explanation.
『What do you want us to do?』
“All you have to do is fly to the location we want.”
『Is that all?』
“Merlin here will draw a special ritual on your bodies. When you get to your destination, all you have to do is use your demonic energy to operate the ritual.”
As soon as Kraken finished speaking, the devils’ expressions twisted.
『Are you asking us to believe what that 〈Pandemonium〉 just said?』
Sabnack’s furious anger permeated the surroundings.
He had an intimidating aura, like he would twist Merlin’s neck and splatter his blood on the ground.
“Merlin is not Saint Germain, who was obsessed with research. That bastard did what he did without asking us.”
『It doesn’t matter. The demon race and 〈Pandemonium〉 are the same anyway!』
Sabnack glared at Merlin as if he wanted to kill him, his black eyes flashing.
“Even if that’s true, this is something that the king of the devils has allowed, so are you questioning that?”
『. . . . . . .』
The devils took a step back and lowered their auras when their king was mentioned.
They were usually free-wheeling and did not cooperate with each other, but the orders of the great devil were absolute.
Merlin used the gap to quickly raise his staff and begin engraving the ritual on their chests one by one.
The devils showed their displeasure by gritting their teeth, but they did not interfere with the engraving of the ritual.
“Take this.”
Merlin, who had finished engraving the ritual, handed each of the devils something.
『What is this?』
“It’s a cell phone. Because you need to know your exact destination.”
Merlin turned on the navigation system on the cell phone.
“Now, each of you can fly to the target points marked on your phones.”
『Are you sure that all we have to do is activate the ritual with demonic energy once we get there?』
One of the devils asked Merlin.
It was a directive that was impossible to understand no matter how much he thought about it.
“That’s right.”
『If this turns out to be a lie, I will return and feast on your flesh and entrails.』
Sabnack thrust his face near Merlin’s neck and licked his neck and ear with his long tongue.
“Very well.”
Merlin replied to him without changing his expression.
Sabnack glared at him for a moment, then spread his wings and flew high into the sky, followed by the other devils.
Merlin confirmed that all the devils had flown away, then displayed a holographic map in the air.
The GPS coordinates of the devils currently flying were displayed on the map in real time.
The flying speed and abilities of the devils were unmatched.
It was said that if they flew as fast as they could, they would reach speeds close to Mach 10, which was comparable to the speed of the unmanned hypersonic experimental aircraft X-43A.
Merlin waited calmly until all the devils arrived at their destinations.
“What excuse will you give to Mephistopheles later?”
At that moment, Kraken, who had been watching him silently with his arms crossed, opened his mouth.
“Well, it seems that the great devil knows everything by instinct.”
“You know that’s not an answer, right?”
“I know that, Master Kraken.”
In the midst of their witty conversation, a notification popped up that all GPS coordinates had reached their desired target coordinates.
The devils who had arrived might be trying to activate the ritual by spreading their demonic energy.
But that was just an empty gesture.
In reality, what Merlin had engraved was a long-distance ritual, and it was a magic that only he could activate.
“Let’s begin.”
Merlin thrust his staff into the ground and poured out all the magic power he possessed.
His magic power and the distant rituals resonated.
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
Sabnack wore a wary expression for a moment as the ritual engraved on his chest glowed and moved.
And before his wariness had even worn off, a strange sound rang out.
Pugeureugeureuk!!!!
Sabnack crashed to the ground in excruciating pain that was impossible to describe.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The ritual was spinning and digging out his heart.
『This. . . . is. . . . shit. . . .!』
Sabnack glared, clutching his chest and drooling blood, then collapsed.
The extracted heart resonated with the ritual.
Black demonic energy intertwined with magic power and soon formed a gate.
🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸
Reverse gates occurred simultaneously all over the world.
The number of cases currently discovered was as high as 22.
Considering the cases that occurred in relatively late or closed areas, the number was expected to be higher.
In particular, most of the areas where the gates occurred were countries that had not produced ‘Misteltein’ or did not have super high rankers, so the outlook was pessimistic.
The estimated difficulty level of each gate was S-rank.
Incessant requests for help poured into 〈HSIU International Headquarters〉 and the 〈World Hunter Association〉.
The countries where the gates appeared had also asked for support from neighboring countries.
However, would neighboring countries send their hunters when reverse gates estimated to be S-rank appeared?
That was an unknown.
The current situation where monsters came out of the gates varied from region to region.
In some places, not a single monster had come out yet, while in others, nearly ten monsters had already come out and the nearby neighborhoods were in ruins.
It was truly a huge disaster that would spread into a global crisis if not dealt with quickly.
Merlin obtained Baba Yaga’s consent and called an emergency meeting of ‘Misteltein’.
At least one person’s consent was required to hold an emergency meeting of ‘Misteltein’. Merlin had usually proposed it, but the purpose of the meeting he had called this time was simple.
To buy time.
‘𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘪𝘯’ 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳.
It seemed like they were united when gathered together, but it was the kind of loose organization that could scatter here and there at the slightest provocation.
That was why Merlin had been able to subtly play the role of ‘Misteltein’s’ guide so far.
Since no one acts like a leader and no one gives orders, people usually follow his words as he is an elderly person.
In addition, since Baba Yaga and Saint Germain would subtly agree, the others would agree as well, so it was not difficult to operate.
It was possible because they were people who thought they were the best and were complacent.
However, the current ‘Misteltein’ was not like that.
Merlin’s words did not seem to have any effect there now.
They had realized that they were not the best, and they had even learned that the roots of 〈Pandemonium〉 were within ‘Misteltein’.
The current leader of ‘Misteltein’ was Min Siwoo.
They might not be aware of it or admit it themselves, but Merlin could feel it.
And this situation was possible largely because Min Siwoo’s people were within ‘Misteltein’.
Choi Dae-soo, Gandharva, Loki.
〈Pandemonium〉 was already at a disadvantage in terms of numbers because Saint Germain was dead.
‘𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘮. 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘪𝘸𝘰𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴.’
Therefore, Merlin summoned the emergency meeting with his resolve.
The dimensional door needed a little more time to open completely.
Until then, he planned to drag this gate incident out lackadaisically and turn the world’s attention elsewhere.
That was also the reason why he had made the gate occurrence area mainly in countries that did not produce ‘Misteltein’.
S-rank reverse gates would not be easily cleared.
In addition, since they had occurred simultaneously, each country would be reluctant to send troops to each other, and in such a situation, ‘Misteltein’ would drag out the meeting and delay the handling of the incident as much as possible to make things worse.
Merlin smiled wickedly and sat in the lounge, waiting for the other members to arrive.
After a while, Baba Yaga entered.
“Oh my, you came early?”
“Since it was an emergency meeting that I proposed, I came quickly and waited.”
“You look busy these days, but I didn’t know you would prepare something like this.”
“Oh, my. Watch your mouth.”
Merlin glared at her and said.
However, the people who would have already gathered and had time to spare were strangely nowhere to be seen.
Merlin frowned as he looked at the clock on the wall.
At that moment, the door opened and several people entered.
Gandharva and Anubis.
And one unwelcome face was mixed in.
“Hunter Min Siwoo. . . . This is an emergency meeting of ‘Misteltein’, so why are you attending?”
Merlin made it clear that he was uncomfortable.
Siwoo looked around at them and greeted them.
“Long time no see, Merlin. And Baba Yaga.”
“Hoohoohoo. It’s been a long time for me too, Hunter Siwoo.”
Baba Yaga smiled seductively, her red lips upturned.
“Is there a reason why you are attending our meeting?”
“Of course. I’m a busy person too.”
“I’m sorry, Hunter Min Siwoo. I’ll take care of your business after the ‘Misteltein’ meeting is over. Isn’t this gate issue urgent right now?”
Siwoo chuckled and shook his head at Merlin’s words.
“Why are you laughing?”
“I don’t think this issue needs a meeting.”
“. . . What are you talking about?”
Merlin glared at him suspiciously and asked.
Siwoo looked back at Merlin innocently, as if it was nothing.
“The other ‘Misteltein’ members have already been dispatched to the gates under my orders.”
“W-What!!”
Merlin jumped up from his seat and glared at Siwoo.
Leave a Reply