Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 61
Chapter 61: Episode 17. The 15-Day War (1)
The place was Rock Creek Park, Washington.
A great number of monsters came out from the dungeon’s entrance, which covered an area of 2.25 square miles.
Hundreds of Arachnes, which were spider-like intermediate monsters at Level 2, and their lords, Arachne Queens, who were Level-3 monsters, came out.
Their sizes were exceptionally large compared to normal spiders.
Every single one of them was larger than seven feet. Furthermore, Arachne Queens were twice as large as regular Arachnes.
When Arachnes moved their eight attractive legs, nearby soldiers started to become nervous.
The Monster Wave that took place in Korea was unprecedentedly disastrous. The United States, in the case of such a wave, had stationed a large portion of their military forces near the dungeon.
They were well-prepared for the battle.
“Fire at will!” Soldiers picked up their guns and shot Arachnes at once.
Tens of thousands of bullets merely touched Arachnes’ skin and fell to the ground.
Had Arachnes been low-level monsters, the bullets could have penetrated their skin. However, they were intermediate-level monsters, so their skin was impenetrable.
Boom!
Claymore mines that had been buried in advance exploded simultaneously, shaking the ground. The mines were much more powerful than bullets were, and they did some damage.
Screech!
Such an unforeseen attack destroyed the legs and bodies of several Arachnes, which then fell to the ground right away. Then snipers fired their rifles, showering bullets on the Arachnes’ eyes. The blinded Arachnes became helpless while tanks poured rounds on them.
Chaos was the best word to describe the scene.
In the center of the battlefield were the Arachne Queens, who were busily moving their nerve bundles and awakening all of their senses.
Soon, the queens sent out commanding hormones that were intangible and odorless. The Arachnes, who had been confused, sniffed the hormones and discovered the locations of the remaining claymore mines using the sensory organs at the tips of their feet.
Dodging mines confidently, the giant spiders marched forward, then they spouted bunches of sliver thread from their small breasts.
“Argh!”
“Ahh, my skin! My skin!”
Anything that the thread touched melted.
The thread contained a very strong acid that could melt everything from a human body to the metal armor of a tank.
Arachnes approached humans very quickly, at about 50 miles per hour. Then using their powerful jaws, the spiders bit soldiers’ heads or other parts of bodies off and spat them out.
Their forelegs were also formidable weapons. Their blade-sharp legs ripped into soldiers’ fragile bodies.
“Request for fire support, Alpha Charlie 221, Bravo Delta 445 location, combating about two hundred monsters. Request for close-range air support.”
As soon as the request was sent, hundreds of fighter jets that had been stationed nearby were dispatched.
It took about three minutes for the fighters to reach the entrance of the dungeon.
Boom! Boom! Boom, boom!
The fighters, flying at a low altitude, opened fire. The rounds, which could easily penetrate alloy plates, fell upon the Arachnes.
The air support halted tens of Arachnes momentarily. The creatures reacted quickly and emitted their thread. However, the threads didn’t reach the fighters.
The queens stared at the fighters while moving their eight legs and eyes. Screeching, the queens sent out more command hormones to the Arachnes. Soon, all the Arachnes bent their legs like springs.
In the blink of an eye, they then jumped up. The spiders soared hundred times higher than their heights.
Boom!
One Arachne landed on top of a fighter jet. Using its forelegs, the spider penetrated the window and killed the pilot instantly.
It was now late evening in London, England, and everyone had fallen asleep.
A Monster Wave had broken out while no one noticed.
Clank, clank.
Two “Shadow Sinners,” who were high-level monsters at Level 3, were moving, sweeping the floor. Their legs were cuffed with iron harnesses.
Zoom—
Behind them were about a hundred Shades following along the moonlight.
In Bern, Switzerland, hundreds of animals gathered at the center of the dilapidated downtown.
“Huff, huff…” There stood Chimeras, which were a Level-3 intermediate monster with the legs of a wolf, the body of a lion, and the face of a dog!
About three hundred Chimeras were carrying corpses in their jaws in the center of downtown, which was now burning.
When all the Chimeras gathered, they ate the corpses as though they were enjoying a feast.
Monster Waves were breaking out in so many places around the world, including Athens in Greece, Copenhagen in Demark, Lima in Peru, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Ankara in Turkey, and more.
The waves were, indeed, catastrophic.
Monsters had humiliated the entirety of mankind and their dignity.
The intensities of Monster Waves were different in different countries, and so were the damages.
Even countries that had boasted strong military forces and powerful weapons could not stand the waves. They needed awakened heroes.
In the face of such a disaster, people wanted heroes. In response to their hopes, the awakening heroes started to move.
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The second wave that broke out in Korea was considered the most disastrous.
The catastrophe reminded people of the Devil Hunter attack unit. In particular, people were interested in their unknown attack unit leader.
Not only people in Korea, but also the people in power around the world, were monitoring Korea. It was the first time that the master of the dungeon himself appeared in front of the public. Other events related to the dungeon master also became hot issues.
At first, the attention had stemmed from curiosity. However, as Monster Waves progressed simultaneously in different places around the world, the curiosity turned into desperation, and many countries asked for help from the Devil Hunter attack unit.
To be precise, they requested help from the Devil Hunter attack unit’s leader.
The militaries could eliminate all monsters but high-level ones, while the unit leader had defeated a Golem, a high-level monster, single-handedly in the past. As a result, the leaders were placing their hopes on the unit leader.
Furthermore, the awakened heroes, who were very proud and often didn’t discuss who was the strongest among them, openly praised the unit leader of the Devil Hunter attack unit as the best.
There he was, Kim Yongwoo the guild master, who couldn’t help but ponder about the requests that the guild received.
The official requests had been forwarded to the Devil Hunter attack unit itself, but Kim Yongwoo could read between the lines.
There was a big problem: the host of the show was absent.
‘I cannot delay my response indefinitely. The government is also putting a lot of pressure on this matter.’ Kim Yongwoo had kept his phone turned off for the last few days.
Extremely powerful and important people had been calling him very frequently, and they were giving him a hard time.
He had been very stressed, because he couldn’t actually accept any of the offers or requests. He had grown a few white hairs in a matter of days.
Out of stress and anxiety, Kim Yongwoo bit his lip and chewed on his fingernails. ‘This issue is too important for me to make a decision alone. How can we ever combat a high-level monster?’
High-level monsters were the culprits.
Any military force could deal with monsters up to the intermediate level, even though the situation could change depending on the number of monsters. However, when it came to high monsters, there was literally no way that the militaries could defeat them.
Nuclear weapons were the only option to eliminate these monsters. Unfortunately, all of the dungeons were located in the centers of capitals, which made the use of nuclear weapons impossible.
The awakened heroes were also not fully prepared yet. In order to combat one high monster, it would require at least two hundred well-trained awakened heroes.
Even if the entire Guild of Heaven’s Will was deployed, they could only manage one high monster together. And that wasn’t even a sure thing. It was a fifty-fifty bet.
No wonder Kim Yongwoo had been so stressed out and even had wrinkles.
He couldn’t take any action, so he remained stuck in his office.
Boom! The door opened and the man whom Kim Yongwoo had dreamed of so dearly appeared.
Upon seeing the face of his guest, all the energy in Kim Yongwoo’s legs drained out of relief.
He fell to the floor and raised both of his hands. “Oh… my Master!”
I frowned when I saw Kim Yongwoo’s greeting.
I felt as though there was a bug crawling over my body.
“Tell me who exactly sent the request for help.”
Kim Yongwoo widened his eyes as soon as I finished speaking.
Although I hadn’t thoroughly explained everything, Kim Yongwoo was quick to understand the gist of what I said.
From his previous experiences, he knew that I wouldn’t take any complaints. Rather, I would work right away and be efficient, not wasting any time.
Kim Yongwoo stood up from his seat.
“Hmm. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. These three countries have sent requests.”
“The US, the UK, and Switzerland…”
“It would be most beneficial for us to accept the request from the US.”
“I make the decisions,” I stated firmly.
Kim Yongwoo quietly closed his mouth.
‘The Duke resides in all three of these places.’
It was particularly interesting that the Duke’s dungeons were found in all three countries. Had there been Monster Waves in those dungeons, they would have been big ones.
The Duke had accumulated data about the firepower of humans’ weapons. Based on these experiences, he must have sent out monsters that could withstand firepower.
‘At this stage, it’d be wise to avoid confronting Ariel as much as possible.’
The Duke that started the Monster Wave in the United States followed Archduke Ariel.
Ariel had some connections with Demons in her previous life. On top of that, they had built strong relationships with each other. Furthermore, the demons under Ariel’s command were very tenacious.
If I attacked them, they would investigate to the ends of the Earth and eventually find that I had ruined their Monster Wave, then reveal my identity.
Even if it was revealed, it would be possible to get rid of a Duke easily. However, if I did so, Archduke Ariel would find out and ruin my plan. I needed to expand my influence, and Ariel would be a great hindrance.
It wasn’t a good move.
It was smarter to postpone attacking Archduke Ariel and her Demons.
‘The Duke living in the UK was Sugoof. Sugoof Valhula, the demon from Archduke Ufa’s group.’
I thought about Archduke Ufa.
Our paths had crossed so often.
I tilted my head for a moment. ‘Were Ufa’s demons banned from the Auction of Devildom? Then they wouldn’t have had to start any Monster Waves.’
Rubbing my jaw, I wondered about the reason and soon figured out the reason. ‘He made everything Fagan’s fault. Ufa is indisputably very sly.’
If I assumed that Ufa had made Fagan Grewoolly the culprit for all of the incidents on that day during the Auction of Devildom, everything made sense. Groggy alone couldn’t have taken on everything. If it was Fagan, the Duke of Tego, everyone would believe Ufa.
As a result, Fagan Grewoolly, who had merely followed his master’s orders and tried to stop me, became the scapegoat.
He should have chosen a better master, so I didn’t sympathize with him.
After putting my thoughts together, I spoke again. “The Devil Hunter attack unit is going to the UK. Get ready right now.”
Fagan Grewoolly, who used to be one of Archduke Ufa’s three wings, had fallen. Ufa himself abandoned Fagan.
One of the two remaining, I planned to take down myself.
Archduke Ufa must have deployed his dungeon’s best monsters. If I could get rid of them, it would take a lot of time and effort for Ufa to recover. Furthermore, if he received that much damage, he would surely fall behind.
At the same time, I became very curious.
If Ufa lost everything besides one wing, a subordinate, would he be able to still fly?
The Devil Hunter attack unit rented an airplane, and the entire unit went abroad.
As soon as the Devil Hunter attackers accepted the request, the UK gifted us a whole plane.
Such a quick response implied that it was very urgent. However, I was quite impressed by their readiness and the fact that they had prepared an airplane in advance even though they weren’t sure if I would accept their request before.
It took exactly eight hours and another half an hour to reach Heathrow Airport in London. We touched down four hours faster than usual flights.
The dungeon was located about 12 miles away from the airport.
After arriving at Heathrow Airport, the Devil Hunter attack unit donned black skull masks, the symbol of our unit, and climbed off board.
The British ambassador, standing under the plane, greeted us, “Welcome, heroes of Korea.”
Instead of shaking hands, I went right to the point. “Where are the monsters that we need to take care of?”