The sky over Seoul turned the color of blood in an instant.
Kang Jina's smartphone, still dusty from the dungeon exit, shrieked to life. Not a single vibration—disaster alert tones burst out in succession, and every hunter nearby snapped their attention to their screens.
[EMERGENCY] Residents near S-rank Gate in Jamsil, Seoul: evacuate immediately.
[ALERT] All B-rank and above hunters in the area are to report to the site immediately.
"S-rank? That's impossible. They said the Jamsil Gate was still well below the critical threshold!"
One of Jina's party members, the tanker, shouted in disbelief. But there was no time for questions. The piercing wail of sirens slicing through the air shook the entire city. A fear like the outbreak of war settled across every face.
"Oppa, what do we do? I'm on the mobilization list."
Jina showed Somyeong her terminal with trembling hands. As a rising star of the White Tiger Guild, the Association had issued a compulsory summons.
Somyeong gazed up at the sky with calm eyes. Far off toward Jamsil, the sky was rippling. A colossal vortex of magical energy, born from the distortion of space, was vivid enough for even civilians to see.
'That's no ordinary break.'
Somyeong's senses, honed through a hundred years in the martial world, sounded an alarm. The energy emanating from beyond the Gate was far more vile and sinister than usual. Sending Jina there alone would be like tossing a rabbit into a wolf's den.
"Jina, you have to go. You're a hunter."
"But you're a civilian, Oppa! It's dangerous here. Get to a shelter, quick!"
Jina shoved Somyeong's shoulder, speaking urgently. But Somyeong did not budge. Instead, he picked up the large supply bag sitting on the ground and slung it over his back.
"Where's your porter going to go? I need to carry your potions and spare weapons."
"Are you out of your mind? That's an S-rank site! Porters don't go there!"
"Under Association regulations, a dedicated porter may accompany a hunter with their consent. And I'm pretty fast on my feet, you know. If it gets dangerous, I'll run."
Somyeong grinned breezily and gave Jina's head a gentle stroke. Jina stared at him, on the verge of tears, but at the shout of an Association official ordering immediate departure, she had no choice but to nod.
***
The Jamsil area was already in chaos.
The eight-lane road was packed with abandoned vehicles and fleeing civilians, and Association and military helicopters crisscrossed the sky without pause. The Gate at the epicenter was cracking in every direction, like a sheet of massive glass about to shatter.
"Establish the defensive line! It's going to rupture in one minute!"
Team Leader Han Minwoo's ringing voice commanded the scene. He gave a brief nod when he spotted the newly arrived Jina.
"Hunter Kang Jina, Right Sector 3. Deploy immediately upon arrival. Who's that beside you?"
"My dedicated porter. I take full responsibility!"
Han Minwoo glanced at Somyeong. He looked just as dim-witted as the day they had met for the investigation. Han Minwoo frowned, but with monsters about to pour out at any second, there was no time for argument.
"If you die, the Association isn't liable. Stay alive on your own."
Before Han Minwoo's words had even faded, the Gate covering the sky detonated.
KWAAAAM—!
Through the fragments of magical energy scattering like glass shards, thousands—tens of thousands—of monsters rained down. Winged pterosaur-type beasts with razor edges, building-tall colossi slamming into the ground.
"Hold the line! Don't let them breach the perimeter!"
Shouts and magical explosions mixed into a cacophony. Jina drew her sword and launched herself at the charging beasts. Her sword aura traced blue arcs through the air, but the sheer number of enemies was overwhelming.
"Haa, haa! There's no end to them!"
Jina gasped, swinging her sword. Fellow hunters around her were taking injuries one by one, being pushed back. A pack of War Wolves over two meters tall encircled Jina and rushed in. Despair flickered in her eyes.
'That should be enough.'
From the rear of the melee, Somyeong lightly stamped his foot.
To onlookers it appeared he was simply dodging a flying piece of debris, but through the sole of his foot, condensed true energy spread through the ground like capillaries.
Rumble.
A low vibration detonated beneath the War Wolves surrounding Jina.
"Khergh—!"
The leg bones of the charging beasts were pulverized in an instant by the inexplicable pressure. As the creatures crumpled, Jina wore a puzzled expression but instinctively seized the opening and struck.
SQUELCH—!
A strike that should have been blocked by tough hide—but Somyeong's preemptive true energy had already neutralized the beasts' defenses. Jina's sword cut through their throats one after another, as if slicing through paper.
"Huh......? Was I always this strong?"
Jina murmured, looking down at her hand. But there was no time for reflection. Wyverns with vast wingspans dove from the sky, breathing fire.
As flames were about to rain on the hunters' heads, Somyeong grabbed a handful of small concrete fragments from the ground. Then, faster than any eye could track, he flicked his fingers.
Divine Finger Flick.
Cutting invisible currents through the air, the fragments pierced the wing joints and foreheads of the wyverns with unerring precision.
"SCREEEE—!"
The hunters cheered as the wyverns plummeted from the sky, detonating on impact.
"Who was that? Who hit those?!"
"No idea! Must have been a spell from the support squad over there!"
People assumed it was luck or incoming support fire, and threw themselves back into the fight. Somyeong adjusted his bag strap in the swirling dust and spoke nonchalantly.
"Jina! Watch out! More coming from the left!"
"Got it! Thanks, Oppa!"
Jina, energized by Somyeong's shout, swung her sword with even greater ferocity. Somyeong had the flow of the battlefield under perfect control.
Whenever Jina was in danger, the ground would shake or the enemies would inexplicably collapse. Whenever other hunters were in peril, fragments from somewhere would strike monster vitals.
Thirty minutes into the battle, the scene—once utter pandemonium—was miraculously stabilizing. Morale soared.
"We held back the first wave of the S-rank break!"
"We did it! We actually did it!"
Wounded hunters propped each other up and slumped to the ground. Jina likewise wiped the sweat from her face and ran over to Somyeong.
"Oppa, did you see? I was incredible just now, right?"
"Absolutely. If not for our Jina, we'd have been in real trouble."
Somyeong greeted her with a warm smile. But his eyes still rested on the crack in the sky—the Gate's true body.
The hunters were cheering, but the energy grazing Somyeong's skin was only just announcing the real beginning.
'The small fry have withdrawn. Now the real thing is coming.'
For the briefest instant, Somyeong's expression sank cold.
A bizarre stillness, as though the surrounding air had frozen, descended without warning. The victory cries that had rung out moments ago were cut short.
The vast crack spanning the sky tore wider with a sound like a scream. From the gap, pitch-black darkness flowed out, and it quickly began to take an enormous shape.
It was on an entirely different dimension from the monsters before. Its mere existence seemed to suck the oxygen from the area.
"What...... is that?"
The radio slipped from Han Minwoo's hand.
Wings of black, spanning hundreds of meters, blotted out the sky. Claws sheathed in scales harder than steel jutted out from the Gate.
When the great dragon—as if embodying the black earth itself—fully revealed itself, every window of every building in the Jamsil area shattered simultaneously under its pressure.
"Everyone...... run."
Someone's despairing words broke the silence.
Jina, too, trembled as she raised her head, sword quaking in her grip. The being before her was beyond what humanity—no, beyond what modern hunters could contend with.
Somyeong quietly wrapped an arm around his trembling sister's shoulder. Then he locked eyes with the great dragon gazing down on them from atop the Gate.
The smile that had lingered on his lips was gone.
"Jina, would you hold my bag for a moment?"
Somyeong asked in a voice slightly lower than usual.
As Jina stared at him blankly, Somyeong took a slow step forward.
It was the moment the dragon, blotting out the sky, opened its jaws to unleash its roar.