'Fwoosh!'

The transformation began. A monstrous shell started to cover Yoonjeong's pale skin. Mana swirled and bloomed from the horns on her head.

"Ack…! Ugh!" It wasn't her usual clear voice but the corrupted rasp of a demonkin.

Marcello and Menes waited without so much as blinking.

"Ughhh! Ahk! Aaaaaaaah!"

Thrashing violently, she glared with eyes that had turned blood-red. Violet magic erupted, shattering the ground and surging around her.

'Whoooosh!'

This was not good. After twisting in agony, her movements abruptly ceased. Hunched over and motionless, only her head creaked around to face me, her features now completely transformed into those of a demonkin.

She straightened her upper body and slowly raised her right arm toward me.

"Hey, get back!" Menes shouted.

"Hunter Kim!" Marcello yelled.

Just as they were about to rush forward.

"See? I told you I could do it," Yoonjeong's distorted voice rasped as she made a V-sign with her right hand.

The two of them stared at her, dumbfounded. I let out a soft laugh and pressed a hand to my forehead. 'That's Yoonjeong for you.'

"…Impossible. Are you truly maintaining your consciousness?" Marcello asked, bewildered.

"Yes, of course. I can feel everything about this Disaster now. And..." She spread her arms wide, stirring her magic power. The monsters that had been climbing the fortress walls froze in unison. "I can control everything within this Disaster."

Menes scoffed. "Insane."

Marcello shook his head, a dazed look on his face. "…The world truly is a vast place."

Yoonjeong closed her eyes again and focused.

"Sixty-two gates leading from this Disaster to Earth have been confirmed. I'm closing them all."

Yoonjeong's mana flowed down her legs and touched the ground. Like a drop of ink on a white canvas, her power surged across the surface of the Disaster, expanding rapidly as if to envelop the entire world.

A murmur rippled through the hunters.

They stopped fighting the now-frozen monsters and stared at her, their expressions filled with awe. Every eye was fixed on Yoonjeong.

It was a chilling sight.

-Tower Master! Classic Gates are shrinking in Malaysia and Vietnam! Another case was just reported in China!

This was nothing short of a miracle. A non-combat player, once scorned by all, was accomplishing something no hunter had ever managed before. She was landing a solid punch right in the face of fate itself.

-Tower Master! The gate-shrinking phenomenon is now occurring simultaneously in twelve countries! The monsters' aggression has also dropped significantly!

Good. Just a little longer.

"…My God."

"Lord have mercy."

"The demonkin is really on our side— Kegh!"

But once again, it wasn't that simple.

'Scriieee!'

Things were never that easy. The eyes of the monsters, frozen by her command, began to glow as they stirred back to life. They lunged forward, one of them piercing the chest of a Gravekeeper.

'Krawr!'

Marcello grabbed his radio. "What's happening?"

"The monsters that were stopped have resumed their assault! Their aggression has intensified!"

'What? Why all of a sudden?'

Just then, Ea's voice echoed in my head.

-Presumably, her control over the monsters has weakened as she focuses on closing the gates.

That was the most likely possibility. But what if it wasn't? Could the Disaster, sensing a crisis, no longer recognize her as its master and now consider her a traitor to be attacked?

"Block them! Block them!"

"Defend the sand walls at all costs!"

A melee erupted. Below the sand walls, the black creatures were so numerous they were piling up like mountains of corpses. Menes personally manipulated the sand of the walls, preventing them from climbing higher.

-Tower Master! All monsters that were scattered throughout the Disaster are now converging on Yoonjeong Han's location!

As Yoonjeong fought back against her fate, these chain reactions kept erupting. Not only had their aggression intensified, but they were all gathering here?

'Krieee!'

To make matters worse, monsters that could leap over the walls began to appear. Flying creatures soared directly over the ramparts, making a beeline for Yoonjeong.

"We're changing tactics!" Marcello commanded, quickly altering his troop deployment. He divided his forces into a Wall Team and an Escort Team. The Wall Team would focus solely on defending the walls as they had been, while the Escort Team would handle the aerial monsters and any that jumped over to attack Yoonjeong.

"Sorry! Three got through!"

"Escort Team, move!"

The monsters targeted Yoonjeong with a desperation that suggested their lives depended on it. Marcello, Menes, and I were all fighting, drenched in blood.

"The front line is breaking!"

"Wounded at eight o'clock! We need support!"

"Three Holy Knights, move!"

As the crisis deepened, the Holy Knights and Gravekeepers fought back-to-back, their rivalry forgotten. I, too, was continuously firing Fire Cannons, striking down monsters on the ground and in the sky.

"Persistent bastards," I muttered.

Of course, the one who shone brightest in this large-scale battle was Menes. The Pharaoh was a force of nature. As she swung her staff, sand nooses materialized in the air, simultaneously snatching and tightening around the necks of over ten monsters. The creatures struggled against the nooses before going limp. Her swift and efficient dispatch was truly impressive.

"Pharaoh! A massive one is coming!"

"I know!" Menes extended her arm, and a sand rope formed instantly in the air, tightly binding the body of a giant monster. As she clenched her fist, the monster's body trembled under the immense pressure before it was crushed by the rope, its flesh tearing apart as it exploded in a shower of crimson blood and organs.

The moment Menes lowered her arm to catch her breath…

A dagger pierced her back.

"…Agh!"

Marcello's arm, holding the dagger, trembled. In that split second, Menes had instinctively raised a wall of sand to grab the dagger's hilt. The blade stopped, only a third of its length embedded in her flesh.

Menes turned, her face contorted with rage. "How dare you!"

She opened her palm. A sand noose formed around Marcello's neck, squeezing it tight.

"Ack!" Marcello gasped, one hand clawing at the noose. But he did not let go of the dagger. "Di—"

A black light flashed. In an instant, I leaped between them, rotating my torso and extending my right leg. The sole of my shoe slammed into Menes's defenseless face.

<Devastar>

'CRASH!'

The downward force of the impact sent her body crashing through the floor.

"Now!" I shouted.

Freed as the sand noose dissipated, Marcello gritted his teeth and poured all his strength into the dagger. Finally, the entire blade sank deep into Menes's body.

* * *

I had only recently realized that Pharaoh Menes was Armin Walter. I could see status windows, but that alone wasn't enough to identify him. There was something else, something suspicious. Her traits were different.

[Sensory Amplification Lv3], [Chain of Greed Lv1], [Obsession Lv1]

When I faced her at the cafe, Menes possessed new Personal Traits I had never seen before—the kind that develop based on an individual's personality and values. Unless someone's character changed drastically overnight, dispositional traits like 'Greed' or 'Obsession' were difficult to acquire in such a short time.

With a growing certainty, I decided to change my initial plan. After the meeting, I secretly called Marcello aside. As I explained my theory, he seemed to have a realization of his own and began to meticulously analyze Armin Walter's past actions and words.

"His memory is fine, but the details are certainly lacking," Marcello had said. "The Pharaoh has never called me by my name. The words like 'bug' or 'cockroach' lived on her lips."

It seemed Marcello was also convinced. But Walter was now the Pharaoh, leader of the Gravekeepers, and his forces were on par with the Holy Knights. The Korean hunters were too busy defending against the Disaster to help, and requesting reinforcements from the Vatican would take too long. Persuading the other Gravekeepers was also out of the question. To the people of Egypt, the Pharaoh was an absolute, god-like being. It was unthinkable for them to believe the words of an enemy and attack their own god.

In the end, we had to make do with the forces we had.

"First, we need to separate Armin Walter from the Gravekeepers, using any excuse we can."

So, we made Yoonjeong's plan the main event and entered the Disaster ourselves, establishing a base in a location vulnerable to monster attacks. There were a few variables when Yoonjeong used her ability, but as planned, a fierce attack broke out.

Marcello and I fought the monsters, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When Walter used a major technique, Marcello made his move, stabbing him with the 'Soul Dagger'—a secret artifact he had prepared for this very hunt.

Walter, with his 'Sensory Amplification' trait, narrowly blocked it, but I was already moving to provide support.

In the end, Marcello succeeded in driving the Soul Dagger home.

"Gaaah! Aaargh!"

And now Menes—no, Armin Walter—was in this state, drooling and clawing at his body in agony. The Soul Dagger was an artifact that pierced intangible foes. He was trying desperately to pull it out, but it was useless. That weapon wasn't simply embedded in the body; it was impossible to remove by force alone.

"Gaaaaaaaaah!" Walter roared, and a fierce sandstorm erupted from his flailing hands, pushing us back. The Pharaoh's power was formidable; the immense wind pressure made it impossible to get close.

While we were forced back, he started running toward Yoonjeong, who was still concentrating on closing the gates with her eyes shut.

"The Pharaoh has been attacked!"

"They betrayed—! Ugh!"

The first thing Marcello did was unleash his divine power to instantly knock out the witnesses. Fortunately, in the chaos of battle, the other Gravekeepers hadn't noticed yet.

I activated Deva's Eye and peered into the sandstorm.

"Aaaaaaaah!" Screaming in agony, Armin Walter ran and reached for the defenseless Yoonjeong's head.

His palm touched her head. Just like that time, her soul began to be pulled from her body.

"Yoonjeong. Just remember this one thing."

'As always, my instructions were simple. I gave her a single order.'

"If we can't stop him and Armin Walter gets to you, he'll definitely try to use his ability. When that happens, don't resist. Just accept it."

"What?"

"Just keep that in mind."

'Fwoosh!'

Before anyone could stop it, Yoonjeong's soul was sucked into Pharaoh Menes's body. Then, Armin Walter's soul moved into Yoonjeong's empty vessel, and both of them collapsed.

'Now!'

I used Devastar to break through the sandstorm, wrap my arm around Menes's limp waist, and escape with her.

A moment later, the sandstorm subsided. Yoonjeong, who had been lying sprawled on the ground, snapped her eyes open.

"…Heh. Heheheheh! Heheheheheh!" A chilling sound escaped from Yoonjeon—no, Armin Walter's—lips. "I have waited a long time for this moment!"

Ignoring his triumphant nonsense, I checked Menes's pulse. She was unconscious, but thankfully, still breathing. I slowly rose to my feet and turned to face Armin Walter.

'Ea. Status?'

-Fifty-nine of the sixty-two gates have been closed. The remaining ones are the Gunsan gate you passed through, one in Nagoya, Japan, and one in New Delhi, India.

That was enough. This was a miraculous achievement. Yoonjeong had done more than enough.

"Thank you, you idiots!" Armin Walter cried out in joy. "After decades of wandering, I have finally found the perfect vessel with one hundred percent stability! Now I no longer need to bother transferring to other bodies!"

"That's right," I said, extending my right arm and aiming it directly at him. "You won't need to transfer anymore."

Responding to my magic, the magic circles carved into her body all began to glow.

"What in the...?!"

I had planted a bomb in the body of my closest friend. Five fourth-order Explosion magic circles.

"Disappear along with the Disaster, you murderer."

I clenched my fist.

* * *

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