The rebels hadn't just sent a commando team of players; they had also deployed key assets like official hunters. Losing a hunter would be a huge blow in the war against the monsters. Were they really not planning to fight them at all?

Gunshots echoed from upstairs. A battle was underway. Without hesitation, I took the stairs.

-Tower Master! It's the fourth floor.

'Okay!'

I immediately ran up to the fourth floor. The gunfire continued. As I sprinted down the hall, I saw the bodies of soldiers in regular army uniforms, shot dead. The moment I rounded a corner, I felt a ghostly presence behind me. I flicked my eyes and saw a gun barrel approaching the back of my head.

The gun fired without hesitation. I threw up a shield to block it and grabbed the hand holding the weapon. I gathered mana in my grip and squeezed. Something like a scream escaped as the gun fell to the floor.

'Shing!'

This time, a blade device in the other hand emitted a fluorescent flash. I quickly moved behind my opponent, pinned their captured wrist behind their back, and slammed them hard against the wall.

'CRASH!'

The wall shook as a pained grunt, 'Keuk!', escaped. Their determination to not let go of the blade and aim for me even then was commendable, but I neutralized it by grabbing their wrist.

<Mana Drain>

I held them in place. I could feel the strength gradually leaving their body. I twisted both of their wrists behind their back and forced them roughly to their knees.

"A rebel hunter. What's your objective for infiltrating this place?"

She remained silent.

"It would be best if you answered cooperative—."

"H-Hunter Kim Yusin?"

What? My eyes widened as I looked at my opponent. When I pulled off their mask, I saw a familiar face.

"……Karim?"

My mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation. She had definitely shot at me first. It was possible she had simply mistaken me for an enemy. But I couldn't let my guard down just yet; there was also a chance she had been a rebel mole from the start.

"I-I have committed a grave sin!"

But her reaction—a flushed, stuttering apology—was… transparent.

"Explain."

"I was chasing a rebel and entered the barracks. I was fighting an enemy in an allied uniform when another person suddenly appeared, and I… I thought you were one of the rebels' official hunters."

Her story was plausible. I let go of her wrists and held up a finger.

"Alright, hands up high."

Knowing she was at fault, she obediently put her hands up.

"Don't lower them without permission."

Leaving her with her hands up, I approached the body of the soldier who had been shot and checked his identity. The name was Masuka.

'Ea. You can easily hack into the Tanzanian regular army's data, right?'

-Affirmative. I have already secured a route. I can access the data network at any time.

'Find this person in the regular army roster.'

-Yes. Searching for the name Masuka. Search complete. Displaying screen.

Ea brought up a screen with Masuka's face. The man in the photo looked nothing like the corpse at my feet—different eyes, different bone structure. This guy was indeed a rebel who had stolen a uniform.

Next, I grabbed my earpiece and switched to the Tanzanian regular army's radio channel. "This is Kim Yusin, rank-3. Requesting Karim, rank-5's most recent report. Over."

'Static. Static.' A moment later, a reply came through.

—"This is HQ. Karim, rank-5, reported she was pursuing rebel soldiers and has infiltrated the central barracks building. Over."

Everything she said was true. I managed a weary smile and turned back to her. Karim was looking at me with an embarrassed expression.

"You can put your arms down now."

Once she had permission, she lowered her arms and said, "……I am sorry. I will accept any punishment."

"It's fine. Things like this can happen in the heat of the moment. Can you stand?"

She nodded and got to her feet.

"Ngh!"

She flinched and hunched over. Looking closely, I saw a gunshot wound on her side. I pulled a red and a blue potion from a pocket in my suit.

"Use these."

"This is……"

"They're called potions. Apply the red one to the wound and drink the blue one. No, wait, I'll pour it for you. Lie down for a second."

She did as she was told and lay on her side. I poured the red potion onto her wound. It sizzled on contact, and she let out a pained, "Ugh!"

"Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine!"

The wound gradually began to heal. She stared at me, her eyes wide with astonishment.

"……Healing?"

"Something like that. Think of it as a healing ability you can bottle. Now, get up and drink the blue one too."

She nodded and drank the blue potion.

"……Wow, mana is building up inside me! Korean hunters use such amazing gear!"

"The day will come when they're supplied in Tanzania, too. Now, let's go."

We moved quickly through the building. We dealt with two more rats in hiding, but that was it. There were signs of battle everywhere, but it seemed the rebels had already fled.

'But……'

The signs of battle were heaviest on the sixth and final floor. Soldiers lay scattered everywhere, bleeding. Their bodies were dismembered, the clean cuts suggesting a hunter's weapon, not bullets. Karim and I stepped over the bodies. The trail of battle ended at a single room.

I gave a hand signal, and Karim nodded, raising her gun. I yanked the doorknob and burst inside.

"……Ah."

A groan escaped my lips at the horrific sight. Karim, who followed me in, even let out a small scream.

A body was pinned to the wall. His arms and legs were spread-eagled, pinned by what looked like stakes, and Julian's greatsword was embedded in his heart. Karim covered her mouth and sank to the floor. With a heavy heart, I activated my earpiece and spoke.

"This is Kim Yusin, rank-3. I've found Commander Julian's body."

* * *

Mtwara was plunged into a pit of chaos. Every soldier in the regular army was mobilized to extinguish the fires raging across the city. The blazes were eventually suppressed, but the armory had burned down, data was lost, and most devastatingly, Commander-in-Chief Julian had been found, a gruesome corpse. Beyond the loss of life and property, the night raid dealt a severe psychological blow to both the soldiers and civilians.

In the end, an emergency meeting of the hunter command was convened in the middle of the night. Karim and I were also in attendance.

"Something unthinkable has happened," the one-eyed, rank-4 hunter, Scorpion, spoke in a weary voice. "Mtwara was breached by a mere night raid, and worse, Commander Julian has fallen. We have suffered a fatal blow, one that goes beyond mere numbers. Above all, the soldiers' morale is in shambles."

A hunter who had been sitting quietly shot to his feet. "The soldiers on duty at that time must be severely punished immediately!"

"I agree! Not just the soldiers, but the hunters in charge of Mtwara's defenses cannot escape responsibility!"

Wayne Jones, who had been sitting blankly and fiddling with his prosthetic arm, suddenly snapped his head up. "Huh? Hey, wait a minute! Why is the conversation going in that direction!"

"When a situation like this occurs, it's only natural to hold the person in charge of defense responsible! Then again, how can someone who spends all their time getting high on drugs possibly command the guard duty? You probably couldn't even see an enemy right in front of you."

"You looking to die right now?!"

'Clatter!'

'CRASH!'

As the two hunters grabbed each other by the collar and reached for their hunting devices, the others scrambled to pull them apart.

"Whoa, whoa, stop, stop!"

Zhang Wei stepped between the two and pushed them apart by the chest. "Punishment is fine and all, but shouldn't we focus on getting the situation under control first, eh fellas?"

"And how do you propose we do that?" Scorpion asked.

"We just do what we've always done. You're torturing the captured rebels, right? That's useless. The higher-ups don't tell them anything important. They're just grunts who were told to set houses on fire, not knowing they were attacking Julian."

"So?"

"Since torture is pointless, let's execute them in the square at dawn. Let's put on a big, grand execution show. We can get the public involved with a thirty-minute stone-throwing session beforehand, then torture them, humiliate them, and make them scream in a public square for all to see. It'll calm the people's anger, provide some entertainment, and instill a strange sense of fear in them to strengthen our control."

"Hey, Zhang Wei," Marta, the rank-4 hunter with a snake coiled around her neck, spoke up. "Have you forgotten we're part of the Global Hunter Alliance forces? Do you think such barbaric acts will be permitted?"

"Come on, madam. We're all about to die here, what good is being part of the Alliance? Does being in the Alliance mean the monsters won't kill us? We're doing this because we have no other choice."

"What do you mean, no choice? Isn't this just to satisfy your own base desires?"

"Oh, that's also correct." Zhang Wei turned his head to look at Karim. "Hey, Karim, rank-5."

"Yes!"

"There are women among the prisoners, right?"

"There are, but……"

"Excellent! I'll personally direct the execution show! You all know it, right? It's an old-fashioned method, impaling them on a stake…."

"This is no time for such talk!" Scorpion roared. "We need to get this situation under control!"

"First, the Mtwara night shift and their commander must take responsibility. That's the priority!" another hunter insisted.

"Ah, damn it! Why do you keep bringing up the commander!" Wayne Jones shot back.

Zhang Wei started spouting strange nonsense, while the two hunters next to him were still grappling. Opinions clashed, and everyone was busy pointing fingers and raising their voices. The two regular army generals attending the meeting seemed to have no intention of stopping them, just letting it happen.

-A total mess, Tower Master.

'Tell me about it.'

With people like this at the top, it was a miracle Tanzania had held out this long. Now that Julian, the only one who could control them, was gone, the situation would only worsen.

I created a magic circle where I sat and formed a first-order Wind Cutter. Then, I released it, spreading the wind around the room.

"Whoa!"

"What was that?"

The sudden gust of wind indoors made everyone jump and look around. I quietly raised my right hand.

"Would it be alright if I said a word?"

I couldn't watch this any longer. I was going to change the tide right now.

* * *

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.