Here's an Opportunity-Chapter 216: Arrival (2)

Greater Demon Mammon, the Yuashiel Dimension's most troublesome foe, approached Kim Ki-Rok. Behind him, Intermediate Demons and Greater Demons weaker than Mammon landed with heavy thuds. Some arrived by teleportation, while others descended from the sky.

"Dang nab it!" Kim Ki-Rok said, somewhat lackluster.

The future was never fixed. Even when Kim Ki-Rok repeated his previous Attempts step for step, the results shifted. Sometimes the change favored him, sometimes it did not. This time, both Greater and Intermediate Demons had appeared, and the turn of fate was clearly for the worse.

Not only Greater Demons, but Intermediate Demons as well... This is turning into a headache, Kim Ki-Rok thought to himself.

"Dang nab it..." he Kim Ki-Rok repeated, this time with even less energy.

Some of them had even evolved through continuous growth since the last time he saw them. That made a total of eight Greater Demons and twelve Intermediate Demons. Kim Ki-Rok let out a deep sigh, thinking of how the match had become more dangerous than expected, and slowly raised his head.

Smiling brightly, Kim Ki-Rok walked over to Mammon with a smile on his face. "It has been a while since we last met," Kim Ki-Rok said to him.

"You're here early," Mammon replied.

"Isn't it better to be early?"

The Greater Demon let out a short laugh and turned his head to look at the other fifty-two Hunters. "Are these people you've prepared?"

"That's right."

"They won't be enough, though..."

"We will reinforce them before the battle begins. We'll use magic, skills, and a meal imbued with the power of skills. Finally, we will invoke a holy edict that won't interfere with existing buffs."

"How much stronger will they become?" Mammon asked, now a bit curious.

"Three times stronger!"

Mammon looked over the Hunters again. They flinched under the Greater Demon's presence, then steadied and met his gaze.

"It won't suffice," Mammon said matter-of-factly.

"And... we've prepared something," Kim Ki-Rok revealed.

"Prepared something?"

"Yes. It's a secret."

"Is that so?" Mammon's mouth curled into a devious smile.

Returning the smile, he replied, "That's right."

"What format will the match take?"

"Let's see. The widest open ground is the wasteland, so we'll fight there."

"The wasteland, then."

"As for the format, the matches will happen simultaneously."

"Simultaneously?"

The other Demons, who had been choosing their prey, suddenly turned to Kim Ki-Rok.

"Yes. We'll spread out across the wasteland and fight. All matches at once."

"This is because of the power you're hiding," Mammon said.

"Of course."

"Interesting..." a female Greater Demon murmured.

The other Demons nodded as well, as if they had the same thought.

Unfazed by the demons' stare, Kim Ki-Rok continued explaining, "They may lack experience, but with reinforcement their physical abilities and mana will match a Greater Demon."

The Greater Demons nodded, knowing a threefold boost would make that possible.

"That's why I'll divide the team. Intermediate Demons will fight one-on-one with our Hunters."

"Right, since you said their strength would match a Greater Demon," one of the Intermediate Demons replied.

They accepted Kim Ki-Rok's terms right away because they understood the power of the Greater Demons.

"How many for a Greater Demon?" Mammon asked.

"Five each."

"And the last Hunter?"

"Six will face you, Lord Mammon."

"Six, huh..."

"I'm among the six."

"Oh? And Guardian?"

"I will use it."

Kim Ki-Rok nodded. "I will use it."

"Guardian and the power you are hiding, huh..."

Mammon liked that.

"Guardian and the power you're hiding... I like it." He paused before asking one final question, "When will our duel take place?"

"In two days. We need thorough preparations, so please block the Undead, monsters, and Black Wizards."

"Understood."

The demons had been waiting for this duel for a long time. Mammon gladly accepted, not wanting their fun to be spoiled by the inadequate monsters, Undead, and Black Wizards.

"Then, to sum it up, it will take place two days from now at 10 a.m. in the wasteland. Intermediate Demons face one Hunter each, and Greater Demons face five at once."

After seeing the demons all nod, Kim Ki-Rok took a step back, bowed, and said, "See you then."

***

The fifty-three Hunters invading the Black Kingdom were not the only ones on the move. Realizing his mistake, High-Circle Black Wizard Yoost headed for the wasteland and ordered all his forces to attack the Continental Alliance.

"Death Knight on the third wall!"

"Dullahan and Chimera on wall eleven!"

In the Continental Alliance's western border city, the strategists' department, known to Hunters as C2—short for command and control center—was extremely busy. Some monitored the battle through communication orbs, others shifted markers across maps of the city and surrounding region to coordinate operations, and still others bypassed the wall knights and commanders to report directly to Alliance headquarters and request reinforcements.

"Wall eleven! Death Knight sighted!"

"They're trying to break through there!"

The city gate was located right below the eleventh and twelfth wall.

"After taking wall eleven, they want to immediately take over wall twelve, safely move the monsters climbing the wall, and then open the gate," one of the strategists said.

They were likely right. The force attacking the western border city was not Undead and monsters alone. Black Wizards led the assault, driving Undead and monsters under their command.

"Send Hunters to support wall eleven."

The strategist, having assessed the situation, radioed the rear unit, "But there are only twenty Hunters currently waiting behind the lines!"

One of the strategists was moving a marker across the map as he shouted, "Wall seven has more than enough units! We drafted about ten from that wall to defend the rear unit!"

"Yes, sir!"

A total of thirty Hunters were sent to reclaim wall eleven, but it still wouldn't be enough. The strategist who had ordered the reinforcements judged the force insufficient and studied the map again. Dozens of pawns, rooks, bishops, and knights crowded the board.

An hour earlier, C2 had been informed that a famous Hunter was on the way to the western border city. When one strategist spotted a lone queen among the pieces, they called everyone to attention.

"This is the third wall! Requesting support from the Shine Guild."

***

After the Patera Dimension, the next task was bringing peace to Yuashiel. When Kim Ki-Rok declared there would be a great war and promised that subjugating the Greater Demon and Black Wizards would earn a reward from Yuashiel's god, Lee Yeon-Hwa chose to join the fight with her guild members.

"Hoo!"

After cutting down the S-Class Chimera, Lee Yeon-Hwa turned her head beyond the wall. What seemed like tens of thousands of monsters were charging toward them, with the Undead among their ranks.

"Was the Patera Dimension like this, too?" she asked one of the Hunters.

"No. This place is more dangerous, at least in terms of the number of monsters."

"Is that so?"

Due to the absence of S-Class Hunters, there was a possibility that Awakened criminals would make a move. Therefore, by the requests of the Hunters Association and the government, Lee Yeon-Hwa of the Shine Guild hadn't participated in Patera Gate clear.

She ran forward again and attacked the monster that had just landed on top of the castle wall.

"What a shame," she muttered mid-combat.

If she had known that Kim Ki-Rok would invest the rewards from the Patera Dimension to clear the Yuashiel Dimension, she would have gone as far as to go into debt to switch places with Ji Seok-Hyun of the Phoenix Guild.

"Next time..."

"Yes," replied the assisting guild member who had just become S-Class.

Lee Yeon-Hwa said with a smile on her lips, "Next time, let's join any Gate clear Guildmaster Kim Ki-Rok is in."

***

Officially, only fifty-three Hunters had invaded the Black Kingdom. Unofficially, many more had slipped inside. A vampire unit, a Beastfolk unit, and an intelligence unit had each been given separate missions. Once the fifty-three Hunters acted as bait and moved with a single purpose, the others began executing their own tasks.

"Mister, please be careful," Kim Ji-Hee addressed one of her spirits. "Ah, maybe that's not the right thing to say?"

"Hahaha. Yes. Miss, you be careful too."

She smiled gently as she helped the middle-aged man, or rather a spirit, move on. She then let out a deep sigh and turned around.

"Oh dear."

The gathered spirits ranged from those who had resisted the Black Wizards to those who had surrendered. Kim Ji-Hee had expected to meet spirits, but not in such overwhelming numbers. Even as many were drawn to her power, she only smiled.

"Should we take a break?" Seo Lee-Ha, an S-Class Hunter who controlled shadows, asked Kim Ji-Hee.

"No. It starts in two days, right?" Kim Ji-Hee asked.

Whether they were victorious or not, the Black Wizards would make their move when the battle with the Demon ended. So she had to help as many spirits move on as possible.

"But... I won't be able to help everyone here."

When Kim Ji-Hee offered a pained smile, Seo Lee-Ha quickly stepped forward and gently patted her head in silence. Had the Temple Alliance been present, they could have aided all the spirits. Since using sacred power would draw demons, however, they could not take part in this operation.

Kim Ji-Hee, feeling the gazes of the spirits looking at her, drew a bright smile again. "Ah, how is Ji-Yeon unni doing?" she asked Seo Lee-Ha.

"She said she is doing fine. She said it might not be possible to help everyone, but it should be possible."

"Phew! That's a relief."

***

Elemental magic, though weaker than sacred power, also carried blessings and could send spirits to rest by force. But Lee Ji-Yeon chose not to. Forcing them risked drawing the attention of Black Wizards, their Undead, and even demons, since they were so close to the capital.

"This is called a spirit mana stone," Lee Ji-Yeon explained. "I will summon you from it in three days. You're familiar with the Temple Alliance, or the Priestess of Spirits, right?"

"I am," the spirit replied.

The people of the Yuashiel Dimension knew Kim Ji-Hee by many names: Priestess of Spirits, Saintess of Spirits, even "little angel guiding the dead." Remembering how she would kick her blankets in embarrassment whenever she heard them, Lee Ji-Yeon struggled to keep a straight face.

Since moving on their own risked discovery, she used the Elementals' help to gather the spirits wandering around the capital.

"With the aid of the Temple Alliance and the Priestess of Spirits, I will resolve your final regrets. So please remain in the spirit mana stone for three days."

An old man in a knight's uniform slowly raised his hand. "I will ask just one thing."

"Please," Lee Ji-Yeon said.

"Can you win?"

"Of course. We will win," she replied with confidence, certain they would bring peace to the continent once the demons and Black Wizards were defeated.

The old knight sighed deeply. "I wanted to see the death of the demons myself... the death of the Black Wizards... but I suppose it can't be helped."

There was a risk that the spirits might be forcibly controlled by the Black Wizards. So, although it was very disappointing and annoying, they had no other choice.

"I understand. If I must be confined for three days, I'll endure it for the greater cause," the knight spirit said.

"Uh... then, I'll proceed with the Elemental Contract."

His eyes widened. "Hmm? Elemental Contract?"

Just as wizards had the Mana's Oath, Elementalists had the Elemental Contract. That was why Kim Ki-Rok had sent Lee Ji-Yeon to persuade the spirits, assuring them that even if sealed in the spirit mana stone, they would be released once the war ended.

The old knight slowly opened his mouth, "An Elemental Contract... would not be necessary."

"Excuse me?"

"Did you not say your name was Lee Ji-Yeon?"

She nodded, uncertain where this was going.

"And you belong to the DG Guild," he asked further.

"Yes?"

"So I can trust you. I hesitated only because I wouldn't be able to witness the death of my enemy. The others here share my sentiment."

Lee Ji-Yeon blinked. "Uh..."

The old knight let out a small laugh and said, "The name Lee Ji-Yeon is enough. You are known as the Flame Witch in the Black Kingdom, and Princess of the Flames among the Continental Alliance."

Just as Kim Ji-Hee had her titles, Lee Ji-Yeon also bore a nickname that made her want to kick her blanket in embarrassment.

As her face flushed bright red, the old knight and the other spirits laughed for a brief moment, then moved into the spirit mana stone.