Magic Monopoly: Reborn as the Sole Magic Tower Master-Chapter 209: Episode

Episode 209

After beating Blackjack to a pulp, Yusin resumed his pursuit of Frost.

He took an emergency elevator to the upper floors, then climbed the stairs all the way to the rooftop terrace.

When he opened the door, a wide-open outdoor space spread out before him. The rooftop had been converted into a park, and sunglass-clad security guards were patrolling the area.

“Keep up the good work.”

Yusin waved casually and tried to walk past as if nothing were wrong.

“H-He’s the Archmage!”

“Stop him!”

The guards recognized Yusin immediately, and a hail of bullets erupted.

With a sigh, Yusin raised a shield in front of him.

“I don’t have time for this. Let’s just wipe them out and get this over with.”

—Yes, Tower Master.

Rapid Arrows of Counterattack materialized behind him.

The guards were powerless against the golden arrows whistling through the air, forced to either hide or flee.

Maintaining the spell, Yusin strode unhurriedly through the storm of bullets and arrows.

’No hunters?’

The fact that the final floor’s security consisted of regular guards told him everything he needed to know.

Most of the real fighters had clearly gone to stop Hong Yul.

“Aaaah!”

A guard charged him with a baton, but Yusin didn’t even glance his way. A casual swing of his arm crushed the man’s face, and Yusin continued across the terrace without breaking stride.

’A helicopter?’

He spotted a mana-powered helicopter on the helipad at the edge of the roof.

Just from a glance, he could tell it was a cutting-edge model: heavily armed, with rotors that were almost silent. Frost was climbing aboard.

“Frost!” Yusin shouted. “The great Association President is so scared of a single third-class hunter that he’s running away? Fight me like a man!”

Frost’s expression only hardened. He didn’t answer, merely repeating his order for the pilot to take off.

’Tch, he’s not the type to respond to taunts. How do I stop him?’

—Helicopter model search complete.

Ea’s voice rang in his head.

—The armor is a new composite material mixed with metal from another world. It will be difficult to penetrate with second- or sixth-order spells. I estimate you will need at least a fourth-order Prometheus.

’Got it. Let’s prep a fourth-order, then.’

Just as Yusin began to prepare his spell, the rooftop floor began to crack apart at a terrifying speed. He let his mana dissipate and smiled.

“She’s here.”

A moment later, with an explosive roar, a red-haired woman tore through the concrete floor and burst into view.

“Kya-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Hong Yul, her entire body drenched in enemy blood, laughed wildly as she drew back her fist.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

She punched the empty air.

The shockwave alone sent the armored helicopter spinning with a deafening shriek of metal, slamming it into the terrace floor.

The helicopter skidded for dozens of meters before finally coming to a stop, hanging precariously over the edge of the terrace railing.

“Aghh!”

A moment later, Frost smashed the helicopter door open and crawled out, blood streaming down his forehead.

“Hi there.”

Hong Yul waved. In her left hand, she was gripping someone by the scruff of the neck.

“Got you a present.”

She flung the person aside. The body rolled across the floor and came to a stop at Frost’s feet: it was Thunder Emperor Han Jeonwoo, covered in blood.

“You thought you could hold me back with this? I’m honestly offended you’d underestimate me that much.”

She licked her lips with the tip of her tongue and spoke in a sultry voice. Frost’s shoulders trembled with fear.

“...So you really are alive.”

“Yeah. When I was buried in that cave, I considered just dying... but I was way too pissed off for that.”

She cracked her knuckles with a murderous look.

“I swore I’d at least beat you into a dried-up jerky before I kicked the bucket.”

“...How did you escape the dungeon?”

“Thanks to my adorable kid over there.”

She pointed a finger at Yusin.

As everyone’s eyes turned toward him, Yusin gave a faint smile and a little wave. Watching this, Frost bit down hard on his lip. He really should have made sure Yusin disappeared in Russia, no matter what it took.

“Anyway, enough small talk.”

Hong Yul clapped her hands together and looked at Frost.

“Now it’s time to pay you back for everything I went through. The interest is going to be steep. You ready?”

“My apologies.”

Frost raised his hand.

“But I’ll have to decline.”

The sound of something fracturing made Hong Yul turn her head.

Civilians were frozen in ice, only their faces visible.

“Please save us! Please!”

“Mom, Mom!”

There were children and parents, and even a few high schoolers in uniform. It looked like they had been enjoying drinks at the rooftop café when Frost grabbed them and turned them into hostages.

“You’re really going for broke.”

Hong Yul snorted.

“Our esteemed Association President. Are you just going to keep crossing the line like this?”

“My life is on the line. Why would I care about crossing another?”

With that, Frost swung his arm.

The civilians encased in ice dropped straight off the terrace.

“—!”

He used his power again.

As the civilians plummeted, he conjured countless icicle spears to rain down on them, then created an ice bridge to the neighboring building and fled.

’That bastard’s completely insane.’

Yusin was dumbfounded.

The head of the Association was tossing civilians off a building and then trying to finish them off midair. This was beyond reckless.

“Huh?”

Someone suddenly seized him by the collar.

“Kim Yusin, you’re up!”

“W-Wait—!”

Vroooom!

Hong Yul grabbed Yusin by the collar and hurled him in the direction Frost was fleeing. His body shot through the air like a cannonball.

“I’ll be right behind you, so keep that bastard busy!”

“Madam President!”

Hong Yul dove straight off the building.

Her body, wrapped in red mana, dropped in a straight line, punching a hole through the mass of ice.

She slowed her flight. Then, with the falling civilians at her back and the ice shards in front of her, Hong Yul grinned.

“Haaah!”

Her fists blurred into countless afterimages, smashing the icicles to powder.

“...Ha.”

Watching the scene through Deva’s Eye from afar, Yusin let out a disbelieving laugh.

That was so like her. Reckless, crazy... just like all the rumors said.

Yet she was still sane enough, as a hunter, to put human lives above her own personal revenge.

’The more I get to know her, the more she surprises me.’

Great Hero. Official First-Class. The Invincible hunter.

Beyond all that, Yusin found himself deeply compelled by Hong Yul as a person.

Landing on the building, he immediately took off after Frost, who was fleeing to the lower floors.

* * *

“Aaaaah!”

Where had it all gone wrong?

She had only gone out for a weekend coffee with her kids. Then Frost, the man she had trusted and cheered for, had grabbed them, dragged them to the rooftop, and thrown them off.

Now the ground was rushing up to meet them. Terror so intense it threatened to make her pass out turned her mind completely blank.

Whoooooosh!

’Please, someone save us!’

The moment the rapidly approaching ground filled her vision, she felt a powerful grip wrap around her body.

Somehow, Hong Yul had already snatched all six of the falling people. Gritting her teeth, she thrust both legs straight down.

Thump!

The instant they reached the ground, their speed dropped to zero as if by magic, and they landed without the slightest impact.

“Is anyone hurt?”

The woman looked up.

There was no mistaking her. The red-haired hunter.

The pride of South Korea, officially reported dead after failing to escape the Cataclysm—Hong Yul herself.

’I-I’m alive.’

Only then did the relief crash over her like a wave. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Mom!”

Her child ran into her arms. She clutched the kid and sobbed, thanking Hong Yul over and over. Hong Yul only gave a small nod.

“L-Look, it’s Hong Yul!”

“It really is!”

Reporters who had been gathered outside the banquet hall, following the rumors, rushed over and started filming her.

The hunter everyone thought had died in a Dungeon had reappeared and immediately saved civilians. It was a massive story.

“Step aside.”

It wasn’t just reporters; hunters were pushing through the crowd as well. A veteran among veterans, Association hunter Gong Junhyuk, forced his way forward.

“Long time no see, Uncle Hyuk.”

Hong Yul gave him a casual wave. But Gong Junhyuk was in no mood for pleasantries.

“President Frost has declared you a demonized hunter. We’re at the highest emergency level right now. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to come with us.”

Hong Yul was about to answer with a laugh when—

“That’s not true!”

The child’s mother shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Frost was cornered and threw us off the building! She’s the one who saved us!”

“How can you say that about the woman who saved my life?!”

“Frost is the demon, not her!”

The people Hong Yul had rescued reacted fiercely, shouting in her defense. The reporters murmured excitedly as they filmed the scene.

“So, what’s it going to be, Uncle Hyuk?”

Hong Yul folded her arms.

“...”

Without a word, Gong Junhyuk tore the earpiece from his ear.

Frost’s voice had been screaming in his ear, ordering him to kill Hong Yul on sight, but he ignored every command and crushed the device under his heel.

“Go.”

“Thanks. I’ll explain everything later.”

Hong Yul’s body flared with red mana and shot into the sky.

Reporters sprinted after her, cameras raised, desperate to capture every second.

* * *

Krrrrrrrunch!

A dragon made of ice lunged at him, jaws gaping wide. Yusin laid down a sheet of ice on the floor and slid out of its path.

He followed up by firing a rapid succession of Fire Cannons into its head. The dragon’s maw melted away, and its movements ground to a halt.

“For a so-called certified rank 2, you’re being ridiculously cautious.”

A hunter’s confidence and aggression in a crisis stemmed from the knowledge that they can fight.

Yet Frost, far stronger than the guards and the fifth- and fourth-class hunters protecting him, was focused solely on running away.

His mindset was clearly different from that of most hunters.

—Tower Master. Frost is on the floor below.

’Okay.’

Following Ea’s guidance, Yusin smashed through the ceiling and dropped down.

The moment he stepped inside, the temperature plummeted. Frost coated every surface, and an ice wall blocked his path.

’What a joke.’

Yusin unleashed a barrage of fire spells, melting the ice walls as he advanced.

After breaking through several more barriers, he finally spotted Frost. The man was holding another man by the hand.

“Frost!”

The instant Yusin activated Devastar, Frost’s body vanished. Teleportation.

“Samia!”

At his shout, a warp opened in midair and Samia leaped out.

“You’re safe, Hunter Kim Yusin! I’m so relieved.”

“Long time no see! We can catch up later. Can you track that bastard who was just here?”

“No problem.”

Teleporters could track each other.

She drew in mana and carefully examined the spot where Frost had disappeared.

“I’ve got the coordinates. He’s a long-range teleporter. It looks like he can’t use his ability in rapid succession. I’ll open a warp to his location right away.”

“Yes, please!”

She quickly began drawing a warp magic circle. Yusin let out a small breath and downed a bottle of Blue Elixir.

Only the final showdown remained.

* * *