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[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
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Chapter 94 – War (2)
“This… this can’t be happening…”
Nelson Goncalves muttered in a daze, utterly stunned.
The Goncalves Family possessed the largest private military force among the cartels. And recently, with the Godfather’s backing, their army had grown even larger.
It wasn’t just about size anymore. The quality of their forces had also drastically improved.
They had smuggled advanced weaponry from around the world through international arms dealers.
For equipment that couldn’t be transported whole, they imported the parts and assembled them on site.
The result was a military force so powerful, it rivaled the armies of entire nations.
“It’s all… It’s all destroyed…! Everything’s been destroyed!”
That very army was now being obliterated before his eyes.
The state-of-the-art tanks, painstakingly transported from the U.S., had been turned into heaps of scrap metal.
Armed helicopters that once dominated the skies had all been shot down.
Their soldiers, armed to the teeth with advanced gear, were scattered like leaves in the wind.
“This… this is impossible…!”
“What’s so impossible about it?”
A young man sneered from atop an overturned tank, looking down at Nelson Goncalves.
“Everyone knows modern weapons can’t take down a Hunter.”
And he was right.
Since the emergence of Hunters, the value of modern weaponry had plummeted.
Superhuman physical abilities, powerful supernatural skills, relics that defied logic...
Even a single high-ranking Hunter could destroy tanks or kill hundreds of soldiers alone.
“Common knowledge? Don’t be ridiculous! You think that makes sense? How could one person… just one person do all this…?!”
But there were limits—even for Hunters.
They were still human. They could get tired. They could slip up.
And yet this young man had singlehandedly taken on the full military might of the cartel.
Hundreds of tanks. Thousands of soldiers. Dozens of air units attacking from above.
And he crushed them all.
In the blink of an eye.
“I guess you guys just had bad luck.”
The young man nodded to himself.
“This whole mess started because of the Pablo Family. You guys are just… an example.”
An example?
The strongest military force in the South American cartel…
Was the Goncalves Family now just a warning to others?
“You arrogant little…!”
The young man swung his sword—and despite the distance between them, Nelson Goncalves’s head was severed clean off.
Then, suddenly—
A shell came flying in and exploded, engulfing the young man in a fiery blast.
And it wasn’t just one. A bombardment followed. Deafening explosions rocked the earth.
“What, there are still some left?”
But not even a thread of the young man’s clothing was singed.
“Well then, time to finish the job.”
He sprinted toward the direction the shells had come from.
Moments later, another explosion echoed across the battlefield.
* * *
“Pathetic.”
A man in a sleek black suit adjusted his cufflinks as he muttered.
At his feet, a middle-aged man was trembling uncontrollably.
“P-please… p-please, no…!”
He was crying out in pure terror. One more push and he’d probably start frothing at the mouth.
Anyone who recognized this man would have doubted their eyes.
This was Ronald Mora.
Boss of the Mora Family—one of the key pillars of the South American Cartel Union.
“W-who are you?! Who the hell are you?!”
And yet this high-ranking cartel boss was quivering like a child.
Who could blame him?
Just moments ago, all the Hunters of the Mora Family had been slaughtered by this one man.
“I’m from Hyukcheon.”
Even after such a massacre, the man showed no emotion.
“Hyukcheon…? Why? Why are you doing this?!”
“Don’t ask.”
The man dismissed him coldly.
“Don’t be curious. Don’t ask why. You’re nothing but weeds to be trampled.”
Despair filled Ronald Mora’s face.
Weeds? He was calling the Hunters of the Mora Family weeds?
“That’s… that’s insane…! Even if Hyukcheon is strong, this level of difference makes no sense!”
The Mora Family had been the first to pledge loyalty to the Godfather.
In return, the Godfather entrusted them with his most important project:
Hunter Development.
They had access to all the resources of the cartel and every dungeon in South America to raise elite Hunters.
It was Ronald Mora’s life’s mission.
He poured everything he had into it.
He scouted talent from all across South America.
Designed training programs inspired by the world’s top guilds.
Carefully distributed relics and skills obtained from dungeons.
“I—I raised them with everything I had! This isn’t possible!”
Ronald truly believed that the Hunters he nurtured were on par with any global guild.
But in the end, all of them were wiped out—by a single man.
“Don’t delude yourself.”
For the first time, emotion crept into the man’s voice.
“You’re not the first idiot with grand delusions I’ve met, but it’s still nauseating every time.”
“Delusions…?”
“Thinking that just because you have power, or dungeons, or people under your command, you can catch up to Hyukcheon. That’s the very definition of a delusion.”
The man’s words dripped with contempt.
“You want to know the difference between you thugs and Hyukcheon?”
Ronald instinctively shook his head. How could he know?
“History.”
It was an old-fashioned word, but it hit like a hammer.
“Do you think the Hyukcheon Clan stands where it does just because of its bloodline?”
Yes, the power of the Black Dragon Bloodline played a part.
But it wasn’t enough to explain the Hyukcheon Clan’s overwhelming strength.
“For over a hundred years, we’ve clawed our way forward.”
They fought monsters powerful enough to wipe out entire nations.
They challenged dungeons that risked their very lives.
All to gain rewards—and use those rewards to become stronger.
“For a hundred years, we shed blood to increase our strength.”
They studied how to recognize talent.
They researched ways to unlock its full potential.
They refined the best matches of skills and relics.
All for a hundred years.
“And you think a bunch of street punks can catch up to that?”
The man raised his hand, aura gathering at his fingertips.
Ronald’s body froze, sensing his impending death.
Just then—
“Boss!”
From the distance, Mora Family Hunters arrived, rushing back to the scene.
“You bastard! How dare you attack the Mora Family?!”
“We’ll skin you alive and hang your corpse!”
They charged at him in fury.
Blades, fire, ice—every kind of skill surged toward the man.
Lava blanketed the ground. A glacier formed out of nothing. Winds sharp as razors shredded the air.
“Pathetic.”
Not a single attack pierced the magical barrier surrounding him.
“Time to die.”
Light spheres materialized around him. With a flick of his finger, they shot forward, impaling every last Hunter.
** *
“Don’t take it too personally, okay?”
Pedro Blatt was shivering, buried in rubble.
He looked nothing like the proud boss of the Blatt Family. But he couldn’t help it.
Because of the woman standing before him.
“Our Black Edge Division is the best team in Hyukcheon, after all. Better to lose to the top than get stomped by nobodies, right?”
She held a massive battle axe—larger than her own body.
Every time she swung it, a building collapsed.
It took less than thirty minutes for the entire city the Blatt Family was protecting to be reduced to rubble.
“Actually, I guess we’re not the best. Master Kwon Myung-woo’s Hyukcheon Core is officially the strongest. There’s also Vice President Kwon Hyuk’s team… and Lord Kwon Chan-seong…”
She counted on her fingers as she listed names.
“But anyway, we’re one of the top squads in Hyukcheon. So don’t feel too bad, alright?”
She gave a bright smile. Pedro felt like crying.
“Oh? More of them?”
She turned to the horizon.
Troops and Hunters were rushing in, raising a cloud of dust.
She gripped the axe with both hands. A surge of mana poured into it.
“Hraaah!”
She hurled the axe with all her might.
Explosions erupted along the horizon. The entire incoming army was wiped out in an instant.
The axe returned like a boomerang. She reached high and caught it with ease.
“Now, which city is next?”
She checked her phone casually.
* * *
—Currently confirmed destroyed: Goncalves, Mora, Blatt… Just got word that Andus has fallen too!
Throughout the report, Jose del Pablo felt completely detached from reality.
—Matos and Santoru have also been hit! Their central branches have been wiped out…
The once-mighty cartel alliance was collapsing like a sandcastle.
He couldn’t snap back to reality.
“What about the Godfather…?”
—As soon as the reports came in, he evacuated by sea!
Jose exhaled in relief.
The Godfather’s safety was paramount. As long as he was alive, the cartel hadn’t truly lost.
Jose slapped his cheeks. This was no time to be dazed.
“Just hang on a little longer. I’m coming.”
Confidence returned to his voice.
So what if someone wiped out armies and Hunters in seconds?
Jose del Pablo could do the same.
“I’ll finish this myself!”
He shouted boldly and stepped forward—
Only to feel something grabbing his ankle.
He looked down to see GG staring up at him.
“…Ugh…”
The wounds were too severe. GG couldn’t speak clearly.
And yet, he clenched Jose’s ankle tightly, eyes full of hatred.
“Tch.”
Jose let out a dry laugh.
“I was going to let you live because you were still useful. You’ve lost your damn mind, haven’t you?”
He kicked GG in the head. GG’s body swayed violently—
But he didn’t let go.
“You stubborn bastard. Just let go already!”
Jose kicked him again. And again.
Blood burst from GG’s lips. Teeth shattered. Still, he wouldn’t let go.
“God, you’re persistent. You must really hate me.”
Jose screamed as he continued kicking.
“Who do you think exposed the Garcia bloodline hiding on that island? It was YOU! You ran away out of curiosity!”
The Garcia Clan’s founder was a mighty warrior.
But he hated conflict. He wanted a peaceful life.
Still, with the Sacred Beast Bloodline, the world wouldn’t leave him alone.
So he took his followers and hid away on an island.
That was the origin of the Garcia Clan.
“If you’d just kept your mouth shut when I caught you, things would’ve been fine. But no—you told me everything about the island!”
The first settlers wanted peace. But their descendants were different.
GG.
Gael Garcia was one of them.
He used his bloodline powers to escape the island.
And that’s when he met Jose del Pablo.
“And now you want to blame me? This was your fault!”
Jose kicked Gael away. He flew across the ground like a rag doll.
“Persistent little bastard.”
Jose drew his jagged sword and approached.
Gael stared back with swollen, bloodshot eyes.
“Pissed me off. Just die here and be done with it.”
Jose raised his sword.
Just then, his phone rang.
Irritated, he answered it.
“What the hell do you want?! I’m on my way! Just shut up and wait—”
—“Oh wow. This call actually went through.”
A familiar voice.
Jose frowned.
“Who the hell are you? What’d you do to my men?”
—“They were in the way, so I took care of them. More importantly, you’re by the coast, right?”
That voice. He suddenly remembered who it belonged to.
“No way… You’re—!”
—“I’ll be there soon. Just sit tight.”
Soon?
Before Jose could respond, the call ended.
And then, in the sky above—violent bursts of magical energy exploded.
“What the…?”
Not once. Multiple times. Each blast heralded something fast approaching.
Far in the distance—a dark shape appeared.
It was cloaked in shadow, like the night itself.
“What the hell is that now?!”
At first, it looked like a tiny dot.
Then, in an instant—it was right above him.
It slammed into the ground, sending building debris flying in all directions.
When the dust cleared, someone stood up in the newly swept clearing.
“Jose del Pablo.”
Kwon Hanul dusted off his clothes.
“I’ve come to take your life.”
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[Translator - Helga ]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
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