Chapter 24

Goto turned toward the assembled hunters, his expression unreadable. Behind him loomed the massive, swirling haze of crimson, the signature shimmer of a Red Gate, unstable and violent. The tension in the air was thick with mana, charged with expectation and dread.

"Eighteen A-Rank hunters have arrived," Hanekawa reported, stepping up beside him. Her voice was steady, though her eyes remained fixed on the gate. "Along with the five available S-Ranks not currently handling the remaining A-Rank dungeons... that gives us thirty in total."

"Good," Goto said simply, his tone clipped and final. His gaze moved methodically across the gathered hunters, pausing on each of the S-Ranks, the real weapons of this operation.

Kei, stoic behind his eerie white mask, claimed it was to protect himself from the stench of concentrated mana. No one truly believed him, but none ever questioned it.

Ippei Izawa, dressed in a flowing blue coat instead of his guild uniform, stood with his hands in his pockets. Goto knew his daggers were hidden somewhere inside the coat, the man never went anywhere unarmed.

Mari Ishida, the youngest among them, stood beside Kei, trying to strike up conversation. Goto narrowed his eyes slightly. She had the energy of a teenager, but her record told a different story a full year of consistent B-Rank dungeon clears, showing promise, resilience, and something colder beneath the surface. Not a kid anymore.

'Still,' Goto thought, Kanata’s sister was even younger. 'Barely eighteen and already an S-Rank.' He pushed down the thought with effort. 'She would’ve made a great hunter. A shame, they’re likely both dead by now.'

Minoru Hoshino stood a few steps away from the rest, his anxiety practically radiating from him. Goto exhaled slowly through his nose. Nerves? Now?

The final S-Rank wasn’t part of the Sword Guild. Anna Mikoto, from a lesser-known guild called The Brass Den, stood silently with her arms crossed. Her black headband contrasted with her silver hair, and her eyes gleamed with something calm, or perhaps just distant.

Goto frowned slightly. Of the eighteen A-Ranks present, only seven were healers. It was a dangerous imbalance. 'Akari was the only S-Rank healer in all of Japan,' he reminded himself grimly. 'And she’s probably dead now, too.'

That meant their survivability was lower than ideal. 'If this dungeon is anything like Jeju Island four years ago…'

He inhaled sharply, then let the breath out through clenched teeth. This was his moment, a chance to lead a successful raid into a Red Dungeon and emerge with a record worthy of a National Level Hunter.

'Yes,' he thought, forcing down the smile threatening to curl his lips. 'With this feat under my name, my recognition will be inevitable.'

Just then, the Red Gate shimmered, and shifted.

The crimson swirls flickered, then pulsed into an ominous purple, as if bruised by some unseen force.

"Sir!" Hanekawa called out sharply, pointing.

Goto turned, his eyes narrowing. The color change was unmistakable. He clenched his fists.

“So… they’ve already fallen.” His voice was grave, each word weighted. A few A-Rank hunters nearby looked away, their expressions clouded with dread. His statement could only mean one thing, the vanguard team had been wiped out.

But that shared sorrow shattered in an instant when the pressure struck.

BOOM.

A shockwave of mana exploded from the gate like a cannon, sweeping across the plaza and sending ripples through the air. Hunters staggered as their instincts screamed in alarm. The very ground beneath them seemed to hold its breath.

It felt like a massive explosion erupted inside everyone’s soul.

The pressure that burst from the gate was not just a wave, it was a crushing force that sank into flesh, bones, and spirit.

Over ten of the A-Rank hunters collapsed immediately, unconscious before they hit the ground. All of the B-Rank hunters fell like dominos, eyes rolled back and limbs slack. The remaining A-Ranks staggered, struggling to stay upright as the air turned heavy with invisible weight.

“W-What is this pressure!?” one of them gasped, clutching their chest.

“I... I can’t breathe... the air’s too thick!” another wheezed, falling to one knee.

But the S-Ranks held firm.

Kei flinched slightly, the only sign he even registered the weight of the pressure.

Mari took a single step back, wide-eyed, then steadied herself with a deep breath and stepped forward, her stance firming like a flame refusing to be snuffed.

Minoru, moments earlier paralyzed with anxiety, now stood with a sharpened focus that erased any trace of fear. His nervous ticks were gone, replaced by the cold, practiced instinct of an elite hunter ready for war.

Ippei Izawa already had his daggers drawn, crouched low, every muscle tensed for a strike. His eyes were wild, bleeding pure killing intent, enough to make even nearby A-Ranks flinch.

Anna Mikoto narrowed her eyes, wind curling around her as she calmly reached within her robes and drew a massive odachi from the black sheath hidden at her bosom. Silver hair whipped in the turbulent mana, but her gaze didn’t waver.

And Goto?

He stood directly before the gate, still as a statue, one hand tucked casually into his coat pocket, the other brushing windblown hair away from his brow. The maelstrom of pressure washed over him, but he did not bow. He did not even blink.

'So this... is the pressure of an S-Rank boss?' Goto mused, glancing at Hanekawa who had dropped to one knee beside him, visibly trembling. He ignored her.

“I wonder,” he murmured aloud, letting the wind tousle his hair, his voice barely above a whisper. “Is this what the National Level Hunters felt... when they faced Kamish? This feeling of terror clawing into your bones, of your very soul trembling before something ancient and monstrous...?”

And then, just like that... the pressure vanished.

Gone, as though it had never existed at all.

The entire experience had lasted only three seconds. Yet to every hunter who felt it, it had stretched into a lifetime.

The portal shimmered once more, the violent purple flickered, then stabilized into a steady blue glow.

Goto's eyes widened. “What...?”

Figures began to step through the gate.

"A dungeon break?" he whispered, but the words faltered even before they left his lips. No, it wasn’t a swarm of monsters.

It was the hunters.

They had returned.

Twelve in total emerged, led by Kanae, a gash running down her arm, blood soaking through her torn sleeve. Kenzo limped out beside her, his usual bruises darker than normal. Akari leaned heavily on an A-Rank hunter, pale and weary but alive.

There was a dark-skinned girl walking silently beside Kanae, someone Goto didn’t recognize. But the moment he laid eyes on her, he knew.

'S-Rank,' he thought, instinctively. 'A reawakening? Another one?'

Relief washed across the gathered hunters as they saw the survivors, gasps, murmurs, and cries of joy breaking the stunned silence. But Goto wasn’t smiling.

Kanae’s expression was serious, her face stoic. But her posture, the way she exhaled as she reached the threshold, betrayed the weight of relief in her bones.

Goto stepped forward, trying not to reveal the tremble in his clenched fists, his aura pressing painfully against his own skin. 'They cleared it, he thought. They actually cleared the dungeon. They cleared an S-Rank dungeon. How!?'

Trying to mask the storm in his chest, he spoke.

“Where’s your sister?”

Kanae turned and glanced behind her. “I assumed she was the one who defeated the dungeon boss and cleared it... so she should’ve come out before us, right?”

Goto froze.

Her words hit like a hammer to the skull.

'She... defeated the boss? Alone?'

The logic shattered something inside him.

'An S-Rank dungeon boss. By herself?'

And then the portal shimmered once again.

Within its flickering depths... a lone figure emerged.

Step...

Step...

Step...