Chapter 173: The Golden Dragon’s Might

-----

The Hell Gate looming above the city of Stronghold made all citizens panic. Authorities have told them that the strongest hunters of the city had gone to destroy that castle, and for a moment, it seemed to be the case as it was beginning to fall apart. The citizens of various areas were told to evacuate to underground shelters while the battle happened. The magic barrier above the city managed to block the debris easily, but it was still better to prepare for the worst.

This was a future where terrible things had already happened: millions of people died in the first half of the year, everything began, monsters emerged everywhere, and society was still in chaos. And where Hunters emerged and fought to finally regain the stability and peace of these large cities, they helped to rebuild and still protect them.

Many protocols were already set in place for all citizens to obey whenever a city-threatening event was to happen; enormous shelters underground was already full of millions of people; and almost 95% of Stronghold’s citizens had already evacuated. Unlike the invading undead and giant golem incidents, which happened in a flash, the Hunter Association had already prepared for this.

However, the debris wasn’t the only thing they had to worry about now. Giant demonic beasts emerged by the hundreds out of the Hell Gate, descending rapidly and attacking the magical barrier surrounding the city. Explosions and clashes echoed above the heads of the sheltered people; children trembled while hugging their parents; dogs barked in distress; and the oldest citizens remained calm, thinking that if the worst were to happen, they had already lived a long life. Most of them, having already lost their loved ones, thought it might be about time to join them.

Nonetheless, as long as humanity exists, their unfaltering spirit will never give up, no matter the adversity or the impossible odds. The Hunter Association Chairman and Director of the Stronghold City’s branch stood over the association’s building, his muscular frame overflowing with a golden-brown aura, exuding the power of an S-Rank Hunter.

“So it has escalated to this point.” He gritted his teeth, his sharp blue eyes glancing down. “Are you ready?”

There were over a hundred Hunters already preparing for battle, from D Rank to B rank. There were that many in this city, although amidst five million normal citizens, it was very clear that Awakened were very rare. Most of them were afraid of what was happening. None of them wanted to die, but it was their duty to protect the city where they had been sheltered after the catastrophes of the first awakening.

After hearing the chairman’s words, the Hunters nodded, roaring in unison. He nodded back, and the strongest amongst them, all B+ Rank Hunters, quickly led them into their positions. The barrier above the city is already gaining countless cracks.

“It’s going to break at any point.” The Chairman was leisurely smoking a large habanero. “What? Three thousand? No… Four thousand monsters. Huh… Alright. I guess it’s time to put this old body of mine to use. One last time, my little princess, I hope you’re praying for me in heaven.” The man silently glanced at the photo of a young girl, no older than thirteen years of age, smiling at his side—a photo taken many years ago, before the Awakening.

For a slight moment, sorrow filled his eyes. He felt his strength fading away, only to surge even stronger than before once he regained his resolve. For her and for the person he was unable to protect, he had to do his best, so such a thing could never be repeated ever again.

“Mister Jonathan, the barrier is about to break!”

A voice echoed behind him; his eyes were greeted by Leo Edward, the executive of the Hunter’s Association and the one in charge of Jack’s “Solo Guild." He was a B- Rank hunter, quite strong, but he usually didn’t fight because his abilities were of support. He was good at both healing and buffing allies, a very precious role.

“I heard you the first time, Leo,” Jonathan said. The chairman gave one last sigh as he threw away his black suit and untied his tie, which was annoying him for a while. His eyes suddenly glowed with bright golden light as his powerful Aura no longer simply encompassed him but flew into the skies like a sea of liquid gold.

FLASH!

It quickly encompassed everything and then reached the demons, who appeared right above the city seconds after the barrier was broken by a gigantic one that dropped from the Hell Gate, shattering into pieces, and then quickly descending to crush the nearest skyscraper. It was as big as a kaiju.

“{Golden Dragon’s Grasp}”

The chairman pressed his palm, the golden aura expanding everywhere, shaped into dozens of gigantic hands covered in golden scales, which quickly grabbed the titanic kaiju, a demonic beast at least as strong as an S-Rank monster, and tore apart its arms and legs.

BAAAM!

Blood splattered everywhere as the dinosaur-like demonic beast howled in agony, falling to the floor, and destroying several buildings as it fell. Jonathan then leaped towards it and harnessed half of his power into a single index finger.

“{Golden Dragon’s Spear}”

CRASH!

The S-Rank monster was unable to react before a spear of light pierced its forehead, killing it on the spot. A shockwave of golden light reached the skies, burning hundreds of demonic beasts unable to withstand the chairman’s brilliance.

“Not too shabby.”

The chairman only retired this year from being a hunter, having awakened as one rather late at his age. But before retiring, he was well known across North America as a powerful warrior, someone invincible and with enough power to make even other S-Ranks feel intimidated by his mere gaze.

“Chairman… You’re really the Golden Dragon.” Leo muttered, gasping in shock.

“What?! Did you think I was just lazing around or something all this time?” The chairman asked, slightly pissed off as he punched dozens of demonic beasts with gigantic draconic fists surging from his golden aura. “That’s because I’m damn old, but not because I’m lazy!”

BAAAM!

His fists rose into the skies, and a wave of golden essence crushed several more monsters at once. Jonathan was constantly getting notifications in front of him from a certain Constellation that was really happy to see him finally fighting again.

[The Cosmic Throne {Golden Scales of Sunlight’s Brilliance} is happy to finally see you fighting again!]

[They ask you to at least defeat a thousand foes, and they will reward you!]

“Don’t act like you’re hot shit; you’re the most broke Constellation I’ve ever known. Your skills were the only valuable thing you ever gifted to me.”

BAAAM!

Another fist reached the skies, the demons were thrown away, and some were immediately torn to shreds. But that wasn’t all; his index finger then pierced the skies once more, spears of light dismembering another kaiju-sized bastard coming from the hell gate.

“Hahh…” Jonathan sighed slightly tired already, feeling the pain from a wound someone had done to him on the left side of his chest, one that could not heal no matter what he drank, imbued with a curse that sapped away his stamina. “Shit… I don’t have to overdo it. Alright! All of you, get to it!”

While his golden aura was left behind, the monsters were weakened, and the hunters leaped into action, attacking all the demonic beasts swarming the city with everything they had. Bloodshed and cries from both demons and humans splattered across the once-peaceful streets.

“You guys better do something against that damn thing... I’m not getting a good feeling about it.” Jonathan muttered, looking into the skies. “I’m leaving the rest to you!”

As he fought in the city, above the skies, a group of hunters were doing their best to not allow any more of these demonic beasts to go down. Baihe conjured her Frost Magic to her complete limits, releasing all her mana at once and unleashing a blizzard while riding Snow, who was flying over floating ice platforms.

FLUOSH!

Hundreds of insectoid demonic beasts Beelzebub had previously summoned were frozen solid, quickly falling from the skies, only to be finished off by Sara, who flashed across the skies in her phantasmal form. Using her demonic knife, made out of one of the Death Apostles Anna had captured like a pocket monster, she slashed them into pieces.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

At the same time, Dimitri gunned down anything he could with his gun, transforming it into all sorts of fire weapons now that he had gained that special ability from his sponsor. Sometimes he fired a whole missile, other times cannons, some other times it was a rifle, and other times just magic bullets from the original gun.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Meanwhile, Hilda and Kevin slashed and crushed as many foes as they could, making sure to unleash expansive attacks using their techniques to hit many foes at once. There were swarms after swarms of foes, and they had to do everything they could to slay them before they were to become a problem for the much weaker hunters below them. Blazing hammer strikes released small meteors of molten lava with each hit, and flashy piercing strikes using a divine spear finished off over a hundred demonic beasts already.

Violet also fought bravely, flying around the skies as if he had wings and moving with amazing speed, using his gigantic scythes like those of his mother to mow down foes with ease, while powerful poison weakened them. Silk trapped them, and even a Demonic Aura clashed against theirs, intimidating them even so slightly. It was nice that he could grow as big as his Mana allowed him, making himself much more intimidating to the demonic beasts and covering a wide area in the skies. Lastly, the little Shiro was already very tired, healing and buffing everyone as much as they could.

As everyone fought bravely, they looked into the skies. Heisenberg’s monstrous form clashed against Anna and everyone else in a battle that would define the fate of Stronghold. They put their faith and hope in their friends and family, while overexerting themselves to their limits, to not disappoint them either.

“Anna…” Baihe looked into the skies, her aquamarine eyes shining brightly and her heart beating faster as she was surrounded by an Aura of Frost. “Please, don’t lose!”

…

The swarm of Flying demons and super-enhanced Gargoyles clashed against Anna’s group. Jack was the first one to approach them, transforming into shadows as his sword cut dozens of them with a single swipe. He knew his sister had already gone through a lot, and he didn’t want her to do too much either.

However.

SLAAASH!

Before he could even react, a massive slashing wave of crimson lightning, darkness, and chaos reached the skies, barely passing right behind him. He could feel the intense heat of this attack. His eyes, filled with disbelief, saw how it impacted almost half a hundred gargoyles out of the gigantic swarm directed at them and blew them all up into smithereens.

BOOOMMM!!

“That was Anna?!” He was shocked.

“That took more Mana than I imagined.” Anna felt almost anemic after using the Nameless Axe-Sword only once. “It drained at least half my Mana… I have to be careful how I use this.”

It was a tremendously strong Weapon Manifestation Skill, but the amount of energy it required was also just as ridiculous. It was an SSS Rank offensive Skill after all. Unlike the other one she got from Uroboros, which worked along with her {Radiance}, this one required activation and was draining, not working in tandem with other skills as much as she would have wanted.

“I can always just use it as a normal weapon instead of just shooting slashing waves.” She smiled, rushing forward while not noticing the face his brother was making.

“Hah…” Jack smiled. “I guess she’s not really the same as before, not at all... Little Anna has truly grown up while I wasn’t looking. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to let her get ahead!”

A competitive drive surged within his heart, against his own sister. Something he never thought he would ever experience. He always saw her as a precious thing he had to always protect. But now, slowly, Jack was seeing Anna as an equal, someone he wanted to show off to and compete against. Someone amazing he had begun to admire too, almost as much as she admired him!

FLASH!

He rushed right to Anna’s side, both resembling blurs of golden and dark light. Anna noticed her brother not wanting to stay behind, realizing she had been too immersed in her own thoughts, the two joined hands, slashing through their foes while making their way toward Heisenberg.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Anna used the Nameless Axe-Sword in conjunction with Gram this time, transforming Aim’s lightning sword into a pair of boots that enhanced her movement speed in the sky, allowing her to release thunderous kicks into the empty air. The Nameless Axe-Sword was at least as strong as Gram in terms of Attack power.

And because of its immense weight, any attack from it was devastating. Jack and the rest of their group were wondering how Anna was even wielding that thing one-handed. But she made sure to wield it with her gauntlet, which gave her much more arm strength.

“SHAAAH!”

More Gargoyles poured down towards them. Heisenberg’s mother commanded them with her hands, with blood auras surging into their bodies and making them mutate. She was relentlessly trying to keep them away from her through this method. She wanted to slowly exhaust them and then take them down—a battle of attrition.

However, that wasn’t going to work against these people.

Annabelle and Scarlet attacked together, both releasing their strongest techniques. Giant claws made of blood slashed, grabbed, and tore apart the gargoyles one after another, while swarms of spiders combined into a massive black blade, cutting through them. Their spells and techniques constantly shifted, covering a wide range around Anna and Jack, making sure nothing sneaked behind them.

“Keep moving! We’re almost there!” Scarlet roared.

“Y-Yeah!” Annabelle said.

“You won’t take another step.”

Suddenly, the voice of Heisenberg’s “mother” echoed above them, and a powerful and invisible pressure that seemed to make everyone incredibly heavy rushed down. Not even Anna nor Jack was able to clash against it; all of them were slowly being pulled away from Heisenberg! More gargoyles were rushing towards them.

“Dammit!” Jack roared, constantly boosting his strength. “This damn pressure... Is this the barrier you talked about, Anna?”

“I think so!” Anna gritted her teeth; her armor and her gauntlet were the only things keeping her from being blown away. Her Arcane Hands didn’t work on this Pressure, as it wasn’t made using magical circuits.

“Is it finally my time to shine?”

However, their struggles were interrupted as Henrietta flew in between the two of them. Her divine golden sword channeled, gray-colored lighting, her eyes flaring with golden light. She swung her sword as a wave of pure gray essence cut through the invisible pressure!

SLAAASH!

Henrietta’s attack, charged with Anti-Mana and her Celestial Energy, managed to distort the Demonic Pressure, and destroy it, creating an opening within this “barrier” made out of Heisenberg’s own distressed emotions after being unable to fully evolve into a Demon King.

“So she can do that now.” Jack was amazed. He smiled, feeling proud of her growth.

“It looks like it. Let’s not waste time! Hurry!” Anna quickly flew through the path Henrietta opened with Jack by her side. Scarlet and Annabelle followed them from behind while blasting flying demonic beasts, and Henrietta swiftly rushed right behind them.

Heisenberg’s dried eyes, which kept crying blood that added to his “mother’s” body, directed his attention towards them as they drew closer.

“Why… Why won’t you leave me alone?!” He continued weeping. “You want to take her away from me again?! No…! NO! I won’t let you!”

As he raged, his “mother” attacked, dozens of crimson fists descending at meteoric speed toward Anna and Jack in the front.

BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!

-----