Chapter 234 - You Should Think Before You Use Magic!

Jang Deuk-goo clung to the tower, swinging his sword with one hand while holding onto the steel frame. The bees, however, ignored him and targeted Thomas instead. Thomas moved swiftly, climbing up and down the steel structure with minimal evasive manoeuvres. Each attack from the wasps caused the tower to crumble further.

Using the collapsing steel frame to their advantage, the two hunters performed acrobatics to evade the relentless assault. Eventually, when the tower became too damaged to serve its purpose, they leapt onto the rooftop below. The wasps followed, surrounding them in a tight circle. There was no escape—not even into the sky.

“How much longer?!”

Thomas couldn’t afford to answer. He was barely holding onto the delicate threads of mana, afraid that even a single word might disrupt his control. Noticing Thomas’ deteriorating condition, Jang Deuk-goo threw away his sword. From his waistband, he pulled out five sticks connected by chains. At first glance, they resembled crowbars.

He slammed one of the poles into the ground and yanked it. The five sticks snapped together into a single weapon. Then, he drew his sword and fitted it into the top of the pole, the grooves aligning perfectly. A long spear now rested in his grip.

“Haaa—”

He began spinning the spear as he steadied his breathing.

Slash!

Wasps within range of the blade were sliced in half before they even realized they were under attack. Those that were approaching Thomas had a hole punched between their eyebrows. Others that were approaching from above had their wings severed, sending them plummeting to the ground. Around Jang Deuk-goo and Thomas, a ring of dead carnivorous wasps formed, as if a protective barrier had taken shape within the spear’s reach.

'I can hold them off… but that one’s a problem.'

Jang Deuk-goo’s gaze shifted to a massive wasp hovering above the peak. It was at least three times the size of the others. A pentagonal shield covered its head, three pairs of wings on its back, and a stinger as sharp as a sword.

‘Is that one the commander?'

What Jang Deukgoo didn’t know was that this creature wasn’t just any bee—it was a drone(male bee), the queen bee’s companion. The hive’s general. Carnivorous wasp colonies usually had around fifteen of these mid-boss-level monsters attached to the hive. Though in larger hives, their numbers could reach the hundreds. Unlike worker bees, they were in a league of their own though they may not look threatening.

“Hey, we’re getting boxed in. I’ll hold them off as best as I can, but if we get pushed back any further, it’ll be hard to defend. And if that big one decides to attack…”

Jang Deuk-goo tried to warn Thomas about the growing number of bees—and the looming threat of the drones. But before he could finish, a swarm came rushing down, accompanied by their guards.

“These bastards have the worst timing.”

Jang Deuk-goo tensed, gathering mana throughout his entire body. He was ready to unleash every skill he had. Just then—

“I know.”

“Huh?”

“I was waiting for this.”

Thomas exhaled a long-held breath as he spoke. And then—

'I haven’t even named this original skill yet since I just imagined it. Should I just call it Helix Flare?'

His golden eyes gleamed.

【Helix Flare】

A spiralling inferno erupted, sweeping in all directions.

***

The streets were filled with the eerie hum of beating wings. A short while later, silence followed. Only death remained. As Johanna stepped out of the shopping mall, the first thing she saw was the sky filled by a swarm of bees. Standing alone in the middle of a city overrun by monsters was terrifying. The sight alone made her want to look away.

She lowered her head as her breathing grew rapid. Her heart pounded wildly, and sweat dripped from her skin. Johanna’s mind raced back to the days of the Minor War—one where dozens of gates opened simultaneously across the Italian peninsula. The memory of that time—when gates erupted all over Europe and the world, plunging everything into chaos—made her body freeze momentarily.

“Whew. The damn trauma won’t go away at all.”

For a hunter, reacting like this at the sight of a monster was almost laughable. But that didn’t mean she was a coward. This was a mental scar—one that couldn’t simply be overcome as she wished. That was why she had taken an extended break, using the excuse of a sabbatical year. A minor accident during a previous gate conquest had stirred up old memories.

'Get it together. If I keep hesitating, I might not make it out of here alive.'

Johanna took a deep breath, willing her tense muscles to relax, then looked up at the sky again. The panic that had gripped her moments ago had subsided. It wasn’t always like this but it just dragged her into a state where she lost control at the most random moment.

There was a time when, in the heat of battle, a monster attack sent her into confusion, and she had nearly killed someone. That was when she decided to take a step back—to travel, to regain some stability.

'But why an outbreak now of all times?'

The scale of the attack seemed enough to cripple the entire city.

'At least whoever it was managed to lure the wasps away. They aren’t attacking me.'

Then, suddenly, the ringing in her ears stopped. And in the next moment—fireworks erupted from the top of the hotel across from the shopping mall.

“Ack—!”

The words slipped out before she realized. A torrent of flames followed the swarm of wasps clustering around the hotel, whirling in every direction. The wasps tried to flee, but the fire refused to let them go. The heat was intense, even from this distance. Wings melted mid-flight, sending them plummeting to the ground. One by one, the wasps burst into embers, their bodies crashing onto the asphalt.

Boom! Bam! Thud!

The ones that hit the pavement writhed, their bodies blackened and cracked, like lumps of flesh, no longer resembling monsters. One flaming wasp landed on a wrecked pickup truck, igniting the fuel tank and exploded. The explosion sent debris flying, shattering a nearby water faucet. A jet of water sprayed onto the sidewalk like a fountain.

Another burning wasp, desperate to escape the flames, instinctively rolled into the growing puddle. Steam rose as fire met water. The wasp, seemingly catching a breath, lifted its head—only for another to crash down on it. The impact left its body mangled and bloodied, just like the others before it.

Johanna couldn't tear her eyes away from the flamboyant hunting.

'Is this really something a mage can do? I’ve never seen magic like this.'

Even as an experienced hunter, she didn’t know every spell out there. The inside of a gate was an unpredictable space to begin with—new skills and techniques were constantly emerging. Maybe this wasn’t even a standard gate skill. Maybe it was an original skill.

'If that’s the case, what rank would a mage who can pull this off be? Surely… not S-rank?'

She was about to consider which S-rank mage in America could be responsible—when the aftershocks of the spell forced her back to reality. Burning wasps rained from the sky like meteors. They were massive, their exoskeletons thick and durable, turning them into lethal projectiles.

Crash! Boom!

“Hic!”

The phone booth beside Johanna was crushed to dust in an instant. The streetlight next to it was shattered. A manhole lay broken, and an abandoned food truck had been crushed.

She managed to dodge the falling wasp corpses by throwing her body. Throwing away one or two would’ve been easy, but there were dozens—hundreds—crashing down from the sky, so she couldn’t do that for all of them.

“You damn Yankee mage! At least think about the people down here before you go around casting your magic!!”

As she continued dodging the burning wreckage, Johanna made a mental note—whoever cast this spell, she had to see their face.

***

Hamilton reluctantly handed over some of his authority to Kang Mu-hyuk as he had nothing to lose in the situation anyway. Though he worked as a lobbyist for the East, at his core, he was still a civil servant. Protecting the country and saving lives came first. In light of that, representing the interests of the Eastern Region was of little concern.

After all, the reason he supported the Eastern Region’s Dragon Horse Ranch was because the supply of mounts played a crucial role in Gate Security. To protect this, he came to the judgement that Rider Wolf would cause disruption in the existing market. But it was like putting the cart before the horse to guarantee the interests of the East at the cost of losing the western metropolis of LA, home to millions of people.

'The East won’t lift a finger to solve the West’s problems. Losing one city wouldn’t even make them blink.'

The same thing had happened last spring when LA's gates opened. Rather than helping, the East had only caused problems for Western guilds, by hoarding potions and consumables in preparation for monster battles.

“It’d be great if you manage to pull this off, Guild Leader Kang Mu-hyuk. There won’t be any penalties if the negotiations fail, so use me however you want.”

“Oh? You saying that... makes it so much more easier for me.”

Kang Mu-hyuk's bright expression made Hamilton uneasy. Had he just made a mistake?

“The communication network is a mess, so we have no choice but to go there ourselves. We also can’t spare many personnel to guard the area near the branch.”

The LA branch chief of the Hunter Crime Force, his hands trembling, offered to send a small team. Kang Mu-hyuk shook his head.

“That’s okay. I’ll go with my group. Just give me some vehicles. I know the Hunter Crime Force has some really solid ones.”

“That might be… a little expensive…”

“Is that really a problem right now?”

“…No, not at all, Mr. Hamilton. I’ll get them for you right away. Haha…”

Kang Mu-hyuk took the car keys from the branch manager, his hands shaking even more than when he had first offered to send a party with them. He turned to No Songrin, who had just returned, informing him of the situation.

“Our first stop is the Call My Name Guild. It’s the closest one.”

“Guild Leader, I know this is important, but what about the kid? I mean, Go Eulji. There are at least a few thousand to maybe even ten thousand people still at the concert hall. If we don’t do something, they’re going to be monster food.”

Originally, Kang Mu-hyuk had planned to prioritize Go Eul-ji—the perfect choice for situations like this. Wide-range attacks, unrivalled mobility, pinpoint accuracy and versatile utility—she was the perfect ally in a situation where you never know what problems might arise like the present one. He immediately changed his plans.

“Change of plans. Call My Name can wait. We’re heading to Gunpowder first.”

***

“Hey. You dead? Huh? Still alive?”

Jang Deuk-goo poked Thomas’s cheek as he lay sprawled on the ground. His skin felt dry, lifeless—like sand. But thankfully, his chest was still rising and falling. Thomas answered in a dying voice.

“Barely alive. Though if I cast one more spell, I’ll definitely die.”

“Oh, good. If your mouth’s still working, I guess you’re not dying yet.”

“…If my mouth’s working, of course, I’m not— Wait. Was that a Korean-style joke?”

“Damn it, do people with your disease just not know how to take a joke? How are you as clueless as the Guild Leader … Tsk tsk!”

Jang Deuk-goo smirked and reached out a hand. Thomas grabbed it, struggling to lift himself up. Jang Deuk-goo let him lean on his shoulder. Supported, Thomas gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand.

“I burned everything within range… but I’m not sure if I got them all…”

“Kieeeeeeeek!”

Suddenly, the rubble around them collapsed and a massive shadow rose.