Chapter 136

Chapter 136
## Chapter 136: Parhel’s Demise

Parhel, reeling from a sudden impact that snapped his head back, reached up and wrenched a foreign object from his forehead. It was a pitted, oxidized nail.

— How is this possible? Where did you obtain such a thing?

It was clear that Parhel hadn’t anticipated me possessing this specific weapon. I had intentionally avoided showing any sign that I carried it. From his perspective, he likely assumed I was merely playing for time, waiting for my allies to dismantle the steles empowering Organ and reinforce my position. He probably expected Ramin to be the one to eventually wield the nail.

“That’s the price you pay for being overly calculating.”

Dark miasma began to leak from the puncture in his brow, only to be instantly dissolved by a burgeoning white radiance.

— It… changes nothing. My path to eternity concludes here, but yours ends as well. The celestial impact will occur before I fully dissipate.

He was right; the summoned meteor would strike this Erosion Core before I could find an exit.

— If I am to vanish, I am dragging you into the void with me.

“Keep dreaming, you pathetic wretch.”

I offered a sharp grin and rhythmically tapped the tip of Han Sang-ah’s shoe against the floor. By activating the magic within the footwear, I could enter a brief state of total intangibility where no damage could be exchanged.

“That rock falling from the heavens won’t leave a scratch on me.”

My plan was simple: trigger the ability the exact millisecond of the collision. This is the essence of holding a trump card—saving the definitive counter-move for the absolute climax to ensure a flawless execution.

— You… you absolute snake.

“I’ll take that as a rave review.”

There is no higher praise than the desperation of a dying enemy. Parhel was fading; the passage of seconds was now his executioner.

Then, the obsidian-hued meteor tore into the earth. A titanic shockwave, which even the Paradox Flame could not suppress, rippled outward, carving a gargantuan basin into the terrain. In my shimmering, spectral form, I simply let the devastation pass through me.

“Farewell. And don’t fret too much—your associates will be joining you in the afterlife shortly.”

A brilliant white light consumed Parhel. His desiccated skin hissed and crackled as it disintegrated into nothingness.

— That strength you claim… it will eventually consume you. You are blind to it. But I have endured through the eras and witnessed the truth. You…

As he struggled to get his final words out, I reached forward, seized Parhel’s head, and applied crushing pressure. A sickening pop echoed as his skull gave way.

“I won’t, you talkative corpse.”

Every sorcerer with a shred of talent had peddled that same prophecy to me. They claimed I held a power I couldn’t control, that I’d succumb to the darkness and leave the world in ashes. Yet, despite their warnings, I had already rescued one dying world and successfully returned to my own.

This occasion would be no different. A heavy container materialized on the ground before me—the spoils for conquering the Erosion Core.

“Gloves, is it?”

They were a pair of gauntlets with a deep, oily black luster. Upon closer inspection, the material appeared to be woven from obsidian filaments. I couldn’t fathom the process of spinning volcanic glass into fabric, but the quality was undeniable.

“Transmutation equipment.”

The gear was designed to harvest life energy, convert it into mana, and store it. While I could already fuel my magic with my own vitality, the true value lay in the secondary function: the gloves could siphon life force from anything they touched. Furthermore…

“Curse application.”

The gathered energy could be expended directly or filtered through the gauntlets to lace every strike with debilitating hexes.

“This is an ideal setup for a war of attrition.”

I could envision it now—mixing lethal toxins with Paradox Flame and sealing the deal with a layer of curses. It was a potent combination.

“It’s almost a shame my current opposition consists mostly of the dead.”

The undead possessed a natural resistance to poisons and hexes. They were, after all, already rot and bone. However, a hunter’s career is long, and I wouldn’t be fighting ghouls forever. When the time came for a different prey, these gloves and my reforged spear would be a nightmare pairing.

With the loot secured, the Erosion Core dissolved, depositing us back in Pyeongseong. Jeong Oh-hoon gave me a heavy pat on the back, his voice booming.

“With this victory, making the Korean Peninsula safe again is just a countdown!”

The Grade 1 Erosion Cores in Samhyeol-dong and Jaun Valley were neutralized. The remaining threats were minor enough for the local hunter guilds to manage without our intervention.

“Come on, let’s move! There are mountains of wealth and artifacts waiting to be liberated from Geumsusan Sun Palace.”

I wondered briefly if he was a hunter or just a high-end grave robber, but I couldn’t fault his logic. Those resources were going to be claimed by someone eventually. If anyone deserved the spoils, it was us—the ones who had bled for the victory.

“This should silence the naysayers for a while.”

We had faced criticism for prioritizing the Erosion Cores over direct defense, but results have a way of killing controversy.

“Those damn rot-walkers are still everywhere.”

Hordes of undead still choked the area. Only those directly linked to the Samhyeol-dong core had vanished when it collapsed. We had bypassed the perimeter guards to strike at the heart of the core, so naturally, we emerged right back into the middle of the swarm. I turned to Han Sang-ah and Jeong Oh-hoon.

“You two take point on this, alright?”

I was drained. Jeong Oh-hoon gave me a look of feigned offense.

“Hey, don’t act like we were just spectators in there.”

“Yoo Chan-seok carried the heaviest burden, that’s just a fact. Our contributions were minimal by comparison.”

Han Sang-ah provided a blunt, honest audit of their performance.

“You’re always so clinical about it.”

“We are currently less powerful than Yoo Chan-seok. In this context, we are the support staff.”

Han Sang-ah ignored his grumbling, unsheathed her blade, and began carving a path through the advancing ghouls. It was efficient and ruthless, like clearing debris with a high-pressure hose. Jeong Oh-hoon watched her for a second before leveling his rifle and raining down crimson fire to cover her flanks.

“The elite monsters from Samhyeol-dong are gone, right?”

Without the core’s enhancement, the standard undead were no match for hunters of their caliber, regardless of the sheer numbers.

Thanks to their clearing the way, we reached the safety of the outpost. The Taebaek hunters stationed there looked conflicted, their expressions a mix of relief and profound confusion. It must have been a jarring sight.

“Here, I’m returning these.”

Han Sang-ah took back her shoes and handed me my crown in exchange.

“You both look like you’ve been through the wringer.”

“Nothing fatal. Mostly just exhaustion.”

While I had neutralized Parhel, they had been pushed to their limits as well. I wasn’t about to ignore their effort.

“The mission is complete. Let’s head back and recover.”

We desperately needed downtime.

“I’m with you! We’ve been at this without a break. Hunters of our rank should be treated like royalty at a spa for this kind of work!”

Jeong Oh-hoon was already dreaming of a vacation, but Han Sang-ah kept her eyes on me, her expression guarded. She spoke a single name.

“Gonsalok?”

“Gonsalok,” I confirmed, my voice dropping an octave.

Jeong Oh-hoon’s excitement evaporated instantly as he looked between us.

“What are you two plotting now?”

“Yoo Chan-seok is saying that ‘rest’ is only for him. For us, it means something else.”

Jeong Oh-hoon turned his gaze toward me.

“Rest isn’t the final goal.”

It’s merely a tactical pause before the next storm. And the upcoming storm was going to be a hurricane, making this recovery period mandatory.

Gonsalok.

“Wouldn’t it be smarter to take more time to prepare?”

I smirked at Jeong Oh-hoon’s hesitation.

“The preparation is already done.”

The well-established territories of Jaun Valley and Samhyeol-dong were gone. While lower-tier cores were isolated, the high-grade ones definitely shared intelligence.

“Parhel explicitly identified himself as a vassal of Gonsalok.”

The term implies a servant bound to a monarch.

“The core of Samhyeol-dong was a subordinate to Gonsalok. And we just executed that subordinate.”

Jeong Oh-hoon’s jaw tightened.

“So you’re saying Gonsalok will come for us.”

“Exactly.”

The bond between a lord and a vassal is built on the promise of protection or retribution. If Gonsalok ignores the destruction of Samhyeol-dong, he loses his authority over his other subjects. To maintain his grip, Gonsalok has no choice but to act.

“Gonsalok is going to launch an assault on Korea.”

“And how does that lead to us attacking him first?”

Han Sang-ah looked at Jeong Oh-hoon and answered for me.

“We’ve effectively backed the Korean government into a corner.”

I smiled. She understood perfectly.

“Gonsalok is one of the Great Eight. Taking him down requires a level of resources and manpower that dwarfs what we used for Jaun Valley or Samhyeol-dong.”

Jeong Oh-hoon stared at me as if he were seeing a monster.

“You’ve manipulated the entire country into a war with Gonsalok.”

“If the government stays idle, Gonsalok will be the one choosing the time and place of the attack.”

If they did nothing, the million-man undead army currently stationed in Beijing would eventually march into Seoul.

“It’s an inevitable conflict. Korea won’t want their own soil to be the front line, even if they’re confident in a win.”

Right now, the authorities were busy hoarding hunters to ‘defend’ against manufactured threats in the foreign zones—a controlled panic they used for leverage. But Gonsalok? That was a real, uncontrollable nightmare.

“A purely defensive strategy means massive collateral damage regardless of the outcome.”

I had seen the might of Gonsalok’s legions before. They didn’t just fight; they swarmed like locusts. It was nothing like picking off stragglers at the DMZ.

“If the leadership is hesitant to poke the Great Eight, you simply make it impossible for them to refuse.”

You force a reluctant but powerful army into a position where the only way out is forward.

Jeong Oh-hoon looked like he wanted to argue but couldn’t find the words.

“You’re insane. Wiping out Samhyeol-dong was the spark. The government might blame us for poking the beehive.”

“Blame us?”

We had just neutralized three Grade 1 cores in record time. Even if we were the catalysts for Gonsalok’s anger, we were the only ones capable of stopping him.

“Are they going to arrest us while Gonsalok is knocking on the door? That would be tactical suicide.”

“And after the fight?”

“If we lead the charge and bring down Gonsalok, the glory will outweigh the grievance.”

In the end, success justifies the means.

“We’re just helping Gonsalok provide us with a chance to earn even more prestige.”

The logistics, the extra hunters, the funding—this time, Korea would be footing the bill. I pulled out my phone, a dark sense of amusement washing over me.

“Now, I should probably break the ‘good’ news to the President.”

I could already imagine the look on his face when he realized exactly what we had set in motion.