SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 30. Autumn Rain Is Blood (3)
3
[You are given a Stage 12 Quest.]
The moment that voice reached us, something poured down the window.
Patter, patter.
Rain.
Raindrops struck the ornate windows of Alhyeon Hall and slid downward. For a moment, our attention was caught by the water streaming down the glass. We weren’t startled by the sudden downpour itself. What caught us off guard was something else entirely.
“Oh… oh no….”
“A nightmare… the rain of nightmares falls again!”
It was the color of the rain.
The rain flowing from the windows was red as blood. Or perhaps it truly was blood. The Non-Player Characters in Alhyeon Hall with us—civil officials and military alike—began to groan, their heads wrapped in their hands.
“Goddess, do not abandon us!”
“W-what’s going on? Why are they acting like this all of a sudden…?”
Doksa, exhausted from fighting Geomseong, looked around with difficulty.
“It’s the Demon King….”
An armored Non-Player Character muttered the words. He lay sprawled on the floor of Alhyeon Hall, his shoulders trembling. As though infected by that trembling, groans erupted from all around.
“The Empire is finished….”
“The Demon King is coming….”
“Your Majesty… where have you gone, our sovereign…?”
Not a single Non-Player Character’s face bore any light. Despair, resignation, lamentation—their expressions were no different from those of real humans.
Doksa swallowed hard.
“These bastards are ridiculous. Hey, this is all just staging, right? What’s happening now?”
“The Quest has begun.”
I spoke quietly.
“Since we don’t seem likely to fight even if we stay still, if we can’t provoke any more internal strife, we have no choice but to attack directly.”
“Attack? Who?”
“Who else?”
I gazed out through the window.
“The one who orchestrated all this—offering us such rewards to provoke conflict among ourselves.”
Laughter echoed through my mind.
[The Demon King of Autumn Rain acknowledges your words.]
Whoooosh!
The rain intensified. What had begun as a cautious knocking against the window quickly became a tempest. Dozens of drops, hundreds, thousands upon thousands of red droplets battered the glass relentlessly.
……
I moved toward the window. From here, the outside was invisible. The downpour had grown so fierce that the pane itself had turned completely crimson. I struck the glass with the hilt of my sword and shattered it.
Crash!
Scarlet raindrops poured into Alhyeon Hall. Now at last I could see outside properly. In the heart of the palace. Beyond Alhyeon Hall stretched the Imperial Palace. Beyond the palace lay the city. Beyond the city rose a colossal City Wall.
[The Demon King of Autumn Rain manifests.]
It stood beyond the wall.
—Pitiful creatures.
It opened its mouth slightly and whispered.
Yes. A whisper.
That whisper alone was enough for its voice to transcend barriers, to leap over the countless walls of the palace, and finally to pour through the broken window into this place.
—You summon humans from another world and seat them at the heart of power, yet do you truly believe they will be your shield? You call them heroes, but can you truly say they will be champions for you?
The rain fell endlessly.
—Call out to them. Call out freely. What prevents you from calling? Summon thousands of heroes and tens of thousands of knights. They are nothing but humans like you. Your stupidity knows no end—how pitiful you are.
The voice rang through the endless downpour. It echoed off the city walls. It reverberated through the palace corridors. It struck the walls of Alhyeon Hall. It laughed—a terrible, resounding laugh. The sound echoed and re-echoed, thundering through our skulls.
“Ugh, ahhh….”
The Non-Player Characters pressed their heads even lower. They writhed as though in agony, clutching at their skulls.
We Hunters fared better. Unlike the Non-Player Characters, this was our first time hearing the Demon King’s laughter. It was bearable. If we had to endure such laughter for a year straight, the matter would be entirely different.
—You who see humans as less than human.
That was when it happened.
The map visible only to me. The Minimap. Traced by the blessing of the God of War, red dots began to appear on the map. One. Two. Three. The red points etched slowly on the Minimap suddenly multiplied at a certain moment.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Soon, everything beyond the horizon had turned crimson.
—Be consumed by your own malice.
Lightning struck.
Heaven and earth turned pale at once, and all that lay between them was laid bare.
All the red dots on the map were monsters.
“…….”
“…….”
The Hunters fell silent. An army of monsters incomparable to the eleventh stage—an endless horde bearing down from beyond the horizon.
-Growl.
-Shriek, shriek!
The monsters wailed. They bared their teeth. They twisted their necks. Raindrops streamed down the goblins’ contorted faces. To them, the blood-tinged rain seemed to be holy water instead. Like knights marching into a great crusade, the monsters gazed upward at the sky and worshipped the crimson downpour.
“…I told you.”
I gripped the hilt of my sword tightly.
“Now is not the time for us to fight among ourselves.”
And then words unfolded before my eyes.
+
[Imperial Capital Defense Battle]
Difficulty Level: A~SSS
Mission Objective: Warriors! You have stood bravely against the Demon King’s forces and protected your supply lines. Sensing this threat, the Demon King has taken to the field himself. He can summon monster legions at any time and place. His target is the heart of the Aikim Empire—the imperial capital of Hakamnya.
Fortunately, the strain of manifesting from afar has weakened the Demon King’s power.
Stop the Demon King!
※However, if you are defeated in battle, the thirteenth stage will not open.
+
Silence fell for a moment.
“…Weakened, you say?”
Doksa muttered absently.
“That thing?”
A sentiment that spoke for everyone.
“This is… unreasonable. How are we supposed to clear this? It was never meant to be beaten in the first place. Even if Stages one through ten were just tutorials… the difficulty gap is absurd. Something like this.”
“Enough. Let’s stay calm.”
I turned away and looked toward Alhyeon Hall.
There were Hunters. Behind them, NPCs despaired.
“We can do this. The Tower doesn’t give quests that can’t be cleared.”
“But how are we supposed to defeat so many monsters……?”
“That’s precisely why you need to stay calm.”
I pointed to the NPCs.
“We’re not mere Hunters here. You chose your roles yourselves and forgot. Doksa, you are the Commander of the Imperial Guard of Aikim Empire. A commander must lead his guard.”
“…….”
“We Hunters alone cannot clear this stage.”
That’s right.
“Persuade the NPCs. Raise them up. Command them. Treat them as real people and lead them to the battlefield by any means necessary.”
That’s how we cleared the eleventh stage too.
“We cannot fight among ourselves. Geomseong, you are the Knight Commander of the Empire. How can the Knight Commander and the Guard Commander draw swords against each other? What kind of nation would fail to repel an invader like that?”
“…….”
“Did you think accepting the Knight Commander’s rewards was pure gain? It is, in a sense. But if you claimed the rights, you must also bear the obligations. Whether you like it or not, we’ve taken on the roles of the Empire’s leadership, and now we must play our parts.”
I turned my gaze toward the Holy Knight.
The Holy Knight was watching me with a serious expression.
“Minister of Foreign Affairs.”
“Yes.”
“We’re in Alhyeon Hall right now, but I don’t see the Emperor. The Emperor must be somewhere in the palace. Take the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials with you and find him. Without a leader, the NPCs won’t follow properly.”
The Holy Knight nodded.
“Understood.”
“Generalissimo.”
I turned to face the Heresy Inquisitor. Despite having lost his right arm, he smiled broadly—watching me with an expression of keen interest.
“Yes! So I am the Generalissimo!”
“I can’t stand Hunters like you. I really dislike you. I felt just now, watching what you did, that someday I’ll need to settle things with you. But right now, I can’t afford to lose someone with the rank of Generalissimo.”
“Ahahaha. I’m growing fonder of you by the minute, Kim Gongja!”
“You said you’d put everything in my hands, so be quiet and follow my orders.”
I studied the map as I spoke.
There was little time. The red tide was creeping ever closer to the capital.
“There will be many soldiers on the City Wall. With monsters crashing down like a tidal wave before their eyes, they won’t be in their right minds. As Generalissimo, you yourself must stand on that wall and soothe the soldiers.”
“Right! That’s Noblesse Oblige!”
“Whatever happens, hold the City Wall. If it falls, this stage is over.”
“Don’t worry.”
The Heresy Inquisitor smiled.
“I have never broken a promise since the day I was born. I will keep this one with my life on the line!”
“Okay.”
I surveyed the assembly.
“Then I’ll go on ahead.”
It was time for war.
4
Whoosh! Pop!
The moment we left the Imperial Palace, the remaining Hunters were materializing in waves as reinforcements.
“Whoa. Where are we now?”
“At least it’s not some filthy port.”
The Hunters wandered the capital’s streets like tourists on holiday, craning their necks at every sight.
“Ugh, acid rain? Why’s the water that color……?”
“Get under a roof! Quick!”
“Hey, they’re saying we get to pick a Role as a reward?”
“A Role? What’s a Role?”
The reinforcements had no grasp of the situation. Perhaps because they’d arrived later than we had.
‘Even the top-ranked Hunters who reached the twelfth floor first were suspicious of each other and fighting.’
I’d even killed three of them on suspicion. What could we expect from the latecomers? There was no point asking much of Hunters who’d just entered a new Stage.
‘There’s no time to convince them now.’
The Demon King’s legions were drawing closer by the second.
‘I’ll hold the line with the NPCs first!’
I ignored the Hunters and bolted down the street. The roads were a nightmare of congestion. Fortunately, I had my Minimap. I traced the shortest path to the City Wall with methodical precision.
“Kim Gongja.”
The moment we’d cleared the Imperial Palace, someone materialized beside me.
“The Witch?”
“Call me Bae Hu-ryeong. I don’t care for my nickname.”
The Witch—the second-ranked Hunter—had appeared out of nowhere and now ran beside me. Was she channeling aura through her stride? She glided down the street as if skating on air.
“How did you suddenly appear here?”
“…It’s my skill. Instant Teleportation. I can move anywhere within my sight range.”
It was a ridiculously overpowered ability.
—Hey, zombie. Go and die to her! Instant Teleportation? That’s absurdly broken! I don’t care about anyone else, but if I’m dying to someone, let it be her. Come on, die already!
Ignoring Bae Hu-ryeong’s words, I asked her a question.
“Then why didn’t you go to the City Wall first instead?”
“I came to get you. Obviously.”
The Witch answered flatly, showing no sign of fatigue despite the sprint.
“I saw you on the eleventh floor. You have a sword that works on NPCs, right? Whatever sword it is, having it can raise the morale of the soldiers. The soldiers on the City Wall don’t need me—they need you.”
The Witch looked at me.
“I need your consent.”
“My what?”
“Consent clearly and explicitly that you’ll undergo Instant Teleportation with me. Without it, I can’t move you. It’s a limitation of my skill.”
I was taken aback.
“Wait. Instant Teleportation has to be at least an S-rank skill, doesn’t it? Are you really comfortable telling me about these limitations? It’s your trump card.”
“That’s a strange thing to say.”
The Witch wiped her forehead. Red raindrops fell endlessly above us. Wet strands of hair clung to her pale brow.
Her dark eyes fixed on me.
“According to you, I’m the Prime Minister of this empire. It’s only natural that a Prime Minister uses her trump card to defend her own country, isn’t it?”
……
“We’re running out of time. Just give your consent, even if it’s perfunctory.”
I nodded.
“I consent to Bae Hu-ryeong’s use of her skill.”
In that instant, the Witch reached out and took my right hand with her left. Her rain-soaked hand wrapped around mine, her long fingers interlacing with mine to keep from slipping in the downpour.
“What—?”
“…There’s one more limitation.”
The Witch whispered, still holding my hand.
“Teleport.”
Whoosh!
In the blink of an eye, we arrived atop the City Wall.
As expected, the wall was in complete disarray. The monster legions were advancing before us, yet the Imperial soldiers weren’t defending—couldn’t defend. They crouched behind the ramparts, trembling or praying to their gods.
“It’s over…….”
“Goddess in Heaven, grant us mercy, I beseech thee, take pity upon us…….”
“Ugh, ugh… gasping…….”
Non-Player Characters. Yet no different from living, breathing human beings.
Though they might be illusions, the fear they felt was no illusion. The despair written on their faces was no phantom.
“Witch, thank you for bringing me here. From now on, I shall…….”
“Wait.”
The Witch sighed.
“I can’t show my junior only my failures and then be cast aside.”
“Pardon?”
“I didn’t become Guild Master by sitting idle, either.”
The Witch drew a deep breath.
Then she opened her lips.
“…Soldiers of the Aikim Empire!”
A black aura flowed from the Witch’s body.
The black was slightly deeper than red.
“Rise! Stand upon the City Wall—what are you doing? Do you think mere stone walls will protect you of their own accord? Do you not understand that the true rampart defending our empire is not stone and mortar, but you alone, the soldiers of Aikim?”
One by one, the soldiers crouched behind the City Wall lifted their heads.
“The Prime Minister……?”
“It is the Prime Minister.”
Murmurs rippled through the ranks.
To the soldiers, the Witch appeared as their Prime Minister. One man had recognized her, and his words spread like wildfire through the rain.
The Witch nodded.
“Rise! I command you to stand. One day the City Wall may crumble and our homeland may fall to ruin. But so long as you stand, the empire—our Aikim Empire—shall not fall! For you yourselves are the empire!”
She was utterly transformed.
“Rise!”
The Witch blazed with passion. Her usual cold composure had vanished without trace. With fierce, burning eyes she gazed down upon the City Wall, and as her gaze swept across the soldiers, they were drawn to her like fish caught in a net.
“Rise, soldiers of the empire! The final rampart of Aikim! Warriors who are the very embodiment of the realm! Grasp your spears! Draw your swords! Until there is nothing left to hold, until no hands remain to wield steel—rise for your empire, rise for yourselves!”
The Witch clenched her fist.
My hand.
“The Goddess watches over us!”
The Witch lifted my right hand high into the air.
I understood then what I had to do.
Riiing!
The Holy Sword was drawn from its sheath.
I gripped the hilt and raised it high. Within the curtain of crimson rain, the blade of the Holy Sword shone with brilliance. White light pierced through the downpour and illuminated the faces of the soldiers.
“The Progenitor’s Sword…….”
“The Holy Sword. The Holy Sword that the Goddess herself bears witness to!”
And then.
[The Guardian Goddess expresses her gratitude for your choice.]
[The Guardian Goddess grants you her final power.]
Light bloomed.
SSS-Rank Hunter: Must Die to Live (Serial)
Author | Shin Noa
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyung
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelyung Post Tower 1st)
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Shin Noa 2019
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder. No part of this work may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the publisher and author.
Violation of this prohibition may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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