I Am The Anti-Mage

Chapter 85: Warlord: The End that No one Expected

The 20 Red Gates that appeared out of nowhere in South Korea had reduced by more than half their number now. There were indeed some casualties. But, the number was less than 100 people combined between the civilians and the hunters.

The Hunters Association responded better to the incident than when Mapo’s Red Gate occurred. It allowed them to minimize the loss. Whether the civilians, the hunters, or the public infrastructures.

It was a relief to only suffered that much loss despite the state of the 20 Red Gates. It also needed to get emphasized because there were only low-grade creatures. Thus, it was enough with C-rank and B-rank hunters to deal with it. Although, in the end, many high-rank hunters had got deployed from the guilds by Hunters Association’s request.

However, the good results were not enough to relieve the hunters’ anxiety. That was because what happened to Jo-hyun and Min-ho raised a thousand questions. The Hunters Association, the Demigod guild, and the Artates guild also wanted to know what was really happened.

The incident was not only known to those people, even the Shadow Guild and several other guilds knew about the situation. They rushed over to the two hunters’ treatment area, which was in the Hunters Association building. The closest place after traveling from Busan rather than to the Demigod guild and the Artates guild.

Many big names were present in the Hunter Association. They mostly were S-rank hunters. And the hunters ranked below them were told to go home and get on guard against the problem of the Red Gate, which had not entirely resolved.

Dal-soo came out from the room, where he treated both Jo-hyun and Min-ho.

“They are fine now. Just need to rest. Maybe for 12 hours. But, speaking of this incident, their injuries are a bit severe. If they get neglected for a day, their lives may be in danger.

“I also inspected their wounds, and there’s nothing out of the ordinary except for Min-ho’s hand.

“There are traces of Magic Manifestation.”

Chairman Yu and Seo Ji-soo were the only ones who flinched at those words, while the others were confused and clueless.

Dal-soo looked at Chairman Yu and got the affirmation to explain.

“A magic technique that only high-ranked hunters can master.”

“What do you mean high-ranked hunters?”

Dal-soo used one of his fingers to point to the ceiling. “The highest. Apex-Rank and ArchMage.”

The other S-rank hunters had never seen how an Apex-rank hunter or ArchMage fought. So, they didn’t know what abilities a hunter of that rank had. All they knew was that their strength had reached the God realm.

“What’s Magic Manifestation!?”

Chairman Yu opened his palm and summoned a small fireball after hearing the question.

Dal-soo looked at Chairman Yu, then used his hand to dispel the small fireball.

The other S-rank Hunters were still clueless as f*ck even after seeing the demonstration.

“It’s common to remove the magic of other hunters through mastery. In our case with Chairman Yu, he lowered his magic power, and I can dispel it despite not being proficient in fire elemental magic. In other words, as long as you are more powerful, you can easily undo the other hunters’ spell.

“However, this does not apply to Magic Manifestation. It allows an Apex rank hunter and ArchMage not only to dispel the magic elements. But, it also to make them their own. And that magic cannot be gone by anything except with the permission of the creator or user. In a simple sentence, they became an elemental bender that doesn’t limit to the primary elements.

“Those hunters don’t seem to need to borrow the power of nature anymore. They are the embodiment of magic itself. That goes against the Mana Blessing method.”

Ji-soo chimed in. “That is why they are called True God Incarnations.”

Gang-ho snorted. “Then, shouldn’t Hyun-bin be here? Not you?”

“Ehem! What did you find in Min-ho’s hand?”

Chairman Yu tried to stop the tension between the Demigod guild Headmaster and the Artates guild Vice-headmaster.

“The magical flames sword.”

“Will it affect his life?”

“No. It’s just that I can’t heal it instantly. The scar on Min-ho’s hand can only heal after enough rest and periodic healing.”

All the hunters present exhaled deeply. An S-rank healer couldn’t fully heal an injury. Who could calm down after knowing that?

“Then does that mean the ones attacking them is Apex-rank hunter? Or ArchMage? How did they get here in South Korea without us knowing!?”

Dal-sik, Shadow guild Headmaster interrupted. “Looks like it’s a bigger threat than the Red Gates we’re currently facing.”

“We still need to hear the story from Jo-hyun and Min-ho first before jumping to conclusions. Don’t worry. I’ll order Chief Joo to gather information about suspicious people.”

Chairman Yu assured everyone not to rush into deciding this matter. At the same time, he also showed caution so that nothing wrong would happen after the Red Gates accident.

Dal-soo told everyone to come back to let Jo-hyun and Min-ho stay at the Hunter’s Association for a while. He needed to treat Min-ho in the next few hours so that the wound on Min-ho’s hand wouldn’t have any effect after the treatment.

Just as everyone had left the Hunter’s Association building, Gang-ho and Dal-sik suddenly stopped their footsteps and turned to look at Chairman Yu.

“Hyung~nim. Don’t you think that person is ‘him’?”

“I thought so too. Do you think he came back here??”

Chairman Yu widened his eyes at those words. It was not because he didn’t understand. But because he was fully aware of who the two men had mentioned.

South Korea’s greatest traitor, Ma Dong-seok.

However, Chairman Yu originally wanted to reject the idea. Come to think of it, the possibility of Dong-seok doing that was very high.

“But, why? Even if he did it. It’s not in his character to show mercy when fighting.”

“That’s true.”

Both Gang-ho and Dal-sik nod in agreement at Chairman Yu’s counter-argument. The two then looked at each other and finally said goodbye to go back, exiting the Hunters Association building.

On the other hand, Chairman Yu’s expression was really grave. He picked up his smartphone and called Chief Joo.

“Find out about Ma Dong-seok’s whereabouts. Stop everything else your team is doing and focus on this. You need to step in on this too.”

“Think about it later. I’m not too sure about that either. But, I have a bad feeling about it. So please check it out.”

In South Korea, very few know about Ma Dong-seok. Even in the top three guilds, only the headmasters had the information. As for the Hunters Association’s side, only Chairman Yu and all the division Chiefs knew about it.

There was no time to spare. The Hunters Association needed to do it all at once. The matter of the Red Gates, as well as Ma Dong-seok, required to get handled carefully.

At the very least, the Red Gates could get guaranteed to be safe and under control so far. Only the events of Jo-hyun and Min-ho were uncertain.

Chairman Yu could only hope that there would be no further trouble in these turbulent times.

Meanwhile, Ji-woo returns with a flimsy outfit. None of the shops along his way home were open. After arriving at Mapo, he visited the evacuation site and then went home with his family. It was allowed because he was a hunter, and the situation got almost totally under control too.

Elijah and Ji-won didn’t notice that Ji-woo’s body got covered in bandages because it was under the clothes. It was also thanks to the goddess of luck that Ji-woo’s face and hands had no visible scars. So, a thousand questions did not come to his ears.

Ji-woo briefly described what happened and only gave the outline. Namely, he helped the hunters to solve the problem of the Red Gate. The smartphone that got damaged was also associated with that reason.

Ji-woo returned to his room and laid down, thinking about the ending he didn’t expect. The Spatial Bag compared to an immense loss in earnings. It certainly wasn’t a bad thing for him.

Now, Ji-woo was just in a dilemma. Should he sell the Spatial Bag or not?

On earth, such an object was indeed extraordinary. And it would be a shame if it got sold. Moreover, Ji-woo was unable to produce spatial items.

‘I wish I had a Blacksmith. But, oh. Just forget it. I can’t guarantee to be able to gather the materials if my sources are based solely on those dungeons.’

Ji-woo then stared at the Spatial Bag and decided to pawn it to the broker. He needed money, and at the same time, he couldn’t part with the Spatial Bag. He required that item in order to hunt in the dungeon while collecting loot comfortably.

‘Oh my! My life is destitute right now! How pathetic.’

Ji-woo would start a relentless hunt in the dungeons until he had enough funds for him to do everything he had to do. He might as well use the Spatial Bag as collateral to buy those Portal Gates from the broker.

Sometimes Ji-woo needed to be shameless once in a while. It wasn’t a bad idea anyway, considered that all the lower-tier Portal Gates wouldn’t present him with any challenges.