Chapter 97: The Uproar of the City

Every city in the vicinity was thrown into an uproar. Grisha, especially, possessing two Returnees, seemed on the verge of outright rebellion.

Protesters, armed with picket signs, had formed a blockade in front of the Credit Guild. Their slogans were provocative, and their demonstrations were accompanied by fire.

Sagyeol, observing the spectacle through the glass, found it utterly preposterous. Lee Hyun-su, however, was incandescent with rage.

He railed, demanding to know how their attitudes could flip so drastically, like turning over a hand. He insisted they should have somehow concealed the truth about the flood subjugation, had they known it would come to this.

“Just when I thought I could finally rest, the workload… the workload has increased…”

The faint murmur reached Yeowon’s ears. He pretended not to hear it.

Day after day, the media clamored about the ‘Herald’. Though they claimed the Herald’s chosen target remained undisclosed, speculation was hardly difficult.

“Should we offer Lee Su-yeong as a sacrifice?”

Winslot, whose true name was Lee Su-yeong, abruptly whipped his head around from the corner. His pupils dilated as if experiencing a magnitude 9 earthquake.

“…Mr. Lee Su-yeong is right there in the corner, you know.”

“Ah.”

At Lee Hyun-su’s pointed remark, Sagyeol reacted as if genuinely unaware. His bewilderment was fleeting. He casually rubbed his chin and spoke with a dismissive air.

“Let’s discuss this matter later.”

It was clear he intended to decide whether to throw Winslot to the enraged citizens when the man himself wasn’t present. Winslot, desperate, clung to his lifeline.

“L-Lord! Please, save me!”

Dropping to his knees, he wrapped his arms around Yeowon’s waist. The problem was that, being smaller than Yeowon, Winslot’s face ended up rubbing against an awkward spot.

Yeowon, flustered, tried to pry Winslot off, but the grip of someone whose life hung in the balance proved surprisingly formidable.

Lee Hyun-su thought, ‘Even if it weren’t for this situation, that man would surely meet an early demise due to his lack of tact.’

The lifeline he had grasped was undeniably sturdy, yet it was connected not to a person, but to a man-eating tiger. Instead of getting angry, Sagyeol smiled with a chilling sweetness.

“Is that bastard insane?”

The Credit Guild remained quiet. Their intervention would not have helped resolve the situation in the slightest.

Instead, the Association stepped forward. There was no time to even attend to the half-destroyed building.

Though relatively unscathed employees stood before the citizens, their efforts proved largely ineffective.

The crowd seethed like boiling water. It was the culmination of long-simmering anxieties finally erupting.

Now, the Gates would open no more. Though there had been no official announcement, the demons’ parting words had revealed the most crucial aspect of the Gates’ mechanism to the citizens.

The core of the Gates resided in the Demon Realm, capable of being opened and closed at their will. This was tantamount to saying that the lives of all those afflicted with demonic energy poisoning were held captive by the demons.

In such a dire situation, telling the patients or their families to calm down and wait was utterly futile.

The protests had already continued for six days.

“Only four days left, then.”

Kratus had granted a ten-day reprieve. The location was somewhere in Baekdam.

Though he hadn’t confirmed the exact coordinates, Yeowon instinctively knew it was deep within the Demon King’s castle.

Sagyeol had double-checked with Winslot, confirming it was indeed Baekdam. This act, born from a lack of trust in Yeowon, remained unspoken by both Sagyeol and Yeowon.

Yeowon, who had briefly considered naming a different location, kept his mouth tightly shut.

The situation was swept into a torrent. The current was ferocious.

No one could resist its pull. To varying degrees, everyone was carried along the narrow river of fate.

With each passing day, the protests grew more radical. Molotov cocktails were thrown, illegal firearms appeared, and then, today, the radical faction finally launched an assault on Credit.

Hunters led the charge.

Physical enhancement Hunters breached the barricade. Following them, magic manipulation Hunters unleashed elemental attacks.

Flames shot up from the ground like fireworks, the floor froze solid, and blades of air, like mirages, surged forward.

Sagyeol, observing the chaos from the upper floors, muttered cynically.

“Idiots.”

The protesting Hunters, full of bravado, stormed into the first floor. They trampled over shattered glass, pushing forward without hesitation.

But that was as far as they got.

The moment they entered the lobby, they faltered and froze. Hunters of extraordinary presence confronted the protesters.

Though scattered casually—some perched on the counter, others leaning against pillars—they gave the impression of standing in perfect formation. It was due to their overwhelming aura and intimidation.

The Credit Hunters, eyes like predators eyeing delectable prey, surveyed the protesting Hunters standing amidst the shattered glass. Yoon Hye-ri stepped forward from among them.

“Subdue the radical protesters who have crossed the line. With as few injuries as possible.”

“‘As few as possible,’ you say? *As few as possible*.”

Snickering laughter erupted from various points.

“…I misspoke. Maximally. Without injuries.”

“Roger that.”

Immediately, with an explosion, Hunters were sent flying out.

“Ugh!”

“Aargh!”

The protesting Hunters’ attacks had only landed once, during their initial ambush. The Credit Hunters, eyes gleaming fiercely, charged forward.

For six days, despite the escalating violence of the protests, they had maintained a passive stance, as their opponents were either ordinary citizens or low-ranking Hunters. They felt a profound weariness.

Just this morning, when one suggested fighting magical creatures would be preferable, a colleague had silently nodded in agreement. Now that Hunters had crossed the line like this, it was, for them, a cause for outright celebration.

“I thought I’d die from frustration!”

“I’ll beat you senseless with gratitude!”

They were like beasts unleashed.

The subjugation was instantaneous. All the protesting Hunters were subdued and bound with restraints.

Though bruised and battered, their spirit remained unbroken. Instead, they glared with eyes filled with resentment and fury, as if at an archenemy.

“Well, what’s-his-name. We might’ve gone a bit overboard with the beating, but there’s no need to look at us like that…”

“Is all of this just a game to you?”

At that question, it was the Credit Guild members’ turn to bristle.

“A game? We are working in earnest.”

“Indeed. This is official work time, and we are performing our duties. To call it a game is an outrageous remark. Apologize at once.”

“How laughable. We came all this way, shedding tears of blood.”

The Hunter who had led the charge and was the first to be restrained spat out fiercely.

His words were followed by a familiar tale: family. All of them had loved ones afflicted with demonic energy poisoning. But the Credit Hunters were no different. Those who were about to retort fell silent at what came next.

“You people would be fine, wouldn’t you? You’re affiliated with the Credit Guild.”

“What do you mean by that? There are few places with the technology and facilities to process demon crystals, so Credit takes a higher proportion. But after being processed into neutralizers, they are distributed equally—”

“Stop talking, it’s sickening! That argument only held water before the Gates disappeared. Shall I tell you why you can remain so calm? It’s because you’re affiliated with Credit, and you calculate that even if things go awry, you’ll be supplied with demon crystals until the very last. Go on, deny it. Tell me you’ve never, not even unconsciously, thought that in the back of your mind!”

The Hunter singled out could not respond with anger to the accusation. Instead, he faltered for a moment, rendered speechless. He had just realized that, unbeknownst to himself, he truly had regarded Credit as a ‘reliable fallback’.

The man sneered sharply.

“The Credit Guild’s demon crystals are abundant, but not infinite. I’m very curious to see how you’ll filter out people when the demon crystals stored in this damnable guild start to run out. I’m dying to watch it all unfold from the sidelines, but we’re more desperate than you. Hand over the Returnees. Then everything will be cleanly resolved.”

“Don’t wield desperation like a weapon, you pathetic bastards. That’s just your own trashy emotions. Even if there were some justification for such a thing, do you think it would remain if you sacrificed others?”

Sagyeol emerged from beyond the broken corridor. His face expressionless, he unleashed scathing words, then stomped his foot, making no effort to hide his contempt.

“You’re just low-class thugs.”

Crack!

Ice, like a white serpent, shot out from his feet and exploded like a bomb in front of the protesting Hunter. The Hunter was flung backward, rolling several times across the floor. He sat up, unfazed, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

“An attack on an unarmed opponent? Finally, your true nature emerges.”

“Shut your mouth, you bastard.”

Thwack!

Sagyeol, who had appeared before him in an instant, kicked him squarely in the solar plexus. The man immediately lost consciousness.

“I should have shoved ice down your throat. And get your facts straight, my true nature isn’t just emerging now. I’ve always been like this.”

‘He’s not wrong, but boss, please.’

The Hunters began clearing the scene with gloomy expressions. Sagyeol’s anger still simmered. Everything he saw annoyed him, but there was one thing that particularly grated on him.

It was Yeowon.

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