Iselin’s request for cooperation did not end there.
The fact that there were at least 300,000 demons meant it was a matter the Union itself had to handle.
The number of Awakened on Earth was around 10,000,000. Looking at this alone, 300,000 demons might not seem like much.
However, excluding the Greed Legion, the demons of the other three legions had combat power equivalent to C-rank Hunters or higher.
And the number of C-rank or higher Hunters on Earth was approximately 1,000,000.
Having 300,000 demons meant a massive force equivalent to one-third of the total elite Hunter population on Earth.
That wasn’t all. Even a Baron from the Demons of Ruin often overwhelmed C-rank Hunters.
The Demons of Chaos and the Immortal Demons also significantly influenced the battlefield with their Chaos Magic and immortal demonic energy.
There would likely be millions of magic beasts as well. On top of that, they possessed a powerful mobile stronghold called the Bluestone Fortress.
Iselin reported this to the Elf Great Council, which secretly relayed the information to the Enterprise Union Secretariat.
Before long, it was decided that an emergency meeting of the Alliance Security Council—the actual core organization of the Enterprise Union—would be held.
To prevent chaos, it wasn’t publicly announced, but rumors were already beginning to circulate.
Even though the Bluestone Fortress hadn’t yet emerged from the Demon Realm, Dimension net was already buzzing with news of the demon attack.
After lounging around Iselin’s office and returning home, Choi Kangjoong logged into Dimensionnet for the first time in a while.
In times like these, it was fun just to watch because of all the clickbait and jokes flying around.
[I bought six months’ worth of emergency food.]
[Upvote if you’ve already printed a picture of a Demon Legion Commander.]
[If all the Hunters die, will we be conscripted?]
[When is the mobilization order coming out?]
[Check the shelters. If they haven’t been maintained, you won’t last three days.]
[The Union is doomed lol.]
[Outer Mind vs. this demon force.]
[The world is ending!]
[We’re all gonna die to the demons lol.]
[Decide in advance which legion you’ll submit to.]
[Comparison of Ruin, Chaos, Immortal, and Greed.]
‘I smell some malicious trolling.’
While some people tried to get attention for fun, others maliciously tried to lead negative public opinion. Having a long history as a shut-in keyboard warrior, Choi Kangjoong could distinguish between the two just by looking.
‘Is DisOrder active again?’
DisOrder was a malicious terrorist organization operated by a Demon of Chaos. They had previously assisted elven supremacists called EEE in an attempt to crash an Elemental Cruise Ship. Immediately after that, a furious Choi Kangjoong had tracked down their headquarters and wiped them out, causing them to lose their connection to the Demon Realm and their momentum.
However, since the members who had been secretly spread across Earth remained, it wouldn’t be difficult to gather them and restart the organization.
‘Should I bait them?’
Choi Kangjoong wrote a post.
[The Outer Mind and the Princess could handle them easily.]
A reaction came immediately.
— Stop talking nonsense.
— Are you an idiot?
— The things the Outer Mind has fought so far are minor fry compared to this attack. Lol.
‘Minor fry?!’
An indignant Choi Kangjoong worked his fingers.
— Is Dragon Lord Ladespina a minor fry too?
— What Dragon Lord? When did the Outer Mind ever fight a Dragon Lord?
‘Ah! It hasn’t been made public yet. In times like this, I have to act like they’re the ones who don’t know anything.’
— You’re running your mouth when you don’t even know that? Every High-Rank Hunter knows.
— I’m a Hunter, so stop bullshitting. You’re gonna get it.
— I’m gonna get it? Me? Want to do an identity bet? I’ll bet ten chickens that you’re not a Hunter.
Choi Kangjoong, who possessed an S-class Hunter license, replied confidently. There were no comments for a while.
— Scared?
— Scared?
— Scared? Lol.
Below that, a string of comments mocking the person who ran away appeared. Just as Choi Kangjoong, intoxicated with a sense of victory, was about to mock him further, a comment was posted.
— I took a picture of my license. (Link)
— I also bet ten chickens that you’re not a Hunter.
When he followed the link, there was a photo of an A-class Hunter license. Even though the name was covered, its authenticity was clear.
“It’s real…”
The atmosphere shifted. Comments praising the person who authenticated their license appeared, asking for a chicken or a pizza. Choi Kangjoong became the fool who challenged an A-class Hunter to an identity bet.
[Summary of the identity bet so far.]
[When are you sending the ten chickens?]
[Who is that guy?]
[If the Outer Mind sees this, isn’t he going to go kill him?]
[A bet against an A-class Hunter lol.]
‘I can’t lose…’
Choi Kangjoong took out his S-class Hunter license and placed it on his desk.
‘But won’t everyone know it’s me?’
There were currently five S-class Hunters in South Korea. Three of them were middle-aged or older and didn’t write posts on Dimensionnet. Han Junghwa was an extrovert who hung out on social media or offline rather than Dimensionnet. And everyone knew that Choi Kangjoong was an S-class Hunter who enjoyed staying in his room.
“Ah, damn it…”
Choi Kangjoong agonized as much as he did when deciding the consumption or species evolution direction of Apocalid.
‘If I’m a fool if I lose and a fool if I win, I might as well be a winning fool.’
Choi Kangjoong tore a piece of paper, wrote his ID on it, and took a photo of it with his S-class Hunter license. After much deliberation, he uploaded the post along with the photo and 100 chicken gift coupons.
[Manifesto.]
[I’m going to go catch some demons. Honestly, it’s no big deal this time either.]
The comments exploded the moment it was posted. The A-class Hunter posted an apology along with ten chickens. He explained in great detail that he had pretended to know about something he didn’t and that he should never have used the term ‘minor fry.’ Choi Kangjoong accepted the apology, commenting that it could happen.
While he liked the intense reaction, there was also a concern.
‘What should I say to Choi Yunseo? We agreed to reveal it later, but I spoke up first…’
Choi Kangjoong, whose mood was very lifted by the overwhelmingly positive comments, decided to just let things happen as they may.
Vrrr.
[Choi Yunseo: Brother, what are you doing?]
[Choi Kangjoong: What.]
[Choi Yunseo: (Screenshot of the post).]
[Choi Yunseo: Manifesto lol.]
[Choi Yunseo: “I’m going to go catch some demons” lololol.]
[Choi Kangjoong: Why.]
[Choi Kangjoong: What.]
[Choi Yunseo: Ak lol.]
[Choi Yunseo: I heard through the grapevine that the person you fought with wants to apologize. Should I give him your number?]
[Choi Kangjoong: Forget it. What happens on the internet should stay on the internet.]
[Choi Yunseo: Oh~ how cool.]
A short while later, Iselin called.
“I see you did something interesting.”
“It was fun…” Choi Kangjoong said hesitantly, remembering Iselin scolding Dielka.
“I’m not trying to blame you. It happens.”
“It’s okay?”
“Of course. In fact, you’ve created a cheerful atmosphere, so the confusion will decrease.”
“I did well?”
“You did very well. I’m not being sarcastic.”
Choi Kangjoong felt relieved.
“Now that it’s come to this, why don’t you be more proactive?”
“How?”
“By communicating in the internet space you like. There are some people who are secretly afraid of you, Master Outer.”
“No. I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
“There’s a saying: leave while they’re still applauding.”
“That’s a good maxim.”
“But I think DisOrder or a similar organization is active, trying to manipulate public opinion.”
Choi Kangjoong checked the comments as he scrolled the mouse wheel. Among them, the IDs he had been eyeing were still saying negative things.
“On the site you’re active on?”
“That’s right.”
“Give me the IDs. I’ll track them.”
“You can do that too?”
“There’s an Alliance secret agency created because of DisOrder. We can leave it to them.”
“If DisOrder really was manipulating public opinion, let me know. I’ll handle it.”
“I will. Please wait a moment.”
Choi Kangjoong gave her those IDs. Thirty minutes later, Iselin informed him of the results.
“The location of the IDs you pointed out has been identified. They’re all using the internet from the same place. It’s a dimension where a raw materials company mines copper ore.”
“Where is that?”
“I’ll give you the coordinates.”
As soon as Choi Kangjoong received the coordinates for the Dimensional Sea, he opened a Gate and moved. It was supposedly a dimension where a raw materials company mined copper ore, but there wasn’t a single worker. There were copper ores and carts on the ground, but it was obviously a camouflage.
Choi Kangjoong summoned Walkers and Warriors and sent them down into the mine. Before long, they encountered magic beasts. The claws and teeth of the magic beasts could not pierce the Walkers’ hard shells and easily became nutrients. The demons were sliced apart by the Warriors’ scythe claws.
[Dimensional Devouring begins.]
‘This should be enough of a warning, right?’
While it was impossible to eradicate villains, it was possible to keep them from raising their heads if he kept cutting them down. Once the Dimensional Devouring was complete, he sent it to the Apocalyde Dimension located to the east of the Enterprise Union.
Although the demons’ attack plan was revealed by Choi Kangjoong, the chaos was surprisingly minimal. Whenever chaos was about to erupt, it was blocked by Choi Kangjoong’s manifesto. The Demon of Chaos tried to cause as much trouble as possible using the remnants of DisOrder. However, because their heads were constantly cut off by the cooperation between the secret agency Iselin mentioned and Choi Kangjoong, eventually, no one wanted to work for DisOrder.
At the emergency meeting of the Alliance Security Council, it was decided to form an allied force. Their purpose was to assist Choi Kangjoong rather than engage in direct combat. The elves provided their knight order, the humans provided all the power of the 6th Dimension Fortress, and Metra provided dimension ships, their operating personnel, and mana missiles.
Exalted by the formation of the first allied force, the members of the Union wished them good luck.
In the Dimensional Sea, where the Akirif Duchy could be monitored, an elven dimension ship was roaming.
A dimension ship carrying agile, keen-eyed elves was perfect for reconnaissance and surveillance.
Among them, the one in charge of the area closest and most dangerous to the Duchy was the Dark Elves. The Dark Elves themselves had wanted to be there, as they enjoyed high-risk, high-reward adventures.
The Dark Elf dimension ship commanded by Sierra was quiet and filled with tension. It was a situation where the enemy could pop out at any time or place. They could even approach secretly using stealth magic.
“Captain.”
A Dark Elf pointed to a spot in the Akirif Duchy. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing, but upon closer inspection, the space itself was shimmering.
Sierra gave a hand signal. The mana engine started, and the speed of the dimension ship increased.
“Enemy approaching from below!”
Sierra leaned over the deck and looked down. Three demon dimension ships were approaching at high speed.
“Why are we only seeing them now? Full speed ahead and attack quickly!”
Sierra pulled out an arrow and notched it.
A Spirit of Lightning and a Spirit of Wind inhabited the arrow. Sierra, the slave of the Separate Sea and an immature Spirit Master, was no more.
There was only Sierra, the Dark Elf Knight whose spirit magic and archery were recognized even by the elven knights after grueling effort.
Boom!
The demon dimension ship hit by the arrow faltered, but it did not stop.
Sierra put down her arrow and checked the distance. Even though they had discovered them late, it didn’t seem like they would be caught.
“Captain! Over there…!”
A Dark Elf pointed to the spot from before. A massive object had taken its place there. it was in the shape of an eight-pointed star, and every part of it glowed blue. Behind it, demon dimension ships were swarming like black clouds.
“The Bluestone Fortress! It’s finally here.”
The giant cannons located in the center of the top and bottom of the Bluestone Fortress moved. They were Devil Cannons, classified as Dimension Killers due to their immense power.
“Hard to port!”
The dimension ship turned sharply to the left. A large sphere fired by the Devil Cannon passed the dimension ship and exploded.
The massive shockwave distorted the dimension ship, and the Dark Elf knights hit the walls or ceiling and fainted. Blood also came from the mouth of Sierra, who had bitten her tongue.
“They’re going to catch up!”
No matter how fast the Dark Elf dimension ship was, if it moved in a zigzag pattern because of the Devil Cannon, it would inevitably be caught by the demon dimension ships.
“Then sink them before that!”
The Dark Elves concentrated their attacks on one demon dimension ship. They cheered as it soon exploded and slowed down.
“Elevate the bow!”
Sierra said, almost screaming, as she saw the Devil Cannon at the bottom glowing white. The dimension ship ascended, and the Devil Cannon passed through the spot where the ship had been and exploded. The epicenter was closer than before.
‘We’ll get hit next time.’
Sierra muttered. Cold sweat ran down the backs of the Dark Elf knights.