Chapter 83: Blaze of Salvation

The Hunter Association’s roles were varied.  

Training and educating new Hunters, gathering and analyzing information on Gates and Monsters, managing and researching materials found within Gates.  

Among all these duties, the most crucial was undoubtedly locating the Gates.  

The Hunter Association immediately identified the positions of Gates and assigned nearby Hunters accordingly.  

This was, without question, the core responsibility of the Hunter Association.  

And now—  

“Namyangju, we need more support!”  

“Changcheon Guild! You there, Changcheon Guild! Send a request!”  

“Changcheon Guild is still on a mission at the Na-155 Gate Break! We cannot pull out!”  

“Any other nearby…”  

“None! There’s no reinforcements available!”  

“Damn it!”  

The Gate Surveillance Team—no, this place had now become the Second Gate Burning Response Command Center.  

Here, a fierce battle raged, unknown to the ordinary Hunters.  

The monitors in front of them displayed Gates, Monsters, and Hunters from various locations.  

But the situation was far from favorable.  

Hunters on the screen were overwhelmed by Monsters, struggling to hold their ground.  

Meanwhile, Monsters kept pouring out of the Gates, rampaging freely in the outside world.  

“Team Leader! Eternal Guild has requested support!”  

“You know there’s no Guild available to send! Tell them to hold on a bit longer!”  

“I’ve already relayed that three times. Eternal Guild says they cannot hold out any longer, and if their request is denied again, they will withdraw.”  

“Damn! What about the civilians living just behind them?!”  

The Second Gate Burning was worse than anyone had imagined.  

Gates had appeared all over the country.  

Monsters surged out like waves whenever a Gate Break occurred.  

Aware of the dire situation, Hunters cooperated and managed to hold the line somehow.  

But it was reaching its limit.  

The current Hunters could no longer handle the scale of this crisis.  

Not just the number, but also the quality was the issue.  

Even if Hunters were allocated according to the number and location of Gates and Monsters, they couldn’t properly deal with the vastly stronger Monsters.  

“There has to be… some good solution…”  

This cannot go on.  

A way had to be found, quickly.  

At that moment, a certain figure suddenly appeared in the Team Leader’s mind.  

‘Vulcanus.’  

The blacksmith who had been drawing the hottest attention recently.  

Vulcanus.  

His skill alone was remarkable, but just as much focus was on the “Vulcanus Guild.”  

All of them wore equipment crafted by Vulcanus, and just by wielding it, their abilities multiplied many times over.  

Thanks to this, the Vulcanus Guild was growing rapidly and becoming stronger than ever.  

“If it’s Vulcanus’s equipment…”  

If he could make gear for the Hunters, their combat power would skyrocket.  

Then those damned Monsters could be dealt with easily.  

He let out a faint breath of hope, but—  

“What about requests to Vulcanus?”  

“No response. It seems no items have appeared on the forge page for days. He may have been caught up in this Gate Break.”  

“No way…”  

“No matter how great a blacksmith he is, he’s just a blacksmith. He’s been hiding his identity without Hunter protection… If he faced Monsters unexpectedly, there’s nothing a blacksmith can do.”  

“Haah.” The Team Leader sighed deeply.  

Losing Vulcanus would be more than just a problem for this Gate Burning incident.  

An exceptional blacksmith like Vulcanus disappearing was practically a national loss.  

Without Vulcanus making new equipment, the Hunters’ gear level would plummet drastically.  

Right then—  

“Te- Team Leader!”  

“There’s no more reinforcements!”  

“That’s not it! There’s a message!”  

“Message? Did one of the five major Guilds finish their assault? Then hurry—”  

“No. Vulcanus! Vulcanus sent a message!”  

“Vulcanus?”  

The Team Leader shot up from his seat.  

That name—the one he had just given up on.  

Vulcanus had finally responded.  

He wanted to ask why it took so long, but now was not the time.  

The Team Leader hurriedly tried to contact Vulcanus.  

But before that—  

“The equipment we requested has arrived!”  

“Really? Actions speak louder than words. So he was busy making equipment until now?”  

Vulcanus’s equipment had arrived.  

Most were swords, the weapon most commonly used by Hunters, followed by spears, bows, staves, and so on.  

Besides weapons, there was a large quantity of mass-produced gear.  

Easily over a hundred sets.  

Impressed, the Team Leader approached and touched the sword at the front to check its information.  

[Association Standard Mid-Level Sword]  

Type: Sword  

Rank: SS  

Restriction: Level 150 or above, Hunter Association approval required  

Description: Supply gear made by Vulcanus’s Forge for the Association  

Attack Power: 1,400  

Abilities:  

1. Sharpness – Increases attack power and cutting efficiency.  

2. Swiftness – Increases attack speed.  

3. Association – Equipping items bearing the ‘Association’ name increases these abilities.  

4. Association – Item stats increase proportionally to the number of equipped ‘Association’ items nearby.  

“Haha! Supply gear at SS rank! So this is what Vulcanus is all about?”  

Exactly the gear he wanted.  

Exactly what the Hunter Association ordered.  

Level 150 equipment swords.  

Its abilities were solid at base, with a bonus that improved stats when worn with other Association gear.  

Plus, the requirement of ‘Hunter Association approval.’  

With this, even if the crisis ended, the gear could be safely reclaimed.  

“Team Leader, there’s more here.”  

“Good. Distribute it quickly!”  

“You should probably check it first.”  

“Check? Haven’t we already? They’re all…”  

“You really should check.”  

“Ahem Fine.”  

What more could there be to check?  

They were all similar mass-produced items.  

Granted, not all were SS rank; about half were S rank.  

But so what?  

They could price them accordingly based on rank.  

Even S-rank gear was vastly superior to the C-rank gear used by mid-level Hunters right now.  

“This one.”  

“Isn’t it the same gear?”  

The item brought over was a sword identical in appearance to the previous one.  

What was there to check?

What was different?  

The Team Leader, puzzled, checked the item details.  

Then—  

[Association Standard Mid-High-Level Sword]  

Type: Sword  

Rank: SS  

Restriction: Level 200 or above, Hunter Association approval required  

Description: Supply gear made by Vulcanus’s Forge for the Association  

There was a subtle difference in the item info.  

Not mid-level, but mid-high-level sword.  

And above all—  

“Level 200 equipment?”  

The level requirement for the item was an astonishing 200.  

The attack power had been boosted accordingly.  

“This can’t be.”  

The Team Leader was stunned.  

It made sense.  

Until recently, he had only dared request level 150 equipment from Vulcanus.  

Although Vulcanus was growing quickly, he wondered if the blacksmith could really produce level 150 gear.  

But level 200 items?  

What did that mean?  

Had Vulcanus already reached this level of growth?  

A mix of awe and shock swept over him, but the Team Leader knew what he had to do.  

“Request level 200 equipment as well, as much as possible! Pay the Association’s maximum budget! If it’s too expensive, offer generous perks!”  

“But the Hunter Association’s perks are…”  

“We have to catch him even if we need to offer perks. I’ll talk to the higher-ups myself—no, I’ll go see them right now.”  

The Team Leader adjusted his tie and immediately headed out to meet the Hunter Association executives.  

As he went, he thought,  ‘Vulcanus is the future of South Korea.’

***

“Damn it, when the hell is the support arriving?!”  

“We were rejected again! They say to hold on a bit longer!”  

“Damn it, all they tell us is to hold on? Those pencil-pushers don’t even know what’s happening here. They’re just telling us to die!”  

“Guild Master! What are you going to do?”  

“Damn it…”  

Park Si-hwan, Guild Master of Eternal Guild, grimaced sharply.  

This was impossible.  

They could not hold any longer.  

The warriors were exhausted, their sword blades shattered, unable to fight properly.  

Their armor was torn, and shields dented.  

Mages were gasping for breath, out of mana.  

Archers ran out of arrows and were desperately resorting to close combat with daggers.  

Holding out any longer was beyond reason.  

But—  

“How is the civilian evacuation?”  

“Almost complete!”  

“Almost complete means not done yet!”  

“Some elderly are still…”  

“Damn it!”  

Behind them were civilian homes.  

If they retreated now, they might live, but the civilians would be helpless against the Monsters.  

What choice should he make?  

His Guild?  

Or the civilians?  

Logically, saving the Guild was the right choice.  

If they pulled back, some civilians might be lost, but once rested, they could save many more.  

As Park Si-hwan wrestled with this dilemma, biting his lip, about to order a retreat—  

“Support has arrived!”  

“Where?”  

“Ah, it’s not Hunters… it’s equipment!”  

“Damn it! Are they messing with us?!”  

Unless they belonged to the same Guild, they had to use a workaround to receive items.  

They accessed the Hunter Association page to transfer the items.  

Lacking Hunter reinforcements was shocking, but there was no choice.  

Park Si-hwan reluctantly accepted the equipment support first.  

Guild members passed the newly transmitted gear forward.  

As soon as Park Si-hwan took the new sword and swung it—  

“Kyeeeek~!”   

“Huh?”  

The previously tough, resilient Monster fell in a single blow.  

What was going on?  

Stunned by the impossible, he checked the sword’s information.  

[Association Standard Mid-High-Level Sword]  

Type: Sword  

Rank: SS  

Restriction: Level 200 or above, Hunter Association approval required  

Description: Supply gear made by Vulcanus’s Forge for the Association  

“Vulcanus-made equipment?”  

It wasn’t just swords.  

Swords, spears, bows, staves.  

Even armor.  

Equipment for the Eternal Guild arrived one after another.  

Thanks especially to the ample arrows delivered, archers could focus on using their bows again.  

Their volleys—  

“Pufubuk!” 

“Thud.”  

“Whoa!” Even the archers shooting were amazed by the overwhelming power.  

No wonder.  

The stats on Vulcanus’s gear were more than double what they were used to wearing.  

“Kyeeeek!”  

The monsters that had been so difficult to deal with were falling easily.  

The frontline steadily advanced.  

The number of Monsters visibly decreased.  

Treading over monster corpses, they pushed forward.  

Despite their own dwindling stamina and mana—  

Their confidence surged the moment they wielded Vulcanus’s equipment.  

“We can do this.”  

Trying Vulcanus’s gear for the first time—  

Though mass-produced, Park Si-hwan finally understood why people were so enthusiastic about Vulcanus’s equipment.  

“We can do this!”  

Eternal Guild, no—the Hunters across the country who had started receiving Vulcanus’s gear began pushing back the Monsters.