Chapter 207: Two Serpents Pt. 2

“Haa!” Heracles let out a breath as he exited the gate.

Slowly, the rest of the party, Odysseus, Hyeon-Mu, Hel, and Lee Jun-Kyeong, followed behind.

Thud!

As they exited the gate, it suddenly disappeared once all of them had come through as if it had finished its task.

“How did you do that earlier?” Heracles asked Lee Jun-Kyeong before he even took a look around him. He was referring to how Lee Jun-Kyeong had helped Merlin make the exit of the gate dimension.

“I’ve been learning magic these days.”

“Is it really that easy? Then do you think I should learn it too…”

“Calm down. Do you really think that

thing

is normal? An idiot with the brain of a bear like you won’t be able to learn it even if you die and come back to life,” Odysseus scolded, reprimanding Heracles.

Lee Jun-Kyeong smiled at them and turned his head.

“...”

Right as he turned, his expression suddenly hardened.

“What's the matter?"

“...?”

Heracles and Odysseus questioned Lee Jun-Kyeong's sudden reaction.

“Hyeon-Mu. Hel.”

Rather than giving them an answer, Lee Jun-Kyeong recalled Hyeon-Mu and Hel into his bracelet. It was only at that point that Heracles and Odysseus started to look around.

“...!”

“What is this?”

Both of them sighed as they looked around them with bewildered gazes, just as Lee Jun-Kyeong had. They had exited the gate onto a tall mountain.

“It looks like Mt. Fuji,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he looked around and identified where they were. However, that wasn’t the problem.

“The city…”

“It’s okay?”

They had appeared at the top of the tall Mt. Fuji, and what they saw were cities in perfect condition. There was no sign of the cataclysm anywhere.

‘No.’

Japan didn’t escape the cataclysm either. The blue veil that hung over the area clearly represented that they, too, were undergoing the cataclysm. However, whether it was the appearance of the undestroyed city, the brightly embroidered lights, or, to make things worse, the dozens of approaching manas, it all made the party extremely tense.

“They’re coming.”

There would be few enemies that they wouldn’t be able to defeat, but in these special circumstances, none of them knew how things would progress.

Tadak! Tadak!

The party slowly raised their aura and prepared for battle while they heard the sound of quick footsteps. Even before they were able to breathe a little, the footsteps hastened, and suddenly a group appeared, each drawing a weapon and aiming them at the party.

“Wooo. How impressive.”

Wearing heavy armor and drawing weapons, they were definitely Hunters. The party realized that they must have been the Japanese Hunters.

“Odysseus, do you speak Japanese?”

“They probably speak English?”

“...”

Unlike the two Olympians, who calmly accepted the situation, Lee Jun-Kyeong seemed a little taken aback.

“Do you want to write in English?”

“They are pointing their weapons at us even though they know we’re Hunters.”

“Huh?”

“It seems you’re right.”

Only then did the two of them seem to understand the situation. The one who seemed to be their leader slowly stepped out of his way.

“Kneel,” he said in Japanese with a haughty and arrogant tone.

Lee Jun-Kyeong raised both hands and stepped forward.

“We are not enemies…”

“Kneel,” the Hunter said, repeating the same words before Lee Jun-Kyeong even had a chance to finish.

Heracles began to exude bloodlust as he raised his fighting spirit.

“Should we just kill them all?”

“Wait for a moment,” Odysseus cautioned as Heracles continued to exude bloodlust despite Odysseus’ disapproval.

Ring, ring!

However, the sudden urgent ringing of a phone had them all flustered once more.

“Wait, do even phones continue to work here?” the surprised Heracles said.

The Hunter who answered the phone handed the phone over to their leader, after which the leader nodded as he responded to the phone call. After hanging up the phone, he no longer aimed his weapon at the party and instead put it away.

“It seems we have to follow them,” Odysseus said.

“...”

However, his de-escalation was only after the party’s expressions had hardened.

***

“Tsk. We should have just killed them all,” Heracles grumbled, continuously complaining throughout the entire journey. The attitude of the oppressive Japanese Hunters was annoying him.

“Be patient. We’re here to ask for help, we didn’t come here to fight,” Odysseus cautioned.

“When have we ever been patient?”

“Well, we have to be patient now.”

Fortunately, Odysseus was able to calm Heracles even without Lee Jun-Kyeong’s intervention.

At this moment, the party was traveling on a large military truck, Hunters surrounding them on all sides.

“The roads seem fine.”

“Has Japan really been unscathed in the cataclysm?” Odysseus asked Lee Jun-Kyeong.

“It seems so.”

“Just how…”

“We’ll have to figure that out now.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong felt something ominous and looked around. They had tried to talk to the Japanese Hunters, but they refused to talk to them, maintaining their attitude of superiority, and only gave orders.

“Shut up.”

It was clear that they had recognized him and Heracles. But, to show such an attitude despite their stark differences in power…

“I guess they have something they believe in.”

“Even though we don’t know what it is, whatever they’re relying on must be something dependable. Because Heracles isn’t someone that can be held back forever.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong smiled at Odysseus' words.

‘Hel.’

Then, he slowly imbued his bracelet with some of his aura.

At that moment, one of his Familiars that had shifted back to bracelet form, Hel, appeared in front of Lee Jun-Kyeong, invisible to the naked eye. The Japanese Hunters didn’t seem to notice Hel.

‘Collect some information for us.’

At Lee Jun-Kyeong’s request, Hel quietly disappeared.

–I’ve received your order, Master.

As they continued to move forward, the party looked around at their surroundings. No matter how they looked at it, Japan really didn’t seem to have suffered any damage from the advent of the cataclysm.

“...”

Eventually, they found themselves passing residences, and around them, people were just staring indifferently at the military trucks passing by.

“There are quite a few people,” Odysseus remarked.

Unlike other regions that were either decimated by monsters or destroyed by Rulers, Japan had remained intact. It was clear now.

“Japan has suffered no damage in the cataclysm.”

They had entered the city, their destination, Tokyo. They were surrounded by tall buildings and lots of people.

“It feels so strange.”

“To see a perfectly intact area after only seeing destroyed city after city…”

Heracles and Odysseus’ hostility seemed to sap away as they were busy admiring the appearance of Tokyo. They had only seen destroyed civilizations, screams, and despair for such a long time. But, at this moment, seeing the appearance of a completely intact civilization right before their eyes was emotional for them.

“Whew…”

Thud.

As Lee Jun-Kyeong sat quietly, sitting alone in his thoughts, the truck finally stopped.

***

They could sense the auras of tens, no, hundreds of Hunters. They had arrived at their destination.

“The Tokyo Headquarters of the Japanese Association.”

It was the Headquarters of the Japanese Association. It was also in good shape, like the rest of the buildings. Lee Jun-Kyeong focused on the other Hunters.

‘The level of the Japanese Hunters is higher than expected.’

Although they knew the Hunters who had brought them were all on that level, the fact that those at the Association Headquarters were also that strong was astounding. All of them were Hero-Grade Hunters.

“There are over two hundred Heroes.”

Although it was said that Hunters would achieve rapid growth in the cataclysm, to have over two hundred Heroes wasn’t normal. Odysseus and Heracles were also amazed.

“I guess there is a reason these bastards were so arrogant.”

“Considering there are over two hundred Heroes here, it makes sense.”

They both admired the strength of the Japanese Hunters and were also astonished by what they were seeing. Alongside their confusion, the party was full of caution.

“I guess we have to be careful then.”

In a world that has changed so much, something not being normal meant that there was a possibility that danger was lurking in the shadows. What they saw was a welcome sight considering their position of having to ask Japan for help, Japan’s level of power was more than enough to be wary of considering the magnitude of the situation.

The party stood in front of a door.

“Disarm yourselves,” the Japanese Hunters said coldly to the party.

“Let’s do what they say for now,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said, glancing at Heracles and Odysseus.

Although they looked displeased, the two followed Lee Jun-Kyeong and handed over their weapons. As soon as they handed over their weapons, the door before them started to open.

Creak.

With a roar, the door before them, twice as large as Heracles, opened.

“Long live His Majesty the Emperor of Heaven!”

“Long live His Majesty the Emperor of Heaven!”[1]

The Japanese Hunters knelt down and started shouting.

“Heaven…?”

As Lee Jun-Kyeong was flustered to hear that title be called out considering where they were standing, a voice came from inside the door.

“Long time no see.”

The owner of the voice was a familiar person.

“Yashin…”

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

“Wait, he’s the Emperor of Heaven?”

Yashin was one of the promising Japanese Hunters, but now he was being called the Emperor of Heaven.

“Everyone leave us.”

With his absolute order, the Japanese Hunters all started to leave the room. They all left even though they knew that the party was still strong enough to battle their Emperor even while disarmed. But the party soon realized why they were so willing to leave.

“Looks like he’s enough to be an Emperor.”

Just as Heracles said in a harsh tone, it wasn’t a situation that was difficult to grasp.

Yashin had been a Hero-Grade Hunter. However, at this moment, the aura they could feel from him was that of a catastrophe of the cataclysm.

“He’s a Ruler…”

It was the aura of a Ruler.

***

Yashin held court within a conference hall at the Headquarters of the Japanese Association, a building that seemed more like an old palace than a modern structure. It was a testament to Japanese architecture.

Beyond the intricately woven bamboo sudare, Yashin’s figure could be seen dimly reflected.[2]

‘His mana is everywhere.’

Moreover, it wasn’t just what they could see that was different. Most likely, as if Yashin had changed the void to his liking after gaining strength, something seemed to be hiding in the distorted space.

“There are many guardians here,” Lee Jun-Kyeong said as he grasped the auras.

“Don’t you think it’s natural, considering I’m the person responsible for all of Japan?” Yashin said nonchalantly.

It was a completely different tone than how he had spoken before. Unlike the voice of the Hunter which had been full of desperation and zeal, it seemed bored and arrogant.

‘The voice of a Ruler.’

Lee Jun-Kyeong slowly looked past the sudare.

“To think you’d come to visit Japan like this, how gratifying.”

Lee Jun-Kyeong thought back to the past at Yashin’s slightly thorny words.

'If you come to Japan, I'll give you anything you want.'

At the meeting of Apex Hunters in Egypt, Yashin had asked him to switch sides, asking him to help Japan alongside him. However, Lee Jun-Kyeong had refused, and Yashin had returned without earning anything.

“You have to have come here for a reason, and it’s not like you came here to save Japan, either.”

Heracles frowned as Yashin’s words became harsher, but Lee Jun-Kyeong stopped him before the Hunter spoke out, stepping forward himself.

"You're right. I am here to ask for help.”

“Do you really have no shame?”

“However, I’m not asking for help just for me. You could say that it involves the fate of the world.”

A roar of laughter came from beyond the sudare.

.

“AHAHAHA”

It was a terrifying laugh, as if he was no longer human. It was grotesque enough to give everyone in the party goosebumps.

“What gall to talk about the world while not even being able to protect your own country. How about you reinvestigate what’s important, Underdog?” he said in a chilly voice. “We have no help to give you. If you want to rest, we’ll arrange a place for you. Rest for a while and return to your fallen country.”

Woosh!

His words fell like a decree from the heavens as, at the same time, a needle-like bloodlust was fired toward the party.

'Let’s go back for now.'

Lee Jun-Kyeong didn't think the conversation would go anywhere at the moment, so he glanced at the party. The others also nodded, understanding the situation. If they had to fight, they would be able to, but it wouldn’t have been a good choice right now. As if it had been waiting for them, the huge door started to open again.

“Hahaha!”

Yashin's sneering laugh drifted over to the party as they left the hall that seemed like it came out of an old palace.

1. The emperor of Japan’s official title is Tenno, the Emperor of Heaven. 👈

2. Sudare are Japanese screens/blinds that are woven out of anything from yarn to split and refined bamboo. They are used everywhere, and a sign of quality is generally how translucent you can get them to be while making the visible holes in the fabric/material as small as possible. If you think of an anime where someone important is speaking to a character from behind a screen so you only see the shadow of their figure, that’s a sudare. 👈