Chapter 163: THE CRIMSON SKY
Meanwhile, back at the villa—
Raito’s father was in his study, quietly reading a book.
Aiko sat comfortably in the living room, watching an anime on television.
The two of them had no idea what was happening outside.
The barrier had completely insulated the villa.
Not a single sound from outside could reach them.
Outside the compound, however, the situation was completely different.
Yamato, one of the bodyguards, stood by the gate as usual.
He frowned.
Something doesn’t feel right...
In front of the villa, countless reporters had already gathered.
News vans lined the road.
Cameras were pointed toward the mansion.
Microphones were raised.
Yet—
None of them could get any closer.
Every time they approached the gate, it was as though they had run into an invisible wall.
"What the—?!"
"I can’t get any closer!"
One reporter stretched out his hand.
His palm stopped in midair as though something transparent was blocking him.
"Hey! We know Raito is in there!"
"Come out! We have questions for you!"
"What really happened inside that dungeon?"
"How are you able to defeat multiple S-rank hunters by yourself?"
"Please answer us!"
The reporters shouted one after another.
Camera flashes lit up the entrance nonstop.
Yamato watched the scene in astonishment.
Even he couldn’t see the invisible barrier.
He only knew that none of the reporters could step past a certain point.
Mr. Raito... did you really create this?
He glanced back toward the peaceful villa.
Inside, Aiko continued watching her anime.
Raito’s father calmly turned another page of his book.
Neither of them heard a single sound from outside.
It was as though the barrier had completely isolated the villa from the rest of the world.
Kira clasped her hands together and looked up at the sky.
"It’s freezing."
She rubbed her arms.
"The air is really cold. At this rate, it might even snow, even though winter hasn’t arrived yet."
Raito remained silent as they continued walking.
After a few moments, he stopped.
"I think I’ll have to leave."
He turned to Kira.
"Kira... can you do something for me?"
She nodded.
"As long as it’s something I can do."
Raito’s expression turned serious.
"Go to the main headquarters of the Hunter Organization."
Kira blinked.
"And tell them there’s been a massive shift in the mana flowing through the atmosphere."
"The monitoring devices probably won’t detect it."
"The machines they’re using won’t be able to pick it up."
"And most hunters won’t be able to sense it either."
"This isn’t ordinary mana."
Kira frowned.
"Wait... what do you mean?"
Raito looked up at the sky.
"All I’m saying is..."
"In a few minutes... or maybe a few hours—I can’t tell exactly when."
"A dungeon is going to appear in this city."
"What?"
Kira’s eyes widened.
"But that’s impossible!"
"When a dungeon appears, the Hunter Organization receives a signal immediately."
"What are you talking about?"
Raito slowly shook his head.
"I don’t have time to explain everything."
"Just deliver the message."
"Tell them to prepare."
He narrowed his eyes.
"This isn’t going to be a normal dungeon."
He paused.
"At least ten dungeon portals..."
Then his expression darkened.
"No..."
"More than that."
Suddenly, Raito froze.
He slowly raised a hand over his eyes.
"This is bad..."
The instant those words left his mouth—
The sky changed.
The blue heavens were swallowed by a deep crimson.
Within seconds, the entire sky turned blood-red.
The sunlight disappeared.
The city fell into an eerie scarlet glow.
Citizens stopped walking.
Everyone looked upward.
"What the hell is happening?!"
"The sky...!"
"Why is it red?!"
"It’s only eleven in the morning!"
"What is going on?!"
Fear spread through the streets as countless people stared upward.
Raito looked at Kira.
"Now you understand what I meant."
"Go."
"Even after seeing this, the Hunter Organization still won’t understand what’s coming."
"But tell them this."
"They need to prepare everyone."
"This is unlike anything they’ve ever faced."
Kira clenched her fists.
"Even if I wanted to, how am I supposed to get there?"
"What vehicle am I supposed to use?"
"You said it could happen in minutes."
"Even if I leave now, I won’t reach the headquarters in Tokyo within an hour."
Raito nodded.
Without another word—
He stepped forward and wrapped one arm around her waist.
Kira’s face instantly turned bright red.
"W-What are you doing?!"
"Stay still," Raito replied calmly.
The next instant—
Flash!
Space distorted around them.
In an instant, they appeared directly in front of the Hunter Organization’s headquarters in Tokyo.
Raito let go of her.
"Go."
"I have a lot to do."
Before Kira could respond—
He vanished.
"Hey! Come back here!"
She stomped her foot.
"That jerk..."
Taking a deep breath, she hurried into the Hunter Organization headquarters to deliver Raito’s warning.
"Damn it..."
"What else am I supposed to do?"
Raito sprinted through the city at incredible speed.
His eyes scanned every direction.
There...
He sensed another massive concentration of mana gathering nearby.
Without slowing down, he leaped into the air.
Flash!
He instantly teleported onto the roof of a towering skyscraper.
Standing at the edge, he raised one arm toward the crimson sky.
"The mana is condensing..."
"It’s crystallizing."
"And once it completely solidifies... it’ll become a dungeon portal."
He narrowed his eyes.
"At this point, there’s no way I can destroy all of the mana particles before they finish forming."
"There are simply too many."
He took a deep breath.
"Then I’ll have to interfere with the process itself."
"I’ll flood the atmosphere with my own mana and destabilize the portals before they fully materialize."
The moment he finished speaking—
A vast wave of emerald mana erupted from his body.
It spread across the sky like an ocean.
The condensed mana reacted instantly.
One of the invisible portal cores suddenly became visible.
A glowing green portal flickered into existence.
"There you are."
Raito immediately poured even more mana into it.
The unstable portal trembled violently.
Then—
Crack!
It shattered into countless particles before disappearing completely.
Raito didn’t stop.
He vanished.
Flash!
He appeared above another location where mana had begun condensing.
Another portal started to form.
He flooded it with his mana.
It shattered.
Again.
And again.
He continued moving from one location to another as fast as possible.
There’s no time...
I have to destroy as many as I can before it’s too late.