Chapter 164: THE INVASION BEGINS
Meanwhile...
At the Hunter Organization Headquarters—
Kira hurried into the operations room.
"I need to report something!"
Everyone turned toward her.
A woman in a business suit stood up.
She was Yuki, an A-rank hunter, secretary of the Hunter Organization, and the personal assistant to its CEO.
"What do you mean?" Yuki asked.
"What exactly are you trying to report?"
Kira took a deep breath.
"There’s no time!"
"The sky has already turned red!"
"Raito sent me here."
"He said a massive amount of concealed mana is condensing throughout the city."
"He said countless dungeon portals are about to appear!"
Yuki frowned.
"You’re saying this based on what?"
"Our detection systems haven’t picked up anything."
"The emergency response teams are already investigating the red sky."
"But you can’t make claims like that without evidence."
"Do you realize the kind of panic that could cause?"
Kira clenched her fists.
"I know exactly what I’m saying!"
"The person who defeated more than nine S-rank hunters..."
"The same hunter everyone in Japan is talking about..."
"He’s the one who sent me here."
"He told me to warn all of you."
Yuki fell silent.
Her expression slowly changed.
She knew exactly who Raito was.
She remembered the emergency meeting held in the boardroom with the executives and Guild Masters after the incident.
She also remembered one conclusion they had all reached.
Raito was not an ordinary hunter.
If someone like him had personally sent a warning...
Then there was a very real possibility that something catastrophic was about to happen.
Yuki’s expression immediately turned serious.
Yuki immediately turned around and rushed toward the elevator.
She quickly made her way to the top floor, where the headquarters’ Guild Master, Yamato, was waiting.
Without wasting a second, she reported everything Kira had told her.
She repeated Raito’s warning word for word.
Yamato remained silent for a moment.
"You’re saying... an A-rank hunter named Kira came here after meeting Raito personally?"
"Yes," Yuki replied.
Yamato crossed his arms.
"We can’t summon every Guild Master based on speculation alone."
He frowned.
"If what he said is true, we don’t have much time."
"We’ll have to issue a nationwide emergency alert."
"But first... we need confirmation."
He looked toward the monitoring screens.
"Our detection systems haven’t found anything unusual so far."
Yuki shook her head.
"Kira said the mana is no longer completely concealed."
"She said it’s already beginning to crystallize."
"We should run another scan."
Yamato’s eyes widened slightly.
"Run it again."
He immediately slammed his hand onto his desk before grabbing the intercom.
"Dr. Yenzu."
"Yes, Guild Master?" a voice replied.
"Perform another atmospheric mana scan immediately."
"According to the report we just received, concealed mana is crystallizing into dungeon portals."
"If that’s true, our previous scans would have missed it."
"Yes, sir."
The call ended.
Silence filled the room.
Five minutes later—
The intercom suddenly rang.
Yamato picked it up immediately.
"Report."
Dr. Yenzu’s voice trembled.
"Guild Master..."
"It’s true."
"We’ve detected an enormous number of mana formations."
"They’re condensing into portals."
"But..."
He hesitated.
"These aren’t ordinary dungeon portals."
"The mana signatures don’t match anything in our database."
"We can’t determine whether they’re weaker or stronger than normal dungeons."
"This is something humanity has never encountered before."
Yamato’s expression froze.
The intercom slipped from his hand and hit the floor.
Clack.
He slowly looked at Yuki.
"Yuki."
"Yes, sir."
"Go."
"Activate the highest-level emergency broadcast."
"Send a nationwide distress signal."
"Notify every Guild Master."
"Summon every available hunter in Japan."
He clenched his fists.
"I’m not sure whether this is limited to Tokyo..."
"But we can’t take that chance."
"Yes, sir!"
Yuki immediately rushed out.
A short while later, she returned to the lobby.
She found Kira waiting anxiously.
"You were right," Yuki said.
"We confirmed everything."
Kira slowly lowered her head.
"So... Raito was telling the truth."
Meanwhile—
Raito continued leaping from one skyscraper to another, pouring enormous amounts of mana into the atmosphere in an attempt to stop the portals from forming.
His expression grew darker with every passing second.
"This is really bad..."
"I was too late."
He looked across the crimson sky.
"They’ve already begun crystallizing."
"At this point... I can’t stop all of them."
His senses spread across the country.
His eyes widened.
"No..."
"This isn’t limited to Tokyo anymore."
"Chiba... Osaka... Kyoto... Hokkaido..."
"They’re appearing all over Japan."
His breathing slowed.
"And it’s not ten."
"It’s not even a hundred."
His expression became grim.
"Five hundred..."
"Five hundred portals."
The instant those words left his mouth—
Every crystallized mana core completed its formation.
BOOM!
One after another—
Massive dungeon portals materialized across the skies and on the ground throughout Japan.
Some floated high above cities.
Others tore open the streets themselves.
The air shook violently.
At that exact moment—
Every giant electronic billboard and advertising screen across the country lit up.
An emergency broadcast replaced every program.
A stern voice echoed throughout Japan.
"Emergency Alert!"
"All civilians are ordered to seek shelter immediately!"
"An unprecedented number of dungeon portals have appeared across the nation!"
"All hunters are ordered to mobilize at once!"
"Remain calm and await further instructions!"
The announcement repeated over and over.
Tokyo.
Chiba.
Osaka.
Kyoto.
Hokkaido.
Fukuoka.
Every prefecture.
Not a single region in Japan had been spared.
"Damn it..."
"This is bad."
"This is really bad."
Across Japan, hunters flooded the streets.
The emergency summons had reached every registered hunter in the country.
Phones rang simultaneously.
Emergency alerts flashed across their screens.
Without hesitation, hunters rushed out of their homes, already equipped with their weapons and armor.
"What the hell is going on?"
"I’ve never seen an emergency alert like this!"
They sprinted toward the nearest dungeon portals.
Then—
BOOM!
One of the gigantic portals split open.
A colossal insect-like monster emerged from the sky, descending toward the city below.
At the same time—
More monsters began pouring out.
C-rank wolves leaped through ground-level portals.
Goblins.
Ogres.
Giant insects.
One after another, they flooded the streets.
"Hunters!"
"Engage!"
A group of hunters charged forward.
Meanwhile, civilians screamed in terror.
"Ahhh!"
"Run!"
"Please save us!"
"Everyone!"
"This way!"
A D-rank hunter pointed toward the evacuation route.