Chapter 168: THE POWER BEYOND S-RANK
But—
The undead raised its hand.
It caught the sword.
The monster froze.
Then the undead pulled it forward and attacked.
But even with the undead fighting back, the number of enemies was overwhelming.
Too many.
Far too many.
More monsters continued pouring from the portals.
Within moments, Tokyo became surrounded.
Monsters filled the streets.
They climbed buildings.
They moved across rooftops.
They appeared on top of trains and bridges.
Hunters fought desperately.
But they were being pushed back.
A hunter screamed as a monster grabbed him and dragged him away.
"No—!"
His voice disappeared beneath the roar of the battlefield.
Another hunter rushed forward to save him.
But before he could reach him—
A monster attacked from the side.
Its jaws closed around his neck.
Blood splattered across the ground.
"What... what is this?"
A hunter stared in horror.
The number of monsters was beyond anything they had ever seen.
The remaining hunters were forced to retreat.
Even some S-rank hunters couldn’t believe what they were witnessing.
The dungeon outbreak was no longer an emergency.
It was a catastrophe.
Then—
The portals in the sky began glowing.
BOOM!
Massive flying monsters emerged.
They spread across Tokyo.
They landed on buildings.
They attacked from above.
They filled the skies.
But the civilians were not completely helpless.
Because of Raito.
Before the battle had even reached this point, his undead had already tracked every human presence in the affected areas.
People were evacuated.
Taken to safety.
Protected.
Raito watched everything.
His eyes remained focused.
Through his connection, he saw Tokyo.
Then Japan.
The same disaster was happening everywhere.
Osaka.
Kyoto.
Hokkaido.
Every region.
He lowered his head.
"...What the hell?"
"This is getting absurd."
He looked at the endless monsters.
"I can’t just destroy every single one manually."
Raito slowly lifted himself into the air.
His expression changed.
Then—
He raised both hands.
His eyes opened.
[(Skill Activated: Blood Manipulation)]
The battlefield went silent.
Raito closed his eyes.
He focused.
Every monster.
Every heartbeat.
Every drop of blood.
Across the entire country.
He could sense them.
The blood flowing through their bodies.
The circulation.
The movement.
Everything.
"Total monsters detected..."
"5,698."
[(Target Detection Complete: 5,698 Hostile Lifeforms)]
Raito opened his eyes.
[(Blood Manipulation: Full Activation)]
He stretched out his hand.
Then—
He clenched his fist.
Instantly—
Across all of Japan.
Every monster froze.
Their bodies stopped moving.
Then—
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
One after another, monsters exploded.
Their blood burst outward.
The streets became covered in crimson.
The flying monsters in the sky exploded.
The monsters emerging from portals were destroyed before they could even land.
The drones recording the battle captured the impossible scene.
Everyone watching froze.
Hunters.
Guild masters.
Civilians.
Nobody spoke.
A monster army that had overwhelmed the strongest hunters in Japan...
Was erased in seconds.
Raito raised one finger.
The blood scattered across Tokyo began rising.
Slowly.
A massive red current formed in the sky.
It rotated around him like a storm.
Then Raito moved his finger upward.
The blood twisted.
It formed countless sharp arrows.
More monsters appeared from the portals.
Raito looked at them.
"You’re still coming?"
He lowered his finger.
The blood arrows shot forward.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Every arrow pierced through multiple monsters at terrifying speed.
The battlefield became silent.
Every hunter stopped moving.
They stared at Raito.
The man floating above the city.
The man controlling the blood of thousands of enemies.
The man who had just turned an impossible disaster into a one-sided massacre.
Nobody knew what to say.
Because at that moment—
They finally understood.
Raito wasn’t fighting the dungeon.
The dungeon was fighting him.
A figure descended from the sky and landed on the battlefield.
Raito turned.
Then he saw someone he hadn’t seen in a long time.
A familiar presence.
The person standing behind him stared back.
Their eyes met.
"Raito..."
He thought as he looked at her.
She looked at him for a moment.
Then she nodded.
Raito nodded back.
Without saying anything else, she turned around and rushed toward the injured hunters.
Many hunters were lying on the ground, covered in wounds.
Some were bleeding heavily.
Some had broken limbs.
Some were barely alive.
Raito raised his hand.
"Healing."
He snapped his fingers.
Instantly—
A green light spread across the battlefield.
Everyone on the ground was covered by the energy.
Broken bones began repairing themselves.
Cracked limbs recovered.
Deep wounds closed.
Those on the verge of death slowly regained their strength.
One by one, the injured hunters stood back up.
The hunters stared in disbelief.
"What..."
"Is he a healer?"
"Who is this guy?"
The man who never spoke.
The man wearing a mask.
The same person Raito had fought during his early days as a hunter.
He looked at Raito.
"Hey."
"It’s been a while."
"We’ve gotten stronger since then."
Raito glanced at him.
"You should be worried about what is coming."
His voice was cold.
"If you can actually protect yourself, then prove it."
"Don’t waste time with cheap talk."
Raito turned away.
"I don’t have time for people who looked down on me when I was weaker."
He walked forward.
Meanwhile—
The undead lich raised its staff.
Raito looked at it.
"Focus."
"Don’t stay here."
"I’ll send you somewhere else."
"There are other locations in Japan where the monster invasion is just as bad, maybe worse."
"Go there and control the undead army."
"There’s no need for you to remain here."
The undead lich lowered its head.
It understood.
Raito walked toward it.
Then—
He placed his hand on its shoulder.
Teleportation activated.
Instantly—
Raito and the undead lich disappeared.
Everyone watching froze.
"What..."
"He just teleported?"
"How powerful is he?"
The hunters looked at each other.
They finally understood.
The reason they were still alive.
The reason Tokyo had not fallen.
The reason Japan still had a chance.
It was because of one person.
Just one person.
A hunter standing on top of a building stared down at Raito’s disappearance.
"What in the world is he?"