<The Demon Lord of the Swordsmanship Family Chapter 91>
The appearance of the Archangel revealed by Optimum.
Moreover, behind it, the ‘Celutis Order’ is involved.
This shocking news causes everyone, from the police to the Management Bureau and the Executive Department, to fall into shock.
The police, protectors of citizen safety.
The Management Bureau, responsible for handling the Gates.
The Executive Department, dealing with superhuman crimes and villains.
These three national institutions, representing Korea, sometimes check each other for investigative rights, while at other times collaborate to capture villains, balancing the superhuman society.
However, this incident is one that none of these three can avoid responsibility for.
“Monsters that can freely enter and exit the Gates, how is this different from the Red Gate? What are you guys at the Management Bureau doing about it?”
“Well, we have taken some sealing measures first. What do you plan to do at your side?”
“We’re doing something similar. We issued a temporary hunting ban.”
“Hmm… Tracking superhumans won’t be easy.”
“Indeed, we’re struggling with that.”
When this incident becomes known, the police will undoubtedly face all sorts of criticism, questions like “How could you not know about such monsters?” and “If they can come through the Gates, doesn’t that mean they could also appear right beside us?” and “Besides, they eat humans!”
How about the Management Bureau?
Once it’s confirmed that the ‘Archangel,’ a variant monster, has come from the Gates, questions like “If such monsters can enter through the Gates, how could the Gate Management Bureau not know?” will arise and they will be torn apart.
But even in this terrible situation, compared to the Executive Department here, these two are in better shape.
“Anyway, what does the Executive Department plan to do?”
“Hmm… We’re on the move…”
“We’re tracking Celutis.”
“Huh… Oh, I see. Everything will be fine.”
“Exactly. It’ll be fine. ‘Manchuang’, right? Everything will go smoothly, cough.”
“Thank you.”
Executive Department Head Ji Seong-cheol says this calmly.
But inside, he wasn’t entirely at ease.
“…This is exhausting.”
Ji Seong-cheol was the newly appointed head of the Executive Department about two years ago. He was known as one of the Guardians, the “Ten Thousand Spears”, a title given due to his skill.
Generally, the position of Executive Department Head was taken by retired Guardians, but Ji Seong-cheol was still active when he took the position due to his strong desire to become the Head.
His primary policy in this role was the “Eradication of Fanatics” linked to the Celutis Order, which operates primarily across Asia.
Right now, this group is continuing to perpetrate horrific acts under the guise of “His Will.”
Drug smuggling, illegal immigration, kidnapping, human trafficking, drug distribution, creating villains—they do everything that humans can imagine and claim it as justice, the will of their god.
Ji Seong-cheol wanted to eradicate this abhorrent Celutis Order, at least in Korea. Therefore, he invested tremendous resources and manpower into secretly investigating and eliminating “Celutis.”
He also leveraged his connections to collaborate with fellow Guardian “Sword Master Park Geon” to accelerate their investigation.
However, just when everything was heading in the right direction…
An accident happened.
And it was a large-scale one at that.
It was also an accident that had a very high likelihood of being linked to Celutis.
“Firstly, it’s probably better not to disclose it publicly.”
“I’m inclined to agree. If we disclose while facts aren’t confirmed, it’ll only cause unnecessary confusion.”
A reasonable opinion, but still tainted by self-interest.
The Superintendent of the Police and the Director of the Management Bureau clearly wanted to dodge responsibility and put out the urgent fires.
Ji Seong-cheol was annoyed by the attitudes of these two individuals, but…
He had no choice.
“Yes, I believe that would be for the best.”
First things first, it’s about dealing with the situation.
…
On that day, a single official document was sent to all agents across the nation.
‘Complete Gate Reset’
Gate All Reset
The door opened, and the Secretary-General walked in.
“Director!”
“I saw it too.”
Kim Yeon-hee was looking at the official notice on the monitor.
The notice itself said ‘Complete Gate Reset.’
There are three types of Gates.
The ‘Blue Gate’ is the standard hunting area.
The ‘Purple Gate’ is a temporary one that appears randomly.
And there’s the ‘Red Gate,’ which causes a reverse flow of monsters.
The notice was referring to the ‘Blue Gate.’
Among the superhuman community, there’s an unspoken rule that ‘Blue Gates should not be cleared.’ This means hunting only regular monsters instead of the bosses.
The reason is simple.
It’s beneficial.
It allows entry at any time to hunt and harvest Magic Gems.
However, when a gate is cleared, it temporarily shuts down and enters a ‘sleep’ state before reopening over time.
This process is termed ‘Reset,’ with its duration increasing sharply depending on the level of the Gate.
For instance, clearing a Level 1 Gate might require waiting two to three days before re-opening, whereas a Level 5 Gate could take two months.
Simply put, it’s better to keep the Gate open all 365 days and extract Magic Gems rather than clear it and lose access for extended periods.
The Management Bureau was actually established to manage this ‘common benefit.’
However, this notice instructed the sacrifice of such benefits and ordered a Gate reset.
Not just one but all Gates.
“I proposed it, but I didn’t expect it to be approved this quickly. They must be pretty desperate.”
“They have good reason. When viewed from a different angle, we could say this Archangel is essentially a walking ‘Red Gate.'”
“Indeed. And with Celutis behind this as well.”
“Correct. From their perspective, they have no choice but to solve this quietly to avoid responsibility, and the only way to do so in this situation without drawing attention is as you have suggested—performing a total reset.”
Total Gate Reset.
In truth, this was Kim Yeon-hee’s plan.
The crux of the current situation is capturing the Archangel and Celutis.
However, these entities are hiding.
Where? Inside the Gates!
“No matter how human-like the Archangel may look, its wings make it impossible for it to hide outside.”
It might be possible in other countries with vast territories, like the United States, China, or Russia, but Korea is different. It’s a nation with a famously high level of public safety.
“So the answer is clear—they’re hiding inside the Gates.”
Though this alone isn’t a particularly unique plan.
Are the Gates that large? Can they systematically search them all? To be honest, if you add up all the internal areas of Gates that exist in Korea, it would exceed the total area of Korea.
So one might reasonably ask, what about Park Ki-hyuk and Jin Yu-ri?
Aren’t they hunting the Archangel with precision, like a radar?
This is made possible by their capabilities. With Demon Lord-level mana control and the ‘Eye of the Dragon’s’ ability to master mana, they can detect anomalies. Without these specific skills, such an ability would be impossible.
At the end of the day, what makes Park Ki-hyuk and Jin Yu-ri special is that most other superhumans would find it extremely difficult to locate any Archangels or fanatics hiding within the Gates.
Thus, Kim Yeon-hee suggested clearing the Gates.
“If we clear the Gates, anything hiding inside, wherever it may be, will be expelled.”
Cleared Gates expel anything that doesn’t belong within the Gates environment. Whether it’s a person or an object, everything is pushed out.
This is also why Blue Gates need to be periodically reset. Accumulated external materials increase the ‘contamination level,’ and if it gets too high, it could worst-case turn into a Red Gate.
“Contact the investigation team. Instruct them to clear all Gates as quickly as possible.”
“Understood.”
“Hold on, also ensure we import as much Magic Gems as possible.”
“To what extent?”
“As much as you can manage.”
“Planning to stabilize the Magic Gem market?”
“Exactly.”
Kim Yeon-hee glanced outside her office window down into the bustling city where people were constantly on the move.
A city that never stops. Everyone was rushing about, occupied with their own lives.
“If the price of Magic Gems rises, the ones who suffer aren’t us but them.”
Ordinary people living ordinary lives are affected.
She’s aware that there are quite a few superhumans who think they are special, chosen, or superior, even looking down on ordinary people. However, Kim Yeon-hee sees it differently.
Superhumans and ordinary people are inseparable.
Superhumans cannot live alone, and ordinary people cannot survive without superhumans.
It’s simple when you think about it, so…
“It wouldn’t do for the public to get caught in a skirmish between superhumans.”
SuperDream.com
It’s been days since we couldn’t go hunting. WTF, when will this entry ban on Gates be lifted? I’m in a super hurry.
└- Why so urgent?
└- Author: I need money.
└- Ouch… Money, isn’t it? Sorry to hear that. Really urgent?
└- Author: Super urgent!
└- Try out the loan. The Management Bureau offers living expenses loans to low-income superhumans.
└- Is this what the person below is talking about? <link>
└- Yup, it’s from the Management Bureau and the interest rate is amazing. I already took out one myself.
└- But hey, how long will this gate closure go on?
└- I just want to know the reason behind it. What’s going on that they’re controlling all the gates?
└- Like, can’t we hunt at all?
└- Looks like it’s not a complete no, as Executive Department employees and major agents are still entering.
└- Optimum?
└- Yup Yup!
└- WTF, no way they’re monopolizing, right?
└- Think before you speak. If they were monopolizing, would they openly do it like that?
└- Why not? Isn’t this Optimum Republic?
└- There’s no one who can stand against the might of Director Yeonhee.
└- Huh, brats. If not for Yeonhee, we’d all be living under pseudo-democracy like Japan.
└- Agreed, Agreed. Look at China. They control things outright. If not for Optimum, it’d be chaos here as well.
└- Yup, agreed. But come on, old man, what’s the reason behind controlling the Gates? Can’t anyone here know? The Dream board has died out.
└- I heard, this is a ‘Cadera,’ big villain group is hiding inside the Gates. It’s said they’re looking for them now…
└- Are the Big Three Villains from the last time coming again?
└- …If they were, the whole place would be in chaos.
└- The army would have been called out, like they nearly were during the last Big Three event.
└- Dude, stop arguing over this in my thread! When can we go hunting again?!
└- Idk. Haha.
└- Same here, haha.
“Park Ki-hyuk… verified as part of Optimum. Temporary grade, Special S-class. Understood. Enter any Gate above Level 5.”
Leaving the Management Bureau officer behind, he moved forward.
Around him were barbed wires, all kinds of firearms, and soldiers lined up as if they were preparing for war.
“…So this is what mother was talking about.”
About clearing the Gates to capture those who emerge. It’s a good plan. If you can’t detect everything inside the Gates like me, this is the best method.
While walking and taking in the guarded situation, someone suddenly appeared beside him.
No need to guess. It’s Jin Yu-ri.
“Wow, there’s so many people here, but we don’t have to do this, do we?”
“Because there are too many people around, stop being clingy.”
“Pfft, no. I don’t want to.”
“…Don’t get too close with such an ugly face. It’s giving me bad vibes.”
“What? Ugly? What exactly is ugly?”
So…ignorantly~
Jin Yu-ri grinned wickedly. Honestly, she’s exhausting.
Just then, another voice approached from behind.
“William, I have a question. What am I lacking compared to her? Why can’t I do what she can?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“Cause’ I don’t know.”
“Exactly, if you can’t figure it out, why ask me?”
“I’m taller, my hips are bigger, my chest is…”
“Fu*ing!! Don’t ask me something like that!”
Rosaria is either eating something wrong, or the blow I gave her a few days ago affected her. She’s been in this state ever since.
It’s seriously pitiable for William.
“Hey! Park Ki-hyuk. You’re just gonna leave me for that thief?”
“…?! You’ve been staring at me? Finally?”
“Don’t try to provoke jealousy. You, this fox…”
“Listen, Ki-hyuk Park. Out of curiosity, could you tell me…”
No can do.
I need to get out of here.
If I stay any longer, I think I might lose my mind.
So, shaking off the two clinging women, he entered the Gate.
