However how Yoo Jinho negotiated with Japan's upper ranks, Scáthach never asked. She only knew both sides seemed quite satisfied with the outcome.
After a brief rest, the next day arrived in the blink of an eye.
With less than twenty-four hours left before the Gate went out of control, the raid officially began.
"Haa… what dreadful weather."
Staring at the Black Gate in the distance as it continued to leak mana, Scáthach slowly exhaled. "Day or night, the sky stays that dark, unblending red. If this drags on long enough, even the toughest mind will get worn down."
Goto Ryuji arrived with the S-Rank Hunters of the Draw Sword Guild. Every one of them was fully armed and on alert. Akari Shimizu called out, trying to pull Scáthach back.
"Scáthach-oneesan, you're too close to the Gate. Come over here—we'll protect you."
"Hm. Am I being treated as a delicate woman?" Scáthach smiled, finding it oddly novel. "You don't have to worry so much. I can protect myself, at least… and besides, if danger really shows up, I've got a disciple who'll protect me."
As she said that, Scáthach nudged Sung Jinwoo at her side with an elbow. Knowing the truth, Jinwoo couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes.
Protect you? If there's something even you can't handle, it won't matter whether I'm here or not.
Compared to the first time he'd met Scáthach, he'd grown stronger by an absurd margin—yet he still couldn't grasp where Shishō's" limits were. He didn't think he'd ever seen her go all out.
The giants entrenched in this S-Rank Dungeon were certainly troublesome, but that wasn't the only issue. The appearance of an S-Rank Gate could trigger a chain reaction, causing more and more low-level Gates to form.
Even if they successfully cleared the S-Rank Gate in Japan's capital, if other Gates went out of control, Japan would still face catastrophe.
For that reason, the Japanese Hunters Association had demanded that every guild with S-Rank combat power send at least one S-Rank Hunter to clear A-Rank Gates around the country.
Japan had produced a total of twenty-one S-Rank Hunters. Eleven belonged to the Draw Sword Guild. Other guilds—even if they had S-Ranks—only had one or two, hence why only the Draw Sword Guild was here to assist Scáthach and Sung Jinwoo.
Still, there were more S-Ranks present than Scáthach had expected.
"Is it really okay to send so many precious S-Ranks here?" Scáthach asked, puzzled. "Your leadership is probably tearing their hair out over A-Rank Gates popping up like bamboo shoots everywhere, aren't they?"
"If we don't close the S-Rank Gate here, then no matter how many A-Rank Gates we clear, more will keep appearing." Goto Ryuji explained stiffly, face set. "On the other hand, if we clear this S-Rank Gate, we can reduce the pressure on Hunters stationed across the country as much as possible."
He looked straight at her. "And we all believe Hunter Scáthach is a treasure to all humanity. Your value far exceeds any single S-Rank Hunter. You absolutely must not die here. Protecting you will be our primary task from this point forward. Everyone present is prepared to give their lives for it."
"Oh?" Scáthach's lips curved slightly, her gaze sweeping the assembled Japanese S-Ranks. "That's a good look in your eyes. You're making me want to reward you."
She paused as if thinking, then pointed.
"Ah—you. Don't look away. Yes, you."
The one she pointed at was an S-Rank Hunter wearing a gas mask. Like Cha Hae-In, he suffered from mana hypersensitivity—but his case was far more severe. Without a specialized mask, he couldn't live normally.
"You're a mage, aren't you? And an ice mage, at that. So am I, actually—I prefer ice to flame." Scáthach spoke casually. "I'll teach you a rune. Try drawing it before you cast your magic."
What she taught him was the Primordial Rune—one that enhanced the power of ice magic.
With a single rune, the strength of his spells jumped noticeably, and the S-Rank ice mage named Kei looked ecstatic.
Then Scáthach's next words stunned Japan's Hunters.
"If six is a passing score, I'd give you a three." She tilted her head, unimpressed. "Your mana isn't condensed enough. You're wasting a lot of it drawing the rune because your hands are clumsy. If your control were more practiced—more natural—the result would be far better than this."
Such a huge improvement… and it still wasn't the limit?!
The way Goto Ryuji and the others looked at Scáthach changed instantly—like ordinary people watching the God of Fortune descend in person.
Fortunately, no one asked what "full marks" meant. She'd said the passing score was six and he was at three, but the real full mark was ten thousand. If she said that out loud, it would be far too crushing.
Because he'd only just learned the rune, Kei had to focus completely to use it at all. He couldn't integrate it smoothly into combat yet, and drawing it still wasted a lot of mana. For now, he could only treat it as a trump card—he needed practice.
Even so, Kei was ecstatic. Scáthach had shown him a path to becoming stronger. Not Reawakening—just a single rune, and suddenly his room for growth had exploded.
"Scáthach-oneesan! Me too, me too!" Akari trotted over, clasping Scáthach's fingertips in both hands and shaking them gently. Her upturned face was pure anticipation. "I want to get stronger too. Do you have a way to make me stronger too?"
She blinked bright eyes at Scáthach without looking away, her voice all sweetness.
Akari was an S-Rank healer. She could use healing magic and grant buffs to her teammates. Scáthach's runes were said to be "universal," but a person's focus was limited—bite off too much and you choke. If she had to choose just one rune for Akari, it actually made Scáthach hesitate.
"Alright. I'll teach you a 'protection' rune." Scáthach decided. "You can draw it on stone or paper. Carry it yourself in battle, or hand it to others. When you take an attack, the rune-marked object will take the damage for you. It should greatly improve your survivability."
If a mage wanted survivability, Scáthach's first thought was Blink—instant movement. She wasn't sure when it started, but she'd come to feel that mages and archers should naturally have a blink skill, while melee fighters should have a gap-closer. That was the standard kit.
But space-transfer magecraft couldn't be done with a single rune. It required combinations—too advanced for Akari and the others. So Scáthach compromised and taught her the "protection" rune instead.
Akari didn't care about any of that. All she knew was she could get stronger too.
"Yes! That's awesome! Long live Scáthach-oneesan!"
Overjoyed, Akari threw herself at Scáthach, cheeks faintly flushed with excitement.
Unlike Akari—dizzy with happiness and gratitude—Goto Ryuji and the others caught something sharper.
The runes Scáthach taught weren't simply "buffs." They granted entirely new abilities—new skills.
Generally speaking, Hunters could only obtain new skills in two ways: one, through Awakening; two, through a Rune Stone dropped by A-Rank or higher monsters.
Rune Stones varied in price—the most expensive could reach tens of billions of dollars.
The value of a skill had no ceiling. Top Hunters didn't care about price when buying the Rune Stones they needed, because a new skill meant a wider path forward. Skills were power, and only greater power let you stand firm in this world.
And the runes Scáthach taught Kei and Akari were clearly something akin to Rune Stones.
More than that, a Rune Stone's skill could only be learned by a single person. But Scáthach's runes could apparently be taught to other Hunters—meaning this might be a new skill anyone could learn.
Damn it—how many more shocks was this person going to give them?!
Did South Korea even understand her value? They just… let her walk out into the world?!
...
The Black Gate standing in Japan's capital dwarfed every other Gate. When they passed through the light and stepped into the Dungeon, that immense pressure didn't lessen—it only grew more suffocating.
Before them stretched a corridor with no visible end. On both sides were ornate European castle decorations, gilded patterns faintly glinting in the gloom. Strangest of all, such a luxurious hall had no chandeliers. The only light came from torches lined up neatly along the walls, their flames casting flickering light over demon-stone carvings perched atop columns.
That alone would've been noteworthy.
What truly stunned them was the scale.
Everything here had been enlarged dozens of times in perfect proportion. Looking up, the vaulted ceiling hung hundreds of meters above. The corridor pillars were as thick as mountains. Even the wall reliefs were cut so deep they looked like ravines.
First-time visitors experienced a kind of cognitive vertigo. For a moment, it didn't feel like the architecture was too grand—it felt like they had been shrunk to the size of ants.
If the spider-type Gastrea from that world ended up here, the size ratio between these giants and a spider-type Gastrea would be about the same as a human and a tiny spider… Scáthach's mind supplied the thought out of nowhere.
Behind them was the Gate back to Earth.
Ahead of them lay giant corpses, sprawled across the floor.
"Even dead… they're still emitting mana?" Sung Jinwoo's expression tightened. The mana lingering on those bodies was enough for him to understand how powerful they were.
Then the ground began to shake.
Something enormous was coming—and there was definitely more than one.
"Everyone! Combat ready!"
At Goto Ryuji's command, every S-Rank Hunter of the Draw Sword Guild drew their weapons and took their stances. Steel flashed. Mana surged. Invisible aura collided and rolled through the corridor, gusting outward in waves.
The weapon in Goto Ryuji's hand wasn't the blood-red blade he'd wielded on Jeju Island. That weapon—his best—had been destroyed by Beru's claws in the fierce battle. What he held now was only a substitute.
"Goto, catch."
Something flew toward him. Goto Ryuji instinctively reached out and caught it—then focused, realizing it was a katana sealed in a pitch-black scabbard.
"This is…?"
"Didn't your weapon break on Jeju Island?" Scáthach said breezily. "This blade was forged from the bone of an S-Rank monster. If it feels good, use it."
Then she muttered under her breath, "Turning monster bone into a samurai sword is a pain. Spears are better—just sharpen one end."
In truth, Scáthach had originally meant to forge a good longsword for Cha Hae-In. The katana she handed Goto was practice; the proof was simple—Scáthach carved Primordial Runes onto works she was satisfied with, and this katana had none.
Even so, the moment the katana slid free of its scabbard, Goto Ryuji's face changed.
Bloodfire-like light ran along the blade. The monster's ferocity still lingered in its depths, and the blade's tremble radiated a chilling menace—like a starving beast baring fangs. The very air seemed to congeal into a vortex of killing intent.
This sword was insane—far stronger than the one that had snapped.
Hunter Scáthach is even a master smith?
Is she some kind of total all-rounder? What on earth can't she do?!
But now wasn't the time to think. Goto Ryuji forced himself calm, tightening his grip to meet the giants charging toward them.
If before it had only been polite flattery, now Goto Ryuji and the others believed it in their bones—
Hunter Scáthach was a treasure to all humanity.
They had to protect her at any cost.
The thought had barely formed when a vermilion streak suddenly blasted out from behind them with a shriek that tore the air apart—punching straight through the head of the leading giant.
With a thunderous crash that made hearts stop, the colossal body kept its forward momentum for a beat before sliding down onto the stone. Dust billowed like a sandstorm, and purple blood spread across the tiles in a grotesque stream.
Red meteors carved jagged paths through the air, then returned to Scáthach's hand. She rolled her wrist, spinning the spear into a dazzling flourish, a battle-hungry curve lifting at her lips.
"One."
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T/N: god shes so hot