SSS-Ranked Demon Hunter: The Prodigy
Chapter 53: The Thing

Chapter 53: The Thing

The chaos was overwhelming.

It was almost impossible to orient. This was the largest battle ever waged between demons and mankind.

As they clashed, the world around them was reduced to ash. Demons tore hunters to shreds, while the hunters fought back, annihilating them one by one.

It was an honest battle—not for survival, but for absolute domination.

Blood rained down like a monsoon, painting the battlefield under the midsummer solstice in the most dreadful hues.

Minho handed the unconscious Jisun to a group of hunters, who rushed him to the Association’s base. Moments later, the towering man plunged into the fray, his twin axes dancing death through waves of enemies.

Within the storm of violence, Seojun locked eyes with me. His form shifted—his true self, monstrous and wicked, surged forward. I spread my Kuroen wings from my blood-bound armor and braced for the impact.

Hunters around us turned in disbelief. Despite the news of my imprisonment and the accusations against me, here I was, fighting beside them, throwing everything I had at one of humanity’s worst enemies.

Death Icon didn’t back off for a second. His claws slashed through the air with relentless hunger. I had to adapt fast, or I’d be dead before I even understood his rhythm.

Unlike Jisun, I couldn’t track a demon’s movement. Blow after blow struck me, but my armor held, forged strong enough to resist even inhuman force.

Nearby, crawling from the wreckage, Sora emerged—blood pouring from a gash in her side. Her movements were sluggish, her breathing ragged. She looked at the battlefield and fell silent.

"What is going on here...?" she whispered. "Why are there so many? Did we summon everyone for this war? Does that mean... there’s no one left to guard the rest of the Green Zone?"

The hunters were stretched thin, struggling to contain Umbra. Dozens of cloaked elite demons fought with cunning and speed, each a threat even to a hundred B-ranks.

High above, Sashi observed from a window.

"If Umbra has poured all their forces into storming the Association HQ, that means their focus is here. There are demons in the Orange Zone as well, but those seem mutated, mindless—products of the demonic flu."

"Miss Sashi," Su-won interjected, "Are you certain we won’t be surrounded?"

"Yes... If they wanted to conquer the entire city, they wouldn’t have struck here first."

Suddenly, a staff member burst into the room.

"Director! There’s been a breach! Someone’s opened every containment cell in the maximum-security dungeon!"

"What?!" Su-won froze in shock.

Sashi’s composed expression cracked—even she hadn’t foreseen this.

"Who... who could’ve done this?"

"We checked the surveillance feeds, and it appears the one who triggered the breach was... your assistant. Yuhwa."

"W-what...? Yuhwa?!"

Sashi turned toward him slowly. "He was your most trusted aide, wasn’t he?"

"...What the hell..."

"Did you ever tell him anything sensitive? Information meant for your ears only?"

Su-won’s face darkened further. That was answer enough.

"I see... Then Jisun was right. There really are spies among us."

Meanwhile, the chaos only deepened. Corpses were crushed underfoot, the stench of rotting demon flesh fouling the air with a thick, red mist.

It became hard to breathe.

Then, through the smoke, nine figures emerged calmly from the Association’s underground vaults.

They were the high-risk prisoners—entities sealed away for a reason. But among them... Hizumi was not present.

"No way!" a soldier shouted. "Those are... the high-security demons?!"

One of them, a demon in human form, cracked his neck and launched himself into battle. Grabbing a soldier, he tore him apart with bare hands.

A-rank hunters struck with mutated weapons, but nothing pierced the demon’s skin—he was absurdly durable.

"All these years," the demon sneered, "and humans are still just punching bags."

He weaved through the frontlines like a storm, shredding hunter after hunter with terrifying martial prowess.

The others joined him, tearing through the ranks.

The soldiers were in dire straits.

Minho lunged into the fray, taking on all nine escapees alone. They closed in from every side, but his axes answered with berserk fury, devastating everything in his path.

His Kuroen was devouring him from within—the blood armor gripped his body, draining energy rapidly. But against foes this powerful, it was necessary.

His reason slipped away, kindness buried beneath primal rage.

The berserker had become a beast.

Despite the onslaught, Minho fought like a whirlwind. But then, a powerful blow sent him flying.

He found himself face-to-face with a burly prisoner who fought unarmed.

Minho’s blood-drenched grin spread. Kuroen climbed further, wrapping over his eyes like a crawling parasite.

"You’re a tough one," the prisoner said mockingly. "Finally, a real challenge. What’s your name, big guy?"

"Min...ho..." came the guttural reply, ragged with breath.

"Ha! Seems like you’re losing control. That demonic blood’s going to eat you alive—and you don’t seem to mind."

Minho gripped his axes tighter, ready to charge.

His opponent took a defensive stance, his veined muscles hardening like stone.

Minho struck first, but the demon weaved between every blow with uncanny precision—almost like he knew the attacks before they came.

Then, with perfect timing, the prisoner landed a brutal uppercut that knocked Minho back.

"The name’s Osiris. You’re insanely strong, but dumb as a rock. Sometimes, brains beat brawn!"

He unleashed a storm of punches, each one landing squarely.

"Skill and coordination — that’s how you win!"

The battlefield raged on. And in the heart of it all, the false Yeonho stood still.

He was trapped within himself, his eyes lost in contemplation.

Altair approached.

"What now?" he asked quietly. "At this rate, the full might of Korea’s army will arrive soon. I can hear their engines in the distance..."

"Tell me, Altair," Yeonho said. "If I summon that thing right now... can we end this war? Can we finally destroy this cycle of hate between humans?"

Altair went silent.

Yeonho continued.

"We have no other choice. We’ve lost too many."

Then, as the mist of red began to thin, Yeonho began to laugh.

His arms stretched wide. His eyes gleamed with divine madness.

"How foolish you are... to dream of victory!"

Everyone turned toward his voice. Even Death Icon descended, forgetting our duel.

"Fear breeds fear. Ignorance births death. Rejoice, my brethren — tonight, we feast in triumph! Nature’s ultimate creation will tear down this world and forge a new one!"

He snapped his fingers.

And the earth cracked open.

From beneath the battlefield, something emerged—twenty meters long, five meters wide, a monstrous serpent without eyes, with a yawning maw lined with thousands of jagged teeth. Its yellow, chitinous flesh shimmered like steel.

The thing barreled across the field with terrifying speed, obliterating everything in its path. Friend and foe alike vanished in its wake.

"Quetzalcoatl! Bask in the light of this world, and return it to dust."

What is that?

It writhes as if each muscle has a mind of its own... I see no eyes, just that endless, gaping throat...

And it’s attacking... everything?

The creature had no sight. It struck purely by instinct—mindless, indiscriminate. Even demons were devoured.

Soon, it turned toward Yeonghee.

Her legs trembled. Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"H-How... how did something like that even exist...?"

Quetzalcoatl’s mouth opened wide. She tried to run, but terror rooted her in place.

Just as its shriek closed in, I shot forward, grabbed her, and launched into the air.

How is it this fast? This massive?

Yeonghee trembled in my arms.

Far above, even Sashi looked terrified.

"Did that... come from underground...?"

Everyone, hunters and demons alike, scattered.

Then Sashi noticed something strange.

The beast wasn’t just attacking blindly—it was tracking.

It had acquired... scent.

Behind it, a massive trail gouged the earth.

Minho came to his senses. His armor retracted from his face.

He looked around, but Osiris had vanished into the chaos.

Quetzalcoatl charged at Minho. The hunter dodged, grabbed his axes, and slashed deep into the serpent’s body. The chitin cracked, blood spraying like a geyser.

The worm recoiled—then accelerated.

Its howl shook the ground.

And it turned toward Sora.

She limped, unable to run. The wound in her side throbbed with every step.

The scream grew louder. She looked back... and saw it. A living nightmare. Death itself.

She couldn’t escape.

But then...

Everyone froze.

At the last second, the beast veered sharply and tore through the escaping prisoners instead.

Only a single meter stood between Sora and death.

She dropped to her knees, barely sane.

I saw it too. Strange... Why did it turn? Why is it killing its own?

Sashi narrowed her eyes.

Umbra’s squads vanished, slipping into the shadows. Minho chased after the worm, trying to cut it down.

Explosives, fire, sniper rounds—nothing stopped it.

Soon, it bolted down the street, fleeing toward the Orange Zone, carving destruction with every step.

The hunters could no longer pursue.

The radio crackled: the worm was heading into the Orange Zone, uninterested in humans, destroying everything simply because it existed.

Thus appeared the harbinger of chaos.

A beast of apocalypse.

A god of the new world.