Ch. 184 - After You’re Dead

Sung Seonjae issued a command to the long-range attackers, making sure Garuda wouldn’t spot Go Eul-ji sneaking out of the raid.

"Keep Garuda on its toes. Don’t let it have a moment to look away."

The snipers and spellcasters across the teams focused their firepower. Garuda, sensing the attack, increased its speed and soared through the skies. Even though it had lost a leg, it showed no signs of fleeing, almost as if it didn’t see the battle as a disadvantage.

‘Its nest must be nearby; that’s why it can’t afford to flee. We can’t let it think we’ve found its nest either.’

In essence, this raid had to end one way or another. The Hunters would either be wiped out, or Garuda had to be brought down. Of course, there was a third possible outcome: Garuda could abandon its nest and retreat, with the possibility of breeding again later. But Sung Seonjae doubted Garuda would choose to retreat so easily.

‘Harpy creatures have a strong sense of kinship. Especially when it comes to their offspring, their instinct to protect is overwhelming. They don’t just leave their young behind. Garuda is similar, so it won’t flee unless it truly feels its life is in danger.’

This meant that pushing Garuda to its limits wasn’t the goal. The key was to keep it busy just long enough for Go Eul-ji to rescue the hatchlings. And when the right moment came, they planned to unleash their secret weapon.

“Guild Master Jeon, prepare that item.”

Jeon Yesung frowned at Sung Seonjae’s order.

“I’ve reminded you countless times since you asked for it, but this is a weaker version of the original. It won’t be able to catch a creature that fast.”

“There will be an opening soon. Use it when I give the signal.”

Jeon Yesung didn’t argue further. Even though he didn’t know when the right moment would come, he trusted that Sung Seonjae’s confidence wasn’t misplaced.

“Time it well. We only have one shot. If Garuda gets wind of this, that cunning creature won’t fall for it again.”

***

Go Eul-ji made her way down the mountain ridge, tangled with skeletal branches. Under normal circumstances, Garuda would have spotted her, but the all-out attack kept it too busy to notice her slipping away.

She descended from Janggunbong, heading for the coordinates Kang Mu-hyuk had given her, but then she hesitated.

“Wait… Where am I?”

She scanned the area, but the mountain range looked the same in every direction. She didn’t want to ask for directions, fearing she’d be scolded for not paying attention during the briefing. Just when she was wondering which way to go, a timely helper appeared. A drone circled above her.

“Are you guiding me?”

The drone darted off to the northwest. Go Eul-ji followed, gliding just above the rugged terrain of the mountainside.

The scenery around her changed quickly. Although she wasn’t moving at breakneck speed, the drone’s path along Mount North Potaesan rocky basalt terrain made it hard to navigate the uneven ground. One wrong move, and she’d be diving headfirst into the earth.

Yet, Go Eul-ji moved forward with steady confidence. Occasionally, she even performed acrobatic maneuvers, flying dangerously close to the ground.

Hunters, despite their resilience, still felt pain, and no one would want to be scraped across rough stone. But she was fearless because she had absolute confidence in her ability to control her flight.

As she flew, she didn’t rely only on her sight—she used her powers to sense the area around her. That was when she noticed something.

‘Huh? There’s a lot of flapping going on here...’

Just as Go Eul-ji reached the valley, the drone slowed down, hinting that the forest on the other side was her destination.

[Hunter Go Eul-ji, don’t let a single one escape.]

Lee Sookyoung delivered Kang Mu-hyuk’s orders. Go Eul-ji gave the drone a thumbs-up to show she understood, then continued over the ridge.

“Whoa, that’s a lot of them.”

Her eyes locked onto dozens of nests hidden within the forest. The nests were cleverly concealed by trees and shrubs, but Go Eul-ji’s area-sensing abilities made it impossible for them to hide.

Thinking of Garuda, she planned to make quick work of this and head back. The moment she stepped into the nest area, a piercing screech echoed through the air.

Three harpy sentries swooped in, screeching and trying to threaten Go Eul-ji as she approached the nests.

“Oh, come on, you noisy brats. Scream all you want; it won’t make a difference.”

Go Eul-ji raised her hands and clapped them together.

Smack!

In an instant, the three harpies shrank as if crushed, leaving nothing but a splatter of blood on the ground. More harpies swarmed down, their sharp claws and beaks flashing as they dove at her.

Another clap echoed, and the harpies, now visibly fewer, dropped from the sky. A chilling, sinister light flickered in Go Eul-ji’s eyes, making it hard to tell who the real monster was at that moment.

She crushed the attacking harpies one by one, advancing steadily as if she was swatting away flies. As she moved deeper into the nests, the sounds of tiny, bird-like cries filled the air.

The baby harpies looked like Garuda, but they had cute, bright eyes and tiny, fluttering wings. A few looked older, their eyes already showing a hint of the same fierceness as Garuda’s. Those ones swung their little arms and snarled at Go Eul-ji.

For a moment, as she watched the baby harpies, a group of adult harpies descended from above, aiming for a surprise attack.

“Even monsters know how to play tricks, huh?”

Go Eul-ji lifted a rather large Garuda hatchling by the scruff of its neck. The little one thrashed, its feet kicking at her arm. Though it couldn’t fly yet, its claws were razor-sharp, capable of slicing through flesh. But against the protective barrier around her arm, it couldn’t even scratch her.

The moment the hatchling let out a sharp, pitiful cry, the harpies froze in their tracks. Their feathers, which had been bristling like daggers, softened and settled.

“Even you monsters care for your own, huh?”

That sight enraged Go Eul-ji. It stirred up bad memories.

“My parents were like that, too. When they were facing down monsters. So—”

She recalled fragments of a childhood long forgotten. Her parents, who died in the Minor War. The idea of creatures that slaughtered people caring for their young sickened her.

“Resent me after you’re dead.”

An enormous, invisible hammer came crashing down on the harpies.

BOOM!

The harpies, along with the coniferous forest around Go Eul-ji, were obliterated, reduced to an unrecognizable mess. She swiftly snapped the neck of the Garuda hatchling she held, then raised her hammer once more, bringing it down upon the nests with a vengeance.

A deafening noise, like the pounding of a giant’s hammer, echoed through the area. The nests disappeared, and the Garuda hatchlings and eggs within were crushed to pieces.

“Alright, all done. Except for you.”

Go Eul-ji headed toward a nest on the outskirts, deliberately left untouched.

It was meant to serve as bait, a way to capture a Garuda hatchling alive. Inside the nest, she found two newborn chicks, their eyes not yet open, alongside an unhatched egg.

She lifted the two hatchlings and the egg into the air, and they emitted a low, continuous wail. 

Go Eul-ji knew exactly what this sound meant. It was the call of a harpy chick, crying for its mother.

“Trying to call for mommy or daddy? Sorry, but I’ve blocked that already.”

She had cast a barrier around the entire nest area, preventing any sound from escaping.

Having fought harpies before, under her grandfather’s guidance, she knew their habits well. If these hatchlings called Garuda over, it would ruin everything. She might have been just a high schooler, but she had more monster captures under her belt than many veteran Hunters.

When it came to catching monsters, she was easily in the top 1% of experts.

“Alright, bait’s set. Now let’s reel this one in.”

Go Eul-ji headed back to Southern Mount Potaesan.

***

The Garuda raid had been going poorly due to the creature's surprising speed, but once Go Eul-ji secured the hatchlings, the scales tipped in their favor. The moment she presented the hatchlings and eggs, scattered among harpy feathers, Garuda went into a frenzy and lunged straight at her.

“You shouldn’t be acting up like that.”

Without hesitation, Go Eul-ji snapped the neck of one of the hatchlings and lifted another, using it as a shield.

Garuda hesitated, unable to bring itself to attack her.

Sung Seonjae gave the signal to Jeon Yesung.

“Now!”

Jeon Yesung finally revealed the weapon he’d been hiding on his back. It was a spear with a hook-like head. As he extended the shaft, it morphed into a long lance. He gripped the handle firmly at the end of the lance.

‘Dragon-slayer harpoon.’

This was the prized weapon of the Dragon-slayer Guild. Once considered a legendary item, the harpoon in Jeon Yesung’s hand was now just a rare or epic-grade knockoff.

It was a degraded imitation of the original used in the famous Battle of Nine Dragon Ridge (Guryong Ridge) raid. Despite its name, it couldn’t actually kill dragons, but it was more than enough to ensnare a distracted Garuda.

Jeon Yesung scowled at the thought of using a fake, but he threw the harpoon anyway. The handle stayed in his grip while the spear shot forward, cutting through the air.

Garuda spotted it just a fraction too late.

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The moment the dragon-slayer harpoon pierced through Garuda's wing, Jeon Yesung firmly anchored the handle into the ground. 

Garuda flailed, trying to take off, but an invisible force kept dragging it down. Suddenly, the areas under Garuda’s wings and near its tailbone, which had been hidden by its feathers, were exposed.

Tiny openings appeared there, and air began to ripple through, releasing bursts of hot steam.

“Aha, that explains it. I always wondered how it could fly without using its wings.”

Go Eul-ji snapped her fingers, as if she had just unraveled the mystery behind Garuda’s speed. With a swift motion, she ended the life of the last hatchling.

Garuda let out a furious roar, shaking the ground beneath it.

“Damn, the harpoon’s coming loose...”

The handle, which Jeon Yesung had driven deep into the ground, suddenly jerked up into the air.

Jeon Yesung hadn’t expected this. The harpoon was supposed to be anchored by a skill that held it firmly in place, and now he was cursing his mistake under his breath.

Then, a massive shadow loomed behind him.

Jeon Yesung spun around to see what was blocking out the sun.

‘That’s Iron Will’s...’

It was Yeom Soohyung. In his giant form, he grabbed hold of the dragon-slayer harpoon’s handle, which had been threatening to break free along with Garuda.

Garuda, which had momentarily tasted freedom, was once again shackled.

Yeom Soohyung yanked it down, slamming it forcefully into the ground. The Hunters, momentarily awestruck by Yeom Soohyung’s rare giant transformation, snapped back to their senses as Garuda crashed to the ground.

Without missing a beat, the Hunters charged at Garuda. Feathers shot out in all directions, but they were ready. They had anticipated this counterattack. Easily deflecting the feathers, they closed in, and their weapons tore through Garuda.

Garuda’s tough, resilient body—fitting for a named monster—couldn't be easily cut.

Parts that didn’t give way in a single strike were slashed repeatedly until they were beyond repair. Meanwhile, Garuda was bombarded with a mix of debuff skills: poison, magic, paralysis, and more.

The goal was clear: make sure it couldn’t escape again. The Hunters were relentless. Feathers and scales fell off, and the proud crest on its head, like a rooster’s comb, was ripped apart.

Garuda was left in a miserable state, bleeding green. Even as it released bursts of hot air from the holes on its body, making a desperate attempt to fight back, it was now grounded, reduced to an easy target.

Finally, Jang Deukgoo’s sword found its way to Garuda’s heart. 

Sung Seonjae followed by severing its head, ending Garuda’s struggle. Once they confirmed Garuda was truly dead, Go Eul-ji went ahead and crushed the remaining eggs.

“Jeez, these flying monsters are always tougher to deal with than their rank suggests.” 

Someone’s muttering sent a shiver down the spines of the entire raid team.

‘If the raid had been postponed… if the Unified Strike Force hadn’t been assembled… a whole army of Garudas would have emerged from that nest.’

If Garudas had swarmed the Korean Peninsula, there would have been no way to fend them off. The issue wasn’t just Garuda’s strength—it was a matter of compatibility. No Hunter, other than Go Eul-ji, could match Garuda’s speed and maneuverability.

That was when the Hunters, who had once looked down on Kang Mu-hyuk, began to see him in a new light. Their opinion of Kang Mu-hyuk, the non-combat strategy leader, had shifted.

He hadn’t fought on the front lines, but there was no denying he was the one who orchestrated the entire operation.

“Garuda raid complete. Time to head back.” 

Sung Seonjae felt the change in the atmosphere and declared the end of the raid.

***

The Agora Magos and Armored Lizard raids, which were happening alongside the Garuda raid, also wrapped up successfully. The guilds responsible for these raids were top-tier, and while there were a few minor injuries, there were no casualties.

As the Hunters took a breather, Kang Mu-hyuk was already planning for the next challenge.

‘Abomination.’ 

The evolved form of an ogre, known as a Hunter Killer. When it was first discovered in North America, it wiped out an entire small town, along with all the Hunters who tried to stand in its way. It was a dangerous beast.

Kang Mu-hyuk was deep in thought, figuring out how to tackle this monster.

‘The simplest solution would be to bring in Guild Leader Ju Se-ah for a one-on-one showdown.’

Ju Se-ah had taken on ogres barehanded even when she was at A+ rank. Now that she had reached S rank, the Abomination would have a reason to worry.

‘The problem is, bringing her in would throw all my other plans out of balance.’

China, Russia, and now even Japan.

Kang Mu-hyuk’s grand vision of bringing the forces of Northeast Asia and the Russian Far East together would be at risk. He believed that using Ju Se-ah strategically for future maneuvers in controlling the Demonic Realm was far more crucial than dealing with the Abomination raid.

“Looks like there’s no other option. We’ll have to go by the book. This is going to be a long fight.”