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“Here, here, and here. Send drones to these areas, too. As many as you can.”

“What? Why those places?”

The locations he pointed out were peaks scattered across South Potaesan and North Potaesan.

“Just hurry up!”

Startled by the urgency in his voice, one of the operators started deploying drones but then hesitated.

“But Garuda’s attack earlier destroyed a lot of the drones on-site. We don’t have many left. How many should we send…?”

“How many do we still have?”

“52.”

“Only half of them?”

Garuda’s feather barrage had managed to destroy half of the drones that were filming the raid. The other half were still monitoring the ongoing battle, but they had been moved farther away for safety. Because of this, even the high-speed cameras could only capture blurry shapes.

“Well, we have no other choice. Send three drones to each of the five locations. Do it right away.”

This meant taking 15 drones, leaving only 39 at the scene. It was a decision that went against the Slayer guild’s original plan to keep a detailed record of the raid for future tactical analysis. Still, the operators followed the order without hesitation. This was thanks to Sung Seonjae’s earlier advice to follow Kang Mu-hyuk’s commands without question.

‘He’s such a mystery. We’re right in the middle of a brutal raid, and his mind is somewhere else. Why did Team Leader Sung tell us to listen to him?’

The operator couldn’t help but feel confused as he adjusted the controls.

The drones started heading to five different peaks in the northern region. These areas didn’t seem to have any connection to the raid.

Kang Mu-hyuk kept his eyes on a sub-screen across from the main display, watching the feeds from all 15 drones carefully.

“There, video 7. Zoom in on that.”

The drone showed a dense forested ridge, just below the mountain’s peak. At first glance, it looked like any other mountain scene.

“Send a drone inside.”

“There are too many branches. It’s hard to maneuver. It could crash into the trees.”

“Get as close as you can without hitting anything. Try to capture the view from above.”

The drone skimmed over the top of the forest. The thick leaves often blocked the view, but sometimes there were gaps that allowed brief glimpses inside. After following the ridge for a while, the drone finally spotted something.

Kang Mu-hyuk\'s fist clenched tightly.

“There!”

But the drone stopped just a moment too late.

“Move back a bit. Swing the camera a bit to the right. Stop. That’s it.”

There were figures moving busily inside the forest.

“Lower it down.”

“It can’t go any lower…”

“Just crash it. We only need to see what’s there.”

The operator almost shouted back in protest.

‘Do you even know how expensive these drones are?!’

He kept his composure, not letting his emotions show. After a moment of hesitation, he closed his eyes tightly and pushed the controls forward. The drone tilted downward, diving through the branches. It scratched against sharp pine needles before crashing under the dark forest canopy. It tried to level out but got caught on the branches and eventually slammed into the ground.

He attempted to make it lift off again, but even though he sent the signals, the drone did not respond. The only relief was that the camera was still working.

The operator let out a sigh of relief.

If the camera had been damaged, he was certain the stubborn guy, who didn’t understand how expensive this high-tech equipment was, would have just sent another drone crashing down without a second thought.

“Turn the camera. To the right. There. Zoom in. Put it up on the main screen.”

Following Kang Mu-hyuk’s instructions, the footage switched to the main display. The operators, who had been watching closely, gasped at what they saw.

“As I thought… I figured this is what it was.”

The screen showed dozens of harpies. Nests lay at the base of each tree, filled with unhatched eggs and newly hatched chicks crying out. The operators, staring at the footage with their mouths open, mumbled to themselves.

“Are those… Garuda’s chicks?”

“There are so many of them?”

The chicks, being fed by the harpies in the nests, looked just like smaller versions of Garuda.

‘So Garuda is male.’

Ordinarily, male harpies were devoured by the females after mating. But Garuda was a superior breed, an apex predator that had reached the top of the evolutionary ladder. There was no way it would be devoured by a lesser species that harpy was.

That was why they had overlooked it. They assumed Garuda had consumed the males and laid the eggs herself. The Garuda they had captured in India was also reported to be female. This was why Kang Mu-hyuk felt uneasy when they couldn’t find Garuda’s eggs.

He began examining the monster distribution along the Cheongjin-Baekam-Hyesan defensive line. He found evidence of harpy hunts and checked the last known locations of parties that hadn’t returned.

The points of convergence were around the outskirts of South Potaesan and North Potaesan. This could only mean there was a harpy nest nearby.

As the data came together, Kang Mu-hyul’s mind raced through various scenarios. He had just confirmed the most likely one.

“This bastard... A monster with a harem?”

Garuda had essentially built himself a palace here. He gathered many females for himself, ensuring they would hatch his brood. In time, Garuda’s kingdom would take shape.

Once that happened, all these chicks would mature and disperse. The resulting devastation would be…

‘It’s horrifying just to think about.’

An army of named monsters was on the brink of forming. Given Garuda’s speed, the existing air defense systems would be useless. Wiping out an entire city would be as easy as crushing a fly.

Kang Mu-hyuk picked up the phone in the command vehicle.

“Hunter Lee Sookyoung, please report to the command vehicle. We need to relay a message to the Unified Strike Force.”

***

Garuda, enraged by the raid team that had managed to corner it, thrashed wildly, attacking everything around it. Each strike was powerful enough to tear apart an ordinary Hunter. But these weren’t ordinary Hunters.

They were the elite, the best from each guild. When it came to defense, even a named monster like Garuda couldn’t easily break through these Hunters.

‘The real issue is that attacking is just as tough for us.’

Melee fighters and tanks had to counter Garuda’s attacks as soon as they got close, but Garuda’s speed was overwhelming, keeping them on the defensive. If Ju Se-ha were here, she could have absorbed Garuda’s attacks and pinned it down, but regular Hunters couldn’t manage such a feat.

The ranged attackers were in a similar bind. Go Wonmae’s arrows had landed a few hits, but they weren’t enough to bring the beast down. The mages had slower reaction times, so they couldn’t help much either. Even Yeo Mungi, Korea’s most famous mage, struggled because the role relied on high damage but had slow casting speeds, making it hard to land hits.

Garuda wasn’t a monster that could be taken down by spamming attacks, and if the mages used their magic too quickly, they would run out of mana when it mattered most.

Garuda seemed fully aware of its speed advantage, darting around and attacking nonstop.

‘If it would just come at me, I might be able to counter.’

Strangely, Garuda wasn’t targeting Sung Seonjae. Whether it was because it instinctively knew he was the strongest, or it was mere chance, Sung Seonjae couldn’t find an opportunity to strike.

He thought about using the Go Eul-ji strategy. It was the only move that might tip the scales in their favor. If he could just knock Garuda down for a moment, he was sure he could take out one of its wings. But after checking Go Eul-ji’s condition, he shook his head.

‘She’s drained a lot of her stamina and mana just to lure the Garuda. Even after taking a potion, she still looks pale. Should I wait a little longer for it to kick in?’

Sung Seonjae’s assessment was accurate. If Go Eul-ji had been at the same rank as him, the situation might have been different, but expecting a newly ranked A-rank Hunter to take on a named monster was wishful thinking.

The fact that she had managed to hold her ground against Garuda for this long was impressive. Sung Seonjae noticed something familiar about Go Eul-ji, a hint of the same tenacity he saw in Ju Se-ah. He sensed a kindred spirit.

‘Iron Will is scary. Were they grooming another potential S-rank prospect besides Ju Se-ah? Even if I tried to recruit her, she probably wouldn’t come.’

Since he had seen her in Sinuiju, he knew she was no ordinary Hunter. But now, seeing her in action against a named monster, he began to glimpse her true potential. Even in the heat of battle, Sung Seonjae was already scheming about how to bring her into his team.

This showed that there was still some breathing room in the Garuda raid. Even while his mind was occupied, Sung Seonjae was setting up a trap for Garuda.

‘Garuda isn’t just some mindless beast. It’s smart. It’ll definitely try to find a weak spot to exploit.’

And to Sung Seonjae, the strike force’s weak point was obvious.

‘Here it comes!’

The air portal. For a while now, Garuda had been hovering near the air portal. So far, the enchanter’s support had allowed even the more fragile attackers to fend off Garuda’s strikes without much trouble. But Garuda had caught on, and Sung Seonjae had a hunch that it was planning to target the air portal.

He watched as Garuda began its dive toward the portal, sword in hand. With his shield held tight, he prepared for a counterattack.

Garuda’s feathers shimmered as it flew, catching the sunlight as it closed in on the portal. The Hunters’ eyes were locked on it, waiting to see who would be the target. Then, Garuda began its descent.

It briefly disappeared in the glare, causing the Hunters to lose sight of it. Only Sung Seonjae tracked its movements.

【Shield Wall】

【Blowing Aura】

【Sharp Cutting】

In the blink of an eye, Sung Seonjae activated three skills. The first skill turned his shield into an impenetrable wall, blocking Garuda’s beak from hitting the air portal. With the second, he angled the shield, releasing energy that deflected Garuda’s attack and pushed it off course.

Then, with the last skill, his sword aimed for Garuda’s wing, ready to slice through it, but...

Thunk!

In a split second, Garuda stepped on the shield, dodging out of the way. Sung Seonjae’s sword missed the wing and instead sliced cleanly through Garuda’s right ankle. As blue blood spurted out, Garuda recoiled, and Sung Seonjae clicked his tongue in frustration.

‘This thing’s tougher than it looks.’

With his well-aimed strike missing, Sung Seonjae knew Garuda wouldn’t fall for the same trick again. Now, he had to prepare for the possibility of Garuda fleeing out of fear.

‘I can’t let it do that. What’s the best move? Should I send Go Eul-ji up there?’

As he was considering his options, a message popped up.

[Commander, Guild Leader Kang Mu-hyuk asked me to pass on a message.]

It was Go Eul-ji’s voice.

After hearing Kang’s plan, Sung Seonjae nodded.

[So, Garuda’s nest, huh… It’s a smart strategy. It might abandon its young, but harpies are fiercely protective, even vengeful, when their offspring are threatened. This just might work.]

[Alright, I’ll slip out quietly so Garuda doesn’t notice.]

[Hunter Go Eul-ji, you need to completely wipe out the young, the eggs, and the harpies. Can you do that?]

[My mana’s still a bit low, but harpies? That’s no big deal. But can you handle things here? That thing’s fast, like a mosquito on steroids.]

[We might not be able to capture it, but it won’t catch us either. Even if they’re not quite at Ju Se-ah’s level, the Hunters here are top-tier.]

Sung Seonjae smirked, recalling how Go Eul-ji was trained under Ju Se-ah. By Ju Se-ah’s standards, no one else really made the cut. Even Sung Seonjae had to admit he couldn’t quite match her at the moment.

[Oh, and try to capture one or two of the young alive.]

[Alive?]

[We need them as bait to stop Garuda from running.]

[Aha, bait? You’re just as devious as our Guild Master, huh?]

[Is that a compliment?]

[Not at all. Since when do people get praised for being devious? Did you hit your head when Garuda attacked? Or does ‘devious’ mean something else at Slayer? I’m confused.]

[.......]

Even the strongest Hunter in the Slayer guild was left speechless by Go Eul-ji’s sassy comment.

[Anyway, I’ll go catch Garuda’s young. You stay alive, got it?]

With her final words, Go Eul-ji signed off, and Sung Seonjae found himself thinking of an old saying among Hunters: The more gifted a Hunter, the less they cared about politeness.

‘Yep, that’s why she’s got S-rank potential.’

That phrase could easily apply to him too, but Sung Seonjae decided to skip over that part and simply admire Go Eul-ji’s spunk.