The Time-Limited Leader Makes the Raid a Success - Chapter 453



Only Noblemtl

Episode 453

#453. We need to be ready before anything happens.

Alex calmly outlined the incident.

“It started with a prophecy from Clairvoyance. He said that an ominous aura was looming over Morocco. He said it was the same aura he had felt before.”

“Unknown being?”

Mr. Joe’s ears perked up at Kang Moo-hyuk’s question. He couldn’t hear properly and was about to use his skill when Thomas stepped in and blocked him.

“Eavesdropping ends there. It’s rude to the captain.”

“This is it!”

“How did you know that my Korean last name is Lee? I think only you would know that.”

“… … .”

“As expected, he’s the best spy in Korea. So he knew all that.”

“Huh? Oh, right. Hehehe! That’s easy enough to do.”

“But I don’t feel so good about having my identity stolen. Please don’t do anything like that next time. I don’t feel good about having the blood of a fellow guild member on my hands.”

“Now that’s a very blatant death threat.”

With Mr. Joe no longer able to eavesdrop on the conversation thanks to Thomas, Kang Moo-hyuk began to question Alex in earnest.

“Has an unknown entity appeared in Morocco?”

“We don’t know exactly. The prophecies of Clairvoyance are sometimes ambiguous. In particular, prophecies about unknown beings always seem to be hazy, as if shrouded in fog.”

“But I know that Lady Ayla mostly moves with Alex Hunter during her external activities, so why were you alone this time?”

“You moved first when I was away for a while. Since you were in charge of a time-consuming task, it would have taken a few more days to resolve. Lady Ayla moved first, citing the importance of the task.”

“What about the power that moved together?”

“Lady Ayla has only two escort parties, no combat troops. With Raven and I missing, who went to Korea, there are now eight people moving. Of course, all eight are capable hunters.”

“But contact was lost?”

“I heard the news from Chairman Exhisar of the Round Table and rushed here. He left without telling me because he was afraid I would stop him.”

Kang Moo-hyuk wasn’t sure he knew everything about Ayla, but he was at least aware of her behavioral patterns under certain conditions.

‘I’m not very proactive when it comes to things related to the unknown. A bit reckless, too.’

I had heard from Alex before that he was trying to keep Earth, his second home, from being destroyed.

As far as Kang Mu-hyeok knew, the most active person in the federation was Aila.

It was truly ironic that Ain, whose identity had to be hidden outside of the organization, was working for the Earth more than humans.

At this point, Kang Moo-hyuk realized why Alex had changed his mind and was telling him his secret.

‘I guess you want me to help you find Lady Ayla.’

The moment Kang Moo-hyuk noticed Alex’s intentions, he also realized that he could not refuse his request.

Ayla was one of the few powerful people working for this world. Although she was outwardly invisible and immovable, her influence in the powerful Federation was by no means small.

Even from a long-term perspective, Kang Moo-hyuk thought that it was not a good thing for someone like that to disappear like this.

‘I just spoke to the guild leader and promised to return home as soon as I took care of the Moroccan matter.’

I think it’s going to be a bit long.

Kang Mu-hyeok said.

“Let’s discard the worst case scenario and consider the lesser of two evils. First, we need troops.”

Kang Moo-hyuk’s words were more like instructions, but Alex was delighted. It was because Kang Moo-hyuk showed his intention to help.

“A half-strike force will be arriving from the European branch in three hours.”

“If we attack the Federation branch… Even if it’s only half the regular force, it’s still a minimum force.”

Kang Moo-hyuk recalled the attack force’s power in the alliance organization.

“Of course, the standard for ‘sufficient’ is ambiguous when it comes to incidents involving unknown entities. But since we’ve equipped ourselves with gate-strike level weapons, we won’t be easily defeated.”

“If necessary, I’ll call for an S-rank. I think there are two in the Federation.”

“That… will probably be difficult.”

“Isn’t that Lady Aila, who is also a key figure in the Mother Tree Society? If something goes wrong with her, it won’t be a good outcome for the Federation, right?”

“I don’t know the exact details, but I heard that the two S-ranks are in a situation where they cannot leave their positions due to their important missions. I heard that their mission level is the highest… They will probably prioritize that work.”

Kang Moo-hyuk knew about the highest-level mission of the Federation.

‘Black Gate class… … .’

The Black Gate has only been created seven times in history.

Of those, three were out-breaking, and the rest were closed before they could be opened after much sacrifice.

Of course, the sacrifices made to attack the gate were only a drop in the bucket in the ocean after the damage caused by those three outbreaks.

Every time the Black Gate opened, there were casualties in the hundreds of millions, countless cities disappeared, and even mountain ranges and coastlines changed, forcing maps to be redrawn.

Many high-ranking Hunters have lost their lives, and the capitals of the country and its neighbors have been forced to relocate several times.

‘Of those three outbreaks, two took place during the Great War and one during the Little War.’

And the shape of the Atlas Mountains changed during the Great War.

‘Isn’t it ominous?’

The reason why Nagas were able to hide in the Atlas Mountains was largely because the coastlines of the Mediterranean and Atlantic Oceans bordering the mountains became more complex as the terrain changed.

In addition, the fact that a long-lived Naga evolved in a short period of time and a king was born raises suspicions that this may be the cause of the irregulars in this region.

‘Plus Clairvoyance. The prophecy of an unknown being and the disappearance of Ayla Frigga, who is chasing it. The timing is unsettlingly right. Coincidences are repeated to the point of being almost ironic.’

As the saying goes, repeated coincidences are inevitable, Kang Moo-hyuk intuitively felt that he could not look at this situation in isolation.

‘But I’m not sure yet. I need to gather more information. Until then, I guess we should consider this a separate operation.’

Kang Moo-hyuk gathered his thoughts and made a decision.

“Okay. We’ll think about adding more troops later. First, I’ll help you find Lady Ayla.”

“thank you!”

“Instead, I have come here to help you sort out that part, so I can help you. While I’m taking care of that, Alex Hunter, prepare to meet the European branch raiders. Please also collect information about Ayla’s disappearance, organize it, and share it with us.

“That’s a given.”

“And I will make sure the chain of command is clear.”

“Please speak.”

“I will be intervening in this operation as a commander. Do you know what I mean?”

“I will instruct the raid team.”

“Okay. Let me check your contact information first.”

Kang Moo-hyuk confirmed his existing contact information with Alex and even exchanged emergency contact information.

I received the address of the accommodation from Johanna and also checked the location of the Federation’s Moroccan base.

“We will prepare as quickly as possible and join you.”

“It’s reassuring to hear that the Commander is joining us. We will provide all the support we can.”

After the two decided what to do, they parted ways.

Kang Moo-hyuk returned to the group and told them about his conversation with Alex. He deliberately omitted sensitive parts such as the unknown being.

“For this reason, I think we need to run both operations in parallel.”

“Which comes first? I think we need to decide what the priorities are.”

Hyun Jeong-geon raised an objection.

“Both.”

“Both? Too lukewarm? Isn’t that your style, Captain?”

When Hyun Jeong-geon asked back, Yohanna tilted her head and raised her hand cautiously.

“Do you think, Commander, that the disappearance of the Federation official is related to the Naga sanctuary we are in charge of?”

“Maybe.”

“Why?”

Mr. Joe, who couldn’t hold back his curiosity because the wiretapping call was cut off, chimed in.

Kang Moo-hyuk was reluctant to give a detailed explanation.

First of all, it was because there was only circumstantial evidence without any physical evidence, and in order to make everyone understand all of this, I had to touch on things that should not have been revealed.

The existence of the unknown or clairvoyance was a secret that only a very small number of people in the Federation knew about, making it even more difficult to talk about.

Kang Moo-hyuk decided to postpone the truth until he found a sufficiently explainable reason.

“It’s hard to explain the exact basis yet. I think I need to gather more information and analyze it. However, Morocco’s issues have been stable to the point where protests were the only thing going on, but seeing such big incidents suddenly being involved in a row makes me suspicious. Something will come out soon, so I’ll tell you again when I get there.”

“I trust you, Captain. There must be a reason for this, so I will wait until then.”

Thomas knew about the Unknown Being, but he didn’t know about the clairvoyant. He was the one who held the most information among them, but he didn’t show it.

Since the S-rank hunters support Kang Mu-hyeok, there’s no way they can question the rest of the group.

Mr. Joe had to step back because of his overflowing curiosity and become a spy, but he couldn’t dig any further.

“You’ll find out someday.”

The group settled into a five-star hotel in Casablanque under Johanna’s guidance.

After a few hours, the guide that Edoardo had introduced came to the hotel.

The guide was a white man with such pale skin that it was hard to believe he was operating in Africa.

“Hello, Director Kang Mu-hyeok. This is Eagles.”

“Yes. Nice to meet you. But Eagles… doesn’t sound like a good name.”

“We don’t use our real names here. We usually use a separate call sign and operate. It’s a complicated and dangerous place, so it’s a bit awkward to reveal our identities.”

“okay.”

“By the way, I have received word from the Archduke. My team and I will be welcoming you to Morocco.”

“A team member? Not alone?”

“Oh? I guess you didn’t hear. The Archduke asked us to do all of our team members. He even paid the cost.”

“If it’s all power, how many… …?”

“A total of 41 people. A full-fledged attack force. We are a group of hunter mercenaries.”

“!!”

* * *

The moment when Kang Moo-hyuk began his activities in Morocco.

Iron Will of Korea was also busy with his daily life.

“Okay. I’ll make a hundred concessions and understand that you didn’t sleep in the morning. It’s okay that you didn’t eat breakfast. Sometimes I don’t eat. But honestly, shouldn’t you guarantee me a lunch time? Who would make someone hunt without eating?”

The local chief stood on the cliff by the sea and cried out in lamentation.

Noh Song-rin, who was looking at her, clicked her tongue.

“If someone saw you, they’d think you were being taken by an evil employer. What kind of monster would attack you while you were sleeping or eating?”

“Aren’t you hungry, Mr. Noh? You’re just trying to eat and live, so even if you’re fighting, it’s polite to avoid eating.”

“If a monster behaves, is it still a monster? Stop yelling and eat this instead of wasting your energy.”

Go Eul Ji accidentally caught the aluminum foil that Noh Song Rin had thrown. The long shape was just what she liked.

Goeulji’s face brightened. She tore off the foil with joy.

“Kimbap? When did you bring this again? What is it? Danmuji?”

“Hahaha! You got fooled, right? Eat that.”

When I removed the foil, what I was faced with was a whole, uncut yellow radish.

A lively look appeared in Goeulji’s eyes. She looked out at the distant sea.

After catching a glimpse of a Naga swimming over the horizon, creating bubbles in the sea south of Jeju Island, I checked my watch.

“Well, okay. That should give me enough time to kill Mr. Noh before I get caught.”

“Hey, hey, I was just joking around… Oh, no. Don’t do that. Put me down. Why do you keep climbing up?”

“Let’s see if we survive a fall from a height of 10,000 meters.”

“Hey, there’s kimbap! Seriously! There’s a bag right next to it! Look at the bag!”

Goeulji immediately released the skill that had been holding Nosongrin captive. Nosongrin, who had already risen several dozen meters into the air, fell.

That height was no problem for him, but the place he landed was right on the ocean. Even though he managed to balance himself and land, he ended up on the water. He couldn’t help but look like a rat stuck in water.

with a plop!

As Noh Song-rin heard the sound of something being grabbed, Go Eul-ji opened the bag. Inside were ten strips of foil.

I carefully opened the foil and discovered that it was not radish but kimbap.

“Oh, you should have given it to me earlier. You’re just making fun of someone who’s sensitive and making the atmosphere awkward.”

“Do you know what it means to be embarrassed?”

No Song-rin, who had just crawled out of the sea, grumbled and shook her wet hair.

While Go Eul-ji and Noh Song-rin were bickering, Joo Se-ah came up the cliff. At her wink, the two immediately stopped arguing.

“Seeing you two joking around, it looks like you both have some energy left. I guess I’ll have to send you to Geojedo next time.”

“Kekeke. I heard that he goes out and appears day and night. Gilma, Master, Freeze. Please save me. He’s still tough.”

Even though Go Eul Ji knelt down and begged, Joo Se Ah didn’t even blink an eye.

Noh Song-rin, who was standing next to her, turned Joo Se-ah’s attention in a slightly different direction than Go Eul-ji.

“Gilma, going to fight is not a problem, but if we continue to fight like we are being dragged around by Naga, we will end up with holes somewhere. Korea may be small, but we cannot block the entire coastline. We need a fundamental solution.”

“The captain is trying hard. I’m sure we’ll find a way to counterattack soon.”

“If you’re the captain, I’m sure you can come up with a way to do something. But I wish you could bring it a little faster. The expedition team is quite tired from fighting without any rest.”

Joo Se-ah looked down at the cliff on the right while chewing over Noh Song-rin’s words.

Hunters stood along the beach, ready for battle. Their spirits were sharp, but their faces were pale.

‘You look tired from fighting day and night for several days.’

Currently, Iron Will is on assignment in Jeju Island.

Jeju Island was home to a tier guild called Green Narae, but the Nagas were attacking from all directions, making it difficult for them to deal with them alone. It wasn’t a problem of ability, but rather a problem of the range they could cover.

Green Narae acknowledged their weakness and sent an SOS to the land.

Several guilds responded to the request and came to Jeju Island.

Although Jeju Island was not free from the threat of the sea, it was more vulnerable to the threat of the sea.

This wasn’t a problem that could be solved right away even if Joo Sea joined.

“That’s right. We need to be ready before anything happens.”