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Before I realized it, I was surrounded by dozens of cold stares. The pressure I was feeling was tremendous. It was all the big shots in the city, plus four new ones I hadn't met before in this life, although I do remember reading about them.
There was every important hunter in here, all the guild masters of the stronghold, plus the Hunter Association of Stronghold's chairman, Mister Smith, a former S Rank Hunter who is now only A+ Rank and who didn't participate in the battle in the walls because he's tasked with protecting the city's interior by the government.
He was an old man, probably past his 80s. Yet he still had an incredibly tall, muscular body with a short white beard and an eye patch, missing one of his eyes, which he lost in a battle long ago.
And our three new guests? Three new A+ Rank Hunters joined the fray; they were quite the big shots, all of them being A+ Rank Hunters, almost as equal as S Rank Hunters well known throughout all of what's left of the United States of America.
"Well, so this is the girl the chairman mentioned?" Wondered a "handsome" burly man with curly blonde hair and a big chin, with blue eyes and a cheeky smile. "How old is she? Like eleven? What is this joke, Mister Smith?"
He was Heckert Mayer, an A+ Rank Hunter belonging to the Justice Guild in Texas, widely famous for his shameless rip-off of American heroes' stereotypes, as he can float in midair, has heat-ray vision, and has super physical strength.
He's not the strongest of his Guild, as that guild is really the "big leagues," as it has three S Ranks that didn't even bother coming here.
"Heckert, are you trying to bully a child now? How low have you fallen, you sorry excuse of a hero?" Asked a loner-looking man with sharp red eyes and short black hair, who covered his face with a black coat. His clothes were a mix of cowboy clothes and gothic black leather clothes, and he was carrying two huge black magic guns. "You're trash…"
He was Dimitri Armstrong, an intimidating loner mercenary and A+ Rank Hunter. He has some sort of principle, but he often just goes wherever the money brings him. I assumed he would come; as long as they pay him, he'll go anywhere.
"What did you call me, you cowboy cosplayer?!" Asked Heckert in utter anger, his eyes glowing redder menacingly. "I'll shoot your brains out!"
"Wanna try who's faster? My bullets or your eye rays?" Asked Dimitri with a menacing tone of voice.
BAAAM!
"YOU TWO! CUT IT OFF!" Suddenly, a tall, muscular lady with pink hair and brown skin hit the table angrily. She emanated a powerful, blazing aura. "You damn idiots are worldwide known hunters yet act like stupid children; have some self-respect, please."
And last but not least, Hilda Hamelin, the A+ Rank Hunter member of the worldwide famous Smithy Hammer Guild, mass produces items, armor, weapons, and everything throughout all of America and even sells it out to other countries. It wouldn't be an understatement to say she's filthy rich.
[The Heroic Cosmic Throne {Heroic Dark Dragon Slayer} is glancing at you while squinting his eyes! He wonders if you're taking good care of his weapon!]
[The Heroic Cosmic Throne {Youthful Gunfighter of the Wild West} is laughing at the {Heroic Dark Dragon Slayer} for being a loser that loses his weapon…]
[The Cosmic Throne {Divine Forger of Olympus} stares at you silently…]
Agh, these bastards brought their Constellations along. Hecker's Constellation is Sigurd from all things?! Why? He's an asshole! Ah, well, maybe Sigurd too?
Dimitri's Constellation is already quite obvious; with the whole cowboy motif and gunfighting techniques he has, he has an American "hero," Billy the Kid, as his Constellation.
And lastly, Hilda is one of the various proteges and apprentices of Olympus' strongest forger, Hephaestus.
"Tch, let's get this over with." Heckert sighed. "Excuse me, Chairman. Is this... little girl really the one that defeated the incarnations of those demons?! The Death Apostles or whatever?"
"Indeed." The boss of the hunter association of Stronghold City nodded. "It might be hard to believe for you, but she's not eleven; she's actually sixteen."
"She looks inconspicuous, but I can tell the kid has what it needs in those eyes." Said our Billy the Kid impersonator.
"I like strong women." Said Hilda with a smile. "But how did you even accomplish such a feat?"
Ugh! Are they really going to just bombard me with questions?! I thought we would be discussing the damn Castle Raid instead of being interrogated!
"No, I wasn't able to defeat them on my own; it was thanks to everybody's efforts. Lady Henrietta and my brother, along with Kevin, Annabelle, and Dan Baihe, were a huge help. It could be said I only finished off an already very weakened monster." I sighed. "That's about it... My stats aren't that high either; I can just get a temporary buff to my stats that lasts very little. I'm at most C Rank in terms of strength alone."
"Huh, so it wasn't her after all; I knew it." Heckert smiled.
"Anna, you don't have to give me so much credit…" Sighed Henrietta. "It was my fault Sara was killed…"
"It wasn't your fault; you simply couldn't do anything about it!" I said. "That monster was very strong… And Lady Sara's sacrifice will always be remembered."
"Sara…" Hector seemed the saddest, although he remained mostly silent throughout the entire conversation.
"Indeed, I've known Sara since she was very young." Mr. Smith sighed. "We've lost a strong and good person... And her heroic sacrifice will not be forgotten. A statue in her honor will be lifted soon in our city. It is the least we could do, so people would remember the one who gave her life away to keep them safe."
Isn't that a bit too exaggerated? Well, I guess she does deserve something. Though, just a statue, and that's it? A bit lazy...
"So now that one's down, we were called to replace her," Hecker said. "Anyways, when are we going to that castle? I came to blast it down, and that's what I'm going to do; once that's over, I'm getting out of here."
This asshole was really putting everyone's patience to the test, even the chairman was glaring at him with a stare that showed how he clearly wanted him dead.
"Ahem! Anyways, yes, this is the purpose of our meeting, but you didn't stop asking if she was really the one that helped, Heckert." The chairman sighed.
"You're really pissing me off a lot, Texan." Said my brother. "Say another thing about my sister, and I'm slitting your throat."
"Oho, you got balls, bitch." Hecker glared at my brother furiously. "Now…!"
"HECKERT…" The chairman glared back at the Texan. "Do this another time, and you're fired from this operation, with no payment. And I'll report to your guild that you were constantly insulting everybody. I'm sure the three S Rankers won't take this so kindly."
"Ugh, whatever." Hecker crossed his arms and sighed, staying silent at long last.
Although what my brother said was also rude… It was really awesome.
"Hahh… Finally, anyways… Let's begin." Mister Smith said: "Based on all the intel we've collected from all the people that have seen the latest events, it appears that everything that's been happening has been orchestrated by an organization known as the "Dawn of a New World," their mysterious nameless people, not registered anywhere as citizens, that have somehow contacted the powers of the Demons from a different world... This has caused a series of disasters, from the deaths of several innocent low-ranking hunters to the near collapse of our city's walls. And that's not all; we've already seen over five of these Death Apostles, but it is said that there's twelve of them."
"Twelve of them?!" Asked Dimitri. "I'll need some extra payment if you want me to take them all down."
"Calm down, Dimitri; let me finish." The chairman sighed. "However, from what we've analyzed and learned, their power is never "complete." They can only manifest a part of their strength. The reason why the last one was so powerful was that three of them had manifested together into a single body, making them a being surpassing S Rank, which took all of our City's strongest hunters to defeat with one loss…"
"So that "Dawn of a New World"…" Hilda spoke. "What's their deal? What do they want? Just utter destruction and being the baddies? Are they just sick in the head?"
"Totally." I nodded. "From what we learned with my friends, their goal is to rehash society as a whole and transform it into a wild world where the strong govern the weak; this means the collapse of society as a whole, to take away our commodities, everything, and even the lives of all the innocent civilians, which they deem worthless."
"They're insane bastards, alright." Dimitri nodded. "A shot in the head for all of them."
"Idealistic terrorists…" Hilda sighed. "I heard they plan to attack one of our government officials."
"Yes, tomorrow there'll be an event where our city's major and a few government officials will sign a document in public regarding the increase of public safety laws." Henrietta nodded. "We believe they might strike at that moment."
"Huh, so not only are we going against demons but also against terrorists that use demons as weapons? Fan-fucking-tastic." Heckert laughed.
"Ultimately, once we managed to repel that attack, if it ever happens, our next goal is to raid the floating castle, which, according to our hunters, is their new hideout, where they and the demons are constantly manifesting and growing much stronger." Said Mister Smith. "There must be a clear reason why they have yet to attack... They're most likely amassing a big enough army that once they finally start attacking, we won't be able to save everyone."
"Therefore, we must destroy that castle and make it crash down as soon as possible," Jack said. "I have already tried going up there... However, a powerful barrier is protecting the place, and I couldn't break through it with my current abilities. However… My sister and Henrietta can." I had discussed this with Jack before coming here.
The powers of the Nephilim I acquired, the Miracle Magic, and the Divine Powers I now possess... They're capable of negating the "Absolute Demon Barrier" temporarily. With Henrietta's help, it should be possible to break the barrier temporarily and infiltrate the castle.
"Yeah, our abilities can break through the Absolute Demon Barrier thanks to our sponsors." Said Henrietta. "Though it won't be easy... It should be possible."
"I am surprised at how confident you all are in your own abilities, despite having been almost killed multiple times already." Lee Hengyang commented as the only S-Rank Hunter in here.
"You don't have the right to talk, snake; you didn't even participate in the battle, coward," Henrietta said boldly.
"That's because, unlike you reckless fools, I was saving civilians and protecting the city instead of battling against a beast." Lee Hengyang smiled pridefully.
Yeah, right…
"That's a terrible lie, and you know it." My brother said, "While everybody else was fighting that demon before it was to destroy the entirety of Stronghold, you were probably just watching, waiting for us to die."
"Oh my…" Lee Hengyang pretended to be saddened. "How could you ever say such a thing to me, Jack? After all those times, I've helped you on the sidelines. Or are you now going to forget all those times I covered for you when many hunters went missing every time you went inside a dungeon with them?"
Oh, he probably means the psychopaths who were constantly bullying and chasing my brother around when he was much weaker. He didn't do anything, though. He's just lying.
"You've never done a single thing for me, Lee," Jack said, his eyes glowing sharply. "However…" He glanced back at me. "I hope we can cooperate for what's to come; the more people, the better. Let's… Bygones be bygones, as they say."
"Hahaha! For sure, Jack! We've always gotten along so well!" Lee Hengyang pretended to smile, though his eyes glowed with malice.
Ugh, the pressure here's so strong it could make a mountain crumble.
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