[author] Sorry for the sudden Hiatus, was busy with some unexpected IRL stuff[/author]

"FIRE!!!!"

The world seemed to rumble as

On the Guard Captain's command, the anti-daemon turrets on the City Walls fired away and rained down a salvo on the enemy.

The turrets reached their limits, and all collapsed under the heat they produced. The who stood atop the 30-meter wall laughed at the sight of the billowing smoke, and then the Captain turned to Mirsha as he called out, "Hunter, do it now!"

Mirsha nodded her head and gathered Fire Mana. She activated her current strongest attack skill.

She had been preparing this for an hour, and soon after seeing the salvo making contact, she began the final phase of preparation.

She tapped the ground with her staff, and then magic circles appeared. A figure made of fire appeared above her. The figure towered for five meters, it raised its left hand and pulled with its right hand, and it roared with Mirsha, "Ifrit's Arrow!"

Fwu!

The arrow flew out, and as it reached its target, a twenty-meter tower of flames appeared, shocking the people present… this was the power of the one who held the title of the strongest Hunter in the City.

However, Mirsha wished that this really was over, for she did not know this was the plan, 'I didn't sign up for this.'

Several hours prior!

Mirsha left a note for her daughter and messaged her husband about what's about to come.

'Will, if you saw the news, come back quickly… and take Diane to Sector 13. We still have a house there.' She said as she laughed.

Will messaged back, "Don't go…" reading that far was enough for Mirsha to know what he wanted to say. She closed the message and decided to head out. She had no smile, only a severe expression.

She wore half a demon mask to cover the lower half of her face.

Exiting the luxury apartment, Mirsha left for the Hunter's Association to receive her equipment and briefing. The doors opened automatically for her, and the attendants all bowed as they greeted her with respect.

"Hunter Mirsha, you are finally here!" A woman around the age of twenty walked up to Mirsha with a panelboard in hand.

"Where is everyone? What's the situation?"

"The City Military has made their move and already went to prepare the Anti Daemon Turrets on the City Walls. Captain Brust and the B+ Hunters are all in Meeting Hall A. They are already talking about what to do."

Mirsha shook her head as she could already see the headache that was about to come, "Leah, go and get me the equipment I asked from the Association. I need to be in my strongest if I want to have hope of beating the Tyrant Blood Gorilla."

"Yes, Hunter Mirsha." The lady named Leah left, and Mirsha went to the Meeting Hall A.

"The Tyrant Blood Gorilla has finally made its move; we already knew this would happen one day, but — Hunter Mirsha, you have arrived."

Upon opening the door, the words inside stopped. Mirsha was greeted by the man on the podium, who was also the Headquarters Chief of Sector 25.

The Chief's name was Ma-Po. He was LVL 203, the third strongest in the City.

"Sorry, I am late. I had something urgent to take care of." Mirsha said as she lowered her head.

But then, a scoff echoed inside the Meeting Hall, "Something urgent, so this is not urgent in your eyes? Something else is more important than this?"

The man said and then turned back to the holographic projection on the table, "If you're taking this lightly, then you best leave now, or else you're going to have others lose their lives."

He was a man with a burly build; he had a seething glare directed only at Mirsha; his name was Brust, the Captain of the City Military. He was a LVL 215 Gunmaster.

Mirsha felt a headache forming, but instead of fighting, she decided to ignore it and take a seat across from Brust. Even if she did fight, she was still wrong for coming in late (though it was only by a few minutes). She no longer wanted to struggle in a losing fight.

The Chief, whose name was Ma-Po, cleared his throat, "I'll tell Hunter Mirsha what had been talked about…."

Ma-Po waved his hand, and a holographic image appeared on top of the table. It was the image of the Tyrant Blood Gorilla and its known skills and abilities.

"Capable of Taking over the Valley and managed to overpower the rivaling daemon on its surrounding. It is a formidable daemon on its own. It had reached LVL 250 and is only waiting for the right time to evolve.

"Thankfully, it had not reached that point, so we have a chance to win. We also devised a plan that would let us win against this fight. The reason we failed before is that we didn't take into account the army of Tyrant Apes thu—"

Mirsha looked at the data as Ma-Po talked. She observed its previous records and saw that its strength was enough to overpower a group of [Guardians] and [Iron Pugilists], whose defenses were formidable in their own right.

But she confirmed that it was weak against Mages, so that was a good thing for her.

'With the additional strength of the [Silver Coat] and [Red Mana Staff], I should be able to match it.' She was already making decisions before she even went to fight against the Gorilla.

However, one question remained, and luckily, she didn't need to ask it on her own.

One of the Hunters who was in the late LVL 190s raised her hand, "Wasn't there a joint operation with Sector 23 and Sector 18 to take down this daemon eight months ago? This incident was buried due to the widespread news of the A-Ranks being called to the Capital. But I heard that raid ended in a failure, so what makes you think we can actually survive this?

"Is it not better to have the citizens evacuate via Airships? If we fail here, there would be many who would die, so why waste our time, risking our lives?" her words garnered the support of others.

Ma-Po looked at this Hunter with creased brows as he released a deep sigh.

They may sound annoying, but they have a point. "If a stronger and more well-rounded lineup failed to hunt this beast, what makes someone like us who are weaker in comparison capable of doing so otherwise?" these were the words no one wanted to admit but were on the back of everyone's head.

No one wanted to say it, but it was now on the table. No one wanted to admit they're weak, but this was the truth about the current situation.

It was hard for him to answer, but just as he was trapped in a pinch, someone unexpected gave the assist, "That's because we don't have enough airships. The Airships will take 6 hours for a round trip, and that monkey will arrive here in 5. We cannot help everyone, and if we abandon the City, then the neighboring Cities would fall. As people with strength, escaping is possible, but many would be left behind. We can't possibly escape now and leave the civilians. Do you think that's humane?" It was Brust who answered.

"That's not what I meant. I'm saying that if the stronger Hunters failed, what makes you think we can do this? Call me a coward, or whatever, but—"

"Blah, blah, blah, stop it with the excuse. Just tell us directly if you want to leave, and save your asses." Brust directed a glare at the Hunter and continued his words, "You are Hunters, and I am, but a City Guard meant to protect our walls. I do not know what kind of thing you have to go through, but I can tell you this now if you want to run, then go. I will not stop you.

"But, as for me, and the hundreds of Military personnel who have families counting on them for protection behind them, we will stay here and protect the City. Go and leave; I will not call you a coward and even call you smart. But, in return, do not call what I am about to do stupid, either. Because, despite knowing that I am about to die, I will try my best to make sure that my sacrifice will help others survive."

Captain Brust of the City Military was a man hated by many. He was straightforward and have an annoying choice of words. In the eyes of others, he was an asshole, but to those who know him, this man was a Hero who would protect the City and its people to his last breath.

He was a man who's both loved and hated.

Mirsha sighed as she finally decided to speak; she was the strongest Hunter here; thus, her words carried weight, "Those who want to leave, then go. But I shall stay, my husband and daughter are both living in this City, and I just received information that the last airship just left, so I can't leave… besides like Captain Brust said, it is our job to hunt for daemons, I am just going to do my job and protect the City which housed me when I was weak."

The Hunters saw Brust's eyes and shut them up, and hearing Mirsha's words, glued them to their seats. Ma-Po smiled at this sight and continued with his words.

"Ahem, I know that everyone is scared and anxious. It is a natural thing. However, do not worry, for the only thing you need to do is clean up the Tyrant Apes… Captain Brust and Hunter Mirsha would be the ones to take care of the Tyrant Blood Gorilla."

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief, and Brust smiled.

Mirsha closed her eyes, took a deep breath, smiled then, shouted within her, 'What!?!' she was not told this.

Back to the present…

Mirsha had sent out a devastating skill, and as the fire disappeared and the smoke cleared out, the charred figure of the Tyrant Blood Gorilla appeared.

Like the information said, the Tyrant Blood Gorilla was weak against Magic.

It was on its last leg.

The tide of Tyrant Apes appeared from the tree lines, and seeing this made Captain Brust smile, "Hunters! Do your job!"

The Hunters positioned to face the tide all went down to hunt them down. Without the Tyrant Blood Gorilla, it was free to experience for them all.

However, Mirsha noticed something amiss.

The Tyrant Apes that were supposed to be disoriented were reacting weirdly. They were supposed to charge to the Hunters or scatter like the wind; however, instead of running away or fighting, the Tyrant Apes did something completely unpredictable.

The majority of the Apes rushed to the Gorilla's charred body, and without hesitation, they began burrowing their hands on their necks, letting blood spill all over the Gorilla's body.

Mirsha's eyes grew wide, for she remembered reading some article about weird rituals and prerequisites some daemons do in order to obtain more power.

Seeing this now, Mirsha remembered what it was, "Daemon Mutation.”