SMH 169

Chapter 53 – Otherworld Entity (2)

TL: Boko

The U.S. President, Aiden, promised to treat Sung Joon like a state guest. Sung Joon realized that it wasn’t just lip service.

Sung Joon was inspected by the honor guard and entered a luxurious sedan, which travelled to a heliport. There, Sung Joon and Aiden entered the president’s personal helicopter, ‘Marine One’ and flew to the conferment ceremonial hall. A formation of attack helicopters protected them along the way.

“We’ve arrived.”

A bodyguard disembarked first and made sure it was safe. Then, Aiden and Sung Joon got off the helicopter. Leia was accompanying them on account of being bored.

The conferment ceremonial hall was so close that they could get there on foot. But because he was with the President of the United States, security was tight.

There were several people at the conferment ceremonial hall. He thought it’d be chaotic, but it was surprisingly quite orderly. Everyone was excited to see Sung Joon and the ‘Righteous Shield’.

“I have some other things to take care of, so I’ll take my leave. Jennifer will guide you, Mr. Kang Sung Joon.”

Aiden left with his attendants, as he had to prepare for the conferment ceremony.

“Mr. Kang Sung Joon!” a familiar voice said, and they approached him. He turned his head and saw Idun.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in New York?”

“I wanted to thank you, so I came to guard the ‘Righteous Shield’. There are two other S-rank Hunters here to increase security.”

The ‘Righteous Shield’ was a rare SS-rank item in his past world. Someone could try stealing it, so S-rank Hunters were required to defend it.

“Thank you again. Our members weren’t hurt very much because of you.”

Idun bowed his head. Sung Joon was an SS-rank Healer Hunter, so his ‘Heal’ was incredibly powerful. Because of that, the Special Task Force’s casualties in New York was minimized. That was what Idun was thanking him for.

Sung Joon was a Healer with exceptional combat abilities, so he would always minimize the casualties of his fellow Hunters.

“The conferment ceremony will begin soon. You should get going now.”

He had been so busy talking with Idun that he hadn’t noticed the time. Jennifer checked her watch and urged him to go.

“Then I’ll get going now.”

Idun quickly returned to his post. He couldn’t leave his station for very long, since his mission was to guard the ‘Righteous Shield’.

“Let us go.”

“I understand,” Sung Joon replied, and followed Jennifer.

“We don’t have to do a rehearsal or something?” Sung Joon asked. The conferment ceremony was huge, so he thought they’d have a rehearsal, but Jennifer shook her head.

“They’ve already rehearsed.”

“Is that so? I didn’t participate. Is that ok?”

“Where you have to go is quite straightforward, so you didn’t need to participate.  And the workers are going to guide you with a microphone.”

Jennifer, who was finished explaining, took out a radio with a microphone attached to it. It wasn’t hard to wear.

Sung Joon put the microphone into his ear. He had a drink in the waiting room and waited for the conferment ceremony to begin.

“I’ll go scout around.”

There were attendants inside the waiting room, including Jennifer. Therefore, Rishubalt wasn’t able to converse with Sung Joon.

Rishubalt must have been bored, as he volunteered to go and scout. While he was out scouting, Leia returned to the waiting room. She had probably loitered around the conferment ceremonial hall and had gotten bored.

“I’m bored.”

She quietly sat beside Sung Joon and began fiddling with her smartphone.

‘Rishubalt’s late.’

One hour passed. He should’ve been back by now if he was just scouting. He wasn’t concerned as Rishubalt was currently in his spirit form, but thought that perhaps something had gone wrong.

A short while later, Rishubalt returned with a dark expression.

“My lord. There was several Hunters around the conferment ceremonial hall that I believe to be ‘enemies’.”

“Leia.”

He could trust Rishubalt. Sung Joon called Leia. Leia, who had been busy with her smartphone, looked up at Sung Joon.

“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t you feel that strange mana?”

“Not really?”

Leia shook her head. Although she was the world’s sole SSS-rank Hunter, she couldn’t always sense the presence of mana from afar.

“Two kilometers to the north. And three kilometers to the east. Several people are gathering there. I’ll find the exact coordinates.”

Rishubalt was quick on the uptake. He knew that Sung Joon couldn’t give him any orders right now, so he predicted his orders and acted accordingly.

Befitting a loyal aide that served him in his past life, his predications were never off.

Rishubalt gave him the coordinates, and Sung Joon relayed said coordinates to both Jennifer and Leia.

Leia closed her eyes and concentrated so that she could sense them. Jennifer raised her radio and tried to find out whether Central Hunter Bureau troops were stationed at the coordinates.

“Yeah. You’re right. Hunters have gathered over there.”

Leia confirmed that Hunters had indeed gathered at said coordinates. They were quite far away, but befitting an SSS-rank Mage Hunter, she could sense their mana reactions without much difficulty when she concentrated.

“I’ve confirmed that it’s not the assembly place for reserve troops. The Hunters that have gathered there are not a part of the U.S. government.”

Jennifer checked one last time. Those Hunters weren’t connected to the U.S. government, and they also hadn’t been asked to help. In other words, they were ‘uninvited guests’.

“I heard they checked everything within five kilometers… How did they get in…”

Jennifer muttered to herself and reported the situation to the Central Hunter Bureau. A short while later, the citizens participating in the conferment ceremony were taken to safety by the police. At the same time, the Central Hunter Bureau’s reserve troops were mobilized.

The unknown force realized that they’d been discovered and began their operation.

Kwang!

The sound of an explosion could be heard nearby. At the same time, Sung Joon sensed killing intent everywhere. The door to the waiting room opened and one of the bodyguards rushed in.

“What’s the situation?”

“The west and south areas are being attacked!”

Jennifer asked, and the bodyguard replied. Rishubalt hadn’t been able to scout those areas, but it seems like the enemy had forces close by.

“Didn’t you say you checked everything within five kilometers? What’s going on!?”

Jennifer pressed the Central Hunter Bureau worker. The worker bowed their head and said.

“I think we have a traitor in our midst. It has to be one of the higher ups.”

There were several organizations that were connected to the conferment ceremony, like the CIA or the Central Hunter Bureau. They protected everything within a five kilometer radius.

This couldn’t happen, unless one of the head honchos had betrayed them.

“What happened to the ‘Righteous Shield’?” Sung Joon asked. The enemy was definitely aiming for the SS-rank item, the Righteous Shield.

“It’s in the southern area, where the battle is most intense. Without any reinforcements, they’ll encircle the area within ten minutes.”

“What about the president?” Leia asked.

“He’s under attack as well, but he’s not in danger,” the bodyguard said.

Sung Joon mapped out the situation in his head. Based on the report, he was sure that the enemy was aiming for the ‘Righteous Shield’.

The President of the United States was under attack, but it was nothing more than a diversionary tactic. Their main force was attacking the southern area, where the Righteous Shield was located.

“What about the northern and eastern forces?” Sung Joon asked.

“Our reserve troops are intercepting them. The U.S. Marine Corps and the National Guard are sending troops over.”

The U.S. President had prepared for this eventuality by ensuring that there were plenty of reserve troops within five kilometers of the conferment ceremonial hall.

The reserve troops stopped the northern and eastern enemy troops from entering the conferment ceremonial hall, which was a relief.

“I’ll go to the president.”

Leia disappeared from his sight before anyone had a chance to reply. Her presence disappeared instantly.

It was similar to Blink, the short range Dimensional Leap Magic. Sung Joon turned his gaze towards Jennifer.

“Do you know where the Righteous Shield is?”

“I’m not sure. But if I ask, they should tell me.”

So long as she had a valid reason, Jennifer could access quite a lot of information, as she was now a department head.

“The president should be safe since Leia went over there. I’ll go to the area where the ‘Righteous Shield’ is held.”

“I’ll go with you. I’ll ask where it’s located.”

“Alright.”

Sung Joon welcomed her help. He couldn’t speak English that well, so he needed her to translate. If Shin Tae was still his interpreter, he wouldn’t be able to follow him so easily.

“I’ve made an inquiry.”

“Let’s move.”

Sung Joon left the waiting room with Jennifer and saw the entirety of the conferment ceremonial hall, which could fit more than ten thousand people.

It was chaos. The U.S. government’s forces and their attackers were in the middle of an intense battle.

The formation of helicopters were flying around busily, and three hundred of the attackers managed to enter the conferment ceremonial hall.

“Some of them can use the Empire’s swordsmanship.”

Most of them were either Hunters or mercenaries, but Rishubalt could tell that some of them could use the Empire’s style of swordsmanship.

Sung Joon could see it too. Their swordsmanship wasn’t practical, so they weren’t a part of the Knight Brigade.

There was a high chance that they were either a part of the Empire’s Special Forces or the Pan-Dimensional Task Force.

“The Empire is definitely involved,” Rishubalt said.

Following the battle of the Ridonia Great Plains and Roukel’s subsequent death, the Empire and the Species Alliance had sent their forces to Earth, little by little. It wouldn’t be surprising if they were posing as high-ranking officials.

‘Who are they… that’s the problem.’

He was doubtful of the U.S. President, Aiden, as well. The CIA and the Central Hunter Bureau hadn’t noticed them, so it had to be a high-ranking official of the U.S. government conspiring with the Empire or the Species Alliance.

‘Now’s not the time…’

Sung Joon shook his head. He could track down the traitor later. Aiden wasn’t an idiot.

If Aiden wasn’t the perpetrator, then he should’ve realized by now that the attackers were connected to a high-ranking official. Sung Joon’s top priority was protecting the ‘Righteous Shield’.

‘I can’t let them steal it, now can I?’ Sung Joon thought.

They were just about to give it to him, so he couldn’t let them take it, now could he?