Heroine Hunts Heroines-Chapter 102

Ten thousand troops. That’s essentially a force of soldiers with only a minuscule amount of mana, not even enough to qualify as hunters. Some might be academy graduates who failed to become hunters, but for the most part, they were no different from ordinary civilians.

“Who could understand what’s going on in that bastard’s head?”

“He’s probably mixing in his hunters with them.”

If that’s the case, it means he intends to use the national army as cannon fodder to capture Baekhwa by any means necessary.

And if, during the process, the national army suffers devastating losses, public sentiment will naturally turn against Baekhwa.

“He must be betting on us refusing to help.”

Baek Cheong-gang clicked his tongue.

“Exactly.”

The president was driving his own people into a death trap.

At the same time, he was trying to tarnish the image of Baekhwa, which had been carefully built over time. How could someone be so ruthless?

If the subjugation failed, they would be criticized regardless, but Baekhwa would also fall from being a symbol of justice to a mere villain. From there, they could simply recruit a stronger force to capture Baekhwa.

In this scenario, the best option would be for Baekhwa to flee.

By now, Baekhwa must already understand this.

Choi Cheol-sik and the guild masters could only hope that Baekhwa wouldn’t make a foolish decision.

***

As Songdo buzzed with preparations for war, a message arrived from Seo Ji-yeon.

It was the first contact since I had given her the Magic Gear.

[In two days, 10,000 troops and Ha Jung-seok’s hunters will attempt to subjugate Baekhwa. A guild coalition is involved as well. I’ll stay out of it, so do as you see fit.]

The situation was turning serious.

Two days. That meant Songdo would soon be shrouded in the shadow of war.

It was a good thing I had instilled a sense of urgency among the people beforehand.

Even in a world as chaotic as this, the concept of a national military still existed.

Of course, it wasn’t the same as in the old days. These days, the focus was on nurturing hunters, leading to a significantly reduced military force.

I quickly summoned the heroines.

“If Ha Jung-seok resorts to a human wave strategy using the military, we won’t kill the enemies.”

“What do you mean? Then how do we win?”

Han Suji raised an eyebrow, clearly unable to grasp the meaning.

I pulled out a set of Magic Guns from my subspace—around 1,000 of them. The same ones I had shown the heroines before.

I hadn’t distributed them to the mutants yet, as I’d only been adjusting their lethality. Even after supplying the combat-ready personnel in Songdo, there would still be plenty left.

“These Magic Guns, crafted by the Cheonsan Group, are inefficient with mana stones, but they do have adjustable power settings.”

“I know that much. You can adjust the mana charge and control how much is used per shot. The weaker the charge, the lower the lethality,” added Choi Si-woo, demonstrating his knack for practical knowledge.

Exactly. These guns were designed to be non-lethal.

At worst, they’d deliver a stinging injury, nothing life-threatening. Hardly enough to make soldiers question why they were even fighting.

“I’ve set the guns we gave the mutants to non-lethal settings. So, we’ll hold our ground.”

“Hold out? Until when?”

“That’s where Reyna and Han Suji come in. Reyna, you need to destroy the enemy’s supply depots. Han Suji, same for you. These days, even the military uses mana-operated supply stations near gates. Once you find them, destroying them will be easy.”

Cutting off their supplies would hinder not just the guild coalition but also the military forces, leaving them immobilized.

“Do we know the locations of the supply depots?”

Han Suji tilted her head and asked. Ah, that was the problem.

While I was pondering, Lee Yoo-jung tapped my shoulder.

“I’ll look into it.”

“Yoo-jung, can you handle it?”

“There are Magic Gears scattered throughout the Baekhwa sect’s territory outside Songdo. Something’s bound to show up. But even if we disrupt their supplies, will they retreat with Seoul so close by?”

She had a point. If they didn’t retreat immediately, other measures would be necessary.

“If we use Magi…”

“That would harm the guild coalition too. You know that, Yoo Eun-ha,” Choi Si-woo interrupted, shaking his head.

Everyone here was familiar with Magi. For Lee Yoo-jung, it was just a matter of controlling Magic Gears within Songdo, but for the guild coalition, it could be disastrous. Low-ranking hunters in the guild could end up dead if exposed to large amounts of Magi, even if the higher-ups survived.

“And there’s no guarantee Ha Jung-seok would stop even then. He’s the worst president in history. Even if the army retreats, he might still push forward, even to the death.”

Exactly. Hope alone wouldn’t cut it.

I needed another plan.

“Rosaria is essential here.”

Rosaria was a healer, capable of healing both mutants and humans.

If we brought her over to treat the wounded mutants, it would be perfect. But with an army of 10,000, we’d have to commit fully to the fight.

“As a bargaining chip?”

Reyna’s sharp retort cut through my thoughts. She knew me too well, but that wasn’t entirely it.

“No, no, not like that…”

She would just be… helpful.

What if Shinohara made a move? That would complicate things further.

Shinsengumi’s involvement would only add to the trouble.

Still, there were ways to spread chaos among the military, making them turn on each other.

The downside was that such a tactic would leave us with fewer soldiers to handle future threats.

“Wait, hold on.”

Neutralizing 10,000 troops wasn’t impossible. There were plenty of ways. No, I didn’t even need to neutralize them—just force them to retreat.

“What if we launch a preemptive strike?”

“Preemptive strike? What about our image? Do you think we can even win by attacking Seoul?”

Worried about the odds? I wasn’t.

“Who am I?”

“Oh.”

“And who do you think you belong to?”

“So what’s the plan?”

Seoul was surrounded by walls, with large gates connected to roads leading out in all directions. Normally, these gates were closed and only opened with permission from the guards stationed inside.

Attacking from outside would be tough without using Lord Dahaka’s power.

There were anti-monster turrets installed by the Cheonsan Group, and if those activated, they’d be a real nuisance.

Naturally, the solution was to use Kate to infiltrate directly.

We’d head straight for the Blue House. Ha Jung-seok would almost certainly be holed up in a hidden bunker beneath it.

That slimy bastard.

“We just need to take out the Blue House.”

“Just the Blue House?”

“Yep. We’ll only mobilize Baekhwa and you guys.”

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A small, elite force was all we needed.

By infiltrating the Blue House with mutants, it would all be over.

That idiot probably thought the guild coalition and the Heung-bu and Nol-bu brothers would be enough.

“Wait, are you telling us to die?”

Han Suji crossed her arms over her chest as if she were some fragile young girl, feigning weakness.

Does she not realize she’s one of the stronger ones here? She plays the delicate act well—probably hoping for some reassurance from me.

“It’ll just be a simple sweep. And Han Suji, you’re already strong enough. The hunters left in the Blue House will likely just be Ha Jung-seok’s lapdogs.”

The hunters under Ha Jung-seok were a shady bunch—criminals, or people brainwashed by him since childhood.

In the end, their ideological reconditioning turned them into something less than human, working solely for Ha Jung-seok.

They wouldn’t be missed. Even the public was aware of how corrupt his hunters were, so taking them out wouldn’t hurt our image.

“And Kate will be our key to getting inside?”

“Exactly. But first, I need to set the stage a little.”

“Huh?”

“If we just storm the Blue House, we’ll look like outright villains.”

Though we are villains, the whole “villain with a story” concept matters. After all, even villains deserve a narrative worth rooting for.

***

As usual, I started my broadcast.

But today, there was a different reason for it: to issue a warning.

"Hello, this is Baekhwa. Today, I’ve started the broadcast to send a warning to the Blue House."

??What’s going on?Is it a terrorist attack or something?

As expected, our ever-so-dedicated shady hunter friends seemed to have been holed up in their homes all day, just waiting for my broadcast. Within moments, hundreds of viewers had tuned in. The chat was already brimming with speculation.

Honestly, I’m still surprised that Twitty hasn’t suspended my villain account yet.

But thanks to that, I now had the perfect stage to prepare for taking down the Blue House.

The narrative is key. We had to look like we were responding to provocation, not initiating aggression.

I turned to the camera and spoke in a serious tone.

"I guess they must think I’m an easy target."

(At this point, I could’ve made a dirty pun, but I held back.)

"Recently, I’ve noticed activity near the perimeter walls, and they’ve started sending hunters our way. It seems they’re planning to subjugate us soon. So, this is a warning to the president: If there’s any sign of crossing the wall to attack us, we will retaliate."

In other words, I made it crystal clear that if they dared to invade our territory, we’d crush them.

Holy crap, so the guild mobilization order was for Baekhwa’s subjugation?Woah, is this war?Why poke at someone who said they’d stay put?Isn’t it normal for villains to be subjugated?LOL, how many villains have actually been caught in these containment zones so far?

Hmm, not bad. The viewers were already arguing among themselves.

Perfect. The more chaotic it gets, the stronger the ripple effect in the community.

I couldn’t wait to see how the general public would react. What would their stance be?

"Since it might be hard for an old man to hear properly, let me repeat myself clearly: Don’t mess with us for no reason. Unless, of course, the Blue House is looking forward to being blown to smithereens. How embarrassing would it be for someone your age to be taken down by a girl barely out of her teens?"

I made my warning clear.

Does Baekhwa even have any means to retaliate?They look like they’re barely scraping by.Think they can crack Ha Jung-seok’s skull?

As expected, the response was fiery.

No matter the world, a good fight always makes for excellent entertainment.

Not to mention, the lower-level hunters who’d joined the stream were eating it up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you want to see how the Blue House gets obliterated, please cheer for Ha Jung-seok to attack Songdo."

With that, I ended the broadcast.