Castorice, for her part, was beginning to see the bigger picture.
And she wasn't the only one—Sung Jinwoo had his own suspicions.
If they had to point to one possible culprit behind the changes unfolding before them, the most likely candidate would be one of the Monarchs: the Monarch of Plagues, ruler of swarms and insects, a being who wielded control over poisons, bugs, and even corpses.
Though not the strongest among the Monarchs, a Monarch was still a Monarch.
Why would she suddenly appear here? There had been no prior warning.
Sung Jinwoo couldn't make sense of it, but Castorice had a theory.
Could it be… because of the death of the Monarch of Frost and the disappearance of the Monarch of Fangs?
The consecutive loss of two Monarchs would have put the others on high alert. And if there was any place in this world where the Monarch of Plagues could bolster her forces and gather minions, Jeju Island was undoubtedly her best choice.
After all, there were no reports of insect swarms gathering anywhere else.
"…What should we do?"
The assistant broke into a cold sweat as he looked toward Gotō Ryūji.
"Even if there are many, bugs are still just bugs."
That's what Gotō said, but his expression was far from relaxed. What he had assumed would be an easy operation had turned into this mess, and he had to brace for casualties.
"But… our fleet can't hold off so many insects…"
The assistant hesitated.
"Perhaps we should reconsider the battle plan at this point."
Baek Yoonho couldn't hold back from speaking up.
His reaction was perfectly reasonable. Earlier, they'd suggested letting Korea draw the insects' attention outside because, while numerous, the swarm hadn't seemed unmanageable.
Now, though, even if they landed on the island, a swarm of that scale would trap them in a death sentence.
He truly wanted to return to the island to avenge his friend, but that didn't mean he was a fool rushing to his death.
"Reconsider? Do you think we have that luxury?"
Gotō Ryūji shot a cold glance at Baek Yoonho. "Once we turn back, I shouldn't need to explain what these flying insects will do."
"I…"
Everyone knew Gotō was eager to land on the island, but his words struck a chord with Baek Yoonho. It was true—earlier, these insects had already been trying to fly to other islands. Now…
"Charging in recklessly would just mean throwing our lives away."
But Choi Jong-in wasn't having it.
"Rather than dying for nothing, we should form a defensive perimeter around the warships, eliminating any insects trying to leave the island while calling for help from hunters of other nations."
"We could stretch the battle into a war of attrition, clearing the insects slowly while advancing the front line step by step."
Gotō's eyes flickered, then he offered a compromise: "Once we've reduced the insect numbers to a manageable level, we land."
This plan wasn't exactly rational either—certainly less sound than Choi Jong-in's proposal—but Choi understood: Gotō would never accept other countries interfering in this raid. This was the furthest he would bend.
Although Korea, as the party requesting aid and the owner of the gate, had every right to ignore Gotō and appeal to other nations directly, Choi didn't want to antagonize Japan.
If they asked other countries for help and Japan withdrew as a result, the loss would outweigh the gain.
Japan was, after all, the second-strongest nation in Asia.
If not Japan, they could only turn to China—but the problem was… China had no one like Gotō Ryūji, who coveted an S-rank gate and was willing to cooperate with them.
Neither Liu Zhigang nor the Chinese Hunter's Association urgently needed an S-rank gate.
If Japan wanted the gate while also weakening Korea's power—and was willing to sacrifice one goal if necessary—then China would simply skip wanting the gate and purely aim to weaken Korea.
So the odds of China agreeing to help were very low.
"In that case, we should deploy more helicopters."
Choi Jong-in adjusted his glasses. "One helicopter for each magic-type hunter, with another hunter assigned for protection, advancing toward the center from different directions."
"Fine."
Gotō Ryūji nodded.
"Wait."
Just then, Sung Jinwoo spoke up, drawing everyone's attention.
Once all eyes were on him, he continued, "If we're going with a pushing operation, can you leave all those insects to me?"
"Hah?"
His words annoyed the Japanese hunters. "Who do you think you are?"
Sung Jinwoo hadn't participated in the earlier training, and for many days he'd been practically invisible.
In the eyes of others, he was basically branded a coward—a rookie who'd only shown up now that the operation was deemed safe, just to claim credit.
Even if he was S-rank, here an S-rank was merely the minimum qualification to have a say.
Sung Jinwoo didn't even acknowledge the question, instead turning his gaze to Castorice as if Gotō Ryūji, the operation commander, wasn't even worth noticing.
And honestly, he really didn't see Gotō as a threat. His sensitivity to magical energy had improved greatly over the past two days through sparring with Cha Hae-in and guidance from Castorice.
Sensing the energy of those weaker than him had become effortless.
Gotō Ryūji was strong, yes, but far below Sung Jinwoo—let alone compared to Cha Hae-in with her unique advantages or Castorice, an administrator of the afterlife.
With his stats boosted countless times, Sung Jinwoo's rationality was extremely high. That meant he avoided unnecessary conversations and paid no mind to people who didn't matter.
Everyone had some idea that 'Castorice was the strongest here,' but… being ignored by someone from another country still stung.
"You!?"
"It's fine."
Gotō couldn't easily compare his own strength to Sung Jinwoo's, but he knew Sung Jinwoo possessed power at least equal to his own.
Add to that Sung Jinwoo's apparent connection to Castorice and Gotō's own insistence on pushing ahead against the planned strategy—now wasn't the time to stir up trouble.
Faced with Sung Jinwoo's request, Castorice naturally had no reason to refuse.
After all, Sung Jinwoo's drive to grow stronger was fiercer than ever, and if there was a chance to level up by fighting monsters, why would she say no?
She was, in the end, quite considerate of her employees.
So Castorice nodded.
"Then I'll take the lead."
Sung Jinwoo smiled.
He'd known Castorice wouldn't refuse, but she was still his boss—it was only right to ask.
Without the slightest hesitation, Sung Jinwoo leaped straight from the helicopter.
As dark violet flames erupted, a silver wyvern materialized beneath him. With a beat of its wings, man and dragon shot toward the insect swarm above the island at staggering speed.
Seeing this, the others couldn't help but glance at Castorice, their eyes filled with curiosity.
If anyone was the pioneer of riding dragons to get around, it was her, wasn't it?
But Castorice showed no intention of explaining, merely offering them a faint smile.
That put an end to their questions about that—but there was another matter that needed an answer.
"Hunter Castorice, is Hunter Sung's action not dangerous?"
Seeing that Cha Hae-in showed no sign of speaking up, even though he had his own suspicions, Choi Jong-in had no choice but to ask on everyone's behalf.
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.