The Saint Who Levels Up Through Necromancy

[Translator - Hestia]

[Proofreader - Kaya]

Chapter 137: Bloody Valentine (1)

The Lesser Demon’s head drooped lifelessly.

[Experience has increased.]

The moment the system message confirmed its death, Yoojin parted his lips.

[Using Revive.]

The target—none other than the freshly deceased Lesser Demon.

A faint blue ember flickered within its vacant pupils, and its slumped head slowly lifted.

-Uuuuuugh…

Letting out a drained groan, the newly risen undead turned and charged at its former kin.

As the distance between them closed, Yoojin snapped his fingers.

"Detonate."

[Using Corpse Explosion (Modified).]

-BOOOOOM!

Flesh, blood, and shattered bones blasted outward in every direction.

The explosion, enhanced with venomous energy, engulfed the swarm of Lesser Demons soaring toward the shore.

-Kieeek!

-Kiik! Kieeek!

For some, having their membranous wings shredded to rags and plummeting into the ocean was a mercy.

Those closer to the blast’s epicenter had been reduced to unrecognizable pulp, leaving no trace of their former selves.

Of the dozens of creatures flapping toward land, more than half were wiped out in a single Corpse Explosion.

[Psychokinesis] + [Trait – Resonance]

[Unique Trait – Synchronization]

Ten rare-grade crossbows—crafted by Magus Industries—hovered into the air.

"Yap!"

A playful voice rang out like a signal flare, and the triggers were pulled.

-Tududududu!

A hailstorm of bolts rained down, targeting the Lesser Demons' wings—those that had escaped the explosion.

Their wings, though durable, were still their weakest point.

Flailing their arms, the demons deflected a few incoming projectiles—but much like trying to block rain with bare hands, it was futile.

Arrows soared through the gaps, turning their wings into tattered rags.

"Oh. Looks like I don’t even need to tell you what to do."

"If I wanna keep up with you, this is just the basics."

Kang Minyeong’s cheek twitched in amusement.

"Stay sharp. This hasn’t even started yet."

"Tch. Here I thought I’d get a rare compliment."

"How many arrows do we have left?"

"Hmm. Better ask the supply guy."

Lee Seongmin, their logistics officer, let out a brief groan.

"Didn’t restock after the last mock battle. We’ve got about a thousand left."

"Cutting it close. Use them sparingly—focus on suppression."

"Are there really that many enemies?"

"Look at where the demons are coming from."

A single cruise ship, dragging a storm behind it.

A disturbing aura radiated from the ship, yet its speed showed no sign of slowing.

"W-What the…?"

"It’s not decelerating."

Even the Mirror Hunters of the Future had finally realized that something was terribly wrong with the cruise ship, his eyes twitching uncontrollably.

〔Minerva’s Owl is in shock.〕

〔Minerva’s Owl issues a strong warning, sensing the divine power of an Evil God’s Constellation from that vessel.〕

"Hyung-nim, the Constellation says that the aura surrounding that ship is divine power from an Evil God’s Constellation."

"How generous."

The more detailed a Constellation’s message, the more Spiritual Essence and Rank it consumed.

For a Twelve Olympian-tier Constellation, this wasn’t a major burden—but even so, the fact that Athena was willing to provide this much insight likely stemmed from his upright nature.

〔Kahahaha! Such concerns are beneath Me!〕

‘Or maybe it’s just not something you need to worry about.’

Despite being a Constellation, Kronos was incomplete.

He was little more than a wandering spirit, clinging to Yoojin through a sacred relic as a medium.

Even though he had gained a new Constellation name and registered a star in the Pantheon, his spiritual body remained bound to Yoojin.

This meant he could spam messages freely—without worrying about losing Rank or depleting Spiritual Essence.

—WEEEEEOOOO—WEEEEEOOOO—!

[A Dungeon Break has occurred. All civilians and tourists on the beach must evacuate immediately.]

Screeching sirens blared alongside the emergency broadcast.

BEEP. BEEP.

Smartphones across the area vibrated with emergency alert texts, their alarms echoing everywhere.

"That was… fast."

"Yeah, no kidding."

As the deafening sirens and alert tones filled the air, the corner of Yoojin’s lips twitched slightly.

＊ ＊ ＊

Hunter Association, Sokcho Branch.

A city bordered by rugged mountains to the north and the East Sea to the east. Despite its proximity to the border region, it was considered a low-risk posting.

Association Agent Gong Seojin downed the last of her instant coffee from a paper cup.

"Haaaah… What the hell am I doing here on Valentine's Day?"

"If you hate having free time so much, why not request a transfer to Paju or Cheorwon?"

"Nah, I like taking it easy."

It had been five years since she hit the wall at 3 Star rank.

Despite years of fieldwork, she had failed to grasp even a shred of enlightenment.

Disheartened, she requested a transfer back to her hometown and had been stationed in Sokcho for nearly a year now.

Her junior, Lee Jinwon, let out a weary sigh.

"At this rate, I’m gonna surpass you."

"Please do. I’ll even salute you—‘Assistant Manager Lee!’—like this."

"Ugh, don’t. That’s gross, senior. Seriously."

Jinwon grimaced as if disgusted, while Seojin burst into laughter.

Another peaceful, uneventful day.

The years of struggling to break past his limits now felt meaningless.

‘Man… maybe being a salary thief isn’t so bad after all.’

Just as Seojin was savoring the last traces of her coffee—

Riiiing!

The emergency hotline rang loud and urgent.

"Again?"

"Probably another prank call. I’ll get it."

"Nah, I got it."

Click.

Seojin picked up the old-fashioned landline and pressed the receiver to her ear.

"This is Gong Seojin, department chief of the Sokcho branch of the Hunter Association."

-A Dungeon Break has occurred at Sokcho Beach.

"…What?"

-This is real. Demonic creatures have appeared along the shore. I recommend declaring a disaster state.

"If this is a prank, you're in trouble. This line is recorded, you know."

Decades had passed since the Great Cataclysm, and fear of monsters had begun to fade.

There were now even idiots bold enough to make prank calls.

The fines were hefty, but since not every case led to prosecution, the number of prank calls wasn’t exactly low.

-Do I sound like I’m joking?

The voice was calm and composed.

Seojin absentmindedly twisted the phone cord.

"Are you a Hunter?"

-Cheon Yoojin. Check with the Hunter Association if you want."

"Wait… The guy from that Black Corporation?!"

-It’s Black ‘Company’."

The man muttered something about how unfair it was.

Seojin thought “company” and “corporation” were basically the same thing, but decided to keep her mouth shut.

-You should declare a disaster state immediately and mobilize all available personnel.

"Excuse me! Where exactly did this Dungeon Break occur—"

Beep— Beep—

"…He hung up."

"Aren’t you taking a prank call way too seriously?"

"Assistant Lee, inform City Hall we have a Code Red."

"Wait, what?"

"We don’t have time to waste."

"But we haven’t even confirmed the situation yet. If we declare an emergency without—"

"Just do it."

Gong Seojin had been in the field for years.

She hadn’t managed to break past the wall, but her intuition—honed through countless crisis situations—was razor-sharp.

Cheon Yoojin's reputation?

That factored into her judgment, sure.

But she wasn’t about to mobilize the entire branch based on a name alone—especially without confirming if it was really him.

"Something doesn’t feel right."

Seojin's hardened expression made Lee Jinwon rush to relay the situation to the entire branch.

The standby team armed themselves and gathered.

With Seojin leading, the Hunter Association’s agents headed toward the coastline.

⋯⋯⋯

"Even so, an emergency alert out of nowhere?"

"Are we really abandoning the entire branch over an unverified report?"

Some agents grumbled under their breath, but Seojin ignored them.

As their large association-owned trailer rumbled toward the coast, the sky outside the window darkened—pitch black.

"L-Look over there!"

"Lesser Demons?"

"The Dungeon Break is real?!"

"And it had to be demons of all things!"

The agents hurriedly prepared for combat.

Flying-type monsters, especially demonic creatures, were a nightmare to deal with.

Most martial arts Hunters were specialized in close combat, leaving them nearly useless against airborne foes.

Mages could shoot them down, but demons possessed innate magic resistance, making that no easy task either.

"Stay sharp, everyone! Use ice magic to bind their wings and—"

KWOOM!!

Seojin's voice was drowned out by a sudden explosion.

All eyes snapped toward the blast site.

One of the Lesser Demons soaring through the air had suddenly exploded—

—and the shockwave sent the nearby demons plummeting to the ground, injured or dead.

"Detonate."

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The fallen Lesser Demons’ corpses erupted in a chain reaction.

Bones, blood, and flesh tore through the sky, obliterating the nearby demons.

The entire scene felt surreal—as if it had been ripped straight out of a dream.

Seojin’s eyes darted back and forth, scanning the battlefield.

"I don’t know who it is… but they’re stopping this Dungeon Break."

Lesser Demons were classified as 3 Star threats.

Being a flying-type among the demonic species, their actual hunting difficulty was closer to mid 4 Star.

For the Hunter Association agents, it wasn’t just a matter of minimizing casualties—even holding the line would be a struggle.

Even someone as experienced as Gong Seojin had no way of handling dozens of Lesser Demons alone.

'For now, priority is joining up with that Hunter.'

Sokcho, while near the border region, had rugged mountain terrain that kept it relatively safe.

Because of that, neither the Hunter Guilds nor the Association agents stationed here were particularly strong.

If Lesser Demons were the threat, even mobilizing every Hunter in the city wouldn’t be enough to stop them.

It would be far wiser to rendezvous with the Hunter who was making demons explode left and right.

"Chief. I think that’s him."

A man stood by the shoreline, holding a staff.

With a simple snap of his fingers, another explosion erupted and an entire flock of Lesser Demons, once headed for the city, was swept away like autumn leaves.

"Why does he have makeshift turrets?"

"And why are crossbows flying through the air?"

Though Yoojin’s display was so overwhelmingly dominant that no one paid much attention. The Little Runts team was also holding their own against the demons.

Kang Minyeong was using ten floating crossbows to provide suppressive fire.

Meanwhile, Lee Seongmin had pulled makeshift turrets from his subspace inventory, adding to their firepower.

"Haaaah!"

The Lesser Demons that crashed to the ground were promptly crushed under a concentrated attack from the [Moveable Fortress].

There was no need to waste Athena’s Blessing on them.

"Answer my call."

[Using Revive.]

The intact corpses?

Yoojin simply resurrected them—turning them into flying bombs.

"Chief, aren’t the ones who need help the demons?"

"Shut up and focus on evacuating civilians."

"Understood."

"The rest of you, control the traffic!"

During a Dungeon Break, Hunter Association agents were granted greater authority than the police.

Fighting monsters while saving people—that was their specialty.

Seojin left Lee Jinwon in charge of field command and approached Yoojin.

"Uh, you’re… the one who made the report, right?"

"So, you’re the Association agent who picked up the call."

"Yes, that’s me."

"Good call. Thanks to you, civilian casualties were kept to a minimum."

Good thing he’d called mid-meal.

Yoojin had no idea how the Association would respond, but he figured he had nothing to lose by making the report.

'Thanks to the emergency alert and sirens, the evacuation was quicker than expected.'

If the Association had delayed their response, Yoojin would’ve been forced to hold back his firepower to avoid harming stragglers which would have led to even more casualties.

"I should be the one saying that, Hunter Cheon Yoojin."

"What do you mean?"

"Your report and actions allowed us to save people in time."

"Don’t say that. The real fight hasn’t even started."

A massive ship, shrouded in ominous storm clouds.

Yoojin pointed his staff at the source of this entire disaster—

Hope’s End.

Seojin let out a long, heavy sigh.

"A Dungeon Break… on a ship? I can’t believe it."

"Maybe the Gate itself didn’t go berserk, but that doesn’t matter anymore."

"Is there anything you need from the Hunter Association or the mobilized Hunters?"

"Just keep doing what you’re doing."

Yoojin said.

‘I’ll handle that bastard.’

[Translator - Hestia

[Proofreader - Kaya]