Episode 19: The 10th S-Rank Hunter

At the association building, the press swarms Baek and Choi, presuming the pair have come to sign Lee Minsung. Baek tells them their reason lies elsewhere, and the reporters drift away. The two guild masters then quarrel, each wanting Jinwoo for himself. An associate of Minsung's drifts over to ask if they are bidding against each other for his client, and both flatly deny any interest. Off to the side, Jinwoo watches the scene and notes that he, too, has shown up to have his rank re-evaluated.

A press conference opens indoors. Minsung reveals he has awakened and intends to be reassessed, announcing he will serve beneath Lim Tae-gyu of the Fiend Guild. In his own head, though, he treats the whole thing as a two-year ploy: lie low until his scandals are forgotten, then walk back into entertainment. Jinwoo tries to slip inside but a staffer stops him, until Go steps in and ushers him past. When Minsung tries the same door soon after, Woo refuses to let him through.

Together with Go and an official, Jinwoo heads for a testing chamber. Go tells him to let loose the full breadth of his summoning power. The wave of energy that pours out reaches Choi and Baek outside, who are dumbfounded by how vast it feels. Afterward the official hands over Jinwoo's updated license. With plans to offload an item and storm the Demon Castle, he shrugs off Choi and Baek on his way out and gets snared by reporters instead. Elsewhere, Song-Yi points out to Jinah that her brother is on the TV, and the two of them discover he has become history's tenth S-rank hunter.

Reporting back to Myunghan, Jinho admits the recruitment failed: Jinwoo is convinced a guild would choke his growth and would rather operate solo, though he has asked Jinho to tag along with him. Myunghan chews him out, yet Jinho holds firm on throwing in his lot with Jinwoo. Outdoors again, Baek and Choi attempt to shepherd Jinwoo through the throng, but he just bulls his way clear under his own power. He then drops by a hunter auction hunting for heat-resistant equipment, where a vendor offers an overpriced cloak and ring, even teasing that he can keep them free if he shatters the case before snatching the joke back. A second vendor's weapon is no cheaper, and Jinwoo notes his own shop carries pricier stock yet.

Baek dwells on how Jinwoo's potential seems to have no ceiling. Home again, Jinwoo warns Jinah he will be gone a week and presents Jinho as his new partner. Then he calls up his High Orc shadows. Two of them he leaves behind on guard duty so his sister stays safe; the rest he posts across the rooftop to keep watch. Come morning, Jinho ferries him to Daesung Tower, where Jinwoo steps into the Demon Castle for training, fits on his new gear, and teleports onto floor 76.

While Myunghan keels over at home from exhaustion, Jinwoo runs into a hulking demon on the 76th floor, conjuring a High Orc shade called Kiba and arming him with the Sphere of Avarice to destroy it. At the hospital, doctors warn Myunghan he may have Eternal Slumber disease. Climbing to the 80th floor, Jinwoo explains that he carved his army into four squads and finds the first one in danger. He tracks them down mid-fight against Demon Knights and fells three of the four. The episode shuts on Jinwoo asking aloud whether magic beasts are capable of fear.

A dramatic reassessment that floors the association ends with Jinwoo formally named history's tenth S-rank hunter. Both Baek and Choi chase him, and he turns down every offer plus the very idea of guild membership, sure it would cap his growth. Prepping for the Demon Castle, he checks an auction for heat-resistant equipment, balks at the prices, and falls back on his own supplies. As for his sister's safety, he leaves a pair of High Orcs on watch over Jinah before he descends into the dungeon. Myunghan tears into Jinho for losing the recruitment, yet the young man stays bent on following Jinwoo as his eventual partner. Down in the dungeon, Jinwoo razes floors with his shadow army, clashes with Demon Knights, and the episode breaks on a cliffhanger as he wonders if beasts feel fear.

Named The 10th S-Rank Hunter, this installment covers Chapters 76 through 81 and falls inside the Return to Demon Castle Arc. Writing came from Yoshikazu Tominaga with Hiromu Oshiro directing at A-1 Pictures; it aired February 15th, 2025 in Japan and March 1st, 2025 in English. Worth noting, the English title echoes the same milestone first raised back in Episode 16, here framing the live reassessment that turns the rank official and public.