Chapter 224: Chapter 224
Was there any other time in history that the whole world cheered on with one voice?
Jin-Woo vanished and then reappeared again shortly afterwards only to stab his shortsword into the chest of that Sovereign of Frost. It was precisely at that moment that everyone watching punched the air with both of their fists and roared out in elation, as if they all had been waiting for this chance.
Waaaaaaah-!!
They all despaired in the false knowledge that humanity's greatest Hunter had died at the hands of monsters, so that spectacle proved to be the best gift imaginable to them.
Some passionately chanted Jin-Woo's name out loudly.
Some began shedding tears.
Some tried to console those shedding tears.
And they watched together as a lone Hunter from Asia took care of the monster that threatened all of mankind.
Indeed, all of mankind.
The moment the Special Authority-rank Hunter Thomas Andre fell, and one of the top-ranked Hunters in the world, Lennart Niermann, tried to step up in his stead, these monsters had become far greater than the calamity of South Korea.
No, the situation had transformed into a grave crisis that directly impacted everyone else's lives.
After all these years, people still hadn't forgotten about the terror of watching the Dragon 'Kamish' swallowing up American cities, one after another.
No one alive wanted a repeat of that horrifying event. And that's why every viewer, from all corners of the globe, went so wild at Jin-Woo's victory.
It was as if they were trying to wash away the frustration and fear they felt while watching the best Hunters in the world continue to fall.
Waaaaaaah-!!!
Every time Jin-Woo attacked the Sovereign of Frost, the viewers roared out again and again.
And finally.
When that monster with seriously tenacious vitality finally toppled over and turned into grey-coloured ash before scattering away, the roaring cheers of the viewers reached their absolute peak.
Waaaaaaaahhhh-!!!!
Their combined roars rocked their respective cities.
Anchors tasked with relaying the breaking news were also shouting out at the top of their lungs, no longer caring whether the cameras were filming or not.
– Breaking news, just in!! We have learnt that Hunter Thomas Andre, previously thought to be fatally wounded, is still alive and he's…..
– Ambulances have arrived on location just in time to take the victims to the nearest hospitals!!
– Those monsters that massacred the citizens are no longer moving! They all turned into ash and nothing remains of them now!
Breaking news pieces announcing the end of the battle continued to stream out of their TVs, but….
Seong Jin-Woo! Seong Jin-Woo! Seong Jin-Woo!!!
….But, the excitement and elation of the people showed no signs of dying down at all.
And then, there was this one man. There was this one particular man who was perhaps far more elated than anyone else on this planet. And that was none other than the current Association President, Woo Jin-Cheol.
His gaze was firmly fixed to the TV screen, even though he was surrounded by his fellow employees of the Association busily bear-hugging each other and cheering out in pure happiness.
He had discovered something from the live feed and his eyes trembled greatly.
'Could it have been….?'
He hurriedly yanked his smartphone out and, with trembling hands, he searched for and played a certain video clip saved on his device.
He had watched this footage so, so many times. It was the footage of the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui being murdered, taken by the CCTV cameras inside the President's office.
There was an unknown man captured in the footage.
That man appeared and disappeared too quickly within this grainy footage, so Woo Jin-Cheol couldn't be sure, but now that he took a second look, didn't this mysterious creature look almost like the monster that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo had killed just now?
Even the scenes of the frozen floor rapidly melting away were an exact match.
'In that case….!!'
Only then did he realise just what kind of enemies Jin-Woo had been fighting until now. It was the murderer of the late Association President.
And then, Woo Jin-Cheol recalled the conversation he shared with Jin-Woo back when the latter came to pay his respects to the late Goh Gun-Hui. A powerful jolt travelled down his entire body.
["Thank you. Thank you for being there for the final moments of the Association President."]
["….I'll kill that b*stard."]
["Excuse me?"]
["The monster that murdered the Association President. I'll definitely hunt it down. You can save your thanks until then."]
Hunter Seong Jin-Woo hadn't forgotten about that day's promise. And now, the monster responsible was dead. By his hands.
Woo Jin-Cheol's nose became reddened and he raised his eyes, now wet with thick tears, to look at the TV screen. The camera was zooming into Hunter Seong Jin-Woo��s face, looking somewhat tired now.
Woo Jin-Cheol could more or less understand what that expression signified. From somewhere deep within, a powerful emotion welled up uncontrollably. From here onwards, the late Association President should be able to rest in peace.
Woo Jin-Cheol recalled the memories of Goh Gun-Hui, a man he greatly respected, and inwardly muttered his gratitude towards Jin-Woo.
'…..Thank you very much, Hunter-nim.'
***
The Sovereign of Frost reverted back to humanoid figure after its Spiritual Body Manifestation had been undone. It slowly turned into the grey-coloured ash.
The debt of the late Association President Goh Gun-Hui, as well his own, both of them had been settled in full now. Jin-Woo coldly looked at the Sovereign of Frost scattering away before turning around.
The two Marshal-grade soldiers waiting in the distance until the end of that foolish Sovereign's punishment approached Jin-Woo.
"….."
Even though he had now completely regained his original power, Igrit still maintained his reserved personality and he politely paid his courtesy to his master. However, quite unlike him….
"Ohhh, my kiiiinggg!!"
….Beru expressed his unreserved joy of being able to see his master again with his entire being.
Jin-Woo lightly tapped the big ant soldier and his two tearful eyes on the shoulder before taking a sweeping a look around his vicinity. There should have been one more person here. That man wearing the tattered robe was nowhere to be seen, though.
"Just who was that man, anyway?"
Beru was far too moved by his own emotions to reply properly, so Igrit answered Jin-Woo's puzzled inquiry.
"While you lost your consciousness, he protected you with all of his being, my liege."
Jin-Woo was taken by great surprise after hearing Igrit's thick, manly voice for the first time, ever. But that lasted for only a short while. He formed a puzzled expression again.
"He protected me?"
"Yes, that is correct."
Unlike Beru, Igrit was probably not that familiar with human languages, so they were currently conversing in what was referred to as 'monster language', which was actually the common tongue of the Chaos World.
However, there was no problem understanding each other at all.
In any case – did that mean a man he had never seen before was protecting him?
Jin-Woo had been having a Q&A session with Igrit in the common tongue of the Chaos World, as if he was a native there, before abruptly discovering something and walking over to it.
It was a certain item that had fallen to the ground.
'Isn't this….?!'
As he picked this item up, his eyes trembled rather imperceptibly.
***
The robe-wearing man sought shelter behind the exterior wall of a half-destroyed building and plopped down to the ground while pulling his hood back.
His hair and beard covering his face were unkempt and messy as if he had never bothered to trim them at all.
He was Seong Il-Hwan. And he was leaning against the wall while spitting out heavy, laboured breathing.
"Hah-ah, hah-ah."
He then raised his left hand that had lost all feeling now.
Sure enough, his hand changed its colour to grey and was slowly disintegrating into dust from the tip of his fingers. This was the inevitable result of accepting the powers of a god with the body of a mere human.
However, even though he was experiencing unimaginable pain, he still formed a satisfied expression.
"It's done…."
With this power, he managed to protect Jin-Woo. Now that his son had completely inherited the powers of the Shadow Sovereign, Jin-Woo would prove to be a great asset to humanity.
That's why it was done now.
Seol Il-Hwan stopped looking at his gradually-disappearing hand and powerlessly leaned his head against the wall to close his eyes.
The Rulers had entrusted their powers to him and asked him to stop the Shadow Sovereign. He had been helplessly trapped within the gap between dimensions after the Gate closed up and thus was left with not much of a choice.
As a proxy of the Rulers, and as their emissary, he returned to Earth with an important mission to accomplish.
Unfortunately, Seong Il-Hwan couldn't carry his mission out.
Even though he knew that the worst calamity in human history was hiding within that boy's flesh, how could a parent kill his own child?
All he could do was to observe Jin-Woo from a place just out of his detection.
And as he continued to delay his mission, the opinions of the Rulers that had been focused on stopping the advent of the Shadow Sovereign gradually began changing.
And eventually….
'The Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light' sent him a brand new mission.
[Protect the Shadow Sovereign.]
The Rulers had finally realised that they needed the Shadow Sovereign possessing his full powers if they were to stop other Sovereigns and their nefarious scheme.
There was no one else besides the Shadow Sovereign on Earth that could defend against the Dragon Emperor and its Army of Destruction before the soldiers of heaven could arrive later.
It was a huge gamble, considering that no one knew whether the Shadow Sovereign would side with mankind, or with the other Sovereigns.
And the result came out pretty quickly.
Jin-Woo remained on the side of humanity, and the Shadow Sovereign approved that choice.
The newly-reborn Shadow Sovereign was, simply put, Jin-Woo himself.
It was worth risking Seong Il-Hwan's life in order to protect his son, in other words.
"….."
Although it was unfortunate that he couldn't even say a simple hello to his son he hadn't seen in ten years, no one alive was qualified to take a child's parent away twice. Even if that person just so happened to be said parent.
So, quietly disappearing like this was in Jin-Woo's best interest. Seong Il-Hwan looked down at his body slowly disintegrating into ash and consoled himself as such.
It was then. He heard the familiar footsteps from nearby.
Seol Il-Hwan hurriedly got up and used his still-mobile right hand to pull the hood back and hid his face.
A certain someone stood before him, then.
He didn't even have to take a look to know just who it was standing before him like this. It was Jin-Woo.
Even though here was the son whose name he so wanted to call out to, he still resolutely brushed past Jin-Woo's side while hiding his face with the hood.
However, Jin-Woo turned towards the departing man and asked.
"Did you honestly think I wouldn't have noticed it if you went away like this?"
Halt.
Seong Il-Hwan's steps came to a halt.
But, how….?
He turned around towards his son, only to spot a certain item thrown by Jin-Woo slowly flying at in an arc towards him.
Grab.
What Jin-Woo returned was a shortsword. It was Seong Il-Hwan's own shortsword that he ended up dropping after his left hand became useless.
He stared at the weapon for a moment or two, before raising his head. Jin-Woo was staring back at him with reproachful eyes.
Jin-Woo could still remember quite clearly that particular shortsword.
When he was a young boy, he got found out while playing around with his father's shortsword and received a scolding worth remembering.
Only now did Jin-Woo consciously realise why his own weapons had been set as shortswords when the previous Shadow Sovereign swept through the battlefields with a longsword, instead.
It was all because of the memories he had of his father.
Influenced in part by his memories, the dungeons generated by the System ended up presenting Jin-Woo with daggers and shortswords as his main weapons all this time.
His hushed voice continued on.
"Are you going to leave again without saying anything, Dad?"
'Dad'.
That one word dug deeply into Seong Il-Hwan's heart and he had to remove his hood.
His right hand was slowly turning into ash as well.
His son flinched greatly after realising the state of his hands, but Seong Il-Hwan formed a thin smile as his reply and spoke.
"I didn't want to show you this sight."
Jin-Woo understood that a body turning into ash after exhausting all lifeforce couldn't be saved no matter what. He hurriedly tried to get closer, but Seong Il-Hwan raised his right hand to stop his son.
His left arm had scattered away in dust and only his shoulder remained by then.
Jin-Woo hesitated, before remaining in his spot, and asked his father.
"Then, what about you, Dad?"
"…..?"
"Didn't you want to see me again? Dad?"
Surely, he could still use his right hand for the time being, so how come…
Jin-Woo's question caused Seong Il-Hwan's raised arm to slowly go back down.
"I wanted to see you. Always."
….To the extent that, even if you couldn't see me, I still felt happy from the fact that I could see you from far away.
Jin-Woo finally came closer to his father until he stood right before his face. Seong Il-Hwan reached up with his remaining hand to gently touch his son's face.
Thick tears falling from the boy's eyes wetted the back of his hand.
'This foolish father wasn't able to do anything for you, yet despite that, you have….'
"….Grown up so well."
Jin-Woo opened his mouth.
"Is this the Rulers' doing? Are they throwing you away after using you?"
A scary amount of rage could be felt in Jin-Woo's voice now.
Seong Il-Hwan shook his head, though.
"They only gave me an opportunity to make a choice. I chose to protect you, that is all. And that choice was not wrong."
And now, even his remaining right hand was turning into ash and scattering away.
"I wouldn't have minded talking to you for a little bit longer, but…."
And he wanted to stay here for a little bit longer, too….
He had done something reprehensible.
He ended up making a boy say goodbye to his father not once, but twice now. He tried so hard to hold back, but in the end, tears began flooding out from Seong Il-Hwan's eyes.
"I'm sorry for not being a good father to you."
Those were his last words.
Shururuk….
Seong Il-Hwan's body, all his lifeforce exhausted from fighting against the Sovereigns, turned to ash. Jin-Woo hurriedly tried to embrace his father's body slowly crumbling away, but….
What remained in his palms wasn't a person, but grey-coloured powder.
Eventually.
In the spot where Seong Il-Hwan once stood, nothing remained.
Something from deep inside angrily welled up in an uncontrollable burst. Jin-Woo couldn't hold it back anymore and in the end, raised his head towards the sky and roared out loudly.
"Uwaaaaaah-!!!"
When he did, the Mana in the atmosphere reverberated.
The sky, the air, the ground – they all cried.
And soon, Jin-Woo's mouth began emitting the heavy, grave voice similar to other Sovereigns.
[Hear me, remaining Sovereigns!!!]
If all these events were set in motion simply because the Sovereigns decided to settle on Earth, then….
Then, I shall make them pay an unforgettable price for that.
I shall definitely make it so.
His voice infused with Mana was carried in the airflow and spread out to the rest of the world.
[You shall all pay for today's events, without exception!]
The roar of the enraged Shadow Sovereign shook around both the heaven and earth.
[Are you listening, Sovereigns?!]
On this day, one human who inherited an unparalleled power decided where his abilities should be used on his own accord.
This was the moment that the true opening curtains of the war had gone up.
Chapter 225: Chapter 225
Should this be called good fortune?
Jin-Woo's voice could be heard all around the world, but he wasn't speaking in the language of humans. The majority of people thought it was some kind of thunder rumbling in the sky. Theories on why everyone heard the exact same noise were quite varied, though.
However, such a matter didn't pose a single problem, since the world was still celebrating – and felt relieved by – Jin-Woo's victory.
It was the same story in the actual battle location.
Hunters had been nervously on standby in a location just a bit away from where the battle took place. When they heard that the monster had been taken care of, they couldn't hold back and roared out in elation.
The two men in charge of the two best local Guilds, Choi Jong-In and Baek Yun-Ho, also spat out sighs of relief and looked at each other with wide grins.
"Hey, Chairman Baek. I thought your complexion wasn't so good a few minutes ago. I wonder if you have settled down now?"
"Representative Choi, I think you need to wipe your cold sweat first before worrying about someone else."
"I have a spare 'cheongsimhwan' on me, so if your heart is still fluttering badly, you can always ask me for one." (TL note at the end)
"Aigoo~. You sweated so much. Why don't you use this handkerchief to wipe your face first?"
The Masters of two Guilds that competed for the top spot in the local ranking started a rather pointy war of nerves. However, they could joke around in this manner only because the situation had been resolved now. Actually, these two couldn't even swallow their saliva out of sheer nervousness until only a few minutes ago.
But, that was understandable.
Weren't they being thrust into a battle against monsters powerful enough to treat Special Authority-rank Hunter, Thomas Andre, like a toy?
Not only their lives, but even those of every single Guild member were at risk. And the two Guild Masters, as well as every Hunter, summoned here under the emergency call-up were all thinking of the exact same thing.
That would be: if Hunter Seong Jin-Woo lost here, then it'd be no different than them all dying today.
Now freed from the intense pressure, these two men could express their happiness under the banner of waging a war of nerves.
The smiling Baek Yun-Ho sharing banter with Choi Jong-In looked beyond the latter's shoulder and his gaze stopped moving then.
"Uh….."
Choi Jong-In also followed after that line of sight and looked behind him. There was a lone man walking out from the centre of the ruined city.
Jin-Woo, having concluded his battle with the Sovereigns, quietly walked towards where everyone was.
Other Hunters discovered him one by one. His entrance immediately brought a bout of silence upon this place, once populated by loud cheers and happy yells.
The only noise coming from the surroundings were the wails of sirens, from the ambulances hurriedly arriving on the scene.
'It's Hunter Seong Jin-Woo.'
'That man, he….'
The mood in this place had become oppressed by the sharp aura oozing out of Jin-Woo's eyes, even though it was clear that the battle had ended in his favour. Not one person dared to open their mouths after seeing him like that.
The battle he fought had to have been incredibly intense because there was a hint of shimmering heat rising up from his shoulders even now.
But, why did the following events unfold as they did?
When Baek Yun-Ho met Jin-Woo's gaze, the former sent his greeting with a bow. That was the beginning; as if they were saluting a soldier coming home after a very dangerous mission, Hunters all bowed their heads in Jin-Woo's direction one by one.
Pure respect.
How could they not feel a sense of respect for a fellow Hunter capable of fighting on that level?
They all expressed their genuine gratitude and paid their respects, not because someone told them to, or because they were mindful of the surroundings.
Jin-Woo observed their show of respect, and….
'...'
….He walked wordlessly past them towards the spot where the familiar-looking van had been parked.
Thomas Andre was about to be loaded into an ambulance and Lennart Niermann was guarding his side. Both men watched Jin-Woo's departing back.
Lennart spoke with a worried face.
"Hunter Seong Jin-Woo didn't look so happy."
Thomas had received emergency treatment by the Healers and his condition had improved by a lot, so he could at least nod his head to express agreement.
"Yeah, he does look that way."
"But, how come? He managed to beat those powerful monsters and survive."
Only other Hunters would know what a Hunter was going through. That feeling of sucking in the outside air after clearing a high-difficulty dungeon couldn't adequately be described in mere words.
So, why was Hunter Seong's expression so gloomy like that?
Lennart's question was answered by Thomas, actually.
"He probably isn't happy with how the fight against those b*stards went down."
"…..!!"
Lennart was deeply shocked by that reply.
Jin-Woo had displayed movements that had far surpassed the limits of a human being, yet he looked gloomy because he wasn't happy with his performance?
How could such a thing even make sense?
As if he knew what his German counterpart was thinking of, Thomas Andre nodded his head and continued on.
"I also can't believe it, but…. Most likely, during the fight itself, he must've felt disappointed by how many close shaves he had to experience."
'Aah, back then.'
Lennart recalled the moments when Jin-Woo's chest was stabbed by the claws of the beast and let a low gasp escape from his mouth. Also, he remembered his own vision darkening in despair the moment when that ancient Ice Elf stabbed Jin-Woo with a dagger, too.
However, didn't that happen because the enemies were simply too powerful? Never mind taking on both of them at the same time, how many people in this world could last as long as he did when fighting just one of them?
Lennart's thoughts reached up to there and he shook his head.
'No, that's not it….'
For sure, the thoughts of being defeated because the enemies were tough belonged to regular Hunters, such as himself.
Maybe, 'winning' was a matter of course for a bigshot possessing strength like Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, and they probably focused more on how they won their battles, instead.
Now that his train of thoughts arrived here, Lennart felt a chill crept down his spine next. As he stood there in shock, Thomas added one last thing.
"He's one really scary dude, that Seong Jin-Woo."
"…..I completely agree with you on that one."
After Thomas finished his deduction, he got taken to the hospital. During the ride, though…
'I made the right decision not to throw a tantrum inside his office back then.'
….Lennart was busy telling himself never to become Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's enemy.
Screeeech-!!
Ah-Jin Guild's 'Bonggo' came to a screeching halt, and a young man in the driver's seat climbed out from the vehicle.
Yu Jin-Ho saw Jin-Woo getting beaten up by the monsters on TV and jumped into the van to rush to the battle location without any concrete plan.
And even though his sensory perception hadn't been as enhanced as those of the higher-ranked Awakened, he immediately spotted Jin-Woo among the sea of Hunters populating the location and tearfully ran to his destination.
"Hyung-niiiiiiim-!!"
Jin-Woo watched Yu Jin-Ho running towards him with a flood of tears gushing out of the boy's eyes, and the murderous anger oozing out of his own eyes softened just a tad.
Meanwhile, Yu Jin-Ho used the momentum of the running to tightly hug Jin-Woo. Now, normally, the latter would find dealing with this a bit annoying so he'd step aside like flowing water, but today was different.
Jin-Woo simply chose to gently pat Yu Jin-Ho's back as the boy clung onto him and cried his eyes out. It was as if the warmth he felt from someone genuinely worrying about him managed to slowly melt his frosty heart.
Maybe, it wasn't Yu Jin-Ho who needed consoling, but he himself? A thin smile formed on Jin-Woo's lips.
Yu Jin-Ho finally managed to calm down and lifted his messy tear-and-snot smeared face away to ask a question.
"Hyung-nim, are you alright??"
"No, I'm not alright."
"EHH??"
Yu Jin-Ho jumped up in sheer shock, his eyes opening wider. Jin-Woo then wordlessly pointed to his shirt, now deeply stained by tears and snot.
"Heok!!"
Yu Jin-Ho hurriedly used his sleeves to wipe his eyes and nose before lowering his head.
"I'm really sorry, hyung-nim. I was so happy to see you unhurt, so, like…."
Jin-Woo chuckled softly.
This kid, back then or now, he was one hell of a character, that's for sure. But then, he was now a true 'dongsaeng' with a quicker wit than anyone when it came to Jin-Woo's matters.
Yu Jin-Ho did his best to suck in his tears and spoke with a bright face.
"Hyung-nim, I knew this might happen, so I prepared a new set of clothes you can change into."
"New clothes??"
Jin-Woo took a look at himself. And he clearly saw the messed-up state of his clothing from top to bottom after going through the intense battle against the Sovereigns.
"Well, if you return home looking like that… I'm sure your mother would be very worried, right? That's why I got you some new clothes to change into."
'Huh.'
When Jin-Woo looked at him with praising eyes, Yu Jin-Ho wiped the bottom of his nose and tried to hide how happy he was.
"Let's go, hyung-nim. Allow me to drive you back home."
Jin-Woo thought about that for a minute, before nodding his head.
'Mom and Jin-Ah must've been watching the TV as well, so I should prioritise putting their minds at ease before doing anything else.'
While Yu Jin-Ho was climbing up into the driver's side, Jin-Woo turned around and took one last look at the centre of the city, the place where a life-or-death battle had taken place not too long ago.
Many people had rushed in there to take control of the situation, and he could see them doing their best to do their jobs.
Jin-Woo had gained quite handsomely out of that rubble.
'First of all… I guess I should also prioritise finding a device that allows me to communicate even in the middle of that forest.'
He couldn't repeat a mistake like this one ever again.
The biggest gain for today had to be 'these', though. Jin-Woo looked at the pair of shortswords his father had left behind. It was as if there was a hint of a person's warmth remaining in their hilts.
'Dad….'
As Jin-Woo remained still in his spot, he could Yu Jin-Ho's cautious voice floating towards him.
"Hyung-nim?"
Jin-Woo lightly kissed the hilts of the daggers and stored them in the sub-space before belatedly climbing into the passenger's seat.
"Okay, let's go."
"Yes, hyung-nim!!"
The long, long day was drawing to a close.
***
In the end, the Hunter's Association had to announce the identities of the monsters that appeared in Seoul as 'Unknown'.
However, there was no doubt about the scale of devastation those creatures left behind being truly enormous. Countless people either died or were gravely injured; the number of collapsed buildings or destroyed cars were too numerous to count.
However, not everything could be seen as a loss.
Should one call this case a blessing in disguise?
What happened was, they found a way to deal with an unexpected danger.
Especially so for Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's incredible power that he displayed to the world during his fight – it managed to change the mindset of the world's denizens in one breath.
And that changed mindset was immediately put to action. The symptom of this change, however, started off from a country that no one quite expected it to happen from.
That evening.
To discuss the handling of the aftermaths of the monsters appearing in Seoul, as well as the potential responses against the super-massive Gate, the current Association President Woo Jin-Cheol paid a visit to the Blue House.
With topic at hand being what it was, President Kim welcomed him rather courteously. After sharing a brief greeting, Woo Jin-Cheol asked his question first.
"Shouldn't it be better for you to evacuate to the outskirts of Seoul, sir?"
The president of the nation hesitated with his answer, his expression looking complicated before he spat out a long sigh.
"I admit that I treated you rather badly the last time. I'd like to apologise to you about that. However, I implore you not to look at me as a man who had forgotten what responsibilities he has to shoulder. May I remind you, I am still the president of this nation."
He continued on, although he carried the face of a man experiencing fear, yet at the same time, trying to overcome it.
"If I run away without saying anything, how badly will the citizens be shaken up? I do not wish to see my name being recorded as a blemish on our nation's history."
Woo Jin-Cheol thought of President Kim as yet another career politician who was only interested in raking in more votes, but having heard this rather unexpected reply, could only let a wry chuckle out of his mouth.
One could accuse that as being a disrespectful gesture but, as he had already committed a transgression against Woo Jin-Cheol, the country's president didn't raise any objections.
"Alright."
Woo Jin-Cheol pulled out the prepared data and got ready to get going with his presentation. But then, an employee working in the Blue House hurriedly entered the office and whispered something into the president's ear.
"What?? Are you being serious?!"
The president responded by shooting up from his seat with a disbelieving face. The employee replied with a very serious expression.
"Yes, sir. Mister President, how should we proceed next?"
"For now, let the call through. I shall personally speak to him."
The employee promptly presented a smartphone to the president that was already connected to the mystery person on the other end of the line. The leader of South Korea took over the phone, and a voice that pretty much all Koreans were familiar with came out from the device's speaker.
– "I pondered deeply on this matter for a very long time, comrade. And…. And, I've come to a decision that it might be for our best interest to aid our cadres in the South."
That voice belonged to the leader of North Korea. The South Korean President couldn't immediately understand what the other party was talking about and tilted his head this way and that.
"What… do you want to aid us with?"
– "Didn't a Gate appear in the skies of Seoul? We shall dispatch our Hunters there, too. Let us combine the strengths of both the South and North to deal with this matter."
"…..!"
North Korea was the signal flare.
The neighbouring nations had only displayed a tepid reaction towards the request for cooperation even with the appearance of Gate boasting an unprecedented size. But now, their attitudes did a complete 180 in an instant.
– South Korea, no, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, must not be allowed to fall.
This was the conclusion various nations came to after watching the battle between Jin-Woo and the 'Unknown' monsters.
The ill fortune of Korea wouldn't simply end in Korea alone. Which Hunter belonging to a country would be capable of stopping a calamity that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo couldn't stop?
From the closest nations – North Korea, Japan, China, Russia – and to the far-flung nations such as America, Germany, Britain, and France, their Hunters hurriedly set off for Seoul in order to make it in time.
There was only one thought within their minds.
'We need to aid Hunter Seong Jin-Woo and block the super-massive Gate, no matter the cost.'
The notion of Jin-Woo being their final defence line had been instilled within them after witnessing his feats.
And now, not just South Korea's own Hunters, but the entire world's were gathering in the capital city of this small nation in East Asia.
Chapter 226
Dawn, when everyone was in a deep sleep.
Jin-Woo travelled back to the sea of trees located in Japan, still remaining as a no-entry, prohibited area, after experiencing the dungeon break of the Giant-type monsters.
He didn't come here to raise his level or to look at the stars in the sky, though. But then again, it must've been the memories of the night before, because when he took a look at the night sky, he naturally remembered Hae-In's face.
Jin-Woo stopped by his family and assured them he was fine and quickly returned to the hotel in Japan. Cha Hae-In had already understood the reason why Jin-Woo had to disappear on her like that, just before they were about to share a meal together.
She knew better than anyone what would've happened if Jin-Woo didn't rush back to Seoul. Her expression as she tried to hide her anxiety remained etched in his memory for some reason, though.
'….Let's get started.'
Jin-Woo took a look around him. Just like before, the stillness of the forest, with not a single living soul in it, greeted him. There was something he had to do in this place.
Jin-Woo sought out a suitable open ground and soon located one. He summoned out a portion of his Shadow Soldiers next.
'Come out.'
Jin-Woo's shadow expanded out greatly and his soldiers appeared on the ground. They were none other than the new additions to his army.
Jin-Woo tasted a mixed bag of emotions as he studied them. For the first time ever, he ended up breaking his own rule yesterday, one that he religiously adhered to since the very beginning.
These new soldiers were, before yesterday, all regular people. No, they were victims who were murdered by the Sovereigns.
Hundreds of soldiers, created from the regular people dying unjustly, as well as Hunters who tried to save them, now stood before their new master. He broke his own rule of never using innocent souls as his Shadow Soldiers.
And that was why Jin-Woo wanted to ask for their cooperation in this place.
'Until this war is over, lend me your strengths, everyone.'
To protect their families, their lovers, their friends and their homes from those b*stards.
'I promise to return you to the eternal rest once the battle is over.'
Although they were the dead beings forced into expressing their absolute loyalty through the Shadow Sovereign's ability, they still retained their individual egos.
Jin-Woo's sincere heart and desire were transmitted to every single one of them. Their eyes under the helms, covered by the darkness of the dawn, contained flames of hatred and rage towards the monsters that made them this way.
They realised this crucial fact – that they were now given a chance to exact revenge on those creatures with their own hands. And the one that gifted them this opportunity was the Shadow Sovereign standing right before them.
'We shall fight alongside our liege!
We shall never let those monsters rape and pillage our land and our families!'
Such desires were being engraved in them now.
The stronger the Shadow Sovereign became, the greater the enhancement to the abilities of the Shadow Soldiers. Unlike in the past when he was borrowing the powers of the Shadow Sovereign through the System, Jin-Woo now inherited it completely and thus, the Shadow Soldiers created by him could not be underestimated at all.
Jin-Woo made one more request to them.
'Lend me your strength.'
Their Sovereign made a request, and the Shadow Soldiers immediately replied back. They raised their fists up high and from their open mouths, the death throe-like horrifying roars exploded out.
Wuuuaaaaahhhh-!!!
The roaring started from the front row, but gradually shifted to the rear like the receding tides, and eventually, the entirety of the summoned Shadow Soldiers were crying out towards the sky.
Aaaaah-!!!
Their resentment-laden screams seemed to shake the earth itself. With this, the Army of Death had finished getting ready.
Jin-Woo's eyes as he scanned them, flickered in a cold, murderous glare.
Definitely.
He'd definitely make the Sovereigns pay.
The roars of the soldiers filled with hatred continued to echo out for a long, long time afterwards.
***
The day before the dungeon break from the super-massive Gate was to take place.
It had been two days since the System disappeared. Jin-Woo was getting acclimatised by the absence of Daily Quests now. Many things had become convenient for him ever since restrictions put in place by the System had gone away, but there was also a few things that made life rather difficult, as well.
One such difficulty was the 'Store'.
Jin-Woo summoned out a bottle of healing potion originally stored in his 'Inventory' and stared at it as if to bore a hole through the darn thing.
'...'
As it turned out, every item found in the Store had been created out of the Shadow Sovereign's powers. It was basically magic, where one would create something with Mana.
So, the theory went that, since he had inherited the Shadow Sovereign's powers, Jin-Woo should be able to create the same types of items as long as he willed it, but….
He quietly closed his eyes and began picturing the healing potion inside his head. When he did, he could pick up the movement of Mana.
'Concentrate, concentrate….'
Unfortunately, Mana busily moving around failed to gather and coagulate before scattering away in the air. It was a failure.
Jin-Woo spat out a sigh and opened his eyes again. It seemed that the threshold of creating something out of magic was still out of reach for him, for now.
'I guess I need to practice for a bit longer.'
It was then.
The smartphone resting on top of his desk began vibrating and issued the 'du-du-du' noise.
– "Seong Hunter-nim, it's Woo Jin-Cheol speaking."
"Hello. What can I do for you?"
Jin-Woo settled down on his bed and answered the call.
Woo Jin-Cheol must've been working day and night, thanks to the mass-scale incidents that kept happening one after another, because his voice came across as a bit hoarse on the phone.
– "Excuse me, Hunter-nim… If it's not too much trouble, may I ask you to come to the Association today?"
The estimated time for the dungeon break was literally right around the corner. From the perspective of the Association, they would've liked to get some advice from Jin-Woo, arguably the core combat force of the upcoming raid.
Since Jin-Woo didn't have anything on his schedule anyway, he agreed to it without hesitation.
"I shall see you there."
Click.
He ended the call and got ready to leave, but then, Igrit abruptly addressed him.
[My liege.]
'Mm?'
Jin-Woo was yet to get used to Igrit's voice. Still, he paid attention to the black knight's trademark heavy and courteous tone.
[There is something I'd like to speak to you about.]
***
Next day.
Every TV station around the world stopped with their regular programming to broadcast live the unfolding situation in Seoul.
Some stations chose to broadcast the situation as it unfolded in the regular news format, while some others invited experts in the field and asked for their opinions.
One of the largest broadcasters in the States, 'Hunter Channel' went with the latter route and had invited experts in.
The broadcast soon got underway; one of the experts spoke in clear reminiscence as they looked at the live footage of the Hunters completely filling up the Gate's location.
"Do you know how long it has been since that many Hunters from various countries have gathered in one spot?"
The emcee smiled and replied.
"I'm not sure…. Since Guilds with different nationalities join forces together to go on raids often, I'm guessing that it must've been pretty recent."
The expert shook his head.
"It's been over eight years. Eight. And it's now approaching the ninth year mark now."
Eight years.
Everyone watching the broadcast heard those words and immediately recalled the gigantic monster that terrorised humanity back then. The emcee wasn't an exception, either.
"You say eight years…. Are you saying that this spectacle would be the very first time since the 'Kamish' raid?"
"Yes, that's correct. This would be the first time that Hunters from five different nations or more got together, post-Kamish raid."
Back then, the greatest Hunters alive from every corner of the globe stepped up to aid the United States of America, only to be annihilated and out of hundreds of them participating, only five managed to survive. They then became the 'Special Authority-rank' Hunters.
To all those countries that had lost their top Hunters, that day's losses were indeed incredibly difficult to bear.
"Ever since that day, every nation refrained from interfering in the problems of other nations."
That would be an obvious result. No one alive would've wanted to see the Hunters from their own countries lose their lives for another country.
Sure, there had been infrequent occurrences of Guilds from different nations joining hands for their mutual benefits, but this many Hunters gathering together in such a huge scale to aid another country would be a very rare thing to see.
"In that case, Doctor, could you possibly be saying that Hunter Seong Jin-Woo from South Korea will bring together the world's Hunters, torn apart by the entrance of the Dragon Kamish?"
"That is correct."
Perhaps finding the long-winded explanation rather laborious, the expert took a deep breath first before continuing on afterwards.
"It all started with Hunter Seong Jin-Woo solving the calamity of Japan's dungeon break."
Before that happened, though, Japan stepped up to help out with the problem on Jeju Island, but as everyone knew, the result of that venture was a complete disaster.
If the story ended there, then that would only add weight to the opinion that one shouldn't be interfering with the problems of other countries. However, everything was turned on its head after Jin-Woo stepped up to eliminate the Giants that had made their appearance in Japan.
Even though there was the historical baggage between the two countries, as well as the dastardly scheme Japan's Association had cooked up, a Korean Hunter still willingly rolled up his sleeves to aid his neighbours, didn't he?
"Most likely, all the gratitude and admiration the Japanese citizens feel towards him can't be put into mere words."
Japan was able to survive the crisis all thanks to Jin-Woo's aid. With that, the unwritten rule of not interfering with another country's matter, in order to protect their own Hunters, had been broken for the first time.
What he did was to instil the sense of confidence of 'I can do this' into the Hunters. And a few days ago….
"Everyone watching the scenes of Hunter Thomas Andre falling must've sensed it then."
Which living Hunter would be able to stop those monsters?
"And Hunter Seong Jin-Woo showed them what the answer was."
However, the next problem facing them seemingly featured an even higher difficulty. If Hunter Seong Jin-Woo fell, then who out there would be capable of stopping the calamity?
Although there was a thin smile on his face, the emcee couldn't form an answer to that query. The expert answered for him, instead.
"There's no one. Indeed, there is no one capable. In other words, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo is the final line. If he falls, then everything will end."
At that moment, many countries thinking that the super-massive Gate floating in the skies above Seoul was South Korea's problem only, quickly came to a realisation.
If the Koreans couldn't stop that Gate, then next would be North Korea, then either China or Russia, and eventually, the rest of the world. Now, the super-massive Gate had become the common enemy of the entire world.
This was the result achieved by a lone Hunter from Asia.
The expert was about to explain that they needed to overcome this upcoming calamity first if that result was to proudly bear its fruit. However, at that moment…
"Ahh! Look, just now!"
The emcee had been listening attentively to what the expert was saying but he saw the urgent prompts from the director and jumped up from his seat.
The gazes of the experts quickly shifted over to the live feed, as well.
The live footage now displayed the super-massive Gate opening its maws wide.
"Oh, my god…."
Everyone present within the studio became utterly speechless from the imagery that easily surpassed their imaginations.
***
The air began trembling.
Tens of thousands of Hunters surrounding the spot just below the Gate held their breaths and waited. This was a memorable spectacle, this sight of countless Hunters waiting for one single moment to happen.
The close-quarter type Hunters quietly waited for their turns, while those capable of attacking at long distances got ready to fling out pre-emptive strikes at a moment's notice.
Arrows laden with magical energy and various spells ready to be cast were aimed at the sky.
Taut tension filled up the atmosphere.
And then… Whenever the gazes of these Hunters stopped glaring at the Gate above and lowered to the ground, they would all look at one place without fail. That would be Jin-Woo's back.
Standing at the furthest front, Jin-Woo was glaring up at the sky with a sombre expression.
With every passing second, the dungeon break was approaching closer and closer. He could sense their aura now.
Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump.
The Black Heart, replacing his destroyed human heart, powerfully pulsed within his chest to let him know of the current situation.
Of course, the hearts of other Hunters were pounding away restlessly, as well. It was all because of the nervousness seemingly oppressing everything.
However, the emotion Jin-Woo was feeling at the moment was quite different from theirs. He was doing his best not to lose his composure and waited for the approaching final hour.
Hae-In, standing next to him, saw his expression and whispered to him.
"I think it's my first time seeing you so tense like this, Mister Jin-Woo."
"Really?"
Jin-Woo smirked to let her know that it was nothing. Hae-In also formed a light smile as a reply and looked back at the Gate while unsheathing her blade. She too had sensed that the beginning of the life-or-death battle was here.
'Soon….'
However, she was mistaken about something.
Jin-Woo placed his hand on his chest and silently closed his eyes. He felt the pounding of his heart. The emotion welling up in his chest was neither nervousness nor terror. No, it was excitement.
"T-they are coming!"
"The Gate's been opened!!"
Finally, the Gate began opening up.
The wall separating this world and the Gate disappeared and certain 'things' staying within finally began pouring out in endless droves. These creatures completely blotted out the sky in no time at all.
The Hunters below became completely dumbfounded by the number of descending creatures that seemed to be at least over one hundred thousand.
"But, how… how can that many monsters… at the same time?!"
"There, there are just too many!!!"
Gasps and screams thick with despair exploded out from here and there.
All those 'certain things' must've been under the influence of gravity-reduction magic, because they all landed on the ground very slowly.
"Attack! Hurry, attack!"
"Everyone, attack!"
Before those things land on the ground, they should try to reduce their numbers, at least by a little bit. Hunters sensed that their opportunity was here and began making their moves.
Magic spells ready to cast gleamed brightly from their hands and bowstrings aimed at the sky were all pulled taut. Tankers raised their shields up right near their chins to get ready for close-quarters combat with those descending things.
But then, before the concentrated firepower from the Hunters could pour out, Jin-Woo loudly yelled out.
[Nobody move!]
Jin-Woo's will, carried by Mana, was clearly transmitted to even those Hunters who didn't know any Korean. And it made everyone stop what they were doing.
'But, why?'
'Why did he stop us from attacking?'
Even though tens of thousands of Hunters were staring at him with eyes that screamed, 'I don't understand', Jin-Woo simply repeated what he said.
[Everyone, don't move.]
Woo Jin-Cheol watching from the distance hurriedly wiped the sweat off his forehead.
If they don't attack now, then those creatures would land safely on the ground. When the battle breaks out in that situation, the Hunters out in front could get sucked into the attacks fired from the back.
Meaning, incidents of them worrying about the friendly fire would happen when they were already in a numerical disadvantage.
One of the subordinate Hunters working for the Association quickly approached Woo Jin-Cheol and looked at his boss with a worried expression.
"Association President…."
It was now time to make his decision. His head screamed at him to send out the word to start attacking, but in the end, Woo Jin-Cheol decided to trust Jin-Woo.
"Everyone, do not fire!"
"Do not fire!!"
Woo Jin-Cheol was put in charge of commanding the Hunters. So, rather understandably, they became quite dazed and lowered their hands when he began telling them not to attack.
'Just what are they thinking now?'
'They want to engage those things on the ground instead of hitting them first with ranged attacks? Against that many monsters???'
As confusion and terror began whipping up around the battlefield….
Eventually, those creatures landed on the ground.
The number of black monsters completely filling up the sights of the Hunters were so great that one's mind would grow faint just from the sheer scale.
From the gathered swarm of monsters, one particular being began walking out towards them. Jin-Woo, too, stepped forward.
Just what was going to happen from here onwards?
Hunters couldn't even breathe properly and closely watched Jin-Woo.
'...'
'...'
Jin-Woo stopped walking, and the 'monster' also stopped walking as well.
And then….
The 'monster' looking at Jin-Woo suddenly knelt down on the ground. And at that moment, the soldiers behind it also knelt down at the same time.
Chut.
The spectacle of a hundred thousand-plus soldiers bowing their heads at the same time carried an incredible, overwhelming shock value.
After a short bout of silence passed, the 'monster' kneeling right out in front raised its head and spoke.
[Grand-Marshal Bellion, here to humbly greet the Sovereign with his Shadow Army.]
Chapter 227: Chapter 227
Fifty thousand or so Hunters from all corners of the globe, here to defend against the super-massive Gate, watched dazedly as the black monsters began kneeling before Jin-Woo.
"Jesus….."
This sea of soldiers wrapped in black armour or black smoke seemed to go on forever. Every single one of these creatures possessed an incredible amount of magical energy, but there was something else that made the gathered Hunters doubt their own eyes even more.
"T-that, that, that! Could that be?!"
"Right at the end there, you see what's right at the end there, right?"
"…..Yeah, I can see it."
Hunters pointed to the back of this army of black soldiers, their complexions paling greatly. More specifically, they were pointing to the three black Dragons at the back of the army who were obediently lowering their heads before their owner, as if they were house-trained pets or some such.
The gathered Hunters were now rendered completely speechless after discovering those Dragons being the part of the line-up of these black soldiers.
The Dragon that appeared for the first, and last, time in human history had been 'Kamish'. That one creature alone managed to wipe out almost every single elite Hunter alive back then, and the whole world was in danger of being thrust into a horrifying conflagration of destruction.
Seriously now, would people begin calling that Dragon with a name carrying the meaning of 'undying flames' for no good reason?
And so – only one such creature was enough to threaten the very existence of the human race, yet there were three of them now. It couldn't be helped that the Hunters gathered here to fight these things felt as if all of their energy was quickly abandoning them.
Just what would have happened if they decided to clash against this army? Hunters imagined the potential combat situation against these black monsters currently in bowing positions and felt goosebumps rapidly spread throughout their bodies next.
And at the same time, they grew really curious about the real identity of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, standing before them as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Jin-Woo swept his gaze over the Grand-Marshal Bellion and the seemingly endless number of Shadow Soldiers kneeling behind their leader.
'So, this is the real Shadow Army….'
What Igrit said was right.
His black knight asked for an audience and spoke to Jin-Woo in his usual dignified manner yesterday.
[My liege, the Shadow Army has concluded all of their preparations.]
Jin-Woo needed a bit of time to completely digest those words. That's how surprising it was to him.
That was why he was in a dilemma.
He knew better than anyone here regarding the matters with the Sovereigns and the Rulers, as well as the truth behind the Gates. But the thing was, he himself wasn't certain about the overall narrative, so there was no way he'd be able to convincingly explain what was happening here to everyone else.
No, it was an impossibly tall order to convince every one of these Hunters coming from all over the world to stop the Gate before it turned into the worst calamity in human history.
And also….
In the one-in-ten-thousand case, no, make that one in ten million chance that Igrit's information was faulty, could he be able to handle the fallout from that?
That was why Jin-Woo decided to wait.
He decided not to make up his mind until he could confirm the truth with his own eyes first, and waited until the Gate opened up. And the result of that was now kneeling before his eyes.
Jin-Woo inwardly swallowed his saliva and scanned his soldiers. Although he was not responsible for raising these soldiers, he could still sense that every single one of them was connected to him.
It was a complicated network, connected like a spiderweb. And through this network, the level of sheer joy they felt at reuniting with their master was fully transmitted to him.
'This is the inheritance the former Shadow Sovereign had given to me….'
These creatures were all swearing their loyalty to their new master. Just like how quickly their hearts were racing, Jin-Woo's own chest was as well, now filled up with powerful emotions.
That's right.
He took a brief look at the Dragons at the back before returning his gaze to the front of the army.
The Grand-Marshal Bellion.
This guy certainly possessed a suitable amount of dignity and strength, fitting for the title he carried. There was a trace of torn-off wings on the back of his armour, though.
'Two pairs of wings….'
Jin-Woo recalled that regular silver-clad soldiers possessed a pair of wings, while the Rulers had six wings, and from that fact, he could roughly estimate the level of Bellion's capability.
Jin-Woo focused his sensory perception and the light within his eyes gleamed brightly.
With that, he could take a gander at the truly humongous reserve of magical energy the Grand-Marshal chose to hide because of the presence of his liege.
'As expected….'
Because he possessed this much power, he was indeed qualified to lead a Shadow Army that contained even Dragons.
Jin-Woo raised his head.
The Shadow Army. The king wishing to go to war had finally regained his soldiers.
Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump.
Jin-Woo took a long, hard look at his soldiers as his heart raced faster and faster. The thing was, those kneeling before him weren't the only Shadow Army, now were they?
If these guys were the soldiers that belonged to the former Shadow Sovereign 'Osborne', then Jin-Woo too possessed his own loyal soldiers, as well.
'Come out.'
Even more Shadow Soldiers materialised from behind Jin-Woo at his beckoning. Their numbers had already ballooned to near two thousand by now.
Beru, Igrit, Greed, No. 6, Fangs, Iron, Jima, Tank, etc., all filled up the space behind Jin-Woo. And then….
Chut.
….They too knelt down and lowered their heads, just like the Shadow Soldiers that came out from the massive Gate. Every single Shadow Soldier, surrounding him from both sides, swore their allegiances in silence.
Jin-Woo nodded his head.
Finally, the separated Shadow Army had become whole.
A powerful force capable of standing up against the enemies and their armies had been completed. Things seemed to be unfolding quite smoothly right now.
However, Jin-Woo could feel quite a few gazes flying in his direction, stabbing him rather painfully on his neck, and he just had to take a look behind him.
'.....'
'.....'
That's where he discovered tens of thousands of Hunters standing there staring at him, along with hundreds of reporters risking their lives to record the historic battle that was supposed to take place here.
Understandably, all of them were sporting the same sort of expression that screamed, "Just what the hell is going on here??"
'Okay, so now….'
As a sort of reply to their frozen-stiff expressions, Jin-Woo formed an awkward smile.
'….How am I supposed to explain this?'
***
Quite obviously, the whole world was in an uproar.
Well, every single monster emerging from the super-massive Gate started kneeling before Hunter Seong Jin-Woo, and this shocking scene was broadcast live to the entire world, so the pandemonium breaking out was rather understandable.
Viewers were watching on with anxiety and dread as the Gate opened up, so it was quite hard for them to drag themselves out from the pit of heady mental shock, akin to someone smacking them unexpectedly in the back of their noggins.
Pretty much every single online community went into a heated frenzy over this matter.
– What the freak? Those black monsters just now, just what the f*ck happened? Is anyone capable of explaining this sh*t?
– Don't tell me, all those monsters are Seong Jin-Woo's summons????
└ Horsesh*t…. I heard from somewhere that well over a hundred thousand monsters came out from that Gate.
└ What the hell. How can summons pop out from a Gate? You should start spewing things that make sense.
└ Oh? Why don't you, good sir, enlighten us, the ignorant masses, then?
└ First of all, they all look exactly like Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's summons, don't they? But still, how can summons come out of a Gate?
Many displayed the reactions of disbelief, but there were also a few who viewed the incident in a different light.
– Still, isn't it a relief that those monsters weren't our enemies?
└ For real. ㅇㅈ.
└ If they were, we'd all be dead by now. I saw an interview and they say there were three Dragons in the horde, too.
└ Three Dragons LOLOLOL So f*cking crazy. LOLOL
└ Kamish comes out, sees them, he be like, "Nope", goes away ROFL
└ What are you even talking about? Kamish died almost nine years ago, so how can that thing come out and goes away again?
└ The commenter above mine, whoooosh. You must be a delight in dinner parties.
– Argh, this sh*t is driving me nuts. Seriously, man…. I wish Hunter Seong Jin-Woo just comes out clean and tells us what happened….
Meanwhile, TV stations continued to repeatedly broadcast the same shocking scenes from back then, and did their best to analyse and come to a suitable conjecture.
Unfortunately, there were no experts on this planet capable of convincingly explaining away the event of summoned creatures, not monsters, that belonged to a single person and even contained Dragons, coming out from a Gate boasting an unprecedented size.
"Huh-uh…."
"As to figure out how something like that can happen, even I…."
"Mhmm…"
Every single one of them was at a loss and could only shake their heads. They even spat out astonished gasps at the recorded footage of a hundred thousand-plus summoned creatures kneeling before Jin-Woo played over and over again.
Anyone could tell that was the sight of those creatures acknowledging who their master was. Some quarters in the world even raised the idea of calling Jin-Woo with a nickname of 'Demon King' because of that memorable scene alone.
Indeed, Jin-Woo was emitting the kind of manly aura befitting the title of 'Demon King' as he was being surrounded by all those black soldiers.
Soon, experts collectively defined this incident as….
….A miracle.
"Although this event unfolded in a shocking and unexpected manner, there is little doubt the end result is a fortunate one for all of us."
"It's fortunate, you say?"
"Can you see how many monsters, no, summons there are on screen right now?"
The expert pointed towards the Shadow Army displayed on the screen. Beyond Jin-Woo standing before them, one could see a nearly-infinite number of soldiers busy bowing their heads.
The emcee didn't think too deeply about it as he began counting with his eyes before dry saliva automatically slid down his throat from that outrageous number on display.
One didn't even need to bring up the fact that there were three Dragons included in this army. That was how horrifying the overall number was.
"If our Hunters were to fight those things, then it would no longer have been the issue of whether we'd win or lose. No, the remainder of humanity would have been counting the hours until those creatures get to the other side of the planet and completely exterminate us, instead."
The emcee's head nodded all by itself.
"Fortunately, they are summoned creatures of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo. And it seems that he can control them just fine."
Regrettably, though – that remained a conjecture at this stage.
"Only Hunter Seong Jin-Woo knows the truth."
That was where the expert ended his explanation. With rather excellent timing, the screen now displayed the very last scene from that event, the one responsible for causing everyone to be so astonished like this.
"Right here, this moment."
Jin-Woo was taking a sweeping look at the other Hunters before he literally slid into his own shadow and disappeared without a trace.
That's how he vanished from everyone's sight.
The emcee helplessly shook his head before adjusting his glasses and continued on.
"The protagonist of this chaos, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo – just where could he be right now?"
The Korean Hunter's Association was inundated with telephone inquiries, lodged seemingly by the entire world. Their only reply so far had been, "We don't know, either."
That, though, was like adding fuel to the already burning flames of interest for the event the world had laser-focused onto. The emcee stared straight into the camera with a still-excited face and addressed the viewers at home.
"We can only pray that he returns as soon as possible to clarify all the questions that continue to burn a hole in our heads."
***
Jin-Woo put aside the curiosity of many, many people for the time being and made his way to the sea of trees in Japan. This vast expense of abandoned land was just about the perfect place to observe the movements of the entire Shadow Army.
Jin-Woo stood at a far distance, while the 130,000 plus army was split in two and stood on either side of a vast field.
'Start.'
He issued his order inwardly, prompting the two columns of armies to powerfully rush towards each other.
Dududududududu-!!
The sounds of their feet pounding on the ground seemed to rock the earth. The distance between the two columns of rushing soldiers closed up in an instant, and just before they were about to clash head-on….
….Jin-Woo shifted the platoons that fell behind in the rush right behind the other column and had them surround the opponents in this mock battle.
Was that all?
In a location where there was a shortage of soldiers, he sent reinforcements. When some soldiers were left isolated, he simply unsummoned them and brought them back out in an adequate-enough location. The smoothness of his actions was like a river flowing to the ocean.
Deployment and manipulation of soldiers based on the experiences of battles he fought so far also applied to this hundred thousand-strong great army, as well.
"That's enough."
Jin-Woo spoke in a soft voice but that was still enough for the Shadow Soldiers to hear his will. They all came to a standstill in an instant.
Chack!
Their movements were in perfect synchronisation. After stopping this mock battle, Jin-Woo took a look to his side.
"So, what do you think?"
The Grand-Marshal Bellion spoke in an amazed, admiring tone of voice.
"I've never thought about mobilising the forces in this manner. I can only express the emotions of awe and shock, my liege."
It seemed that, to Bellion, controlling the combatants in this manner was a fresh concept to mull over, even though he had roamed countless battlefields with the former Shadow Sovereign.
Especially the part about utilising the aspect of freely summoning and un-summoning Shadow Soldiers – that part left him with quite a pleasant surprise.
Igrit had been with Jin-Woo since the beginning and was perhaps the most familiar with how their master fought, so he proudly opened up his chest just a little bit wider.
Jin-Woo smirked softly while watching the black knight and his growing nose for a bit. He had to stop and pick up his phone, though, when the device suddenly went off noisily inside his pocket.
Vuwooo… Vuwoooo….
– "Hyung-nim, it's me, Jin-Ho."
"Hey. What's up."
According to Yu Jin-Ho, calls inundated not just the Association but the Ah-Jin Guild as well after Jin-Woo went and disappeared on everyone without saying a word, leading to the phone lines temporarily breaking down.
"….My bad. Can you hold on for a bit longer until I properly organise my thoughts first?"
– "Don't worry about it, hyung-nim. Didn't we establish this Guild so that you can focus on doing raids without being harassed by stuff like these?"
After hearing Yu Jin-Ho's smiling voice coming out of the phone, Jin-Woo also formed a smile.
– "Ah, by the way. Have you called your family yet, hyung-nim?"
"Yeah. I told them I'll be home after cooling my head a little bit."
– "Well, in that case, they should be less worried about you. That's a relief, hyung-nim."
Jin-Woo pocketed the phone after ending the call, but a heavy, lengthy sigh slowly escaped from his mouth as he did so.
He knew that he shouldn't be avoiding 'it' like this. However, in order to explain the Gates and his Shadow Soldiers, then naturally, he had to speak about the matters of the Sovereigns and Rulers, as well.
Soon, soldiers of the Sovereigns would pour out from the eight remaining Gates. How was he to go about telling others that the entire world would be turned into a fierce, bloody battlefield?
In order to give himself some time to think, he simply had to get away from there.
He thought that this was for the best.
Just a little bit longer.
He wanted humanity to enjoy peace even for a little bit longer.
'I'm sure I can delay this for a few more days.'
Jin-Woo kept telling himself this; meanwhile, Beru sneaked closer to him and spoke in a serious voice. He had been rather quiet for some reason lately, though?
"Oh, my king…."
"Mm?"
Jin-Woo turned around to look at Beru kneeling on the ground, his head lowered deeply towards the ground as he opened his mouth.
"I beg of thee to bestow unto me an opportunity to compete for the position of the Grand-Marshal."
"The position of the Grand-Marshal, you say?"
But, didn't they already have a Grand-Marshal?
Jin-Woo felt puzzled by this, before abruptly recalling the System's information on the highest grade of Shadow Soldiers available.
'In that case, could he be….?'
Sure enough – Beru raised his head.
"As a Marshal of the army, I'd like to challenge the Grand-Marshal Bellion."
Chapter 228: Chapter 228
When the System was still around, it did mention something about what Beru was talking about. There could be only one occupying the position of the general of the army.
So, Soldiers that recently reached the Marshal grade must establish a hierarchy with the one before it – didn't the System say something like that?
If he were to assume the general of the army was the Grand-Marshal, then indeed, Beru, as the recently-promoted Marshal, possessed the qualification to challenge Bellion.
Perhaps befitting an ant-type monster familiar with living in a large community, Beru wanted to establish the proper pecking order between the Marshals, it seemed.
'Marshals going at it, huh...?'
Just to make sure, Jin-Woo shifted his gaze over to his other Marshal, Igrit, but the black knight politely declined the proposition. It seemed that he wasn't interested in establishing the hierarchy between the Marshals at all.
Unsurprisingly, once the black knight quietly took a step back, the other guy to catch Jin-Woo's attention was Bellion standing next to him.
The current leader in charge of the army 130,000-strong was Bellion right now. Only Jin-Woo was above him in terms of hierarchy, as the master of the army itself.
After meeting his liege's gaze, Bellion bowed his head slightly.
Since he was in the presence of his master, he had lowered his posture as much as possible, but still, he was a good head taller than Thomas Andre. This giant calmly answered his boss's querying eyes.
"I shall follow your will."
Follow his will, he said.
Jin-Woo formed a slight smirk at Bellion's answer.
His voice was, of course, very humble. However, it wasn't all that difficult to read the underlying message that he'd face the challenger head on, as long his master gives the permission.
Jin-Woo sneaked a glance behind him, and Beru standing there had already extended his claws while visibly burning with fighting spirit himself. He must've also read the message, too.
"Kiieeehk!"
While Bellion was doing his best to mask his magic energy as much as possible, Beru was the opposite and didn't hold back any of his horrible magic energy emission.
'Hmm....'
Jin-Woo pondered for a moment or two before making up his mind.
"Alright."
He knew pretty much everything there was to know about Beru, but Bellion was a different story. Knowing the extent of his combat prowess would prove to be an invaluable data in deploying the army correctly in the future.
It was also obvious that Jin-Woo's heart would sway towards allowing the challenge to go through.
"However, I shall be the one judging when to end the bout."
After receiving his master's permission, Beru's expression was now overflowing with ecstasy. Moved almost to tears, his eyes began sparkling brightly as he cried out.
"I am humbled and deeply honoured by your inscrutable....."
"Stop it."
"....I thank thee, my king."
On one side, Beru celebrating his opportunity. On the other side, Bellion calmly getting ready for the upcoming challenge.
It was as if these two were the plucky challenger going up against the incumbent champion in a sports movie. But before these two could start duking it out for real, there was something Jin-Woo had to confirm first.
He summoned out a single 'Kamish's Wrath' and loaded a bit of black aura on its tip. Then, he lightly swung it towards the forest.
Kwa-jajajajajajajak!!
The black 'howl' shooting out from the shortsword swept up a portion of the forest. However, the damage wasn't as severe as he thought. Jin-Woo nodded and stored the weapon away.
'With this much....'
It seemed that he didn't need to worry about the surroundings getting destroyed unduly during the battle of the two Marshals. The ground had been hardened sufficiently enough by the condensed Mana and it would survive the upcoming warfare without a doubt.
'…....'
Jin-Woo gazed at the earth with a somewhat lonely expression before raising his head. His eyes were already filled back up with anticipation as he looked at his two Marshals.
"Well, then...."
Both the Grand-Marshal and the newbie Marshal waiting for their master's order nodded their heads simultaneously.
"We are ready, my liege."
"Give us your order, oh my king!"
Jin-Woo chuckled and addressed the two.
"Get to your positions."
***
Meanwhile, back in the Korean Hunter's Association.
The activities taking place inside the Association's emergency response conference hall were a lot more bustling than before, even though the so-called emergency situation had come to an end yesterday.
"The international media is still hounding us, demanding us to release an official statement already, sir!"
"The American Hunter Bureau is requesting us to release the information on Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim's current whereabouts!"
"The Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disasters are asking us if it's okay to bring back the evacuated citizens."
"The Hunter Channel's famous 'The Jimmy Show' wants to interview Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim...."
"Jimmy or whatever can kiss my a*s!! If he's able to, tell him to find the guy and try his luck there!"
The number of calls flooding the Association was inconceivably high. It was a small miracle already that their phone lines hadn't broken down yet.
As for the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol, even though he breathlessly issued one order after another, he also didn't forget to spit out groans repeatedly as he stared at the stacks of official inquiry documents on his desk.
"Fuu-woo...."
The things he had to do was as tall as Mount Tai at this moment. No, hang on – if it was only as tall as that legendary mountain, that would have actually been preferable.
The thing was, Mount Tai had actually formed a long-a*s mountain range, and after overcoming one mountain, he'd be facing another one, and another one after that, and yet another one was waiting for him….
His work had piled up to the extent he couldn't see the end now.
It was so serious that even he was feeling dizzy from the craziness of it all when he was supposed to be a rank A Hunter!
But then – Woo Jin-Cheol was busy shaking his head to get rid of this drowsiness, until he ended up hearing something spoken by a subordinate that simply could not be overlooked, no matter the circumstances.
"Just why did Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's summons have to come out from there...."
This employee's words were tinged with a certain amount of dissatisfaction. Woo Jin-Cheol's drowsiness was driven away in an instant. He immediately made this employee stand at attention before him.
"In that case, do you, Mister Seong-Won, think it would have been better if monsters came out from that super-massive Gate yesterday? Is that what you're saying?"
"Pardon me, sir? Ah, no, that's not...."
The subordinate couldn't hide his fluster. Woo Jin-Cheol let his sharp scolding fly, regardless.
"If the phone calls you've been receiving until now weren't about TV stations asking for interviews but relatives of the deceased Hunters asking for the news of their loved ones, do you really think you can continue working with just the thoughts of things being too hectic for you?"
The subordinate employee couldn't even meet Woo Jin-Cheol's glare.
Even if you were nominally an employee of the Hunter's Association, as long as you hadn't worked out in the field, you'd never really understand it.
They would never understand just what Hunters had to go through during emergency situations.
They would never understand just what kind of things unfolded and got buried inside dungeons, enshrouded in the darkness where no one could see you.
Going through all the potential scenarios that could've gone down during the raid of the super-massive Gate, what happened yesterday was easily the best result one could ever hope for.
Over one hundred thousand monsters popped out, but no one got injured. Nothing was destroyed. Not only that, all those monsters were absorbed into Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's fighting force.
Just who could've imagined it?
Indeed, no one could've dreamed such a result that far exceeded one's expectations.
That was how Woo Jin-Cheol got to endure, with a smile on his face, all these mountains of work that probably required him to go through a few sleepless nights to finish.
But to think, there was an employee of the Hunter's Association busy complaining about yesterday's events just because his body became a bit fatigued.
How could he even dare to say something so nonsensical?
If Hunter Seong Jin-Woo was present nearby, Woo Jin-Cheol would've stepped up to slap some sense into this employee well before the young Hunter had a chance to get angry.
That was how deeply Woo Jin-Cheol understood what Jin-Woo was going through.
The Association President temporarily stopped his employees, and while taking a sweeping look at them, he began speaking with a loud voice.
"I know full well how flustered you all are after Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim suddenly vanished on us."
However, there must've been a good reason why Hunter Seong Jin-Woo had to disappear on them like that, when he was a man possessing a strong sense of responsibility.
"In a way, the person most confused by yesterday's event could very well be Seong Huner-nim."
Didn't someone say once that, with great power comes great responsibility?
Some line from a movie Woo Jin-Cheol watched a long time ago kept repeating itself in his head. However, that line helped him to imagine the weighty burden now pressing down on Hunter Seong Jin-Woo's shoulders.
'I've been around Hunter-nim for a while now, but yesterday was the first time seeing him that tense.'
Indeed, Jin-Woo didn't seem to know what was about to take place next.
It didn't matter who, anyone in his shoes would've thought of quickly getting the heck out of there when the Gate one was ready to die defending against instead suddenly began spewing out his own summons. What's more, they then began swearing their allegiance out of nowhere.
Who could be foolish enough to point the fingers of blame on him?
Right now, the Association's job was to share the load until Hunter Seong Jin-Woo finished sorting out his confusion and returned to explain the current situation.
The Association had to perform the role of a sturdy, dependable shield for Hunters, regardless of the time or the circumstances.
"If we at the Hunter's Association can't even understand what Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim is going through, just who else will??"
The employees listening to the passionate speech from their President forgot all about their fatigue, the corners of their eyes moistening quickly.
As for the employee complaining like a little kid because summoned creatures came out from the Gate, he lowered his head to Woo Jin-Cheol and apologised as his own nose reddened considerably.
"I'm sorry, sir. I was being thoughtless. I am truly sorry."
Woo Jin-Cheol wordlessly patted this guy on the shoulder and had him return to his post before sitting back down.
"Fuu-woo...."
He only shouted for a little while, yet there were at least twice as many documents as before piled up on his desk now.
'…...'
He shifted his gaze away from the stacks of paper, his mind still worried about Jin-Woo who'd no doubt be stuck in all sorts of dilemmas even now.
'I wonder, what is Seong Jin-Woo Hunter-nim doing now?'
***
With a bright face, Jin-Woo got to a distance quite far from the two Marshals.
Igrit came to stand next to him.
Other Shadow Soldiers also spread out into a giant circle and created enough room for the two Marshals to move about unrestricted. Standing on the opposite end of that circle to his opponent, Beru extended his claws until they couldn't be extended anymore and screeched out loudly.
"Kiiiiiieeeeehk-!!"
Meanwhile, Bellion wordlessly unsheathed the sword mounted on his hips. So far, he seemed to be a type of swordsman similar to Igrit, but then...
'Mm...?'
Jin-Woo's gaze was fixed to Bellion's sword now. The blade looked rather uniquely-shaped.
'Hang on, can I even call that a blade?'
As a matter of fact, the blade resembled the body of a centipede in that it was made up of dozens of connected sections.
As if they were done with their preparations, both of them looked at Jin-Woo simultaneously.
"Begin!"
The moment the signal was given, Beru dashed forward immediately.
"Kiiiieeehk-!!"
He closed the distance with a stupendous turn of speed and powerfully swung his claws; Bellion proceeded to block and let the attack slide past him, and then, as Beru's momentum took him further away, the current Grand-Marshal spun around to face the distancing ant soldier.
It was then.
'…...!!'
Jin-Woo's eyes widened.
Bellion pointed with his sword and it suddenly stretched out like a long snake to fly towards Beru.
Shushushushushu-!!
Beru urgently spun around and reflexively slapped the blade away.
CLANG!!
That was just the beginning.
Bellion used his sword like a whip and rained down a barrage of incredulous attacks at his target. The flexible body of the blade, carrying an enormous amount of Mana, danced and writhed according to its wielder's desire to pummel the ground and air surrounding Beru.
BOOM!! BANG!! BOOM! BANG!!
On the other hand, all Beru could do right now was to concentrate all his being to barely defend against the attacks.
"Kiiiieeehk!"
While watching Bellion's attacks that had clearly surpassed the limitation imposed by the sword-type weapon, Jin-Woo imagined what would happen if it was him facing that barrage.
When he did, everything seemed to slow down to a crawl. Even then, even within this slowed-down time, Bellion's sword remained dangerously fast.
Jin-Woo's expression became even more serious.
His eyes, now emitting cold glare, followed and caught each and every slap and swish of the unpredictable sword dance. Upper left, right side, upper left again, then lower left, and to upper right….
….The him of his imagination evaded all the attacks and was standing before Bellion.
And then, he cut the soldier down. In Jin-Woo's imagination, Bellion's neck rolled to the ground. It only took a blink to get to that point.
Bellion momentarily sensed this chill-inducing feeling of his neck being cut off and flinched grandly as he took a look in Jin-Woo's direction.
'Oops...'
He ended up being a bit carried away after discovering a rather interesting weapon; meeting Bellion's rather panicky gaze, Jin-Woo replied with an apologetic expression. But that only lasted for a moment.
Beru didn't miss this opening and viciously slapped the irritatingly-tenacious blade away, before dashing towards Bellion like a bolt of lightning.
"Kiiieeeehcck!!"
STAB-!
Unfortunately – against Jin-Woo's own expectation, the one to stab his weapon in the midriff of his opponent was Bellion.
What an unexpectedly fast motor reflex!
On top of that, a scary power capable of destroying everything with each attack. This was Bellion, the soldier who wasn't left wanting for anything as the Grand-Marshal of the Shadow Army.
'….Still, one should never let one's guard down.'
It was a wee bit uncool to talk about one of his soldiers in this manner, but well, the truth was, the biggest plus point of an insect was its tenacious vitality.
Sure enough, Beru suddenly expanded its body size even with a sword stuck to his belly. He swung his humongous fist down on the head of his opponent.
KWA-BOOM!!
The power behind that punch was so great that a part of Bellion's helm broke off and scattered black smoke in the air.
"Kiiieeehk!"
Almost right away, Beru followed up with his second attack. No, he tried to.
Beru's wrist was caught by Bellion's powerful grip just in time. The ant soldier tried to use his physical strength to yank his arm out, but too bad, the Grand-Marshal didn't even budge an inch.
In the meantime, Bellion cocked his free arm backwards. An enormous amount of Mana quickly gathered in that cocked arm.
A moment later.
BOOM-!!!
Beru's chest was punched powerfully and he flew backwards in a straight line. The shockwave generated at the same time from his flying figure swept up the forest surrounding him, and the trees were yanked out of the ground from their roots and all, before being flung away to the sides.
A long and straight path suddenly got carved out within the sea of trees.
"Kiiiieeehck!"
Beru hurriedly unfurled his wings to stop his body from being flung away endlessly. Unfortunately, just as he somehow managed to steady himself, Bellion had already arrived right before his face.
That was followed by a powerful slam towards the ground!
KWA-BOOM!!
Like a meteor crashing into earth, a huge crater caved in on the ground and Bellion lightly landed inside.
In the middle of this crater, Beru was hurriedly getting up to respond to his opponent. Now normally, any ol' regular enemy would have been torn to bits and shreds by now, but he had managed to withstand several of these attacks already.
Swiiiiish-!
Bellion used the back of his hand to slap away Beru's claws and just like that, smacked the ant soldier right on top of his head.
BOOM!!
That was the beginning of a dogfight.
Boom! Bang! Boom! Boooom!!
Beru's attacks were only on the level of briefly disrupting Bellion's balance, but...
BOOM-!!
….Bellion's attacks each carried fatal power behind them.
Craaaack, crack!!
Cracks formed on Beru's exoskeleton as if they were about to shatter at any given moment.
"Kiiieehk!"
Even then, Beru desperately resisted until the end, not showing any hints of giving up on this fight. He tried to chomp down on Bellion's shoulder, but the latter simply pushed away the former before grasping Beru's neck.
Kwa-jeeck!!
Now rendered immobile, Beru writhed his entire body to free himself, but Bellion remained unmoved. The latter simply concentrated Mana once more on his free arm so he could attack for the last time and end this fight.
A horrifying amount of Mana, more than enough to easily shatter the head of a Dragon in one hit, gathered around and distorted the space around his arm.
With this, it'd be the end.
Bellion's cocked fist soon flew out towards Beru's face.
But, Jin-Woo reached out and grasped the deadly fist before it did, since he didn't want to see Beru's head explode today.
Grab!
"That's enough."
Bellion realised that it was his liege stopping his fist and quickly withdrew his attack.
"My liege."
The Grand-Marshal hurriedly knelt down and bowed his head.
'….You did well.'
Jin-Woo praised Bellion with his eyes for not holding back anything and displaying his prowess like that. He then walked over to Beru collapsed on the ground.
"Kiieehhk, my king, I, I... kiieehk! I can still...."
"....."
Jin-Woo studied the faltering, unsteady Beru with pitying eyes before asking him out of genuine curiosity.
"Hey, Beru. Why are you so dead-set on the position of the Grand-Marshal?"
"Kiiehk, I, only, I wish to, become the Grand-Marshal and always stand next to my liege..."
Beru couldn't continue on due to his grief-stricken mind. Jin-Woo scratched the side of his head and offered up his reply.
"The Grand-Marshal can stand to my right, while you can stand to my left, right?"
"...!!!"
Only then did Beru realise that he could still stand next to his liege without being the Grand-Marshal, and his eyes opened up extra-round.
"....I am honoured by...."
"Stop it."
Leaving behind Beru and his emotion-induced tears filling up his eyes, Jin-Woo stood back up and spat out a helpless sigh. But then...
Another Shadow Soldier silently approached him. It was none other than Igrit, who had been listening to the conversation between Jin-Woo and Beru without saying anything.
"My liege, may I be granted an opportunity to challenge...."
As Igrit cautiously asked, Jin-Woo quickly replied as if he was expecting this already.
"You can stand behind me."
"....!"
Igrit couldn't finish the rest of his sentence due to his liege's keen insight.
***
"Is that so... In the end, the Shadow Sovereign has become our enemy."
The Dragon Emperor, currently in a humanoid form, was receiving the reports from the Sovereigns that had already descended to Earth. Only their voices softly echoed within this eternal darkness.
"I see. Fine. I shall deal with him personally. None of you make a move. We must prevent any further losses."
The Dragon Emperor had fully analysed the situation and ended the connection to the Sovereigns.
Soon, there was no more sound.
This world, the gap between dimensions where nothing existed, was quickly filled up by empty silence. To the Sovereigns, this place was no different from hell itself, as there was nothing here to destroy.
That was why...
That was why, the Sovereign of Destruction, born from the darkness with a singular purpose of destroying every single existence, did its hardest to escape from this place.
And finally, the day it'd taste the fruit of its labour was literally around the corner.
The Dragon Emperor turned around and issued its command towards the darkness behind it.
"My troops. Ready yourselves for war."
When it did, dozens of Ancient-grade Dragons, hundreds of Dragons, and tens of thousands of Dragonewts hidden within the darkness shot out heated glares from their eyes and roared out in unison.
Waaaaaaahhhh-!!