Haeundae, Busan.
While fighting Javier, a demon tribe he encountered there, Suho had received a quest from Sung Jin-Woo's vision.
[Urgent quest: Prove your worthiness!]
A vision of the Shadow Monarch 'Sung Jin-Woo' demands proof of his qualifications from his son. Defeat Javier, the Demon Illusionist, and awaken a new Shadow Skill. In the course of this quest, Suho learned the "Monarch's Dominion", but this was only a self-enlightenment, not a reward from the quest itself.
There was a separate Shadow Power that he received after completing the quest. That's this new Shadow Skill.
[Skill: Shadow Exchange Lv.1]
Shadow Skill.
No Mana required.
You can swap the position of the specified Shadow Soldier and caster. Once cast, a 3-hour cooldown must pass before it can be used again. The waiting time depends on your skill level.
This skill allowed the Shadow Soldier to change their position no matter where they were, and it was almost like teleportation. As soon as Suho saw this skill, he immediately understood what it was. "It's like a gate." This ability was quite familiar to Suho, who usually used his shadow as a gate to freely enter and exit the underworld of the Shadow Dungeon. After a few exercises, Suho immediately understood the usefulness of this skill, and then sent the shadow soldier Kira to India with Ryo Singh just in case.
This is the result.
Boom!
"Kraaa!!"
[Haha! You can hold your ground? That's impressive!]
[High Priest, No, Greed! That's because we've been weakened!]
Shadow Soldiers Greed and Iron laughed heartily as they slashed the unbelievably large and hideous giant of the Naga family. Ryo Singh, who was watching the wondrous scene from behind, couldn't help but drop his jaw.
'Oh my God. Were Suho's summons always that strong?' With a human-like upper body and a sea snake monster on the lower body, "Naga" was a quasi-boss-level monster that only appeared occasionally in advanced dungeons. The size and strength of each individual varied greatly, but the steel-like scales that covered their entire body were so protective that they could be used as materials for various materials such as armor and shields. "And yet they shatter like it's nothing…"
[Uh-huh!]
[Hahahaha!]
"Krarak-! Kyaa!!"
Bang! Boom! Bang!
The Shadow Soldiers' relentless onslaught had crumpled and torn the Naga's scales, tough and hard, like a sheet of paper. "That's at least as good as an A rank, maybe even an S rank Hunter. These monstrous monsters were destroyed by a single Hunter." Ryo Singh couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't believe it even when he saw it himself, so he wondered if anyone would believe him if he told it.
Still, 'They are dangerous either way! According to the information, I was sure they were Nagas...!' Ryo Singh, like an elite, had learned as much information as he could about the Naga before coming here. A high-level demon beast that is skilled in both outgoing combat and magic, making even seasoned hunters struggle. Even high-level demonstrators always rode in groups, so the difficulty of attacking them was quite high. And this information was very rare due to the appearance of the Naga so it was not yet widely disseminated to the public.
Ryo Singh shouted urgently. "Suho! Be careful! I've heard that the Naga swarm in groups of at least 30 of them–" But before he could say that, all the Naga hiding in the lake came out all at once. Then he ran over the side of Greed and Iron, who were dealing with one of them.
Swaaaaa!
Too bad for them, because they weren't outnumbered either.
Smirk.
"Do you guys want to enjoy a feast?" Suho opened his mouth with a meaningful smile. "Arise."
!!!
At that moment, the Shadow Soldiers rose from the shadow of the guardian in unison. It was a sight to behold as they fought against dozens of Naga. And Ryo Singh finally realized it. 'Oh my God. It wasn't just a new powerful summon.' The identity of the suspicion that had lingered in the back of his head the entire time he had been following Suho. '....He is a hunter who can grow!'
A hunter's power does not change. That was basic common sense. Hunters can refine their skills and become more proficient in fighting demons through training and runestones, but the Hunter's fundamental power, which is determined at the same time as awakening, will never change.
However, he didn't know that there was a Hunter who ignored such common sense and was growing day by day. And to think it was right in front of him the whole time!
'Such a stupid thing!! Why am I only now aware of this?' Ryo Singh lamented his narrow-sightedness. Even though summoners vary depending on the number of summons, he was finally convinced that his comrade-in-arms, who had passed through life and death with him many times, has special abilities!
Then it dawned on him.
"...Oh right! Jackson! Jackson!" This was not the time to think. Ryo Singh belatedly came to his senses and rescued Jackson from the unconscious inside the overturned truck. The state of the truck was so badly wrecked that the driver was killed instantly, but Jackson, a Class C Hunter, was fortunately unscathed.
[Hmm. Don't worry, he's not dead.]
Before he knew it, Beru had approached Jackson, checked on him, and flew straight to Suho. Then, Suho, who was in charge of the battle, came up to Jackson in an instant and poured a potion into his mouth.
"...Cough!"
Ryo Singh breathed a sigh of relief as Jackson's bleeding forehead wound gradually healed. It was at this moment that he realized that he was responsible for dragging his old subordinate, Jackson, into his pursuit of a promotion. At the same time, he was horrified to realize once again how special a hunter Suho was. He just couldn't believe that the latter could summon S rank summons like that and at the same time have the ability to be a healer. Is this the level of a special path that Suho can walk on?
"Suho! I have a favor to ask of you!" Ryo Singh helped Jackson to his senses as he urgently called for Suho. He already had an unrepayable debt from being saved, but he had no choice except to ask for help. "All the power of our Asura Guild is here right now! But it's so strange that the Naga are still haunting the field from the very beginning!"
He was right.
This is the beginning of the Field Dungeon. The Asura Guild that came in to attack this field had no choice but to pass by this place. So how likely is it that such a large horde of magic beasts could have gone unnoticed?
"I don't think they would have let them go unpurposed, and I'm sure something big happened that we didn't know about..."
"Perhaps they've been let free."
"Huh?" The answer did not come from the mouth of the guardian. 'Doh, lizards?' Ryo Singh was taken aback. Before he knew it, a small flying lizard perched on Suho's shoulder was looking around with a stern look in his eyes. "Hmm. I thought there would be remnants of the Naga family that were still alive. After all, the only ones who survive the war are the cowards." As soon as the cub dragon Ragnar regains its mana, Antares quickly regains his body. His gaze scanned the Nagas, and then he opened his eyes at the familiar energy vibrating on the shore of the lake.
"Well this is certainly peculiar. Somewhere in here, I can feel the energy of the Draconic people."
"Dragons?"
"Yes. The Draconic people, like the Naga family, were one of the many tribes that served our people. Every single one of them was wiped out by your father."
"And implemented into the shadow army."
"Yes. However, I don't know why this place smells like dragon people. I wonder if there are survivors like them."
Just then, the battle was over.
Bam! Thud!
"Huh, already?!" Ryo Singh was horrified by the sight of so many Nagas collapsing. Suho nodded with a satisfied smile as he looked at Greed and Iron among the Shadow Corps that had cleared out the Naga.
"Well, dead or not, a career job is a career job." Greed and Iron, who once served in the Shadow Monarch Sung Jin-Woo's legion, were now new soldiers who had just joined Suho's army. However they were also experienced recruits who had a knack for wanting to command the Shadow Soldiers under them.
If you think about it, it was to be expected. In his previous life, Greed was an S rank hunter who belonged to the strongest guild representing the United States, Scavenger. Iron is also a promising ace of the White Tiger Guild, who was one of the best guilds in Korea in his previous life, and A rank hunter Kim Chul.
They were not only strong in their bodies, but they were also corps commander-level soldiers who were adept at commanding soldiers.
[Lord Suho, I have returned from a successful hunt according to my orders!]
Greed and Iron hunted down the Naga and then sent the other soldiers to drag the massive corpses in front of Suho, even though Suho had not given them any orders.
[Young lord, why don't you take these Nagas as Shadow Soldiers?]
[They may be stupid, but they are quite useful animals for livestock.]
They had been Sung Jin-Woo's soldiers for a long time, and they knew a lot like Beru. Antares looked at Naga's corpse and said with a bite in his mouth. "Child of Shadows. You know what? Originally, Nagas were cowards who hid in the deep water because they didn't want to fall prey to our Berserk Dragons."
"Prey?"
"Yes. They have a lot of flesh and are therefore the perfect prey."
Gulp.
Antares, who had been swallowing his tongue as he explained the Naga, proclaimed proudly.
"I, Antares, Dragon Emperor and Monarch of Destruction, declare that I shall eat them all! In order to increase the magic of this despicable Ragnar a little!"
"Oh, okay."
Suho readily agreed. Anyway, once he extracted them as a shadow soldier, he didn't care about the corpse of the demon beast. Of course, if you put it on the market, you can sell it at a high price, but it was much more profitable for Suho to have more magic power than money.
[This is a target that can be extracted.]
[This is a target that can be extracted.]
....
"Arise."
At the guardian's command, the shadows of the giant Naga swirled in unison, and they stood.
"Huh?!"
"W-whathe!"
The sight of wonder caused Ryo Singh and Jackson to collapse their legs and fall to their ground. The great magic beasts that had been thought to be dead had risen from the dead! They were a little smaller than before, but the sight of black steam burning all over their bodies was haunting. Ignoring their surprise, however, Suho chose the strongest of them and saved him as his shadow soldier.
[Please give a name to the soldier.]
As usual, he was prompted to name the soldier. "Well, how about– . No, let's say Gordon."
[Do you want to save 'Gordon'?]
"Yes." Suho gave him the name 'Gordon' without thinking about it. This added a powerful giant demon beast to the Guardian Shadow Legion. But Suho's bigger concern was something else. It's a former quest. While hunting this Naga swarm, he reached a whopping level of 4, and as a result...
[Level: 87]
Suho glanced at the status window and smiled faintly as he stared ahead.
"...This was a much better place than I thought, wasn't it?"
Antares advised him with a stern look. "Either waym you must be wary of the dragons that– Beep?" Ragnar was back.
[The King of Dragons, Monarch of Destruction, is upset and clutches his face.]
[The King of Dragons, Monarch of Destruction, nags to feed Ragnar those Nagas...]