Suho also knew about Liu Zhigang.
'China's one and only 6-star Hunter. I heard he was a 7-star in his previous life.'
How ironic. To think he would encounter another National Level Hunter while searching for Siddharth Bachchan. Moreover, it seemed that an apostle of Itarim was already dwelling within him. Suho nodded as he saw the blue mana constantly leaking from Liu Zhigang's entire body.
'As expected, my assumption that Itarim would have approached all of the National Level Hunters was correct.'
Although he was surprised to encounter Liu Zhigang in an unexpected place, it was a favorable situation since it could expedite things.
[My liege! Quickly give him the spring water from the Echo Forest…!]
Suho immediately took out the antidote potion from his inventory. However, giving it to Liu Zhigang was the problem. Would it be possible to get through the ceaseless attacks that were being scattered all around and feed him the potion? It seemed that the method of spraying it on his body, like with Thomas Andre, would also be difficult. As expected, the best method was conversation, but the language barrier was the issue. Since Suho didn't know any Chinese, conversation with Liu Zhigang was impossible in the first place. Moreover, there were no shadow soldiers that could speak that language.
"Then, as expected, the method is…"
[Don't worry! I will quickly catch a passing Chinese person and devour their brain…!]
"Stop it."
Suho hurriedly grabbed Beru, who was about to leave to find a 'snack'. It would be faster to find an Indian who was proficient in Chinese than to find (and eat) a Chinese person in India. And there just happened to be someone capable of doing that, rushing over from over there.
"Suho! I'm here! Huh! Liu…?! Liu Zhigang?!"
"Why is China's Liu Zhigang here…!"
Rio Singh and Jackson, who were following a step behind Suho with the shadow naga Gordon, widened their eyes at the sight of Liu Zhigang.
"Rio Singh! Can you interpret Chinese?"
"Of course! I am the elite of the Asura Guild! I can speak 10 languages!"
[Kieek? Is that so! I understand your will, my liege! If I just eat this human's brain, everything will go smoothly… Kkuik.]
Squish. Suho's foot lightly stomped on Beru, who was licking his lips and flying towards Rio Singh.
"Rio Singh! From now on, interpret what I say to Liu Zhigang!"
"Got it!" Rio Singh confidently nodded and shouted towards Liu Zhigang, who was fighting Greed.
"Liu Zhigang! We are not your enemies…!"
Boom!
However, the current situation was too intense to be resolved through conversation.
Kaboom!
The sword energy that Liu Zhigang unleashed lightly grazed Greed's body and bisected the forest behind him.
[Huh?!] Seeing Liu Zhigang suddenly change direction and charge towards Suho, Greed gritted his teeth and chased after him.
[How dare you try to bypass me and aim for our liege!] However…
Slash!
[…!]
At that moment, Liu Zhigang suddenly flipped his body in mid-air and aimed for Greed's weak point again.
Boom!
Greed barely blocked his attack and gritted his teeth. Their eyes shone brightly, and powerful energy clashed against each other.
Smirk. A faint smile appeared on Liu Zhigang's lips as he glared at Greed.
"Confirmed. As expected, you guys were all in cahoots."
There was no formality in Liu Zhigang's battle. The past two years of hardship had made him that way. A limitlessly free attack and defense where the boundaries between falsehood and truth had crumbled. That was the path of martial arts that he had reached in this life—
'Berserker'
'Butcher'
'Sword Demon'
This was the reason why such vicious nicknames were attached to the man who was once a National Level Hunter.
[Indeed, this is the Liu Zhigang of this timeline!]
A deep smile also appeared on Greed's lips. He clearly remembered the fame of Liu Zhigang from his previous life. Although it was a shame that the power of a National Level Hunter, like back then, was gone, Greed himself was also considerably weaker than when he was Sung Jinwoo's soldier.
[I'll go at you with all I have.]
Kaboom! In an instant, the beautiful scenery was blown up, and an apocalyptic aftermath spread all around.
"Oh my god. What in the world…"
"Is this Liu Zhigang's power…"
Rio Singh and Jackson were speechless in front of the tremendous spectacle. And at the same time, a question arose in their minds, namely the presence of Greed, who was fighting Liu Zhigang without being pushed back at all.
'No way. He's on par with Liu Zhigang?'
'Moreover, it's not even Hunter Sung Suho fighting directly, how can a mere summon have such power…!'
Especially for Rio Singh, who knew the number of summons Suho usually wielded, the shock was beyond words. They were all scattered now, following Suho's orders, but what if all those soldiers gathered here?
'Does Liu Zhigang even stand a chance?'
Rio Singh gave up trying to imagine it. However, now was not the time to leisurely watch the fight. Their lives were in danger if they got caught up in the aftermath.
"Jackson! Let's fall back for now! It's not a situation where conversation is possible right now!"
Rio Singh and Jackson gave up on interpreting and hurriedly retreated. However, they weren't the only ones being swept away by the aftermath of the battle and panicking.
"Kieek!"
"Kiruk!"
The dragonids, who had encountered and fought Liu Zhigang a step ahead of Greed, were also caught in the crossfire. Suho, watching them, narrowed his eyes as he looked at the names floating above their heads.
[Variant 8]
[Variant 8]
'Variant 8?'
Suho left Liu Zhigang to Greed for a while and focused on the unfamiliar appearance of the dragonids. Half-human, half-dragon. They were a race with an ambiguous appearance that was closer to humans than lizardmen. But aside from their appearance, blue mana was gushing out from the 'star pieces' embedded throughout their bodies. Just like the foreign religion cultists in the black market!
"Don't tell me they implanted star pieces into magical beasts as well?"
He was really seeing all sorts of strange things since coming to this country. It was surprising enough that unawakened citizens were living in a field-type dungeon wearing stardust necklaces, but now even magical beasts were walking around with star pieces implanted in them.
"Antares! Do you know anything about those variants?"
"Beep? …Hmm." At Suho's question, Ragnar's eyes suddenly turned stern. A displeased expression appeared on his cute face.
"A disgrace to dragonkind. To think such half-baked creatures were born." The emotion that appeared in Antares's eyes as he looked at the dragonids, or rather, the variants, was clear displeasure and contempt.
"Half-baked?"
"Those guys weren't born through normal means. Someone must have found undeveloped dragon eggs"
"Undeveloped dragon eggs?"
[My liege, could that be…?] In an instant, the same thought occurred to Suho and Beru as they looked at each other.
"Could those be the ones that my Mother found before…?"
[I believe they are the dragon eggs that were empty, my liege.]
The numerous dragon eggs that Cha Hae-In and Sirka had found in the Tomb of Berserk Dragons. They later said that except for the small egg from which Ragnar had hatched, all the rest had scattered into dust as soon as they were touched.
"…You're saying they were hatched from those?"
"It's not so much that they were hatched, but rather that the dragon energy contained within the eggs was extracted and injected into other races. So-called, 'forced evolution'."
Antares seemed extremely displeased. No matter how much he claimed to be uninterested in anything other than destruction and ruin, it was a matter of pride that those of his own 'Dragon race' were being treated as experimental subjects by someone.
"How dare they." Antares's gaze towards the variants was incredibly fierce.
"Okay. Let's figure out what's happening in this country after we deal with this mess. Harmakan." Suho nodded, then looked around at the surroundings that were being destroyed on an apocalyptic scale, his eyes gleaming.
[You called?] The shadow mage Harmakan rose from the ground at Suho's call.
"Capture all the variants. And find out what their condition is…"
[I will thoroughly investigate them.]
Swoosh! Harmakan immediately reached out towards the variants.
At the same time, Suho shouted, "Sillad!"
[The King of the Snow Folk and the Monarch of Frost, watches you.]
Suho felt the gaze of that being and boldly opened his mouth: "Activate Blizzard of Frost."
Fwooosh! – At that moment a true apocalypse began on this land.
[Using Skill: 'Blizzard of Frost'.]
[Mana required: 100 per second.]
The Blizzard of Frost that had once turned the island of Pasad into a glacier had struck India.
"Kieek!"
Eventually, the variants that were scattered all over the place began to freeze. Even the mighty Liu Zhigang could not be free from the powerful blizzard that covered the area.
[Debuff: 'Curse of the Frost' applied.]
[Attack speed reduced by: 30%.]
[Movement speed reduced by: 30%.]
"…He's even more vicious than I thought. To use such a wide-area skill, regardless of whether his subordinates get caught up in it." Liu Zhigang, who misunderstood that the variants, as well as Greed, were in cahoots with Suho, frowned. However, his decision was swift.
'I'll strike the root cause of all this first!' His figure immediately shot through the blizzard towards Suho.
Kwang!
The two horns of Vulcan, which were now in Suho's hands, clashed against Liu Zhigang's swords.
[My liege!]
"Greed!" Suho stopped Greed, who was approaching to help him. And Suho's eyes, meeting Liu Zhigang's directly, deepened immensely.
'An apostle of Itarim…'
Was it because of the blizzard? The scene from 'that time' was unfolding in Suho's mind right now. The moment when his mother, Cha Hae-In, had cut down an apostle of Itarim with a single sword strike. That beautiful and marvelous power.
'What about me now?'
Thump.
Thump.
He was curious. Now that his level was higher than back then. Could his current power reach even his mother's? Therefore…
'I'll go all out.'
'————!'
Finally, Suho's power finally clashed with Liu Zhigang's. The tremendous shockwaves caused the Blizzard of Frost to flutter mercilessly, shaking the whole world.
"…"
And all this time, The Dragon Emperor Antares silently watched Suho with a cold gaze. From beginning to end. Without taking his eyes off him even once.
"…Smirk."
"Well, he's not bad for a brat." Finally, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
The wind stopped…