Chairman Go sat in his office when he stumbled upon the news saying two National Level Hunters had been found dead.
"What?!" He gasped.
National Level Hunters were the world's strongest warriors. If anything should cause them to lose their lives, it would most definitely be a fight amongst they themselves.
But the bodies of both Jonas and Siddharth were found in their respective countries.
Unless… there was a bigger threat lurking in the shadows that hunted them down, and killed them.
As if what for his thoughts to strike that particular cord, everywhere just silent.
The sound from the tapping of keyboard keys didn't come. The sound of the usual Seoul night traffic, the news playing on the TV. They were all gone.
His brows furrowed. He knew something was wrong.
Then the lights suddenly flickered for a few seconds before finally going off.
He stood up and walked to the glass walls behind him, looking down at the city before hearing a voice from behind him.
"Come out now,"
Go Gun-Hee frowned, slowly turned back, noticing a silhouette on the couch by the side, sitting with one leg crossed over the other.
The mana that the person emitted was immense, unlike anything he'd come across before. But most of all, the one thing that alarmed his senses - he didn't understand what the person said, because it was in monster language.
"Who are you?" Chairman Go asked.
The silhouette stood up, walking into the dim light casted by the full moon outside. It was Tarnak, the Monarch of Iron Body.
"Come out already, fragment of brilliant light," Tarnak muttered.
… …
Meanwhile, inside the second red gate, the S-ranks stood in front of what seemed to be an army of orcs and trolls, flanked out side by side in a cave-palace kind of setting.
And in front of them was a massive orc with what looked like horns on its head, sitting on a throne.
The drums finally died down and they were stopped right in front of the massive orc.
It held a transparent orb in its hand and when it started to speak, the orb glowed a faint green. Its words came out in monster tongue, but when the orb glowed, the hunters could understand what it was saying.
"Ah, I wanted to see the humans who dared to walk into my territory with my own eyes before killing them," It said with a grin, before raising its hands. "Kill them."
From behind, the orcs and trolls started attacking and killing the weakest hunters, but then the shadows of the S-ranks started to move and Jinwoo's shadow soldiers emerged from them.
The slaughter paused as the trolls and orcs examined the shadows who now went on to attack the monsters.
"Aren't this Hunter Sung's shadows?" Yoonho asked no one in particular.
They were all interrupted, when an orc got slammed to the top of the cave. It remained there, unable to come down, holding onto something invisible that was pressing on its neck.
After a short fight for its life, it gave up.
From behind, the orc king could notice its army parting for whoever was walking in.
The hunters also parted as they recognized the person that was approaching. It was Sung Jinwoo.
"I need all of you to stay close," he stated as he walked to the front.
Then orc king leaned forward. "Who are you—"
"I have a lot of things to handle, so don't waste my time," Jinwoo muttered. "Arise!"
His shadow soldiers started to form round the gathered hunter who stared in awe at the true capabilities of the county's eleventh S-rank.
"Attack," Jinwoo muttered an instantly, Beru and Igris bolted towards the orc king while the other shadows handled the minor orcs and trolls.
… …
The first red gate turned normal and Minho walked out of the dungeon.
The guards who were supposed to be on standby were missing. "Hm? To think they'd let the dungeon be this unguarded."
But then, a sudden wave of mana hit him, followed by an explosion he could hear thanks to to his keen hearing.
He summoned Eslin who transformed into her dragon form and got on, heading to the source of the noise and mana.
Eslin soared through the sky, before closing in on the Hunters Association Headquarters who's top floors were disastrous shape.
Minho jumped off, diving down.
Numerous hunters lay dead, their bodies scattered in the destroyed area.
From a crater, Go Gun-Hee stood up staggering, blood trickling from his forehead. His body looked battered and he was bleeding from different parts.
Tarnak walked out of a dust cloud, heading towards Chairman Go. "You really are one different vessel. I never thought you would give me a tough time, but here we are." Tarnak chuckled.
Chairman Go still not understanding, asked. "Did you kill the other National Level Hunters?"
He took a fighting stance as Tarnak started to pick pace.
The Monarch threw a punch, but Chairman Go managed to deflect it a bit before receiving a punch to the gut, making him cough blood as he flew into building.
Chairman Go hit the ground, his body refused to move. Not that he was done, but he was too old to keep using his powers. This much had already decided to kill him.
He just wanted was to save everyone from this monster, even if he was going to die, but his calculations were wrong. He was going to leave such a threat behind for the world.
'Was I a bad leader? Did I not make right choices? Hmm, I hope they manage to forgive me for my mistake,' he thought.
Tarnak was charging at Go Gun-Hee, ready to finish him, when flames erupted from his side.
Before he could turn to see what was coming, a flaming punch connected with his face, sending him crashing into several buildings.
Minho stood with his right arm enveloped in flames.
Go Gun-Hee's vision was already blurring when Minho walked over to him. "Who… who is that?" he muttered before passing out.
[Using Monarch's Vitality on target]
After making sure Go Gun-Hee was getting healed, Minho turned to face the threat.
Tarnak jumped out of the building he was in and landed a few feet away from Minho, his face cracked and his eyes blazing.