In an instant, Jin-Woo became the Shadow Monarch from the data he had summoned. That was when he realized it—a magic heart was beating inside his chest. An endless torrent of powerful mana was pouring out from it. Was this merely a hallucination? The way to check was simple.
"Status Window."
Jin-Woo brought up his status window without removing his hand from the angel statue's neck. Among the many stats listed, the one he wanted to verify was the mana figure the System had labeled as Mana Points.
[MP: 109,433]
Jin-Woo's eyes widened.
'One hundred thousand?'
Even seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn't believe it. The last time he had checked, his mana had been in the nine-thousands. He had verified it right before departing for this place, so there was no margin of error. Yet now it had increased more than tenfold. But that wasn't the only surprising change.
'The title?'
The title slot kept flickering as though it had been modified. He hadn't selected anything, yet the title had changed. The new title was "Demon Slayer"—a title whose information hadn't been unlocked, so he had left it alone until now. Jin-Woo checked the title's information.
[Title: Demon Slayer] "Requirement fulfilled." You have recovered the memory of slaying Baran, the Demon King and White Flame Monarch. A tremendous power has acknowledged the player as its master. Effect "Black Heart": Mana +100,000
"Black Heart!"
That was why his mana had surged to an absurd level. An additional 100,000 mana. That was the power to regenerate his shadow soldiers into something close to infinity. Suddenly, Jin-Woo recalled the Shadow Monarch he had seen within the data. Under a sky blanketed in silver soldiers—they were his Undying Legion. They overwhelmed their enemies through endless cycles of resurrection. Even the silver soldiers, who had easily subdued an equal number of magical beasts, could not withstand the shadow soldiers' regeneration and were eventually forced to retreat. Had reinforcements not arrived in time, the silver soldiers would have been wiped out entirely. All of that was the power of the Monarch's vast mana reserves within the data.
"If that's the case…"
The moment that thought reached his mind—that with this "Black Heart" effect alone, his own shadow soldiers could become an Undying Legion—a shudder ran through his entire body.
"How… you?"
Jin-Woo raised his head. The trembling voice came from the angel statue's mouth. For the first time, Jin-Woo saw an expression on the angel statue other than a smile or rage. The emotion its face conveyed was fear. The angel statue stared at Jin-Woo, its voice laced with disbelief and terror.
"How can you maintain your will even after obtaining the Black Heart?" 'What did you say?'
Hearing the creature's response, Jin-Woo quickly realized two things. First, the "Black Heart" that had appeared in him was not something the angel statue had deliberately induced. And second, the result would not have been a good thing for him.
Crack. As Jin-Woo tightened his grip, cracks began to spread across the angel statue's neck.
"Kuh!"
The angel statue's face contorted in pain.
"What is a 'Player'? What were you trying to do to me?"
Jin-Woo kept his guard up, ready to crush the neck at any moment, and demanded answers. But the angel statue seemed too distressed to reply.
"The… the Shadow Monarch, you…! Do you think the other Monarchs will stand for this?!"
The angel statue glared at Jin-Woo and spewed nonsense. Crunch! Jin-Woo's fingers sank into the statue's neck. Now it would only take a flick of his finger to shatter it. The pain was transmitted fully.
"Kuaaah!"
The angel statue let out a pained scream toward the sky. Jin-Woo had many things he wanted to ask.
"Answer my question."
That was the right he had earned as the result of the trial. It was perfectly fair to demand payment for a promise kept. At that moment, a red light flashed from the angel statue.
"Huh!" "What is that?"
At the Hunters' cries of alarm, Jin-Woo turned his head.
"Those… those things!" "They're coming!"
The statues and sculptures that had moved to one corner of the chamber had red light gleaming in their eyes. They had begun to move.
"Ha ha."
The angel statue laughed loudly.
"Now that you've killed me, no one can stop my puppets. Can you still kill me?" It was looking at Jin-Woo with that kind of gaze. Lower beings had many weaknesses. If this creature was human, this could easily serve as one. Surely among them there were those he called friends. But contrary to the angel statue's expectations, Jin-Woo smiled.
'He's… smiling?'
Jin-Woo spoke.
"What if I kill you first, and then deal with the puppets?"
The flustered angel statue hastily replied.
"If you kill me, the designer of the System—"
"I've considered that too."
Jin-Woo cut off the angel statue's words, and his gaze had the same quality as the angel statue's when it had surveyed the Hunters.
"If the System's designer disappears, it doesn't mean the System that's already been built will be destroyed, does it?"
The angel statue was caught off guard. This human even knew the part it had deliberately left unmentioned. A lapse in judgment. It had forgotten the standard by which it had chosen this human. From the start, he had been adept at discerning rules.
"If it comes to this, I'll force it!"
The angel statue activated its last card.
Ding!
[System is blocking the System Administrator's access.] [System is blocking the System Administrator's access.] [System is blocking the System Administrator's access.]
Ding! Ding!
The mechanical chime continued to ring out repeatedly after that. But only the same message kept appearing.
[System is blocking the System Administrator's access.]
The angel statue's face went rigid. It had tried to use the System to accomplish something, but the System itself did not seem to be on the angel statue's side. When Jin-Woo shrugged his shoulders, the angel statue thrashed about.
"Aaaargh, you!"
If it wasn't going to answer…
'No reason to keep it alive.'
Jin-Woo released the angel statue's neck and simultaneously launched his mana-infused left fist. BOOM—! The shockwave that pierced through the angel statue left a massive hole in the wall behind it. RRRROOOM—! A momentary silence fell over the surroundings. An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. Jin-Woo delivered a fitting punishment to the angel statue that had tried to use him. The angel statue's body—its head and half its upper torso completely gone—slid slowly down the wall.
'It's a shame I couldn't get an answer.'
But in the end, it was a creature that had tried to deceive him from the start. Could anything from such a creature's mouth be trusted?
'That's enough.'
As if to shake off the lingering regret, Jin-Woo casually dusted the dirt off his left hand. Just then, a desperate voice calling out to him burst forth.
"Hunter Sung!"
Ah. Jin-Woo turned around. He had been so focused on the angel statue that he had completely forgotten about the sculptures. They were attacking the Hunters without mercy, just as the angel statue had ordered before it died.
"Hunter Sung!"
Choi Jong-In was using magic to hold the sculptures at bay while desperately searching for Jin-Woo. Even as he shouted, the sculptures were swarming in.
Thwack! Woo Jin-Cheol took a blow to the jaw from a sculpture and staggered. Struggling to stay balanced on wobbling legs, he glanced left and right. The sight of Hunters locked in fierce combat with the monsters bearing down on them, their blood and sweat spraying everywhere, filled his vision. His mind went blank. Wait. What was I doing just now?
'Oh no.'
When he came to his senses, a sculpture was right in front of his face. It was checking what had struck its jaw. It was as thick as several encyclopedias stacked together. The shape was that of a book, but the material was stone, so his head had been knocked sideways.
'Wait… thick books count as weapons now?'
Though it was a brief moment, the memory of a criminal law ruling he had once seen on TV flashed through his mind, and he let out a short laugh. There was no strength left to block, no strength left to dodge, let alone fight back. So he just grinned and lowered his hand, and—BOOM! The sculpture, its waist split in two, was flung away as if swept up in an explosion.
"Huh…?"
His senses snapped back to full alert. He blinked and shook his head, and a familiar man was standing beside him.
"Are you okay?" "I…"
Nothing but a sigh escaped him. The man was Sung Jin-Woo. Woo Jin-Cheol, who had been wearing a stunned expression upon seeing him, managed to ask.
"Did you just… with your bare hands—?"
"We'll talk details later."
Jin-Woo left Woo Jin-Cheol behind and rushed forward. As he looked around, something glinting in the light caught his eye. It was the Demon King's Dagger.
'Found it!'
Jin-Woo reached out toward the dagger. The "Invisible Hand" took effect, and the dagger was sucked into his palm. Click. The grip was always superb when it settled into his hand. BOOM! After kicking a sculpture that had been blocking his path out of the way, Jin-Woo began slicing through the sculptures that were clinging to the Hunters. Huhhh. He took a deep breath. In this slowed-down time, he alone was free. Then Jin-Woo's figure vanished, and he began destroying the sculptures with movements even the higher-ranked Hunters could not follow. Slash! Clatter! Four sculptures collapsed at once. The Hunters who had barely escaped danger thanks to Jin-Woo stood with their mouths agape.
"Huh…?"
Woo Jin-Cheol, who had quietly approached beside them, spoke softly.
"That's the only reaction you get, huh?" "…Yeah."
The Hunters nodded.
"Same here."
No matter how many times he had seen it, all that came out was an exclamation. Woo Jin-Cheol smiled bitterly and put a cigarette in his mouth. An agent from the Surveillance Division stepped up beside him.
"Chief, is it okay for you to just stand here?" "Why?" "Right now Hunter Sung is fighting the monsters and…"
The Surveillance Division agent turned his head toward Jin-Woo.
"Huh…?"
Woo Jin-Cheol put the cigarette into the agent's open mouth and lit it for him.
"Do you see any place where we could step in?" "I… don't." "Then just shut up and smoke." "Yes."
The Hunters gathered around Woo Jin-Cheol, watching Jin-Woo with eyes full of awe. Woo Jin-Cheol's cigarette was gone in no time. For some reason, the tip of his nose stung.
'He probably doesn't even know how many times we would have died here.'
Watching Jin-Woo single-handedly sweep aside the monsters that had seemed like insurmountable walls, a rush of relief and overwhelming elation surged through them.
"Chief, are you crying?" "No, you brat. It's the cigarette—too harsh." "It's harsh for me too." "Same." "Me too."
All the Hunters, as if the cigarette were especially harsh today, had tears brimming in their eyes. BOOM! Son Gi-Hoon blocked a punch from the large statue with his shield and gasped.
"Cough!"
His knees were trembling. Without a healer, he had to endure all the impact on his own, but this was as far as he could go.
"Someone… someone help!"
When he managed to turn his head, he saw the Hunters standing around doing nothing. No—he was here alone taking the full brunt of the statue's attacks, bleeding like crazy, and why was nobody lifting a finger to help? Son Gi-Hoon flew into a rage and shouted.
"What are you all doing?!"
The Hunters simultaneously pointed upward. Thinking it meant an attack was coming from above, Son Gi-Hoon flinched and raised his shield in a panic. But no attack came.
'…?'
Come to think of it, it had been strangely quiet around him for a while.
'What?'
He peeked under his shield, and all the nearby sculptures had been knocked down.
"What the—?"
Startled, he lifted his shield. The sky above was wide open. There stood the massive statue, towering like a building, and on its shoulder—Jin-Woo.
"Huh…?"
Before Son Gi-Hoon could even finish being surprised—THOOM! Half of the remaining face of the statue blew apart under Jin-Woo's fist. Having lost its head, the statue began to sway.
"Huh? Huh?"
Sensing something wrong, Son Gi-Hoon bolted. True to his instinct, the statue crashed down on the spot where he had just been. BOOM—! A cloud of thick dust billowed up, enveloping the entire interior. Cough, cough! Choi Jong-In spat out a cough and pushed through the dust to reach Cha Hae-In.
"Hunter Cha." "Guild Leader…?" "Are you okay? Can you stand?"
She was lying on the ground groaning and shook her head. There wasn't a single uninjured spot on her body. Choi Jong-In furrowed his brow with pity.
"I'll help you. Let's try standing up carefully."
As Choi Jong-In reached to support her, Jin-Woo—who had finished dealing with all the sculptures—appeared beside him.
"May I help Hunter Cha up?" "Pardon?"
Choi Jong-In raised his head toward the voice. In that instant, he felt—though only faintly—Cha Hae-In push his hand away. Choi Jong-In answered without thinking.
"Ah, yes. Go ahead."
Jin-Woo swiftly lifted Cha Hae-In into his arms. Her face flushed red.
"Just hold on a little."
Jin-Woo ran to the entrance and kicked the door. BOOM! A locked door was nothing a single kick couldn't handle. The door that had withstood even the efforts of higher-ranked Hunters shattered and flew outward. Gently laying Cha Hae-In outside the door, Jin-Woo summoned the Shop. Her condition was not good. He purchased an advanced healing potion and poured it into her mouth. Gulp, gulp. Her wounds began to heal at a remarkable pace.
"How…?" "Shh."
Jin-Woo raised his index finger. Now was not the time for explanations. One by one, the Hunters filed outside. Call it a silver lining. They all looked terrible, but no one appeared to need emergency treatment. Jin-Woo closed the Shop. The Hunters, who had no knowledge of the potion, widened their eyes in astonishment when Cha Hae-In stood up perfectly fine.
"Huh? Hunter Cha, just a moment ago you were…"
She had been about to answer automatically, but she glanced at Jin-Woo and caught herself.
"Now isn't the time to explain all that—let's talk outside first."
The Hunters all agreed.
"Are there any more survivors?"
She asked Jin-Woo, whose senses were the sharpest. Jin-Woo, who had surveyed the interior, shook his head. The people standing here numbered exactly seventeen. More than half of the Hunters who had entered were dead. The joy of survival lasted only a moment, and the atmosphere turned somber.
"Then."
Cha Hae-In turned to leave with a stiff expression, but Jin-Woo caught her wrist. Cha Hae-In looked at him. The reason the Hunters' strike team had found this place was the second thing—he had something else on his mind.
"Um… what happened to Japan?"
Having entered this place just before the S-rank Gate's dungeon break occurred, Jin-Woo was curious about the situation in Japan. Cha Hae-In hesitated before finally finding the right words.
"It's fallen."