The Shadow Monarch had an overwhelming advantage. He could have erased them from existence whenever he wished, yet they sought reconciliation. It was a show of respect for the greatest warrior among them, who had once led the Legion of Radiance and stood at the forefront against the forces of the Monarchs. Though the Shadow Monarch had not been their leader, his comrades had revered him above any leader. Thus, they ignored the command of their own leader, the most radiant of Radiance, to destroy the Shadow Monarch and instead fell to their knees.
[We have no reason to fight anymore.]
The Shadow Monarch’s fiery voice shook the earth.
[What do you mean, no reason?]
The Shadow Monarch seized the pleading Ruler by the throat and forced him to his feet.
[Did your swords and spears not harm my liege?] [He was our master as well.] [Which makes your sin all the more terrible!]
The Rulers maintained a respectful attitude toward the furious Shadow Monarch.
[No one knows better than you how we felt when we raised our hands against him.]
When the Shadow Monarch lifted his head, the soldiers who had gathered in the sky were looking down at him with worried eyes. Loyal soldiers. How could he not know the pain of watching them die at the hands of the enemy? He was the one who had led them on countless battlefields, shedding blood for their master.
[We only wished to end this war.]
The Shadow Monarch’s grip on the Ruler’s throat loosened ever so slightly.
[And now that chance has finally come.] [Yes, you can end it.]
The Shadow Monarch picked up the fallen sword and placed it in the Ruler’s hand.
[Use this sword to cut me down.]
Then he turned to the other Rulers and shouted.
[Drive your spears through my heart! That is what you call an end! You will be the victors of this war!]
But soon the sword fell limply from the Ruler’s hand. Not a single other Ruler raised a spear against the Shadow Monarch. Instead, only a desperate voice returned.
[Won’t you please forgive us now?]
Yet their desperation pained the Shadow Monarch more than any weapon. When he had lost his subordinates, lost his liege, and was himself trapped in eternal darkness, it was vengeance that had driven him. He had endured all this time fueled by vengeance against them. He had led the army of the dead with the sole conviction of making them pay the proper price. But how could he hate those who begged for forgiveness, saying they wanted to free their soldiers from a war with no end in sight? He who had fought to protect his liege, and they who had fought to save their soldiers—both were victims sacrificed by fate. The fact that those kneeling before him were not hateful enemies but comrades who had shared life and death crushed his heart. With no reason left to exist, the Shadow Monarch cried out as if vomiting blood.
[Kill me!]
He would end everything here. He would rather return to the realm of nothingness, forget all, and rest in peace.
[Hurry!]
But the Rulers did not move. Just as they had at first, they remained on their knees, heads bowed. The Shadow Monarch raised his head. Then, one by one, the soldiers who remembered the greatest warrior of the sky placed their fists over their hearts and bowed their heads.
[...]
Although they had fought as enemies with differing convictions, the soldiers had never lost their respect for him in their hearts. Their numbers filled the sky. When finally every soldier had bowed his head, the one who had been watching silently turned and walked away. The Shadow Monarch who vanished thus left no trace, and the Monarchs, weakened by their own infighting, were ultimately defeated by the Rulers. They fled through a rift in dimensions with their remaining forces. Jin-Woo watched in speechless awe as the Monarchs’ soldiers moved en masse through the enormous Gate.
‘The scale of the remnant forces is that immense…’
He could not even guess how many soldiers had been sacrificed over the years for the sake of that one absolute being’s ‘game.’ He understood the feelings of the Rulers who had rebelled against their liege for their sake. But then, the Shadow Monarch who had disappeared reappeared before them. The Shadow Monarch and the Beast Monarch. The Monarchs tensed, expecting a clash of force between the two, but thanks to the Dragon Emperor’s mediation, the feared confrontation did not occur.
[Now is the time to replenish our depleted forces. I know both your situations, but I will not tolerate fighting.]
The Dragon Emperor readily accepted the Shadow Monarch’s joining. Jin-Woo swallowed hard at the sight of the Dragon Emperor moving in human form, even though he knew this was only the figure left in the Shadow Monarch’s memories.
‘This is the King of the Luminous Dragons, the Monarch of Destruction…’
The terrifying power conveyed by his gaze alone was enough to make one tremble. The Monarchs who had fled through the rift searched for a world where they could raise a new army, hidden from the Rulers’ eyes. Countless universes and planets flashed before Jin-Woo’s eyes. And when the image finally stopped on one planet, Jin-Woo unknowingly let out a gasp.
“Ahh…”
A blue planet shining beautifully alone in the black void of space. It was Earth. After much effort, the Monarchs had succeeded in carving a passage from their dimensional rift to Earth in another dimension. Faced with an enemy unlike any before, humanity could not avoid annihilation. Jin-Woo’s face hardened as he saw the cities reduced to ash, just as he had seen in every layer of the ‘Demon’s Castle.’
“Is this the future?” [It is the past.]
Jin-Woo’s pupils trembled at the completely unexpected answer. After a moment of surprise, the Shadow Monarch calmly continued his explanation.
[The Rulers, who belatedly detected the Monarchs’ movements, sent troops, but by then everything was already over.]
If the Monarchs’ purpose was destruction, the Rulers’ purpose was the preservation of the world. The Rulers were furious to see the forces of chaos, which they had missed, destroying another world. To correct their mistake, they used a divine tool they had meticulously kept as the highest taboo. Before the rebellion, they had stolen the divine tool ‘Cup of Reincarnation’ from the divine treasury. It was an immense artifact capable of turning back time by approximately ten years.
‘Ten years!’
Jin-Woo’s eyes widened. Was it a coincidence that it coincided exactly with the time Gates began to appear and Hunters started emerging?
[Your guess is correct.]
The Rulers had tried their best to save another world, but Earth was too weak for a battle between them and the Monarchs. Earth, which did not possess mana, could not withstand such a massive war. Whether the Rulers or the Monarchs prevailed, the result for this land would be the same. After battles that repeated several times, the Rulers made a final decision: if they could not save everyone, they would create those who could survive, so that the lineage of this world might continue.
“Then could it be…?” [It was a process of creating those who could survive the clash between the two forces. Even so, the Rulers wanted to protect you.]
Only then did Jin-Woo realize why the Rulers had not contacted humanity, even knowing the disaster that would befall them, and had instead quietly worked behind the scenes.
‘Those who can survive in the changed world…’
Would society function properly if everyone knew that, except for the few people called Hunters, everyone else had to die? No. Jin-Woo shook his head inwardly. After a long explanation, he understood why Gates and Hunters had appeared. But he still had not heard the explanation he wanted most. Perhaps knowing his thoughts, the Shadow Monarch gestured, and the surrounding background changed completely.
[Higher beings like the Rulers or the Monarchs can perceive the altered flow of time caused by a ‘divine tool.’]
Though they could not reverse that flow, the Shadow Monarch added. While the Rulers had corrected their errors time and again, the Monarchs had also refined their own plans. Until the divine tool could no longer exert its power.
“Wait… does that Cup of Reincarnation have a limit?” [There is no infinite power. Just as the Absolute Being who created the world was slain by his own creations, all power has an end.]
At the bitterness in his tone, Jin-Woo involuntarily looked at the Shadow Monarch.
“Speaking of which, how did the creations manage to kill the creator?” [It is not much different from how you can be killed or injured by the machines you built with your own hands.]
True enough. Even a machine made for human purposes can harm a person depending on how it is used. The reason humans fear the artificial intelligence they have created themselves stems from the same principle.
[We were made to fight, and that was power enough to bring down our liege.]
Jin-Woo nodded. Soon, several Monarchs familiar to Jin-Woo appeared around him and the Shadow Monarch.
[The Monarchs took inspiration from the Rulers’ methods.]
Just as the Rulers had lent power to humans to kill beasts and scatter mana, the Monarchs decided to borrow human bodies to descend into this world and bring their armies far more quickly than the Rulers had anticipated.
[It was a plan to use the mana the Rulers had scattered to turn Earth itself into a massive trap.] [To devour the Rulers’ forces sent to support humanity all at once…] [Yes.]
For the powerful Monarchs to cross into this world, they needed bodies in this world. One by one, the Monarchs sought human bodies that suited them. But the two Monarchs, the Monarch of Destruction and the Shadow Monarch, who possessed power far too immense, could not find humans whose bodies could bear their strength.
[At that time, the greatest mage working under one of the Kings proposed to me. He said he would find a suitable human for me.]
The Architect. The mage so-called by the Monarchs offered to help the Shadow Monarch descend into this world in exchange for being made into a completely immortal body. The Shadow Monarch, who had shown interest in the human world, accepted the proposal. But no human could withstand the ‘power of death.’
[Those with high mana sensitivity, those with overwhelmingly superior physiques, those with extraordinary mental strength. All of them went mad or died because they could not bear my power.]
No living being could serve as a vessel capable of withstanding death. A contract with a Monarch carried meaning far beyond an ordinary promise. The Architect grew increasingly desperate. While the Architect scurried about anxiously, searching for other candidates, the Shadow Monarch discovered a certain human.
“...”
Jin-Woo lifted his head. His own image appeared in various places, as if hundreds of monitors were streaming different footage of him simultaneously.
[I saw you, always closest to death yet desperately fighting to escape it.]
During his four years as a Hunter, Jin-Woo, even among the lowest E-rank, experienced the dangers of Dungeons every day yet never left them. For his mother. For his younger brother. He had fought desperately, sacrificing himself. Those four years of records were all preserved in the Shadow Monarch’s memories.
[Over the Architect’s objections, I chose you.]
The Shadow Monarch’s fingertips were pointed at him. Jin-Woo’s heart raced as he looked at those fingertips. He had once said:
—I am the history of your defiance, the mark of your resistance, and the reward for your pain.
Those words had not explained the process after becoming a Player. They had been about the time before becoming a Player. Once again, his words resonated heavily in Jin-Woo’s chest.
[The anxious Architect accepted my instructions, and ultimately, he lured you into the design.]
The Double Dungeon. The test for survival. And the ‘Player.’ All of that was the Architect’s design to create a new vessel for the Shadow Monarch.
[While the world repeated the same time, the Architect, who had been observing humans, used what humans did best and enjoyed most to enable them to adapt to my immense power.]
What humans did best and enjoyed most. Jin-Woo knew what that was the moment he heard the Monarch’s words. It was games. The System that handled the ‘Player’ had a structure similar to a game for that very reason. Jin-Woo was the only success of that experiment.
[The Architect’s System, created using my power, gradually and step by step transformed your body to fit me.] “But you betrayed the Architect?”
Jin-Woo recalled the angel statue that had ranted about deceiving the Monarchs when they had re-entered the Double Dungeon. Why had the Shadow Monarch deceived the contractor and chosen him? Jin-Woo asked the reason.
“Why?” [...]
For the first time, the Shadow Monarch hesitated to answer. Looking as if he was pondering something, the Shadow Monarch did not rush him. And finally, he spoke again.
[Because I wanted to.]
A answer far too simple compared to his long deliberation. But strangely, Jin-Woo felt a smile coming.
[Perhaps because I enjoyed the time with you so much that I didn’t want to lose you.]
Instead of erasing Jin-Woo’s personality and taking over his body, the Shadow Monarch had chosen to merge with Jin-Woo’s personality. He had chosen to be together. And as a result… The Shadow Monarch slowly raised both hands and grasped the sides of the helmet covering his face. As the helmet was removed, revealing the face beneath, Jin-Woo’s eyes widened.
‘…!’
There was himself. The Shadow Monarch’s face was identical to his own. And that was not all. Unconsciously looking down, Jin-Woo found that he was now clad in armor that enveloped his body like the surrounding darkness. The shape of that armor was also the same as the Shadow Monarch’s. The two looked at each other as if standing before a mirror, wearing the same appearance.
[I became you, and you became me.]
I am you. That was the absolute, unvarnished truth.
[It would not be strange for either of us to be the body’s master.]
Since they were already the same.
[So I will give you the choice. You decide.]
The Shadow Monarch raised his left hand, and familiar faces appeared.
[Here, in this realm of death, you can enjoy eternal rest with the beautiful dreams you have created.]
The smiling Chairman Ko Geon-Hui, his young mother before she collapsed from illness, and the image of his younger self existing in lost time were drawn one by one.
[If not.]
The Shadow Monarch lowered his left hand and raised his right hand instead. Instantly, all the people vanished, and from the black sky, a single dragon of terrifying size flew toward them. And behind it, a countless army of dragons began to burn the city.
[You must return to reality and fight them.]
Jin-Woo, watching the Dragon Emperor and the Legion of Destruction he led with a grim face, answered. No, he asked.
“Why did you lose the will to fight the Rulers and flee with the Monarchs to another world?” [Because there was no place for me there.]
The Shadow Monarch, who had been both a Ruler and a Monarch, had found no place for himself in either. So he had wandered in another world, searching for a place that might be his. After hearing the Shadow Monarch’s answer, Jin-Woo made his decision.
“My answer is the same.”
The Shadow Monarch smiled faintly before even hearing Jin-Woo’s answer.
“This is not where I belong.” […Very well.]
That is why I chose you. The Shadow Monarch nodded.
“Will I never see you again?” [I return to rest. And you, who have become the Shadow Monarch, will now live an immortal life. We will likely never meet.]
Yet the expression on the Shadow Monarch’s face was one of relief. After a long wait, he had finally found his time of rest. Jin-Woo said his final farewell as he watched the Monarch who was genuinely happy.
“Thank you for giving me the chance.” […]
For a moment, a hint of regret crossed his face, but it was quickly erased.
[With death, your power is complete. The way to return is…]
Jin-Woo cut him off.
“I know.”
Because I am you. The Shadow Monarch smiled as he faced parting. After a long journey, he had finally found a place to stay. The Shadow Monarch spoke.
[Farewell.]
He took one step back and looked at Jin-Woo in silence. Jin-Woo nodded. And softly, he uttered the words that would allow him to be reborn as the complete Shadow Monarch.
“Arise.”
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