Has the world ever been this unanimously ecstatic? When the vanished Jin-Woo reappeared and plunged his dagger into the Frost Monarch's chest, the people threw their fists in the air and erupted in cheers as though they had been waiting for this very moment. Waaaaaaaah—! For the viewers who had been despairing, believing humanity's strongest Hunter had fallen to the monsters, it was the ultimate gift. Some passionately shouted Jin-Woo's name. Some had tears welling up in their eyes. Some were consoling those with tears in their eyes. They watched as a single Hunter from Asia slew the monster that had been threatening all of humanity. All of humanity. From the moment Thomas Andre, a nation-level Hunter, was brought down and Lenaie Niermann, a world-ranked Hunter, stepped up in his place, the monsters were no longer just Korea's misfortune. They had become a matter directly tied to their own lives. The people had not forgotten the horrifying terror of the dragon "Kamish" devouring American cities one by one. No one wanted that to happen again. Viewers watching the broadcast from America, from Germany, and from all around the world cheered Jin-Woo's victory. As if to wash away the despair and fear they had felt when the Hunters called the greatest were falling one by one. Waaah—! With every strike Jin-Woo landed on the Frost Monarch, the people's roars continued. And finally. When that tenacious monster collapsed and began to crumble into gray ash, the people's cheering reached its peak. Waaaaaaaaah! The citizens' shouts echoed piercingly through the cities. The anchors covering the breaking news screamed at the top of their lungs, cameras be damned.
—Breaking news! Hunter Thomas Andre, who appeared to be seriously injured, is reported to be in stable condition with no threat to his life... —Ambulances that arrived at the scene are transporting the wounded to nearby hospitals. —The monster that had been slaughtering citizens is no longer moving. The monster, now reduced to ash, has left nothing but traces behind!
Breaking news about the end of the battle continued to pour in, but. Sung Jin-Woo! Sung Jin-Woo! Sung Jin-Woo! The people's excitement would not easily die down. And here was yet another person. Someone who could not contain his excitement more than anyone else in the world. That was none other than Association Chairman Woo Jin-Cheol. Even amid his subordinate staff embracing each other and shouting in jubilation, his eyes remained fixed on the screen. The pupils of Woo Jin-Cheol, who had spotted something there, trembled.
'No way...?'
He hurriedly pulled out his phone and, with trembling hands, searched for a video saved inside and played it. The video he had replayed countless times. The footage captured by the security camera in the Association Chairman's office when former Chairman Go Gun-Hee was murdered began to play. The man in it. He had appeared only briefly on the blurry screen before vanishing, making him hard to identify. But now, looking at it again, didn't he bear a striking resemblance to the monster that Hunter Sung Jin-Woo had just brought down? Even the scene of the frozen ground rapidly thawing matched perfectly.
'Then...!'
Only then did Woo Jin-Cheol realize what enemy Jin-Woo had been fighting. The one who had murdered the former Chairman. And the memory of the conversation he had shared with Jin-Woo when he had received word of the former Chairman's death came flooding back, sending a shiver through his entire body.
—Thank you. For being there at the end for the Chairman. —I'll be the one to kill that thing. —Excuse me? —The monster that killed the Chairman—I will kill it, without fail. So I'll accept your thanks when that time comes.
Hunter Sung Jin-Woo had not forgotten that promise. The monster was dead. By Hunter Sung Jin-Woo's hand. Woo Jin-Cheol's nose had turned red to the tip as he raised eyes brimming with tears and looked back at the broadcast screen. The camera was zooming in on Hunter Sung Jin-Woo, who wore an expression that somehow looked exhausted. He could understand the meaning of that expression to some extent. Deep within his chest, some emotion surged up powerfully and uncontrollably. Now the former Chairman could finally rest in peace. Woo Jin-Cheol recalled his memories of the former Chairman he had revered and conveyed his gratitude to Jin-Woo through his gaze.
'...Thank you, Hunter.'
* * *
The Frost Monarch, who had returned to human form after his spiritualization wore off, slowly turned to gray dust. Former Chairman Go Gun-Hee's share, plus his own. Every debt had been repaid. Jin-Woo looked down coldly at the disappearing Frost Monarch, then turned away. In the distance, the Legion Commanders who had been waiting for the punishment of the Frost Monarch to end finally approached Jin-Woo.
"..."
Unlike Igrit, who, despite having regained his original power, maintained his customary taciturnity and bowed politely.
"My King!"
Beru expressed with his whole body the joy of being able to see his master again. Jin-Woo patted Beru on the shoulder—tears were welling up in those large ant eyes—and looked around. The other man. The one who had been wearing a tattered robe was nowhere to be seen.
"Who was that man earlier?"
In response to Jin-Woo's question, it was Igrit who answered instead of Beru, who was busy being overcome with emotion.
"He was someone who desperately protected you, my Lord, while you were unconscious."
Jin-Woo was momentarily startled by the deep voice of Igrit he was hearing for the first time, then gave him a puzzled look.
"Protected me?" "Yes, that is correct."
Unlike Beru, Igrit still did not seem fluent in the human language and spoke in what was commonly known as "monster tongue"—the language of the other dimension. But there was no problem communicating. If that was the case, then why had a man Jin-Woo had never once seen in his life protected him? Jin-Woo, exchanging questions and answers with Igrit in fluent monster tongue, suddenly spotted something and walked over to it. An object lying there on the ground.
'This is...?'
Jin-Woo's pupils trembled slightly as he picked it up.
* * *
The man walked around behind a building whose outer wall was all that remained of its partial collapse and slumped down, pulling back his hood. His hair and beard, grown out in a wild mess as though never once groomed, covered his face. Sung Il-Hwan leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.
"Hah, hah."
He then raised his left hand, which had already lost all sensation. Sure enough. His left hand, which had turned ashen, was slowly crumbling into dust from the fingertips. This was the result of channeling divine power through a human body. But. Even in the midst of extreme pain, his expression was one of satisfaction.
"It's done..."
With that power, he had protected Jin-Woo. Jin-Woo's existence, having fully inherited the power of the Shadow Monarch, would be of great benefit to humanity. That was enough. He let his gaze drop from his gradually disappearing fingertips and rested his head weakly against the wall, closing his eyes. The Rulers had entrusted him with their power and asked him to stop the Shadow Monarch. Sung Il-Hwan, who had been trapped in the rift between dimensions with no way out after the Gate disappeared, had little choice. He had returned to Earth once more as their emissary, bearing a weighty mission on behalf of the Rulers. However. Sung Il-Hwan had been unable to fulfill his mission. Even though he knew that humanity's worst catastrophe resided within that body. How could a parent kill their own child? There was nothing he could do except watch Jin-Woo from a distance. While he had been stalling for time, the Rulers—who had been focused solely on preventing the Shadow Monarch's complete descent—began to change their stance. And finally. "The Fragment of the Most Brilliant Radiance" issued him a new directive.
[Protect the Shadow Monarch.]
They had come to realize that the Shadow Monarch, now possessing his full power, was needed to stop the monarchs' plan. The only one who could hold off the Dragon Emperor and the Legion of Destruction, who would arrive here before the soldiers of heaven, was the Shadow Monarch. It was an enormous gamble taken in a situation where it was impossible to know whether the Shadow Monarch would side with humanity or with the monarchs. The result had just come in. Jin-Woo had chosen to remain on humanity's side, and the Shadow Monarch had agreed to that choice. The reborn Shadow Monarch was Jin-Woo himself. The desperate effort he had put in to protect him with his life had not been in vain.
"..."
It pained him that he could not even greet his son, whom he had finally met after ten years, before departing like this. But no one—not even a parent themselves—had the right to take a parent away from a child twice over. So disappearing quietly like this was for Jin-Woo's sake. Sung Il-Hwan consoled himself as he looked down at his body, which was increasingly turning to ash. Just then. A familiar presence was heard nearby. Sung Il-Hwan quickly rose to his feet and pulled his hood over his face with his right arm, which could still move. Someone stood before Sung Il-Hwan. Sung Il-Hwan knew who it was without even seeing the person's face. Jin-Woo. With the son he wished he could call just once by his side, he pulled the hood over his face and brushed past Jin-Woo. Jin-Woo turned toward him and spoke.
"Did you think I wouldn't notice if you left like that?"
He froze. Sung Il-Hwan's steps halted. How...? As Sung Il-Hwan turned toward Jin-Woo, a small object that Jin-Woo had lightly tossed came sailing in a parabolic arc. Thud. What Jin-Woo had returned was the dagger. His own dagger, which he had dropped from his frozen left hand. Sung Il-Hwan looked down at the dagger, then raised his head. Jin-Woo was looking at him with reproachful eyes. The memory of those daggers still lingered in Jin-Woo's mind. When he was young, he had once been caught playing with his father's daggers and had been severely scolded. Only now did Jin-Woo understand why, unlike the Shadow Monarch who had swept through the battlefield with a greatsword, his own weapon had been set as a dagger. Memories of his father. The fragments of those memories had influenced the System Dungeon, which had always provided Jin-Woo with daggers as his weapon. Jin-Woo's low voice continued.
"Are you going to leave without a word again... Father?"
Father. That single word pierced into his chest. Sung Il-Hwan removed his hood. Now even his remaining right hand was slowly turning to ash. Seeing his son flinch at the sight of his two hands, Sung Il-Hwan smiled faintly and spoke.
"I didn't want you to see me like this."
Jin-Woo, who knew that a body depleted of its life force and turning to ash could not be restored by any means, rushed forward, but. Sung Il-Hwan raised his right hand to stop him. His left hand had already crumbled entirely into dust, leaving only his shoulder. Jin-Woo hesitated, then stopped in his tracks and asked.
"What about you, Father?" "...?" "Did you not want to see me?"
It shouldn't have reached the point where even his right hand could no longer move yet. At Jin-Woo's single question, the arm that had been held up to keep him at bay slowly dropped.
"I wanted to see you. Always."
Even if you couldn't see me, just knowing I could watch over you from afar was happiness enough. Sung Il-Hwan gently caressed Jin-Woo's face, now right in front of him, with his one remaining hand. Tears fell from his son's eyes, drip by drip, wetting the back of his hand. Even though I, your father, have done nothing for you, yet you...
"You've grown up well."
Jin-Woo spoke.
"The Rulers? Are they using you and throwing you away?"
Jin-Woo's voice was laced with a terribly heavy anger. But Sung Il-Hwan shook his head.
"They simply gave me a choice. I chose to protect you, and that choice was not wrong in the slightest."
Now even his remaining right hand had begun to crumble into ash and trickle away.
"I had wanted to talk with you more."
I had wanted to be with you longer. A wretched thing. In the end, he had made a child erase his father from his heart twice over. Tears finally streamed down from Sung Il-Hwan's eyes, which he had tried so hard to hold back.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be a better father."
With those final words. Sss. Sung Il-Hwan's entire body, which had exhausted all its power in confronting the monarchs, turned to ash. Jin-Woo tried to embrace his father's crumbling body, but... all that remained in his hands was the gray powder left behind when a spiritual form disappears. Before long. Nothing remained where Sung Il-Hwan had stood. Something surged up from within him. Unable to hold it back, Jin-Woo finally threw his head toward the sky and screamed.
"AAAAAAAAAH—!"
The mana in the atmosphere trembled. The sky, the air, the ground—all of it cried out. Soon, a deep voice, the same as that of the monarchs, flowed from Jin-Woo's mouth.
[Can you hear me, monarchs!]
If all of this happened because the monarchs chose Earth as their settlement, then I will make you pay the price. I will see to it. The mana-condensed voice carried through the atmosphere and spread across the world.
[You will all pay the price for what happened today!]
The roar of the enraged Shadow Monarch shook heaven and earth.
[Are you listening, monarchs!]
On that day, a human who had gained incomprehensible power chose for himself where to use it. It was the moment the true curtain of war rose.
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