Chapter 169

Suho achieved a new skill!

['Skill: Monarch's Domain' has been casted!]

The next step of his shadow abilities.

[The stats of the shadow soldiers fighting within your shadow have increased by 50%.]

AAAAAAHHHHH!!

The soldiers that stood in the shadow of Suho, dyed on all sides black, were enthralled by the seething thrill in their hearts and began to erupt in roars.

[This power–!]

Javier couldn't help but be shocked that something unbelievable had unfolded in front of his eyes! The realm of the Shadow Monarch was unfolding everywhere around him.

[Lies! This is all lies!]

He denied reality with all his might.

Yes, yes, this must all be lies! This was nothing but a high level illusion or something like that, right? It had to be. It had to be. After all, someone else holding the powers of the Shadow Monarch was impossible!

[The Shadow Monarch's power can only be inherited when the predecessor dies after all! So why!?]

The King of death can't even die, so why?!

[You aren't even the Shadow Monarch!]

Ko goo goo go goo goo!

Feeling alarmed by the sight, Javier launched an onslaught of sandstorm attacks towards Suho. The illusions filled with physical strength all morphed into vicious monsters that ran towards him at the same time. ¿His reaction? Suho showed his teeth and smiled.

"You know a son resembles his father, ‌right?"

Right. Ever since he was little, he could use the Ruler's Authority, but he wasn't a Ruler himself. And now he can wield the powers of a Monarch too? The only thing to do now was test the effect of this new ability.

Suho spoke up to the shadows, awaiting his commands.

"Soldiers, charge!"

They immediately charged.

[Mmoooooooooooo!!]

All of them sprung forward with powerful momentum, as if they had been yearning for this moment.

Although, compared to the shadow legion led by father, Suho's was only a fraction. Even against Javier's number of illusions attacking him, it was only at a modest degree.

But that was more than enough for him.

Chump chump chump chump!

Quay was a one-hit kill shadow spearman that rushed in and single-handedly hacked away at the entire field of illusions. His smile was confident as it crept along his lips.

[Hey let's make a bet! Whoever soldier kills the most is the captain!]

Harmakan's eyes shone insidiously at his words.

[Do not shed your words then! And let this be a great battle of might between us!]

Even if he was the strongest among the elite soldiers, he was treated as mediocre for quite a while now, so he accepted the match. With open arms, he began to cast a new spell.

[Come forth! Oh, phantoms stained by wrath!]

[Harmakan uses 'Skill: Provocation of the Damned.']

[Nearby enemies are ignited with hostility towards Harmakan.]

Taktaktaktaktak!

All attacks from nearby enemies suddenly began to rain down on Harmakan.

[Harmakan uses 'Skill: Damage Amplification'.]

[Harmakan uses 'Skill: Thorn of Pain'.]

[Harmakan uses 'Skill: Explosion'.]

However, he returned all the attacks right back at them.

[Hey! That's foul!]

Quay gnashed his teeth as he spurred on his attacks even more.

[Why do you fight like a tank even though you are a shaman!?]

[Mmmmooooooo!!!!]

In the meantime, the shadow minotaurs pounced through the ferocious sandstorm without hesitation. More than ever, they mercilessly crushed their enemies with fearsome momentum.

Bang! Kwak!

Kwak kwa kwa Kwak!

In the center of it all, Suho started to feel the effect of this new skill: Monarch's Domain. A Buff skill that strengthens shadow soldiers by a double margin. Not only that, but the greater the number of soldiers he had at his disposal, the greater the synergy was. He shuddered just by thinking about the number of his soldiers increasing.

Yes, this is it.

—This is what a legion is.—

As if reading his thoughts, Suho heard his father's voice. Looking back, Jin-Woo was smiling with satisfaction as he watched the battlefield where the shadow soldiers ran amok.

—Now you are acting like my son.—

Let's do this.

Sung Jin-Woo waved his hand into the air, manifesting Suho's status window right in front of him. In it were all the results of his work and choices that has led up to Suho's progression until this point. He skimmed through the contents and, at last, nodded."

—Raising your strength stat was a good choice since you must first become strong in order to reap powerful soldiers.—

Although this wasn't too much of a good thing, as he saw that the strength status was extremely high compared to his current level. In fact, his level-up system seemed to be half broken. The reason for this had been that at first, the system's goal was to grow the player into a perfect vessel for the Shadow Monarch, but that reason has been lost since.

I can't believe it, you've grown this much by using a half-baked system that doesn't even give you a job change quest.

He could tell just how far Suho was willing to go just by looking at this. However, going forward, the direction of the growth will have to change slightly now that he has earned the skill: 'Monarch's Domain'.

Although, you won't need my advice on this.

After all, the best path is one that you carve out through your choices and keep going.

—Well, Suho's side is over, now let's go take care of the other.—

Jin-Woo said as he suddenly turned his gaze to another place, disappearing on the spot.

***

Hot.

It felt so hot.

His whole body burned.

But he couldn't let go upon realizing that the wife he killed with his own hands must have felt those same flames on her skin.

"Agh! I'm sorry… I couldn't help you… to save Do-Gyun…" Lim Tae-Gyu cried as he embraced his wife in a hug, the blue flames consuming them.

He knew. He knew this was all an illusion, but sometimes there were times when he wished to be deceived, even though he knew the truth. Besides, who knows? This might not just be a mere illusion. Maybe it was the call of his wife's spirit. If there was even the slightest chance of it being true, then he thought he wouldn't mind dying like this alongside his wife.

[Keehehhehehe!]

Javier burst into laughter upon seeing that.

[Oh, how nice this is!]

An enemy or an ally.

He had no idea what the Shadow Monarch's ulterior motives were. His own sorcery which the man had fiddled with, had developed into a more perfect structure than before, and this was the result:

—Honey, I don't want to die. I need more mana.—

Lim Tae-Gyu, engulfed in the flames, kept obediently, giving all of his mana to his wife's request.

An S-rank's magic power was truly a massive amount, and unlike the other hunters, it had a strong enough momentum that seemed to never run out no matter how much it scooped out. Through Lim Tae-Gyu's wife, Javier could extract the intact magical power in him. He wasn't the only one too, as the same thing happened to all the other hunters trapped under his illusion.

[All of this is now my power!]

Javier trembled in excitement, gnashing his teeth as he glared at Suho, who kept mercilessly destroying his illusions on the other side.

[I don't know what you are trying to do, but from now on this battle will be different!]

Javier finally lifted himself up. He burned all the mana that had gathered into his core and started to perform a shamanic transformation directly into his body.

[Demon Illusionist Javier uses the 'Skill: Mirage'.]

His illusion started inflating his size. At the same time, the corners of his mouth cracked into a vicious smile.

[I'll show you what true horror is.]

Javier began to remember the existence that he encountered while passing through the cracks between dimensions. A great and terrifying being!

[Oh, I'm looking forward to this, just how far can I imitate such a great power!]

Whoaaaaaaagh!

Javier's gigantic body split itself open, revealing dozens of tentacles that sprang out in all directions. The immense body finally broke through the sandstorm and appeared in front of Suho.

[Javier: The Demonic Illusionist.]

"... A kraken?"

[Little lord, be careful! This figure is definitely one of the Itarim's apostles! It seems that it must have met one while wandering around the dimension!]

Beru quickly explained ‌to Suho.

"You mean he imitated an Itarim's apostle as an illusion?"

Suho glared back at Javier, who had transformed into a kraken-like figure with narrow eyes. Around him, the flow of mana he felt was unusual, so even if it was only mimicking his appearance, he couldn't dismiss the rarity so easily.

[It could be at least A rank, no, maybe S rank.]

"And he is still getting stronger."

Suho sensed all the mana overflowing around the place and clenched his teeth. He noticed that from this point on, the real quest that his father gave him was about to start.

But was this possible?

This wasn't the first time he faced an S rank beast. However, he had fought them alongside his other teammates, along with S rank hunters themselves. This was not the case anymore.

I have to fight it off alone.

Once again, he thought, was this possible?

It wasn't the time to speculate on such a possibility, because the conclusion had already been decided from the beginning.

Phua!

His body moved first.

[Everyone, make an opening!]

Chaw chaw chaw chaw chaw!

The shadow soldiers started to repel all the illusions that tried to block Suho, who rushed towards Javier and jumped along the path they pierced for him.

Badum! Badum! Badum!

The pulse in his heart felt as though it was about to explode.

Das! Das! Das!

As he stepped up into the air, Suho's body rushed in front of Javier in an instant.

[Hah! You bastard!]

Just then, Javier's tentacles appeared over his head.

Suho couldn't avoid them.

BAM!

With a huge explosion sound, the tentacle crushed Suho to the ground.

[¡Hahahaha!]

Javier was ecstatic.

However, even with such a vigorous attack…

['Skill: Tenacity' has reduced your damage.]

Suho's body stood firmly underneath it.

Tug.

His hand grabbed the huge tentacle, getting bigger by the second.

Whooooaaagh!

[The 'Skill: Giant's Armor' is being used.]

Suho's body swelled up as he grabbed the tentacle and swung it.

Whoop—

[?!?]

Fwuaaa!

[Heok?!]

Javier's body flew through the air before landing again on the floor.

[What kind of power is this?!?!]

Javier burst out in amazement, forgetting his own pain.

Even Sung Jin-Woo acknowledged the path he had chosen to walk.

One of pure strength.

[Strength: 140.]

That's right, Suho's strength, in terms of its stats, could be compared to the strongest in all mankind.

The Goliath, Thomas Andre.

He elevated his fist, concentrating all that power in a single punch. Suho's glowing eyes looked straight into Javier's own gigantic ones.

[The 'Skill: Rigid Body Art.' Is being used.]

Shooaang!

Black mist wrapped around his fist.

[Moooooo!!]

His shadow Minotaur transformed into a gauntlet and wrapped itself around Suho's fist as he said,

"This will hurt a bit."