Chapter 47: The International Guild Conference

A/N :

" " : Dialogue,

' ' : Thought,

[ ] : System, Akasha, Minerva,

"Italicized text" : Telepathy,

« » : Artificial Intelligence,

| | : Sung Jin-Woo's System Panels, Sung Jin-Woo's System Messages,

"Bold text" : Shadows & Deathborns.

Sorry for the late chapter. Power went out yesterday, and my phone battery died while I was writing. Still, I hope you enjoy the chapter. Leave a comment, or if you feel so inclined, a power stone or two. Thanks.

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Narrator POV

The day for the International Guild Conference had come, and the news of the events of the previous day had already become widespread news. Sung Jin-Woo had singlehandedly defeated the Scavenger Guild and beaten their guild leader, Thomas Andre, the Goliath, to a pulp.

The fact that both of these people were also present within the conference hall, with Thomas Andre sitting calmly in his seat, with bandages on his arms, chest and neck, and Sung Jin-Woo seated in an all black ensemble of a long coat, shirt, trousers and dress shoes, was indicative of the proof of the beating and the gap in power between them.

Shiraori and Dante were behind him, dressed in their all white ensembles from the previous day, and unlike Sung Jin-Woo, who was heading to one of the representative seats, they were headed to the backstage area. But before anyone could question their actions, the lights in the room went off, with only a few spotlights pointed at the podium remaining on.

An elderly man in dressed in a lilac shirt, blue pants, brown shoes, white tie and a white scientist coat, walk up to the podium. "Hello, everyone. I am Dr Belzer." He introduced himself.

"I'm sure that you're all aware that the number of Gates being generated has shot up, and that stronger monsters have started to appear. But not many of you may know that unusual activity has been detected above the skies." He said, then pushed a button on a remote that he had in his hand, causing a map of the world to be projected onto the screen behind him.

"It's been widely reported that the magical energy concentration being absorbed into the atmosphere is becoming increasingly greater. But I want to refer to this magical energy found in the atmosphere differently. Until we're able to find a more appropriate term to call it, how about we refer to it as the "Magisphere"?" He said, then clicked the remote again, causing the projection to show multiple red spots that showed where the greatest concentration of magical energy were.

"So far, we've observed the phenomenon of the Magisphere in a total of nine places, with the place having the most concentration being Seoul, South Korea." Belzer's words caused many of the Hunters present to look at Sung Jin-Woo.

"There's no need to look at Mr. Sung Jin-Woo like that. If he was truly responsible for herding around the Magisphere above the sky, then he's already far beyond the realm of a Hunter." Dr Belzer said.

"As things are now, we don't know the cause for this, and therefore can't do much of anything to deal with it. But just because we can't deal with it, doesn't necessarily mean that we need to. It's very possible that the world may be faced with a great change once again." Dr Belzer said, then walked off the stage as David Brennon took over.

"I have something urgent to announce to the Hunters that have gathered here today. About a week ago, Hunter Christopher Reid was attacked by a group of unidentified assailants. He is still alive, but only because he was protected by the one of Dante Invictus' summons." Everyone, except for Sung Jin-Woo and Thomas Andre began murmuring, wondering if David Brennon was lying to them, but turned silent after noticing the assailed in question walking to the podium.

"Despite how absurd the notion of someone being able to kill a National Rank Hunter sounds, I came in contact with such beings, three of them, in fact. I tried fighting against one of them, but I was stopped by Dante Invictus' summon. It told me that each of them could easily kill any National Rank Hunter." Christopher Reid said, causing everyone to shut up, bewildered and terrified at the notion of such beings.

Even Thomas Andre was in silent contemplation. Normally, he would have dismissed something like this, saying that the other party was simply too weak, but receiving a beating himself had swayed him from that line of thought.

While everyone was thinking of this, Dante and Shiraori walked onto the stage. "Hello, everyone. While he was definitely attacked, the fact that he's here, alive and well, should let you all know that the threat has been dealt with." Dante said calmly.

"In case anyone might be wondering, those beings and the Magisphere are connected." Dante's words caught everyone's attention. The projection changed to show all nine Monarchs.

"These beings are called Monarchs, and they are the absolute peak of power amongst the monsters. The three that attacked Chris were Queresha, the Monarch of Plague and Queen of the Insectoids, Rakan, the Monarch of Fangs and King of the Beasts, and Tarnak, the Monarch of Iron Body and the King of the Monstrous Humanoids." Dante said, showing the capabilities of each Monarch on the projection, as well as their true forms.

Seeing the Monarchs' true forms and destructive capabilities on display shook everyone in the room. "Now, as for why they tried to kill Chris here, it's because like every other National Rank Hunter, barring Sung Jin-Woo, Shiraori and myself, they're all "Kings", as you've called them." Dante said, and a Hunter raised his hand and asked loudly; "What's the difference between you three and the other National Rank Hunters?"

Dante and Shiraori smiled upon hearing the question. "We aren't limited in our growth, while they are. It's that simple." The words went off like bombshells in the ears of the Hunters. A single Hunter that didn't have a limit on their growth was already groundbreaking enough, let alone three.

"Is there any way that we can achieve similar power?" The same Hunter asked. "Unfortunately, no." Dante said, killing the hopes of such a thing possibly being propagated around the world.

"Getting back on topic, there's no reason to be bothered by the existence of these three Monarchs, or more accurately, these five." Dante said, adding Legia and Baran to the Monarchs that they shouldn't worry about.

"With what you've shown us, there is absolutely a need to be worried about them, so why would you say that we shouldn't?" David Brennon asked from the side. "It's simple, really. These five are dead, and they were all killed by Jin-Woo." Another bombshell dropped in the ears of the Hunters.

"Granted, Baran was weakened and Legia was in restraints, and I had instructed Diablo to beat Rakan, Tarnak and Queresha within an inch of their lives and let him finish them off. But he still killed them." Dante elaborated, but the fact that Sung Jin-Woo had killed even one of the Monarchs was too great of a fact for the Hunters in he room to wrap their heads around.

"You said that those five are dead. Then what about the remaining four?" Thomas Andre's voice resounded in the room, ripping away the fascinating that most of the Hunters had.

Many of them thought of what he said, and saw that he was right. Although five of the Monarchs were dead, there were still four beings of similar or greater power that possibly had malign intent towards humanity. This had to be addressed, and fast.

"Well, we only have to worry about three of the four, and those are Antares, the King of Dragons and Monarch of Destruction, Sillad, the King of the Snow Folk and Monarch of Frost, and Yogumunt, the King of Demonic Spectres and Monarch of Transfiguration. The fourth Monarch is actually on humanity's side." The news that any of the Monarchs was on their side was as relieving as it was confusing.

"Even so, that's only one of them against three. If what you've told us is true, then we'd be cannon fodder against the other two." Thomas Andre said, bringing up a good point. "Yes, that would be true, if they were all at the same level of power." Dante said.

"Among all nine Monarchs, the two most powerful of them are Antares and the Shadow Monarch. The gap in power between each of them and the other seven is so great that they could each fight against the other seven at the same time and still win." Dante explained.

"If that's the case, then what are we meant to do?" Liu Zhigang asked from a seat at the back of the room. "It's very simple, you do what you've always done. Hunt down every other monster that doesn't serve the Shadow Monarch, and stay out of the battle between him and the other three." Dante said, while using his telepathy to ensure that no one asks for the identity of the Shadow Monarch.

"And what if any of these three try to kill other National Rank Hunters? What then?" Lennart Niermann asked, and Dante smiled slyly. "Then they'd have to deal with the bodyguards I gave them." Before anyone could ask what he meant, three deathborns came out of Thomas Andre, Liu Zhigang and Christopher Reid's shadows.

"Meet Diablo..." Dante said, pointing to the deathborn that used to be Baran. "... Adamas." He said, pointing to the deathborn standing behind Liu Zhigang that used to be Tarnak. "... and Felgin." He finished, pointing at the deathborn standing behind Thomas Andre that used to be Baruka.

"These are my summons, and each of them is more powerful than the Monarchs, save for Antares and the Shadow Monarch. They are mainly here to protect the National Rank Hunters from the Monarchs, and to clear Gates faster than other Hunters can." Dante said, lightly releasing the seal he has placed on his CHA stat.

With everyone in agreement that the Hunters should take care of the monsters and Dante's deathborns would protect humanity from the brunt of the Monarchs' battles, they ended the conference, with everyone else feeling ever so slightly more relieved.

After the meeting, Dante, Shiraori and Sung Jin-Woo were approached by Norma Selner, who thanked Dante for his decision to protect all National Rank Hunters. She also thanked him for addressing an issue that had been bothering her as of late, that being the preparations for the war of the Monarchs.

David Brennon uses the chance to ask Dante to keep an eye on multiple Hunters that had made significant contributions in the protection of humanity from monsters, only to receive an answer he had never expected. "I've always got an eye on Hunters, David. So don't worry, no Monarchs will successfully kill any more Hunters under my watch."

Seeing Dante's confident smile relaxed David Brennon, as he assumed that Dante had somehow put a one of his deathborns in every Hunter's shadow, not knowing that Dante had every single thing in the universe within his perception.

...

The next day was the last day of the International Guild Conference, which was known to most as the Night of the Hunters. It was a party held in honor of the Hunters as thanks for their contributions and efforts in protecting humanity.

Dante, Shiraori, Sung Jin-Woo, Cha Hae-In and Yu Jin-Ho all arrived, dressed in dapper outfits, with the men all dressed in the same ensemble that they came to the US in. Many Hunters that were close by were surprised at the sheer gap in power between the Dominion Guild's S Ranks and them.

Some people approached them with intentions to make business connections, with some of them offering to help the Dominion Guild process the monsters that they hunt. Unfortunately for them, due to the Dominion Guild already possessing facilities to attend to all parts of any guild's activities, they were inevitably turned down.

After a few minutes, Thomas Andre walked into the venue, and went straight to where the Dominion Guild's members were. "Hunter Sung Jin-Woo, allow me to ask you one thing. Even after the healing and potions, I've been told that I'm not yet completely recovered. So if it were you, you could've singlehandedly wiped out my entire guild after dealing with me, yet apart from Hwang Dong-Su, who caused the commotion, none of my guild members died. So, why did you let us live?" He asked, his body underneath his clothes still wrapped in bandages.

After a few seconds of silence, Sung Jin-Woo spoke out calmly. "Because you didn't commit a sin that deserves death." Thomas Andre nodded, accepting his reason. "I plan to have a great funeral for Mr Hwang. He has committed a sin that deserves death, but please let him have a funeral." He said, then began walking away.

"After I'm done healing up, I would like to have a meal with you. If you give my manager your contact information, I'll contact you later." He said, then left the venue. Laura walked up to Sung Jin-Woo and asked for his contact information, as Thomas Andre wanted to give him a gift of gratitude.

Choosing to acquiesce to the request, Sung Jin-Woo gave her his contact information and said that he wanted a high quality pair of daggers. Noting his request, she bade him farewell and walked out to meet Thomas Andre.

After they left, Adam White suggested that Dante, Shiraori and Sung Jin-Woo meet up with some of the other Hunters that had high contributions, with the first one he suggested being Africa's strongest S Rank Hunter, an Ethiopian named Amare Tadesse. After the commotion of the past two days, this night seemed to bring some much needed relaxation to many of the Hunters.

...

OMAKE: Home Sweet Homeworld

Dante POV

Maera has gone through a pretty good recovery. As of now, all bits of landmass above sea level are under the control of the Demon Empire, and the main religion of the planet worship both Sariel and Güliedistosiez as their gods.

Technology is being improved all over the planet, just without the use of MA energy. They've already created electricity and even some small appliances, thanks to the knowledge that was telepathically extracted from the reincarnated people.

As for the reincarnated people, they're actually okay. All of them are currently attending the Imperial Academy, and with how the empire is being run, it won't be strange to see some of them becoming officials or nobles through merit.

In other good news, Sophia is now pregnant with twins. It's helped her mellow out when compared to her younger years, but she's been hounding Shiro and I to get married already. At this point, that's the only thing that's held either of us from going wild.

Despite her seemingly stoic exterior, Shiro is actually considerably lustful. But she's also able to hold back considerably well, which has got to be one of the goofiest paradoxes I've ever come across, and I actively deal with time paradoxes on the side.

But moving past that, the rest of the planet is actively recovering. The number of wyrms on the surface has increased dramatically, but even then, they don't have the aggression that Araba, Kagna and Gehre had, so they're more like peaceful giants if anything.

The Elroe Great Labyrinth is now basically owned by Ariel's kin, with them controlling the ecosystem within it and the two Queen Taratects that she placed there being the apex predators.

Surprisingly, the entire area that used to be the Ohts Kingdom is now a territory under Cylis Analeit, the elder brother of the Hero, Julius Analeit. Despite how he was in the original timeline, he's been pretty diligent in making the lives of the people here better. I guess that's another good thing that's happened here.

After checking all of that out, I went to what could truly serve as my birthplace, my mother's grave. Despite the time that has passed since then, the headstone is still in pristine condition, same with the coffin.

In as much as I miss her, I know that she's already in her next life in another world, so I won't pull her back. I guess I'll just let her see me and Shiro in her dreams.

...

Elsewhere

Southern Water Tribe, 93 years after the Air Nomad Genocide

A young girl shifts about in her sleep, tears falling from her eyes. "Goodbye, my son." She mumbles in her sleep, unknown to her and the young boy sleeping beside her.

However, a man who had just entered the tent where they were sleeping heard her. As he heard her, his face became solemn. He covered them with a blanket and left the tent.

"Kya, even while you're gone, you still watch over our children. You're even speaking through our little Katara." The man said, silently mourning his wife, the children's mother, who was presumed dead. Little did he know that a different mother was giving her son her last farewell.

Chapter End.

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Word Count: 2,786

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