Chapter 46: The Hunter Bureau's Gift & Incident

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.

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Dante POV

Deceiving Antares for all this while has been fun. It was kinda like when I did the same thing with Kandiaru, but better. We had already prepared and placed contingencies for him, Sillad and Yogumunt, all without them even having any idea of it.

But right now, the movements of the Monarchs aren't all that important, at least when compared to what we're preparing for now.

The International Guild Conference is taking place today, and we've decided that only Sung Il-Hwan would be in Korea. The rest of us, Yu Jin-Ho included, are going to the conference, while Il-Hwan is in Korea, with a good number of my deathborns staying to support him and hunt in the Gates that open in our territory.

If it was anyone else that suggested such, they'd be met with extreme backlash. But with all of my deathborns being far stronger than your average National Rank Hunter, this decision was met with great applause, as I left Korea's protection in good hands.

On the topic of the International Guild Conference, I'm not particularly interested in what they would announce, as I already know all of that. Right now, we're only going to have a front row seat to Hwang Dong-Su's execution and Sung Jin-Woo raising Kamish.

...

After a few hours on a plane, we landed on American soil. I could almost feel the lingering ghosts of obesity and a horrible healthcare system floating around. I guess the Gate calamity really made them take things more seriously.

After landing, we are guided and driven to the venue for the conference. We would have come here with Woo Jin-Chul, but it was quite clear that we in no way needed his presence, so we made sure that he stayed back in Korea to have some time to himself, and also to not create any awkward situations.

Imagine hearing that an A Rank Hunter is the designated bodyguard for four National Rank Hunters and a B Rank Hunter. And yes, I also increased Jin-Ho's power. While he does work with Aurora to take care of our guild's paperwork, he still does quite a lot of work. So, if you ask me, he deserves it.

But still, the notion such as any of us needing any other Hunter as a bodyguard is simply absurd. The same can't be said for the other Hunters that we've passed by in the building. For example, there's Lennart Niermann from Germany's Richter Guild.

If I translate his abilities to Sung Jin-Woo's system's stats, he'd have his Perception as his highest stat, and Strength as his lowest. That is how he's able to detect Jin-Woo's shadow soldiers from within his shadow.

As for how he is in my system. Well, he's not particularly impressive.

[Name: Lennart Niermann

Level: 101

Gender: Male

Attribute: N/A

Race: Human

HP: 98370/98370

MP: 62590/62590

SP: 41720/41720

STR: 357

DEX: 398

VIT: 412

INT: 436

WIS: 512

LUK: 40]

I don't care much for his background or his skills, because even with those, he would still be fodder against the Monarchs' generals, let alone the Monarchs themselves.

After a few more minutes, Adam approaches us with two Hunters beside him. "Hello, Mr. White. I thought you worked for the Asian branch of the Hunter Bureau." Jin-Woo says, and Adam chuckles lightly. "I did, until recently. Now I'm in charge of matters involving any of the Dominion Guild's members." He says with a short bow.

I raise a brow at that, but before I ask him anything, he asks the Hunters with him to escort Hae-In and Jin-Ho to a nearby hotel, while I, Shiro and Jin-Woo were called to the Hunter Bureau's headquarters.

It seems that while Christopher Reid didn't die, the pressure of the Monarchs' presence is still affecting them. And since they know that we're capable of fighting and defeating the Monarchs, they want to try and get some level of priority for aid, if the Monarchs attack them again.

From what I can tell, they know very well that Shiro and I have little to no interest in anything they can offer to us, but they also know that Jin-Woo woild have some use for what they had. They called us out of hope for the infinitesimal chance that we'd want something from them. I guess seeing them freak out from Kamish being raised should be slightly entertaining.

While we are driven to the Hunter Bureau, Adam tells Jin-Woo the details of Kamish's runestone, and Jin-Woo tells him that he wants Kamish's corpse instead. Of course, as the location of the corpse was secret, Adam had to take some time to go through the process of getting the information of the location.

As we keep moving to the Hunter Bureau building, I receive a report from the deathborn mage that I had placed in Jin-Ho's shadow that Hwang Dong-Su had gotten his hands on Jin-Ho. I ordered it to just place a barrier on Jin-Ho whenever Hwang Dong-Su or any of his lackeys tries attacking him.

We reach the Hunter Bureau and wait outside the director's office while he and Adam talk about Jin-Woo's decision to take Kamish as his shadow soldier. David Brennon had a considerable degree of reluctance to giving any Hunter that much power, but Adam let him know that choosing to not give Jin-Woo Kamish's corpse would very likely offend him, cutting off any amicable relationships between Jin-Woo and them.

Then he brought up the fact that I already have soldiers of similar or greater power than Kamish, so it wasn't excessive to give Jin-Woo Kamish's corpse. David chooses to escort us to Kamish's corpse himself, and soon we enter an elevator that takes us down multiple floors underground.

As we reach the floor with Kamish's corpse, we feel the residues of Kamish's magic energy still charging the air. This brings back memories from when I raised him as Ragnar. As we enter the area where Kamish's corpse is kept, David talks about the damage that Kamish had done during the raid, and how in his death, they're using every single bit of resource that they could pull from his corpse.

As he finishes, Jin-Woo tells David and Adam to stand back and he qalks forward. I smile as I see Kamish's raising being a crazy success.

...

Sung Jin-Woo POV

After they back away, I walk to the glass and reach out to Kamish's shadow. "Arise." As I say that, I feel Kamish's energy seemingly rebound at me.

|Shadow Extraction Failed.|

|Two more attempts remaining.|

That is pretty standard, but I remember that I still have the Amulet of Revival with me. And just as that thought comes to my mind, I see the same notifications as when I killed Kandiaru.

|Amulet of Revival senses a failed revival.|

|Forcing success of revival.|

|Shadow Extraction was successful.|

With that, a massive shadow erupts from Kamish's corpse, emanating powerful waves of mana. The wave is so strong that it rips apart multiple steel cables and pipes in the area. And a roar follows shortly after.

|You have upgraded the shadow.|

|??? LV 39.|

|Rank: General|

|Choose a name for this soldier.|

Deciding not to change his name, I name him Kamish. After the roar, Kamish settles, then looks at Mr. Brennon and Mr. White, and lets out a growl, causing the mana in the area to vibrate wildly. But he suddenly stops, then looks at me, and lowers his head in a bow. "This lowly servant who once served the great Dragon Emperor greets my new master, King of the Dead, Monarch of Shadows." He greets me in monster tongue.

I look at Dante, and he winks at me. "No need to look at me like that. I saw this coming and gave you something to help you out, nothing more." He says, and I let out a light chuckle as I shake my head. I then send Kamish into my shadow. Thinking about it now, it's very likely that Kamish is now my strongest soldier.

I turn to face Mr. Brennon and Mr. White, about to apologize for the damages, when I notice that the parts that were damaged by Kamish were now intact. It was definitely Dante that fixed them.

Seeing that there's no need for me to apologize, I thank them for letting me take Kamish, and begin to walk away. But Mr. Brennon stops me, saying that he insists that I still take Kamish's runestone, even after I tell him that having Kamish as a shadow soldier is enough.

I wonder if he's just that desperate for an amicable relationship with the Dominion Guild, or... I turn to look at Dante, who has a smirk on his face. Of course. He's placed strong suggestions in Mr. Brennon's mind.

Sighing, I accept the runestone and inspect it.

|Runestone: Dragon's Fear|

|You can absorb the skill by breaking the runestone.|

Dragon's Fear? I wonder what this skill is meant to be like. I use Ruler's Authority to break the runestone, and feel the mana within it flow into my body and settle. Checking its description, my jaw drops in shock at the details.

|Skill: Dragon's Fear Lv. 1|

|Active Skill

1000 Mana required

• Uses extremely strong and violent energy to put all beings weaker than you in a state of despair and panic for 3 minutes.

• All affected beings are immobilized for the duration.|

When I was called here, I was a bit skeptical about this. Seeing Shadow Extraction fail on Kamish, I already had my doubts that I'd succeed, after all, Kamish had been dead for 8 years now, but the amulet that Dante gave me caused it to succeed. And now, this. I really owe Dante a lot.

"Yeah, you do. But there's not really anything you can do to repay me, so just don't waste the help I've given you." Dante's voice rings in my head once again, and I smile. Turning to Mr. Brennon and Mr. White, I express my gratitude and begin heading out with Dante and Shiraori.

After that, we are driven to the hotel that Hae-In and Jin-Ho were taken to, but I heard news that made me irate. "Jin-Woo, I've not seen Jin-Ho. Have you?" Hae-In says as she releases me from her hug. I look at Dante for answers.

"Some members of the Scavenger Guild approached him earlier, about two hours ago, said that you called him to the Hunter Bureau's building." The Scavenger Guild? But why would they approach him? Wait, it can't be related to that, right?

"Where is he now?" I ask Dante, and he sends me images of Jin-Ho's current location. "Thanks. Hae-In, I'll be back soon." I say, then take off running.

...

Narrator POV

Upon hearing that the Scavenger Guild may be involved in Yu Jin-Ho's disappearance, Adam White immediately called the secretary to the Scavenger Guild's leader, who expressed confusion at the claim that they had escorted any of the Hunters from the Dominion Guild, let alone their guild leader.

But as the possibility of Hwang Dong-Su kidnapping Yu Jin-Ho came into her mind, she immediately contacted Thomas Andre, telling him of what has happened. But Thomas Andre had gone over to the villa where Hwang Dong-Su was meant to be staying at, and saw that all the people he had put there to watch over him had been beaten severely.

"That idiot's done it now. No matter what happens, we must absolutely find Hwang Dong-Su before Sung Jin-Woo does." Thomas Andre said, breaking the shades that he held in his hand.

Over the next thirty minutes, the Hunter Bureau and the Scavenger Guild searched all around the city for Hwang Dong-Su, hoping to get to him before Sung Jin-Woo. The Scavenger Guild was doing so because they wanted to prevent Sung Jin-Woo from killing him, and the Hunter Bureau was doing so to avoid a clash between Sung Jin-Woo and Thomas Andre.

Thomas Andre was exasperated at Hwang Dong-Su's actions, as he knew that he did this because he knew that Thomas would always stand up for his guild members, as per his own principles.

They would have been searching for longer, if they hadn't felt the pressure of Sung Jin-Woo's mana coming from an abandoned factory building near the edge of the city. Upon feeling the storm of mana caused by Sung Jin-Woo, Thomas Andre rushed to the location, hoping he could stop Sung Jin-Woo from killing Hwang Dong-Su.

When he reached the factory building, he saw Sung Jin-Woo holding a bloodied Hwang Dong-Su by the neck, three other Hunters with mangled limbs, and Yu Jin-Ho, who was being guarded by one of Dante's deathborn mages.

"I take it I won't be able to convince you to let him go, huh?" Thomas Andre said as he tried drawing Sung Jin-Woo's attention to himself. 'Damnit, Hwang. Why the fuck couldn't you just listen to me?'

...

5 minutes before Thomas Andre reached the factory

"Son of a bitch!!" Hwang Dong-Su shouted as he punched the Force Shield that was defending Yu Jin-Ho for the nth time. "I didn't go through all that humiliation just for some shit like this to get in my way!" He shouted, his glowing red eyes showing his ire.

"You. You're Hwang Dong-Su, right?" Yu Jin-Ho spoke for the first time since he was brought to the factory. "Oh. So the son of a bitch speaks. Yeah, I'm Hwang Dong-Su, and when I get past this stupid barrier, I'll make you cough up the details of your raid with my brother. And if you die, then that's just it for you." Hwang Dong-Su said, with a ferocious expression on his face. One that reminded Yu Jin-Ho of the elder brother of the S Rank Hunter in front of him, Hwang Dong-Suk.

But even then, he felt no fear in this situation. The only thing Yu Jin-Ho felt for these Hunters in front him was pity. "You may not know it, but you've all fucked up." He said calmly.

"Not only am I the guild leader of what is inarguably the world's most powerful guild, I also have Sung Jin-Woo as my Hyung-nim. The only reason that this guy hasn't killed you..." He continued, pointing to the deathborn mage. "...Is because Dante-ssi has decided that he'll allow my Hyung-nim to take care of you himself. So, if you want to run now, take my advice. Don't even try. It was already too late once you did this." Yu Jin-Ho said with an eerie confidence.

"You. You think you're..." Hwang Dong-Su started to shout at Yu Jin-Ho. *Bang!* But he was interrupted by a massive part of the factory's wall being blasted to pieces with a punch. A large cloud of dust was kicked up by this, and Hwang Dong-Su struggled to see through it.

As he squinted his eyes, he caught sight of two glowing purple eyes looking straight at him, then he felt a powerful wave of mana erupt from the figure that caused the dust to clear, and him to drop to his knees. His eyes widened as he saw Sung Jin-Woo looking at him with rage clearly in his eyes.

The three Hunters that Hwang Dong-Su had paid to bring Yu Jin-Ho here saw that there was no chance in trying to fight, and moved to run away. Only for them to be lifted into the air by Sung Jin-Woo's Ruler's Authority. Before any of them could try to beg Sung Jin-Woo to have mercy on them, he twisted all their limbs, breaking their bones and tearing their muscles, causing them to let out screams of agony.

Hwang Dong-Su didn't see any of this, but he heard their screams, and was too bogged down by fear to even try turning his neck to see what happened. He was focused solely on the look of fury on Sung Jin-Woo's face.

"Jin-Ho, are you all right?" Sung Jin-Woo asked, his voice low. "Yeah, Hyung-nim. Dante's soldier protected me." Yu Jin-Ho answered, and Sung Jin-Woo nodded in acknowledgement, then focused his sights on Hwang Dong-Su, who was involuntarily quaking in his boots.

Gritting his teeth, Hwang Dong-Su forced himself to stand, seemingly defying Sung Jin-Woo's unspoken order to wait for his death. Sung Jin-Woo looked at him coldly, then hit him with an uppercut to his midsection. As he hit Hwang Dong-Su, he noticed that he was going to be sent flying by the force of the blow, and chose to hold him so that he wouldn't get away. And for the next minute and a half, Sung Jin-Woo peppered Hwang Dong-Su's entire upper half with punches, controlling his strength so that he didn't instantly kill him.

...

Back to present

"If he's still alive, then let him go, and we'll forget that this ever happened." Thomas Andre said, as if ordering Sung Jin-Woo. "And if I don't?" Sung Jin-Woo responded, his hands stained with Hwang Dong-Su's blood. "Then I'll have to stop you by force."Thomas Andre said, flaring his mana.

Sung Jin-Woo looked coldly at Thomas Andre, then back to Hwang Dong-Su. "You can try, but with your level of strength, I'd advise you to not even consider it." He said, then punched Hwang Dong-Su's already mangled face, hitting out the few remaining teeth in his mouth.

"Do you perhaps not know who I am?" Thomas Andre asked with gritted teeth. "It doesn't matter who you are. I've faced and killed stronger." Sung Jin-Woo said, then tossed Hwang Dong-Su's battered body away like a piece of trash, and walked up to Thomas Andre with little care for his reaction.

Thomas Andre felt irate at Sung Jin-Woo's disrespectful dismissal of him, as he'd never faced any Hunter that could overpower him ever since the day he awakened. If anyone tried to defy him, he would use the overwhelming strength he got when he awakened, as well as violence to beat them into submission.

Deciding that he would do the same with Sung Jin-Woo, he attacked him, only to receive a counter punch that sent him flying , blasting through multiple walls in his flight path.

Outside the factory, all 100 of the Scavenger Guild's members and some of the Hunter Bureau were staying outside, hoping that the confrontation between Sung Jin-Woo and Thomas Andre wouldn't become violent. The explosions that were caused by Thomas Andre's body flying through multiple walls at subsonic speeds smashed those hopes to nothing.

After flying through some more walls, Thomas Andre was able to eventually catch himself. As the confrontation was now confirmed to have become violent, the Hunter Bureau's employees began to get to a safe distance, while the Scavenger Guild's members began getting into formation to aid their leader.

Sung Jin-Woo scoffed at this, and said one short phrase, one that sent an ungodly amount of fear into everyone. "Kamish, come out." Before any of the Scavenger Guild's members could begin asking if they heard wrongly, a dense wave of mana fell on the area, and with that, Kamish appeared from within Sung Jin-Woo's shadow.

Seeing the monster that was a nightmare for the country all those years ago be brought against them once more, but this time as a summon of another Hunter, made all of them understand the gravity of even thinking of intervening in the current situation. As an extra warning, he also brought out Merlin and Beru. Merlin created multiple statues, and Beru flared his mana, placing more pressure on the members of the Scavenger Guild.

Thomas Andre walked forward, through the holes caused by his body, with a grin and glowing eyes, irate at the disregard of his pride by Sung Jin-Woo. In his mind, he had decided that he would do his all to kill Sung Jin-Woo.

"If you admit to your mistakes and back off, I'll spare your life." Thomas Andre said as his mana began to flow in his body, reinforcing it. But Sung Jin-Woo nonchalantly flipped him off, causing him to get even angrier and begin using his ability, causing golden lines of mana to form all around his body.

"You son of a bitch! You'll regret throwing away your last chance!" Thomas Andre shouted, but Sung Jin-Woo calmly looked at Kamish and gave him a single order. "Kamish, Dragon's Fear." In response, Kamish let out a resoundingly loud roar that shook the mana in the area, and immobilized every single member of the Scavenger Guild, even knocking some of them unconscious.

Seeing all of his guild members be rendered useless in a single move, Thomas Andre gritted his teeth, then dashed at Sung Jin-Woo, his killing intent still going wild. However, he never once considered the fact that Sung Jin-Woo was overwhelmingly more powerful than he is or will ever be.

Right in front of his eyes, Sung Jin-Woo disappeared, his speed so high that not even a National Rank Hunter could see him move. And before he knew it, a fist slammed into his face, sending him flying once more.

But before he could go far, another powerful blow hit his midsection, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood. Another blow sent him to the ground, causing a wide crater to form from his impact.

Rushing to stand up, Thomas Andre activated his ability, Reinforcement, to the fullest, causing his body to become covered in armour, until his transformation finished, showing the appearance that caused him to gain the moniker of Goliath. But Sung Jin-Woo knew that this was an ability exclusive to Rulers and Monarchs, Spiritual Body Manifestation.

*Thomas Andre's Spiritual Body Manifestation*

Even then, Sung Jin-Woo knew that Thomas Andre didn't possess the power to cause him to have an actual challenge in a one-on-one battle. Thomas Andre raised his hands, which were clenched into fists, and slammed them on the ground, using his ability, Collapse, creating a massive shockwave that destroyed the ground around him.

Sung Jin-Woo saw this, and put up his Mana Armor and Mana Shield to serve as his defense against the attack. Thomas Andre saw this and grinned under the helmet covering his head, but that changed when he saw Sung Jin-Woo walk through his skill unharmed.

Seeing this, Thomas Andre activated his version of Ruler's Authority, which had been strengthened under the influence of Reinforcement. "Capture." The pull of the technique seemed similar to a black hole, as it pulled everything within its reach into itself with crushing force.

Yet, Sung Jin-Woo remained unmoved, holding himself in place with his Ruler's Authority. However, the statues created by Merlin were sucked into the skill and crushed. After the skill ran its course, Sung Jin-Woo rushed Thomas Andre down, and punched him in his chest, breaking apart his armour in a single blow.

Wanting to trade blows, Thomas Andre sent a left hook at Sung Jin-Woo's head, but he stepped back faster than Thomas could see, and punched at his left fist, breaking Thomas Andre's arm on impact.

The feeling of his armour and arm breaking from a single punch shook Thomas Andre to his core. After Kamish, he had never faced another being that could challenge him, let alone defeat him in a fight. But now, Sung Jin-Woo had turned this confrontation into a rout, with him at the losing end.

By this point, all of the Hunter Bureau's employees were outside the factory, and the Scavenger Guild's members were either dragging away those that had been hit by debris, or knocked out by the pressure of Kamish's Dragon's Fear.

The Hunter Bureau's employees that were awakened were shaking in their boots, as they felt the immense waves of mana coming from the fight between Sung Jin-Woo and Thomas Andre. They didn't believe that either of them were humans, just from the sheer amount of mana.

Their thoughts were interrupted by the sight and sound of Thomas Andre's body being punched through multiple walls. "Mr. White, what do we do now?!" One of the employees close to Adam White said. "We have to stop them, of course!" He responded with urgency.

"Stop them?! Who's going to stop him?! Mister Thomas is being pulverized by Hunter Sung Jin-Woo!" The employee said, witnessing Sung Jin-Woo smashing apart Thomas Andre's armor with frightening ease.

Meanwhile, Thomas Andre was struggling to move in an attempt to do anything to stop Sung Jin-Woo from continuing to pummel him with reckless abandon. For a man like him, whose sole raison d'etre was his strength to overwhelm his foes, this was beyond humiliating for him.

He wanted to raise his arms to fight, but they had both been broken. He would have tried to use Capture, but most of his mana had been exhausted in reapplying his armor multiple times after Sung Jin-Woo smashed it. As he was now, he was just a 3.5 metre tall punching bag for Sung Jin-Woo.

Adam White shouted for Sung Jin-Woo to stop, so that he wouldn't kill Thomas Andre, but was ignored, as Sung Jin-Woo continued pummeling Thomas Andre.

"I... lose." Thomas Andre managed to squeeze out, prompting Sung Jin-Woo to stop punching him. "It's my loss." He said, and Sung Jin-Woo released him, letting his body go limp as he fell unconscious.

Everyone looked on is fear and amazement, as they never thought that they'd see the day that the Thomas Andre would be beaten to such a state. But they knew that they couldn't just stay in shock.

The Scavenger Guild's members all ran up to Thomas Andre and for the few that still had their Healing Potions on them, they poured them down his throat, hoping to heal him.

In the hubbub that was caused by them moving about, Sung Jin-Woo slipped into Stealth, went over to where he had thrown Hwang Dong-Su's body, which was crippled, and finished him off. "Arise." He raised Hwang Dong-Su, making him his second ever soldier that was originally a human.

After that, he returned Kamish, Merlin and Beru into his shadow and left the area. As for Yu Jin-Ho, he had been taken away from the area by Dante's deathborn mage, even before the other members of the Scavenger Guild got there.

...

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Dante and Shiraori were in snow-white bathrobes, with steam coming off their bodies. "So, how was it?" Dante asked Shiraori. "Not too bad. The scale wasn't all that much, but for a fight between humans, it was definitely entertaining." Shiraori said, then turned off the TV.

"Well, it at least resulted in one more soldier for him, so that's there. On that topic, why didn't you raise any humans?" Shiraori asked Dante. "Monsters grow more powerful more quickly, even as deathborns. If I want to make any human pay for anything they've done, I can just fuck up their next life. Subjecting them to immortal servitude wouldn't seem like it'll be enough." Dante responded as he poured out some orange juice.

"I see. Well, I want to go and see how Maera is doing now. Wanna join?" Shiraori said, as she teleported her hooded dress onto her body, and the bathrobe off. "Sure, I don't see why not. It'll be nice to see how much the place has improved with D's hands off it." Dante said as he also changed into his standard clothes. And in an instant, the both of them were gone from the Earth, using this chance to visit their home world.

Chapter End.

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Word Count: 4,586

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