Declaration.(1)

Chaos ensued as a massive battle broke out between the hunters and Monarchs. Jinwoo immediately summoned his shadows to bridge the power disparity between the two factions, but it was to no avail.

Baek Yonho, Choi-Jong In, Cha Hae-In, Ma Dongwok and the rest of the Korean S-rank hunters were all here, all of them fighting with their lives on the line.

Watching this from afar, Kenjaku had his eyes specifically on Go Gunhee, the words he said to him when they spoke echoing in his mind.

'You wanted me to be the next chairman of Hunter's Association eh? Maybe if I was a normal man, I could accept it. But, I have too much to fight for. My ambitions extend far beyond your own.'

Sillad was the one fighting Go Gunhee, the old elf taking it upon himself to annihilate the man due to the Rulers Shard hidden within him.

Even though Go Gunhee was an older man, he moved with much more power than every other Korean Hunter. His skills were the real deal.

'If Ashborn's vessel didn't exist, he would be the strongest hunter in Korea. I knew I sensed something in Gunhee when we first met, but it wasn't until I saw the Ruler's shard shining brightly within Liu Zhigang that I understood what I saw. In truth, you should've been the one I killed first.'

Go Gunhee fought with all his might as Jinwoo's shadows came to help him against Sillads icy onslaught, but it was to no avail. Compared to the elf that only fought to destroy a few days ago, Sillad now had someone he wanted to prove himself to.

His King was watching, so he had to put on his best performance.

"Querehsha."

Hearing Kenjaku calling her name, the woman quickly turned around and stared at him longingly, her red eyes locked onto his figure.

"Tell them not to kill anyone yet. They have a bigger purpose that they must play. The only one allowed to die is Go Gunhee. As for the rest, drag them here."

Querehsha, even though she didn't like sparing humans, immediately transmitted his words to her insects, sending them out to inform the Monarchs.

While they showed various reactions to it, mostly negative, seeing Longinus vibrate in Kenjaku's grip gave them shivers. Tarnak and Yogumunt did not want to keep pushing their luck in this matter.

In mere moments, 95% of the hunters were brought to their knees, most of them on death's door as the Monarchs dragged their broken, bloodied bodies over to Kenjaku.

Sillad appeared in a frosty mist with Go Gunhee impaled upon his trident, the elderly elf waiting in anticipation for Kenjaku's next commands.

The only hunter left fighting was of course, Sung Jinwoo. Bloodied and beaten, he stood strong with his daggers within his grip, his shadow soldiers ready for battle behind him.

All of the Monarchs looked at him and the image of Ashborn flashed within their minds, awakening a certain fear they had within their hearts.

'If he awakens, we're all dead.'

That was the thought that ran through all of their heads.

Kenjaku, feeling the hesitation coming from them, laughed as he stepped forward, gently moving Querehsha to the side.

"My King?"

Surprised at his intervention, she laid her insectoid claws on his shoulders, trying to stop him from entering the battle.

"Let me go. There are some of you here that aren't convinced of my intentions. Let me prove the depth of my conviction by destroying the object of your fear. Besides, if I continue to stand back and watch you all fight my battles..."

Kenjaku shook her hand off of his shoulders and continued walking towards Jinwoo, stopping when he deemed that he was close enough.

"...then I would be repeating the mistakes of the past. Isn't that right, Ashborn?"

Jinwoo squinted his eyes as he stared at Kenjaku, trying to find an opening on the man's body. No matter which angle he imagined himself approaching from, Longinus impaled him the moment he entered Kenjaku's range.

'Ashborn? He must have me confused with someone else. Besides that, when did he get so strong? Everytime I look at him, something deep within tells me avoid him, especially that weapon of his. But why? Why him of all people?'

Kenjaku stuck Longinus in the ground and thought to himself, 'Today is not the day he dies. If I use Longinus, he'll be turned into nothing before I even know it. Instead, I'll use my-'

Seemingly in response to his thoughts, Longinus vibrated and encapsulated itself in a silver light, blinding everyone nearby.

When the light vanished, Longinus had revealed a new form, turning itself into a golden dragon embroidered staff with golden bands on each end.

"Longinus..."

As Kenjaku ran his hands across the staff, a golden inscription lit up, revealing the words, 'As-You-Will.'

Kenjaku laughed, his heart filled with glee as he marveled upon the character of his weapon.

"I was foolish, my friend. Yet again, you prove me wrong."

Stomping his foot to the ground, Kenjaku pulled his arm back and thrusted Longinus at Jinwoo with incredible speed.

Jinwoo immediately dodged and sent all of his shadow soldiers at Kenjaku, hoping that they could distract him long enough. He needed to land a critical blow. A drawn out fight here was not the answer.

Kenjaku, knowing full well of the infinite shadow army, twisted Longinus in his arms, causing it to multiply rapidly.

"Destroy them, Longinus."

WHOOSH!!

Kenjaku's unceasing thrusts combined with Longinus' ability to multiply and now, stretch, caused an almost instant obliteration of the shadow army.

Igris and Beru tried to defend Jinwoo, but they were all pushed back to the edges of Jeju Island by Kenjaku's onslaught, their bodies being forced against the shield surrounding it.

Jinwoo tried to walk, but most of the bones in his body were broken. His hands shook as he struggled to keep hold of his daggers, while his knees cracked with every step.

Trying to summon his shadow soldiers to his side, Jinwoo started to realize something that revealed something terrifying about the enemy he was facing.

'My shadows soldiers aren't regenerating?! Igris! Beru!'

SWOOSH! BOOM!

Just as he glanced to the side to see Igris struggling to regain his shadow form, Longinus appeared in flash of silver light, forcing Igris into the ground.

Kenjaku appeared in the next moment, kicking Beru away and grabbing Longinus, spinning it around as he turned his attention to Jinwoo.

"Remember Ashborn, I was the one who gave you the power over the domain of death. So why do you continue to think a power that originally belonged to me will somehow defeat me?"

Ignoring Kenjaku's words, Jinwoo used his daily refresh that he managed to save and charged at his enemy with his power on full display.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Deflecting Jinwoo's dagger strikes with his staff, Kenjaku spun his staff with such speed that it attacked as an unparalleled defense and an overwhelming attack.

In no time, Jinwoo was forced back, using his daggers to defend and dodge Kenjaku's attacks, but, that could only last for so long.

Breaking his defense with multiple swings, Kenjaku grabbed Jinwoo by the neck and threw him across the Island, destroying multiple buildings in the process.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, a massive fireball appeared from behind, engulfing Kenjaku in flames.

Tusk, a shadow magician that Jinwoo possessed, used this attack to relieve some pressure from his master.

"Tch. Worthless."

BZZT!

Kenjaku appeared in front of Tusk in a flash of red lightning, grabbed the creature by its elongated teeth and started slamming it through any building he could find.

"Stay out of this, shadow."

As it lay on the ground, Kenjaku stuck Longinus in it's mouth and muttered, "Grow."

BOOM!

Longinus widened in size so much that the massive creature known as Tusk was reduced into nothing but a memory before it's size.

Sensing Jinwoo starting to recover, Kenjaku reduced Longinus back it's normal size, pointed it at Jinwoo who was on the other side of the Island, and said, "Break him down, Longinus."

SWOOSH!

Just as Jinwoo got up and opened his eyes, all he saw was a silver light.

BOOM!

In the next moment, Longinus lodged itself in his chest, sending red lightning throughout Jinwoo's body that caused him to convulse rapidly.

BZZT!

Kenjaku grabbed Jinwoo by his hair, slammed his head into the ground and slowly raised his body up, bringing Jinwoo's head closer to his own.

"Ashborn. This is your last chance."

"GURGHHH!!"

Kenjaku knee'd Jinwoo in the stomach, causing him to spit out a pool of blood.

"I can feel it in the air. The Heavenly Army is getting closer. Your true shadow army is also getting closer. So I assume by the time they arrive, you would have fully awakened."

Jinwoo summoned a massive sword out of nowhere, cut off the hair Kenjaku was grabbing on to and in the same motion, slashed at his enemy. This was incredibly fast and even a few Monarchs were impressed by this attack.

"Hm. I know this power."

Kenjaku grabbed onto the sword with his bare hands, crushed it and absorbed the white flames emanating from it.

"H-how?"

Jinwoo was stunned as he struggled to keep his eyes open.

"This power belonged to Baran. I see. You must have saved some of his power somewhere. Heh. You never cease to amaze me, Ashborn."

Grabbing him by the hair again, Kenjaku knee'd him in the face multiple times before slamming him into the ground as he continued, "But don't interrupt me again. As I was saying, this is your last chance. The day you fully awaken in this body, I expect an answer. If you want to continue siding with those traitorous Ruler's, then I will treat you as such."

Turning around, Kenjaku started walking back to the rest of the Monarchs, holding Jinwoo in his hand as if he was a ragdoll.

"But if you stand at my side once again, I will forgive your transgressions. It's your choice, Ashborn. I will not be this lenient again."