Yogumunt [17]

Yogumunt's hostility wasn't something the average Hunter could react to. Between one instance and the next, Yogumunt's mana warped into three solid spears of dark red energy, racing towards the trio. They weren't altered or affected by gravity, shooting in a pure line towards their targets.

[Yogumunt is using the skill: Soul Spear x3.]

Ichigo was the first one to react, squinting as her mana pulsed through her muscles gently. The instincts built into her body responded to Yogumunt's vile intent far before she actually saw anything, allowing her to slam her metal bat into the Soul Spear. The spear bent before it was launched upwards and shattered, but Ichigo's weapon was shoved back due to the recoil, causing the young woman's eyes to widen.

Jin-Woo reacted in the next instant, activating Void Slash and trying to slash through the incoming attack. As he pushed forward, intense pain shot through his chest. He gasped in pain, clenching Legacy's handle hard and feeling as the blade's handle lengthened slightly, the black blade transforming into its shortsword form. Legacy slammed into the tip of the Soul Spear, holding the mana weapon back.

Jin-Woo pushed back against the weapon, but the pain in his chest caused him to lose the struggle, the Soul Spear slid past Legacy and stabbed into his shoulder. Before he could yell, Igris emerged from a nearby shadow and hacked the spear in half.

Fanzer reacted lastly, electricity rising from his body and barely dodging the Soul Spear by ducking underneath it. It wrapped around and followed him, but Fanzer maintained his efficiency, dodging the attack over and over again. He carefully examined the weapon, every dimension of it, and the natural flow of the mana within it. After so many revolutions, he was able to catch the spear midair, sending heavy mana through the weapon.

[Fanzer is using the Class skill: Steal.]

The Soul Spear tried to escape Fanzer's superhuman hold, but the Thief didn't let go, his mana taking place of what used to be Yogumunt's. Soon enough, the dark red spear changed into a light purple spear of crackling electricity.

[Skill "Steal" has successfully worked.]

[New skill, "Lightning Lance" has been created.]

Yogumunt blinked. A large, manic smile started to rise to his face. He scanned over Fanzer and Ichigo with fascinated eyes. He regarded Sung and Igris with a thick and obsessive gaze.

"You three are…." Yogumunt couldn't finish his sentence before the three Hunters suddenly began converging on him.

Ichigo leapt up with her bat overhead, the untouched barrel—the thickest part of the bat—coming down on Yogumunt's head. Fanzer charged up two Lightning Lances, unleashing the newly formed weapons from both sides. Jin-Woo dashed forward, gritting his teeth as he clenched Legacy hard, black energy coursing over the blade.

"…Quite interesting," Yogumunt finished, his mana whirring with life behind him.

[Yogumunt is using the skill: Soul Binding.]

Yogumunt's dark red mana started swirling into strands before those strands braided themselves into thick ropes. Those ropes shot out in an instant, wrapping around the trio in three different ropes. He clenched his hand, pulling it down to the ground. The mana, still connected to his own larger aura, obeyed his command and pulled the three Hunters into the ground. A fraction of a second later, seven more Soul Binds shot out, tearing each of Jin-Woo's Summons to the ground, including Igris and Tempest.

The three let out gasps of pain, each of varying degrees of injury. Ichigo tried to break the Soul Binding, but her physical strength didn't make a dent in the skill. Fanzer just let out a soft laugh, seemingly defeated by the situation. Jin-Woo was in a similar state of mind, although his hand with Legacy was carefully trying to cut down the ropes.

The Summons tried to get out in their own ways, Igris readying Ruinous Dawn and a Telekinesis combo-move, or Tempest quickly shifting between her human and wolf form, trying to wriggle out of Yogumunt's binding. However, despite their attempts, the binds were too strong yet flexible to be weaseled out of.

Yogumunt stared down at the three, his expression unreadable. He looked around the battlefield, at the corpses of seemingly hundreds upon hundreds of white wolves, and at Lycaon's corpse. His expression began morphing into a grin, he met Ichigo's intense gaze, then met Fanzer's defeated vacant stare.

"You two humans are fascinating!" The Sovereign gestured to the fallen wolves all around, and at Lycaon's body.

"Even if he—" Yogumunt pointed at Jin-Woo, "—wasn't here, I've got no doubt that you two would've survived! Amazing, just amazing!"

Fanzer blinked lazily. "What the hell is your point?" He spat out.

Yogumunt blinked, his expression falling blank. His eyes shimmered, a skill within him activating.

[Yogumunt is using the skill: Soul Sight.]

His eyes widened. "And—my, oh my—you two haven't even unlocked your Soul Attributes yet? Well, you certainly aren't ripe enough to be materials for my Constructs, not yet anyway."

Ichigo hopped up from her resting position, the Soul Binds still wrapped around her body. While Yogumunt spoke, she got her bat into her mouth, which she held tightly between her teeth. Somehow, almost magically in fact, her voice wasn't muffled when she spoke.

"What does that mean?" She asked. Yogumunt blinked at her, extending his mana to take control of the Soul Bind again. Before his mana could touch her, she leapt backwards, avoiding his slow move. He looked at her, silent, before his face morphed into a full-on, demented grin. He extended his hand, his aura shooting forward towards Ichigo.

She braced herself for the attack, but then—

[Skill "Steal" has successfully worked.]

[New skill, "Lightning Rope" has been momentarily created.]

—A whip of lightning wrapped around Ichigo's waist and pulled her away from the attack. Fanzer slowly stood up, a cocky grin on his face. The binding around him completely fell away.

"Hah, I'm a pro when it comes to Mana Manipulation. I'm even better at stealing though! Haha!" Fanzer laughed, mana racing down the lightning rope wrapped around Ichigo's waist. The mana overrode Yogumunt's causing those bindings to fall away.

Ichigo gave Fanzer a soft nod, letting her bat fall from her teeth and land softly in her hand. She wiped away her mouth as her eyes stayed locked onto Yogumunt.

Yogumunt was quiet for a long time, blinking. He clapped his hands together excitedly. "You two humans are truly amazing! Well, I do love questions, so I'll answer you, young human-woman. I came here to see what sort of beings could destroy Lycaon, one of my own Constructs. I was going to use their souls as materials for my next project. And you two—"

Fanzer heard a little growl, it was an annoyed 'remember that I'm here?' sort of sound. He glanced to the side to see Jin-Woo glaring a hole into the side of his head, Fanzer let out a very small, awkward laugh before swinging his Lightning Rope towards Sung. That, however, was blocked by Yogumunt nonchalantly.

"—Oh, are you more interested in other things? Well, it's fine. You two can survive today, so you can be riper materials another day. He—" Yogumunt gestured to Jin-Woo, "—will be staying with me though. I need him for my research."

Jin-Woo was overcome with questions, and more seemed to rise as the seconds passed. The topic of souls, what Constructs even were, and why Yogumunt was so confident flickered in first, but then it was questions about why he'd be needed for research.

Ichigo didn't let the nature of Yogumunt's words confuse her in the slightest. Her eyes stayed firmly connected to the problem in front of her.

"You won't be taking him," she spoke firmly, her own mana beginning to wash over her.

[Ichigo is using the skill: Self-Healing.]

Ichigo's exhaustion faded away. She stood up taller, stronger. She lost a lot of her mana while using the skill, but what she had left swirled around within her, enhancing her already stunning physical abilities. She swung her bat around, a newly invigorated grin falling onto her face.

"I will stop you; we will stop you," Ichigo grinned, Fanzer sighing but nodding. The grin rising to his face made his opinion clear.

Jin-Woo's heart pounded in his chest, seeing Fanzer and Ichigo's incredibly displays of determination and, more importantly, comradery.

Yogumunt seemed unphased by their show. "Hmm… well, I don't want to get rid of such promising materials, but…." He turned his attention to Jin-Woo, proposing a question. "You, you aren't Ashborn, are you? Humans didn't like him."

Jin-Woo squinted. He couldn't tell what the right answer was, but he also knew that lying to a being who was clearly much stronger than him wasn't the best idea ever. Yogumunt's casual confidence that he could steal the souls of Ichigo and Fanzer—whatever that meant in the grand scheme of things—told Jin-Woo that he could probably kill them as well, if stealing their soul wouldn't do it anyways.

He was abruptly aware that his life wasn't the only thing in his hands. Although Fanzer and Ichigo proved that they had a slew of skills in their own grasps, he didn't want to doubt Yogumunt's abilities either, lest he get killed for it.

Soul Sight seemed to function like Advanced Observation, feeding Yogumunt information that would be otherwise impossible—or just very difficult—to obtain. That was enough to cause Jin-Woo to rethink his decision all over again, but Yogumunt wasn't willing to wait that long.

The Sovereign activated Soul Sight. His desires were clear. He wanted to peer directly into Jin-Woo's soul, as if to cross-reference it with Ashborn's soul.

However—

[The skill "Soul Sight" has been stopped by "The System."]

—Yogumunt's skill was stopped in its tracks. And it was stopped by something Jin-Woo couldn't explain.

Yogumunt snapped back, his skill suddenly backfiring and injuring himself. He leapt backwards, no longer paying any sort of attention to anything but Jin-Woo. Still, his presence wasn't nearly as close, so Fanzer took the moment of weakness and released Jin-Woo, before doing the same with his other summons.

Yogumunt held his hand up to his eye, his hand abruptly warm as it was covered in crimson red blood. He looked down at his hand before looking back up at the trio of Hunters and at the seven Summons standing beside them.

Yogumunt let out a growl, but just as his aura started to shift, Jin-Woo let out a roar.

"Arise!" The battlefield was covered in the souls of hundreds of white wolves, and Jin-Woo was prepared for a fight. Even if he couldn't save the summons, he was more-than-willing to use them to take down Yogumunt.

[You have received the title, "Black Wizard."]

The Sovereign looked at his opponents. It was just himself and an army against him. He stared his once-underlings and new opponents down, carefully debating between his options. He wiped away the blood in his eye and snapped his finger, a red Gate appearing before him.

"I will be back, but for now you all get the opportunity to live. Do keep up the hard work, and not-Ashborn, make sure you can control Mana of Death the next time we talk, or else my effort to come all the way out here would be worthless," Yogumunt smiled, giving the opposing side a bow before walking into his Gate, leaving his opponents in the Gate.

The three abruptly crumbled to the ground.

"God, it's good that he gave up. That fight was totally in his favor," Fanzer sighed, letting out a happy laugh. "I'm so glad that's done."

Ichigo nodded similarly, "Yeah, I don't know if I could've done much against his skills even in my top condition. That was dangerous."

Jin-Woo was fairly quiet, looking over his 137-strong army. He could only keep seven, and he was positive that he'd use the ones he already chose, but the sight of all those summons was awe-inspiring, even for him.

"We would've lost that fight… but we survived. I think that's enough of a victory," Jin-Woo laughed, a smile rising to his face before he fell backwards, landing on something fuzzy. It was Tempest, in her original form, sitting down. Jin-Woo didn't even try to fight it, resting on the mass of mana tiredly.

"We've gotta get out of here. It would suck if he came back," Fanzer spoke after a few minutes. Ichigo hopped up in agreement while Jin-Woo let out a little sigh before rising. He barely didn't gasp as pain shot through his chest.

Whatever adrenaline was within him before, it faded, leaving him sore and aware of his injuries. He waved off the Summons who helped him, terminating their presences and storing the seven he could take with him.

The three slowly walked out of the Red Gate, returning to Earth. Jin-Woo made sure Tempest quickly snatched up the weapon and mana crystal that Lycaon dropped right before the Gate closed. He put both in his Inventory between moments.

There was nobody outside the Gate, and the chill of the cool winter night washed over the three. Although Fanzer was too exhausted to do so, Ichigo pumped up her aura, covering Fanzer and Sung in her warm energy.

"So… what do we do next?" Fanzer questioned, seeming confused. "I mean, normally this would be my time to leave and get back to my life as a thief, but… I can't quite do that anymore. Not after that guy basically said my days were numbered left."

"Well, what other options do we have? We've gotta stick together now, of course!" Ichigo grinned, giggling. It was as if the horror of the situation meant very little in the grand scheme of her mood.

Fanzer let out a sigh, sinking slightly. He slowly nodded, "Well, that does seem logical. But… well… I've kinda got to get some stuff first."

"Oh? Me too!" Ichigo nodded.

Jin-Woo glanced between the two, abruptly exhausted. He let out a sigh, but pain suddenly shot through his chest. He almost forgot about his injuries, but that instantly brough him back down to reality. He stayed silent despite his pain, soaking in the warmth of Ichigo's mana before walking out of it. He started walking down the street with a small wave of his hand.

"We'll meet back up here tomorrow, since we've all got things to do," Sung decided, too tired to listen to the conversation properly as he walked away. He got an affirmative from his two peers and continued without stopping.

As he strolled home, he felt odd.

Even though he technically lost Lycaon as a summon, he didn't feel very bitter. Tempest's massive power boost, the weapon Lycaon dropped, Lycaon's mana crystal, and a new title all made up for the loss of Lycaon as a proper, individualized summon.

Speaking of, Jin-Woo made sure to flick his new title on, glancing at the title's description.

[Black Wizard]

Obtained by summoning 100 spirits at once. Most pupils couldn't reach this level, but don't let that stop you. You've made it to your teacher's level, now surpass them!

40% Increase to Summon Damage.

40% Increase to Summon Defense.

20% Decrease to Summon Restoration cost.

Jin-Woo whistled to himself. He knew the title would be good, especially after Black Wizard's Pupil showed how invaluable it was, but he didn't expect it to double the effects of the previous title. He absentmindedly thought about if he remembered any powerful Black Wizards, but after drawing a blank he left the thought process alone.

Pushing the thoughts aside, he glanced towards his Inventory, noticing Fanzer's card was still sitting inside.

The money he could make by selling Fanzer's card would be hefty as well, more than enough to take care of Jino's essential needs for a month or two.

He shook the smile that rose to his face away and began walking home, trying to ignore his aching body. It didn't take long for him to wonder why Lycaon was so opposed to Jin-Woo gaining him as a summon.

One of his first thoughts was because it was strong, but that seemed obvious. He accepted that he was much weaker than the boss, even with the boosts he received from his passive skills, but he couldn't accept that this was the second time when he failed to summon the boss of a Gate as a summon.

More specifically, it wasn't just the boss of a Gate, but it was Yogumunt's Failed Construct. That was a very big detail he hadn't been accounting for originally.

After a while of debating it, he came to one conclusion. While distant monsters like the diamond mandible myrmidons or savage white wolves didn't seem to have much direct connection to Yogumunt, the Failed Constructs certainly did, seemingly being some of Yogumunt's personal creations.

With such a personal connection, he didn't find it very hard to imagine that the Failed Constructs were more loyal to Yogumunt than the other monsters were. Jin-Woo couldn't figure out a solid reason why they'd be loyal to Yogumunt, but he couldn't explain why his own Summons were loyal to him either, so he accepted it as it was.

A few minutes passed before Jin-Woo's mind traveled back to Yogumunt. He was woefully uninformed, and when he looked up information on his phone, he found no reports on Yogumunt or anything relating to him.

At most, he found a few scarce reports of Hunters who escaped from Red Gates going missing several weeks after those raids. He was quick to credit those mysterious disappearances to Yogumunt, especially after he said he was going to steal the souls of the people who killed Lycaon.

How Yogumunt would steal souls, Jin-Woo assumed it had something to do with his ability that was clearly connected to souls in one way or another, based on all his skills being preceded by the word "soul."

But beyond that, no matter what information he tried to piece together, he couldn't fall to any other concrete conclusion.

As he walked past a closing bar, he suddenly felt bitterness rise within him. He hadn't acknowledged it beforehand, but Ichigo reminded him of someone. He shook his head.

He needed more information, and there was a chance Yogumunt had that information.

Where the Gates and monsters came from, why monsters wanted to attack humanity, and even how to stop the Gates were questions that Hunters had since the Gates opened 15 years ago, but the truth of it all was still shrouded in heavy mystery.

And Jin-Woo had all that information so close to him, within Yogumunt. If he was taken by the Sovereign, it was possible that he'd gain all that information and more.

But there was also the possibility that he'd be tortured or used in some other inhumane way. In all actuality, he knew that the chances of being used were far, far higher than the chances of having some all-revealing conversation that he got away from scot-free.

He pushed away the hypothetical-at-best thought as another one flew through his mind.

Yogumunt referred to him as "Ashborn," and said something about "Mana of Death." Sung truly had no idea what the man was talking about, but he filed that information away regardless. What was more interesting was that Yogumunt's Soul Sight was interrupted by the System, but he couldn't figure out why.

If Yogumunt was the first person to use a detection skill on Jin-Woo, he may've chalked it up to that, but that clearly wasn't the case. Within Lycaon's Gate, Jin-Woo received a notification that Fanzer used a detection skill on him, but that wasn't interrupted by the System like Yogumunt's skill was.

The only difference he could identify was that Yogumunt's skill specifically had to do with Jin-Woo's soul, while Fanzer's skill seemed to only provide him basic information.

But another question arose with that observation. Why was the System stopping others—or at least Yogumunt—from identifying his soul?

He couldn't figure it out, no matter how hard he thought about it, so he eventually shook his head and turned his attention to a small television in the store window he was passing. The television was playing the news.

The newscaster happily relayed the news of an American S-Rank Gate being handled in a single day by one of the Divine Five.

"Although the information of who exactly took care of the Gate is currently kept under a heavy lock and key, the information regarding which amazing group did it isn't! The five strongest Hunters on Earth, presiding over the strongest Guilds in the world! One of those five must've destroyed the Gate!" The woman had a large smile on her face, a twinkle glimmering within her eye. "It may've even been Su-Ho, the Sovereign of Hunters himself!"

The woman's small horn, heterochromia eyes, scarily pale skin, and small fangs peeking out of her lips would normally be unseen on public television, but she was an extremely normal sight for anyone who chimed in on the Hunter's Newscasting Station. She was apparently saved and hired by the man on the top himself, although Jin-Woo wasn't sure if those were just rumors or not.

Jin-Woo looked at the woman for a moment, meeting her excited gaze with his serious one.

"And why haven't the Divine Five been able to get to the bottom of this?" Jin-Woo asked no one, his voice falling on deaf ears.

"Could Yogumunt… have some sort of connection with the Divine Five? Could they have some deals in the dark…?" Jin-Woo pondered silently.

The television flickered off, and he shook his head.

"No, there's no point in thinking about this much further. The Divine Five haven't done anything to incriminate themselves over the last few years, especially with how adamant Su-Ho has been about making sure Hunters are more properly trained and prepared," Jin-Woo turned on his heel and continued towards his apartment complex. "Besides, if I'm not even strong enough to beat Lycaon, even thinking of opposing the Divine Five might as well be a death wish."

With a deep breath―which he instantly regretted, deep pain shooting through his chest―Jin-Woo pushed the thoughts away, and before he could even realize it, he'd arrived at his apartment and was in front of his family's home. He grabbed onto the handle but didn't turn it. For a moment, he just listened.

He felt like he was forgetting something incredibly important, something closely intertwined but not directly related to Yogumunt. He couldn't figure it out despite how much he thought about it.

After a minute or so of hearing nothing, he recentered himself with a few shallow breaths and walked into his apartment.

He nearly forgot to breathe when he saw her.

She had stunning blonde hair, grey eyes, and an expression of slight nervousness. She was a unique sort of beauty, like a well-sharpened knife. Her features were serious, but they didn't show the signs of wear that came with age. She was known as a lot of things in South Korea, from the Dancer to the Sea Angel, but Jin-Woo simply knew her as an old friend.

Her grey-colored eyes met Jin-Woo's and thinned. Her back straightened up, and her breathing became steady. She became the Vice-Captain of the Hunters Guild.

"Sung Jin-Woo, Choi Jong-In of the Hunters Guild would like to speak with you," The woman spoke seriously, declining her head softly.

"Jeez, Cha, I thought the fame wouldn't go to your head. Is that any way to greet an old friend?" He grinned.