"Well, that wasn't very informative, was it?" Iz grumbled, her heels clicking against the polished floor as she followed behind Kaede. The two had just stepped out of the conference room, where a meeting between top guilds had concluded in what could generously be described as organized confusion.
Kaede, ever the optimist, smiled sheepishly. "I mean… there was some information, I guess."
Iz raised a brow. "Oh really? Which part of that endless slideshow was actually useful to us?" She crossed her arms, her expression flat. "So, the big revelation is that mana's gathering in nine different spots in the upper atmosphere. None of them are opening in Japan, so it's not our problem."
Kaede tilted her head, her tone uncertain. "Uhm, that still sounds like a problem though. Even if I don't really get what that means."
Iz shrugged, swiping lazily through the holographic display on her phone. "Even if it is, we can't just go barging into another country. That's how you start wars."
"Why not?" Kaede asked innocently. "Have you seen what they're saying on the news? It's hilarious."
Iz exhaled through her nose, though a reluctant chuckle slipped through. "Yeah, I guess it is." She tapped on her screen, pulling up the headlines that had been circulating since last night.
---
= Thomas Andre Finally Meets His Match in a Three-Way Battle With Korean Hunter Sung Jin-Woo and Japanese Hunter Kaede Tawata!
= Humanity's Strongest Hunters Clash, Three-Way Battle Ends in a Draw!
= Who's the Strongest? Thomas Andre, Sung Jin-Woo, or Kaede Tawata? The Debate Heats Up!
= Two New National-Level Hunters on the Horizon, The Age of Titans Begins!
---
Iz sighed, lowering the screen. "They seriously think that fight ended in a draw between the three of you."
Kaede pouted, waving her hands. "But I didn't fight them! Thomas and Cinnamon went off somewhere to play, and Sung Jin-Woo didn't have any resistance to any of my skills. He just… keeled over!"
Iz groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead. Memories of the other world, of Maple's absurd skill set, flashed through her mind. "Yeah. Fighting you without resistances is basically the dumbest thing anyone could do." She gave Kaede a sidelong look. "But that was back in New World Online. Things aren't supposed to work that way here."
Kaede blinked innocently, her tone almost hopeful. "Oh. So… sucks to be them?"
Iz's only response was a long, weary sigh as they continued down the hall. "What did you think about the other announcement. Sung Jinwoo's father?"
Kaede raised a hand in a cheerful little wave as a group of men approached from across the hall. Their footsteps were firm, purposeful, and at their head walked a tall, broad-shouldered man whose very presence seemed to command attention.
Even before he spoke, Iz recognized him. Her posture straightened instinctively. "That's Liu Zhigang," she murmured under her breath. "China's Seven-Star Hunter. One of the first five National-Level Hunters."
As Liu Zhigang and his entourage drew near, his expression softened into a polite smile. He said something in fluent Mandarin, his tone calm yet warm, carrying the confidence of someone used to standing among the world's strongest.
Kaede blinked and tilted her head toward Iz. "What's he saying?"
Iz listened for a moment, then translated. "He's congratulating you, says it's only a matter of time before they announce your official status as a National-Level Hunter."
Kaede frowned slightly. "But they haven't announced it yet."
Liu Zhigang chuckled softly, his eyes gleaming with quiet amusement as he responded again, his tone light but full of certainty.
"He says it's more than guaranteed," Iz relayed. "After all, you're the one who held the world in your hands just a few months ago."
Kaede flushed a deep pink, rubbing the back of her neck as she laughed awkwardly. "Ah… yeah, that. I didn't really think it would, um… cause all that."
Liu Zhigang's gaze shifted subtly to the side, drawing Kaede's attention toward the far end of the hall.
There, standing near the exit with his usual composed expression, was Sung Jinwoo. His black coat trailed behind him as he turned to leave, but the moment he felt their eyes on him, he paused and met their gaze. For a brief instant, the air itself seemed to tighten.
Kaede blinked, her memory flashing back to the scene in the conference room not long ago. The announcement had dropped like a bombshell, the suspect in the murder of National-Level Hunter Christopher Reeds was none other than Sung Jinwoo's father.
The room had erupted in whispers, disbelief, and tension thick enough to choke on. And then Jinwoo had reacted coldly, his voice calm but his presence suffocating.
He had looked every single top-ranked hunter in the world in the eye and declared that if his father was innocent, he would fight them all. Every last one of them.
Kaede remembered the silence that followed. Watching him now, she couldn't help but feel a strange sense of respect.
Kaede smiled faintly. "I hope his father's innocent," she said quietly. "I really don't want to fight Ashborn."
Iz glanced at her, brow raised. "Ashborn?"
Kaede blinked, then looked away with a sheepish grin. "Oh, um… long story."
---
Sung Jinwoo walked down the corridor with his usual calm, impassive expression, the faint echo of his footsteps filling the silence. Beside him, Adam White kept pace, glancing up at him with a mix of disbelief and amusement.
"Were you serious back there?" Adam finally asked, breaking the quiet.
"Yes," Jinwoo replied curtly, his tone as flat as ever.
Adam gave a short laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "You actually said that, in front of five hundred top-ranking hunters from over a hundred and twenty countries. You realize only two other people in the world could get away with something like that, right?"
Jinwoo turned his head slightly, his dark eyes flicking toward Adam. "Two?" He paused, then nodded faintly. "Ah. Thomas… and Kaede, right?"
Adam smirked. "Thomas stands at the top of the Hunter world, and you and Kaede can stand right beside him without flinching."
Jinwoo's eyes narrowed slightly. 'That's… completely wrong.'
His thoughts drifted to the girl in question, Kaede Tawata. During their brief encounter, he had seen something that unsettled even him. 'That lion of hers… it wasn't just a monster. It had emerged from her shadow, but its essence hadn't felt like shadow at all.'
'I wonder who won,' he thought, a faint smirk ghosting across his lips. 'Thomas… or her pet?'
The smirk faded as another thought struck him. Although… I still don't remember how that fight ended.'
When he'd regained consciousness, he was lying in a half-collapsed building with no memory of how he got there.
The reporters had called it a "draw between humanity's three strongest hunters." But he knew that wasn't true. 'Thomas wasn't even there at the end of the fight.'
He frowned, the crease between his brows deepening. 'There was a fight… right?' The faintest pulse of unease flickered through him. 'If Hwang Dongsoo managed to escape, then somehow, she must have stopped me. But how? If I can just remember.'
His train of thought broke abruptly as a strange sensation crawled across his skin, the unmistakable feeling of being watched.
He lifted his gaze, scanning the hallway.
There they were. Two figures standing a short distance away, both watching him.
Liu Zhigang, the pride of China. And beside him, Kaede Tawata.
'Maybe she knows what happened to Hwang Dongsoo,' Jinwoo thought, his eyes narrowing slightly. 'If he's still alive… she'll probably try to stop me again.'
Without hesitation, he began walking toward them.
'Ah. So I was right.'
As he closed the distance, something about Kaede Tawata's shadow caught his attention. It wasn't natural. The darkness behind her seemed alive, writhing faintly as though aware of his presence. From within that shadow, he could feel them, three distinct presences watching him, sharp and intelligent.
'So she does have soldiers of her own,' he mused.
Kaede noticed him approaching and smiled, her expression warm yet unreadable. "Ohayou gozaimasu," she said brightly. Then, she continued in a flurry of words that left Jinwoo blinking.
He turned slightly toward Adam.
"She says," Adam translated with a small grin, "it's nice to see you again, and she hopes you're not still angry about what happened last night."
'So she remembers,' Jinwoo thought. His gaze lingered on her, searching for any trace of deceit or mockery, but there was none. Only calm confidence.
"I understand that my initial actions might have caused problems for civilians," Jinwoo said evenly. "So I don't blame you for stepping in when you did. But Hwang Dongsoo went after someone I consider family. That meant he forfeited his life. Nothing anyone could have done would have changed that."
The young woman standing beside Kaede, sharp-eyed, dressed in a dark suit, began translating his words into Japanese.
Before Kaede could respond, Liu Zhigang chuckled from beside her, his arms crossed loosely. There was a satisfied gleam in his eyes as he spoke in Mandarin.
Adam's lips twitched into a smirk as he translated. "He says… he likes the way you think. That Thomas deserved whatever happened to him. And as for your father…"
Jinwoo's expression hardened instantly, eyes narrowing like blades.
"…He truly hopes your father isn't the culprit," Adam finished carefully. "Because he'd hate to have to fight you."
The silence that followed was heavy.
The air grew thick with tension as Liu Zhigang and Sung Jinwoo locked eyes, their silent standoff heavy enough to make the walls creak. Between them stood Kaede, looking oddly out of place, like a lost girl stuck between two storms.
That tension only deepened when a shadow fell across the room. The ground seemed to vibrate under the slow, deliberate steps of Thomas Andre, his sheer presence swallowing the murmurs that had begun to rise. His personal assistant followed closely behind,looking oddly calm behind her charge.
Now, four monsters stood opposite each other, each one a name that could make nations tremble.
Sung Jinwoo's eyes, cold and sharp, met Thomas's burning glare head-on. The two titans radiated killing intent without saying a word. Not to be outdone, Liu Zhigang chuckled under his breath, a crimson aura flaring from his body like molten fire.
The room transformed into a battlefield of color and power.
Gold surged from Thomas Andre's form like sunlight turned molten metal.
Red wove and hissed from Liu Zhigang, serpentine and aggressive.
Violet shadows bled from Sung Jinwoo, dark and regal.
And as the three auras collided, the very air distorted. Windows quivered. Lights flickered. Several hunters instinctively took a step back, unsure if they were about to witness another cataclysmic clash between National Level Hunters.
Was Sung Jinwoo really about to start another fight, right after threatening the entire world?
Then, amidst the tension, Kaede tilted her head, her expression turning from confusion to mild amusement. "Well, this is… something," she muttered in Japanese, her tone almost playful. "Can't let the guys have all the fun, you know."
Sung Jinwoo didn't understand her words, but he didn't need to. The meaning became clear when Kaede's aura erupted.
A black miasma rolled out from her like a living shadow, threaded with arcs of red lightning. It collided violently with the others, filling the entire conference room with a suffocating blend of darkness, divinity, and raw power.
---
Hwang Dongsoo groaned as he sank into the plush green couch, his body protesting every movement. The long trek had taken its toll—his bones ached, his muscles screamed, and his pride wasn't doing much better.
"Why the hell did you make me walk all the way here?" he snapped, glaring at the woman seated across from him. "You couldn't have gotten me a ride or something?"
The woman didn't immediately respond. Her expression remained calm, too calm. On either side of her stood two towering men whose very presence made the air feel heavier. Their restrained auras told him everything he needed to know, they were both S-Rank Hunters, and strong ones at that.
Hwang's eyes narrowed as he took a closer look at one of them. "Wait a second… aren't you with the Scavenger Guild?" He frowned. "Why the hell are you here, and where's Thomas?"
The woman leaned forward slightly, her voice calm yet sharp enough to cut through his questions. "Hwang Dongsoo," she said evenly, "do you know why I saved your life?"
That made him pause. The last time they'd met, she hadn't spoken a word of Korean, yet now her speech was flawless, almost native. That alone set off alarm bells in his head.
'Something's definitely off,' Hwang thought, his gaze flicking from her to the two Hunters flanking her. Every instinct screamed danger.
He forced a smirk, trying to mask his unease. "Considering the boss isn't here," he said, his tone dripping with mockery, "why don't you tell me yourself, Mrs. Selner?"
Selner chuckled, crimson eyes briefly flaring. "Ah. That attitude won't do you any good now, will it? I'm afraid your little tango with the King of Shadows must end. You will leave Sung Jinwoo alone. I, on the other hand, have other plans…"
Hwang Dongsoo erupted. Aura flaring, he shoved himself up so forcefully the couch crumpled beneath him. "What the hell did you just say, bitch? I don't give a damn what you've done for me. That bastard killed my brother, and I'll be damned if I don't kill him and watch him die like the pathetic worm he is!"
The entire room trembled as the two guards moved to block his path, stepping in between Hwang and Selner like living barricades.
"There's no need for that, gentlemen." Selner's smile was calm, dangerous in its serenity, and her crimson eyes burned with cold amusement. She lifted her gaze to Hwang, steady as stone. "I gave you your potential. I gave you your worth. Now tell me... what do you think you're worth?"
The question landed like a hammer. For a moment, Hwang's glare faded, then the fire in his eyes extinguished until they seemed hollow. Then they darkened until they were completely lifeless. He sagged back onto the ruined couch as if the fight had been drained from him. "I understand, mistress," he said, his voice flat.
Selner inclined her head. "Very good. We have work to do. The stage must be set for the war to come. Monarchs. Rulers. They're just noise... noise to drown out the world for her arrival."
Hwang rose slowly, a chilling red glow forming in his eyes. He moved like a man in a trance, obedient and dangerous in equal measure.