Minho sighed as he looked at the system. It worked. Though he couldn't tell the distance, but it worked. At least now he knew dismissing stuff didn't come with a 'must be in sight ' requirement. He then decided to resummon Rathalos.
The dragon hybrid reappeared, shrouded in steam. "My Liege," Rathalos bowed as the steam cleared.
Minho remained quiet, looking at the dragon flatly. Vasha was the one who broke the silence. "How did getting the phone lead you to a Ruler's vessel?"
"They had already been there before me."
"They?" Minho's raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, my Liege." Rathalos nodded. "Six of them. But only one was a Ruler's vessel."
Minho tried to give an explanation to what Rathalos just said. "Hmm… it's as expected." Vasha shrugged.
Minho turned to her. "As expected? What do you mean?"
"Well, vessels of the Rulers are worshipped in this world, so it's normal for them to have a few people following them. I think I came across one during my stay here. I haven't confronted any so I don't know how strong they are." She explained. "Better to be on the safe side while I hopefully waited for the King's return, if he would. Then… well, he came. But as you."
Minho put a hand on his chin.
"Well, I just learnt about the language and living culture of humans and it's fun honestly," She continued. "with these loud stuff and lights and people jumping and chanting in these 'concerts' and this marking called tattoo and liquids with an incredibly little amount of toxins called 'soju,' but it makes them go crazy. Didn't really care about the vessels or monsters from the other monarchs. Hmm… what do they even call them again? I think it's… National Hunters or something. They seem—"
"Wait, what did you say they were called?" Minho cut her off, his eyes wide in shock.
"I'm not sure what the right thing is but it's National Hunter something."
"National Level Hunters?"
"Aha," Vasha snapped her fingers. "National Level Hunters."
Minho's mind started to reel. 'Could it be…' his thought trailed. One picture playing in his head.
Liu Zhigang.
Could it? No. Because it was. Liu Zhigang was the only National Level Hunter he knew, who was in Korea at the moment.
'If the Frost Monarch was right about Rulers being the mortal enemies of Monarchs, then… was Liu Zhigang following me because he also thinks I am a Monarch? Is he planning to kill me eventually? Am I a vessel of the Dragon King, the Monarch of Destruction as the ant said? But the Dragon King is dead.' Minho's mind was a whirlwind of questions he couldn't answer himself.
"Is everything okay, my Liege?" Vasha asked, ever so observant whenever his demeanour changes. He shook his head.
Even if he explained, there wasn't any way she could help, because he needed to know the roots first.
There was only one way to quench his curiosity and fully understand the role he was playing on the chessboard. He brought up the system screen.
[Name: Lee Minho
• Title: Herald of Annihilation
• Level: 88
• EXP: 8700/10000
• Attributes: Strength 550, Stamina 500, Agility 500, Intelligence 550, Perception 580, Destructive Potential: 6000.]
He had grinded the last three days nonstop, going after every dungeon he could lay his hands on. And thankfully, the system gave him more EXP for kills than usual, though it was still a daunting task, getting ten thousand.
He switched to the screen that held onto all the answers he needed.
[• Pop-up Quest:
- Reach Level 90.
Reward: Tale of The Dragon King, Antares.]
He had to reach this as fast as possible. He didn't know why, but he felt he was getting late and he would regret not doing it earlier.
Another notification popped up in his vision.
[Cool down complete!]
[Monarch's Vitality is now Active!]
A warmth spread through his shoulder, easing the pain until it was a dull ache. A slight echo of the pain from earlier. Minho rolled the shoulder, feeling better.
Vasha clapped, seeing Minho's arm now fit. "That's great, my Liege. You're fully healed."
Minho didn't reply. He needed to grind exp and level up. But for now, his quest was to go home.
Meanwhile....
The sterile, soundproofed walls of Chairman Go Gun-Hee's office did little to contain the tension that had returned with the S-ranks.
Choi Jong-In did most of the talking. He described the scene of the slaughtered hunters, the emergence of the dragon-like being, its declaration of a 'Liege,' and its shocking accusation against Liu Zhigang.
"The monster identified National Level Hunter Liu as a 'Ruler's vessel,'" Choi finished, his voice flat. "Shortly after, it vanished into thin air, presumably recalled."
Chairman Go listened, his face a mask of grim concentration. He slowly reached out and picked up the item Baek Yoonho had placed on his desk: Minho's phone, its screen still cracked.
"So," Go Gun-Hee finally said, his words heavy in the quiet room. "The person we evaluated, the one we hoped to reason with… does not merely possess great power. He commands it in others. And he is out slaughtering innocent people?" He looked at the phone in his hand. His mind was question the situation nonetheless. 'Why does this all feel out of place for his character? He only killed whoever went after him. Did something happen after the evaluation? But most especially… what is he?'
Across the city, standing on a high rooftop overlooking the city of Seoul, Liu Zhigang replayed the encounter in his mind. The hunters' fear, the dragon's raw power, its archaic speech.
But one phrase remained louder than all the rest, drowning out even the city's hum.
"You are a Ruler, are you not?"
A Ruler's vessel.
The words meant nothing to him in the context of his life, his training, his status as China's Ultimate Weapon. He had never been called that.
He looked down at his own hands. Now he wanted to question why he was this strong in the first place? Why was he any different from everyone else? Luck?
"What are you?" he whispered. "What am I?"