Inside the dungeon that appeared behind the hospital, Jinwoo and his shadows were already cleaning up. Faced with insectoids, it wasn't much of a problem for the Shadow Monarch.
"Queresha's doing," Jinwoo muttered. "Should I have taken care of the other Monarchs before coming to find the Monarch of Destruction?" His eyes scanned through his soldiers. For some reason, the dungeon had a lot more monsters than an average dungeon.
He was now convinced that the Monarchs were planning something. Raising his hands, he stared at his palms. "It's still not enough," he sighed. His body was still too weak for the immense power he possessed.
The aura he had was intact, but his body couldn't fully handle the near infinite mana. Channeling this much power into his current body was a strain, and using it at full capacity would achieve nothing but self-destruction. He couldn't even summon all his soldiers.
This battle sure needed to be taken out of this world where he could fully utilize his abilities, since he barely understood his current target.
At the highway...
The traffic caused by the dungeon was no joke. Cha Hae-In, Choi Jong-In and Lim Tae-Gyu entered the dungeon not too long ago with a raid team of A and B-rank hunters.
They fought against the beasts that came their way and finally got to the dungeon boss room. It was filled with large puddles of water.
The walls in there seemed to shine faintly, but the dungeon boss was nowhere to be found.
"Hmm… don't let your guard down, everyone," Tae-Gyu ordered to the other hunters.
"Guild Master Choi," Cha Hae-In called. Not needing to say what it was she was calling for, he understood and nodded. He made an orb of fire to further light up the dungeon.
At that moment, they realized one thing: The dungeon walls were not actually walls. They started to move. They were more like… scales.
As if on cue, a large pair of yellow eyes opened behind them. They felt the air grow colder as its mana surged. It was a gargantuan serpent.
"Out of the way!" Choi Jong-In yelled at the hunters who were too shocked to move. The serpent crashed into them, making them leap out in different directions.
Three B-ranks and an A-rank were gone. It had started its feast. The S-ranks gritted, getting ready to start their attack. One of the A-ranks managed to escape before its large body blocked off the entrance. He ran out to send information so the other S-ranks may come help.
Expressway Red gate Dungeon...
Liu Zhigang stood on top of several beast corpses in a forest-like area, soaked in sweat. He took out a handkerchief and wiped off the sweat on his face, ever persistent thin smile playing on his lips.
A deep growl came from ahead, hidden in the trees. The dungeon boss. It was coming closer, each step sending a ground shaking thud across the area.
"I've been waiting for quite a while now, you know." said Liu Zhigang as he unsheathed his twin blades.
The trees finally revealed the giant monster. An obese beast that was at least four times the size of Hunter Liu with a huge axe in hand.
In a blink of an eye, it was in front of him, axe coming down for his side. It surprised Liu Zhigang, but just for a second. At the very moment, he moved, shooting off a tree, soaring just above the monster.
His blades shun a bright yellow as he brought it down for the boss monster. The monster turned in time to block Liu's attack, the collision sending a shockwave of immense energy across the entire place.
Back at the school...
The orc moved closer to Jinah, holding her cheek, its finger digging into her skin. From her shadow, something started to come out, eventually slamming the orc back. Three of Jinwoo's shadow soldiers came out of her shadow and attacked the orcs.
The orc leader easily smashed off two with its mace. But then they started to reform and lunged after the orcs.
"Hm?" The orc leader raised a brow. It was somewhat surprised and decided to send the other orcs to handle them. It's focus returning to Jinah. "How did you summon them?" It asked.
Jinah stumbled to the ground, slowly moving back. She was too scared to say anything, though she didn't understand anything it said. Tears gathered in her eyes. Was she going to die.
Han Song-Yi crawled over to help her friend. She managed to muster enough courage to stand in front of the orc, tears streaming down her cheeks. She fumbled with something in her bag and finally brought it out. Something wrapped in a piece of cloth.
Unwrapping it, she removed a dagger. It was the same dagger Minho handed her the other day.
The orc smiled, amazed by her courage. But it felt a strange energy coming from the dagger. "The two of you are not normal humans, are you?" It tilted its head, looking from Jinah to Song-Yi.
It tried reaching for her with its free hand. Song-Yi closed her eyes and swiped based on instincts.
The orc leader's smile faded as three of its fingers cleanly fell off. Song-Yi opened her eyes, her heart thumping frantically on her ribs.
Meanwhile...
At Jinwoo's side.
Jinwoo felt a sudden strange feeling. His shadows were being destroyed. He looked around but the shadow soldiers here weren't being overwhelmed in any way, so where was it?
But more importantly, he felt something else in his chest. "Why does this all feel familiar?" He muttered to himself. "This same scenario." That's when his mind clicked. He focused on where he had dropped his shadows. He left a few in patrol and left some with his mother and sister. "Mom's not in danger. Is it Jin…"
The shadows turned, confused as they saw Jinwoo bolt towards the dungeons exit. 'That's why it was familiar,' he thought. How could this repeat itself?
He skidded to a halt outside the dungeon gate and decided to use shadow exchange to teleport himself there.
Back at the school...
The orc slammed Song-Yi into the wall, her dagger clattering on the floor. It took her by the collar and dragged her to the door tossing her out.
Song-Yi felt her soul leave her body. She was definitely going to die, because the rail had been broken and she was going to fall straight down.
She felt an arm wrapped around her shoulder firmly, stopping her, just seconds before falling off. She raised her teary eyes to see Minho. "You'll be fine," Minho muttered, cleaning off her tears and patting her head. The small gesture made her burst into more tears.
Minho helped her sit on the floor. His eyes scanned the scene, seeing shadow soldiers fight against the other orcs.
"Who are you?" The orc leader asked.
At the very moment, one of the shadow soldiers that was blocking Jinah started to fade, revealing Jinwoo.
Jinwoo quickly bent towards Jinah who hugged him tightly. "I'm here now, okay." He said.
Minho had already returned his focus to Song-Yi. "How pathetic for you to avoid the hunters downstairs to attack the helpless." He muttered.
"Did you do this to my sister?" Jinwoo asked in a hushed tone, checking the scar on Jinah's cheek.
The orc leader was caught up between the Jinwoo and Minho, and strangely, its body blocked them from seeing each other.
Minho stood up, heading towards it. He summoned 'Dragon Fang', his face contorted in pure anger as his eyes glowed a deep crimson.
Jinwoo rubbed Jinah's head turned to the beast, utterly furious. He summoned his dagger and walked to the orc, his eyes glowing a bright purple.
Before the orc leader could do a thing, Jinwoo swiped his dagger to the side, cutting its head. But instead of the head to just fall off, it split in two before leaving the body. The rest of the orc's body split in two, revealing Minho behind it, his hand raised from his strike.
"Hm?" They both hummed in unison.
This was it. They finally met each other. The Herald of Annihilation and the Shadow Monarch face to face in a room with high schoolers.
None of their expressions changed. It worsened even.
"We finally meet… Antares," Jinwoo muttered.
Minho replied, his voice as levelled as the Shadow Monarch's "Indeed we have… Ashborn."