Meanwhile…
[A Steel-Fanged Lycan has been defeated.]
[A Steel-Fanged Lycan has been defeated.]
[...]
Immediately after obtaining the Fang Monarch's sword, Suho continued hunting the wolves, clearing a path towards the dungeon exit. With the attack team wiped out, he was the only Hunter currently capable of combat. He swung his sword continuously, protecting the miners who followed cautiously behind him.
[Level Up!]
Another level up.
"Young man… Don't you get tired?"
"No. I think I'm okay for now."
"Hah."
The miners were beyond impressed, now utterly astonished by Suho's stamina as he swung his sword without rest. To their eyes, unaware that leveling up restored his vitality, he appeared to be an incredible monster with limitless energy.
'No, that can't be right. He's human, just like us.'
'Could he be enduring it through sheer willpower, even though he's exhausted?'
'Urgh. He must be trying hard not to show he's struggling, so we don't worry.'
They remembered. Suho was the young hero who had been rescuing people right here in this art museum just a few days ago, until he collapsed. And now, they were the ones being rescued by him.
'How can he do this, even though we're both E-rank Hunters?'
'And he's a summoner...'
This truly couldn't be explained by rank or ability alone; his willpower and determination were simply extraordinary. Of course, it was just because of the level-up.
[Young Master, the Gate is visible.] Beru pointed towards the Gate visible at the far end of the cave.
"W-we're alive!" The miners' faces, etched with tension and fear, finally brightened. As they rushed out, Suho wiped the sweat from his brow. One of them turned back and called to him.
"Aren't you leaving, young man?"
"Ah, yes. I'll stay here and bring out any other surviving Hunters if there are any."
"Will you be alright? You must be at your limit too…"
"I can still hold on for now."
In truth, he felt great, but the atmosphere demanded he pretend to be struggling.
[…]
Suho felt Beru's gaze on his back but pretended not to notice.
* * *
Suho, remaining in the dungeon, looked at the Fang Monarch's sword and asked.
"Guide me to where you were."
– …
The sword gave no reply, so Suho pretended to casually offer it to Beru.
"Beru, you want to just eat this?"
[Slurp.]
– Wait.
The sword answered urgently. It had been watching Beru pick up and munch on nearby Essence Stones earlier.
– Why do you want to go where I was?
"To rescue any people who might have survived there."
– I killed them all… No, perhaps there might be someone lucky enough to still be breathing.
As Suho offered the sword to Beru again, the sword hastily changed its tune.
– Go left.
Thus, Suho followed the sword's guidance. Magical beasts continued to attack along the way, but without needing to protect others, his movements were much less restricted.
* * *
Shortly after…
The unknown ruins, where people lay dead and bleeding, appeared before Suho.
"This is it."
Suho checked the condition of each person.
[They are all dead.]
– See, what did I tell y— No, I couldn't help it. I have a duty to protect this sanctuary. Besides, I'm such a great sword that…
Feeling Suho and Beru's gazes, the sword hastily made excuses. Then, information about it appeared before Suho's eyes.
[Item: Rakan's Fang]
[Acquisition Difficulty: ??]
[Type: Sword]
[Attack Power +30]
[A sword made from the fang of Rakan, the King of Beasts.]
[It is imbued with Rakan's specter; if possessed by someone of low rank, their body may be taken over.]
[Effect 'Contempt for the Weak']
[Inflicts 'Fear' status on a designated target for 1 minute.]
[All stats -50%]
[Effect 'Fatal Wound']
[15% chance to inflict critical damage of 2x or more.]
Compared to the Goblin's Stone Axe, its attack power was considerably high. And because it had possessed the body of an ally, the Hunters here must have been caught off guard and killed while confused.
[It's quite a good sword, but its abilities are petty. Its stronger when facing opponents weaker than itself.]
– Petty! What's wrong with the strong devouring the weak! What hunter in the world targets prey stronger than themselves!
Suho ignored their conversation and collected the Hunters' bodies one by one. He emptied the carts the deceased collection team members had been pulling, removing the magical beast byproducts, and placed the bodies inside. But surprisingly, he saw black smoke slowly rising from the corpses. It was… their shadows.
[Shadow Extraction is possible on this target.]
[Shadow Extraction is possible on this target.]
[Shadow Extraction is possible on this target.]
Aaaaaaaah—!
Suho heard the resentful cries of the dead Hunters in his ears.
[If you wish, these people can also be gathered as the Young Master's soldiers.]
"No."
Suho silently collected the bodies, listening to their cries. Once that was finished, Beru, who had been looking around, returned.
[I looked around in case there were any other relics of the Fang Monarch besides this sword, but there seems to be nothing special.]
"What exactly is this Fang Monarch?"
With a bit of breathing room, Suho asked the question that had been on his mind. Then, Beru drew black shadows from his hand, creating small, fingernail-sized shadow puppets. The puppets multiplied, forming a certain scene.
[Once, in this universe, besides your father, the Shadow Monarch Sung Jinwoo, there were several other Monarchs. The King of Beasts, the Fang Monarch; the Queen of Insects, the Plague Monarch; among them all those Monarchs flocked to this Earth.]
One fingernail-sized puppet, exuding a particularly strong aura, ruthlessly cut down the other puppets.
[And the Master killed them all.]
– Urgh. To dare speak of my master…
'Rakan's Fang,' listening to the explanation, trembled in Suho's hand.
– It is regrettable. If only my power were intact, I would have torn you all apart and fed you to the wolves. No, if I had known from the start that you were the heir to the Shadow Monarch, I wouldn't have let my guard down.
"If your power were intact?"
At those words, Suho looked at Rakan's Fang.
"Are you saying it's not intact now?"
– Naturally. I am the strongest weapon created by Lord Rakan, the King of Beasts, by pulling out his own fang.
Beru sneered. [Strongest? With an attack power of only 30?]
– That's why I said it's not complete! My original mission was to guard this sanctuary. Within this sanctuary, I could exert power almost equal to Lord Rakan himself. But…
"But?"
– In the end, I couldn't protect this sanctuary. A divine weapon that has lost its sanctuary loses its power.
Rakan's Fang murmured in a mournful tone.
[It is the natural result.]
Beru explained. A world that has lost its 'Monarch' is torn into pieces and drifts through the dimensional rift. The remnants of a lost war. That is what dungeons are.
[And as the apostles of the outer gods created cracks in the dimensional wall to invade Earth, those dungeons became connected to Earth.]
Beru's eyes gleamed sharply.
[And those remnants all hold a grudge against this world. Because they were destroyed by the Master… Of course, they were the ones who attacked first.]
"So, this is just the ruins of a defeated world, and there's nothing more to gain here."
[Do not worry, Young Master. Leave it to me.]
At Suho's words, Beru looked at the sword with a greedy gaze.
[Even a dried squid can be squeezed for water. I shall somehow extract something from it.]
– Hmph. You won't get anything by threatening me.
Rakan's Fang retorted confidently.
* * *
10 minutes later…
Rakan's Fang had spilled everything it knew.
* * *
A few days later.
[Young Master, what troubles your thoughts?]
Beru asked Suho.
[Is it because you rejected their offers?]
After surviving the Hankuk University dungeon, various things had happened to Suho. When he came out, he encountered Hunters from the Association who had arrived as reinforcements after receiving reports from the miners. When they entered the dungeon, it was littered only with the corpses of magical beasts killed by Suho. Because of this, Suho received love calls from various guilds. Of course, all of them were scout offers to work as collectors or porters.
"No. It's not that."
Naturally, Suho had no intention whatsoever of agreeing to any offer. Unlike other Hunters, Suho could grow through the level-up system. A normal E-rank Hunter might have readily accepted an offer from a major guild, even for a porter contract, but to Suho, these offers held no appeal whatsoever.
"I was thinking about what Rakan's Fang told me."
Rakan's Fang had said that the sanctuary it guarded had been torn into several pieces and scattered throughout the dimensional rift. Because of that, its power had weakened significantly. It even mentioned that when it possessed Kim Yongjun's body, it could control all the surrounding wolves, but the moment it left the sanctuary, even that ability vanished. Still, it wasn't entirely fruitless. There were more sanctuaries like this dungeon in the dimensional rift, and artifacts like Rakan's Fang were stored within them. And Rakan's Fang, having succumbed to Beru's 'persuasion', had finally revealed the location of one of those sanctuaries. The problem was that he needed to enter that dungeon as soon as possible. According to Rakan's Fang, there was no guarantee that those artifacts were still stored in their complete form. Even at this moment, they would be drifting aimlessly through the dimensional rift, gradually losing their power.
"But the location is, of all places…"
[It's because it's a dungeon occupied by another guild.]
"Right. And of all guilds, it's the notorious Hyena Guild."
The Hyena Guild was famous for being founded by former gangsters. When the era of Hunters began, Awakened individuals emerged even among gangsters. And the guild they created couldn't hide its nature, becoming notorious for all sorts of despicable acts.
[Indeed, the Young Master is currently weak, so getting into unnecessary conflict with other Hunters could be dangerous.] Beru pondered.
In any case, the fact that the Fang Monarch's power had flowed into Earth was by no means a good sign. Just look at this time; when it fell into the hands of an ignorant person, a massacre unfolded. The moment the law of the jungle, prevalent in the Fang Monarch's world, was applied to Earth, most humans would surely become prey. But he couldn't ask Suho, who was still at a low level, to take such a risk.
[Young Master, perhaps it would be best to level up steadily first and build up your strength, then… Hm? What are you doing?]
Suho was packing his things.
"Ah, getting ready to enter the dungeon?"
[What about the Hyena Guild?]
"Well, I'll just sneak in."