Chapter 10

"Who dares covet the sword of the Monarch of Fangs?"

"Yongjun? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

Strange words spilled from Kim Yongjun's mouth as he gripped the sword's hilt. The raid leader, who had been about to stop him, felt a sudden chill.

Then Kim Yongjun smoothly drew the sword free.

"Who dares covet the sword of the Monarch of Fangs?"

As Kim Yongjun repeated those words, his eyes were stained red.

"Y-Yongjun? Are you all ri—"

SLASH!

"...!"

At that instant, the raid leader's head was severed. A fountain of blood erupted.

Silence swept over the impossible scene, as though time itself had briefly stopped.

Then—

"Wh-what the hell!"

"Aaargh! Captain!"

The hunters behind them rushed over in horror.

"Y-Yongjun! Why are you...!"

SLASH!

Another head went flying.

"Yongjun!"

Only then did they realize it. Kim Yongjun was on a rampage, bloody tears streaming from his eyes—and his sword was aimed at them.

"Who dares covet the sword of the Monarch of Fangs?"

Kim Yongjun smiled wickedly amid the surreal spray of blood.

GRRR!

Eerie wolf cries began to spread outward from the ruins.

* * *

A chill ran through Beru. His gaze changed in an instant, and he turned to stare into the dungeon's darkness.

[... What is this?]

"What's wrong?"

Beru answered Suho without taking his eyes off the darkness.

[I suddenly sensed the presence of a Monarch.]

"A Monarch? You mean my father?"

[No. There was originally more than one being of Monarch rank.]

Beru explained. Once, this universe had been home to several Monarchs besides the Shadow Monarch. But they had invaded Earth, the very world where the Shadow Monarch Sung Jinwoo lived, and ultimately, he had annihilated them all.

"Then doesn't that mean it has to be my father?"

[If it were, my power would have been replenished instantly. But my mana remains unchanged, and this energy... is one I know well.]

Just then—

AWOOOO!

A wolf's howl rang out from somewhere. At that signal, savage beasts began crying out from every direction at once.

GRRR!

ROOOAR!

"Wh-what's that?"

"What's all this commotion all of a sudden?"

The miners turned pale and looked anxiously around.

"Aaaaargh!"

Then came screams. They were the voices of the people mining farther inside.

"Aaargh! S-somebody hel—!"

With every passing moment, the screams grew more numerous—and closer.

Then—

ROAR!

A wolf magic beast suddenly lunged at Suho from behind.

[Young Monarch!]

"I saw it too!"

Suho thrust his pickaxe into the charging wolf's jaws.

CRUNCH!

"What the hell?"

Its teeth were so hard that they crushed the pickaxe like tofu. Still, it had bought him a little time.

PTOO!

While the wolf spat out the chewed-up pickaxe, Suho commanded his Shadow Goblins.

"Everyone, attack!"

[Krrrk!]

All three Shadow Goblins lunged at the wolf magic beast together.

GRRR!

But they were no match for it. The Shadow Goblins held mining pickaxes just like Suho's, and the wolf crunched those up as well. Then it sank its teeth into the Shadow Goblins themselves and tore them apart.

But then mana flowed out of Suho's body, restoring the Shadow Goblins to their original forms.

[Kieeek! Shadow soldiers are an immortal army. With your mana, Young Monarch, they can be restored as many times as necessary!]

For some reason, Beru seemed excited now that the fighting had begun.

[Krrk!]

Revived in an instant, the Shadow Goblins clung to the wolf's body and mercilessly drove their broken pickaxe fragments into it.

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRACK!

YELP! YELP!

The wolf that had charged so boldly now rolled across the ground, screaming pitifully.

[You have defeated a Steel-Fanged Lycan.]

"No wonder it could chew up a pickaxe."

But killing a single wolf was no reason to relax. Dozens had appeared, and the helpless miners were being torn apart by their steel teeth.

"Aaargh!"

"Their teeth...!"

Their pickaxes were useless in combat.

'Inventory!'

Suho hastily pulled out Goblin's Stone Axes from the stockpile filling his inventory, and gave each Shadow Goblin one as well.

[Young Monarch! Those stone axes will shatter too if the wolves get their teeth into them!]

"I've got plenty of axes!"

Shouting his reply, Suho hurled a stone axe at a wolf that was just pouncing on one of the older miners.

WHOOSH—THUD!

The stone axe flew straight into the wolf's flank.

YELP!

[It is not dead yet!]

'Ruler's Authority!'

An invisible hand shot out from Suho's hand. It picked up the stone axe from the ground and brought it down on the wolf's head.

CRUNCH!

The beast let out a death cry and expired.

[You have defeated a Steel-Fanged Lycan.]

That was the beginning.

"Everyone, gather over here!"

Suho shouted loudly enough for all the panicking miners to hear. Then, with a stone axe in each hand, he plunged without hesitation among the wolves to save them.

[Krrk, krrk!]

The three Shadow Goblins following him eagerly raised their axes. But the order Suho actually gave them was something else entirely.

"Don't attack! Just keep getting bitten!"

[Krrk?!]

The Shadow Goblins recoiled in shock.

"And keep running! Lure all the wolves into that passage!"

[Krrk, krrk!]

There was no time to kill the wolves one by one if he wanted to save everyone. At Suho's command, the Shadow Goblins began screeching and luring the wolves away. Their bodies were bitten and torn apart over and over, but they kept coming back to life, infuriating the wolves.

GRRR!

ROOOAR!

Eventually, most of the wolves were frantically chasing the three Shadow Goblins. Once all those wolves had entered the passage in the corner, Suho shouted,

"Quick! Block the opening!"

At his shout, the wounded miners sitting on the ground hurriedly got to their feet. They dragged over all the carts of mana crystals they had collected so far and piled them in front of the passage the wolves had entered.

"Huff... huff..."

Only after they had mostly blocked the passage did the miners collapse to the ground, exhausted.

"What the hell? How did magic beasts get all the way here?"

"What happened to the raid party up ahead?"

Anxiety spread across their faces. Magic beasts almost never reached the mining site, which was far behind the raid party. There was only one circumstance in which that happened.

"Don't tell me the raid party was wiped out?"

"But they were so confident going in! They said there were only wolves!"

"This is only a D-rank dungeon to begin with."

GRRR! ROAR!

Just then, the wolves' growls sounded from beyond the barricaded passage.

"What do we do now?"

At this rate, there was no guarantee that even the way out would be safe.

"Beru?"

Suho called to Beru, who had been staring into the depths of the dungeon all this time. His expression was grave.

[Young Monarch, I fear we are in serious trouble. This is indeed the energy of the Monarch of Fangs.]

"The Monarch of Fangs?"

[The King of Beasts, slain by our Monarch. It seems someone is controlling those wolves from behind the scenes.]

"Are you saying a dead guy came back to life?"

[... That is what I cannot understand. In this universe, only the Shadow Monarch has the power to bring back the dead. Yet even shadow power could not revive beings of Monarch rank. They did not merely die—their very existence was annihilated.]

Thus, the idea of an annihilated Monarch returning to life was impossible.

[So this energy is most likely no more than a remnant of the Monarch of Fangs that drifted through a dimensional rift.]

Having finished his explanation, Beru looked firmly at Suho.

[Young Monarch, let us flee.]

"Run away?"

Suho looked puzzled. Beru, who had called for fighting and killing at the slightest opportunity until now, was acting in precisely the opposite way.

[As I have told you repeatedly, Young Monarch, your strength is currently beneath that of an ant larva. You are so weak that a being of Monarch rank could kill you with a tap before you could do more than squeak. We must get out of here as fast as possible.]

"... You're not sulking because I fed you a few mana stones, are you?"

Suho remembered quite clearly. Just that morning, he had been an ant larva. Now he had fallen back to being even less than one.

But just then—

RUMBLE!

The opening they had worked so hard to barricade suddenly exploded.

"Gah! They've broken through!"

The miners, who had relaxed after finally managing to isolate the wolves, went deathly pale and clutched their pickaxes. But instead of the pack of wolves they expected to come leaping out, a familiar face emerged.

"Mr. Kim Yongjun!"

One miner recognized him and called out, his expression brightening. It was an acquaintance of his who had joined the raid party.

"What on earth happened in there? We nearly died!"

"..."

The miner approached him warmly, but Kim Yongjun merely stared at him without expression. Then the sword in his hand moved.

SLASH!

"Look out!"

Suho's Ruler's Authority seized the miner by the scruff of his neck and yanked him backward. Kim Yongjun's sword brushed past his neck by the narrowest of margins.

SSHT!

As a thin, shallow red line appeared across his neck, the miner turned white and toppled backward.

"Uuugh?"

Red eyes looked arrogantly down at him. Kim Yongjun spoke.

"Who dares trespass upon the dwelling of the Monarch of Fangs? This is the sanctuary where the great King of Beasts once resided."

BOOM!

"...!"

Terrifying bloodlust erupted from his entire body.

"Ghhk."

An ominous energy overwhelmed the area, making it impossible even to breathe.

[Effect: Fear has been activated.]

[All of the Player's stats are reduced by 50% for 1 minute.]

Suho's body suddenly grew heavy.

[You must flee at once.]

Beru whispered urgently.

[Ugh. If only my power were intact, something of this level would never have been a problem...]

Muttering in frustration, Beru looked at Suho's face—and froze. Suho's eyes burned fiercely as he stared at Kim Yongjun.

Just then—

[A quest has arrived.]

A quest window unfolded before Suho.

[Emergency Quest: Defeat the Enemy!]

There is a being nearby with murderous intent toward the 'Player.' Defeat him to secure your safety.

Number of enemies to defeat: 1

Number of enemies defeated: 0

Beru spoke urgently.

[Young Monarch! Please ignore this quest. The weak have their own way of fighting. Let us use the Shadow Goblins as shields and flee, just as before.]

"Got it."

Suho murmured the words. Beru's eyes lit up.

[I shall guide you to an escape route!]

"... I'm fighting."

[Kieek?!]