Chapter 107

Thomas Andre.

He was the guildmaster of the Scavenger Guild, one of America's leading major guilds, and a worldwide star still making a tremendous impact as an S-rank hunter despite being nearly seventy years old.

The reason he was described specifically as a "star" was that he had already been a celebrity with countless accomplishments long before awakening as a hunter.

"The Demon of the Ring."

Even before his awakening, Thomas Andre had been the strongest fighter in the UFC, a man no one dared stand against.

Back when neither mana nor magic beasts existed on Earth, he had been an MMA fighter who earned the title of "the strongest human" through sheer physical prowess while still in his twenties.

Countless challengers had tried to topple him, but none had surpassed him.

Eventually, he had tried to retire without ever experiencing a single defeat...

But God had not permitted his retirement.

After the Cataclysm, Thomas Andre, who had been enjoying a leisurely retirement drinking coffee with friends, ended up awakening before anyone else.

As an S-rank hunter.

Then he revealed his truly overwhelming might to the entire world, slaughtering the magic beasts appearing across America as easily as catching rats.

["Bwahahaha! So this is true power! How weak I was before!"]

That marked the beginning of his second golden age.

It was then that his old nickname, "the Demon of the Ring," gave way to a new one: "Goliath."

Even before mana existed, he had possessed perfect control over his highly developed body, so adapting to his newly awakened supernatural abilities was all too easy.

["Easy! So easy! It feels as though I've reclaimed power that was mine all along!"]

He was truly in his element, unleashing his strength to his heart's content.

He realized anew just how cramped that square ring had been all those years.

When fighting people, he couldn't bring himself to tear them apart and kill them, but he could rip magic beasts to shreds as much as he pleased.

Besides, the former would make him a murderer condemned by everyone, while the latter earned him praise and gratitude no matter how often he did it. What a wonderful world!

["Bwahaha! Where are the rest of the magic beasts? Bwahahahaha!"]

... Anyone who happened to see him brutally killing magic beasts with his bare hands, even on video, tended to leave similar comments.

- Wow. I can't even tell which one's the magic beast. Scary stuff.

- He's actually making me feel sorry for the beasts.

- Please stop the hate against magic beasts. I'm crying.

- What if Thomas drives magic beasts to extinction at this rate?

- For real, lol.

- Shouldn't we start a magic beast protection group or something? lol

S-rank hunters were exceptionally rare, but there were still a fair number worldwide.

Each possessed overwhelming strength on par with Thomas Andre's. Yet since S-rank hunters had no occasion to fight one another, it was impossible to determine which of them was superior.

Nevertheless, when someone called Thomas Andre the strongest hunter, no one dared disagree.

The organization formed around that man was the Scavenger Guild.

The Scavenger Guild revered strength and strength alone.

As a result, most of the hunters drawn to it were violent brutes, and lately America had found itself struggling with their abuses instead.

'... And the leader of a guild like that has suddenly come to Korea.'

The Hyunmoo Guild's division director swallowed hard as he read the news.

Normally, someone as powerful as an S-rank hunter couldn't easily visit another country without a specific reason.

The reason was simple.

They were dangerous.

They were, quite literally, walking weapons—dangerous individuals who could single-handedly bring down a sizable city in an instant if they chose.

And among them, Thomas Andre was unquestionably the strongest and most dangerous of all.

"What on earth is going on? Why do they say Thomas Andre has come to Korea?"

"Reporters seem to be interviewing him live right now, but apparently he keeps saying things that don't make sense."

"Don't make sense? What exactly is he saying?"

Pressed by the division director, the Hyunmoo Guild employee scrolling through the live interview updates spoke without taking his eyes off his phone.

"... A prophecy."

"Huh?"

"He says he came because of a prophecy."

"A prophecy? What on earth—"

Suho flinched.

Listening to their conversation nearby, his expression stiffened slightly.

'Wait. The Scavenger Guild? Could it be...?'

A memory flashed through his mind.

The Scavenger Guild, and a prophecy.

Just then, Beru poked his head out of the shadows and looked at Suho.

[Young Monarch, I believe those fools we encountered in the pyramid said something similar.]

"... Surely not?"

Beru drove the point home as Suho grimaced.

[Forgive my presumption, but do you recall the saying that what you dismiss as impossible can be the death of you? I remember teaching it to you when you were studying proverbs as a child...]

"..."

Just then—

"Oh, found one! A livestream!"

Im Dogyun had found and opened a stream by one of the YouTubers at the airport.

On-screen, Thomas Andre was answering the reporters' questions.

A white-haired veteran.

The intimidating, muscular old man pushed up his sunglasses, looked straight into the approaching camera, and spoke.

"That's right. I've come because of a prophecy."

"What? He speaks Korean?"

Remarkably, the American-born man spoke fluent Korean.

"Heh heh. What's the prophecy? Surely you don't expect me to tell you that for free."

Even his pronunciation was as fluent as a native Korean's, as though he had been practicing for a long time.

Thomas Andre continued with a mischievous grin.

"Anyway, enough about the prophecy. Now I'm going to find the messenger of death who killed my guild members. Messenger of death? Tiger of death? Is that the right word to use here? Hmm..."

"..."

The moment he heard those last words, Suho was certain.

'It's me.'

[It's you, Young Monarch.]

'...'

[...]

While everyone else watched Thomas Andre's video with rapt interest, Suho alone exchanged an awkward look with Beru and nodded.

There was... no excuse he could offer.

At least Section Chief Lee Youngho had died at the demons' hands. The Scavenger Guild hunters Suho had fought in Ammut's pyramid, however, had definitely been killed by him.

'They did attack me first, of course.'

[Such details hardly matter. More importantly, I thought we had thoroughly disposed of the evidence, yet we've been found out. Ah! Could the Asura Guild members we spared back then have talked? We should have killed them after all...]

'I'm more concerned about this prophecy.'

Until recently, Suho would have dismissed something as nebulous as a prophecy as mere superstition.

But now that he knew his father was a godlike being, he couldn't casually brush aside mystical things like prophecies.

Besides, surely Thomas Andre, the strongest S-rank hunter, wouldn't have come all the way to Korea over some ridiculous daily horoscope.

'If it's that prophecy from back then...'

Suho recalled the prophecy he had heard in Egypt.

["Soon, a life born from death shall awaken from its seal. And its power shall raise the dead."]

'I think they said it was some fortune-teller's prophecy. Even thinking about it now, it really does seem to refer to me.'

The Scavenger Guild had come to the pyramid after hearing that prophecy, so there was a good chance the one their guildmaster, Thomas Andre, mentioned was similar.

Which ultimately meant...

'Hmm. It really is me.'

[What will you do? If he truly has come looking for you...]

Beru looked at Suho with concern.

But Suho merely shrugged, utterly shameless.

"Oh, come on. What can he do without evidence? We even brought the whole pyramid with us."

[Kieek?]

"Let's just insist we didn't do it."

Beru thought the Young Monarch had truly matured lately.

He nodded fondly, reflecting on how Suho's disposition was growing more and more like his father's.

* * *

"Huh? You dare block my path?"

As soon as Thomas Andre came out of the airport, he found Korean Association hunters blocking his way. He smiled at them with interest.

He looked like a mischievous child wondering how to take apart his latest toy, and the Association hunters facing him shuddered.

"Thomas Andre, visiting without notice like this is a violation of international law."

Team Leader Han Jaehyuk, who had brought the Association hunters, stepped forward, suppressing his fear.

"Hmm. Are you in charge here?"

As Thomas Andre's shadow slid over his face, Han Jaehyuk gritted his teeth with grim resolve.

'... Is this where I die?'

Seeing Goliath, the most fearsome S-rank hunter in history, from this close was no joke. The pressure was immense.

As though he were doing it deliberately, a suffocating aura radiating from Thomas Andre's entire body bore down heavily on Han Jaehyuk.

Then Thomas Andre's secretary gave a small sigh beside him and spoke.

"Thomas, that's enough fooling around. I'm tired, so let's find somewhere to stay."

No sooner had she finished than the pressure bearing down on Han Jaehyuk vanished as if it had never existed.

'Gah.'

His legs nearly gave out beneath him. Gasping for breath, he kept his eyes on Thomas Andre, who was chatting with his secretary.

"Huh? I'm not tired yet."

"I'm tired. Me. You seem to keep forgetting, but I'm not an awakened person like you."

"Aha! Right, we can't have our Laura worn out. Let's head to a hotel and get over the jet lag first."

At the rebuke from Laura, the secretary who had accompanied him for thirty years, Thomas Andre let out a hearty laugh and strode past the Association hunters.

"W-wait! Thomas Andre! Stop right there!"

At Han Jaehyuk's urgent shout from behind, Thomas Andre turned back with a broad grin.

"You know something? In all my life, no one's ever dared stand in my way."

A chill ran through them.

A vicious aura, the kind one might expect from a gigantic magic beast, began radiating from his body once more.

"Thomas."

Once again, Laura's voice tried to restrain him from behind.

But this time, she couldn't stop Thomas Andre's rampage.

With an utterly ferocious air, he warned the Association hunters.

"Do you understand? When I say I'm going, I'm going. If you want to stop me, bring your country's S-rank hunters at the very least, not small fry like yourselves."

"Thomas."

RUMBLE!

The airport was shaking as though it might collapse under the terrifying energy pouring from him.

"Thomas."

"Laura, enough. Even you—"

"I've got us a taxi."

"Oh, already?"

In that instant, the atmosphere in the airport lightened as though all the terror until now had been a lie.

The people crushed beneath that fear abruptly came to their senses and turned to look at Thomas Andre.

"Oof, it's cramped."

He was busily folding his enormous frame into the taxi.