Chapter 42

'Looks like someone got here first.'

Having secured the hostage the moment he arrived, Suho swept his gaze over the eyes fixed on him. He had come straight to the Stardust laboratory after Beru read Secretary Kim's memories, only to find a fierce battle already underway.

'Ten hostages and about thirty hunters.'

The hunters flinched whenever Suho's gaze fell on them. Perhaps because of his rather shocking entrance, even the air seemed to have gone still.

"Urrgh..."

The only sound breaking the heavy silence was the groaning of Park Jongchul, who was crawling across the floor like a bug, missing an arm and a leg.

"Urgh. What are you doing, you bastards! Don't just stand there like fucking idiots! Fight! Fight him...!"

Only then did Park Jongchul's furious shouting snap the Reaper Guild hunters back to their senses.

"R-right! There's only one of him!"

"Everyone, attack together!"

"Aaaah!"

Every attack aimed at the Association hunters changed course and flew toward Suho.

Thirty against one.

With a minimum of ten members to a raid party, that meant three entire raid parties were charging in to kill him alone. But he had absolutely no intention of letting them.

Suho tilted his head up and glanced at the ceiling.

'Ruler's Authority.'

POP! POP! POP! POP!

An invisible hand shattered the fluorescent lights overhead one after another.

"Wh-what the hell!"

With their vision suddenly blacked out, the hunters charging Suho stumbled to a halt. Even hunters needed time for their eyes to adjust when plunged into darkness.

'But I don't.'

Suho immediately hurled himself through the dark. This was precisely why he had entered wearing the Crow Mask, which brightened his vision.

SWISH! SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!

"Agh!"

"Urgh!"

"Ghk!"

Screams erupted throughout the darkness.

"W-watch out! He's attack—Aaargh!"

In an instant, five hunters toppled over, spraying blood.

"Light!"

WHOOSH!

A fireball someone sent floating into the air illuminated the area. But Suho was already gone.

Murderous intent flared in the hunters' eyes.

"Find him, now!"

This laboratory was a hideout Vice President Lee Minsung prized. They would be unworthy of the Reaper Guild's name if they let a single intruder make fools of them.

"Healers, tend to the wounded immediately! Everyone else, stay together! Don't split up!"

Even amid the chaos, they followed procedure. The enemy was few in number, after all. As long as they avoided being picked off individually, their superior numbers gave them an unquestionable advantage.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

More fireballs continued rising into the air, pushing back the darkness.

But...

'You're already my prey.'

Suho's eyes flashed from the far edge of the dark.

"Arise."

WHOOOOSH...

The shadow behind Suho stretched longer and longer, eight legs reaching out in all directions. And the being that rose from the floor was...

[Arachne Lv.1]

Knight Grade

A body the size of a house. Dozens of eyes. A hideous mouth. A pair of enormous pincers.

Arachne, the Grave Spider he had killed in Magok Field, had returned from the dead as a shadow spider.

[Skreeee!]

SHHHHK! SHHK! SHHK!

Black webs spread in all directions.

SHHK! SHHK! SHHK!

They clung to the walls and ceiling, beginning to transform the entire massive container building into a spider's nest.

"Wh-what is this sticky stuff?!"

Then the webs extended their sinister reach to the hunters themselves.

[Arachne uses 'Skill: Puppet Show.']

"Gasp! My body's moving on its—!"

THUNK!

"Gah! Why are you stabbing me...?"

The arm of a hunter caught in the webs moved of its own accord, stabbing the comrade beside him.

THUD.

"H-huh?"

Seeing his comrade collapse, bleeding, the puppet hunter flailed his arms in panic.

"N-no! That wasn't me! These sticky threads are making my body—!"

But his body was already swinging his sword at another victim.

"What the hell, you bastard! Why are you attacking your own side?!"

"I'm not! I'm not the one moving!"

And that was only the beginning.

SHHK! SHHK! SHHK!

[Arachne uses 'Skill: Puppet Show.']

"Aagh! It got me too!"

"Aaaah! Scatter!"

"No, don't split up! That's exactly what he wants!"

"Then what the fuck are we supposed to do?!"

Dozens of hunters abruptly began swinging their swords at one another. It was pandemonium in the truest sense.

"Cut these fucking webs first!"

"Don't let his skill toy with you!"

CLINK.

[You have purchased 'Lesser Healing Potion.']

Taking advantage of the chaos, Suho bought a potion from the shop and poured it into the mouth of the kindergarten-aged boy in his arms.

To think a hunter had rained one-sided violence down on this tiny body.

Suho's murderous gaze turned toward Park Jongchul, still crawling on the floor. A small shadow immediately descended upon him.

[You dared to enrage the Young Monarch...]

Beru's hand clamped down on his head.

"Urrgh?!"

Park Jongchul's eyes widened as his head was forcibly lifted. Reflected in his dilated pupils, the black magic beast's mouth split wide, its visage turning demonic.

[You will not die an easy death.]

CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

"...!"

A soundless scream escaped Park Jongchul's mouth.

Meanwhile, the potion seemed to be taking effect, as the boy's condition visibly improved. Suho turned his attention back to the enemy.

"Arachne."

[Skree?]

Arachne, who had been batting hunters away with its massive pincers, turned at Suho's call.

"Take out the healers first."

Healers were the highest-priority targets. Many possessed troublesome buff skills in addition to simple healing abilities.

That was precisely why Suho had deliberately inflicted critical injuries rather than killing the hunters in his initial attack: to flush out the healers. As a result, they were now busily moving about, pouring their mana into the wounded without reservation.

[Skreeee!]

Arachne began seeking out and attacking those healers first.

"It's going after the healers! Protect them!"

'I'll use this chance to rescue the other hostages.'

Suho turned toward the cell, but the Association hunters were already moving. Rescuing the hostages had been their objective from the start, so they had rushed into the cell first, without stopping to find out who Suho was.

The problem was that the Reaper Guild members had noticed too.

"The materials are trying to escape! Stop them!"

"Grab the hostages first!"

They rushed over and surrounded the cell.

"Ghk!"

The Association hunters suddenly found themselves trapped inside with the hostages. And to make matters worse...

BANG!

"What the hell is this?!"

Just then, the laboratory door burst open and reinforcements arrived. Unfortunately, they weren't from the Association, but the Reaper Guild.

Dozens of hunters from the other container buildings had heard the commotion and come running!

"Ha."

A breath of disbelief escaped Team Leader Han Jaehyuk at the sight. With beads of sweat on his forehead, he muttered,

"Are we going to get out of here alive?"

"Of course."

"...!"

Startled by the sudden reply, Han Jaehyuk looked to his side.

The man in the Crow Mask had approached the bars without him noticing. Suho bent the iron bars apart with brute force and held out the boy in his arms.

'What kind of strength...?'

Dumbfounded by Suho's immense strength, Han Jaehyuk took the boy almost without thinking. Suho bent the bars back into place and spoke.

"Actually, this works out. Stay there and protect the hostages for a while. You can cover them with your shield skill if someone attacks from outside, right?"

"Just who are you...?"

As Han Jaehyuk started to address Suho,

SHHK! SHHK! SHHK!

Black webs suddenly flew over and bound the cell door shut from outside, so it could not be opened from either side.

Flustered, Han Jaehyuk looked at Suho again. But Suho had already turned his back and was watching the approaching enemies.

"Just rest there for a moment."

His back was broad and reassuring.

"It'll all be over by then."

With those words, Suho walked slowly toward the enemies rushing at him, their numbers now doubled.

If escape were all he wanted, he could do it at any time. But should he really let these bastards live?

Hunters who sought to profit by killing their fellow humans. They could no longer be considered human.

Magic beasts.

No, villains. Looking at them, Suho made a vow.

'Today, I'll root them out right here.'

That thought reached someone far away.

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, rejoices that the time for the hunt has come.]

"Spirit Possession."

The moment Suho spoke,

WHOOOOSH...

Gray's body in the Shadow Dungeon suddenly floated into the air and began turning transparent.

"Grr?"

"Huh? Spirit form?"

Beside Gray, Esil immediately recognized the phenomenon, her eyes widening.

[The spirit of 'Pet: Gray' possesses the shaman's body.]

Gray's spirit traveled up through Suho's shadow and entered his body.

WHOOOOSH!

At that moment, Suho's hair turned a mystical silver, and bestial energy surged from his entire body.

"...!"

"Wh-what is that?!"

The Reaper Guild members recoiled in horror at Suho's sudden transformation. The Association hunters in the cell reacted no differently.

"Gasp. Could that be...?!"

"The Baekho Guild's...!"

[The King of Beasts, the Monarch of Fangs, nods in satisfaction at the shaman's transformed appearance.]

'So this is what it feels like.'

Suho looked down at the wild energy rippling from his body. A mystical wind laden with mana swirled around him.

"All right. This shaman power you were so proud of—let's see what it can do."

Taunting Rakan, Suho surrendered himself to the surging energy.

Then,

"Grrraah!"

Roaring like a wild beast, Suho shot toward his enemies with explosive speed.

KABOOM!

"Aaaagh!"

Watching from behind as if spellbound, Team Leader Han Jaehyuk swallowed involuntarily. A memory was stirring in his mind.

'That's no ordinary Beast Transformation.'

Once, just once, he had witnessed Baekho Guildmaster Baek Yoonho fighting from a distance.

Of course, that didn't mean the energy emanating from the man in the Crow Mask was on Baek Yoonho's level. Baek Yoonho was S-rank, after all. His mountainlike, overwhelming presence was frightening even to recall.

And yet, why... did the memory of that day keep coming back?

"Crow, the Beast King..."

"Pardon?"

His subordinates turned toward him at the name that suddenly slipped from his lips.

Right. Why had it only just occurred to him? He had read the article only last night.

Magok Field.

A Crow Mask.

"... The one who inherited the Beast King's power."

So that was him.

GRRRAAH!

The savage roar of a beast reverberated through their hearts.

Right before the Association hunters' eyes, Crow, the Beast King, was ravaging his prey at will alongside a giant spider.