CHAPTER 12

- Kargalgan (High Orc) -

The high orc shaman watched his red army shift nervously once the Shadow Monarch suddenly revealed himself. The Monarch and his puny soldiers looked quite eager, compared to his own generals who are thinking twice about an all out war right now.

Just a moment ago, Kargalgan and his warriors were all cheering and howling while he tormented and roasted the pathetic humans who dared to trespass in their territory. But now there's a colder, dreadful atmosphere, created by the King of the Dead and his Immortal Army.

He thought of his King, the Iron Body Monarch, who never liked Ashborn. Most of the Monarchs never fully trusted the Ruler turned Monarch. However, this winged human isn't Ashborn? Having been in battles on both sides with the once strongest Ruler, there is no doubt he is in the presence of the Shadow Monarch.

"Attack." The winged Monarch broke the tense silence with a lazy smirk on his face.

No orc could ignore the obvious bloodlust leaking from the shadows, the most mana sensitive orc quickly spotted the most dangerous opponents on each side of the young Monarch: the intimidating knight Ruler soldier commander and what appears to be an ice elf chieftain with a wicked aura.

He observed the massive soldier charge into battle quite fast while it wielded a shadow shield and a stupidly huge battle axe with a ghastly purple haze around it. The vanguard was leading Kargalgan's former brethren warriors turned bloodlusted shadow orcs. The red-ribboned Ruler soldier was killing dozens of orcs with that thunderous blade while the tanker absorbed all the orc attacks, free for the ice slayers to exploit.

He tried to come up with a plan as fast as possible, not wanting to get into a battle of attrition against the Shadow Monarch. The shadows were slowly forming a direct path to him. Kargalgan has personally witnessed before how quickly those ruinous powers could turn the tide in a battle. There was a hulking purple maned shadow bear covering the rear, his orcs could never focus on it properly, as countless other beasts and shadow orcs were keeping the high orcs from taking the bear down.

Those distinct shadows must be the young Monarch's lieutenants. He ordered his own trusted generals to wait for the cannon fodder to create a path to the 4-winged brute, who was trying to do the same to him. He'll sacrifice as many of his orcs if it means a single chance for his generals to ambush the Monarch. Since the Shadow Monarch wasn't Ashborn, he felt he had a chance to win. Kargalgan gripped the arm rests on his throne tightly, thinking about the fame if a mere denizen of the Chaos World could slay a mighty Monarch.

"KILL HIM NOW!" The great orc sorcerer desperately urged to his legion of warriors, if he cuts down the half Ruler half Monarch, then the rest of the Immortal Army would fall as well. "TAKE HIM DOWN BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"

The sound of war echoed throughout the arena, as both forces were relentless. The shadows felt unstoppable, his orc warriors were trying to swarm the shadow golems acting as an annoying outer armor in the shadow formation. Kargalgan cursed under his breath, he shouldn't have wasted so much mana toying around with the humans. He'll have to rely on his own soldiers for now, while he felt his magic power recover.

In the battle of armies, Kargalgan focused his attention to the fledgling King of the Dead, who was staring the orc down, strolling closer towards his throne. It was a frustrating battle so far, as his army couldn't breakthrough. The giant beasts would regenerate anytime his orcs managed to take one down, and for every golem or yeti they took down, he lost a handful of orcs. The destroyed shadows would respawn immediately, slowly pushing them back as he took unfavorable trades on all sides.

"GO! CUT HIM INTO PIECES AND OFFER HIS BLOODY CORPSE TO ME!" Kargalgan started feeling sweat run down underneath his mask, thanks to the fire balls and explosions that are actually slowing down and hurting his warriors. He gulped, if he used his ultimate attack right now and missed, then he would be completely defenseless against the Monarch and the advancing army. He looked to his four long time companions, who have been by his side for many battles. "GENERALS. GET READY TO CHARGE."

- Mars -

It's an uncomfortable feeling, my mana depleting at an alarming rate as countless shadows are reconstructed and sent back to takedown as many orcs before they are killed again. The sheer amount of vicious orcs just throwing themselves at my soldiers give my own summons a run for their money in terms of ruthlessness. My elvish and medieval summons are about the same strength as the high orcs, but luckily my golems and beast shadows are acting as an invaluable frontline. The red orcs cannot overwhelm my infantrymen because the savages are too busy dealing with my creature shadows.

Iron and Igris are leading the foot soldiers way in front of me, Baruka and the Hyakki are staying close to me murdering as many red orcs from afar with holy lightning arrows, also taking care of any stragglers who get past my defenses. All while I'm launching holy lightning spears at any large clusters with my rapidly improving [Ruler's Authority].

I keep a close eye on Kargalgan and his bodyguards, who haven't made any moves just yet. Looking through the dungeon boss' mask, I can see a hint of worry in his eyes, as his high orcs can't manage to find any weaknesses as my shadows continue to press forward.

Name: Kargalgan, Chieftain of the Prideful High Orcs

Level: 75

Race: Monstrous Humanoid (High Orc)

Class: Elder Shaman

Thoughts about you: Worried about your army. Wants to sacrifice as few of his orc warriors as possible before you revive the dead soldiers. Desires to become famous among Monarch army generals for taking down a Monarch.

Reputation: - 50

In a large scale battle such as this one, I can easily send out my stealthy shadows to complete subtle objectives. The bloody and brutal commotion of war allows them to act a lot more freely. For this battle, I sent Kang ahead, to quietly make his way as close to Kargalgan without alerting the boss, who's distracted by my main force slowly forging a way straight at the high orc mage. Brute force is always an option with my powers against any army, so my shadows need to consider this real combat practice for Jeju.

Maybe I should have them spar against each other when I have some down time? At the very least, it'd be good entertainment to watch my split forces fight for dominance. Although, I want to finish the Demon Castle right away as that might take more than a few days. It depends how well I can coordinate my growing battalion. Officially being recognized world wide as a National rank hunter should be a top priority, I wonder what the reward is?

Eventually, I make it to the sparce survivors the Hunters guild sent in, the two mages with pure trauma on their faces and the man I recognize to be Son Kihoon: the hunter entrusted to clear this cursed dungeon. As soon as I sent my shadows out forward, my first shadow dashed to the humans, a natural gentleman.

"Igris. Escort them to Hae-In. Afterward, draw the orcs as far away from me as you can." I order my trusty summon, who was the first soldier to reach the humans, my shadow fought extra hard to keep any orcs from slaughtering the surviving hunters.

Igris quickly nodded to me, leaving after he pats Iron on the shoulder allowing him to resume his rampage through the high orcs preventing us from advancing any further. Even mid battle, he's still the stoic fearless knight, without him by my side early I wouldn't be where I am right now.

The knight carefully held the unconscious raid leader in place as he mounted a shadow bear, while I helped the two shook mages onto another beast, the women were still sobbing sporadically.

As soon as Igris was out of view, I suddenly felt incoming danger as Kargalgan's four bodyguards began to rush at me quicker than any high orcs I've encountered so far. Unfortunately for them, I have competent elites as well, Baruka intercepted the quickest of the four: the white-haired orc wielding a scimitar. Iron blocked the bodyguard that had dark grey heavy armor, the orc general's great sword clanged loudly against Iron's black shield. In response, Iron put all his weight into an unstoppable headbutt, completely fracturing the orc's helmet and skull.

The two remaining elite orcs were easily stopped by me. I used [Ruler's Authority] to stop them right before they could hit me, before I ruthlessly smashed them against each other with as much force I could muster. I then grabbed the orc general with the grey wolf on it's head by it's neck, while I started to telekinetically crush the other executioner orc. It dropped it's blood stained battle axe, whimpering as I began to crush it into a morphed bloody ball of meat, flesh and bone.

I instinctively flinch my head backwards when the other general almost scratched my face with it's razor sharp gauntlets, so I restrained it's arms with two of my wings, tightening my grip on it's neck considerably. The orc began to go limp, the dead dire wolf trophy fell off it's bald head. It's eyeballs began to bulge disgustingly, as I choked the life out of the drooling savage.

Baruka's demented laugh drew my attention in front of me, the ice elf had already slashed the veteran orc's eyes with his dagger, laughing as the orc swung it's one handed sword blindly at the elf. Baruka soon put it out of it's misery, swinging his elven dagger at it's head, scalping it free from it's white ponytail and about half it's brain. Looking to Iron, I watch him swing his axe at full power, hitting his dazed opponent right into Tank's raised paw, a devastating home run-alley oop combo smashing the mutilated orc deep into the ground. With a dumb grin, Iron flashed a quick thumbs up mid battle to Tank, who responded with a grunt, the bear raised it's sharp yet surprisingly fluffy paw up in acknowledgement.

I ignore the last elite orc's neck snapping in my hand, letting it's lifeless body fall to the ground unceremoniously onto the pulverized meat bag that used to be Kargalgan's executioner.

"ARISE!" I shout out loudly, focusing my power on the multiplying high orc corpses littering the battlefield.

- Kargalgan (High Orc) -

The dungeon boss felt slightly sick as he watched the winged brute treat his warriors like they were bugs. He watched as the boy's eyes glowed purple, any trace of the human he initially encountered has vanished completely. His aura was that of Ashborn's, the tide of the battle heavily shifted for the Shadow Monarch, who finally resurrected the first wave of fallen orcs. Was the Monarch waiting for Kargalgan's generals to make their move?

He didn't have any more time to waste, the ghastly presence was getting too close for his liking. The masked orc closed his eyes briefly, not wanting to watch his general's shadows disturbingly climb out of their mangled bodies. He silently thanked his old warriors, as Kargalgan felt enough of his magic reserves were back, enough for him to cast all of his spells comfortably. Standing up from the throne, he turned his attention to the Monarch, wanting to payback the humiliation tenfold.

"HYMN OF AGON-GRRK!" The great high orc sorcerer spat out blood and spit as he watched his sawed off tongue fly out of his mouth, the purple haired culprit appeared out of thin air.

Kargalgan's eyes widened, as he felt his bloody stump of a tongue. He looked down to the ground where his tongue landed, the assassin shadow was next to it, mocking him with a cruel smile, licking it's lips before turning invisible.

"AAAARRGH!" He could only see red as he mentally prepared himself for an all out attack.

How dare anyone treat the kingly Kargalgan like this?!

HYMN OF RAGE. HYMN OF STRENGHTENING. HYMN OF GIANTS. HYMN OF COMBUSTION.

An impressive purple display of magic surrounded the enraged Kargalgan, who suddenly grew to the size of an ancient giant. The buffed spell caused the battle to temporarily halt, as both sides watched the sudden development. Smoke covered the arena as soon as the sorcerer rose to his feet.

Do I, Kargalgan, still look inferior to you?!

"Damn. That's not bad, Kargalgan! You'll definitely become one of my greatest weapons!" The young Monarch laughed with a cocky grin itched on his face. "There are still a lot of you left, but they will all soon turn into my shadows. And when I'm done, you will too~"

I'LL CRUSH YOU ALL LIKE INSECTS!

The now building-sized orc mage seethed in impotent rage, foam leaked from his giant maw like he was a rabid jackal. He felt a sudden compulsion to take the Monarch down with him in a final attack.

He began to charge up his ultimate ability with bloody eyes, popping vessels all over his body. His hood morphed into a life sized dragon head, illuminating the entire arena in a glowing orange light. Kargalgan started to form the biggest fire ball he's ever conjured, not sparing a single drop of mana.

"HYMN OF THE FIRE DRAGON!"

"Cyclops."

The mage barely heard the Monarch call forth a soldier, the raging flames of the wild fire ball growing in his mouth reverberated throughout the cramped arena. A giant shadow even bigger than him appeared from the boy's shadow. The one eyed summon shifting it's weight caused the floor it was standing on to tremble dangerously.

The sudden distraction caused the fireball to launch straight forward, directly at the gigantic shadow. To his horror, the giant barely even flinched as it seemed to absorb the fierce fire beam into it's purple eye, the scene temporarily blinding many of the orcs. The bright fire could be seen spreading across the giant's body like magma in an active volcano, before the energy turned purple. Any nearby orcs stand no chance in ground zero, the shadow's earthy veins began to pulse dreadfully.

Shielding his vision with his hands, Kargalgan peeked through his fingers as the giant shadow brought up it's enormous arms in response, powerful electricity crackling all around it's fists and face. In the blink of an eye, the one-eyed goliath smashed the ground with unbelievable force, causing an earthquake inside the arena.

It wasn't any normal earthquake, as volatile lightning bolts came out of the cracks in the ground, electrocuting many high orcs not already defeated by the destructive tremor.

HYMN OF PROTECTION.

Kargalgan barely conjured up a shield in time, helplessly watching as his blue shield of mana completely shattered. The potent attack brought the great mage to his knees, shrinking back into regular size.

Defeat is unavoidable, as he looks to his decimated forces one last time. Countless shadow orcs are making a game of hunting any surviving warriors, who are now defenseless after that devastating bomb-like explosion.

The battle is over. The young Monarch finally approaches him, his four devoted generals now acting as the Monarch's personal shadow guards.

"KRRRK!" Kargalgan painfully spat out, feeling nauseous as the Ruler Monarch forcefully suspended him off the ground, just like he did to the humans earlier.

"Do you have any last words, Kargalgan?" The Ruler-winged Shadow Monarch looked down on him with a melancholic expression.

"W-WHAT'S YOUR NAME, MONARCH?" He coughed his last words with a spell, at least he didn't need a tongue to magically communicate.

"Mars Valentino." Mars answered with a small smile. "I look forward to working with you and the rest of your orcs."

He watched as Mars nodded to his former orc generals, who silently surround the vulnerable orc. His personal executioner orc turned shadow executioner deeply bowed to Mars, before it turned back to him, a sadistic snarl formed on it's face.

His two personal bodyguards sheathed their swords, each grabbing one of his shoulders, roughly forcing him onto his knees. His battle commander ripped off his skull mask and hood, the shadow's sharp gauntlets easily cutting his face with a centimeter of contact. The general pulled him forward by his hair, exposing his neck while his sore scalp was tugged uncomfortably.

Kargalgan's last sight was his executioner raising it's purple shadow axe high into the air then-

The freezing embrace of Darkness.

- Cha Hae-In (Hunters Guild) -

- Five Minutes Ago -

Hae-In watched in awe from the entrance of the coliseum, as the dungeon boss' high orc legion fought with Mars' summons in a high ranked battle. Countless explosions could be heard as Mars' ranged summons threw out fireballs and lightning infused attacks against the seemingly endless orc army. His massive shadow beasts and creatures were rampaging and causing a lot of problems for the orcs trying to pierce through his sturdy frontline.

A blazing trail of lightning, blood, and dead high orcs creeped up, as Igris and two shadow bears soon approached her from the sea of red orcs. She cringed looking at the poor shape Son Kihoon is.

"Huh?! Miss Cha Hae-In!" "Vice-master!" The two worn out mages recognized Hae-In as they got closer, safely away from the intense battle.

"Are you alright?!" She asked Gina, who looked to be much more composed than the other two. "Are you the only survivors?!"

"Cha Hae-In Sunbae... There were just so many high orcs..." Gina managed to spit out without gagging, her eyes displayed pure terror. "I thought we were all going to die..."

"Lady Cha." Igris startled the three women, as the powerful knight brought their attention to Son Kihoon, who was bleeding profusely. "This man is going to die if he doesn't receive medical attention right away."

The entire arena began to tremble dangerously as the dungeon boss magically amplified his size. She had an idea of what was going to happen next as Mars responded by summoning the previous S-rank dungeon boss Cyclops.

"Quickly! We need to run away from here!" Hae-In shouted to the hunters, the shadow bears seemed to have sensed the danger, as the bears began to rush as fast as they could to the dungeon exit.

"I shall be heading back to the battle now." Igris bowed to Hae-In, before he flew into the air, disappearing into the fight while his purple great sword flickered with ill intent.

As she charged at full speed with the bears to the gate, she ran into inspector Woo, accompanied by a small squad of A-rank inspectors.

"Vice-guildmaster Cha!" Woo Jinchul asked her with an anxious tone. "Just what happened here?!"

"Mars is fighting the S-rank dungeon boss with his army inside!" Hae-In felt like she was running on auto pilot. "There are hundreds of high orcs further inside the boss room!"

- Woo Jinchul (Hunters Association) -

Jinchul immediately ordered his men to follow Cha Hae-In and the survivors out of the gate.

"Go get the emergency response team!" Jinchul tore off his blazer, as he began to roll up his sleeves. "Secure the area outside! I'll head inside to help Mars!"

He watched the hunters leave with his inspectors, Mars' shadow bears aren't even phasing him at this point.

The whole cavern shook terribly, as he could feel the tremors of a high tiered battle from further inside. He took off in a dead sprint, hoping Mars wouldn't be in too much trouble.

Wait a second... Weren't they blue before? The two bears shined purple, and appeared to be much larger than he remembered.

He hoped Go Gunhee would be able to convince a talent like Mars to stay loyal to Korea...

Finally arriving at the boss room, he couldn't help but flinch as multiple bright explosions reflected off Jinchul's sunglasses, before he took them off in shock.

The source of the constant tremors was located as a one-eyed giant was stomping on the ground recklessly, crushing countless high orcs in it's path. Black and purple golems and dark shadow red yetis were squeezing and squashing the weakened high orcs.

It was hard not to notice Igris, who was thriving in the mayhem. Mars' strongest soldier received an upgrade, as the deathly knight was getting close to chairman Go Gunhee in strength. Finally spotting Seoul's Saint, he couldn't believe his eyes, as Mars prepared to execute the dungeon boss.

"What in the world is happening?!"

- Mars -

I smirk as Kargalgan's own generals execute their former leader. With a well practiced swing, Kargalgan's executioner beheaded the dungeon boss, as I have five new S-rank shadows. At this point I'm a walking guild, I really don't know if I need to join any guild right away.

"Arise, Tusk!" I call forth my now most powerful magical summon.

Once the smoke cleared, Tusk was kneeling with my new four orc generals.

I'm a bit surprised to see one of my favorite shadows in person for the first time, as I was eagerly waiting for the moment I could summon one of the greatest mages in this SL universe. I always imagined him bald, but the red-skinned chieftain's hood always covered his now shadow black slicked back hair. Most hunters or monsters have limited mana pools, but Kargalgan had an ocean, he had the capability and talent to master multiple kinds of magic. I'm gonna guess he now will be able to use holy lightning attacks now?

Tusk's former generals are like S-rank gatekeepers: weaker than all of my S-rank shadows including Tank, but stronger than any other summon below S-rank. Tusk himself is extremely powerful, he's got to be tied for two with Baruka, maybe even stronger? Assassin versus Mage is a tough matchup for Tusk, but he has complete control over a dozen spells, so either dungeon boss can win. I'll have them fight it out in front of my shadows later, it'll motivate the rest of the shadows to be keep being greedy for power.

My army was buzzing in victory, my shadows were finally able to relax after a huge fight. Iron was already playing with Kargalgan's head, annoying Igris, but the rest of the shadow foot soldiers were wildly cheering with Iron.

The fighting has completely ceased, as any surviving orcs are frozen in horror as my new shadow shaman spawned. A dense black fog forced all remaining orcs to drop their weapons, as an intense pressure washed over them. My high orc shadows began to herd all remaining orcs, pushing and pulling them into a small group until they were completely surrounded by my whole shadow army.

"KNEEL IN FRONT OF THE SHADOW MONARCH." Igris ordered the defeated orcs in monster tongue.

The high orcs didn't have a choice, as Tusk used his gravitational magic to force them onto their knees.

"Arise." I cast [Shadow Extraction] on the hundreds of orc bodies that have covered the arena.

The sickening process of hundreds of shadow orc warriors crawling out of the thick black smoke cause some orc's to shit themselves. The terrified beasts were shivering as the temperature dropped drastically.

I turn to Tusk, giving him an affirming nod before he stands up with his chest sticking out. My strongest mage exhaled, inhaling deeply as his eyes and hood violently burned purple, growing rapidly as the hood transformed into a dragon, it's massive maw widening while the mana around it began to burn.

The remaining orcs knew what was about to happen, as they've been on the other side of this attack thousands of times. Tusk released the spell, a whirling fire beam striking the weakened orcs, who start to agonizingly burn to death. I instructed Tusk not to use full power, I wanted to ensure these orcs would suffer in repentance, for their crimes against humanity.

"Mars..." Woo Jinchul approached me from behind, a complicated expression on his face. "I came to help after sensing the overwhelming magical wavelength... But it looks like it wasn't needed, you can easily clear this top A-rank dungeon all by yourself."

"Inspector Jinchul. Yes, unfortunately I was late with Hae-In, over a dozen of Hunter's guildmembers died before we even entered." I replied back calmly, as all of my shadows stopped to stare at Jinchul.

My new orc bodyguards quickly stood up behind me, their eyes glowing white, studying the sweating Woo Jinchul. My orc's are pretty unnerving, they are already quite protective of me.

"Shit... Right before the Jeju raid as well." Jinchul narrowed his eyes, looking down into the ground in regret. "A lot has happened since the last meeting, Go Gunhee would like to talk with you, as soon as you can."

"No problem inspector, I have some things I'd like to discuss with the chairman, anyway. I'll just take care of the dungeon and mine as many crystals as I can before the gate closes." I nod to Jinchul. "Apologies in advance, I imagine this created a lot of work for you again?"

"I'm used to it." Jinchul sighed to me, giving me a hint of a smile before he started to pace back to the exit, in deep thought. "I'll leave you to it, Mars."

Name: Woo Jinchul

Level: 49

Race: Hunter (A)

Class: Fighter

Thoughts about you: He is looking at you in wonder, as you've shown sudden strength surpassing S-rank. Thinks you would be the perfect replacement for Go Gunhee, Jinchul would be happy to train and support you.

Reputation: 70

Now that I'm left alone in the throne room, I let out a small laugh. I turn to Kargalgan's throne, this seems like a good opportunity to address the rest of my shadows. I have what, like half an hour before the gate closes?

I approach the golden throne, as Igris follows closely, calling the rest of my legion to formation. Sitting on it, I admire my growing army as it organizes itself. After a moment, my entire force is laid out in front of me, separated into different groups. On my right is Igris, with my original summons behind him. To the left, Baruka kneels with all of my shadow elves. The bears, yetis and Baruka's steed are behind the Hyakki. Cyclops and the shadow golems kneel behind my first fifty summons. Beside Baruka and Igris, in the middle are the rest of the S-rank shadows: Tusk, Iron, Tank, Kang and the four orc generals.

Hundreds of high orcs shadows kneel behind the S-ranks, they will act as the new heart of the army, these vicious red-skinned orcs will be the main force against the thousands of ants in Jeju. I even resurrected some dungeon jackals, who knows when they'll be useful?

Just how many guilds can stand up to me now?

My next stop is the Demon Castle, where I'll officially become a National ranked hunter.

Name: Mars Valentino

Level: 87

Race: Fallen Ruler-Human Hybrid

Class: Battlemage (Holy Lightning Attribute) lvl. 80

Title: Shadow Monarch Gamer

Perks:

Friendly Face

Skills:

Gamer's Mind (Passive) lvl. MAX

Monarch's Domain (Passive) lvl. MAX

Hand-to-hand Mastery (Passive) lvl. 17 (Novice)

Magical Endurance (Passive) lvl. 60 (Expert)

Physical Endurance (Passive) lvl. 71 (Expert)

Spear Mastery (Passive) lvl. 55 (Adept)

Shield Mastery (Passive) lvl. 39 (Apprentice)

Shadow Preservation (Passive) lvl. 77 (Expert)

ID Create (Active) lvl. MAX

ID Escape (Active) lvl. MAX

Observe (Active) lvl. MAX

Flight (Active) lvl. 44 (Adept)

Holy Lightning (Active) lvl. 81 (Master)

Power Bestowal (Active) lvl. 6 (Novice)

Ruler's Authority (Active) lvl. 63 (Expert)

Shadow Extraction (Active) lvl. 77 (Expert)

Taunt (Active) lvl. 20 (Apprentice)

The Ancile (Active) lvl. 39 (Apprentice)

Locked Skills:

Shadow Exchange

Spiritual Body Manifestation

Shadows:

General (S+):

Igris

Elite Knight (S):

Tusk

Baruka

Cyclops

Iron

Kang

Tank

Orc Generals (4)

Knight (A):

Yetis (8)

High Orcs (450)

Hyakki (24)

Golems (12)

Assassins (10)

Mages (10)

Archers (10)

Infantryman (19)

Bears (30)

Baruka's Warhorse

Elite (B):

Jackals (20)

It looks like by absorbing Tusk and the high orcs, my magic resistance increased heavily. Absorbing the golems and Cyclops must have helped my endurance as well.

[Secret Quest Completed: High Orc Dungeon]

[Objective: Deal with the Orcs; Clear the Dungeon]

[Reward: Shadow Exchange Rune Stone]

I crush the rune stone immediately, feeling another unbalanced Shadow Monarch power unlock. This skill, once maxed, will essentially grant me unlimited teleportation. For now, I can swap places with any shadow, no matter the distance. I'm essentially creating a shadow gate with the ability, the potential flanking and assassinating opportunities are endless. Think Dr. Strange in Endgame meets The Ring for any terrifying entrances from me or my shadows. For example I could bring half my army through a single shadow like Kang while Igris leads Tank and the knights as a diversion.

Skill unlocked

Shadow Exchange: Exchange locations between the user and the selected Shadow Soldier. This skill can be used again only after the 3 hour cooldown is finished. Cooldown will lower depending on the skill level.

Fuck, I need to unlock my full Ruler and Monarch powers right away.

What's the best way for me to optimize my army? The Demon Castle, Jeju Island, any hostile S-rank enemies and countries, the Monarchs... I'll be facing a lot of opposition soon. I'll need friends, my army cannot fight every single battle, unfortunately. If I can take over the country, then not many countries would like to get on our bad side, as we have some heavy hitters in Korea. Regarding my fellow Monarchs, I need to prepare the world for-

War.

Just how many people are going to die once the real fight begins? The powers they have, specifically the Monarch of Destruction, could ruin the whole planet if I don't stop him.

Only the Shadow Monarch can stop Antares. I'm proud you have become this strong, but we have a ways to go before you could properly match up with the King of Dragons.

You're right. I'll need all the help I can get: Go Gunhee, therefore all of Korea, to fight against the Monarchs. I need to make contact with the National rank hunters soon, those are the only humans who could possibly help me against the Monarchs. Even regular S-rankers can't do anything to a full fledged Monarch.

Ideally, I can convince even a single Monarch to join my side. But if I'm unsuccessful, there's an opportunity to neutralize a Monarch isolated one on one. Well not really one, as I look to my strongest summon, Igris.

He's unquestionably stronger than me, he would no doubt be considered National rank strength. How many hunters could beat him one on one? Thomas Andre... and maybe that Chinese National ranker, Liu Zhigang? I'd have to meet any National rank hunters to get a better idea, as I imagine the distance between hunters in National rank is greater than the noticeable gaps between S-rank hunters.

If his name was Blood-Red Commander Igris, then that would mean he's second only to Bellion. Bellion must be on par with the Monarchs, then? I can't wait until Ashborn's greatest shadow joins, with the rest of his original army.

"Igris, come over here." I call my knight, who was coordinating with Tusk and Baruka. "Tell me, how much stronger is Bellion compared to you?"

My general put his hand on his chin, as if he wanted to choose his words carefully.

"My King, Grand-Marshal Bellion is the strongest Shadow in existence." Igris commented, a tone of envy in the usually gallant knight's calm voice. "He is Ashborn's first Shadow, his Ruler lieutenant in life and death. Even dragons felt fear when Bellion entered a battle. He could slay a dragon singled handedly with his centipede sword."

"Interesting. You don't think you can ever catch up to him?" I ask Igris half jokingly yet half seriously.

His aura began to flare up, I think I finally found Igris' weakness. He's clearly not satisfied with being the second greatest shadow, but Bellion is a true Ruler, he was born directly from the World Tree.

"My King, if you think I can become the greatest Shadow, then I shall not let you down!" Igris pledged to me, I could hear the determination in his voice.

"I'm counting on you, Igris." I pat him on the back. "Don't forget you're my first Shadow. And I fully plan on surpassing my predecessor!"

I'd love to see that, young Mars.

I reabsorb the rest of my army, besides Igris of course, as I stand up from the throne. Time to negotiate with Go Gunhee.

- BONUS -

- Esil Radiru (Radiru Clan, Demon Castle)  -

A slim demon in red and gold plated armor jumped off her demonic steed. The demon noble took off her horned mask, revealing her purple hair and blood red eyes. She directed her squad of high class demons to go on without her, as she took some time to view the destroyed skyline, completely lit up in flames. She just came back up from the 79th floor, having exterminated some of the unintelligent demons who can't even recognize one of their own. Esil was a princess, heir to the Radiru clan, but they were the weakest of the royal families. They were relegated to the 80th floor, where it was her clan's job to slay any simple-minded magic beasts from entering the upper floors. Of course, King Baran kept the gatekeeper Cerberus, Vulcan and Metus to keep a general eye on the lower floors.

She pleaded with her father, but he wouldn't listen. He didn't want to cause any problems for the other nobles, they were on thin ice as the weakest demon clan. Esil told him they would always be last if they didn't do anything about it, she felt her frustration grow, why was he such a coward?!

Esil's head began to throb, as she felt frequent migraines. It felt like a part of her brain was missing, an itch on the back of her mind that she could never quite reach. She only felt those nasty headaches when she questioned her purpose, why were they even here in the castle in the first place? Weren't they gearing up to go to war against the Rulers?

It felt like she blacked out when she thought about it too much, so she shook her head to clear it, before hopping back onto her horse on the way to the Radiru estate.

- BONUS -

- The Ant King -

The ant felt an excited chill go through his evolved body, for every beast he killed, he gained traits and abilities from the consumed prey. With his exceptional senses, he detected a group of humans who finally infiltrated their island after a year of no contact. The ant king was hatched shortly after the ant colony gained complete dominance over the island, so he never got to taste any human flesh.

Mother was expanding, only the ants who could fly over the vast oceans and bring her food would be allowed to remain, as the Queen was hungry. Only the Queen's Guard didn't need any wings, their job was to remain in the cave and protect Mother at all costs.

She is about to lay new eggs, this new perfected generation modeled directly after him. Mother told him he would be the one to lead these new ants, to take over the rest of the planet. The ants had a hunger for every creature out there, only the hunters could stop them. She responded by creating a perfect killing machine, who would learn and evolve after each fight.

Mother warned him of the bipedaled creatures, some of them were quite strong and had special abilities, but they were few and far between. The rest of them were weak, defenseless... delicious.

He stared down the hunters, the five hunters who had no idea they just walked by him. The ant's favorite meal so far was the soft, eight limbed creature in the ocean. The octopus had a specific skill, camouflage, that was perfect for hunting unaware prey.

"Do we really need to be worried about some shitty ants?" A human began to communicate with each other, but the ant king couldn't understand it. "Guildmaster Goto should just send the whole guild, we could take care of it in a couple hours."

His antennae vibrated, if he consumed the humans would he understand them?

The ant king stalked the group, who have been chattering and laughing with each other as they scouted the island. He had already purged the island of every single useless ant, the majority of the forces were in the cave, protecting the lair and their mother. He could easily guard the quiet land, there was no activity on the island since the humans lost their home.

As soon as the group entered a small clearing, the ant stepped out of the shade. The humans were frozen in fear when he released his killing intent. The ant king screeched loudly, causing the humans to flinch in pain before he flew high into the air with his wings. His claws extended into large talons, and he shot at the closest hunter with inhuman speed.

The ant let out another blood curdling shriek as it went berserk, finally about to consume a human.