Chapter 25

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I was about to check on the Queen of the Ants when one of my shadows reported a threat.

An acquaintance of mine that we had sort of parted ways with was in danger. Of course, as a B-rang healer, she had been mobilised to defend the city, along with other hunters. And even though we're kind of not together anymore, there was still one of my servants lurking in the girl's shadow, who I had ordered to keep an eye on the huntress.

Now...

Looking at how Ju Hee's group was almost wiped out by the insect infestation, with only a core of experienced hunters left alive and no monsters, I wondered why this girl never appeared in the comic again. Although, most likely the author just didn't have time for her. But, here she could have been killed by insects.

And just when it looked like there was no escape...

A shadowy wyvern swooped down from the sky.

It seemed like I was just passing by and noticed the hunters needed help. But, I actually made the shadow looking after Ju Hee retreat to the roof of the nearest building, and there I used shadow exchange.

Now...

Fiery spears rained down from the heavens, piercing the bodies of the giant ants, simply tearing their bodies to pieces. The monsters burst with deafening pops from their shells being torn apart. The eyes of the insectoids exploded, splattering the monsters' ichor.

And, then I hovered briefly in the air, glaring at my ex-girlfriend.

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't think of anything clever to say.

So, swallowing the lump in my throat, I gave Kysel the command to take off. I didn't need my help here. But, just in case, I sent some stronger shadows into Ju Hee's shadow. Then, after gaining altitude and hiding behind the clouds, I opened the gate right in the air and flew in.

- Hey, take it easy...

In the artificial "dungeon", the Queen immediately tries to attack me.

And, in what shock she retreats when Ber comes between us, along with a whole squad of powerful ant guards. These guys are different from the workers in that they have no wings. At the same time, these monsters are larger and stronger than normal winged ants. They were born to protect the queen in her lair. While the task of the workers is to expand beyond the island, which is what wings are for.

The queen of the ants makes a hysterical squawking noise.

And in response, Ber flicks her maws menacingly.

- Do you know the language of chaos? - I ask, stepping forward.

The Queen freezes for a moment, and then turns her head, giving me an angry look. She didn't have any facial expressions, though; I could just sense her mood in the pulses of power she emitted.

- You... Monarch... Shadow King..." The Queen's tense voice rasped.

It felt like she was just having a hard time speaking.

- Right.

- Why... you took my children... drove them from our land... took our home....

The queen was angry, but having already engaged in dialogue, she began to calm down.

- Hmm, actually... it was my land. I just ignored you for a long time until you started causing trouble.

- The land of... the Monarch? - There was surprise in the Queen's voice.

- Yes. You invaded my land. You killed my people. It's only natural that I would react, like it or not, but you lost and earned my wrath.

- No...what do you...want...

The queen began to cautiously back away.The anger in her voice was finally replaced by fear. She knew who I was, and how powerful I was. Her life was in my hands now. As were the lives of her people. Though I suppose she doesn't see her colony as separate from herself.

- But I may well leave you your life. - I'm being merciful. - But with some conditions.

The Queen inclined her head.

And I put my hand on Ber's shoulder.

- Can you have more of these?

The biggest ant mum clucked her jaws in a dazed way.

And, actually, I thought she'd be harder to deal with. I assumed she'd be upset that I wanted to replenish my army with her children. But the Queen had no special maternal feelings for her offspring. They were just tools to her. Yes, she was upset that I killed and raised Ber. But that wasn't the grief of a mother whose child was killed. She's angry at me because I took away her most powerful weapon that she spent years creating.

I don't mean that she spent years creating this particular egg. I mean the entire evolutionary process of her colony as she began to create new ants so that her swarm could survive and overcome the isolation of the island.

Nevertheless, your shell is closer to your body.

- From now on, you will serve me. - I will make a judgement. - I will find land for you to settle on, where there will be plenty of food, and you can expand your colony. But... I will also set limits beyond which you must not increase the numbers of your... people.

After all, the inter-world is called that for a reason.

It's a quasi-space connected to many worlds. The peculiarity of Earth in this string of realities is that it was devoid of magic and could be destroyed by the mere presence of Monarchs. But, thanks to the influence of the Lords opening the gates, this world is gradually being infused with magical power and growing stronger.

Nevertheless, I didn't personally search amongst the variety of worlds to find a suitable one.

Instead of doing it myself, I met with the chairman of the association and contacted the Overlords through him. They told me which world would be best to use. A place where there are no humans and other intelligent races, but enough vegetation and common animals. Such worlds usually become just a "snack" for Monarchs, whose purpose of existence is the destruction of worlds. But, and there are many such realities, so if these guys get there, it may be a while yet.

- This world will be yours. - I'm opening a gateway for the Queen. - You can use its resources now, but... for now, should you stay here?

- Why?

The Queen of the Ants was clearly anxious to leave for a new world.

- I need your children to defeat the other Monarchs. And the sooner I get more of them in my army, the better.

- Time... - She understood.

- Exactly. Time flows differently here, and I want to use it. You'll have a week to gather as much food as you need, and then I'll close this gate and separate it from the time stream of the real worlds.

Anyway, that's how I got my own ant farm.

And while the Queen was busy creating new super-strong units for me, I opened other gates myself, deciding to return to my own pumping.

So, through the interworld, I entered the dungeon of the giants.

One of the strongest dungeons the Overlords had prepared.

And here, as soon as I entered the huge hall, I was immediately attacked by several monsters. Humanoid giants, the size of a large building. Even the Cyclops and Chthon in my army somewhat fell short of their size.

Nevertheless...

Stepping forward, I let the darkness envelop me in impenetrable armour.

In my hand, a blade forms from the light and is immediately covered in darkness. With a sharp thrust forward, the shadowy blade slices through the monsters that attacked me.

- Now... rise up!

Continuing forward, I slayed the giants in the same way and replenished my army with them. They were already rising as generals, even though they couldn't speak. During the long time of confinement, these creatures had lost the remnants of their sanity, turning into aggressive animals.

And so I soon came to the main hall, where the boss of this dungeon was waiting for me.

- You're the one... - The giant grinned tiredly, shackled in chains.

He had no shadow.

The captive Monarch looked at me with bloody scarlet eyes, in which I could easily read hope and impatience. In me, he saw a chance to free himself from here. Perhaps I could even get him to swear an oath to me. But, he could be used in other ways. After all, this guy is clearly an enemy of the Overlords, and therefore of the humans. On top of that, he's already bound by the magic stone, which requires him to destroy humanity.

- Legia. - I nodded to the monster in greeting. - Resting here?

- Khe-heh... Ashborn... - The giant grinned. - Release me.

- I'm sorry, but we're not on our way.

Shaking my head, I had already come close enough.

- No... stop! I will serve you!

- You will. - I nod.

And in one blow, I took half his head off. And then the Monarch's heart burst from his chest and into my hand. A scarlet lump of power, pulsing with dark energy. It had a great power, even more than Baran's heart.

Thus, I had another Monarch's heart. All that remained was to decide which of my shadows to give it to. I hesitated for a while between Chthon and Cyclops. But still, Chthon at its size belongs to the Chaos Beast Army. While Cyclops belonged to the army of giants. That's why I chose him as my new pocket Monarch.

After his transformation, Cyclops had broken through to the rank of Marshal, but like Aesil, he still needed some time to adapt to the heart of Legia. Likewise, not only the earth golems but also the new giants now stood under his command. This army was small in number, but had simply enormous combat power.

I also closed a few more dungeons after that, letting Cyclops get used to his new power for a bit.

And finally, I just returned home.

Now I could slow down the pace of my raids and let the Monarchs make their move. It was time for action. The regular Monarchs, even if they attacked me all together, would be killed. Only the Dragonlord poses a threat. So, instead of searching for these Monarchs, I decided to wait for them to act. Then I could catch the bad guys. After all, I know their primary objective. First of all, they will try to find and destroy the users of the shards.

In the meantime.

- How's school going? - I'm asking my sister.

Jin-A rolled her eyes unhappily.

- It's fine. You know I have the best grades in my class.

I smiled involuntarily.

Still, this girl, in a way, understood that Jin-woo was sacrificing his future for her. And, under such circumstances, she simply couldn't afford to study poorly. However, she was really talented, and studying was not a problem for her.

- You've become popular now, haven't you? - The girl grinned.

- What? I didn't understand.

The sister snorted.

- You're all over the news now. The new S-rank hunter who turned the Ant Queen into ashes with one blow.

- One of my servants did it.

- But you're the one who did it!

We were distracted from this conversation by Igris.

She appeared in her armour and apron. With a hand to her breast, the warrior bowed.

- Dinner?

- Yes... Lord... - She confirmed quietly.

Under Gen-He's supervision, she had been improving her cooking skills for some time now. In fact, she was already a good cook, she just didn't quite understand how to use modern appliances in the kitchen, which my mother helped her with. Actually, Jin Woo's mother. Yeah, I was so into the role that I almost believed that Gen-He and Jin-A were my real mother and sister.

Back to Igris, she's already become a regular at our table.

Though it's probably wrong to call her a guest. At least to me, she has become even closer than Jin-woo's mother and sister. Interestingly enough, watching this whole situation, Aesil suddenly had the desire to learn how to cook as well.

- Mistress Igris, please... teach me! - She asked respectfully, turning to the Bloody One.

The warrior looked at me awkwardly.

I just shrugged.

And with a sigh, Igris agreed to teach Aesil. She was also teaching me. I'd also spent time training with Bloody behind the red gate. After accepting Ashborn's legacy, my sword skills evolved somewhat as well. There was a certain inner understanding of the weapon. And it was as if I wasn't even learning, but rather remembering forgotten skills. But even so, Igris was teaching me new techniques.

Along the way, the Architect and Annatar helped me learn magic.

In the meantime, while I wasn't busy clearing dungeons but just training, Jin Wu's family was being watched over by some of my strongest shadows. Well, I was also curious about something else...

Feeling my little sister's scream, I immediately returned home.

- What's wrong, Jin-A?

The girl looked dumbfounded at Ber. And he knelt down on his knees with his head lowered guiltily.

- I'm sorry, Master...

- Did he do something? - I asked, holding back my laughter.

My sister's eyes bulged.

- It's... this thing... I woke up here... - She pointed at the couch. - And he's standing over me!

- Ber, why are you scaring the girl?

- I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... - The Ant King mumbled guiltily.

- Jin-A... - I turn my gaze to my sister. - Don't be afraid, Ber is one of my strongest shadows. I left him here to protect you.

- I... I was just startled out of my wits. - She crossed her arms over her chest.

- So, Ber... why did you leave the shadow?

The General averted his gaze.

He was embarrassed to admit that he only got out of the shadows to watch TV while Jin-A was snoozing on the couch. However, he couldn't lie to me either.

- I... studied human culture... - The insectoid came out.

- See, he was just watching telly. - I explained to my sister.

The next time, Ber was no longer hiding, but sitting carefully on the couch and watching historical doramas with Gen-He. Or playing with Jin-A, who handed the insect a gamepad and told her to entertain her. The girl quickly assessed the King's reaction speed and realised that if he was tutored, after playing for a while, gaining experience, he would become just a monster at games. Thus, Jin-A decided to raise her faithful partner, who would lead her team to victory in almost any game.

True, when the girl didn't see...

Korean doramas watched, not just Ber alone, but four other ants from his squad have already watched. Looks like Korean TV has a new target audience.

Meanwhile...

After showing up at the hunters' association office, I met up with the other Korean S-rank hunters who are also the heads of their guilds. Well, except for Hae In, she's Jong In's deputy in the hunters guild.

Anyway, I contacted Gu Hee earlier and asked him to arrange this meeting.

- Hunter Jin Woo. - Cha Hae In greeted me.

It was hard not to notice that the girl was all cheerful and looked very happy. Should I invite her to have lunch with me?

- Hae In, it's good to see you again. - I'm smiling at the girl.

- Looks like you were the one who asked for this meeting... - Jong In remarked.

- Yes... let's go to the meeting room.

There, the chairman was already waiting for us, along with his confidant, A-rang's hunter, Chul. He may not be as strong as the others, but this guy is seriously involved in the association. Gu Hee himself was the first to leave his seat and greeted me with a handshake.

- I guess if you decided to gather them here... we don't have much time left? - He asked.

- Yes, we do. - I nodded to the chairman.

The hunters looked interested.

Yun Ho frowned suspiciously, already realising from the chairman that the topic of the meeting must be very serious.

- There's not much time left? Before what? - Jong In became cautious.

- Hmm, please sit down, I will explain everything now.

After glancing around, the hunters took seats at the meeting table. Likewise, the chairman sat down as well.

Chul remained standing behind his boss. And I just walked behind the hunter's backs, not going to sit in one of the empty chairs yet.

- So... where to start? - Slowly, I said, "I should probably tell you about the nature of the gate. To give you a better understanding of what's going on... with our world.

- The nature of the gate? - The swordswoman wondered.

- Yes, why they came into existence in the first place.

- It's still an open question. - The mage noted. - We use the resources of the gate, but no one yet knows why they suddenly began to open all over the world.

- Preparation. - I explained. - It's a test of the Overlords.

- What?

- The Overlords are opening the gate so that we can learn to fight the creatures of chaos. And that their blood, spilled in our world, will gradually infuse this world with magic.

- Who? Who are the Lords?

- There are beings whose power is too great for our world. Their very presence would simply destroy the Earth. They are Monarchs and Overlords.

- Hunter Jin Woo? Are you serious? These statements... where did you even get this information from? - Yunho hesitated.

- I'll explain. There is a way for these creatures to manifest their power in our world. Monarchs find a vessel among humans and take over their body. Over time, the human can adapt to the Monarch's power and become its avatar. Overlords, on the other hand, do not take over people's bodies, but share their power with them. It was the Overlords who created the hunters, who gave you the power.

- Why?

- So you can survive when the war between the Monarchs and the Overlords starts. It's quite simple, their conflict has no particular meaning. They were simply created in time immemorial, some created to destroy worlds and others to protect. The ultimate goal of the Monarchs, is the destruction of all worlds. The Overlords, in this case, are our allies, though they are the ones who create the dungeons that bring so much trouble to our world.

- What kind of allies are they then?

- As I said, this is a test. A training. When the Monarchs come, their armies will number in the millions of chaos creatures, the same monsters we fight in the Gate.

- How did you know all this? - Yunho almost shouted.

- It's simple. - I grinned. - I know this because I am... the heir to one of the Monarchs.

- W-what?

- Although, that's not entirely true...'' I stretched out with some doubt, ''Ashborn was the exception to the rule. He's the Overlord that sided with the Monarchs, but was betrayed by them. Now he is no longer on the side of the Monarchs, and he is no longer on the side of the Lords. He's on the side of the humans.

- Do you have any proof of that? - Jong In frowned.

- Here's my proof! - I snapped my fingers.

In the next instant, several gates opened in the meeting room.

The hunters' eyes naturally bulged. Until then, gates had been considered a natural phenomenon, a natural anomaly. The idea of someone opening them on purpose seemed absurd. But here I was, in front of the strongest hunters in the country, opening my own gate.

- I used to be more secretive, for fear of provoking the Monarchs.

- But... - The chairman folded his hands in a lock.

- But, the time has come. We don't have much time left before Antares, the strongest of the Monarchs, comes to this world. He is the lord of dragons...

- Kamish... - Yunho remembered.

- Yes, the dragon that brought ruin to many cities until he was stopped. And there would be hundreds of them in Antares' army. And he himself is so unimaginably strong that you won't even be able to touch him.

- N-impossible-" The tank's voice trembled.

It was a massive man, the head of the Glory Guild, and one of the ones in the group on Jeju Island.

- If that was true. - Jong In frowned, ''Why are you telling us this now?

- Like I said, there isn't much time left. And I want to prepare you for the decisive battle.''

A bright sphere lit up in my hand.

- This magic has allowed me to very quickly achieve enough power to withstand the full might of the Shadow Monarch. And now I grant you this... spell. With it, you can become much stronger, and when the time comes, you will have the strength to help me.

- What is it?

- A system created by one of the most skilful of chaos magicians.

Only, I didn't specify that this system has been significantly modified from the one the Architect originally created. Although, the general features are very similar. But, there's also another small addition. When they die, the owners of this system will eventually become my shadows.

What's the point of wasting a good thing?

*** 

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