The battle between the Shadow Monarch and the Monarch of Destruction was going nowhere.
Both sides had the resources and strength to continue fighting with their all. The armies they both possessed seemed endless as their background never ceased to function. And the two leaders of both armies were restlessly gauging each other's strength and limits.
"You seem tired. That's all it took to exhaust the new Monarch?" Antares scowled at Jin-Woo as he saw the human vessel of Shadow Monarch breathing unsteadily with beads of sweat and blood running down his head.
Jin-Woo healed himself up pretty soon but the fatigue he was accumulating has started to weigh down on him. The battle was going a little too long than he expected.
From the memories of Ashborn, Jin-Woo knew that the Dragon King was strong enough to terrorize the other Monarchs alone, but experiencing his strength while fighting against him was something else.
The major drawback of throwing all cards in the initial phase was that Jin-Woo allowed his enemy to know what he possessed. And someone in Antares' league doesn't require much time to adjust according to his enemy's tactics.
Not to talk, Antares has stopped pulling punches after Jin-Woo landed that attack with the composite sword...
'I need a distraction...' Jin-Woo wasn't a hot-blooded fool to take things on his ego and try to defeat an enemy who was undoubtedly higher than him in terms of mostly everything.
Jin-Woo dashed toward the Monarch of Destruction, his hands clutching the Kamish daggers and his eyes trained on his target.
Midway, a horde of several large ants appeared and in the crowd, Jin-Woo disappeared. The shadow army attacked Antares from the front—much to the Monarch's displeasure as he released flames from his hands and easily decimated the ants without showing any sign of struggle.
"Is this what you have left?! Sending your minions and hiding from the challenge?! You have shamed-!!"
"*HAAAAAAAAAAAA*"
Suddenly, a loud yell that shook the very soul of every being present inside the void, resonated. Whether they were from the shadow army or the dragons, everyone went standstill once that road echoed throughout the dimension.
Antares was shocked rather than terrified. This... was the Dragon's Fear...but how—
"Khrug!" With his left eye closed and mouth parted agape, Antares stared at those purple orbs of the Shadow Monarch, who used the perfect distraction to launch another attack from behind and stab his daggers deep inside Antares' chest and one in his throat.
Jin-Woo stood there, with all his mind and body applying force in the daggers—to not let Antares throw him away using the Ruler's Authority.
The tug of war continued and the troops of both Monarchs were still frozen in fret.
At that precise moment, when no one had the right mind to keep an eye on their surroundings, suddenly several intruders appeared behind Antares and Jin-Woo.
Both Monarchs didn't have the time to react before several long spears made out of the essence of Light, penetrated them from several spots.
"Khug!"
"Akh!!" Antares vomited blood upon feeling his vitality losing and his mind no longer in the correct order to resist the onslaught.
Jin-Woo was barely holding himself from falling unconscious...since he knew fainting here meant death.
His hearts were stabbed, and his shadow army would disappear the moment he lost control.
"You thought we wouldn't interfere just because two great warriors are fighting?" The grin on the Frost Monarch's face made Jin-Woo feel irritation more than pain.
The betrayers who have sided with the Monarchs were all present here, along with the Monarch of Frost and Plague.
"Y-You never...had the...chance *cough* to win...head-on..."
Jin-Woo snarled at the Rulers and the Monarchs who could only stab behind one's back and could never gather the courage to defeat him from the front.
"Soul collected." One of the Ruler's informed as he checked a strange device in the form of a lantern.
It was then when suddenly, a wave of energy swept across the void and every person who was standing fell to their knees except for Jin-Woo, who suddenly began to levitate.
The being's presence was so overpowering that it shattered the void, sending tremors through the dimension and striking fear into all who dwelled there. Never before had they encountered such a profound force.
Jin-Woo smiled warmly at his junior before he finally let his consciousness slip away—knowing that nothing could go wrong now.
Haru levitated above them with his hands behind his back, and his luminescent eyes stared at the entities he had come to slaughter.
The seven pigeons who were responsible for that massive attack all across the globe nine months. The reason Haru fell into a coma and had to leave Jinah behind.
The tears she shed and the grief she felt all those months without him...Haru was going to compensate for those tears today.
Seeing them somehow getting on their feet, he elevated the intensity of his aura, and once again, all those nine individuals fell flat on the ground with their bodies completely plastered.
Haru disintegrated the draconic army, and the shadow army returned to Jin-Woo.
"I-Infin-ety..." One of those seven uttered while barely able to move its body.
Haru lowered himself to their level, before releasing his aura from the two Monarchs.
The Monarch of Frost and Plague slowly realized that Haru wouldn't be harming them as they slowly rose to their feet.
"You are free to go for now. The one who will hunt you down needs a little rest for now." Haru told them without removing his eyes from the subject of his revenge.
The two Monarchs wordlessly, opened a portal and were about to escape when Haru asked, "Don't you want to take that?"
The Frost Elf looked at where Haru was pointing before its eyes widened.
It was the artifact in which Antares' soul was captured.
Haru slowly moved his finger and the lantern floated to the elf's hand.
The Frost Monarch was about to say something, but Querehsha suddenly pulled it away into the portal, and the two Monarchs disappeared.
Left alone with the seven pigeons, Haru grinned with all his teeth peeking as he declared, "Now...we will learn how to cook roosters."
*******
A/N:- I hope you liked the chapter. I read the suggestion of Omniscient reader, and I honestly haven't read it. Is it worth it? Is there any other manhwa/anime suggestion? Like I have read several other manhwa, so let me know in the comments.