The air in the empty path completely shifted. With Igris temporarily down, this was going to be a dragon hybrid vs shadow ant.
Rathalos stood, awaiting Beru's attack.
Minho looked at the burning fire stopping the shadow knight from reforming. Would this battle even end?
"You dare…" Beru's voice came in, the dust clearing. "to call someone else 'Liege' in my presence?" Its voice was laced with a hint of annoyance. "You escaped the first time. You will have to die now, you lizard,"
"You still speak too much, insect." Rathalos replied.
"Huh?" Minho muttered, standing puzzled. "Do they know each other?"
In a blur of speed, Beru lunged, meeting Rathalos halfway. The fight was intense. But something didn't sit right for Minho. He knew Rathalos was still stronger than him, even if the gap had shortened drastically compared to their first confrontation.
But,
Right now, Beru was fighting Rathalos as though the were on par with each other. His mind pulled up the only possible answer: They were just fighting him to learn his limits. That explained why they would increase their intensity whenever he started getting the upper hand. From the looks of the current fight with Rathalos, Beru was truly going full on.
Minho gritted his teeth. This was an insult to the gut. Before he could think further, he could hear a few people coming towards the scene, saying something about look for the dungeon that appeared arguing it was S-rank. Unbeknownst to them, the situation was far more complex than they could ever expect.
Rathalos stomped Beru back. The ant balanced itself and shot forward, punching Rathalos into the wall. It followed, but Rathalos recovered and met halfway, grabbing its neck and slamming it to the ground. He breathed fire, but Beru smacked his head to the side, redirecting it to a tree that instantly got burnt to a crisp.
Beru used both of its legs to kick Rathalos up, then followed with another gut punch. It grabbed the dragon by the face just before he went further high and threw him to the ground with a loud THUD!
It followed with a twin stomp, but Rathalos quickly got out of the way, grabbing its leg and slamming it to the ground and flinging it away. Beru used a tree to ricochet itself back at him.
For those who can't keep up, this was going to be a dance of light, because of the immense speed they were heading at.
"I should find a way to end this." Minho muttered. The people he heard earlier - seven hunters from the Hunters Guild - had walked to a stop a good distance away from the scenery that unfolded. Though all they saw was a bloodied man with a dagger holding his wounded shoulder, a fire burning far behind him and trails of light moving around causing destruction.
In the blink of an eye, Minho stood in front of them. "Please leave… now," his voice was low, calm, but filled with authority.
His mere presence up close was a monstrous weight on their shoulders. But pride had taken the best of their A-rank leader. Seeing Minho injured, he thought he was vulnerable and weakened badly, even if he was really strong.
The leader gathered confidence to speak back. "Who are you to sp—"
The other hunters watched as their leaders head fell off, then the upper half of his body slid down from the bottom half.
Minho hadn't even moved. It wasn't him. He glanced over his shoulder at the two still fighting. At this rate they would cut down anything in their path. "I'll say again… leave, now. Do you want to die?" He said without turning back.
"Y-you killed our captain…" one of them trailed off. Minho turned to them. They were in an attacking stance.
"YOU MONSTER!" The guy yelled, swinging his axe at Minho with all his might. Minho held it with his hand, not even getting a scratch. He realized that he's been going after bigger prey with his level ups, not realizing how invincible he had become to weaker prey. If it was Igris or Beru's attack, he would most likely have lost the hand.
Another girl yelled. "EVIL MONSTER!" She used a stealth skill and went for him. Minho hadn't dodged, he wasn't even trying to fight or stress himself. He planned on toying with them or inducing fear in them and chasing them off. But the girl went for the most vulnerable part in Minho's body. She drove her dagger into the gash on his shoulder, from behind.
Minho's body stiffened. She tried pulling her dagger out but it didn't budge. His body was so stiff she couldn't get it out.
[Matter Disintegration Activated!]
The axe in his grasp started to disintegrate, forcing the guy using it to release it and fall back.
A chuckle.
A maniacal smile and a wicked chuckle followed.
The girl quickly jumped back, leaving the dagger. Minho's hair fell over his eyes. He chuckled like a maniac and then stopped. "A monster… an evil monster… hoho, for a while now, I totally kept on forgetting what I was," He raised his head, his vertical slit eyes glowing brightly. "A monster."
[You have further accepted the darkness without the intervention of Heart Of Void!]
[You have obtained your realm: Crimson Purgatory!]
Minho didn't bother about the system message. He slowly removed the dagger from his now limp hand and tossed it to the ground. "Oi, Dragon," He muttered.
Rathalos pushed Beru away and stopped, bowing behind Minho. "Yes, my Liege?" The girl that stabbed him slowly turned her head, eyes wide in fear and terror as the dragon hybrid stood right behind her. Rathalos slapped her head off her body. "Who else dared to harm my Liege?"
Minho turned to Rathalos with smile that made even his eyes widen, then it dropped into a knowing smile.
"Leave the overgrown ant." Minho told him.
Rathalos nodded. 'Has he entered the Crimson Purgatory? No, I would have felt it if the gates opened. Is he close?' Rathalos thought.
Then all sound seized. Only one was audible:
Sound of a water drop.
[Absolute Domain Activated!]
In a blink, the whole area was gone, replaced by a thick void of darkness. Rathalos raised his head. 'The Liege's domain?'
Minho was nowhere to be found. Beru finally stood up, looking around. Rathalos blinked once and one of the hunters their burst into shredded pieces.
A second blink. One more gone.
Minho was shredding them all with a speed even Rathalos himself couldn't trace. This was his domain after all.
In a matter of seconds, the hunter team was gone. Then a voice echoed across the entire void. Minho's voice.
"Hey ant, did I request you hold back against me?"
The next moment, Beru's left hand burst into pieces. Regenerating here was incredibly slow because this was a territory that belonged to the Herald of Annihilation.
"The Shadow Monarch sent you to test me, huh?"
The ant's right hand burst. Despite its strong exterior, it was still getting shredded. Beru was about to fly when its wings were also cut.
"Tell him I'm no Monarch of Destruction. I am the new Dragon King…"
Several lines of crimson light appeared on Beru.
"If you insist on calling me one… then call me the Monarch Of Tyranny instead."
Beru exploded into pieces.
Then everything went back to normal. Rathalos was completely in awe.
Minho stood behind Rathalos and dismissed Hell's Blade. The flames still weren't enough to deal with Igris fully. But for now the threats were handled, even though he believed it wouldn't be long before they fully reform.
Rathalos stood and turned to Minho.
Minho took two steps towards the dragon. "Oi, out of my way—" He collapsed and got caught by Rathalos before hitting the ground.
Rathalos's eyes widened a fraction as he sensed something. "Let's leave, my Liege." He quickly took Minho and did a super leap off, taking Minho to safety.
Seconds later, a sickening THUD hit the earth. The dust cleared to reveal Jinwoo, hands in his pockets. He saw the barely recovering states of Igris and Beru. He knew his soldiers weren't weak enough to be overpowered, even by a Monarch. They must've been outsmarted.
His presence there, boosted the regeneration and both shadows bowed.
His brows furrowed in slight anger. "So this person is not Antares?"
Beru barely muttered a "Yes, my Liege,"
Jinwoo didn't say a word. He dismissed the shadows and sighed, his expression cold. "We'll meet again then. Very, very soon."