Far away from where the battles had taken place, in an abandoned construction site, Rathalos laid Minho on the ground. Minho's bleeding never stopped. Was he even going to make it before the cool down of Monarch's Vitality was completed?
Rathalos found a rag nearby and dusted it, pressing it gently on the wound, hopping to at least reduce the blood loss.
"With that display earlier…" He trailed, staring at Minho's wound, then outside. "There is no doubt she would be here very soon."
Meanwhile...
While the Herald of Annihilation - or Monarch of Tyranny rather - was in such a situation, the world itself was put on its toes.
The news had already gone up. Several news stations displayed the same message all across the country, in an emergency broadcast. The message: "Korea reveals their tenth and eleventh S-rank hunters in a surprise parallel evaluation."
A video of Jinwoo coming out of the evaluation center was playing, with the heading: Korea'sEleventh S-rank: Sung Jinwoo. To its side was a CCTV shot - the only picture of Minho they could muster - with heading: Korea's Tenth S-rank: Lee Minho.
The news anchor's voice was a mix up of lingering surprise and puzzlement. "Though we only got close shots of the S-rank Hunter, Sung Jinwoo. S-rank Hunter, Lee Minho had departed without anyone's notice.
A slight rumor has surprisingly started spreading, saying both hunters may _ under probability, because there's no solid proof _ may be at a National Level Rank instead, since National Level Hunter, Liu Zhigang of China kept saying the world table shifts with those two. But this is just a simple theory made from the monstrous aura both forces wielded during the evaluation, I believe.
But the question that has been knocking at the door of the Hunters Association was: Which of these hunters is the so called Breaker?
With a few even saying they would believe it if the Breaker was the National Level Hunter, for his continuous successive solo raids, no matter the dungeon.
The Korean Hunters Association hasn't released any information on it and even the other S-ranks are refusing to say anything about it. So for now we have no idea who the Breaker still is. That's all we have for now."
Inside a hotel room, sat a tall muscular man, watching the news with his legs crossed on the table. It was Hwang Dongsoo. "Hmm," he hummed, leaning forward. His eyes were fixed on the video of Jinwoo and Minho. "Now, which of them is the Breaker that Thomas Andre sent to check on, tch?" He smiled. "I'll just go for both and get rid of the useless one."
Across the globe, this was one of the major topics as well. The rumors of both being National Level Hunters causing confusion.
Who knew just a power display could shake the world in such a way? The world surely wasn't ready for a clash.
At Minho's home...
Minho's mother came out of the kitchen, wondering why he didn't pick up her calls. "Where has he gone to again? He should at least be letting—" the remaining words stopped dead in her mouth as she saw her son's picture on the TV, being recognized as Korea's tenth S-rank.
"M-Minho-ya," she muttered, a motherly smile full of heart playing on her lips. Her eyes became watery. "You stubborn boy…" she laughed, tears sliding down her eyes.
Now she could fully understand why he suddenly started returning home with no new injuries, how he must have paid up the depth, everything crashing in.
This was her boy. Her Minho. The same one who she almost lost countlessly to the cruel world. Now his relentlessness had paid off? She couldn't be anymore grateful for the gift she never gave up on.
Back with Minho...
Rathalos sat a distance from Minho. Minho's injury had sealed shut. But Monarch's Vitality still wasn't done with the cool down.
His brows twitched and he opened his eyes, a harsh banging in his head. Rathalos quickly rushed over to help Minho up to a sitting position.
Minho remained quiet for a while, closing his eyes shut again, brows furrowing, then he opened them.
"Are you okay, my Liege?" Rathalos asked.
"The hell is okay with my situation, Ratalon?" Minho muttered, bringing up the system. He remembered ignoring a message it had displayed. "Ah, there it is."
[Crimson Purgatory: The Pocket Realm of the Dragon King. This is where the last of the armies remain and deeper is the kingdom of the Dragonkind.
- Requirements for entry: • Gather all founding members of the Dragon Court.
• A Hatchery Maiden is required to access the royal hatcheries and awaken the young.
Requirements met: 0/2.]
"Hmm," Minho stared at the message. "So now everything is tying to me having to finish the quests? Unbelievable." He muttered. Then he checked on the cool down message.
[Monarch's Vitality has been overused!
Skill is cooling down and currently unavailable!
• Cool down time: 00:53:41]
"And I'm out of any healing elixirs." He looked to his shoulder, seeing it sealed shut, his eyes widened. "What?" He whispered. He could raise the hand on his own although it was still very sore and still painful. But it wasn't limp and nearly in a paralyzed state.
"You use healing magic, Ratatouille?" He turned to Rathalos. The dragon shook his head. "Then how did this happen?"
"You got healed."
"By who? That an answer, Ratalon?" Minho shot at him. The dragon looked down, dejectedly. "The hell is that face for?"
"Maybe because those aren't his names," A female voice came from behind. "My Liege,"