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Chapter 33 - A Ruler?

The air was thick with unspoken anticipation. The hunters stood at alert, but no one had moved ever since taking stance. No one dared to.

If this really was Minho - the same Minho who made their synchronized attack during their first meeting seem like a joke - then how strong would his dragon hybrid form be?

But they couldn't sense much mana from Rathalos because he had suppressed it. This made another piece of evidence to why it may really be Minho for Cha Hae-In. She remembered how good he was at controlling how much mana he released like a tap with a switch.

Not to even talk of the fact that it could speak human language. All the arrows they had at the moment, with their current knowledge of things, Minho was the one standing in front of them.

"Pardon, why should I give you the phone?" Liu Zhigang asked, his calm demeanour intact, though his body was in the best position to shift gears if he needed to.

"Do you question the Liege's command?" Rathalos growled.

Liege? That was an interesting declaration for 'Minho' to use. But he still held his doubt firmly. He knew for sure that this wasn't the Lee Minho he knew, even if a little. "Well, I should ask a better question." Liu narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

"I am Rathalos 'The Obsidian Dragon' and the Liege's shield." Rathalos took it as a declaration for a fight. He let his mana surge partly. "Who are you to question my Liege's command?"

The mana surge and the revelation caught the hunters off guard. The dragon said it wasn't Minho and that mana from it felt different from the times Minho had released his.

"Tch," Baek gritted his teeth.

"A Liege?" Choi muttered, his fire balls still waiting to be launched.

Cha Hae-In's sword remained pointed as she pushed off all the feeling of fear she had.

The National Level Hunter finally answered the dragon. "Call me Liu Zhigang. A friend of your Liege if… he is by any chance, Hunter Minho,"

A question who's answer was necessarily needed for some of Liu's hypothesis to be proven right. But the dragon hybrid didn't answer.

Rathalos's eyes were deeply fixated on Liu Zhigang as it watched the aura emanating from him. "You are a Ruler, are you not? What do you find in mortal flesh?"

"Hm?" Liu Zhigang blinked. "Excuse me?"

Things were getting more and more complicated by each passing second. A Ruler? As in the fact that he was a National Level Hunter?

"You have come for my Liege at his weakest time, have you not? That is an act of cowardice for a being as yourself." Rathalos added.

The S-ranks turned Liu Zhigang who seemed as confused as they were. Liu's expression went blank, his eyes narrowed down, and a small, almost imperceptible smile on his lips. He slid the phone into his pockets, his hands slowly reaching the hits of his swords. "I do not understand what you're talking about. But… did you murder these people?"

Rathalos frowned, readying himself to fight.

Meanwhile...

At the abandoned construction site.

Minho sat uncomfortably as Vasha continued to stare at him with the slime giving him a narrowed eye look from time to time. The system screen popped up immediately.

[Notification: Rathalos has identified a Ruler's vessel!]

"Huh?" Minho's brows furrowed. Rulers. Was a Ruler here for him too? If it's a vessel, then is it the same as the Shadow Monarch's case where he is a human? Whichever it was, if Monarchs could make the system panic and force a retreat on him, then the Rulers would be no different.

He had to find a way to stop Rathalos from engaging in a fight. He thought to dismiss the dragon, but would it even work at such a distance? He didn't even know where he currently was.

"Is something wrong, my Liege?" Vasha asked, noticing the unease in his eyes.

Minho remained quiet. He should have sent Vasha instead. Something was bound to go wrong with a dragon man walking freely like it was normal.

"Rathalos is picking a fight we can't afford," Minho muttered, pushing himself to his feet with a wince. The soreness in his shoulder flared. "He's found a Ruler's vessel."

Vasha's playful demeanor vanished, her expression sharpening into one of focus. "A Ruler? Here? Then the Obsidian Fool will get himself discorporated in your current state."

"It's a vessel. There should be a difference, I think."

"Oh. Indeed there is."

"Are Rulers that strong?"

"Y-you don't know the Rulers?" Vasha blinked with utter confusion.

"Forget about it." Minho waved a hand.

She stood, Bihami quivering eagerly at her feet. "Shall I intervene, my Liege? A little miasma in the air… they'll be too busy dying to fight."

Minho shot her a glare. "No. We're not starting a plague in the middle of Seoul." His mind raced. Dismissing Rathalos was the cleanest solution, but the distance was an unknown variable. He had to try.

He pulled up the system interface, focusing fully on Rathalos. He mentally commanded [Dismiss].

Back at the confrontation, Rathalos was moments from lunging at Liu Zhigang when his form suddenly flickered.

"My Liege...?!" he managed to growl in surprise before his body dissolved into a shower of crimson sparks that vanished into the air.

The sudden disappearance was so abrupt it left the hunters reeling. The oppressive draconic pressure vanished, leaving only the tense silence and the corpses on the ground.

Liu Zhigang slowly relaxed his stance, a deep frown on his face. "He's gone."

"But... how?" Choi Jong-In asked, his fireballs fizzling out.

"His 'Liege' recalled him, I suppose." Liu Zhigang stated, his voice low with realization. He looked at the spot where Rathalos had stood, then at the dead hunters. "This changes everything. Whoever his 'Liege' is, must be the person behind all of this. And having this…" He trailed, bringing out Minho's phone. "makes understanding the situation all too complicated."

Cha Hae-In finally lowered her sword, her mind a whirlwind. A dragon. A command from afar. The image of Minho she had in her head -powerful, aloof, but ultimately human - shattered and reformed into something far more terrifying. Was he really a monster in human form?

"He really isn't just an S-rank hunter, is he?" she whispered.

Liu Zhigang didn't answer The game had just become infinitely more complex.

The Breaker. The Liege. Korea's tenth S-rank hunter. And a potential National Level Hunter.

Which one was truly the man named Lee Minho?

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