"This... wasn't... part of the deal!"
A hoarse, grating voice cut through the air. The Monarch of Destruction cast a cold, indifferent glance to his side.
There, half-kneeling, was a statue-like being covered in fissures, six angelic wings sprouting from its back. Faint white light seeped from the cracks within, betraying its true nature—a Ruler.
"I paved the way for your arrival! You owe me what was promised!"
Not a trace of compassion could be heard in the Ruler's tone, only desire and fury clouding its mind.
"Fool."
The Monarch of Transfiguration let out a derisive snort. "A mere fragment like you has no right to bargain with us."
Seeing someone else voice his own thoughts, the Monarch of Destruction withdrew his gaze, looking back into the distance.
"I betrayed the Monarch of Shadows! All for the chance to serve the King of Dragons!"
The Ruler's face twisted with rage. "Don't forget! Without me, you would never have defeated him so easily!"
No one else could understand the Architect's towering fury.
Across so many cycles, he had finally managed to latch onto the coattails of the Monarch of Shadows, whom he idolized, tirelessly searching for a suitable vessel for his lord to possess.
Sung Jinwoo hadn't been to his liking, but since it was the Monarch of Shadows's choice, he had held his tongue.
But after encountering that woman, things had spiraled out of control.
That mysterious purple woman, whose power was unfathomable and who constantly radiated an aura of death, felt like the very definition of a God to humanity.
Every time the Architect glimpsed her through the system, it felt like suffocation.
He had no doubt that as Sung Jinwoo grew closer to uncovering the system's truth, the blade would eventually turn on him. Even if he killed Sung Jinwoo, that Grim Reaper would come for him next.
The Architect had tried appealing to the Monarch of Shadows, only to receive a nonsensical reply: 'Sung Jinwoo and I share one heart and body.'
The mighty Monarch of Shadows, changing the very nature of his existence for a mere human—it was unacceptable.
Not just because his idol had fallen, but because this stance was essentially giving Sung Jinwoo permission to kill him.
It forced the Architect to seek a new patron. And by chance, he found one.
Sensing the arrival of the King of Dragons, the Monarch of Destruction, he had immediately sought him out.
Without hesitation, he betrayed the still-maturing Sung Jinwoo, handing over the coordinates of the exclusive dungeon gate he had prepared for him.
The proposal to eliminate an incomplete Monarch of Shadows was undeniably tempting. The Monarch of Destruction saw no reason to refuse.
Thus, the Monarch of Destruction, the Monarch of Fangs, and the Monarch of Transfiguration—who had originally planned to ambush Castorice—changed their strategy.
They set a trap for her and aimed to eliminate the Monarch of Shadows, Sung Jinwoo, in his infancy.
Their plan succeeded. After dealing with Sung Jinwoo, the timer on the exclusive gate reached its seventh day.
The moment the Monarch of Destruction stepped out of the dungeon and onto Earth, he commanded the Monarch of Transfiguration to summon his Army of Destruction.
His legion was the most powerful among all the Monarchs.
The elite troops and commanders were all composed of dragons, each with power rivaling Kamish's, while the commanders themselves possessed strength second only to the Monarchs.
South Korea was plunged into a hellish landscape.
The King of Dragons, however, showed little interest. Ignoring the incessant noise beside him, his gaze remained fixed on the distance, anticipating the arrival of his opponent.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
As South Korea's strongest combatant at the moment, Cha Hae-in had become the primary force resisting the Army of Destruction.
The earth and sky were dyed crimson. Soldiers of varying strength from the legion swarmed the cities.
This sudden, overwhelmingly powerful assault had caught South Korea completely off guard, sending shockwaves throughout the world.
In just ten minutes, Busan of South Korea had fallen. There was no safe haven.
Within half an hour, the Army of Destruction's advance had swallowed half the country. Civilians and weaker hunters could only survive by following at a distance behind Cha Hae-in.
Choi Jong-In felt his teeth were about to shatter from clenching.
Dealing with the endless stream of ground-level grunts had nearly depleted his mana. Though he could wipe out large swathes of these magic beasts at once, they just kept coming without pause.
Seeing the terrified masses of ordinary citizens behind him, he had to steel himself.
He shouted to Woo Jinchul beside him, "What about Hunter Castorice!? Has she responded yet!?"
Woo Jinchul knew too well that even an S-Rank hunter's mana wasn't infinite. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead, not just from anxiety, but from the oppressive heat.
The air was dreadfully dry. The flames from the dragons above and Choi Jong-In's own fire had driven the temperature to abnormal heights.
He wanted to lead the civilians to safety elsewhere, but there was nowhere to go.
If they didn't stay near Hunter Cha Hae-in, they'd be caught in the ceaseless dragon breath raining down—instant death for any ordinary person.
He wondered if Chairman Go Gunhee, leading another group of civilians, had found another way out...
"No response yet! Hunter Castorice was recently preparing to raid the Japanese dungeon gate! She should have just entered around this time!" Woo Jinchul reported.
"Damn it!"
Choi Jong-In cursed, not at Castorice, but at the Americans whose previous manipulations had steered public opinion into an uncontrollable mess.
In the crowd, Han Song-Yi was utterly terrified.
She had never faced such a horrifying scene before... No, she'd often witnessed terrifying sights, but with Castorice always by her side, even the most dreadful scenes had lost their oppressive weight.
It reminded her of her first Red Gate dungeon. The fear of death from back then had faded almost to nothing over such a long time. But now... would that purple figure still stand in front of her?
Han Song-Yi couldn't help but look up at the sky.
Cha Hae-in, clad in golden armor and wielding a longsword, blazed like a Valkyrie across the heavens.
Her overwhelming sword pressure was something even the mighty dragons dared not face head-on. A dozen or more dragons surrounded her, attacking from all sides.
Though she showed no sign of being overwhelmed, it was clear she wouldn't break free any time soon.
"If... if Castorice-unnie were here..."
Han Song-Yi couldn't help but think of that purple-haired girl, always serene and gentle, always in effortless control.
If Castorice-unnie were here, perhaps even this hopeless, apocalyptic scene wouldn't be impossible to resolve.
"Castorice..."
Someone nearby, hearing her whisper, repeated the name with a complex expression.
Yeah... if that hunter, the one even Hunter Cha admitted possessed unfathomable power, were here... would their situation be different?
Just as that thought surfaced, the scorching air triggered a fit of coughing.
Right... what was the point of thinking like that? Hunter Castorice simply wasn't here...
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.