Chapter 205 - Chapter 205 (1/2)

[Oh, my king…. May I be permitted to address you regarding a certain matter?]

Beru contacted Jin-Woo out of the blue.

What did the most powerful Shadow Soldier, tasked with leading the ant battalion to kill monsters far away, want to say to his master?

'What's going on?'

Jin-Woo inwardly asked him. Beru then cautiously sought out permission from his master.

[May you be gracious enough to drive the prey to this servant's location?]

Drive the prey to his location?

The 'prey' Beru was talking about was, of course, monsters that roamed outside of the Gates after the various dungeon breaks took place. It implied that the former ant king wished to take care of all the monsters by himself.

Even Greed couldn't compare to Beru in terms of power, although they were supposed to be in the same Commander-grade. So, it was unlikely that his subordinates started a rebellion or some such and he wanted to do things alone now.

Jin-Woo pondered the reason for this request for a bit, but then, a certain possibility quickly entered his head.

'Could it be....??'

[Every time I defeat a prey, I can feel a sensation similar to 'moulting' throughout my entire body, my king.]

As he thought! His guess turned out to correct.

'Moulting', Beru said. Meaning, he was about to break through to the next stage.

Ever since his inclusion into the Shadow Army, Beru stood at the forefront, always, and fought off more enemies than anyone else. And finally, he was being rewarded with an opportunity to advance to a higher grade.

When recalling how much stronger high-grade soldiers like Igrit and Iron became after the advancement.....

'….This is wonderful news.'

Beru was already strong enough to toy with rank S Hunters even before he became a part of the Shadow Army. His current grade, too, was the highest among all of his existing Shadow Soldiers.

'Does this mean I finally get to see the grade above 'Commander'?'

Jin-Woo was getting really curious about just what kind of changes Beru would go through after his stats jump up greatly via his advancement. He quickly replied to his ant soldier, no doubt anxiously waiting for his king's answer.

'Alright. Let's do it.'

[Oh, I thank thee, my king. I shall send back the ant battalion to your side right away.]

'No, there's no need.'

Jin-Woo smirked to himself. Of course, Beru wouldn't be able to see the expression his Sovereign was making, since they were dozens upon dozens of kilometres away.

'Shadow Army.'

Jin-Woo called out, and his soldiers, almost 1200-strong, responded back to him simultaneously.

From Igrit, in charge of leading the knights, Fangs leading the High Orcs, Jima leading the Nagas, No.6 leading the giants, Tank leading the Ice Bears, and even Greed leading the leftover soldiers.

He thought he could hear their loud roars. Every single one of them began focusing all of their attention on Jin-Woo's summons. He sensed their tension oh-so-clearly, even this far away.

While enjoying this feeling of satisfaction, Jin-Woo issued his new command.

'Everyone, withdraw.'

[….!!]

'I want you guys back.'

The moment his order was given, the entirety of the Shadow Army began moving again. Soldiers all reverted back to their shadow state and rapidly headed in the direction where Jin-Woo was waiting for them.

[Oh, my king…. Why have you recalled your loyal soldiers?]

Jin-Woo replied with a chuckle at the surprised-sounding Beru.

'From here onwards, only you and I will defeat the remaining monsters.'

This seemed to be the best option available in order to speed up Beru's advancement.

Just like how a high-levelled player helped out the lower-levelled friend in a game, he was planning to fight alongside Beru and greatly speed up their hunting speed, gifting a whole bunch of experience points to his subordinate in the process.

He was going to 'power level' Beru, in other words.

There were still quite a few areas where dungeon breaks had occurred, so if the two of them went around clearing them, the required level cap would be met pretty soon.

Of course, as the ground they had to cover was vast, the efficiency of this method fell far behind the one with sending out his soldiers to sweep the enemies clean, but Beru's advancement was the priority here.

[Oh, my king....]

Beru couldn't finish his sentence, his voice overflowing with emotions.

'Hah. This guy.'

Seeing that his emotions had become richer as time went on, there was little doubt that he had been hiding in the shadows watching TV the whole day when he was supposed to protect his mother and Jin-Ah at home.

As the recalling of his shadows was just about complete, Jin-Woo asked the question to his soldiers.

"Is there anyone else beside Beru who feels that their advancement is just around the corner?"

Perhaps inevitably, there was no reply. It wasn't easy to advance to the next grade, after all. And one would need an excellent perception to sense the approaching advancement, too.

There was a reason why only Beru could sense his own advancement out of all his Shadow Soldiers.

Just as his thoughts arrived at this point...

Shururuk....

As Beru stood there, itching to go on the intimate solo hunting with his liege, yet another Shadow Soldier emerged from the ground next to him.

While a look of disappointment flashed on Beru's face, Jin-Woo's own expression brightened up even more.

"Nice."

As he would do normally, Igrit politely knelt down on one knee.

Jin-Woo always felt kinda uncomfortable with Igrit's unyielding dedication to the formalities, but still, seeing the gesture again after a long while made him happy regardless.

Igrit's advancement – that too, was something he had been looking forward to, wasn't it?

"Alright. Let's get started."

Jin-Woo summoned the 'Demon King's Shortswords' and smiled deeply.

What an amazing rate of reproduction this was – it hadn't been that long, yet new sprouts were rising up from the scorched-black remains of the tree monsters.

"Kiiieehk!"

"Kiiehk!"

There were around 40 or so dungeon break locations left to clear in Japan beside this one.

Every second and every minute was precious if these three were to clear them all.

***

Within the Ah-Jin Guild office.

For Yu Jin-Ho, this office had become far more comfortable than his own place. But right this moment, it felt as if every passing minute was as agonisingly long as an hour. He sneaked a glance at the clock hanging on the wall.

It said, '16:10 PM'.

It had been over two hours since 'that man' had shown up here.

Gulp.

Worried that his unconscious saliva swallowing had made too much noise, Yu Jin-Ho quickly sneaked a glance at the unannounced guest to the side. Unfortunately, his gaze ended up meeting the guest's eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. The big man replied with a refreshing grin.

Yu Jin-Ho forced his stiff facial muscles to form a grin of his own, or something that roughly resembled one, and hurriedly averted his gaze elsewhere.

Thick sweatdrops formed on his forehead. He then hurriedly pulled out his poor phone and tried to call his dear hyung-nim, but it was a waste of time.

Ring…. Ringgg….

It had been two days since the last communication with hyung-nim. For some reason, he wasn't picking up his phone at all. Even today.

"..."

"..."

Yu Jin-Ho lowered his phone and closed his mouth real tightly. It was the same story for other employees of the Guild.

These talented individuals who chose to work for the Ah-Jin Guild after seeing its potential were all overwhelmed by this awkward atmosphere and, as if they had made a promise to do so, resolutely maintained this heavy silence.

Of course, none of this was their fault. No, anyone who found themselves in a similar situation would react in the same manner.

Especially so, when the man sitting on a chair by the corner of the office happened to be one of the most powerful Hunters in the entire world, who also was happened to be known as the man with one of the shortest fuse in the world.

Not only that, the owner of this office was the very man who beat this Hunter to a pulp and sent him to the hospital. So, how could anyone be able to smile and jovially chat amongst themselves in front of this man?

He was, of course, Thomas Andre.

The Hunter standing on top of the world had come to visit Ah-Jin Guild to meet Jin-Woo. All thanks to that, the Vice Guild Chairman Yu Jin-Ho and his employees had no choice but to deal with this unannounced guest and consequently, felt like they were dying a little bit with every passing second right now.

Yu Jin-Ho began wondering whether he should attempt contacting hyung-nim one more time or not, but then...

Shururuk...

The automated door to the Guild slid open.

The heads of every single employee, including Yu Jin-Ho, instantly snapped in that direction.

Right away, his eyes grew wide. Yu Jin-Ho jumped up from his seat in sheer joy and spoke in a voice that contained the desperate pleading hearts of everyone working for this Guild.

"Hyung-niiiim!!"

***

'I was wondering why there were so many reporters camping outside, but this....'

Jin-Woo helplessly stared at Thomas Andre grinning back at him.

Looking at that expression, the American didn't seem to be hung up over what happened before, so what brought him all the way out here? Funnily enough, though, it was Yu Jin-Ho who welcomed Jin-Woo way before Thomas Andre could.

"Hyung-nim!! Why couldn't I get a hold of you for so long?!"

"Well, uh, I was busy."