Chapter 145. Someone

The monster of Hwangseong Aktura was called the Black Devil. Its body was entirely black, covered in grotesque horns from head to tail. Some even had wings. One of these devils stood, its eyes gleaming and a sinister smile playing on its lips.

"

Krrr

..."

How long has it been?

Since the fall of the empire, a human kingdom, the creature hadn’t had the pleasure of feasting on humans for far too long. The hunger was maddening. Sure, it had managed to scrape by, devouring animals, and sometimes even its own kind. However, it could never forget the taste of humans.

The memory of the days when it hunted humans freely still burned brightly in its mind. And finally, the humans had appeared again. Not just one or two stragglers, but dozens or even hundreds of them! It was about to be a veritable feast.

Before the devil stood a small group of ten or so humans, a raid party. They were all wounded, blood seeping from their injuries. The beast was intoxicated by the scent.

"Damn it!" Ulan, the raid leader, swore in a hoarse voice.

This is a mistake! We aren’t strong enough! We should’ve recruited at least one S-rank Hunter before attempting this fight!

Everyone in his team was A-rank, and despite being able to cut through the devil’s tough hide, they couldn’t reach its heart.

Whoosh!

"

Aaah!

"

"

Pikel!

"

With a single swing of its claws, the Black Devil took down another party member—one of only two Healers. If only they had more time, they could have healed themselves! Of course, the devil wouldn’t allow that.

Sensing the humans’ morale crumbling, the monster let out a low, dark chuckle. This was the moment of feasting. It spread its jaw wide, revealing layers upon layers of jagged, grotesque teeth. The humans before it bit their lips, bracing for what seemed inevitable.

“Everyone, retreat!”

Out of nowhere, a command rang out.

At Ulan's shout, the raid party scattered in all directions. Even the most severely wounded moved with unnatural speed and disappeared like ghosts. If they had simply tried to run, the devil would have caught them easily, but that wasn’t the case.

Smoke screens, blinding flashes, and all kinds of escape skills filled the air. Some jumped with enhanced agility, vanishing from the devil’s sight in an instant. These Hunters were seasoned A-rank veterans. They had survived countless dungeons, so if there was one thing they excelled at, it was escaping with their lives.

Just moments ago, the devil had been grinning in anticipation of its feast. Now, it stood there, dumbfounded, its mouth hanging open. Then, rage overtook it as it surveyed the now-empty battlefield.

"

Raaagh!

"

In the old days, humans didn’t run like this. They would scream, stumble, and fall, with one tripping over another in their panic. Sometimes, they would even come back to save their fallen comrades, only to get caught themselves.

Of course, even those who ran never really escaped. The devil had always caught every single one of them. However, those humans seemed to have learned some new tricks.

Furious, the devil stomped its feet in frustration. Its awakened hunger gnawed at its insides, driving it mad with anger. That was when it noticed the two humans standing calmly, watching the devil. They hadn’t fled with the others.

These two were different from the others, and from humans of old. They were not running, but they were not attacking either. Well, this was not unheard of, because some humans froze in terror, losing the will to run or fight. These two were probably the same, the devil reasoned.

It’s unfortunate that the larger group had escaped, but these two would do.

The older one didn’t look too appetizing, but the younger one was worth the effort. With a thunderous crash, the devil slammed its massive fists into the ground, using the momentum to launch itself toward the humans.

Compared to the devil’s enormous body, the humans were pitifully small. They were practically bite-sized. The devil almost pitied itself for the lack of a proper meal.

“

Krr!

”

The devil smirked as it saw the humans being rendered immobile. The stress of losing other meals was starting to fade. However, just before impact, something caught the devil’s eye.

The younger human had pulled out an iron staff from nowhere, swinging it. The staff got closer to the devil’s massive body, making no sound as it did. The staff barely seemed to touch the beast—yet the impact was anything but gentle.

Baaam—!

The devil was sent flying, crashing into the ground with a sickening thud. The once-menacing Black Devil was now a heap of twisted limbs, sprawled out in the dirt.

"

Raaagh!

"

The devil roared in fury as it picked itself up. That was when it saw them.

"

Krk...!

"

Surrounding it were hundreds of Orcs, their chests burning with fiery light.

"

Kurta!

"

Before the devil could react, the Orcs charged with their gleaming glaives, intending to cut through its flesh and bone.

"

Raaaaagh!

"

The devil fought back, tearing through the Orcs like a wolf among sheep. However, these were not ordinary sheep. No matter how fiercely the devil fought, the Orcs showed no fear. Those thrown aside rose to their feet again, and those slammed into the ground gritted their teeth and slashed at the devil’s legs.

"

Kraaagh!

"

These wretched creatures!

The devil opened its mouth wide and drool dripped from its maw. It hated the idea of eating something so filthy, especially with humans nearby, but it had no choice.

Just as it was about to bite down, a glaive pierced through the devil’s exposed back, the flesh already torn away.

Swoosh—!

“

Keuk

...

?

”

The blade burrowed into the devil, piercing through its heart.

Swish—! Swoosh—!

The devil’s eyes, still wide with hunger, dimmed as the light faded from them.

[You have defeated a monster. You have gained Experience Points (EXP).]

[You have defeated a monster with the help of your soldiers. Half of the Experience Points (EXP) have been absorbed by the Ring of Dominance.]

Kim Do-Joon had just discovered that fact earlier.

During the C-rank dungeon, the messages hadn’t appeared because he couldn’t gain experience points from C-rank monsters. All the experience had gone to the Orcs, which led to them leveling up after they defeated the boss.

Useful...

This ability had multiple advantages, with the most obvious one being that his soldiers grew stronger with every battle. However, there was another significant perk—he could now defeat weaker monsters without wasting any experience points.

As his Compatibility increased, there were more monsters that didn’t grant him experience points. Normally, a high-ranking Hunter would ignore those weaker creatures and focus on stronger prey, but that couldn’t be the case all the time.

Now, Kim Do-Joon could reclaim that wasted experience points. It was a win no matter how he looked at it.

“

Krrrk!

”

“Hm? You finished the dismantling?” Kim Do-Joon asked.

The Orcs had silently dismantled the devil’s corpse, gathering all usable materials. Kim Do-Joon picked them up and stored them in his inventory. Once their task was complete, the Orcs thumped their chests, where the fiery emblem glowed, and disappeared into the ring.

Now, only Kim Do-Joon, Jecheon Seong, and the remains of the dismembered devil were left.

“

Huh...

So, S-rank dungeons aren’t all that special, after all,” Jecheon Seong commented.

“Yeah, it seems like it,” Kim Do-Joon replied.

Jecheon Seong looked visibly disappointed. It seemed he had expected a fight similar to their battle with Nereid. However, not even the strongest S-rank monster could compare to a Spirit King from another world.

Shrugging it off, the two continued their journey deeper into the dungeon.

***

Outside the dungeon, in front of a massive tree root, another Black Devil struggled as it was tightly bound.

“Master, I’ve come to report.”

“Oh alright.”

Holding the devil in place was a shadow even darker than the creature itself, extending from Gao Lin. With a swift gesture, Gao Lin raised his hand and sliced through the air. A long, deep wound appeared on the devil’s chest, splitting its still-beating heart in two.

“According to our intel, almost half of the Hunters gathered in Shanghai have entered the dungeon. The rest are still forming raid teams.”

“Half,

huh

...”

“They’re all scrambling to find the boss.”

“

Heh heh

.” Gao Lin chuckled.

The Chinese government had opened the dungeon to the public with no restrictions. From their perspective, it’d be a disaster if foreign Hunters defeated the boss before the Eight Dragons Association could act.

Besides, honestly, it wasn’t a far-fetched scenario. With so many Hunters rushing in, it was only a matter of time before someone stumbled upon the boss.

However, even knowing that, the government had taken the risk of opening the dungeon. One reason for this was that Gao Lin was confident.

“They won’t be able to find it. Not in a million years.”

He was confident that no matter how skilled the foreign Hunters were, they wouldn’t find the boss monster. He had not explained the reason why, but his bold claim was enough to convince the Chinese government to take the gamble.

“What about those two? Are they still in Shanghai?”

“Well... they’ve entered the dungeon on their own.”

“What?”

Gao Lin’s eyes widened slightly at the report, but then he nodded. Considering the old man’s abilities, it was not too risky for them to go in alone.

“Just the two of them...? That could be a bit of a problem,” Gao Lin muttered.

“Pardon?”

“Nothing, forget it.”

Gao Lin dismissed his subordinate’s confused inquiry and started walking away.

“Half would be enough. I should proceed as planned. I’m entering the dungeon.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay alone?”

“Who do you think you're talking to?” Gao Lin's sharp retort made his subordinate pale with fear.

The man quickly bowed in apology. “S-Sorry!”

“Forget it. Keep the units on standby until I give the signal. Be ready to deploy immediately if necessary. Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

As his subordinate hurried away, Gao Lin remained behind, standing before the massive root that marked the dungeon's entrance. He raised his hand. A dark shadow coiled around it, transforming his arm into a huge, jet-black appendage twice its original size.

Swoosh

He swung his arm toward the root, leaving a deep scar across the earth. Nearby trees were shredded to pieces by the force alone. However, the World Tree’s root remained completely unscathed.

“

Tsk

.”

Gao Lin clicked his tongue in annoyance and then entered the dungeon.

***

Days passed quickly, and Kim Do-Joon and Jecheon Seong made swift progress thanks to their small numbers and speed. Sometimes, they’d take a short break at a hotel. However, despite their progress, they found no trace of the dungeon boss.

“Is it always this hard to find a boss?”

“Well... not usually. By now, we should’ve seen at least some signs.” Kim Do-Joon responded to Jecheon Seong’s comment.

However, he wasn’t too concerned. After all, this was a large-scale dungeon, much bigger than usual, so it made sense that finding the boss would take longer.

As they continued their search, they stumbled upon something unexpected—the bodies of several Hunters.

“Those are...” Jecheon Seong muttered.

“Looks like an entire raid team was wiped out,” Kim Do-Joon replied.

The two approached the corpses, their expressions grim. Kim Do-Joon knelt down to inspect the remains.

Then, after a brief investigation, he stood and said, “They weren’t killed by monsters.”

“Yeah, I see that.”

The cause of death was not from monsters. The Hunters had been killed by swords, spears, and magic—they had killed each other.

And all their equipment is gone...

Kim Do-Joon could tell they had fought each other, likely for some reason that led to mutual destruction. The survivor, or survivors, had stripped the corpses of their valuable equipment before leaving.

“Let’s collect their Hunter licenses,” Kim Do-Joon suggested.

“Why bother?” Jecheon Seong asked.

“It’s customary to bring back the license of any Hunter who dies in a dungeon. That way, their death can be officially reported.”

Kim Do-Joon began gathering the Hunter identification cards from the bodies. Though they were foreigners, their IDs were similar enough to be recognizable. After securing the licenses, the two resumed their journey deeper into the dungeon.

However, it was not long before they came across more bodies. Once again, it was the aftermath of Hunters fighting and killing each other.

“This is...”

At first, it could have been written off as coincidence, but now, an uneasy feeling settled over Kim Do-Joon. His eyes narrowed.

Jecheon Seong, noticing the pattern, spoke gravely, as if confirming what Kim Do-Joon was already thinking.

“Someone’s making a move. The one who unleashed this large S-rank dungeon on the world... they’ve begun.”