Chapter 163. Father

Kim Do-Joon’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as he looked down at the Shadow Lord. The being was still collapsed on the ground, with his crown in Kim Do-Joon’s hand.

Father?

Of course, Kim Do-Joon wasn’t this guy’s father. He only had one daughter in the world, no exceptions. Therefore, it could only mean one thing: he was referring to the old man from the dream. That meant, the “youngest” one mentioned in the dream was the Shadow Lord.

I had my suspicions.

As such, It wasn’t that surprising to Kim Do-Joon. However, hearing it directly from the source gave him a strange feeling—less a sense of satisfaction at being right and more something deeper, like uncovering a long-lost piece of himself.

Kim Do-Joon always wondered where his copy-paste skill came from, and what was the origin of the labyrinth key he had found in that cave at the cliff.

He had never heard of anything like this skill or item before. It made sense, since he was just a lowly Gatherer back then. However, even now, as one of the top Hunters in the world, he’d never come across anything remotely similar, let alone a single clue.

And the first piece of that puzzle came from the quivering Shadow Lord.

“I was wrong! I’m sorry!” the creature stammered, trembling violently.

“Wrong?” Kim Do-Joon’s tone was cold, measured.

“They made me! My brothers and sisters forced me to join them! You know I can’t go against them! You know that better than anyone!”

“

Hmm

.”

Kim Do-Joon pondered silently. The Shadow Lord seemed to genuinely believe that Kim Do-Joon was the same “Father” he spoke of.

However, Kim Do-Joon knew better. The old man perished in that brutal attack by the Shadow Lord and his so-called siblings.

Kim Do-Joon had only acquired his power out of sheer luck. No, he had stumbled across it, like picking up a discarded relic. A faint smirk crossed his face at the thought.

The reaction was immediate. The Shadow Lord flinched, as if the smile had exposed his guilt. It must have seemed as though Kim Do-Joon was silently mocking his excuses.

“I was weak! I betrayed you in a moment of temptation, but I swear I regret it! I’ll do anything to prove my loyalty—anything! I’ll even pledge my mana to you, entirely!” as the Shadow Lord spoke, shadows swirled and rose from his trembling self.

Kim Do-Joon tightened his grip on the crown, ready to copy-paste all of its power if the creature tried anything reckless.

[The Shadow Lord has proposed a Subjugation Bond.]

However, there was neither malice nor hostility in the shadows, only utter submission.

[If you accept, the Shadow Lord will become a loyal servant, bound to carry out your commands.]

Hmm

...

Kim Do-Joon didn’t know this was possible. It was a tempting offer because the more cards he had, the better. Given what he had already seen of the Shadow Lord’s abilities, it’d undoubtedly be a valuable asset.

Kim Do-Joon studied the groveling creature, his posture so pitiful it almost inspired pity. His grip on the crown slackened ever so slightly.

“Father!” The Shadow Lord’s face lit up with hope as he glanced up at him.

Kim Do-Joon stared back, his expression impassive.

“Does this mean you’ll forgive me? Thank you! Thank you so much!”

The creature’s joy was almost tangible, radiating with desperation. However even as he celebrated, Kim Do-Joon’s thoughts drifted elsewhere.

For a fleeting moment, the Shadow Lord’s face seemed to blur, replaced by a younger, more vulnerable visage. A face that wasn’t his own, yet somehow overlapped.

Kim Do-Joon let out a breath and spoke firmly, “No. There’s no mercy for you.”

[The Shadow Lord’s Fragment will be copy-pasted.]

Without hesitation, Kim Do-Joon began to absorb every ounce of power the creature had left.

***

“

Argh! Aaaah!

”

The Shadow Lord clawed at his head and thrashed violently. He even tried ramming his horns into Kim Do-Joon in a desperate bid to escape.

However, it was futile because he was pathetically weak.

Kim Do-Joon stayed calm, steadily drawing the Shadow Lord’s energy into himself, unbothered by his feeble struggles.

This feels... different...

The sensation was unlike any time he had used his copy-paste skill before. Normally, it was straightforward—a clinical process where the system chimed, transferring effects like flipping a switch.

However, this was something deeper—an innate power of his own pulling the energy in. And then, he noticed something else.

A... hole?

Kim Do-Joon discovered a big hole within himself.

It didn’t seem new, as if it had always been there. However, he’d never realized it, because he hadn’t entertained the possibility that it could be filled. As the Shadow Lord’s power poured into him, the truth became undeniable. There was a massive void inside him, waiting to be completed.

This feeling...

If he had to describe it, it was as though he were experiencing the original version of his copy-paste skill.

He couldn’t find the exact word to describe it because absorption or plunder didn’t fit. There was a word that captured the essence of this process perfectly.

“Retrieval.”

Kim Do-Joon muttered the word as he looked down at the creature.

“

Aaah!

No!”

The Shadow Lord’s eyes widened in terror as he writhed uncontrollably. He had been scared from a while ago, but this was a different kind of fear altogether—a raw, primal panic, like watching a tower of painstakingly built power crumble in an instant.

“No—! You gave it to me! So why are you taking it back!” he howled. “Why won’t you forgive me? I thought you accepted me as your son!”

The Shadow Lord flailed like a child throwing a tantrum, but there was no escaping Kim Do-Joon’s grasp.

Well I guess he’s not wrong,

Kim Do-Joon thought coldly.

The Shadow Lord was right—once upon a time, the old man had accepted him as his son. He was a half-dragon child, abandoned in the treacherous Dragon Gorge.

Rejected by both human and dragonkind, the old man had pitied the creature’s plight and given it his strength.

But so what?

Kim Do-Joon’s gaze hardened as he stared down at the Shadow Lord. That had been the old man’s decision, not his. It had nothing to do with him.

The Shadow Lord continued to flail and scream, his face contorted with desperation. However, all Kim Do-Joon saw were the faces of countless victims—the citizens and Hunters who had perished at the hands of this monster.

Their bodies, stripped of their humanity, transformed into grotesque shadows before his very eyes.

You’re not someone who deserves forgiveness.

The creature had committed atrocities far beyond redemption. Even from the old man’s perspective, this being was irredeemable. Hadn’t the Shadow Lord played a key role in the old man’s demise?

Kim Do-Joon calmly sifted through his memories. He recalled the fragments he had seen in dreams, and the fleeting glimpses that surfaced when he reclaimed the crown of thorns.

Among them, one memory held the creature’s name.

“Mel Sior,” Kim Do-Joon said.

“F-Father...”

At the sound of his name, the Shadow Lord turned, a flicker of hope in his eyes. Kim Do-Joon found the sight revolting—a monster who had slaughtered countless innocents, daring to believe he deserved mercy.

Then, Kim Do-Joon leaned closer, his voice low as he whispered into the creature’s ear, conjuring the image of the old man’s dying moments.

“Didn’t I say that it was your last chance?”

“No... no!

Aaah!

”

From that point on, the energy retrieved into Kim Do-Joon exploded in intensity. The Shadow Lord’s enormous dragon form, created by devouring even his siblings, dissolved into a torrent of black energy. Every last shred of it was pulled into Kim Do-Joon.

“

Noooo!

Stop! This can’t be happening!”

Mel Sior’s anguished scream tore through the air as the power he had coveted, even betrayed for, vanished like a mirage in the summer heat.

He had always known this could happen as the price of his betrayal, but his final thoughts were still consumed by bitterness.

Why only me? Why am I the only one suffering such a fate? What about my brothers and sisters?

Had Kim Do-Joon known his thoughts, he’d have simply nodded and thought that a creature incapable of reflecting on his actions was irredeemable.

Time passed and the storm of energy subsided. The enormous dragon body vanished as though he had never existed in the first place.

All that remained was the lifeless corpse of Gao Lin, falling from the sky above the city, and Kim Do-Joon, unconscious where he stood.

***

At first, the old simply pitied the child. He was helpless, abandoned at a young age, too weak to even hunt for food properly.

The old man had started sharing scraps of his meals with the boy. There was no deeper meaning to the act—no sense of destiny, no belief in some hidden talent, nor any grand sense of duty.

The old man had always been a free spirit, acting on whims as they came.

The boy, however, was intensely wary. Despite being given food at the same time every day, he never once approached the old man. Instead, he would snatch the offering and eat it from a safe distance.

Strangely enough, the old man found comfort in that. The distance between them felt right. It made the relationship oddly peaceful.

Perhaps that was why, when it was time to leave the gorge, a rare impulse struck the old man.

— You are neither dragon nor human. At this rate, you’ll always be alone.

—

Grrr...

Kyaw! Kyak!

—- I’ll give you an opportunity. A chance to live among others.

And so, the old man granted the child a new body. It wasn’t much because it was a false body made of shadows. However, it was a form that could soar high above the gorge like a true dragon.

Then, the old man departed. And almost immediately, he regretted it. Why had he acted on such a whim? He had never seen anything good come from mixing his power into the natural order of the world.

When the old man returned to the gorge some time later, the child had devoured all the dragons there, using the very body meant to grant it companionship.

The old man had pitied the boy, thinking it would suffer alone. However instead, it had trampled others, standing utterly alone on a mountain of his victims.

The old man felt responsible. If not for his moment of caprice, the child would’ve lived a normal life. If his power haydn’t awakened the greed buried deep within the boy’s soul, he’d have enjoyed a better life.

— Come with me.

His face somber, the old man had taken the child under his wing. There was no other choice.

— Your name is Mel Sior.

It was something that had happened long ago, in a world far removed from this one.

***

Thud!

Two figures fell from the sky. One was Gao Lin’s lifeless body, stripped of his horns and wings, returned to his human form. The other was Kim Do-Joon.

This place is...

The impact woke Kim Do-Joon from his brief unconsciousness. He blinked and looked around.

The ruins of a shattered Shanghai sprawled before him. The Shadow Lord was gone, and next to him lay Gao Lin’s corpse.

So that’s it.

He realized he’d had another of the old man’s dreams—this time, the memory of when he had taken in Mel Sior.

In the distance, he spotted Hunters rushing toward him, including Son Chang-Il and Yeon Hong-Ah. Behind them, the Mahal Tribes, led by Shura, raced forward. And to the side, Jecheon Seong was calmly sheathing his sword.

Reality slowly settled in.

I won.

Indeed, Kim Do-Joon had done it. The Shadow Lord was defeated. And not only that, Kim Do-Joon had absorbed all of the Shadow Lord’s power.

The thought made him acutely aware of his current state. He couldn’t lift a finger, unable to bear the weight of the overwhelming energy coursing through it.

Kim Do-Joon forced the chaotic energy into some semblance of order, channeling it into his existing flow of mana. Only then did he close his eyes, exhausted.

“Mr. Do-Joon! Mr. Do-Joon!”

“Hunter Kim Do-Joon! Are you all right?!”

The voices around him grew louder, but he lacked the strength to respond. The last of his energy had gone into stabilizing himself.

Before slipping into unconsciousness, Kim Do-Joon opened his eyes one last time to take in the clear, blue sky above the city.

Then, slowly, he let himself drift into sleep.