Chapter 12: Chapter 11

Suho's eyes wandered around.

The miners were frozen in fear.

They were the same smiley, chatty, and hardworking people earlier today.

That man was the man who handed him water, saying that he must have been having a lot of trouble.

And that man was also the one who demonstrated how to pickaxe.

"You want me to leave these people and run alone?"

[Young Master, I don't care about the lives of those humans. I have a mission.]

Beru said firmly.

The life of Suho, the son of the Shadow Monarch, was more precious to Beru than the lives of anyone on Earth.

Even if all the humans in this place died, it was Beru's mission to keep Suho alive and return.

"I'm not just saying this out of a sense of justice."

Suho glanced around.

"All passageways are blocked anyway."

Grrrrr.

Before they knew it, numerous wolves were camped in the passage leading out of the dungeon.

In order to escape from this place, there was no choice but to defeat the enemy.

"Also... it doesn't seem like there's any other way."

Suho smiled faintly as he saw Kim Yongjun leading countless wolves.

Seeing this, Beru suddenly felt strange.

Looking at Suho, who he thought was weak, the appearance of Sung Jinwoo from a long time ago overlapped.

* * *

The 'ghost' of the Beast Monarch was feeling a sense of exaltation.

When he woke up from a long sleep, his master was nowhere to be seen and he was surrounded by insignificant humans.

'That's funny. They're like weak worms.'

Even though I only shed a little bit of my energy, they were already shaking with fear.

'Ah, just how weak are they?'

They must be killed then.

In this world, the weak get eaten and the strong take everything.

Drool.

Kim Yongjun's body was dominated by hunger. He licked his lips looking at the small creatures.

"You weak bugs, you guys don't deserve to live. It would be much more useful if you die and become wolf food."

At that moment, Kim Yongjun's hand moved by itself.

Then, he swung the sword at the humans.

"Die."

Slash!

But it didn't go as planned.

Suddenly, a shadow goblin jumped in between and got cut instead.

[Krrrrk!]

Its body was split in half and then flashed a wronged expression on its face.

It was as if it wasn't sacrificing on its own will.

"...What's with you little ones?"

The ghost looked at the goblins blocking his way with a puzzled expression.

[Krrrrrrk!]

The ghost thought that those little guys seemed to have lost their fears looking at how they attacked him.

"Your kind are the ones who don't know the strong. Well, it's only natural to see such a survival instinct seeing the Beast Monarch."

Slash!

He swung his sword mercilessly and cut down the goblins again.

But what is this?

The bodies of the fallen goblins were instantly healed and they stood up again.

[Krrrk!]

"Huh?"

The useless attack made the ghost look annoyed.

The wolves under his command rushed at the same time and tore the goblins' bodies again without mercy.

He stopped paying attention to them and looked back at the humans.

The miners were running.

"Funny. Are those buggy-like insignificant creatures struggling to survive?"

Unfortunately, however, the direction they were heading was not the way out, but a passage deeper into the dungeon.

"Go after them."

"Grrrrrr!"

At his command, numerous wolves ran after them.

The ghost looked in the opposite direction.

It was outside the dungeon, where there was a gate to Earth.

'What is that place?'

There could be countless lives out there.

Each one of them was weak, but because of that, his appetite grew even more.

'The weak should be eaten.'

The ghost looked down at his own body.

A hunter named Kim Yongjun.

The human's body was already dead, but from now on it would become his own body and be used for his own advantage.

Alas, what an honor for this lowly fellow!

'I will eat your fill. I will personally eat all the creatures in that world beyond.'

The ghost's eyes glowed greedily.

He walked slowly, dragging a number of wolves with him.

But that was then.

Swoosh-!

"Ah."

A stone axe suddenly flew past the back of his head.

Sensing the presence, the ghost shook his sword with a disapproving expression and brushed off the attack.

"Such a pity! I almost hit him!"

"...Almost?"

The ghost looked at the human who threw the stone axe with a puzzled expression.

Right then, another stone axe flew from Suho's hand.

"Is this a struggle of the weak?"

Grab.

The ghost raised his sword again and deflected the attack.

When he blocked it, another came flying again.

Swoosh!

"No."

Bounced off again.

Then it flew again.

"Hey."

Bounced off again.

Then again...

"How many axes do you have?!"

In the end, the ghost couldn't stand it and burst into anger.

Meanwhile, axes came flying again.

"Kill him first!"

Growl!

The wolves, who were about to leave the gate at the command of the ghost, turned around at the same time and started chasing after Suho.

[Young Master! Now you have to run!]

"Okay, let's hide!"

"Stay there, you bastard!"

Growl! Awoooh!

Suho escaped the wolves and hid in the cave again.

However, there were too many wolves chasing them, and the speed was so fast that they were surrounded in an instant.

"Tsk. In the end, small things end up being eaten like this."

The ghost laughed at Suho and ordered his death.

"Kill him. Tear that bastard limb from limb and chew to the bone."

Grrrrr!

The wolves attacked Suho all at once.

At that moment, Suho smiled and inserted the key into his shadow.

Clack!

[Do you want to enter the Shadow Dungeon?]

(Y/N)

"Yes!"

[Entering the Shadow Dungeon.]

Swoosh!

At that moment, Suho's shadow engulfed him.

Whiff!

"Huh?"

The ghost looked around in bewilderment.

Right in front of his eyes, the prey had disappeared without a trace.

"What? Where the hell did he hide? Find him!"

At those words, the wolves sniffed and began tracking Suho's scent.

"Krrrrrk?"

Of course, he couldn't find him.

"W-What was that? How can he hide without leaving even a bit of his scent?"

The ghost dragged the wolves around to find Suho's whereabouts.

Peek.

At the spot where Suho had disappeared, Beru peeked out and looked around.

He took advantage of that moment and whispered to the shadow.

[... You can come out now.]

Swoosh!

[Exited from the Shadow Dungeon.]

Suho appeared from the shadows again.

And as soon as he came out, he threw a stone axe at the back of the ghost's head.

"W-What?!"

The ghost looked back in surprise.

Swoosh – Ting!

He managed to deflect the stone axe and his face stiffened when he saw Suho who suddenly appeared.

"There you are, man! You must be hiding somew... !"

Swoosh!

"Ah-oh! Stop throwing those!"

The ghost lost his composure at Suho's throwing a stone axe whenever he had a chance.

"Kill him! Kill him!"

Growl!

The chase started again like that.

However, when Suho was surrounded by them, he immediately hid in the shadow dungeon.

Whiff!

"Where did you go again, bastard?!"

The ghost was enraged.

Right then, a stone axe flew into the back of his head.

Swoosh-!

"I'm telling you, that won't work!"

* * *

Meanwhile, the miners who watched Suho from a distance were at a loss for words.

"How did he..."

"What kind of skill is that...?"

They knew that Suho was an E-Class hunter.

They were also well aware of the fact that the E-Class was of no use in combat.

But, what was happening didn't make sense.

"I don't know anymore if he's weak or strong..."

"Something is strange, but..."

"How can he fight so well?"

"But, isn't this for the better in the first place?"

At least one thing was clear.

Suho's skill was very specialized in mocking enemies.

Besides, it wasn't just skill.

That image of him provoking without being intimidated at all against the existence that exudes fierce energy...

"It may not be a skill, but it's good to have innate guts."

"Or maybe he just has a bad personality..."

In a desperate situation like now, Suho was the only hope.

"By the way, wasn't that new recruit a summoning hunter?"

"Ah, yes. Even up until now, he hasn't used any summoning skills."

"You saw it earlier. The summoners disappeared at once."

"This is why the summoning skill isn't good..."

"If only it was a combat skill rather than a summoning skill..."

The miners who saw Suho's skill firsthand burst into sighs of pity.

He has a fighting sense.

Just like what happened in the art museum just a few days ago.

Suho had a natural sense as a hunter.

Even if they had awakened high abilities, there were one or two hunters who died in battle because they did not have that sense of battle.

They pitied Suho.

If only he wasn't a summoning hunter...

'He would have been a really great hunter.'

Beru, who was listening to their conversation from afar, burst into anger.

[Keeek! They're treating shadow powers like this!]

But it wasn't the time yet.

At the current level of Suho, the shadow soldiers would not be able to demonstrate their abilities properly.

In addition, Suho's remarkably low mana was also a problem.

The true capability of the shadow soldiers was to be an immortal army that resurrects endlessly.

However, that was only possible when Suho's mana could sustain it.

Due to the previous battle, Suho's mana was almost exhausted.

And because of that, the shadow goblins who worked hard today with a pickaxe had already disappeared.

[But.]

Beru's eyes shone brightly.

At the same time, Suho smiled and muttered.

"Creating a shadow soldier itself does not cost any mana."

It was then.

Among the many wolves that followed the ghost that was chasing after Suho, he felt a suspicious presence.

[Shadow Wolf Lv.1]

Basic Class

[Shadow Wolf Lv.1]

Basic Class

[Shadow Wolf Lv.1]

Basic Class

Their identities were none other than Suho's new soldiers wearing wolf skins that the collectors took care of.

[Clack!]

"What?!"

The shadow wolves gnawed at the ghost's leg while he was busy trying to hit the flying stone axe.

The startled ghost cut them down with his sword.

As the wolf's skin was cut, it revealed the shadow wolves hazing with black energy.

[Grooowl!]

"How dare you, insignificant bastards?!"

The specter, who was extremely enraged, swung his sword and slashed the shadow wolves to pieces in an instant.

They could never be resurrected again with the exhausted mana of Suho.

But...

"Checkmate."

Suddenly, Suho, who had come close to the ghost, mercilessly struck down the stone axe in both of his hands.

Slash.