CHAPTER FOURTY-THREE!
────world shaking.

❝I'LL KILL IT.❞

COLD WIND WITH AUTUMN rainfall continued in seoul.

many news flashes appeared on the headlines of the news. the news brazil's great hunter 'jonás' was found dead in a nearby river, and that the korean's hunter association's chairmen was brutally murdered after being stabbed in the heart...

AND THAT HUNTER SUNG JIN-WOO AND HUNTER [Y/N] [L/N] HAVE RETURNED TO KOREA.

christopher reed, great hunter jonás, and go gun-hee the chairmen of the korean hunter association. after the news of the deaths of the considerably best hunters in the world, the entire world went into a state of panic.

mainstream media around the world was focused on the death of these hunters, and the u.s hunter bureau even issued a join statement about this event.

HUMANS ARE PROTECTED BY THE HUNTERS, BUT WHO WILL PROTECT THE HUNTERS?

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IN AMERICAN...

"sir, i've prepared the security detail you've asked for. it took some convincing but they complied." a man states, as his boss had his back to him while he stares out the glass pane windows.

"thank you for agreeing to my whim, dean."

"i wouldn't call this a whim sir, since you normally don't associate yourself with hunters."

the pink haired man turns to his assistant. there were obvious eye bags under his [e/c] eyes and he had growing stubble.

the assistant deadpans, eyebrow twitching in annoyance.

"YOUR THE FACE OF THIS COMPANY RAY, WOULD IT KILL YOU TO CLEAN UP AT LEAST?"

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INTRODUCING...

DEAN WINCHESTER, RAY'S BEST FRIEND/ASSISTANT

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"i'm going through seasonal depression, dean." ray retorts, his eyes narrowing.

"seasonal depression my ass." the dark haired man replies, rolling his electric yellow eyes. "you're just worried about your baby sister."

"AM NOT!"

"OH?! THEN EXPLAIN THE TASK YOU TOLD TO DO ME JUST YESTERDAY?!"

the man huffs, knowing his long time best friend had a point, he was worried.

ray [l/n] was a tsundere of sorts and prideful one at that. he doesn't know when to admit that he's in the wrong when he knows he should be.

it was something he learned as he climbed the corporate tower and gained the position he had today.

which is why, he's been wallowing himself into a depression.

he's been neglectful, disrespectful and horrible to the only family he has left. to point where he knows that a sincere apology to his sister wouldn't be enough.

nothing he could do for her would be enough.

"she's an s-rank hunter, i don't understand why you want to send other hunters to protect her?" dean questions with a raised eyebrow as he makes himself a coffee in the small kitchenette that in the corner of the office.

"because, i want her safe. especially with everything that's going on. doing this will give me some peace of mind." ray sighs, sitting at his desk. "but i also know the last thing she would want is to see me."

"oh, i wonder why."

"i can have you replaced, you know."

the dark haired man snorts in laughter. "you know damn well you can't. i'm the only one who can deal with your bullshit."

'he isn't wrong...' the pink haired man thinks with a deadpan.

then, the assistant walks over to him, holding his cup of coffee. thinking it was for him, the ceo holds out his hand to take it.

but dean just sips it while he stares
straight at his friend.

"who said this was for you?" he asks, his tone sarcastic as ray contemplates throwing his best friend out the window.

"anyways, if you sister is an s-rank, she's gonna know that hunters are tailing her." the dark haired man points out raising an eyebrow. "she's not same as when you left her, dude."

dean winchester practically knew everything that has happened in ray's life.

of course, there was point in time where the dark haired man actively beat him up for making the horrible decisions he made. to which the pink haired man let it happen knowing it was his price to pay.

"that's was barely two cents
of what i deserve."

is what ray said when dean patched him up. after that, the man thought his friend was gonna leave him but he stayed.

dean saw a chance of redemption and he knows that at ray's core, he's a good person.

"it's the least i can do." the man responds, as he looks down at the frame picture of his family.

the dark haired man sighs, sipping his coffee as he realizes his friend is quite hopeless. there was a simple a solution to this.

"you could call her and ask her to meet up and talk."

"yeah, right. as if she would want that."

dean shrugs his shoulders. "who knows, maybe this time time around, she'll be civil."

ray gave his friend a 'are you serious' type of expression which caused the man raise his empty hand in defense.

"point is, you don't know if you don't try." the dark haired man adds his tone genuine.

the pink haired man only sighs, looking back at the framed picture.

'WOULD SHE ACTUALLY WANT TO SEE ME? I HONESTLY DOUBT IT.'

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

BACK IN SEOUL, korea a few days later.

rained poured down continuously on the day of go gun-hee's funeral.

[y/n] and jin-woo stood under one umbrella, both in suits as they watch them bury the casket.

their expressions were dark as female player leaned on her lover for support.

'may you rest peacefully in the sun, gramps...' she thinks, feeling tears welling up in the corner of her eyes.

"mister sung jin-woo and
miss [y/n] [l/n], are you alright?"

a familiar voiced asked the couple causing them to glance to see who it was.

it was jin-chul, who looked like a complete mess. his hair was undone and he had a scruffy, unkempt beard.

"i apologise, hunters. i haven't been myself lately." jin-chul explains a bit embarrassed "the monster that killed the chairman. was it impossible to kill, even with your powers?"

"by the time [y/n] and i arrived, he had already..." jin-woo trails off, his voice growing quiet.

the orange haired man sighs at his answer as he looked up to the sky. letting himself be doused in the pouring rain.

"it still doesn't feel real."

his voice became shaky and full of anguish. "just yesterday, he told me he wanted to hear of my stay in the united states. he'd urged me to hurry back to the country... and now he's..."

jin-chul let out a sob before he quickly wipes away his
tears, "thank you for being there for the chairman in his
final moments."

"NO."

[y/n] voices speaks, scaring the two as she's been quiet the whole time.

she couldn't stand seeing jin-chul like that. the pain of loosing someone important was unbearable, she knew that pain all too well.

she didn't wish that on anyone she cared for. so, with a new found goal, she's decided.

"i'll kill it. i'll kill the monster that murdered the chairmen, i swear upon on my life. i'll do it." she declared, as her own tears spill down her cheeks.

she feels a hand slide into her own, giving it a squeeze. it was jin-woo. with such a simple gesture, [y/n] knew he was on her side.

"i will accept your word of thanks, then miss [l/n]." jin-chul says, nodding his head.

then, he looks up at jin-woo, eyes widening a bit when he saw a tear escape his eye.

the dark haired hunter looks over at him, a stern look painting his face.

"COULD YOU CALL THE REPORTERS?"

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

AFTER CHAIRMEN GO gun-hee's funeral...

even in such a tight space, the reporters crowded the press conference like moths to a flame.

[y/n] and jin-woo stood side by side, the podium with microphones in front of them.

"a monster colony with very high intelligence are targeted world class hunters." the dark haired player starts. "they are far stronger than many hunters out there, and they do not care about weapons or ways of murder."

"by monster colony, did you mean the monster who killed chairmen go gun-hee could be one of them?"

the [h/c] haired player leans in a bit, so the microphones could pick up her voice loud and clear.

"these monsters specialize in blocking open spaces by magic, then isolating their prey." she explains, gasps filled the room. "thus, to those who believe that they are bound to be prey, it is recommended that you stay with comrades who are willing to protect you."

'the bastard called himself the monarch of frost.' jin-woo recalls, his glowing eyes narrowing. 'monarch of beginning, monarch of shadows and monarch of the sun. those who call themselves monarchs are impossible to beat, even with the strongest hunters...'

"but those who do not possess any comrades of her description. please contact us through the korean hunter's association." the dark haired player informs.

their eyes sight was filled with flashing lights and clamoring questions. but the couple make no effort to respond as they exit the stage, side by side with matching hardened expressions.

THE MONARCH'S BATTLE HAS BEGUN.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

IN SOME UNKNOWN place...

the frost monarch had managed to escape to the hideout and summoned the other monarchs who had already descended onto the planet.

"the shadow monarch and the sun monarch are on the surface of the earth." the frost monarch reports, as the all the monarchs stand on stone pillars in a circle.

"SO AURORA DID FIND A VESSEL?! WHY DIDNT YOU IMMEDIATELY SUMMON ME?!"

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

RE-INTRODUCING...

ATLUS, THE MOON MONARCH

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"didn't you say that there was no vessel that could fully
contain their true powers?" yogumont questions, a bit skeptical. "and isn't that exactly why the dragon king can't remain on the surface of the earth?"

the frost monarch shakes his head. "i saw them with my
own two eyes. they're a much bigger threat than the fragments of luminosity. i will take care of them. are you willing to help me?"

"by picking a fight with them, you are only looking for
suicide." the iron body monarch retorts. "your opponent is
two of the strongest of the 10 monarchs. not only that, atlus is barely recovering his powers with his vessel."

he says pointing at the sliver haired monarch before continuing. "why not wait for the monarch of destruction, the dragon king to return or when the king of stars makes his full recovery?"

"although we are currently on the run, we are the monarchs, and yet, all we can do is wait for the dragon king?" the frost monarch questions, gripping his shoulder as he felt ghost pain of his injuries.

his pride as monarch as been wounded by mere vessels what he needed was revenge. "the only chance we have at defeating them is now. while they are still in the form of a human. please help me, i shall take responsibility and return them to nothingness."

the iron body monarch sighs, shaking his head. "count me out of this."

"i also do not want to become like the monarch of white
flames either nor become what aurora did to his wife." yogumont mentions, shuddering at the idea of the powerful sun monarch.

"scaredy cats." the beast monarch scoffs.

"you should know what happened to the monarch of flames and his wife after they were defeated." the iron body monarch mentions with a raised eyebrow. "i don't want to be caught by the shadow monarch's or the sun monarch's authority and suffer through an eternal slumber nor eternal peace."

"i don't think he can make us, who are in our original forms, into one of his servants?" the tall humanoid beast questions.

"it seems that the shadow monarch, the sun monarch, and the administrator are working together now," the iron body
monarch replies. "he can create a replicas of us. i don't want to turn into a tool in their world."

with that, the iron body monarch and yogumont. disappear into their respective portals.

LEAVING ONLY FOUR MONARCHS.

"the evidence that they are still human?" the beast
monarch questions the elf.

"whilst fighting the sun monarch and shadow monarch, they applied poison onto their daggers." he states, holding both daggers in his hand. "it's not something ashborn nor aurora would do."

the only other female monarch, who was sitting a couple of meters away from the three, smiles. "poison, huh? if those two monarchs could fully control their human bodies, they wouldn't have had to resort to such trickery."

"the vessel for the shadow monarch must of tainted my dear aurora. how ghastly." atlus mutters, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"will you help me?" the frost monarch asks the three, hoping they would.

the insect monarch smiles, "i shall help you."

"as will i, i've waited centuries to see my darling aurora again." the moon monarch adds, a cunning grin on his face.

"TOGETHER, WE SHALL TAKE DOWN THE SHADOW MONARCH AND THE SUN MONARCH."

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THE RAIN WAS still pouring down onto the city of seoul and there were no signs of it stopping.

[y/n] golden glowing eyes scan the city below her on top of a tall building, she wore a black hoodie and sweats, keeping her warm from the rain

they were most likely jin-woo's.

'i can't sense his magic power.' she thinks with a click of her tongue. 'so, i guess our method won't work very well.'

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

「 STATUS 」

NAME: [Y/N] [L/N]
LV. 133
JOB: MONARCH OF THE SUN
TITLE: DEMON HUNTER (2+ MORE)
HP: 78, 230
MP: 136, 160
FATIGUE: 3

STRENGTH: 308
STAMINA: 307
DEXTERITY: 316
SENSE: 289
INTELLIGENCE: 321
AP: 0

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

the female player furrows her eyebrows, recalling her encounter with the frost monarch.

"atlus is looking for you, aurora."

'just who is atlus? is he another monarch?' she guesses, glowing eyes narrowing. 'why do all the monarchs know of aurora and why are they desperate to see her?'

[y/n] lets out an annoyed sigh. 'i wish there was a way to talk to her but i doubt that possible. but i get it, she really was beautiful...'

then, the feeling of being watched crawls up the player's spine, again. she rolls her eyes, clearly tired of this.

the day after the chairmen's death was announced, along with the other high ranked hunters.

SHE'S NOTICED SHE WAS BEING FOLLOWED.

she could sense magical energy from two buildings away from her. 'they're around an a-rank, i think. but they're not hostile. but who would put a tab on me, of all people?'

she shakes her head, ignoring the person whose watching her. she was glad they weren't a stalker, so as an act of mercy, she'll leave them be.

she checks the time on her phone, realizing how late it was getting.

"AH, ALMOST FORGOT. IT'S MY TURN TO COOK DINNER TONIGHT."

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

FEW DAYS LATER...

jin-ho desperately need help, from literally anyone at this point.

if it weren't obvious for the amount reporters and news stations that gathered around the ah-jin office building, someone would think thomas andre was in there.

to which he was, along with lennart niermann.

all the employees who were hired at the ah-jin guild side eye the two powerful hunters in the room, rightfully scared for their lives.

it's already been two hours since they've arrived and jin-ho has been calling both of his friends in hopes they would respond.

but absolutely no dice.

at this point, jin-ho might go into cardiac arrest.

'to think that the thomas andre, the goliath, would be searching for sung jin-woo and miss [y/n] [l/n].' lennart thinks, as he waits ever so patiently. 'will i ever be able to even see miss [y/n] [l/n] today...?'

then, thomas says something but since it was in english, jin-ho couldn't quite understand it.

"are mister sung and miss [l/n] in the middle of a raid? it look likes doesn't come to the office regularly." laura translates for him. "is what he said."

"um, yes... most likely." he replies, sweating nervously.

"HEYO! I'M BACK!~"

a warm and very familiar voice is heard throughout the office as a beautiful someone enters the room, her presence calming the tense atmosphere.

"[Y/NNNNN]!" jin-ho cries in utter joy along with the other employees before running up to give his best friend a quick hug.

"where were you! you weren't picking up my calls?!" he whines, holding onto for her fear life.

"ah, i'm sorry jin-ho!" she states with a apologetic grin. "i promised woo's mother i do some something for her today! so, i went back home after my last raid for the day."

which was a shame as icarus, scar and perseus were all about to level up soon.

the gorgeous women tries to calm her friend down to the best of her abilities, causing a cute giggle escaping her lips.

thomas and lennart tired their best not to stare as it would be rude. but, they couldn't really help it as the most beautiful hunter in the world as of right now was in front of them.

she had her soft [h/l], [h/c] hair down and it was slightly damp. meaning she must of showered, considering her choice of wardrobe.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

once she finally calms her best friend, [y/n] turns to the guests in the room.

"i apologize for not greeting you two first, it's my fault." she says with a small smile as one of the hunter walk over her to first.

"it's quite alright, miss [l/n]." thomas says, his usual grin on his face as he looks down at her. "it's been a while."

"it has! was your trip to korea alright?"

"of course, everything went smoothly."

then, the large blonde man looks around making the female hunter hum and tilt her head cutely. confused on what the man was looking for.

"i'm looking to see if mister sung is here since he's usually by your side." he mutters, causing the woman to pause and blink for a moment before letting out a soft giggle.

'is that how everyone sees him?' she assumes, snickering a bit.

"he's probably still in a raid—"

"no, i'm here."

everyone practically jumps at the sound of jin-woo's voice as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere. but [y/n] remained calm as always, used to his antics.

the male hunter latched onto his lover immediately, his arm snakes around her waist to bring her closer to his chest. he places a loving kiss on her forehead, gently nuzzling his face into her soft hair.

'did she shower? she smells like lavender...' he thinks, softly breathing in her scent as it calms him down.

"mister sung, it's been a while." thomas greets him with a casual wave, ignoring the displays of affection.

"what brings you all the way to korea?"

"didn't i promise you two something? that we would grab a meal together once my arm fully heals."

jin-ho looks in between the three with a sweat. 'they're not gonna fight, right...?'

"ALSO, I BROUGHT WITH ME A FANTASTIC GIFT FOR YOU TWO."

"a gift?" the couple hums in unison, their interest suddenly peeked.

"i'm happy to see that the two of you look forward to it. should we move to a more comfortable place?" thomas
suggests, grinning. "they're a bit too dangerous to hand over in a place like this."

jin-woo raises an eyebrow, squeezing [y/n]'s waist a bit. 'a dangerous item? don't tell me it's some kind of bomb or something?'

the female player notices the hunter standing behind thomas and she frowns.

"and you are? my apologies for leaving you out of conversation." she asks him, giving lennart a dazzling warm smile.

blush dusts the german hunter's cheeks as he is completely swayed by her. "ah, yes, i'm lennart niermann, hunter [y/n] [l/n]." he introduces himself, giving her a small grin.

'oh, he must be here to ask for a protection commission.' [y/n] hums feeling jin-woo bring her bit closer causing her to lay a hand on his chest.

his steel grey eyes glance at the german hunter, almost glinting purple.

'i don't like the way he's looking at her...'

before lennart could even proceed with the conversation he was interrupted by thomas.

"miss [l/n], mister sung, shall we get going?" thomas asks as he then looked at the other hunter. "and who are you to follow us?"

the blonde hunter gave him a glare, "i've already waited
for hunter [l/n] and for hunter sung for more than two hours. i think i deserve a spot in this meeting."

"no, what we're going to discuss about is top secret." thomas states with a menacing glare. "it's not something someone like you can barge into."

thomas quickly turned back to [y/n] and jin-woo as he begins to escort them out.

"let's go, mister sung and miss [l/n]."

they follow him without a complaint. the dark haired player held his lover protectively before turning his head back a little so he can look over his shoulder. his glowing purple eyes watching the way the german hunter look at her.

their eyes meet and hunter freezes for a moment as he then quickly looks away in fear. this causes jin-woo to have a smug smile form on his lips.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

A LITTLE LATER...

the trio arrive at high end restaurant of sorts. thomas had rented out a private room for them so they could eat peaceful.

"you don't know how long i've been
waiting for this moment."

thomas states with his usual large grin as he snapped his fingers. immediately, one of his bodyguards brought out a large case, putting it gently on the table they were eating at.

the couple stares at it with interest as they feel the case resonating with their magical energy.

"can you feel it? the power of these items?" the tall hunter questions, laying his hand on the case. "this is me showing my gratitude for sparring the lives of my guild members."

then, thomas opens it, revealing what's inside. there were a total of four weapons in it.

there was a pair of large light orange daggers with grey hilts and glowing blood-red edges.

the other two were another pair of daggers. the blades were almost transparent and the hilts were golden.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

[y'all have no idea how long it took me to find a dagger that would fit [y/n], oh the agony]

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

"don't tell me this is..." jin-woo trails off, eyes glowing and wide.

"is this kamish?" [y/n] follows in awe looking between the weapons in excitement.

"quite impressive that the two of you were able to recognize the material of these items with just one glance." thomas compliments the two. "following the will of the american government, who wanted the double sword, we decided to give up the corpse. it could get us something more than money."

then a wide grin forms on his lips as he recalls the raid, like a fond memory. "however, two of kamish's biggest and sharping fangs. the canine teeth that i had pulled out after he'd bit me. i was allowed to keep them as a souvenir."

he had slight ghost pain in his abdomen but it didn't bother him one bit. hell, he accepted the pain with open arms.

"the first one was too short to be made into a longsword so i made them into daggers."thomas explains point to the golden pair, grinning. "the second one was perfect size to make into another pair of daggers, who knew that these would come in useful?"

"THESE ARE FOR YOU."

the couple don't hesitate to reached into the box, grabbing their weapons, as it was obvious who was for who.

[y/n] admired the blade details, stars forming in her eyes as the handle fit perfectly into the palm of her hand.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

「 ITEM 」

[NAME: KAMISH'S MERCY]
ITEM CLASS: ???
TYPE: DAGGER
ATTACK +1,500

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

her eyes almost pop out of their eye sockets when she reads the the attack damage number.

'dude?! +1,500?! what the fuck?! and here i thought the demon queen's daggers were amazing, it's not even comparable.' she thinks, looking at the attack power of said dagger.

it was mere +220.

then two begin swinging their daggers around, expertly. as a means of testing it out.

'judging by just its abilities. it's basically like swinging a broadsword around?!' [y/n] thinks, tossing the dagger in the air and catching it perfectly in her hand.

"woah, mister sung, miss [l/n]! even if i strengthen my defences with my enchantment skills, they can still easily penetrate them." thomas mentions with a slightly nervous laugh. "don't tell me you're going to kill me with the gift you just received from me?"

a giggle escapes the female player lips, clearly amused before holding the dagger to her face.

'it's totally feels different than normal daggers.' [y/n] notes, giving a few more test swings. the dagger responded perfectly to her magical energy.

ALMOST AS IF IT WAS GREETING HER.

a wave of overwhelming aura surrounded the room from both weapons and it had everyone in the room sweating.

"do you still think the choice i made was a mistake, laura?" thomas questioned. the assistant simply shook her head in
response, staying quiet.

thomas grinned as he looked back at the couple, "how do you like my presents?"

"can we really take this for free?" [y/n] questions, titling her head cutely.

"what do you mean free? i'm pretty sure this exchange is to my advantage for the lives of me and my guild members, what i'm giving you is dirt cheap." the tall hunter replies as the two place their weapons back into the box as they looked over at thomas.

"then we shall accept it with pleasure."

"if you're willing to do that, i'm happy as well."

the relationship between the tiro of hunters that stood at the apex of the hunter world was once strained has now become a blooming friendship.

then, something caused all their smiles to falter. all three froze in their places as they felt something ominous.

"just what the hell was that?" [y/n] questions, whipping her head in the direction to the window.

thomas and jin-woo followed her as they all approach where the ominous sensation came from. it had come from the sky and all three stood next to the window as they looked at the horrific thing that appeared in the sky.

the three hunters stared at the massive purple gate floating high up in the sky as they took in its appearance.

the sky and it's light was was tainted purple, the wind picked up considerably as the tree planted by the sidewalk began to follow it.

'could it be? the intense magical energy that had gathered the skies of seoul...' jin-woo assumes, his eyebrows furrowing.

"i can't believe my eyes. it's the first time i've seen a gate that huge before." thomas mutters loudly, lowering his sunglasses a bit. "it's way bigger than the one kamish jumped out of."

"MAYBE THE WORLD IS TRYING TO TELL US THAT IT HAS JUMPED OUT OF OUR BOUNDARIES OF COMMON SENSE."

then, [y/n] flinches, feeling a warm and calming feeling enter her body.

the female hunter remembers the description she always been given when people meet her the first time. she usually thought it was just flattery.

but as of right now, she's thinking differently. seeing as she just sensed that exact feeling enter her body.

[y/n] looks back at the gate in the sky of seoul, her glowing gold eyes narrowing.

'THIS ISN'T THE ONLY GATE.'

CHAPTER FOURTY-THREE! END!
────world shaking.