The moment the ground disappeared and they got sucked into the shadow, Jin Woo looked at Park Jongryeo falling together at the same time.
‘As I thought….’
His expectation was on the money.
He wondered if the skill ‘Shadow Exchange’ worked in this manner while using it a few times in the past, and he was right.
The identity of the skill ‘Shadow Exchange’ was actually a ‘Gate’. That theory was proven correct when Jongryeo traveled alongside him through the shadow.
‘The entrance is generated below my feet, and the exit is where the determined coordinates are.’
And those coordinates would be the location of a Shadow Soldier.
Even though there was a limitation of the three-hour-long cooldown time, he was still able to create a Gate with this skill. If he wanted to, then wouldn’t it be possible for him to move to the other side of the planet every three hours? Jin Woo unconsciously swallowed his saliva.
But, his stunned state lasted only for a brief while longer.
His view covered up by the inky darkness reverted to normal almost right away. And the two of them found themselves inside the Association’s gymnasium.
The last time he came here, Jin Woo left behind a shadow just in case he found himself in an urgent need to visit the Association.
Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!
The overhead lighting system sensed the magic energy from them and the bulbs came on one by one, brightly illuminating the gymnasium’s interior.
Jongryeo opened his eyes after sensing the brightness through his closed eyelids.
“…..”
His brows shot up as he failed to hide his astonishment. They were already in a familiar place.
He sensed only about one-second passing by, yet the surroundings were completely different when he opened his eyes.
‘It’s similar to my Sentinel Switch’
He had never expected that Sung Jin Woo had the same skill as his. Jongryeo looked around in utter amazement before shifting his gaze back to Jin Woo.
“You…..”
He had so, so many things he wanted to ask, but in the end, he couldn’t open his lips to voice any of them.
The first reason for that was because he didn’t even know just where to start his questions, and secondly, their distance was far, far too close for a spot of personal conversation.
“It’s safe now, so….”
Jin Woo lightly grasped his wrists and unwrapped his arms around his waist.
“….It’s okay to let go of me now.”
Nod, nod.
Jongryeo lightly rubbed the wrists he had grasped and wordlessly nodded his head.
“Okay. Let’s get started.”
Jin Woo walked out of the corner the High Orc Shadow Soldier was probably hiding in, and strode towards the center of the gymnasium.
“Alright.”
Jongryeo followed behind him.
“You have a weird fashion sense…..”
“What?”
“You know, the baseball cap you wear while in a business suit back then in the A-rank dungeon with High Orcs in it.”
Jongryeo face reddened as soon as he remembered a small detail he’d been wanting to forget.
“Y-You….”
He then spotted Jin Woo giggling to himself and belatedly realized that he was teasing him just now.
“….”
Jin Woo waved his hand after seeing Jongryeo’s reddened complexion.
“I’m sorry. I was just joking with you.”
Time to stop kidding around, however.
‘Seriously, though. What should I do?’
Even if it was Jongryeo, he wouldn’t be able to fight against the soldier he was planning to summon out. Of course, he wanted his soldier to win, but that didn’t mean he wanted to see his omega get hurt, either.
“It’ll be fine.”
A light gleamed within Jin Woo’s eyes after learning something new. Jongryeo summoned ‘Mistsplitter Reforged’.
“I’m ready.”
‘So he uses other weapons besides spear.’
“Will that be fine? It’s not a weapon you’ve been using before, so wouldn’t it feel off in your hands?”
…
Jongryeo shook his head.
“It doesn’t really matter what weapon it is. Monsters don’t care about what weapons Hunters are wielding when they fight us, after all.”
‘…Beside I’ve use swords before.’
Those were some wise words.
Jin Woo had the same opinion as him, so he didn’t argue with him there. At the very least, he found Jongryeo’s straightforwardness rather likable.
‘So, calling out my soldier is next, right?’
As if to prove that Jongryeo wasn’t joking about being ready, a sharp, focused aura oozed out of him. Against someone like him, any ol’ regular soldier would be sliced up into tiny pieces in no time.
That’s why, Jin Woo called for the best card he could bring out under the current circumstances.
‘Come out.’
A small portion separated from Jin Woo’s shadow and moved away a couple of steps from him. Then a black knight rose up from the unmoving shadow.
The jet-black armor and the helm; the red plumage attached to the helm, extending all the way down to his waist.
The best sword-wielding Shadow Soldier in his army. It was Igris.
‘I told him that I’d be summoning the most powerful guy out, but…’
…
But, he thought that calling out Beru was a bit too much. Before he was turned into a Shadow Soldier, Beru was the terrifying creature that nearly drowned the entirety of Korean team members in the pit of pure terror. Hell, even Jongryeo himself almost died from his attack, too.
Jin Woo couldn’t bring Beru out when considering the potential mental shock Jongryeo could suffer after seeing him again.
As for Tusk, he might end up destroying the gymnasium, so he was excluded.
That’s why he chose Igris.
‘Yup, at the end of the day, it can only be you.’
Jin Woo knew he made the right call when looking at the wide, dependable back of Igris. But then…..
“Mister Sung Jin Woo.”
Jin Woo shifted his gaze over to Jongryeo.
“What are the conditions for victory and defeat?”
When he heard Jongryeo’s voice it was cold enough to instantly freeze the listener’s heart, his belief began wavering somewhat.
Jin Woo pondered a bit before making his reply.
“Either my summon is destroyed, or Park Hunter-nim admits defeat first.”
Nod.
Jongryeo briefly nodded his head.
He was only holding a magic sword that has a 12% Elemental DMG Bonus for a wielder’s Elemental Type, but even then, the aura oozing out of him was still quite incredible to behold.
‘Yup, he’s definitely strong.’
Jin Woo could sense it. Jongryeo’s surging aura, after he decided to get serious, was definitely fitting for an omega whose skills were rated as the best even among the S-rank Hunters.
Igris unsheathed his sword.
As a matter of fact, he was now holding a longsword each in his hands. Even then, Jin Woo couldn’t help but think that Igris would be defeated by him at this rate. Jongryeo fought Igris before.
But then…..
‘Wait a sec…. Didn’t he say that it doesn’t really matter what weapon it was, right?’
Jin Woo recalled what Jongryeo said just now and a smile floated up on his lips as he asked him for a small favour.
“Can you turn around for a second, please?”
“…..?”
Jongryeo tilted his head for a bit but didn’t complain and turned around as he asked.
Using that gap, Jin Woo summoned the ‘Demon King’s Longsword’ out of his Inventory and handed it over to Igris.
‘Use this.’
By saying that Jongryeo didn’t mind what weapon he used, it could also be interpreted as he didn’t mind what weapon his opponent was using.
Having been bestowed a sword straight from his sovereign, Igris tried to kneel down to express his profound gratitude, but Jin Woo quickly stopped him.
‘I’m telling you, you don’t have to stand on ceremony all the time, you know?’
If only Iron could learn half of Igris’ attitude….
In any case, the preparation was done, so Jin Woo called out to Jongryeo again.
“It’s fine now.”
He turned around and spotted Igris now holding a brand new sword that crackled with blue arcs of electricity.
Which he clearly wasn’t holding a minute ago.
“……..”
“Will it be fine if we start now?”
Jin Woo pretended to not notice anything and asked him if he was good to go.
“Yes.”
Jongryeo, having already agreed to do this, could only say yes again with a begrudging expression.
“Okay then, begin.”
Soon after Jin Woo signaled the beginning, Igris swung the ‘Demon King’s Longsword’ to activate its passive ability as his opening attack.
Crack!
A strand of lightning flew in a straight line at Jongryeo.
He flinched for the briefest of brief moments. But then, he pivoted on one foot and evaded the lightning.
Crackle!!
Boom!!
The wall of the gymnasium was scorched jet-black after getting struck by the stray lightning.
Shudder.
Jongryeo quickly sent his sharp glare in Jin Woo’s direction, but the alpha averted his gaze to stare into the distance, still pretending to not notice a thing.
‘Stupid Alpha pride.’
‘……..’
Without saying anything, Jongryeo gripped the sword tighter in his hands.
It was right then. Igris rushed towards him at a frightening pace from his front to heed his Sovereign’s order to bring him down. However, Jongryeo didn’t even blink once and also flung himself forward towards his opponent.
__________
The office of the Association President, is located on the top floor of the main building.
One could clearly see not just other Association buildings but the surrounding scenery when sitting inside this office.
Mm?
The Association President was in the middle of going through a report, but then, his gaze abruptly shifted over to the window. There should have been no one inside the gymnasium, but the lights there came on just now.
Go Gunhee tilted his head slightly, before picking up his phone to speak to his PA.
– “Yes, sir?”
“Did someone book out the gymnasium today?”
– “….Sir, I confirmed and no one has booked it today.”
“Is that so?”
Go Gunhee covered the phone’s receiver and organized his thoughts for a bit, before speaking to his subordinate again.
“Can you send the CCTV feed from the gymnasium into my office?”
– “Yes, sir. Please hold on.”
Shortly thereafter, the live feed was displayed on the giant TV occupying the entire wall of his office. And that’s when he got to see Sung Jin Woo and Park Jongryeo hugging each other inside the gymnasium.
“….Keu-hum.”
Stunned by what he saw, Go Gunhee hurriedly coughed to clear his throat. He looked over and over again, but it was definitely those two.
He then tilted his head again.
‘Did those two people have such a relationship?’
But then again, the very first person Hunter Park Jongryeo searched for when he regained consciousness briefly inside the helicopter was none other than Hunter Sung Jin Woo.
‘It seems that I was very slow on the uptake, huh.’
A content smile spread on Go Gunhee’s face as he gazed at the two young people on the TV screen.
Both of them requested for their private information to be protected as soon as they got their S-rank licenses. Even then, there was not one person in this country who didn’t know Park Jongryeo, or for that matter, Sung Jin Woo.
So, if two such people wished to spend some quiet time together, there would be no better place than the Association’s gymnasium after the closing time.
To think, they’d chosen a gymnasium as their date venue, quite unlike the youths of today. What a wonderfully wholesome date this was.
Go Gunhee maintained a heartwarming smile and shook his head wryly.
Park Jongryeo finally found a worthy Alpha.
‘Yup, being young is indeed wonderful.’
He reached out to the resting phone’s receiver and picked it up once more.
“I’m sorry about this, but I want you to switch off all the CCTV feed coming from the gymnasium.”
– “Sir? But….”
“Just say that today was the maintenance day in the records.”
– “I understand, sir.”
The giant TV screen in the President’s office showing the CCTV feed switched off as soon as he ended the call. Go Gunhee took one last look at the gymnasium and returned to perusing the report, a grin still etched on his lips.
But, it was then.
RUMBLE…
The surface of the water in his cup vibrated softly as he sensed a minute tremor coming from the gymnasium’s direction.
“Huhuh.”
Go Gunhee didn’t bother to look at the gymnasium and simply carried on smiling.
‘Indeed, being young is the best.’
________
‘This is…..’
Jin Woo massaged his aching forehead.
Of course, it seemed that he had been greatly underestimating Park Jongryeo’s actual skills up until now. Igris’ strength had been boosted overall by the ‘Demon King’s Longsword’, but in the end, he couldn’t win against Jongryeo’s skills.
Right after Igris’ left arm flew away from being cut, Jin Woo ended this match.
“Stop!”
Even though they would regenerate back to full, he still couldn’t stand the sight of his soldiers getting destroyed.
“Fuu-.”
Jongryeo reined in his rough breathing and let out a long sigh. His opponent must’ve been tougher than expected because he was soaked in sweat from head to toe.
His slender, white fingers wiped the droplets of sweat forming on his forehead.
Jin Woo looked at that with a rueful expression, inwardly accepting his loss today, and called Igris back.
“It’s my loss.”
Shururuk….
Igris returned inside his shadow. However, Jongryeo spoke directly to him, his hands not letting go of his sword.
“No. This one doesn’t count.”
“…?”
What did he even mean by that, out of the blue? Didn’t count?
Jongryeo explained himself.
“Didn’t you say that you’d bring out the most powerful summon?”
Jongryeo walked closer and only stopped when he was one step away from Jin Woo.
“Was that black knight really your strongest summon?”
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