Only I Level Up

Thomas Andre's brows quivered slightly.

If some insignificant Hunter said that to him, he'd have ripped that fool into tiny bits and shreds immediately.

After all, the United States government wouldn't be able to prosecute him, a Special Authority-rank Hunter, that easily. He was someone possessing rights equal to that of a country.

As the reward for rescuing 300 million American lives from the worst calamity in human history, Thomas Andre got to wield absolute power. This power allowed him to do whatever he pleased.

However, even if that was the case, he couldn't immediately make his move. Because his opponent this time was none other than 'Seong Jin-Woo'.

Thomas Andre couldn't completely suppress his temper and his hands moved for a blink of an eye. He managed to reel himself back in, though. He glared at Hwang Dong-Su and gritted his teeth.

'And I told him not to provoke that man….'

As expected, Seong Jin-Woo was not an easy opponent to face. Seeing him personally confirmed this fact. If Thomas Andre had to describe this feeling into words, then it was like trying to step into a quagmire.

Dark and ominous magical energy oozed out from Seong Jin-Woo's entire body, and Thomas Andre felt as if he'd not be able to escape once he took a wrong step forward here.

Unfortunately, even he could not back away now. An ace Hunter of the Scavenger Guild was currently being manhandled by that man, and most importantly, his pride as a Special Authority-rank Hunter was at stake, too.

With his expression viciously crumpled, Thomas Andre threw out a question.

"….You, by any chance, don't you know who I am?"

Jin-Woo curtly responded.

"Doesn't matter who you are."

It was then - Hwang Dong-Su somehow regained his consciousness and shouted out after discovering Thomas Andre.

"Master! Kill this son of a b*tch! Hurry!"

Boom!

Jin-Woo's fist struck Hwang Dong-Su, causing the man to black out and go limp again. Meanwhile, veins bulged on Thomas Andre's forehead.

"You dare…."

'….You know who I am, yet you dare to do something like that in my presence?'

His expression was already crumpled into something unsightly before, but now, it distorted even more to resemble a devil's face.

Through personal experience, his body knew how one should deal with an opponent who didn't want to submit.

'White trash; a low-class white man.'

Thomas Andre grew up in a poor immigrant family.

The school located in the poorest ghetto filled with African youths proved to be a hostile place for a lone white kid who knew no one and had no friends or acquaintances.

Everywhere was filled with enemies. Just from meeting eyes did the fights break out. And often, his opponents carried around dangerous weapons, too. The moments when he had to fight off multiple enemies happened frequently, as well.

However, the heavens saw fit to bestow a certain gift that could only be described as unprecedented unto this white kid who seemingly possessed nothing.

The overwhelming talent for physical power - the power that allowed him to trample on others!

Paradoxically, the boy's surroundings became just about a perfect playground for him to confirm his own talents. Through the endless, continuous fights, the boy got to confirm the heaven-gifted talent he possessed.

He clearly witnessed how his powers would change all those holding hostile feeling towards him. And so, he reigned like a king.

Power - the authoritative power, financial power, and physical power. He got to learn quite early on that the many types of power existing in this world could turn a man into either a king or a slave.

And when a completely different type of 'power' manifested into this world, he grasped the opportunity and ascended to the status of a true king.

If an opponent was unwilling to listen, then he'd use power to make them submit. Someone blocking his path would be destroyed without mercy.

And he'd make all those looking down on him kneel on the ground, defeated. Physical power was the truth!

Thomas Andre stayed true to what he knew, to what he was familiar with.

Time seemed to freeze up. Thomas Andre, now full of malice and a destructive desire, pounced forward. The distance between the two men disappeared in an instant.

His eyes met Jin-Woo's, as they closed in enough for their noses to touch.

'Blame your own ignorance!'

Thomas Andre reached out with his hand. He was planning to grab Jin-Woo's head.

His incomprehensible gripping power was one of his many hidden talents. Even if his opponent happened to be a top-ranked Hunter, he'd easily shatter that person's skull.

Now that the fool was within his attacking range, victory was as good as his. The corners of Thomas Andre's lips curled up.

Too bad, though…

'Wha….?!'

In that instant, there was a flash of light before his eyes.

***

With fortunate timing, the Hunters of the Scavenger Guild arrived at the location. And they all got to witness something peculiar. They got to witness 'something' breaking past a wall of the disused factory at an alarming speed.

Boooom-!!

That 'something' destroyed the wall and crash-landed on the ground. Even then, it continued to slide away for a long, long time.

Chuwuuuuk…

And when that 'something' finally stopped sliding right before their eyes, the Hunters recognised its identity and couldn't hide their extreme astonishment from exploding out. No one could tell who cried out first.

"Thomas Andre?!"

"Master, are you alright?!"

Just who managed to blow away the Goliath like this?

They simply couldn't believe it.

The force of the impact was so great that hot steam was still rising up from Thomas Andre's entire body.

But then again, the skin on a regular person would've been torn to shreds as he slid on the ground like that. No, before that, his body would've broken into many pieces after slamming into the wall, instead.

However, Thomas Andre was perfectly fine. Should one say, as befitting of a tanker who managed to survive Kamish's Breath with nothing but his bare body?

It was just that the expression he was making as he stood back up was not perfectly fine at all. His face hardened like a surface of a boulder as he stood up. He then took a sweeping look at his Hunters.

Even though they were on the same side, these Hunters paled instantly after being subjected to the murderous glare of a Special Authority-rank Hunter.

"….."

Without saying anything else, Thomas Andre walked back into the abandoned factory he flew out from. A dizzying amount of killing intent erupted out from his entire body.

Step, step.

The Vice-Master staring at that sight in a daze hurriedly regained his wits and urged the Guild's Hunters.

"What are you all doing? Get a move on, now!"

One hundred or so top-ranked Hunters all rushed into the abandoned factory at once.

***

After blowing Thomas Andre away, Jin-Woo clenched his fist tighter.

Just a second later, and Yu Jin-Ho's life would have been in grave danger. It felt like his blood would boil over when he saw Hwang Dong-Su slamming the kid's head to the floor through the eyes of the High Orc soldier.

But, that man wanted what now?

He'd pretend that none of this happened if Hwang Dong-Su was released? What a stupid suggestion that was.

Jin-Woo pushed himself to the absolute limit and continued to grow further and further so he'd not get pushed around by powerful beings. So, such a dumb demand wasn't even worth his time to consider.

But then, the response from Thomas Andre was an attack filled to the brim with the intent to kill.

This battle was far from over.

Thomas Andre might have been flung away to a far off distance, but he made his way back with an even stronger intent to kill than before. Jin-Woo discarded the still-unconscious Hwang Dong-Su to a corner of the factory. And then, summoned Kaisel and Igrit out.

Shururuk…

A black Sky Dragon and a black knight revealed themselves. Jin-Woo carefully lifted up Yu Jin-Ho and handed the kid over to Igrit.

"Take Jin-Ho to the nearest hospital. Make sure he gets the necessary treatment. Got it?"

Igrit bowed to display his understanding and jumped on the back of Kaisel to fly out of the factory.

Kii-ahk!

Thomas Andre didn't give a d*mn about the escaping Sky Dragon. No, his glare was firmly locked on Jin-Woo and Jin-Woo alone. Likewise, Jin-Woo's glare was redirected to the American, as well.

And he got to see the crumpled expression of Thomas Andre and top-ranked Hunters rushing inside beyond his shoulders. Their number was around one hundred.

It seemed that this guy mobilised and brought along all the elites of the Scavenger Guild, often referred to as the best Guild in the world.

The thing was, though….

'…If you want to compare the number of soldiers, then I too have more than enough.'

Jin-Woo immediately called out his Shadow Soldiers hiding within his shadow and waiting for his commands. The darkness slowly spread out from beneath his feet, and one by one, the Shadow Soldiers rose up from the ground.

Thomas Andre's steps came to a halt after he discovered all those soldiers. The number was somewhere near one thousand. The abandoned factory was completely filled up in an instant, but even then, the columns of soldiers extended well beyond to the back as well.

Thomas Andre narrowed his eyes.

'It's not just the incredible numbers, either.'

He even spotted several summoned creatures that were easily on a similar level as rank S Hunters. Such as the knight holding a massive shield, or the Mage wearing a black robe, and even those Giants occupying the backline, too.

Their magical energy emission didn't lose out to some of the highest-ranked Hunters out there.

Indeed, these were truly excellent summoned creatures that even the entirety of the Scavenger Guild participating could not guarantee a victory against.

Shiver, shiver….

Seeing Seong Jin-Woo's common sense-breaking summons in the flesh, Thomas Andre felt this powerful shudder run up through his entire body. At the same time, he was feeling genuinely happy.

'That's right.'

Wouldn't he truly get to enjoy the fight now that the level of his opponent was this high?

A smile broke out on Thomas Andre's face as he licked his lips. That fool Hwang Dong-Su no longer mattered in this fight.

There was only one way to restore his damaged pride. And that would be to…

'….Kill that impudent b*stard….'

But, before he did that, Thomas Andre made his final offer of mercy.

"If you admit to your mistakes and back off, I promise I'll spare your life."

Instead of a verbal answer, Jin-Woo simply flipped him a bird.

"….."

Thick veins bulged all over on Thomas Andre's forehead.

"You f*cker, right until the end…."

Riiip!

Thomas Andre ripped his shirt off - a shirt made out of top-class material extracted from the monsters was ripped into pieces like a sheet of cheap paper.

And then….

Wududuk-!

Wuduk!

The muscles in his entire torso ballooned up and hardened like armour covering his whole body. Magic energy so vast that it raised goosebumps from the people nearby leaked out from beneath his feet. It was so vast and powerful, in fact, it looked as if gold-coloured steam was slowly rising up from his shoulders.

The world's greatest Tanker had released his full might once more.

Jin-Woo wordlessly watched Thomas Andre's transformation before unleashing his own magical energy as well.

Shuwahaahk-!!

The magic energy emitted from two monsters occupying wholly different realms forced the surrounding elite Hunters to hold their breaths.

'Heok!'

'I was wondering just who it was that blew away the Goliath, but now….'

Their gazes were directed to one location - to Seong Jin-Woo.

For sure, that feat sounded plausible if it was Seong Jin-Woo, who managed to hunt down all those Giant monsters in Japan.

The Hunters of the Scavenger Guild nervously swallowed their saliva as they stared at Jin-Woo.

Unlike them and their heightened state of tension, though, Jin-Woo was completely calm and collected. He felt that this was the perfect opportunity to test out his growth up until now. He was now facing an opponent that he could definitely go all out against.

Abruptly, Jin-Woo recalled what Kamish the Dragon had told him.

'There are four people borrowing the Rulers' powers, right?'

Could it be that those four were among the five survivors of the Kamish raid - the four of the Special Authority-rank Hunters?

If that was true, then the odds of Thomas Andre being a human borrowing the Rulers' powers were very high.

Jin-Woo made the first move.

"Advance."

Almost immediately after their Sovereign issued that command, the Shadow Soldiers rushed forward with rather scary vigour.

Thomas Andre also cried out loudly.

"They are coming!"

One man versus one Guild; nearly one thousand 'summons' and almost one hundred elite Hunters collided violently on this day.

Boom-!!

Thomas Andre blew away Iron standing at the front of the pack and quickly searched for Jin-Woo's whereabouts as a bright glare shot out from his eyes.

He spotted someone rushing towards him at an incredible pace.

'Over there-!!'

Thomas Andre turned around, but Jin-Woo was faster. The latter dug into the former's defence in an instant and stabbed at the waist with the 'Demon King's Shortsword'.

Unfortunately, the blade failed to break past the hardened skin of Thomas Andre.

'….!'

Jin-Woo's eyes widened.

Pow!

The American blew his opponent away with his elbow as a smirk formed on his face.

This was the true power of the Special Authority-rank Hunter. Jin-Woo might possess a pretty decent turn of speed, but there was no way he'd be able to exceed Thomas Andre's defences.

'Feel my power and taste what true despair is like!'

Thomas Andre judged that the advantage was now with him. He didn't stop his attacks there and reached out with his hand.

Wuuonng-!

When he did, a powerful pulling force was generated from his hand and quickly reeled back the flung-away Jin-Woo.

The 'invisible hand'.

This was Thomas Andre's ability that managed to drag Kamish the Dragon from the air to the ground.

Jin-Woo was brought back closer to Thomas Andre at a frightening turn of speed, but then, his eyes shot open again.

'Ruler's Authority!'

Koo-woong!

Thomas Andre's shoulders quivered from the unseen force slamming down from above.

'What?!'

He was left utterly stunned after confirming with his entire body that his opponent also possessed the power only the Special Authority-rank Hunters possessed.

Jin-Woo didn't miss that opening; his punch slammed into Thomas Andre's face for the second time today.

Ka-boom!!

And for the first time ever after becoming a Hunter, the man nicknamed Goliath spat out blood from his mouth.

"Keo-heok!!"

***

The Hunter Bureau wasn't sitting back sucking on its fingers either. Dozens of vehicles belonging to the Bureau carrying Hunters were on their way to the same destination as the members of the Scavenger Guild.

However, the two cars right in front of the pack suddenly came to a halt not too far from their destination.

The deeply-anxious Adam White had been watching the passing scenery and was caught unprepared from the sudden stop.

"Wha-what is going on?"

The vehicle's driver looked back at Adam White. He was the sole rank S Hunter affiliated with the Hunter Bureau.

"Agent White. I think it's time you explained to us what's going on here."

"We don't have time for me to explain everything in…."

Adam White couldn't finish his sentence.

Because he saw the complexion of the rank S Hunter growing pale rather quickly at that moment. It was the first time seeing such an expression forming on the face of a man who famously possessed a steely heart, formed after experiencing all sorts of close shaves in his life.

Realising that something quite serious had happened, Adam White quickly asked.

"Did…. something happen up ahead?"

The rank S Hunter replied with a frozen-stiff face.

"If we continue on, all of us will have to risk our lives."

< Chapter 191 > Fin.