Only I Level Up

New York, London, Shanghai, Paris.

Besides these cities, others around the world were all experiencing the phenomenon of their streets being draped in eerie silence right now. People had stopped walking and found themselves unable to tear their eyes away from the many electronic screens installed here and there.

Those large screens were continuously showing the breaking news regarding the horrifying tragedy unfolding in the capital city of South Korea, Seoul.

Because of the super-massive Gate's presence, the world's attention had been focused there already, so it was only normal that the news spread around like a wildfire.

TV stations in many countries interrupted their regular programming to broadcast live the current situation unfolding in Seoul.

Once the sight of a cityscape dripping with blood as filmed by the camera lens from the sky, the viewers around the world recoiled in sheer horror.

Seoul was one of the biggest metropolises in the entire world. But with such a city lying in ruins like that, it implied that their safety couldn't be guaranteed even within their own cities.

The tragedy of Seoul didn't feel like an incident happening in some distant country, but something that was happening to them personally.

Was that the reason why they felt relieved when Thomas Andre stepped up to put an end to the monster's rampage? The obviously-excited foreign correspondents, after their cameras caught the sight of America's best Hunter, began crying out his name repeatedly as if they wanted to damage their own vocal cords.

The viewers gathered their hands in prayer and with one heart, cheered Goliath on. And that was why the streets were filled with elated cries every time Goliath roughed up that beast-like monster.

"Yes! More! More!!"

"Destroy that thing! Goliath, kill that thing dead!!"

"Send it to hell!!"

Unfortunately….

The cheering and elated cries filling up the streets soon morphed into shocked silence as Goliath's fists were shattered, his arms were broken, and his blood and flesh were spilt onto the ground.

The viewers' arms raised up high in the air slowly lowered back to their sides. Some even began wordlessly shedding tears as they watched humanity's best warrior being horribly destroyed like that.

It was as if the time itself had frozen.

People rendered utterly speechless by the overwhelming shock couldn't even hear their own breathing. If this was a dream, then they wanted to wake up right about now.

Too bad, though, that the screen kept transmitting the images of Goliath and his pained screaming over and over again. The expression on the viewers' faces changed to that of even greater despair.

It was then.

A lone Hunter jumped out from somewhere and blew away the beast.

No, there were two of them. A black-haired man appeared without warning right next to the Caucasian Hunter.

Not just the viewers, but even the news anchors couldn't figure out what was going on and failed to hide their confusion.

Just what had happened?

Who were those two people?

It happened far too quickly, and also, the camera was filming from too far and couldn't capture their faces properly.

However….

The anchors saw the black soldiers filling up the streets in the blink of an eye and cried out until their voices turned hoarse.

[It's Hunter Seong Jin-Woo! Hunter Seong Jin-Woo has finally made his entrance!]

[We don't have to see his face! You can block out his name! Even then, we know who it is! Those black soldiers, that's 100% Hunter Seong Jin-Woo!!]

[The Goliath might have fallen, but the baton has been handed over to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo! His summoned creatures have surrounded the monsters!]

Waaaaah-!!

The viewers all around the world punched the air and cried out in elation once more as they watched the black soldiers completely cover up the streets of Seoul.

Especially the Americans, their unified roars were so loud that their cities seemed to rock from the noise itself. It was understandable, since they had lost one of their Special Authority-rank Hunters through tragic circumstances recently, and when even Thomas Andre found himself in danger, they had all fallen into a deep pit of mental shock.

Besides, the total number of views online for the Jeju Island raid featuring Jin-Woo had already surpassed 2 billion. Meaning, pretty much everyone knew his name by now.

And so, the whole world had begun chanting his name.

"Hey, hang on a minute! I know who that other Hunter is! Yeah, I know that guy! He's Germany's Lennart Niermann!"

This guy, who wished to boast about his discerning eyes, couldn't help but get swept away by the atmosphere and started chanting 'Seong Jin-Woo', his hands raised up high in the air.

The focus of the whole world was now on Jin-Woo's back.

***

The Shadow Army surrounded the three Sovereigns in a circle.

On top of the streets now darkened by the shadow with the help of the skill, 'Sovereign's Territory', the army's morale had hit its highest peak.

'So, how about it now?'

Jin-Woo scanned the faces of the three Sovereigns. They carried rather amused expressions.

The female giant, created out of insects, took a sweeping look at the streets filled with Shadow Soldiers and chuckled derisively.

[So, this is the new Shadow Army, is it?]

[The overall number isn't bad, but even then, they are nothing but a bunch of riffraff.]

Looking unconcerned in the slightest, the Sovereign of Frost took a step forward.

Fuu-whoop…

It sucked its breath in lightly before spitting out horrifyingly cold air that spread out everywhere in an instant.

Kwajeeck!

And in just one moment, everything standing on the ground became frozen ice sculptures. Even the Shadow Army was no exception.

'How can this be?!'

Jin-Woo confirmed that his soldiers had all frozen up and his expression hardened gradually.

The power of the Sovereigns that rendered the soldiers useless in one stroke - he had experienced something like this before, when he was facing off against the Sovereign of White Flames, Baran, back in the Demon's Castle instant dungeon.

If there was one glaring difference between then and now, that would be him having to face three enemies instead of one.

The soldiers trapped within the ice couldn't be freed even with his ability to store them back in his shadow.

[Your pitiful soldiers won't be able to take a single step outside the prison I have manifested.]

The Sovereign of Frost sounded confident of its victory after imprisoning the Shadow Army.

However, Jin-Woo's killing intent didn't waver for a second even under the current situation.

"You."

The tip of the Kamish's Wrath held in his right hand was pointed at the Sovereign of Frost.

"You will definitely die today."

The war potential of the Shadow Army always had been supplementary to his own. It was too bad that he couldn't rely on his soldiers now, but even then, he wasn't thinking of letting that Sovereign of Frost leave here alive.

After all, he had a score to settle with that b*stard,

[….]

Perhaps the Ice Elf felt the aching from the wound on its shoulder inflicted by Jin-Woo the last time, since its expression crumpled unsightly rather quickly.

[You insolent b*stard!]

The creature then raised its arms as if to lift something up, and suddenly, Golems made out of ice rose up from the ground.

At the same time, the queen of the insects whistled loudly. The corpses of humans lying strewn about all began standing up as well.

Kwa-duduk, kwa-dududuk, kwa-duk!!

The bones and joints of the corpses repeatedly twisted and shifted around until finally, they resembled monstrous spiders crawling on all four legs.

'Undead?'

….No, those weren't undead at all.

What moved the corpses were strange little parasites that had bored into the brains of the dead humans. Jin-Woo sensed the minute level of magic energy emitted from the parasites wiggling around inside the heads and he shifted his gaze over to the Queen of Insects.

[You think we killed all these humans indiscriminately for no reason?]

The Queen had inseminated the eggs of a very special parasite within the corpses of all the humans the beast had murdered.

Golems and parasites.

Jin-Woo stared at the enemy's army that couldn't be turned into Shadow Soldiers upon their deaths and realised how much his opponents had been planning for this day.

"Fuu-woo…."

He controlled his breathing.

The Golems and the animated corpses waltzed right past the frozen Shadow Soldiers and slowly encircled him. Meanwhile, he focused on the sounds of his heart quietly pounding away.

Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump….

On his path to get here, he had encountered countless dangerous situations.

At this moment, as he closed his eyes, his extremely-honed senses accurately read and picked up on even the most minute movements his enemies made.

He could do this.

Just like how it had always been.

'….They're coming.'

He opened his eyes only to be greeted by the sight of the spider-humans pouncing on him. As the time slowed down, the pair of 'Kamish's Wraths' roared out in sheer anguish.

Sliiiiiice-!!

In an instant, every spider-human leaping in the air was bisected.

Boom!

Jin-Woo lightly kicked and leapt away from the punch of a Golem pounding down on his original position and searched for his primary elimination target. That would be the Sovereign of Frost, of course.

That b*stard was currently shouting at its Golems with an enraged face. However, it was impossible for these slow and lumbering things to catch up to Jin-Woo's speed.

He used 'Ruler's Authority' to fling himself at the Sovereign of Frost. Like a bullet, he flew forward in a scarcely-believable velocity.

He closed the distance in an instant. The Sovereign of Frost was panicking. Jin-Woo swung his shortsword with great power.

His aim was the skin on the b*stard's face that resembled the bark of an aged tree.

Unfortunately….

CLANG!

Just before the Kamish's Wrath could split the creature's face in half, something really hard blocked the trajectory of the blade. The beast, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs, responded to Jin-Woo's attack with lightning-quick reflexes and blocked the shortsword in time.

[You think such a puny metallic toy can wound me in the slightest?]

The beast toothily grinned, its disgusting teeth full of blood and flesh now on full display. However, Jin-Woo also replied with a smirk.

'The human's laughing?'

Even before the beast had the time to sense the ominous foreboding, 'Kamish's Wrath' was suddenly enveloped in the black aura.

Slice!

The beast's wrist that rightfully boasted incredible hardness was cleanly severed from its arm. The creature's eyes opened wide.

It barely dodged the tip of the blade by leaning its torso backwards, but still, a lengthy and bloody line was drawn upon its chest.

It was then, Jin-Woo picked up on some powerful energy above him and he quickly looked up.

'….!!'

The Queen of Insects had formed a giant fist out of magical energy and was in the midst of slamming it down.

Swoooosh-!!

As he landed on the ground, Jin-Woo activated the skill 'Ruler's Authority' to shove away the Queen's fist. However, the force behind that attack was much greater than he anticipated and he could only barely stop it.

Boom!!

The invisible shield made out of 'Ruler's Authority' clashed against the Queen's fist and created a powerful shockwave that swept away the surrounding spider-humans.

Unfortunately, the number of animated corpses that still managed to rush at and pounce on his position far exceeded those who were swept away.

Jin-Woo stepped on the head of one spider-human and leapt up in the air. Then, he focused his magic energy in the 'Kamish's Wrath'.

BUZZ-!!

The black aura condensed on the vibrating blade began distorting the surrounding space.

In that moment….

"Uwaaah-!!"

Jin-Woo roared out powerfully as he swung the shortsword with all his might.

Kagagagagagagack!!

The magical energy concentrating on the end of the shortsword split into dozens upon dozens of slashes and swept away all the enemies right below him.

The Dragon's Claw!

The ranks of Ice Golems and spider-humans were halved in an instant from that single attack.

Unfortunately….

Swish-!

Jin-Woo quickly shifted his head to the side to find a large palm already arriving right in front of his nose. It cast a giant, dark shadow on his face.

'D*mn it.'

Realising that the attack was coming in at an unavoidable angle, he decided to raise his guard up, instead.

The Queen of Insects swatted Jin-Woo as if it was a human swatting a fly out of the air and slammed him into a building nearby.

BOOM!!

The impact force from that was so severe that another building across the road shook hard from the vibration.

Jin-Woo emerged out from the debris of the fallen building and keeled over to the floor to spit out a heavy gasp.

"Keo-heok."

He felt dizzy.

Vzzzz…..

Loud buzzing tinnitus assaulted his ears. His breathing quickened and his vision grew just a bit fuzzy. However, he had no time to stay here and catch his breath.

As soon as he raised his head, he spotted thousands of ice arrows floating up dozens of metres in the air above his head, all of them being the handiwork of the Sovereign of Frost.

Jin-Woo stood back up and stopped breathing for a moment there. And almost right away, the ice arrows filling up the sky shot down accurately to his current position.

Faster, faster!

Jin-Woo swung his shortswords and deflected away the magic arrows raining down without any break or gap in-between.

He was so fast that several afterimages began overlapping on top of one another.

'However, just how long will you be able to withstand our combined attacks?'

The Sovereign of Frost continued to fire the arrows endlessly as a sly grin floated up on its lips. When this human b*stard's movement slows down even for a second….

It was then.

Stab!

[…..??]

The Ice Elf's quaking eyes looked down to confirm the shortsword stabbing deeply into its chest. The liquid staining its hands was its own blood.

When it raised its head to look, the insolent human was glaring right back at the Sovereign, having had enough leeway to throw one of his shortswords even in the midst of deflecting all the ice arrows.

The burning rage, hot enough to boil all the blood in its body, rushed up to the Ice Elf's head.

[You d*mn human! How dare a measly little human wound a Sovereign like me!!]

Pah-ahhck!

Jin-Woo rapidly recalled the shortsword out of the creature's chest.

He struck the b*stard in the heart. Such a wound was more than enough to kill any regular humanoid creature, but unfortunately, that didn't seem to be a mortal wound to the Sovereign.

Still, that brought about an end to the rain of ice arrows. He firmly grasped the returning 'Kamish's Wrath' and grinned toothily at the Sovereign of Frost.

"I told you, didn't I? You won't be getting out of here alive."

[Kuwaaaahhh!!]

The Sovereign of Frost, thoroughly enraged while controlling its Ice Golems; the spider-humans controlled by the Sovereign of Plagues; and finally, the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs that had regenerated its severed wrist.

The latter moved its new wrist this way and that to test it out, before summoning out its own sword from the subspace, just like Jin-Woo had done.

All of their movements were caught in one go within Jin-Woo's vision. He grasped both Kamish's Wraths tightly and calmly collected his breaths as his enemies rushed at him again.

It was then.

Kwajijijick!

Accompanied by the noise of something solid splitting up, he was greeted from behind by a voice that sounded so much more brilliant to his ears today.

[My kingggggg!!]

< Chapter 216 > Fin.