Canon Fodder

CHAPTER 478 THE MIGHTY MONARCHS

CHAPTER 478 THE MIGHTY MONARCHS

The black expanse of the interior Solo Leveling world entrance began to brighten. Easton next to me didn’t disappear like before in a new world. Instead the clothes he had been wearing began to fade away. Since this wasn’t one of the updated worlds he didn’t have a Weston to take over. 

The area around us became filled in with the scene I had left weeks ago. Time no longer frozen, the Monarchs I was facing changed their gaze to the naked Easton as I scanned around us. 

Facing us were the nineteen Monarchs that succeeded in taking over the nineteen other Player candidates. The ones that made it at least. From what I understood there were another twenty Monarchs still living in their other dimension, unable to pass over because there were no more Player vessels. 

At the head of their group was Hancock. No longer wearing her red dress with a deep V showing off her cleavage, the armor she had spent so much money customizing was now a black armored snake skin dress. The snake it was made from had black scales that glowed silver in the right light. No longer showing off any cleavage, a fact that proved she wasn’t the same woman anymore. 

Of course I had tried everything I could to bring her back. She had scratches from our fight and was enraged by what I had done to her in the Makuramoto. Her Haki was a new person. No more full of joy at seeing me, she was filled to the brim with rage. 

Around her were the other physical manifestations of the Monarchs. The King of Beasts/Monarch of Fangs next to her, he was a giant man with black hair, huge muscles, and wearing fur covered gear. He had once been a Japanese Hunter I might have gotten a little drunk. I had used a special dungeon alcohol so I could rob him, just a little. 

The King of Snow Beings/ Monarch of Frost stood next to him. An older man I was pretty sure he was a Hunter I got into it with in Russia. Since I went at this world for all it was worth I stepped on more than a few toes, stealing dungeons for XP and gear. It was probably a good thing they didn’t seem to be the old Hunters, cus they would have all hated me anyway. 

Slowly walking up through the crowd of Monarchs was the strongest of them all. His name was Antares, his and all the other Monarch’s names seared into my mind during the visions I received from the Architect when he tried to let the old Monarch of Light take me over. 

Antares was the King of Dragons/Monarch of Destruction. He was a tall man with long red hair and was wearing an immaculate suit that resembled the design of the chest of a dragon. The man he had taken over was an American hunter we had met during a joint effort. He had been on the rise in a guild and had a huge crush on the guild leader. A woman Hancock and I seduced during the dungeon. A fact that every person in the dungeon knew because of the loud sex we had nightly.

“Is this another trick of yours?” Antares asked, pointing at the naked Easton. 

“Uh yeah,” Easton said as the pain hit us both. My body far stronger already than his, my pain for the World Lasting Physique was almost minor in comparison to his. His bones lengthening and hardening, muscles bulging out, I could see it all since he was naked. He didn’t outwardly show any pain, but I knew it hurt him. As my pain ended, so did his. 

“Yeah,” Easton said, wiping sweat from his brow. “I’m just another illusion.” He stepped back to the people I was protecting. 

The Hunter Guild, which was a confusing ass name in my book, elites were behind me. Everyone but their guild master was there. Cha Hae-In at their front, she had Sung Jin-Woo’s arm over her shoulder. The once protagonist was pretty beat up and already used his trump cards in our fight against the Monarchs. 

I was pretty tired myself, but had gotten stronger from my extra levels in Omniscient Reader. My potion cooldown almost up. I began to talk again as I cast an illusion behind me. It was subtle since it copied everything behind me, but Easton could get them out without the Monarchs noticing at least. As long as I kept their focus anyway. 

“I’ve decided to accept your offer,” I said to the Monarchs. Along with the World Lasting Physique I was given the damage my body had been in before I left. I hid the pain as I walked toward them. I felt Hae-In grow worried but Easton was pushing her to the Rift he had made out of the room. I studied my Solo Leveling status screen as I walked toward Antares. 

I was low on mana, and my fatigue was higher than ever. Though my health was high, a direct hit from one of these guys had the potential to kill me. My Granite Skin had been keeping me going, but the mana cost for that had been steep. I wished I had saved enough mana for Negation Strikes, that would have killed at least a couple, but I had been on the defense as I tried to pull Hancock back in. 

“Why do I not believe you?” Antares asked. His Haki far more than all the others, it was easy to see he was the leader. “Quit with the game, Kurzan. Come to the Light, and push this boy out.” I felt something pull inside me again. I squashed it down hard, hearing a whimper from somewhere deep inside me. WIth the actual Monarch of Light trying to awaken inside of me, I got an idea. I began to convulse. 

My body shaking. I felt the other Monarch’s Haki move to relief. Far more relief than I would have expected. They feared me for some reason. A fact I wanted to exploit. “No!” I grunted, flailing my arm as I pretended to be taken over by the Monarch of Light. I moved my hand to my neck, choking myself. 

Charging my voice with chakra I changed my voice to that of the small Monarch I had fought in my mind. “Give it to me! Give me the Light!” I yelled in his voice. Rage filling me at the audacity, I began punching my arm as Easton got the last of the Hunter Guild outside. My illusion still covering their retreat. With that I flung my arm off my neck, reaching into my Status Screen. 

Pulling out Annihilation I threw it at Antares. Sending a pulse of mana to the bomb it blew up in his face as he roared at me. Everything in front of me turned black as the mana bomb made all the mana in the air ignite in a fire spell. Not any old fire spell either, but one that spread itself outward.

Chugging a mana potion from my Inventory I cast Unbreakable on myself. Only able to use the skill twice a day, I had saved both charges just in case. My skin was covered in a golden aura and the fire consumed everything around me. 

The room rocked by the massive explosion I prayed Hancock, or the Monarch in charge of Hancock, was fine. My mind’s eye sensing the carcass of Annihilation I used Townsend. Mana coating my body I stepped to the casing for the bomb and stepped back. A black Rift in the wall I jumped through to find Easton and Hae-In waiting for me. 

“Go!” I yelled, pointing to where the portal was. Easton nodded, grabbing the blonde and throwing her over his shoulder. No longer naked he was in his Shi’ar armor that looked distinctly like a Batsuit. Pretty badass in my book I chuckled as we ran. 

I could feel the other Monarchs behind us. Some had escaped, most had taken the hit, but they were sure pissed now. Their Haki it’s own red flame of rage, they didn’t give chase, but let us run the short distance to the dungeon exit. When we were through, the portal immediately winked out of existence. 

Annoyed by the weak rewards, I hesitated but used the Bonus Upgrade on Identity Theft Resistance. Antares had proved the previous Monarch of Light was in me somewhere. I wanted to make sure he stayed where he was. It was also a little endearing to have felt the pull from the Monarch, with luck that meant Hancock was in her body somewhere as well. 

The area around us in pure pandemonium, police cars surrounded the once dungeon entrance, keeping citizens and reporters back. Members of different guilds, and representatives from the Korean Hunter Association were walking and talking on phones. I let out a sigh. Able to feel the Haki of everyone around me it was good to feel no Monarchs. 

“Nice,” Easton said as he looked at an invisible screen.

“What did you get?” I asked.

“Turns out I’m a Player too,” he said, giving me a thumbs up. “Got a quest for escaping that temple too.”

“That seals the deal. All Passive skills are handouts,” I said, happy for the distraction. 

“Weston…” Cha Hae-In asked. Her armor battered and body pretty hurt, I pulled out a potion from my Inventory. Handing it to her she hesitated but drank it. Immediately her Haki skyrocketed back to what it was supposed to be. She and Jin-woo had been fighting the Architect’s boss before I came in, and both were beat up. “What…” She asked in confusion from what the potion did to her.

“Hancock and I may have not told you about all we could do,” I said, feeling bad. The two women had been best friends before we came to this world, and Hancock had kept that relationship going. Ultimately culminating in a nice threesome the night before. I liked Hae-In, a lot, but she had been blind to all we had been doing. 

“I-” I said to her but was cut off as one of the Hunter’s Association employees walked up to Easton. 

“Sir, are you okay? What happened in there?” He asked. 

“Uhh, I’m…” Easton looked at me. 

“I’m East-er Weston,” I said, confusing myself. “That’s…one of my clones.” I had been seen with shadow clones before, so it wasn’t a huge surprise. 

“Sorry, sir,” he said and the others walked over to me. My armor was invisible to them, so the armored up Easton had been the better choice. “What happened?”

“I…can’t explain,” I said truthfully. “Contact Chairman Go. Tell him to get all of the guildmasters that can make it to the Hunter’s Association headquarters in an hour.” 

“All?!” He asked. 

“All,” I said with a nod. “We are at threat level…Easton, what was the threat level in One Punch? The highest one?” 

“Either meteor or God, I can’t remember.”

“Poetic,” I said with a wry smile. “We are at threat level god. An SS-Ranked Dungeon is about to fall down on us, and we need to be ready.”

“SS-Rank?!” People yelled around me. I ignored them, walking through the crowd as I headed to the familiar Haki. Easton and a now cured Cha Hae-In followed. As the Commissioner of the Hunter’s Association, people began yelling into phones to follow my orders. As if I was a stone thrown in stillwater, ripples moved through the people around me as they went to work. 

I got to the ambulance before it could drive away. Opening the back door the driver yelled at me but I ignored him. Jin-woo strapped to a stretcher he was pretty beat up. Manhandling him, I opened his mouth and poured in one of my weaker potions. He drank it down, still unconscious. When he didn’t wake I slapped him so hard the ambulance rocked to the side onto two tires, then fell back. 

“Jeez!” He yelled, shadows coalescing around him. 

“It’s me,” I said, standing over him. “Gave you a nice mushroom stamp.” I pretended to zip up my pants. His eyes widened then he grunted. His grunt turned into a laugh then he was doubled over in pain as he held his ribs. 

“Quit being a bitch,” I said, rolling my eyes. 

“I got my ass kicked,” he said.

“What about your fucking shadows?” I asked, frowning.

“They were disabled,” he said sadly. Looking around he nodded. “They’re back now though.”

“Good, we will need them,” I said. “I need you to send them out in the world.”

“Why?” He asked, frowning. 

“Quit. It,” I ordered, repeating the words again. I couldn’t remember what his disposition in the manhwa had been, but my Jin-woo was a little bitch. Always hiding his strength. Working in the shadows to try to level as secretively as possible. Where I was open with what I wanted, and took it if it wasn’t given to me, he scurried and hid. 

“No more hiding,” I told him. “We got 19 people as strong as us out there, probably stronger since they’ve been doing this for thousands of years. You saw it, right?” He slowly nodded. “These people are ancient. They need some time to get used to bodies again, gather their strength. We need to move. Now, not an hour from now, not even a fucking minute from now. Get your little shadows out there. Threaten all of them. We are doing a worldwide guildmaster meeting.”

“When?” He asked, not liking anything I was saying. 

“Tomorrow,” I said. Thinking quickly I knew of only one place that could house it. Many attempts at worldwide guild meetings had been made, but I would make it happen. “The United Nations in the US. Tomorrow. No later. I need all of them there. No more backstabbing, bribing, or any of the other shit they have been doing.”

“Them or you?” He asked, smirking slightly. 

“Both,” I said, trying to convey how serious I was. “We got a world war coming. It could be on us in the next 24 hours for all we know.” I had seen it all. So many visions had played through my mind when the Architect tried to give my body to the old Monarch of Light. This was not their first time doing this. They had failed over and over again, relying on the Cup of Reincarnation to bring one of their consciousness’ back. Trying to learn from their mistakes as they challenged the Rulers.

Problem was, that each time they tried to beat the Rulers, humanity was wiped out. At the center of their little war, we were a stepping stone. I didn’t like that. I didn’t like it at all. Yet another alien race, setting their sites on my home, it was time to take their fight to them. Use their own tactics against them and kill them once and for all. No Returner shit. No do-overs. A straight bar room brawl, with only one survivor at the end. And no matter what they pulled, it was going to be my side that survived. I would make damn sure of it.