[You have completed the quest.]
Suho’s whole body was filled with strength.
Level up five times.
It seemed that even the vast magical power that Xavier had absorbed from others had been converted into experience points.
[Quest completion reward has arrived.] [Would you like to check the reward?] (Y/N)
Rather than checking the reward, Suho turned his gaze to urgently find his father’s welcome.
“father……!”
Shaaaaaaaaaa-
As Xavier died, all the illusions he had created, including the sandstorm that had been covering the area, began to disperse into dust of light.
The situation with Sung Jin-woo’s welcome wasn’t much different.
But he looked relaxed even as his body dispersed and disappeared.
-There’s no need to be so excited. I’m just an illusion right now.
Then he raised his head slightly and looked up at the sky and continued speaking.
-Actually, I’m doing fine up there. Oh, I’ve been a little busy lately because someone’s been away.
[Keeeeeeeek! Your Majesty! This disloyal sinner is here! Please forgive me… … !]
At those words, Verga quickly fell down before him and began to weep.
[I really want to go back, but I don’t have enough magic power, so there’s no way to go back!]
-Okay. If that’s the reason you can’t come back, then you don’t have to worry too much.
Although the current Sung Jin-woo was an illusion, he was sharing consciousness with the real Sung Jin-woo by linking his soul.
By using Xavier’s magic, he transformed himself from an illusion into a kind of avatar, an incarnation of the real Sung Jin-woo.
Thanks to this, the real Sung Jin-woo in space was able to find out that the seal of guardianship that had been sent to Earth had been safely released.
I was worried that maybe Berga had encountered some kind of interference and had not yet reached Suho, but this time, my worries were resolved.
-More than that.
Seong Jin-woo’s gaze fell on the small Ber lying flat on the floor and he spoke.
-I think it would be better for you to remain on Earth for the time being.
[Keeek?! Is that okay?]
Ber’s eyes widened.
The war with outer space was fierce and tightly balanced.
That is why the empty spot left by his position as commander was bound to be a huge burden to Sung Jin-woo.
[Without the little man, the balance of war… …!]
-Ah, it’s okay. I recently acquired some useful soldiers.
[… … ?!]
Suddenly.
Sung Jin-woo’s answer was so shocking that Ber froze in place with his mouth wide open.
-Of course, the sooner you come back, the better, but it seems like Earth isn’t in as relaxed a state as I thought.
Even as he was saying these words, half of Sung Jin-woo’s body was already scattered.
-There isn’t much time.
Sung Jin-woo immediately turned his head and looked at the remains of Xavier that Su-ho had just killed.
A skeleton with shattered ribs.
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A message floated above the shadow.
[Mana is contaminated and cannot be extracted.]
Looking at the message, Sung Jin Woo calmly explained it so that Su Ho could hear it.
-Among the Magic Tribe, there are occasionally those who cannot be extracted, like the Demon Tribe.
At those words, Suho made a regretful expression.
As Sung Jin-woo said, Xavier’s soul, like the souls of demons, was said to be impossible to extract.
What I meant was that you can’t make him a shadow soldier like Harmakan.
-Anyway, you won’t be able to use this.
Sung Jin-woo stretched out his scattered hands and grabbed Xavier’s soul.
-Let me use it.
Chowaaaaak-!
Xavier’s soul, now tainted by mana, was grabbed by his hand and forcibly pulled up.
Then, as if he had sensed the fate that was about to befall him, he began to let out a chilling scream.
Kwaaaa …
How dare you-!
This is impossible… … !
-That’s because nothing is impossible.
Seong Jin-woo raised the corners of his mouth as he looked at the dark shadow struggling to escape from his grasp.
Xavier’s soul trembled with intense humiliation.
The illusion created by one’s own sorcery has taken possession of one’s soul!
-You probably know that spirits like you who have been practicing magic for a long time can also be the ingredients for very good magic.
Seong Jin-woo said that and used Xavier’s soul to perform his final spell.
Choaaaaaaah!
Suddenly, a net-like spell formation spread out from his hand and tightly bound Xavier’s struggling soul.
Kwaaaaaaaaaa… … !
The magic circle began to become tighter and tighter and smaller.
And when Xavier’s screams became quieter and quieter, until they could not be heard at all.
Seong Jin-woo was holding a fist-sized jewel in his hand.
-Okay, here’s a gift.
Whoosh.
[You have acquired the ‘Item: Xavier’s Soulstone’.]
Suho looked at the jewel Sung Jinwoo gave him with a puzzled expression.
“This is… … .”
[Item: Xavier’s Soulstone]
Difficulty to acquire: ??
Type: Gem
It is a jewel made by compressing the spirit of a demon.
-Keep it in your inventory as insurance just in case.
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“Insurance?”
-Yeah. Watching you fight makes me a little… …worried.
Seong Jin-woo looked at Su-ho’s face with a bitter smile.
I wanted to explain more, but no words came out of my mouth.
No one knows the future.
The son followed in his father’s footsteps, but their path was never the same.
Because my son’s future was something he had to choose and decide for himself…
‘Rather than nagging, I think it would be better to support them now.’
Seong Jin-woo pushed away all the words that came to his mind.
-So, Suho.
And then he said, holding Suho’s shoulder with his scattered hands.
-I leave this place to you.
“Yes, father.”
Suho’s eyes were quietly burning as he nodded heavily.
Seong Jin-woo pretended to look satisfied as he looked into those eyes.
At that moment, his body completely collapsed.
Passover.
Soon, even the hand that had been patting Suho’s shoulder turned into dust of light and disappeared.
At that moment, the whole sky fell down.
[Instance dungeons are unlocked.]
What the heck!
Harmakan’s barrier has disappeared.
Then, the boundary between the inside and outside of the barrier collapsed, and the civilians outside the barrier finally appeared.
At the same time, the sight of the hunters swallowed up by the sandstorm appeared in the civilians’ eyes.
“… …Wow!”
A cheer erupted from the people’s mouths a moment later.
“All the demons have disappeared-!”
Only when they heard that loud roar did the hunters realize what was happening.
The fact that today’s fierce battle is over.
But the reason their expressions show both relief and a sense of extreme helplessness is because of this.
That was because they knew all too well that they had done nothing here today.
And… …while they were floundering in their illusions.
Only one.
‘Seongsuho… … .’
The fact that the young hunter fought the boss mob alone and finally achieved victory.
Because everyone saw it clearly with their own two eyes.
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‘Hunter Seongsuho.’
‘Woojin Guild.’
As the hunters’ gazes simultaneously turned to Suho, who was standing tall in the center, the gazes of the civilians outside could not help but turn in that direction as well.
And those awed gazes were very satisfying to Ber.
[Your Majesty, please wave your hand. Everyone is looking up to you.]
“……it’s okay.”
Suho looked a little lost in thought.
It was a very unpleasant feeling to see my father, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, disappear before my eyes again.
But I didn’t plan on staying in this mood forever.
Shouldn’t we do what we have to do?
“Essil!”
Eshil, who had not been seen for a while at Suho’s call, waved from somewhere along the shore.
“Suho! I found it!”
Everyone blinked at the sudden appearance of the boss mob.
The Woojin Guild led by Suho still hadn’t forgotten the purpose of their coming here.
“I found the gate!”
… … !
At Essil’s shout, everyone looked in her direction with startled expressions.
‘Oops!’
‘Come to think of it!’
‘We were looking for the gate?!’
Although we did catch a boss mob once in a while, Suho’s Guild was a gate exploration team from the beginning.
And while everyone is dealing with that boss mob.
Essil was the only one who managed to find the gate that was hidden somewhere on this beach, far away.
“good job.”
It was only then that Suho smiled faintly at the sight of Eshil waving from afar.
And then he turned his gaze to find other guild members besides Essil.
“Are you okay?”
“Healers, this way!”
“Medical staff! Medical staff!”
Already, healers and medical staff from the Hunter Association were rushing to the area and treating the injured.
In particular, Taegyu Lim, a S-class hunter, suffered noticeably serious burns.
But Tae-gyu Lim himself didn’t care about things like this.
Rather than that… … .
“Please treat my son before me.”
“Was this person the son of Hunter Im Tae-gyu?!”
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The medical staff look surprised at Im Tae-gyu’s words.
In response to their words, Tae-gyu Lim answered with warm eyes, patting the back of Do-gyun Lim, who was lying exhausted next to him.
“… … Yes. My proud son.”
It was truly a blessing.
For being able to save my son from such a terrible disaster.
But today was different from ‘that time’.
-Eww!
The son no longer looked at his father with fear as he did then.
And he no longer ran away from himself.
“Brother, are you okay?”
“No. It’s not okay.”
Im Do-gyun stood up, holding Su-ho’s hand, with an expression of gratitude for being alive.
Then he held out his other hand to his father, Tae-gyu Lim, and said:
“Is your father okay? Are you in a lot of pain?”
“… … This guy.”
Who cares about whom?
Im Tae-gyu smiled at the sight of his son worrying about his burns, grabbed his hand, and got up.
* * *
The gate that Essil discovered was already empty.
I wondered if Xavier had eaten every living thing inside it.
Still, the amount of dungeon minerals present within it was considerable.
And the ownership of all those minerals went back to the Woojin Guild led by Suho.
Of course, this did not exist in the contract, but it was thanks to Im Tae-gyu’s ceding of all the authority he was supposed to receive to Soo-ho.
However, there was one problem.
Right time.
At the point where all the demons disappeared and even the boss mobs were dead, the time this gate was maintained was extremely short.
To extract the ore in such a short period of time, a huge number of miners had to be deployed at once.
But that wasn’t a problem for the Woojin Guild.
“Get up.”
A large number of shadow miners rose simultaneously from the shadow of the guardian.
They rushed into the dungeon with pickaxes and shovels and began mining ore at an incredible speed.
“This can’t be happening… … .”
Tae-gyu Lim opened his mouth wide when he witnessed that wondrous sight.
I knew that Seongsuho was a summoner, but I never imagined that he could summon this many at once.
Suho approached him and attempted to negotiate in earnest.
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“Do you happen to have any dungeons left in your guild? The more dangerous, the better.”
“… … I wondered why Do-gyun was so good at running away.”
“Oh, that’s a misunderstanding.”
It was a real misunderstanding.
