Zen charged straight at Vulcan. "Get rid of the trouble makers." Zen ordered his Shadows as he, Kirigakure, and Nix all jumped towards Vulcan.

"He's not even moving? This may be easier that I-!" Zen quickly realized his mistake as Vulcan dissapeared from the chair and reappeared right in front of him.

Vulcan suddenly slammed his club into Zen, seeming to want him to die in one simple shot. The impact should've crushed a normal person, but Zen was far from a normal person.

He landed on his feet, and took the brunt of the blow. "I won't lose! Not here!" Zen growled as he activated his buffing skills.

"Let's go, Nix!" Kirigakure yelled before her and Nix both got close to Vulcan. "We'll kill you for touching the Shadow Monarch!" Nix yelled before slamming her fist into Vulcan's face.

The demon was launched away, causing for Kirigakure to silently look at Nix. "Alright fangirl, chill out." She joked.

Nix's face was suddenly painted red. "F-fangirl?! I'm not a fangirl!" Nix denied. "Sure thing." Kirigakure sarcastically agreed.

"Alright, he seems to be getting up. Let's take this guy out." Zen walked up and pat Nix's head.

[Vulcan is using skill "Wrath!"]

[Vulcan's stats will be boosted by 50%!]

"Tsk, annoying." Nix scowled. Vulcan shot up into the sky and came down just as fast, planning to crush Zen in one fell swoop. "Decent try." Zen complimented as Vulcan's club was suddenly shattered into pieces.

"But Nix and Kirigakure should be your first thoughts before me." Zen grinned, both Nix and Kirigakure protecting him in an instant.

"Too bad you won't get another chance." Zen added before he dashed between his Commanders, and struck Vulcan in the stomach. "Dragon's Brutal Blow!" Zen called out, and as soon as his fist touched Vulcan's stomach, the demon was blown open, effectively being defeated.

[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]

Zen looked down to see a few drops, something he'd almost forgotten could really happen.

"Nix, Kirigakure, go help Igris and the others." Zen couldn't help but notice that Igris was hesitant to land the finishing blow, so he changed his orders. "Take Ornstein alive, my Shadows."

Sann, Chief of the White Tiger Guild's Management Department, and Park, a Hunter that was with Zen during the Red Gate, both tried to find Zen, but found no clue of him.

"Where did Hunter Zen go?" Sann questioned, Park shrugging in response.

"He just... dissapeared?" Park raised here eyebrows. "Yeah, he did. There are no documents of him leaving the country... and there aren't any official changes in the energy to indicate a protected space being opened. He just... vanished." Sann was very confused, seeing that Zen just dissapeared was very abnormal.

"You can find all of that?" Park asked, gaining a nod from Sann. "We are the Monitoring Division, so it's our job to find this, and yet... we can't seem to find just where he is." Sann sighed.

"He's an odd one. Very odd." He added, waving Park towards the car.

[You have received Demon Monarch's Sigil (1)!]

[You have received the Orb of Avarice!]

[You have received 2 Vulcan Horns!]

[You have received item ingredient: World Tree Fragment!]

"World Tree Fragment? And Demon Monarch's Sigil?" Zen checked the item descriptions.

[World Tree Fragment]
[Item Ingredient]
A piece of wood extracted from Vulcan's club, after all the excess demonic energy is removed from it.
This can be used in order to create the highest of materials, Mythical items.

[Demon Monarch's Sigil (1)]
[Fragment of Item]
A seal that split an odd portion of power between several different bosses.
When the various Sigils all rejoin, something will happen.

"That's pretty vague." Zen sighed before checking his final object. "The Orb of Avarice, a magic boosting item. I'll keep this, because I do use magic." Zen held the orb in his hand and activated his Spinning Lightning Mana Arrows. The arrows were certainly twice as big, and fired out at a faster pace, for no additional costs.

"This is a pretty great item." Zen checked the actual description.

[Orb of Avarice]
[Item Rank: S]
An item created by the blood of a high ranked demon, Vulcan, being hardened.
When used: Double Magic Damage and Casting Speed.

"Now... for you." Zen walked through his Shadows to see Ornstein held by Nix, Kirigakure, and Baruka, with Igris holding a sword to his neck.

"Can you speak?" Zen asked, only to get a monster like screech from the knight. It was obvious that the knight was trying to attack Zen, but was held back by the far superior Shadows.

"Then allow me to give you another chance." Igris gave Zen his sword. "Goodbye, Loyal Knight." Zen easily slashed Ornstein's head off of its shoulders.

"Well... that's that. My Shadows, clear a path to the magic circle." Zen ordered his Shadows, causing for Gon and Killua to rush out in front of everyone, defeating Shadows with ease.

[Shadow Extraction can be used on this target.]

"Arise Ornstein. Join your brother." Zen ordered, a small grin coming to his face when he saw Ornstein start to rise from his fallen corpse.

[Give your newly obtained Shadow a name.]

"Ornstein."

[Ornstein]
[Rank: Elite Knight]
[Level 1]

"Brother?" Ornstein suddenly spoke, a deep voice calling out to Igris. "Nice to see you too." Igris responded, his voice sounding even a tiny bit happier.

"I have been given a second chance... Have you given me another chance, Shadow Monarch?" Ornstein bowed to Zen.

"Thank you! I will not let my second chance be wasted!" Ornstein exclaimed, causing Zen to nonchalantly shrug his shoulders.

"Now, I have a question to ask you two. Do you have other siblings, and if so, where are they?" Zen asked, causing for Igris and Ornstein to look at one another.

"Our sister, Ciaran. She's... elsewhere. The last we've heard of her is when she said she'd come back when she knew that the Shadow Monarch was worth her loyalty." Igris informed.

"I suppose I'm not a good enough fit. I hope she'll come around eventually." Zen sighed, only for Igris to start speaking. "No, My King! She just doesn't know of your greatness!" Igris complimented, causing for Ornstein to sigh.

"Our brother, Gough, is currently fighting in the Abyss. We don't know any specifics, because after we all split up, we never met up again." Ornstein spoke.

"Hmm... Well, let's get up this tower first." Zen spoke, getting to the magic sign.

"Level 51." Zen jumped to the next level.

He sent his Shadows to go on and find the contract to bring him up to the next level. Up and up, until he hit level 75.

[The Guide of Souls, Metus]

"Igris, Ornstein, open a path." Zen ordered his Shadows, and behind the two, all his other Shadows following after.

Metus looked to be similar to Zen, seeming to control a vastly larger amount of dead creatures.

"Are you surprised?" Zen asked, standing behind Metus. "I wonder if Skeletons can feel fear. Well, I guess it doesn't matter." Zen saw the floating skeleton back away, only to be cut into pieces in an instant by Zen.

The second Zen killed the skeleton, all the controlled creatures all fell to the ground, and all of Zen's Shadows returned to him.

[You have defeated Metus, the Guide of Souls.]

[You have received Spring Water of the Echoing Forest.]

[The Demon Souls stored in Metus's Pendant have been recovered.]

[You have gained 220 Demon Souls.]

[Your level had risen by 2.]

"This guy was a necromancer, so I wanted to turn him into a Shadow, but..."

[Mana is contaminated.]

[Shadow Extraction is too low leveled to work.]

"It seems like Shadow Extraction isn't good enough yet. But, I did get some more items."

[You have received Demon Monarch's Sigil (2)!]

"Besides, I can't really go on anymore. I already did completely the quest."

[Demon Souls]
10,000/10,000

[Quest Completed!]

Rewards: Item of your choosing, 50 stat points, a hidden reward.

"Accept reward 1."

[You can choose any item. Please choose an item.]

Zen thought for a moment. "If I get an item from the store the normally costs Billions of Gold, it will surely have a great effect. But, if I act to rashly, I'll just end up selling the item back to the store." Zen hesitated before speaking. "Cursed Random Box." The item box fell into Zen's hands.

"Let's see what I need, instead of what I want." Zen hummed before the box opened, to show another key.

[? Key]
[Rank: ?]
[?]

"This is odd. I'll keep it for the time being though." Zen stuck it into his inventory.

"Accept reward 2." Zen gained 50 stat points, and decided where he'd put them later. "I'll put at least 100 of my points into intelligence a little later."

"Accept reward 3." Zen couldn't help but feel like the third reward would be less interesting than the first one.

In Zen's hand, a recipe appeared.

[Holy Water of Life Recipe]

"Holy Water of Life?"

"Mom..." Zen looked at his mother, hooked up to all sorts of devices, and bedridden, sick.

He had left the Demon Castle, his journey through there ending for the time being.

[Holy Water of Life]
[Rank: Legendary]
[A potion that when fully ingested, can rid someone of any and all illnesses.]

Zen looked at the ingredients.

[Ingredient 1: World Tree Fragment]
(Gained)

[Ingredient 2: Spring Water of the Echoing Forest]
(Gained)

[Ingredient 3: Pure Refined Blood of the Demon Monarch]

"I've leveled up 6 times while climbing the tower. I'm certainly an S Rank by now... so I don't have to worry about normal things anymore." Zen clenched his hand.

"I already have the first 2. I just hope that I can get the last one soon. Don't worry Mom, I'll end this clumsy mess soon enough." Zen thought, laying his head on his mother's chest, listening to her quiet heart beat.