Chapter 24: Never Enough

- Mars -

As I casually walk through the forsaken cathedral, I wonder why this gate was measured at A-rank. Calling it the highest A-rank dungeon still feels low, since I can sense more than a few S-rank undead further ahead.

The first hall was filled with a skeleton army, as soon as I walked in with the ogre I could feel the fear in their bones. The first undead group reminds me a lot like when I first met Metus, in the demon castle. They all dropped down to a knee as I passed, before standing up and following us as we continue forward.

"Do you sense that, Lord Mars?" Metus asked me with a rather excited tone. "There must be a strong necromancer at the heart of the gate, to maintain control over this many high quality undead."

"I do. It's another arch lich. I hope you two will get along well." I prepare my own demon lich, I don't need infighting within my forces.

Although competition breeds innovation and excellence, considering Beru and Igris' healthy rivalry, neither of them will accept being my number two shadow.

The second hall is filled with even more skeletons and bone golems, but this time a single death knight stands tall, keeping guard the next entrance.

Death Knight

Level: 64

Race: Undead

The commander of the skeletal army must have been expecting me, as it immediately bows down, along with its forces. This skeleton is as tall as Igris, wearing cursed armor.

"Kekeke..." Beru began to laugh to himself. "How amazing you are my Liege... They can all recognize your authority right away."

"Of course, how could any of the Shadow Monarch's subjects not recognize their King?" Igris uttered as a matter of fact, as we marched forward, the undead group following us doubling in size.

The twin-headed ogre and the death knight took it upon themselves to lead us into the next hall, smaller this time but filled with a handful of vampire lords and their soulless thralls.

Vampire Lord

Level: 60

Race: Undead

The regal looking vampires in their black armor all went wide-eyed when I entered, bowing to me before they joined the rest of the dungeon's creatures escorting us.

How is this not a S-rank gate, again? Maybe the boss was hiding its true power just like Tusk did in his high orc gate. I'm looking forward to meeting the undead dungeon boss.

At the end of the vampire's lair was a closed set of double doors. Judging by the mana leaking through, this is no doubt the boss room.

I turn to the assembled undead, they all seem anxious, wondering what's going to happen once I meet their previous master. Since I'm the superior necromancer, the undead naturally followed me instead.

Entering the final area, I see the boss, the large inhuman skeleton floating up in the air, looking down at me in shock. Its cape is as dark as my own shadow, its green heart glowing, the source of its eternal life.

Underneath it stand a dozen more death knights, all looking back at the lich and me in confusion.

"Y-You are..." The dungeon boss began to shake, clearly not expecting the invader to be the King of the Dead himself. "Why are you here?"

I study its frightening aura, I can easily see how arch liches are infamous among hunters. One was responsible for a dungeon break, annihilating an entire major Chinese guild, Gold Dragon. If it wasn't for Liu Zhigang, China might have been in a similar position Korea was, with a dungeon break like Jeju, a gate too powerful for a country to clear on its own.

It's impossible for a horde A-rankers to defeat it, it would require a powerful team of S-ranks, or of course, a single National rank to take it down along with its undead army.

I turn off [Spiritual Body Manifestation], revealing my true form to it, where the lich is even more bewildered.

"You are not the Shadow Monarch I know..." It said to me, before noticing Igris standing to my right. "Igris? The Right Wing of the Shadow Army?!"

"Lich, stand down. Our King is here to save you." Igris answered for me.

"Kukuku... You are indeed lucky to be personally recruited by the true King of the Dead!" Beru chimed in.

"You heard my shadow generals." I walk up to it, as the lich floats down to me, where it's even bigger than Metus. "Join me, by my side, where you belong. The Great War is soon approaching."

"O-of course!" The lich kneeled down, the death knights guarding it have already joined the undead behind me.

Name: Arch Lich

Level: 77

Race: Undead (Lich)

Thoughts about you: It is awestruck the Shadow Monarch is personally here to reclaim it

Reputation: 60

"You don't have a name?" I ask it, the lich looking to me with clear reverence.

"My Lord... I am nameless..." It began to explain to me. "When I became immortal, I gave up all of my worldly possessions, including my name."

"Hmm. Then I shall call you Balthazar." I decide quickly. "Do you know what that name means?"

"Yes, it means Protect the King." My ancient servant answered. "I am honored, I shall protect you at all costs!"

"I'm glad." I smirk, patting my newest servant on the back, its bones cold to the touch.

"Balthazar... We shall combine our undead forces to claim victory for Lord Mars!" Metus proclaimed, his jaw clattering fanatically.

I feel a shiver down my spine, I now have the complete devotion of two powerful arch liches.

"We'll have plenty of time to get to know each other, but we need to get out of here now, I have something important to take care of." I cut the reunion short.

"Yes, my Lord."

- Sung Jinah -

Jinah stood at the entrance of her school, waiting for Mars, who told her to wait for him during the morning break. She followed the Seoul's Saint tracker, a wildly popular fan page dedicated to tracking Mars and his whereabouts, apparently he entered a gate in Busan right after clearing the red gate that appeared on the highway.

From what Song-Yi told her, red gates are completely different dimensions. One hour inside the dungeon could equal one whole day in the real world, or vice versa, one day in the dungeon is only an hour on earth. Ever since Mars took care of Jeju Island by himself, she realized just how powerful Mars was. More specifically, she was scared he would leave Korea, abandoning her and Song-Yi for the United States or China.

"Huh?!" She suddenly flinched when her shadow flickered, before one of Mars' summons stepped out.

The shadow vanished, and within a second, Mars stood in its place.

"Mars!" Jinah launched herself at him, where he caught her and held her close.

"Jinah, how are you?" He squeezed her back.

"Wait... What happened to your wings?" She realized, the hug wasn't as warm as it usually was, for once Mars was just wearing a plain white t-shirt and jeans.

"Oh right, I can finally control them." He said casually, displaying his wings, before they disappeared back into him.

Mars then grabbed her hand, dragging her around the back entrance of the school, looking around the campus.

"Where are we going?" Jinah asked, wondering where he was leading her.

"The art storage room." He answered, clearly remembering that room was never used for anything.

"Uh, why? I doubt anyone's even been in that room since the semester started..." She was even more confused now, until her cheeks began to blush, thinking of something naughty. "Wait... Mars, you want to fool around here at school?!"

"Heh, maybe. That's not a bad idea." Mars chuckled to himself, finally opening the door to the art storage and unused classroom.

Entering the room right behind him, she froze when she noticed the blue gate, the dusty air in the room was distorting dangerously.

"Huh?! How long has that been there?!" She hid behind Mars, as he slowly approached the gate.

"About a week, judging by the cracks..." Mars said with a serious expression on his face, studying it. "It's about to break... Thankfully I made it in time."

"What are you going to do?" Jinah asked him, holding onto him as tight as she could.

"Don't worry, my shadows can easily take care of it. The gate is mid A-rank at best." He calmly stated, stroking her hair lovingly.

Mars pointed a finger at the gate, and five huge red orc soldiers stepped out from his shadow.

"Jinah, this is Tusk, one of my strongest summons." Mars introduced her to the hooded shadow soldier.

The shadow sheepishly waved to her, a healthy blush could be seen on the red-skinned orc. Despite its intimidating appearance, she couldn't help but think its shy behavior was cute.

"Hehe, it's good to meet you, Tusk." She giggled, watching the shadow who awkwardly scratched its head.

"Tusk go forth, take the high orc generals and exterminate the lesser orcs that almost broke out." Mars ordered the small group of orc warriors, who suddenly became more aggressive. "Keep the boss alive."

She couldn't help but feel bad for the monsters on the other side of the gate.

"Are you sure that's enough to take care of the dungeon?" Jinah asked, worriedly watching as the orcs marched into the gate.

"Yes, Tusk is a lot stronger than he looks..." Mars said confidently. "Anyway, since that's taken care of, how much time do you have remaining on your break?"

"Uh, about ten minutes, why?" She questioned him, noticing the mischievous grin forming on his face.

"You don't mind being a bit late, don't you?" He whispered seductively into her ear, before pulling her into a deep kiss.

As a matter of fact, she did not mind being late at all.

- Groctar (Orc Warlord) -

The great orc warlord sat on his throne, ready to begin the slaughter. The gate was about to burst, hundreds of his brethren ready to butcher any humans they encounter. In his and every other orc's head, a single order: Kill the humans.

Orcs are naturally gifted hunters, they could sense prey in any direction, and the gate that was about to open promised him countless prey. He could almost smell the humans on the other side of the portal. His tracking and scouting teams were ready to enter as soon as it opened, they were all excited to feast on the flesh, drink their blood.

Their sixth sense warned them the other side was as complex as a castle, perfect for them to establish and fortify as a base. Once all of the humans inside were slain, they could start hunting for real.

A violent explosion rocked the ground, from the direction of the portal.

"What was that?!" He sent out his guards to investigate the magical eruption.

"L-Lord Groctar!" One of his scouts reported to him, out of breath from sprinting all the way here. "High orcs... High orcs have invaded from the gate!"

"High orcs?!" Groctar shouted out in disbelief. "Why are other orcs here?!"

He hated his red-skinned counterparts, they were the strongest type of orc there was, and they all had the arrogance to match.

Groctar grabbed his sword, standing up from the throne made out the bones of a demon brute while his orc guards began to chant his name.

"GROCTAR! GROCTAR! GROCTAR!"

His personal attack force continued to chant his name as they followed behind him, pausing when he saw the high orc invaders.

The source of the continued explosions was clear, it was a fellow chieftain, launching devastating fire balls and lightning strikes at his forces. Any orcs who survived the relentless magical onslaught were easily slain by the four high orc warriors leading the charge.

He shivered, watching the much larger high orc savages kill his green orcs with no mercy. Each of the orcs were covered in black tattoos, the orc symbol of victory, proof of how many enemies an orc has killed. The high orcs had just as many tattoos as he did, and after this slaughter they would be adding even more.

His forces catapulted flaming boulders at the invading orcs, but they were all blocked by a black shield conjured by the leader. The flaming debris hit the advancing red orcs to no effect, high orcs were known for their immense magical durability. Any of the four warriors that were overwhelmed, instantly reappeared, killing his orcs by the dozen.

"What the..?" Groctar said in complete panic, not understanding what was happening.

The high orc chieftain briefly stopped his bombardment, locking eyes with Groctar. It smiled at him with hateful eyes, suddenly chanting out loud in an ancient demonic tongue.

Both sides seemed to stop, when the high orc sorcerer amplified in size, towering over everything in the makeshift battlefield.

Groctar's remaining forces were forcefully lifted up into the air, helpless as the orc mage began to charge up a destructive fire beam. The hood it was wearing became a dragon, the giant maw sucking in all the mana in the air like a black hole.

"NOOOOO!" He screamed in despair, as the high orc unleashed the attack at once, burning his leftover orcs alive. "W-why..."

After that, Groctar was left alone with the small group of warriors, who looked behind them expectantly.

A ton of questions began to race through his mind, why was this happening? Did the Iron Body Monarch send them? What did he do to deserve this punishment? Why was he even still alive?

The atmosphere inside the orc's base suddenly intensified, something terrifying was coming, the closer it got the colder the air became.

"GRRAAAA!" The thunderous bellow of a wyvern flying at full speed towards him made him fall to his knees, causing the high orcs around him to laugh wildly at him.

He couldn't help but stare up into the sky, watching in dread as the shadow black wyvern landed in front of him, a figure in all black hopped off it, slowly walking forward.

"Ugh..." Groctar felt light-headed, the mana was reacting furiously as the menacing man stared him down.

It felt like he was going to puke, but then a wave of darkness hit him.

- Mars -

Did he seriously just faint from pure fear? Well, this was the S-rank dungeon boss that Jinwoo literally left in tears, after the orc almost murdered Jinah and Song-Yi.

I remember the sins these orcs committed in canon, mercilessly slaughtering hundreds of students trapped in the school. I can't help but be filled with rage, there's a timeline where this bastard dare put his hands on my Jinah.

"Oi, wake up!" I wake him up with a harsh slap right to his face.

"H-huh?!" The dungeon boss woke up, looking up at me in horror. "That wasn't just a nightmare..?"

Name: Groctar

Level: 70

Race: Monstrous Humanoid (Orc Warlord)

Thoughts about you: He is stunned, why is the Shadow Monarch here? He is furious you killed all of his brothers

Reputation: - 100

"Groctar, the proud orc warlord..." I greet the confused and scared shitless dungeon boss. "Do you know who I am?"

"Those immortal high orcs were your soldiers..." Groctar muttered to himself in defeat. "Why are you here?"

He seems a lot more calm now, as if he's accepted his death. I do feel bad for him, it's not exactly his fault the Rulers planted the mana crystal in his brain, compelling him to kill all the humans. But I cannot forgive the bloodshed he and his orcs would have caused, if the gate was left alone.

Unfortunately for the orc warlord, death will not come easy for him... I cannot ignore the bloodlust rising within me when I look at him.

"Shhh." I pull the trembling Groctar up, holding him up by the throat. "I am sorry about what's going to happen next... I'll see you soon, Groctar."

- Go Gunhee (Korean Hunters Association) -

The chairman sat in the backseat of his car, patiently waiting for Mars to exit the dungeon. He was watching the rain hit the window, thinking about the disaster they narrowly missed. The A-rank gate in the school was hours away from cracking open, releasing countless monsters onto the unsuspecting students.

What would have happened if Mars wasn't there? He shuddered at the idea, most likely hundreds of students dead, would there even be a single survivor before any hunters could have arrived on the scene?

Gunhee received a call from Mars, right before he entered the gate, thankfully he was visiting a former classmate of his. Upon hearing the news, he instantly dropped everything he was doing, arriving at the school with his Association members, closing down the campus for the day while they investigate. He sighed in relief, as he heard the cheerful shouts of students who get to leave school early.

He's more than happy to receive the upcoming backlash from furious parents about how this could have slipped their detection systems, rather than have to inform and apologize to grief stricken parents. If an entire school of students was lost to the monsters, it could be considered an even greater failure than the years of loss the country endured in Jeju Island.

Eventually, a commotion could be heard outside, judging by the frenzied media, he could only assume Mars has finished.

He sent Woo Jinchul to wait for Mars right by the gate, as he needed to once again thank Mars for saving his ass. Gunhee could feel Mars' distinct presence approaching, without even having to open his eyes.

The car door opens, revealing his young protege, Mars, still reeking of monster blood.

"Mars..." Gunhee shook his hand, bowing to the young hunter. "I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am, it seems every time I see you I owe you an even greater debt..."

"It's alright, chairman." Mars nodded back, a melancholic smile on his face. "I'm just glad I made it in time."

"This accident should have been predicted even earlier, I don't have enough manpower to keep up with the vast increase in gates around Seoul..." The chairman breathed out in deep frustration. "Other countries have been quite aggressive in trying to contact you, thanks to the worldwide spike in gates lately. Japan, the USA, China, Russia, France, Britain, Germany, and even the Middle East... In the past couple days these super power nations have sent official documents, wishing to make contact with you, Mars."

Despite his recent power-up thanks to Mars, Go Gunhee still had a seed of doubt within him, as if another country might really convince Mars to defect.

"In all honesty, the Association has no right to block these countries reaching out, the best we can do is protect your personal information..." Gunhee continued his impassioned plea. "Of course, young Mars, everything depends on your decision. But I fear our country will not be able to adapt if you leave us, even with all of the new B and A-rank awakeners emerging from the population."

"Heh... There's nothing to fear, chairman, I truly don't plan on abandoning you guys." Mars reassured him. "I'm thinking of creating my own guild, once I get my base built in Jeju."

"Whatever you need, Mars. I'll have the land ready for you by tomorrow, if that's okay." He smiled, Mars has been the biggest possible boon to Korea.

"Sure thing, chairman. Is that all?" Mars seemed eager to leave, he's been clearing dungeons one after another with no rest.

"Mars, I know we might be asking too much of you at this point, but there's still one more high ranked gate that just popped up." Woo Jinchul cleared his throat, he had been silent during the car ride. "Do you have enough time for one more raid? I can accompany you, if you'd like."

"It's no problem. If you really want to come, I won't stop you. But it might be boring, watching my shadows clear the dungeon." Mars said with a smirk. "Let me guess, we're heading there now?"

- Later -

- Woo Jinchul (Hunters Association) -

Finally arriving at the gate located in the middle of downtown, Jinchul sighed out when a huge crowd of spectators swarmed the car as they pulled up.

As soon as the door opened, a handful of reporters and civilians screamed out at Mars, either singing his praises or trying to ask him questions. The young hunter has become the biggest star in the country, the whole world couldn't stop talking about him and his powers. Clearing Jeju Island as dominantly as he did only grew his star, Jinchul already felt bad that Mars might not ever get true privacy to himself again.

"Hunter Valentino Mars, please look this way!"

"Please tell us, which guild are you joining?!"

"MARS! I LOVE YOU!"

"What's your relationship with Cha Hae-In?!"

"Hunter Valentino!"

The inspector observed Mars as he prepared to enter the dungeon, the gate was impossible to hide, it was as big as a building.

"Sheesh, this one is big." Mars noted at the abnormally large gate. "This might be even bigger than the earth giant dungeon."

"Yes, we were a bit worried about this one. We're thankful we can count on you to clear it."

As if putting a show for the cameras, Mars summoned his two strongest shadows, the fearsome knight, Igris, and the disturbing ant from the Jeju raid. Jinchul couldn't help but cringe a bit, the hulk of an ant is somehow even more terrifying as Mars' shadow soldier.

Igris was instantly in bodyguard mode, gently attempting to block the paparazzi from getting any closer. Mars' ant was a lot less civil, screeching out viciously enough to crack the camera lenses, scaring even the Association hunters nearby.

"Beru! Don't do that!" Mars scolded the S-rank ant, slapping it in the back of its head. "Shall we go, inspector Jinchul?"

"I am." He responded, taking off his blazer, equipping a suit of armor he kept in the trunk of the car. "The chairman asked me to make a report on how you can clear high ranked dungeons so quickly."

Entering the gate behind Mars and his two summons, Jinchul was surprised it was an aquatic like dungeon. There were coral reef structures as large as skyscrapers surrounding them, with hatched eggs littered throughout the entrance. Judging by the size of the eggs, whatever monsters were inside were massive.

"Inspector. If you would please step back a bit." Igris softly tapped him on the shoulder, respectfully asking him to make room for Mars' forces. "Thank you."

"Sure..." Jinchul complied, as if he could even defy Mars' S-rank bodyguard that easily toyed around with Cha Hae-In.

"New shadows, show me what you can do." Mars said to himself with a rather expectant look on his concentrated face.

On his call, Mars' shadow spread out, completely covering the visible ground with his shadow. Hundreds of summons began to emerge, and what scared Jinchul, was that these were all completely new shadows he didn't recognize from Jeju Island.

He was expecting the medieval, elven, red orc, beast and ant shadows. But what showed up instead were packs of shadow centipedes, a giant spider, tribal Treefolk warriors, a huge centaur, and a small legion of green and black orc shadows.

Jinchul was speechless, in the few dungeons Mars cleared, he already amassed enough summons to take on all of Asia.

"Buryura, Tribal Chief, Groctar..." Mars called out to the shadows, who were all staring at Mars with intense admiration. "Go forth."

As if responding to the army that was summoned, they were suddenly swarmed by packs of A-rank naga monsters, these humanoid snake creatures were massive. The blue skinned monsters were all at least three times as big as he was, each of them carried tridents as tall as Igris.

Jinchul looked to Mars, who looked mostly unimpressed. Just what did Mars go through since he reawakened, that not even these A-rank snake monsters made him bat an eye.

Mars' army charged ahead without any fear, the enormous centaurs lead the way, slicing any nagas in front of it in half. The spider spat out a thick stream of acid at one pack, allowing the centipedes to wrap themselves around the monsters, hundreds of sharp legs cutting into the steel-like flesh.

The considerable collection of orcs were relentless, overwhelming the nagas by sheer numbers alone, the lead orc easily killing any monsters it encountered. Any shadows who were defeated simply regenerated instantly, it was only a matter of time until the nagas were all wiped out.

Beru and Igris casually marched behind Mars, following the trail of carnage deeper into the nest.

While Mars and his new shadows went ahead, Mars' ant soldiers continued to mine all of the magic crystals scattered around the dungeon, while imposing S-rank yetis were collecting all of the dead nagas into one pile.

"You've got to be shitting me." He said to himself, realizing Mars' shadows alone could easily clear every single gate that spawned in Korea, in record time.

Mars' shadows easily make it to the boss room, where a naga ten times the size of any he's seen so far roared out at them.

To his surprise, Mars recalled every summon that wasn't mining or collecting corpses.

"Mars? What are you doing? Your summons are easily enough to defeat the boss." He genuinely asked in confusion.

"Kekeke..." Beru snickered. "Don't you see, how wonderful my Liege is? He likes to deal with the boss all by himself."

Jinchul watched with Beru and Igris as Mars confidently walked up to the giant naga. Mars wrapped himself in a shadow armor, there was a single purple ribbon hanging off his helmet.

The young hunter created two golden tridents, imitating the naga, before he leapt up at the dungeon boss, his wings sprouting out from his back.

Mars easily dodged the naga's attacks, impaling one of the golden tridents right under its chin, the trident pierced through the thick armor, sticking out its mouth, where the bright trident flayed the naga's tongue.

As the monster howled in pain, Mars flipped up over its head, driving the second trident deep into its skull, right through the brain.

Mars landed gracefully, right as the naga collapsed, lifeless onto the ground with a thud, shrinking in size.

"Well done, my King." Igris clapped, congratulating Mars on another dungeon cleared.

"Arise, Jima."

From the corpse of the slain S-rank beast, arose a muscular naga, much smaller than before but the magic energy radiating from it was even larger than it did while it was still alive.

Mars put his hand on Jima's face, the new shadow pushed its head against his palm like it was a dog begging for ear scratches.

The whole dungeon began to shake, a sign the gate was going to close.

"We should go. Inspector, how did you like the raid?" Mars asked, while Jima began to mine some of the large crystals it hoarded when it was still a dungeon monster.

"This was no raid... This was just a one-sided massacre."

- BONUS -

- The Architect -

Cartenon Temple

He had finally done it. The Architect found a vessel that could house Antares. In fact, the vessel has already been sent to the Chaos World, it would only take a couple of days before Antares would fully takeover the human host. Just in time, as the countdown to the Shadow Monarch's ascension has already begun.

The Rulers are about to feel the full wrath of the fully assembled Monarchs.

The Architect turned to the Ruler statues he created, in particular the god, it had a cruel smile on its face, matching the one on his face right now. He's so close to becoming the strongest denizen in the entire universe, no other being has ever won both Antares' and Ashborn's favor.

He laughed to himself, maybe he'll ask the King of Dragons for unstoppable power, since he already decided to get an unbreakable body from the King of the Dead.

- BONUS -

- Goto Ryuji (Blade Guild) -

Tokyo, Japan (Shinjuku)

"WHAT?!" Ryuji looked out the window of his office, where a black gate covered the entire sky.

There was never a gate as big as this one, it was bigger than even Kamish's gate.

What a streak of horrible luck, he thought he was already going to be busy with his scheme against Mars. Hwang Dongsoo was open to the idea, they would need to meet again soon to deal with Mars, how dare the brat humiliate him?

He was already receiving emergency messages from Japan's other top guildmasters, this kind of gate was an existential risk for their entire country.

His phone buzzed again, a chilling message from the Japanese Hunters Association chairman, Matsumoto Shigeo.

It's S-rank.

AN: Here's chapter 24. More dungeons cleared, more shadows and allies gained.

Honestly looking back, one of the biggest reasons I even wanted to write this fic was due to the tragedy of the Busan gate. It was literally the one gate where the monsters would have been friendly to Jinwoo, the arch lich was begging Beru for an audience to meet him, I think it would have been cool to see them interact. Of course, it's just meant to show how strong Beru and the ants are, since Beru straight up one-shots the boss.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate all the feedback.