The Author's POV

A/N : If you are curious, Melissa official illustration is out on discord.

***

Within the confines of a dark room, a sinister voice echoed.

—He is never wrong. Make sure you keep your guard up. Don't ever let anything happen to what you've built, or else I'll make sure to end you in the most painful way possible.

"Understood."

Malik Alshayatin nodded in agreement while standing behind an oval circle that hovered in the air before him.

"I will make sure to thoroughly search the Monolith."

—Make it quick. The faster you remove this liability, the better for you.

"Understood."

Malik Alshayatin, or better known as Hemlock Feyrer as Malik Alshayating was merely a title, once again nodded.

In response, the sinister voice grew a bit livelier. Its satisfaction was evident.

—As expected of my contractee. You are an obedient one.

In response to the praise, Hemlock merely lowered his head.

"Your highness, I have something to report."

—Speak.

"I am close to breaking through."

—Hmm, I figured that much. How long will it take for you to break through?

"Half a year to a year."

Hemlock answered as his voice grew deeper and his eyes turned a shade of red.

"…Around the same time when the contract with the Union ends."

When Hemlock thought about the Union, he suddenly felt a powerful force surge through his body.

'Humanity's traitors.'

He saw them as such. People who pretended to be doing this for humanity, when they were in fact doing the exact opposite.

They were the reason why humanity was on the verge of extinction.

—It sounds like you will achieve a breakthrough within the next year or two, huh? Then you better make sure you sort out all your problems in the Monolith now.

Squinting, Hemlock solemnly replied.

"Understood."

After his words, the black circular void appeared to slowly dissipate.

—You better not let me down.

Those were the last words Hemlock heard before the voice completely vanished. In the wake of that, Hemlock stood still and closed his eyes, enveloping the room in an eerie silence.

He remained in this state for half an hour before he opened his eyes and turned to face the door.

"Come in."

He spoke in a cold tone that echoed throughout the room. As the voice sounded, the door opened to reveal an obscure figure that hid behind the shadows of the room.

Clank—

"Leader."

Through the large windows at the end of the room, moonlight filtered into the room and illuminated the figure as it stepped into space.

"Everblood.".

Recognizing the figure that had just come in, Hemlock's eyes squinted.

'Could he be the cancer that his highness was talking about?'

While carefully examining the figure before him, Hemlock became uncertain.

Realistically speaking, it was unlikely that Everblood was the cancer within the organization.

Setting aside the fact that he was a demon, he had also made a lot of contributions to the Monolith.

Why would anyone who had made so many contributions to the Monolith be the cancer that his highness was talking about? Especially since he was tied down to the organization by a contract.

Did he not value his life?

'I should still not let my guard down.'

Regardless, despite how unlikely it seemed that Everblood was the cancer within the organization, Hemlock was not going to let his guard down.

With his eyes glued to Everblood, he spoke.

"What is the reason for your sudden visit?"

"I have something to report."

Everblood curtly replied. The very edges of his lips were curled upwards, giving Hemlock a rather unsettling feeling.

"Something to report? What is it?"

"We have a new <SS-> rank in our midst. He has broken through successfully."

"Oh?"

Raising his brows, Hemlock's body relaxed a little.

'Someone has broken through? This is good news'

"Who broke through?"

"It's Rhinestone."

"Oh..."

Hemlock's joy quickly dissipated.

'Wasn't he the same guy that was brought in by him?'

This…

Upon reflection, Everblood had gained an impressive amount of influence within the Monolith.

Even though he didn't have the authority of an elder, his authority within the organization was quite high.

The more he thought about it, the more concerned Hemlock became. It wasn't just Everblood that he was concerned about.

In his mind, Hemlock was considering all the Monolith members and who was the biggest threat at the moment.

"Leader?"

Jolting him out of his thoughts was Everblood's voice.

Turning his head to glance at him, Hemlock calmly nodded his head. A small smile spread across his face.

"That is good news. I will personally go and visit him in a while to congratulate him."

"I understand."

Nodding respectfully, Everblood lowered his head.

"If there is nothing else, I will—"

"Wait."

Putting his hand over Everblood's shoulder, Hemlock stopped him before he could leave. A confused look crossed Everblood's face as he turned his head.

"Yes?"

"…What is your goal?"

"Goal?"

The confusion on Everblood's face grew as he met Hemlock's gaze. With a nod of his head, Hemlock continued.

"I'm curious, do you have any aspirations? What do you wish to achieve in the Monolith?"

"What do I want to achieve in the Monolith?"

Furrowing his brows and falling into a state of contemplation, Everblood eventually shook his head.

"As a demon, we don't have the luxury of having any aspirations. I am only following orders."

'Following orders, huh?'

Hemlock stared deeply at Everblood as he listened to his words, seemingly trying to discern his true intentions.

"I see..:"

It was only after a while that he let go of Everblood's shoulders and nodded to himself.

"You are just following orders. That makes sense."

Indeed. For someone as weak as Everblood, he couldn't afford something like an aspiration.

At most, his desire was to climb the rankings.

"If I may be presumptuous, why are you asking me this?"

It was then that he heard Everblood's voice. In the moonlight that spilled from the glass window, Hemlock turned to glance at him and placed his hands behind his back. After that, he calmly walked toward the windows of the room.

As he paused in front of the window, the moonlight perfectly accentuated his otherworldly features.

Opening his mouth, he asked.

"Are you aware of why I became the leader of the Monolith?"

His voice echoed throughout the room.

Responding to him, Everblood shook his head.

"…No."

With his back still facing him, Hemlock lifted his head up to gaze at the moon.

After a short silence, he answered.

"...My aspiration is to save humanity."

In the wake of his words, Everblood's complexion changed slightly as a heavy silence engulfed the room.

"Pardon? Did you just say that you joined the Monolith because you wanted to save humanity?"

"...You didn't hear wrong."

With a shake of the head, Hemlock asked a question.

"In your opinion, what are the chances of humanity winning over demonkind?"

"Not even one percent."

Everblood's answer was rather direct, leaving no room for doubt. It prompted Hemlock's lips to curl upward.

"My thoughts are the same as yours."

Outstretching his hand toward the moon to block the moonlight, Hemlock slowly opened his mouth.

They may not understand what I'm doing, but they will soon realize that my actions are all performed for the sake of humanity not going extinct. They may call me a tyrant, but I don't care. My conscience is clear."

Magically, the moonlight dispersed as he clenched his hand.

"I can only open their eyes and make them realize that the only way for humanity to continue existing is to join hands with the demons. Fighting against the inevitable is futile. It will only lead to humanity's imminent extinction. What I'm doing is saving our race from extinction."

Hemlock's voice darkened after a short pause.

"While they may see me as a villain at the moment, they will proclaim me the savior of humanity in the future."

"...Your statement makes sense, leader."

With his gaze locked on Hemlock's back, Everblood's voice echoed throughout the room.

"Your actions are truly praiseworthy. Instead of letting humanity perish at the hands of the demons, you are trying your best to save them by making them join our cause. If that's not a hero, then what is?"

"I'm glad you understand me."

Turning his head around to stare at Everblood, Hemlock smiled.

I might not be recognized for what I'm doing now, but once humanity faces extinction, they will understand my actions. They will understand why I did what I did..."

***

[Breaking news : After disappearing for over four years, Edward Stern, the guild leader of the Demon Hunter Guild, makes a shocking appearance. Many have speculated that his disappearance had to do with some sort of accident, but we are now learning that he was simply on a journey to find a way to break through to <SS-> rank. Speculations have it that he is on the verge of breaking through to that level, making him the seventeenth <SS-> ranker…]

Click—

"This is problematic…"

Turning off the holographic device in front of him, Jin sat back on his chair. His brows tightly knit together as he fell into deep contemplation.

'He had to show up just when we were catching up to them…'

It had been quite a while since he had taken over Starlight guild, and although he hadn't done anything major yet, the guild was thriving more than ever.

It had gotten to the point where they finally managed to get close to the level of the Demon Hunter guild.

"In any case, I shouldn't worry too much. Grandpa is also not too far from breaking through to the next level. This is only a slight setback."

Pressing his hands against the desk, Jin slowly got up from his seat.

Stretching his back and neck, Jin took out his daggers. Caressing the body of the dagger, his eyes sharpened.

"I wonder how much stronger he got…"

It had been quite a while since Jin had last seen Ren. A year or so?

And despite all of his responsibilities, Jin had not once stopped training. Not only that, coupled with all the resources provided to him by the guild, Jin's rate of progress had drastically increased. Not long ago, he had finally managed to breakthrough to <A-> rank.

This was unfathomable for someone his age. In spite of that, Jin was not satisfied.

There was a simple reason for this, and it was the fact that he knew Ren was most likely still a notch or two above him.

He was a wall that Jin saw no hope in climbing over.

Yet…

In spite of all this, Jin didn't once find himself hopeless or depressed. Rather, it only reinvigorated his urge to train more.

'What matters isn't how fast one climbs, but who climbs the highest.'

Such was his thinking as he put his daggers down.

Riiing—!

"Hm?"

Just as he was about to leave for training, Jin suddenly heard the sound of his phone ringing. Pressing onto the table, a holographic image formed in front of him.

"What is it? I'm an—"

—Young Master, you have a guest. He is currently waiting in the guest room.

Cutting Jin off was a female voice. It was his assistant.

"A guest?"

Furrowing his brows, he swiped the holographic image to display the camera of the guest rooms.

Moments after he swiped his hand, his eyes opened up a little as he recognized the individual waiting in the guest room. It was none other than Ren.

'Speak of the devil.'

Turning his attention back to the holographic projection, Jin spoke up.

"Let him in."