Supreme Monarch

Many roads in Winged city were paved in cobblestones and it wouldn't be a stretch to say the same of all the cities under the protection of any of the Great Five. However, for a border city like this one that was in the front lines of monster siege and enemy attacks, there were a few exceptions to this as they were generally more focused on protection and security.

In this case, it would be the southern parts of the city or south borough as it was now popularly called.

Since most of the roads in the south were unpaved, in times like this when the snow had fallen for a while and mixed in with the mud, it, in turn, creates a sight that did not belong to a city. Of course, this did not imply that the standards of the city were low. Rather, the standards of the other cities were too high and even this city was a cut above the other nobles' main cities.

Tyler slowly walked down a narrow pathway, he was headed south but had no particular direction. The sun had set a while back and even though the street lamps were automatically lit. There were still certain places the lights could not reach and after coming to a broad clearing in a deserted part of town by town the corner of a junkyard, he was met with such a place.

Standing at the center of this place he sighed, his posture painted a clear picture of annoyance and impatience. "Isn't it about time you all reveal yourselves? You're not doing a good job of hiding your bloodlust."

There was a few seconds of silence in the air before suddenly, several cloaked figures slithered out of the dark and slowly walked towards him withdrawn blades and they soon surrounded him. There were more than thirty of them and one of which Tyler recognized. He had messy short black hair with black eyes. He had two short horns protruding from his head with a long tail that was visible from underneath his cloak.

This was the imp Platinum ranked Hunter that had tried to rob Tyler earlier. It seemed they had gone back to get more people for this and had decided to tail him until he was alone. Most of the people that surrounded him did not seem like Hunters. Their bloodlust was pure and it didn't seem like they were only interested in money this time.

Tyler had been fully aware of the tail that was placed on him since this morning although they hadn't followed him into the Royal borough for some reason but continued stalking him as he left the borough back to the merryside inn. It took a great deal of self-control not to just send Zelda after the tail.

"Looks like you finally noticed us.

Ghahahah, well it's too late... you're now nothing but a caged rat." The imp said sneering at Tyler with maddening and bloodshot eyes.

Sigh... "What a drag... If you're going to attack me then make it quick, I have other things to do." Tyler said cocking his head as a faint smile could be seen on his face underneath his hood.

Several veins budged upon the imp's head ready to bust. He ground his teeth in his mouth and laughed. "That arrogant attitude of yours pisses me off, do you think you're better than us."

Although that was clearly a rhetorical question, Tyler still found it necessary to provide an answer. "Yes, yes I do."

Upon hearing his immediate response, rage boiled within the platinum ranked Hunter and a sound that could only be described as a scornful incredulous scoff left his mouth. He laughed loudly and said:

"Good, good, this is good, if you're not like this then this wouldn't be fun... Ghahahahahah... We'll make you grovel on the ground like the dog you are, no one will be able to save you this time."

"First it was a rat and now a dog, you can't seem to make up your mind even with your insults. Either way, an insult is still an insult and I can't let it slide. Still, it's a relief to know that trash like you exist in every continent, to be honest, I was planning to track you down at some point in time so you've surely saved me the time and effort. As a reward, I'll spare you lives if you go down on your knees and beg for your lives."

"You... You insolent bastard, you're dead, dead! KILL HIM!!"

At his command, more than 20 men charged at Tyler with great speed. Or rather, what they believed to be great speed. Those that held blades prepare them and the rangers and magic users prepared their bows and spells.

However, they hadn't even taken more than a step when the man they were after suddenly disappeared from their view. Their eyes went wide in shock and confusion arose in their minds before their brains had even fully processed what was going on.

The next thing their mind registered was their boss being hoisted off the ground by a hand that had gripped his face like the last time. The Platinum ranked Hunter cursed and screamed behind his palm but no matter how he struggled he couldn't get free.

The other men hesitated for a second before they heard their boss muffled voice continuously scream: "Kill Him, Kill this BASTARD." Tyler shook his head underneath his cloak as he muttered to himself.

"I guess trash will always be trash, no point in this anymore."

The hand that gripped the platinum ranked Hunter tighten slightly and a cracking sound combined with the sickening crunch and squishing of bone and flesh was quite audible in the dark expanse that it made the men around him cringed.

The Platinum ranked Hunter's body fidget for a moment before it slummed down lifelessly and dropped to the ground like nothing but a bag of bones.

"Huh? Well... This was unexpected."

Tyler stared at his bloodied left hand in disbelief as he muttered to himself although the deathly silence that had encompassed the place made his voice reach the ears of everyone around him.

"My apologies, I hadn't expected his head to be that fragile. I had originally intended to toss him back while I deal with you lot so I don't kill him on accident but I guess that's pointless now huh..."

As the group of around 30 armed men stared blankly at him. Tyler made a reaching motion and pulled out a short white towel from the void. He proceeded to wipe off the blood and goo on his gloved hands then tossing the towel atop the dead platinum ranked Hunter.

Shifting his gaze back to the lot that just stared at him with looks of either, confusion, despair, or hateful anger. They all simultaneously took a step back in apprehension as their gaze met his.

Fear the likes of which no of them had felt before crept its way into their hearts and took root. They had no idea how much strength was required to crush a man's head like it was nothing but their souls screamed at every fiber of their being.

"So, now what? Are you all going to try and flee from a supposedly rat/dog that had clearly gotten lucky and killed your leader or are you'll going to avenge him?"

The men's gazes all shifted in a single direction clearly looking for some kind of leadership from their second in command, and the figure of a skinny blonde man holding a long glimmering dagger and standing by the side was the recipient of their questioning looks.

Tyler's eyes naturally shifted with theirs as he located another possible candidate for his questions.

Carn Lockbrook gulped a mouthful of saliva even though his mouth was as dry as a desert. He had never dreamed that something so obscene could ever happen. He hadn't expected an outcome like this even when Corno had wanted to hire an elite from the organization just for this man he had thought he was being a bit paranoid at the time.

However, he would've never imagined that Corno would die so easily. To be honest he hadn't really seen what had happened. All he saw was the hooded man appearing in front of Corno and the next thing he saw was Corno's body on the ground with his head crushed.

His heart tightened as he realized how far out of their league they were. They had surely provoked someone that even their supervisors would be scared of. Worst of all, they had failed to hire Mr. 99 as he had declined their offer, saying he would only help if he finds it interesting.

Numbers was an organization that tends to assign a number to their elite and strongest members. The lower the number the stronger and more dangerous the member was. The organization was led by the ones with single digits but everyone in double digits was still on another level compared to most of the population of this world.

Carn right now was wishing they had offered more for Mr 99's help. He didn't know if he should order a retreat or try to fight. Perhaps the man was being serious and had only gotten lucky but his speed was clearly not something they were equipped to handle.

However, running away blindly was equally if not more of a dangerous move. Carn moves forward slowly after resigning himself to the expectations of his men but his advance held no confidence in them yet he had still made this move.

This was because he had steeled himself for what was to come as a retreat was not even an option. If any of the other divisions find out that they ran away from a single man then they would surely still die but would surfer a more gruesome fate than their boss.

His brain spun as he thought of a desperate plan of attack. A way to at least injure, incapacitate or unmask this opponent when suddenly he heard the casual tone of the hooded man once again and his words made Carn's bones shudder.

"Now that the most useful one amongst you went and died on his own. I guess that makes the lot of you even more worthless, perhaps your corpses would prove to be of use to me."

The man stretched out his arm in Carn's direction. It was just an empty hand that held no weapons, but his body suddenly emitted a pressure the likes of which they had never felt before. It was a pressure that didn't seem to stem from his aura but from a feeling that was hitched in the back of their minds ever since they had seen their boss died.

"Ahh…"

Several hoarse cries came from around Carn.

They were cries of fear.

His presence was filled with unimaginable power. His seemingly casual gesture was like daggers that stabbed at their souls. A sense of death loomed heavily over their heads. This feeling told clearly of their impending doom.

A thrill of cold ran from the bottoms of Carn's feet to the top of his head and an extreme level of fear and panic the likes of which he had never felt before assaulted his mind. Carn did not know what the man was trying to do but he had a premonition based on the rapid change of the air around him.

This man was already strong enough as it was and they had never considered the possibility that he could also use magic which now seemed to be their greatest mistake.

"ATTACK!!! Launch every attack you have now! Don't let him make a move!"

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