Ch 144 – Crimson King and Grand Magus

(A Few Months Later)

"Hey, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"It's that the Crimson King and the Grand Magus are finally going to an S-Rank Dungeon! Not only that, but their first S-Rank Dungeon is the infamous Titan Fields!"

"What?! The Titan Fields?! Are they insane?!"

"Well, that's a normal response, but you gotta realized that they're legends in the hunter world!"

"Those two? Like, I know they're the twin rising stars of America, but they're still only S-Rank Hunters as of now."

"You don't realize just how impressive they are! They've only debuted 2 months ago, and now they're attempting an S-Rank Dungeon, and one of legendary difficulty at that! They're nothing short of a genius you'd see once in a hundred years, no, once in a thousand years! From powerless to S-Rank in two months?! You might as well say they can become Gods in a couple of years!"

"What?! 2 Months?! I almost forgot how talented they actually were, I've almost forgotten how fast they've improved considering you'd see them on the news every single day. Then, if logic is true, then shouldn't they be well above A-Rank just like their rank suggests?"

"Well, if someone was really that talented, then it'd be too insane. Many actually theorize that they've S-Rank all this time, and they're only showing a fake front of their growth. Many believed that they've reached S-Rank since a long time ago, and they're only revealing themselves to the public after all this while."

"But why? It's not like they'd gain anything by doing that!"

"Yeah, that's what many used to counterattack those arguments. So the whole internet is divided into many groups, but most believe that those two monsters are just really talented. You did see that the Crimson King wasn't that fast before? Just a few weeks ago, he was well below 30 meters per second, but now? He's running well above the speed of sound with ease! And the Grand Magus, his spells and magic have only gotten more ridiculous as time went on! One even wonders how many attributes that guy has."

"Oh, look, they're on the news already!"

It was a crowded sight, with tons of people surrounding a walkway as many had their gadgets out in the air to record the old green car approaching in the distance.

"Tch, it seems like those two are finally here," a muscular man spoke, he wore a black suit along with black pants. Around the area he was standing, one can see the symbol of the famous guild, Frontier Guild, showing that he was part of that famous guild.

"Don't be so angry," beside him, a woman can be seen wearing a velvet red dress. Beside her, one can see the symbol of the Phoenix Guild, showing that she's part of one of the strongest guilds in America too.

"Just because those newcomers are able to grow so fast, they'd recklessly attempt a dungeon as difficult as this one which remained undefeated for over 10 attempts."

"Well, it is quite baffling at how fast they've grown. Even we took more than a couple of years to reach this level of strength. But I can't wait to see those two in action."

As they watch the green car that obviously looks rundown and old park on the road, the door opened and one can see two mysterious figures get out of the car.

One was a short-statured figure, and yet a powerful presence emanated from him that intimidates anyone near him. He wore a black cloak over black leather armor, along with a hood that covered the majority of his face. Not only that, but a black cloth mask covered his mouth and nose, only allowing others to see his pair of crimson eyes.

Beside him, a man much taller appeared. His hair was long and brown, while his eyes were colored blue and filled with intelligence. One glance alone would tell that he was a smart man. He wore a white cloak over a white shirt and black pants, showing a stark contrast to his level of strength. A simple outfit incomparable to the power he wields. One can't even tell he's actually a powerful mage and instead think of him as a weak mage in a fantasy world.

Walking up to the two was the muscular man from the Frontier Guild, his mere presence alone caused the people surrounding them to murmur with each other.

"Oi, you two were late!" The man glared at them while baring his teeth to intimidate the two.

"Shut up, I know you're only doing this because you feel intimidated that we'd overshadow you, the Immortal King of the Frontier Guild. Don't worry, we don't do this for fame nor power, we're only going to quietly finish this dungeon and we'd let you guys loot the unlucky hunters who previously attempted this dungeon," the cloaked figure interjected, his pair of crimson eyes staring coldly at the Immortal King.

"Y-You!"

"Sorry for my partner here, mister Immortal King. He's been grumpy since this morning due to a certain incident regarding a mix-match of our morning breakfast, so if you wish to remain alive at this instance…" At that moment, the atmosphere in the area turned freezingly cold and a chill crawled up the Immortal King's spine, "I advise that you kindly shut up and leave this place. You know that we've done nothing wrong and you're acting like a two-bit villain in a mediocre anime right now."

Loot the dead bodies? Yes, in this world riddled with dungeons, the items wielded by previous hunters who failed to clear the dungeon still remain inside the dungeon. So if a dungeon like the Titan Fields which had more than ten failed attempts follows the natural progression of the world, then there would be a ton of expensive equipment lying inside.

With that, the two silently walked past the muscular guy and arrive in front of the glaringly large blue portal. Many pointed their cameras at the duo, who stared at the blue dungeon entrance with unperturbed eyes.

"Fuck you, Nicolas. You know the dino nuggies were supposed to be mind, but you unscrupulously ate them yourselves."

"C'mon, stop being a kid."

"But I am a kid, an actual 11-year-old child who is supposed to be able to eat dino nuggies."

"Shut up, I'm going to give you a giant dino nugget tonight if you want to, but we're kind of busy right now.

"Hmph, remember this Nicolas, I may not show it, but I take my grudges very seriously."

"Yeah, yeah. You'd forget about this incident tomorrow anyways, so let's just get this dungeon over with, shall we?"

While the two argued, the girl from the Phoenix Guild watch the duo from a far distance while the Immortal King returned back to her side. His eyes were now calm compared to before as if he had toned down his anger and quietly stood by the side.

Intrigued by this sudden change, the woman from the Phoenix Guild asked, "What happened?"

"… Nothing, I was just being too short-tempered for my own good. And it seems like Crimson King really has been an assassin for a long time, his killing intent alone scared the crap out of me."

"Well, it seems like those two really do have their own secrets. An assassin and a guy who abandoned his comatose mother. It seems like those two really don't have a want for fame nor glory, they are quite strange indeed. Two mysterious figures donned with mystery, I wonder how they'd affect this entire world's power structure."

As the two approached the dungeon entrance, many others from other guilds also neared the dungeon considering fifty hunters can enter the dungeon, so the top five guilds of America were able to send their own hunters, with two reserved for Crimson King and Grand Magus.

With a flash of blue light, the hunters all opened their eyes and were greeted by a field of emerald green grass endless in sight. The blue sky was above them, with even an artificial son hanging above them that illuminated the entire area they found themselves in.

Not only that, upon their arrival, they instantly heard the loud roars of the Titans in the distance. Titans were ginormous monsters, humanoid in appearance that looked grotesque and monstrous. Many of them had varying appearances. Some had red skin with veins flowing with magma, others had icy blue skin with misty ice being exhaled from their mouth. All in all, Titans were a race of creatures with formidable power that is comparable to mythical dragons or hydras.

"Hey, Crimson, what do you want to do? Considering I ate your nuggies, I'd let you plan this one time for once."

"Oh? Do you really think this would appease my wrath? Well, I suppose it does sound fun. Hmm, considering there are more than a hundred of these titans… I supposed I can take care of one half while you take care of the other?"

"Ha! That's not even a plan. Sure, why not."

As the other hunters from different guilds heard the two talk with each other like they weren't there, many felt pissed and were about to interject, when out of nowhere, crimson lightning suddenly crackled from Crimson King's body.

"If you don't want to die, you better not stand in my way. Especially you guys who wish to assassinate me. I really didn't want to officially become an S-Rank Hunter so soon, but if we remain too weak to the public eye, then we'd get attacked by worthless bastards like you guys who only go for power, so stand the fuck back if you want to remain alive."

With a boom, they all watch as the crimson streak of lightning instantly arrived at the titans in the far distance, with many of them suddenly falling down to the ground one by one like flies. That mere sight alone, where S-Rank monsters such as the titans, dying with such ease, instantly caused those with nefarious thoughts to be paralyzed with fear.

"Haha, sorry for my partner's… well, more unrefined way of dealing with assassins. Just remember to not get in our way, okay? We really didn't want to officially become S-Rank Hunters so soon, so please understand our anger. Anyways, see ya! [Morph Body: Light Dragon]."

As a burst of golden light covered the area, many opened their eyes to be greeted by a golden dragon flying off into the distance. Its scales were like glittering gold, the flaps of its wings left a trail of golden light behind while it shot off into the far distance at drastic speeds.

"I-Impossible!"

"H-He can transform into a dragon?!"

"Who the fuck here actually tried to kill those two?! Are you guys insane trying to challenge them?!"

"Fuck you, you were also ordered to kill them, bastard from the XXXX Guild!"

While many quarreled, many also watched in awe at the grand sight those two presented. A streak of crimson that flashed through the vast field multiple kilometers large, decimating every titan in its way as it caused loud booms to echo through the entire dungeon. Its mere speed alone would leave anything in the dust, allowing it to kill an S-Rank Titan with a single blow to the head.

On the other end of the spectrum, one can find a Light Dragon, one of the strongest dragon variants there is, flying through the air and decimating multiple Titans with light attacks. Its roar caused multiple magic circles to form in the air, allowing elemental attacks of gargantuan proportion to spew out endlessly.

In just a matter of minutes, the originally vast plain of emerald green grass turned into chaos and destruction. Fire razed the ground, fields of grass got swallowed by snowstorms and tornadoes, and corpses of titans riddled the entire landscape with the thick scent of death.

And the witnesses of such a grand display of power silently watch it occur with bated breaths, for they have witnessed abilities far surpassing what S-Rank is supposed to be.

"Are they even S-Rank? Aren't they as strong as the Shadow Monarch and Empress of Light?"

"Maybe."

"What do you mean maybe? They're definitely Z-Rank Hunters!"

With that, two legends were revealed to the world in this dungeon, for another step of Braun's plans has been successfully accomplished. What mysteries, traps, and schemes lay in store for the residents of this world who have unfortunately fallen under Braun's all-seeing eyes and limitless mind?

AN: This chapter has 2101 words.

Man, Braun's plans are so fucking grand that I can say that a person shitting in the forest was all according to plan. Like, maybe that shit would allow a plant to grow at a certain point in time that just nudges the gravitational field of the planet enough to conceal a dimensional anchor. It sounds stupid, but when it comes to Braun, everything is a chess piece waiting to be moved.

(September 9, 2022 – 289th day of writing)