Work Text:
Sung Jinwoo would have to thank whoever came up with the idea for the S-Rank hunters to spar. With this, he was able to gauge both his allies and opponents and use his strength accordingly. As his eyes scanned the four-on-four fight starting below him, he quickly picked out the strengths and weaknesses of the hunters involved.
As they continued to spar, he couldn’t help but be blindsided by the sheer amount of mana emitted by Goto Ryuji. It wasn’t near his, but Jinwoo would be lying if he said that Goto wasn’t one of the most powerful hunters he had laid eyes on. While he watched the fight develop, his attention kept being pulled back to the strongest Japanese Hunter, figuring he was also using this sparring session to assess the Korean hunters. At least, that’s what he picked up from the little snippets of conversation he could pick up between Goto and his interpreter.
The rising levels of bloodlust hit him like a ton of bricks, and the almost sly indifference on Goto’s face made him step in as Kumamoto went for a fatal strike on Cha Hae-in. He was careful with the amount of power he displayed, yet knew it wasn’t enough with the pained sound the male let out as he blocked his attack. Several scenarios ran through Jinwoo’s mind before he quickly incapacitated Kumamoto, deciding it was best for the Korean team to admit defeat.
When Ryuji first sensed Hunter Sung Jinwoo, he didn’t think much of it. The Korean association had him listed as a mage type, and his mana fluctuations were a little chaotic but nothing he hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t until he blocked Kumamoto’s attack with a witty quip about bloodlust that something in Ryuji sat up in attention. He wasn’t sure if this Jinwoo character would be a threat to his current goals, but he only saw one way to test out if he would be someone he needed to dispose of before the raid.
It annoyed Ryuji how blank Hunter Jinwoo was, not giving anything away behind his blank stare and cocky smirk. It raised his hackles even more that he suggested that he would only accept the challenge if Ryuji brought out his full power.
“This kid is either more powerful than he appears or has a death wish.” The thought passed older Hunter’s mind before he scoffed.
It didn’t matter either way to him. The only person in the room that could give him pause was their chairman Go Gunhee; even Hunter Cha Hae-in would fall under his blades if he got serious. Nonetheless, he accepted, telling Shimizu to be on standby to heal the injured.
Jinwoo didn’t have time to prepare as Goto launched his first attack. His earlier thoughts were confirmed as he sidestepped and dodged Goto’s strikes. The reawakened Hunter would have been in serious trouble had he not essentially assimilated with Ashborn and unlocked the full potential of his powers. Because he had, though, the only problem Jinwoo had was controlling just how much power to unleash. It didn’t help him any that Goto was decidedly more attractive when he was frustrated, and he couldn’t stop himself from riling up the older Hunter even more.
The more Jinwoo taunted the older Hunter, the more aggressive their fight became and the more excited Shadow Monarch became. It wasn’t until the notification of immense bloodlust close by that his playful smirk gained a darker edge.
When Sung Jinwoo grabbed his palm instead of his wrist, quickly stopping his attack in its path, Ryuji knew he was correct in assuming that Hunter Jinwoo was hiding more than he let on. That made him that much more determined to expose all of it right then in there. When the young Hunter opened his mouth and spoke near fluent Japanese, Ryuji’s eyes widened in shock before smoothing his features and assessing the male in front of him.
“If I was slower, then I would have lost my eyes right there.” His tone was teasing, but Ryuji wasn’t fooled, Hunter Jinwoo had his hand in a crushing grip, and if he were a weaker hunter, he was sure his hand would be crippled.
“You think you can play around with me?” Upon his question, he watched in real-time as Sung Jinwoo’s smile went lecherous, eyes alight with power and ill intentions.
“The match is over if I grabbed your wrist. Even you wouldn’t want to end our match this way, right?” Ryuji didn’t want to admit that he was right.
He only ended up in this situation because he had underestimated Hunter Jinwoo and had assumed the younger male was a mage type. Still, he didn’t believe for one second that this newly reawakened Hunter could beat him in an actual fight.
“I know you’re hiding something. And I’m going to take joy in plucking out all of your little secrets.” Ryuji seethed.
“Be careful how you say things, Goto; I might get the wrong idea.” Sung Jinwoo took a step closer as he purred.
“Are you going to keep flirting, or will you continue the spar?” Ryuji took the moment to break the younger Hunter’s hold on his hand.
“So you’re aware that I’m flirting but haven’t told me to stop. Maybe you like me more than you’re letting on.” His frustration grew as Sung Jinwoo danced out of the way of his next attack, hand going up to his neck where a thin trickle of blood started flowing.
Despite that, he still had that same infuriating smirk on his face and beckoned the older Hunter forward. Ryuji would be damned if he didn’t rise to the challenge, unleashing a bit more of his power with the single thought that he needed to get rid of Sung Jinwoo while he had the chance.
…
“Better luck next time.” With those words, Jinwoo didn’t look back as he left Ryuji frozen in his spot, sweat pouring down his face and eyes staring somewhere in the middle distance.
Shimizu was the first to reach him, placing a hand on his shoulder as he asked if he was alright.
“The sky was purple.” He muttered, much to Shimizu’s confusion.
The ones closer to the pair were also confused. From their perspective, Ryuji suddenly stopped fighting and stood there wholly defenseless as Jinwoo made to strike again.
Ryuji was sure of what he saw when Hunter Jinwoo had moved in for his last attack. The sky had been shrouded in purple, and despite knowing he was in a gym surrounded by hunters from both Korea and his Draw Sword guild, he couldn’t hear a single sound, and all around him was a desolate wasteland. As far as the eye could see, a complete darkness pressed in on him like a chokehold, stealing all the air from his lungs. Whatever ability Sung Jinwoo had used was activated the moment Ryuji had locked eyes with the young Hunter. It had frozen him to his spot as an overwhelming sense of dread crept up his spine and hopelessly washed over him in unrelenting waves despite his brain registering the closing threat.
Despite the precarious situation, Ryuji couldn’t say that he was relieved that the Korean hunters intervened, annoyed fit more once the lingering tendrils of horror receded. The Guild Master was certain that Hunter Jinwoo had connections within the Korean Association that allowed them to hide his actual attributes. That fight did nothing but prove that he wasn’t a mage type, and he needed only to adjust his strategy to take out the inexperienced Hunter. There was no way in hell that Jinwoo was stronger than him, Ryuji was certain.
Though Jinwoo said he wouldn’t initially participate in the Jeju Island raid, he told Chairman Gunhee that he would keep an eye on the situation and help if things looked dire. He spent that time split between his mom and Jinnah and refining his handle on the full scope of his abilities and reorganizing his army of shadows. His fight with Goto enlightened him to a few flaws in his fighting style despite his power and gave him a better picture of how to utilize it.
He picked gates to solo until the day of the raid and then waited, keeping an eye on the shadows he attached to the Korean team and Goto himself. It still surprised him that none of them sensed when he placed soldiers in any of their shadows. He had thought that at least Goto would have realized with how sensitive he appeared to be to mana, but Jinwoo didn’t complain as he sat and waited, hoping that he wouldn’t need to intervene.
He was proven wrong fairly quickly into the raid; one of his shadows had returned to him, meaning that things were going downhill fast. He threw a half-baked excuse to his mom before going into his room and shadow exchanging to one of his other soldiers still present on Jeju Island.
When he arrived, it was to absolute carnage. Bodies were scattered among the remains of ice, gouged earth, ant carcasses, and uprooted trees. Upon further inspection, he recognized some of the Japanese Hunters that were present during his spar with Goto. Jinwoo didn’t have time to piece together what was happening as an ungodly screech reverberated throughout the forest as yet another shadow returned to him.
Whatever was picking off these hunters was decidedly stronger than anything they had initially expected, and if things continued the way they were, Jinwoo was sure that there would be more casualties on their hands. He didn’t hesitate to summon a team of his shadows to find Cha and assist on that front before he headed in the direction he heard the screech.
What he found couldn’t even have been considered the scene of a battle. The clearing was pristine if you overlooked the crimson staining the grass where a headless Goto Ryuji lay. It didn’t even seem like the man knew what killed him as his swords were still grasped but in his hands. Jinwoo tsked at the sight of so much lost potential as a hunter and potential partner.
Another screech, this time further away, erupted, and Jinwoo snapped out of his daze. He didn’t have much time to delay dealing with whatever monstrosity was able to easily take out the strongest Hunter in Japan. He hesitated, though, eyes drawn towards the raging miasma drenching the headless corpse calling out to him like a siren he was too weak to resist.
“Arise.”
Jinwoo smirked.