CHAPTER FOURTY-TWO!
────living long enough.

❝PLEASE, LET ME SAY THANK YOU.❞

GO GUN-HEE'S BODY FELT COLD.

so cold that he could freeze something with the tip of his fingers.

why was that, why did his skin felt like it was falling apart from the cold?

ah, that's right.

HE WAS FIGHTING THE FROST MONARCH.

the being's frigid hand, coating in freezing ice had stabbed his chest. blood soaked his shirt as he felt his body begin to shut down.

the frost elf was rambling about something, but the old man could care less. honestly, it was amusing to gun-hee that the being thought it had the upper hand.

so, he laughed.

he laughter confused the frost monarch and he cliches when
the grip gun-hee had on the icicle that stabbed him tightened.

"DO YOU REALLY THINK I FOUGHT AGAINST YOU FOR NO REASON?"

his voice was were raspy but his words held weight. "just like we weren't able to predict that you would follow our footsteps, there's something important you missed as well."

"something i missed?" repeats the ice elf, raising a brow. he tilted his head to the side after noticing gun-hee's change in expression.

then, an incredible amount of magical energy is shot past the location of his head, any second later and he would probably be dead.

the surge of that powerful attack was enough to burn away the chairman's fingers on his right hand.

"damn, you almost had me." the monarch admitted turning to the old man, smirking. "don't tell me that this was the important thing you were talking about."

"that's right." gun-hee smiles cheekily as the two heard something.

CRACK!

the barrier separating the office from the outside world was crumbling into pieces after that enormous magical energy crashing into it.

then, the barrier shattered completely and the space regained its original appearance. both could see the lights from other buildings; cars on the roads, everything returned to normal.

"just for this?" the frost monarch says, looking very unimpressed. "i doubt anything would change even if this were to work—"

"NOW!"

gun-hee shouts, his voice practically echoing in the air.

from beneath his feet, a blob separated from the shadow and rapidly transformed into an black ant. and from his left wrist, out materialized a white knight

the shadow ant it screeched out loudly, avoiding the two as it jumped outside the window with the knight following right behind it.

"a resident of the abyss and the light?!" the monarch exclaims, clearly shocked. "but what could a single soldier from the abyss and the light do against-"

but the figures were no longer there anymore, all that was left was a speckle of purple and gold mana.

'an afterimage?'

the monarch thinks before his greatest fear rising in his chest when it clicks.

'don't tell me..!'

the frost being panicked, realizing who might arrive and he quickly discards gun-hee's body away.

LEAVING THE POOR MAN TO BLEED TO HIS DEATH.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THE FORST MONARCH jumps out of the building and chases down the two summons.

cold air surround his hand and froze to form an ice sickle. the monarch instantly arrived at the summons's location and swings down its sickle.

but the being didn't even realized that the summon's figures were disappearing and only forming into this glob of white and black mana.

once the sickle was fully brought down it had suddenly stopped as a hand blocked it from attacking.

THE PRESENCE OF DEATH FILLED THE ATMOSPHERE.

"you're..!" he yelps, eyes narrowing.

the monarch didn't have the time to be surprised, before another hand grabbed his neck harshly as well. bringing him down to his knees like some lowly peasant.

THE HEAT IN THE AIR WAS RISING AT AN ALARMING RATE.

the frost monarch's glowing eyes widened after confirming the identity of the person grabbing him.

[y/n] tighten her grip on his neck as she stared down at him, her eyes illuminating gold.

"just who the hell are you?" she asks her voice low and alluring, as jin-woo behind her crushed the ice sickle with his bare hand.

then, her wraps an arm around his lover's waist from behind her, bringing her back to his chest. with his free hand, he grabbed the monarch's ugly white hair, adding the extra pain.

"an ice elf?" jin-woo adds his voice devoid of life, his glowing purple eyes analyzing the being.

their mana swirled around the couple, almost as if it represented their current mood.

"the number of soldiers i can feel from your shadow and your soul..." the frost monarch grunts, not expecting the woman's grin to be so tight. "monarch of shadows and monarch of the sun... why didn't you come into contact with us even after gathering such a significant number of troops?"

then, jin-woo thought of the time he failed to extract an ice elf all those months ago.

'i was forgetting about it, but...' he thinks, raising an eyebrow. 'if it's what i'm thinking is right, then [n/n] would never let me hear the end of it.'

the two made no effort to reply, the monarch looked
into their eyes. it was then, he realized what was really going on.

a pained gasp escaped his lips, "you two must be the thing i was missing out on, the one that he talked about!"

the being opens his mouth, it glows inside as he breathes out wisps of cold air.

[y/n]'s eyes widen when her arm begins to be covered in sheering cold ice, "shit!" she yelps, as the two let go of grip they had on the frost monarch.

ice spikes begin to from around them, separating them as the frost monarch traps their arms deep into the ice.

the two players steady themselves against the ice, clearly unaffected by it.

'is he a magic user type?' [y/n] think, glancing at her pretty hand trapped in the ice.

she summons her dagger as she activates the 'blade of the sun' skill, effectively burning the ice away.

jin-woo does the same, shattering the ice as he summons his other dagger.

the couple look down at the frost being who stood on ground level, glowing eyes narrowed.

"...why don't we stop here for today. i'm not here to fight with our lives on the line." the monarch suggests before looking at the female player.

"ATLUS IS LOOKING FOR YOU, AURORA."

the [h/c] haired hunter furrows her eyebrows. "what is with you monarchs thinking i'm aurora?!"

'first, the monarch of beginning and now this dude? and who is atlus? seriously, i'm starting to feel bad for her at this point.'

"what do you mean by stop?" jin-woo asks the being, ignoring the statement of someone looking for his lover.

the frost monarch points with the back of his thumb, a smirk growing on lips.

"DIDN'T YOU TWO COME HERE TO SAVE THAT HUMAN?"

this confuses the players, wondering who he was talking about. they look up to where he was pointing at and their eyes widen.

'THE CHAIRMEN?!'

"woo, go to the chairmen, i'll take care of this guy!" [y/n] yells in panic, already rushing forward to attack the frost monarch.

"yes, love!" jin-woo shouts back running towards the tall building.

[SKILL: 'DANCE OF THE SUN GODDESS' ACTIVATED.]

the female player doesn't hesitate to activate this skill, her dagger grows hot as the blade ignites into a powerful flame, as if the balde itself was made of fire.

with one hand, the frost monarch sends spikes of sharp ice at her. while the other hand forms a spear, shooting it towards her lover.

the [h/c] haired player cuts the ice with ease and quickly using ruler's authority to stop the spear.

[THE OPPONENT'S MAGIC IS RESISTING THE AUTHORITY OF THE RULER.]

"damn you!" she sneers, gritting her teeth as a fiery glare paints her face towards the frost monarch.

the being only grinned back at her, knowing he had the upper hand in this battle.

"JIN-WOO, BEHIND YOU!"

"I KNOW, [Y/N]!"

the dark haired player turns around in time, blocking the ice spear with his dagger. the impact was harder then he imagined as he struggled a bit with it. but he was able to successfully push back in a different direction.

in that fraction of a second, the frost elf creates a gate to escape.

"OH, NO YOU FUCKING DON'T!"

the two players don't waste time in summoning all their daggers, rushing them at the frost monarch.

only one dagger from each player was able to hit the elf, as he blocked all the rest.

"you two are mere vessels, but yet you two dare to lay a hand on me?" he mockingly questions before turning around to face them.

"VERY WELL!"

he grins at the two, as the tone of his voice is sinister. "i, the monarch of frost, will retreat for now. i will until the next time your shadows and your soul are open again."

"JUST THINK OF NEARLY DEAD HUMAN AS MY GIFT TO YOU TWO."

the frost monarch turns to [y/n] once more as she only glares back at him.

"it won't be long until he comes and finds you, aurora." he warns as he begins to enter the gate he created.

"for the last fucking time!" she retorts, becoming increasingly annoyed. "i am not aurora!"

the monarch hums, his glowing eyes narrowing as he mutters. "how odd..."

AND WITH THAT, HE FINALLY DISAPPEARS.

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

THE TWO PLAYERS looked down at the bleeding chairmen, each kneeled on either side of him.

tears pricked [y/n]'s [e/c] eyes as she looked down at the old man, horrified. 'this... this can't be healed with a potion we need—'

"BERU!"

jin-woo shouts, ordering his summon to be by his side. the reverb of his voice is echoed in his lover's ears but it didn't bother her one bit.

almost instantaneously, beru was right next to his king, bowing.

"you called for me, my king?"

"save him, at all costs!"

the powerful summon doesn't hesitate his orders as he begins to heal gun-hee. his hand glows green, illuminating the dark room.

silence only follows.

"my king." beru calls, his voice full of worry. "my healing didn't work on him."

[y/n] quickly grabs an important item from her inventory, one the vials that held the holy water or life.

'i don't care if i'm carelessly using this, i'm not going to let the chairmen die!' she thinks as she begins opening the bottle.

but a bloodied hand stops her.

"...please don't sweetheart."

"chairmen?!"

gun-hee's weak voice breaks the [h/c] haired player's heart as more tears fill her eyes.

his tried and weak eyes look at them. "...you've come for me. thank you very much, you two."

"please wait a little longer. i will send you to hospital immediately." jin-woo coaxes, hoping the man will comply.

"it's no use..." gun-hee mutters. "nothing can be done after taking damage from those kinds of attacks. but i had the opportunity to come in contact with supreme being. their plan, and the remaining fight between them and us and the things we must do..."

it's wasn't before long the man starts coughing up blood, he was using last of his energy to speak to the couple.

"please, sir gun-hee! let us heal you!" [y/n] pleads, can't standing see the sweet old man die like this.

this man treated her like she was his own granddaughter. he had quickly warmed his way into the beautiful woman's kind soul and cementing his place there.

"i'm very relived that you two are here..." he continues, ignoring her heart shattering begging or it didn't quite register in his brain. "i am very thankful that you two posses such power..."

"the gates and dungeons weren't for them. it was simply a means they used to protect us..." gun-hee coughs out as beru continues to heal him to at least let him live a little longer.

his other hand grabs jin-woo's as he squeezes [y/n]'s hand a little tighter.

"someday... you two will encounter a moment where you'll have to choose which side to stand on." he says, his voice wavering.

broken expression paint the player's faces, the lingering feeling knowing that this will be his last moments.

"AND I REQUEST OF YOU TWO, PLEASE REMAIN ON THE SIDE OF THE HUMANS."

tears slip down his eyes as this truly was his final wish to them.

he lets out horse coughs. "i've always wanted to fight alongside young hunters like yourselves. however, i should've known it was impossible feat with a body like this..."

then, a smile forms on his lips.

"BUT I DON'T REGRET ANYTHING. SINCE I CAN LEAVE THINGS IN THE HANDS OF YOUNGSTERS LIKE YOU TWO."

go gun-hee's heart has been beating thousands, tens of thousands of times. he's realized he didn't have much time left in him.

BUT THE REASON HIS HEART DIDN'T STOP BEATING UNTIL NOW...

was to meet them.

two very important people.

one that's stood in the shadows, unapproachable and seemingly invincible.

the other that stood in the sunlight, ever so radiant and endlessly kind.

he's watched these two grow into the powerful hunters they are at this very moment.

they kept him going.

'i've lived long enough...'

his tired eyes trail to the bright young women he was so fond of. he sees the tears running down her face as she clutches his hand to her forehead.

"you remind me so much of my
granddaughter, thank you..."

he didn't have time to dwell if she heard him or not. he felt his eyes begin to close and his conscious slipping.

the last sight were their faces.

'WHAT A RELIF THAT I MET YOU TWO, THANK YOU.'

───── ⋆⋅ ☽ ⋅⋆ ─────

SILENCE. ONLY SILENCE followed.

go gun-hee's hand slips from the their hands, with a loud thump.

they couldn't speak nor move.

tears only slip from their eyes as for once, they decided to be openly vulnerable.

not being able to keep it in any longer, [y/n] lets out a heart wrenching sob. she tried to form words put only hiccups and heavy cries escaped her lips.

and only one sentence lingered in her mind.

'I NEVER GOT TO SAY THANK YOU TO YOU, GRANDPA...'

CHAPTER FOURTY-TWO! END!
────living long enough.