Ch 218: The Monarchs of Fangs and Frost.

"Yes. You get to work out every day now, but you'll thank me later." grinned Akeno, watching Noah on the phone. Judging from his naked torso, she had interrupted him as he was having some fun.

"Sure." replied Noah. "And I'm glad it all worked out well."

"We're having an impromptu picnic right now, while the lower-ranked Hunters who came by boat are patrolling the island to make sure we haven't missed any ant or egg. Jeanne is currently busy explaining the situation to the Japanese Hunters, and I expect three more to ask for a soul contract."

"Nice." smiled Noah.

"And how are things on your side?"

"On the Sisters' side, I create about a hundred contracts per day, so I'm currently at… sixteen percent completion. I'll need three more months at this rate. Tabane, the genius inventor, had visited your world for a little while, and is currently with Aria on her second world, taking a look at Celestial Being's Gundams. She hasn't signed a contract with me just yet, but she's close enough to have agreed to work for us, and I'll finish with her soon. Or maybe she'll sign a contract with Aria first, but the end result will be the same."

"I have started training Orihime, and Rukia will be next. Yoruichi is already done with Soi Fong, not that it was exactly hard for her, and is working on Nemu. Everything is going rather well, but I don't like the fact that Yhwach now knows more about me than I'm comfortable with, and he has the initiative, since I don't want to risk just teleporting to him."

"I know what you mean." smiled Akeno. "We end up spoiled if we grow too used to knowing how things are supposed to go, and when we don't know…"

"Yes. After I'm done with everyone the Shinigamis asked for, I think I will go after Venelana, then Sona and her peerage. It's about time I grow my influence on your world, and I'll use the Satans to push my reforms, since they already control the human world. No reason to upset the existing order."

Akeno nodded. Since he had won the Devi King War, Noah was, technically, one of the five Satans ruling the Underworld and the devils. Only, he had not yet made any move to replace Gandou, the Headmaster of Ginsei Academy.

He would have to, when he would get around to attending the promotion ritual and get an upgrade from High Class to Ultimate Devil, getting his number of wings increased from six to twelve and a minor power up. Venelana would become part of his harem one day, and so would Serafall leviathan, giving him three votes in the Five Satans Council.

Noah had deliberately avoided telling any of the Satans how exactly he intended to exercise power on their world, and the Satans hadn't pressed him on it yet. But Noah had already noticed a change in the medias of the human world, seeing a greater emphasis on eco-friendly initiatives and several anti-corruption campaigns.

"Yes. By leaving the local institutions in place, they can do the hard work of governing, and we can limit ourselves to simply conducting an interview a year for every official of significance, to keep them honest." grinned Akeno.

"Easy to do with the Sisters. Although that may change after that Xianxia world. Fifty billion plus people with little respect for the value of human lives or the rule of law is going to be hell to manage."

Akeno giggled. "You signed up for this. And don't pretend you won't have fun over there. I wouldn't even be surprised if you returned from that place with more new harem members than when the Sisters appeared!"

"Surely even I won't be that greedy." said Noah with a roll of his eyes.

"Ah! I'm sure you'll stumble at some point on one female-only sect or three, and you'll just take them all like you have a promotion for buying in bulk." taunted Akeno. "A good thing I have my place secured. If not, I'd be worr…"

Akeno's word trailed off as she felt a burst of power being unleashed in the forest. Something far too strong to come from a mere A-rank adventurer.

"Something is happening, call you later."

"Be careful." replied Noah as she ended the call.

The other Hunters had felt it, too, and reached for their weapons.

A man in armor appeared from between the trees and ran toward them, looking terrified.

He was missing an arm.

Jeanne used Shunpo to appear near him, grabbed him and was already healing him as she ran toward Akeno.

"What happened?" urgently asked Choi Jong-In.

"Two people… no, monsters! One of them is an ice elf! The other attacked us, several Hunters are dead!" cried the Hunter.

Akeno frowned as she had a suspicion. Monsters weren't supposed to come out of a dungeon unless the dungeon itself broke down after seven days, but they would have noticed a second dungeon on the island before, and there would be one hell of a lot more than two monsters.

She hoped she was wrong. It was too soon!

Unfortunately, reality didn't care about Akeno's wishes, and the two monsters in question came from between the trees, walking leisurely as they followed the trail of blood.

The first and tallest looked like a large and very muscular young man with tan skin, glowing yellow eyes, sharp teeth and long, wild black hair. He was dressed in fur pelts kept togethers by bone spines and ribs.

The savage aura coming from him exceeded that of the Ant King.

The one walking on his left looked like an elderly but spry looking elf with blue skin, long silver hair, blank white hair, and round ears, dressed in a ragged light blue pants, shirt and coat.

His aura was cold and cruel, and every bit as strong as the other's.

They both saw Igris and Beru, who were standing near Jinah, and smiled coldly.

"It's good. We haven't come in vain." said the elf, in a language that only Akeno and the others sharing Noah's abilities could understand.

"Who are you?" carefully asked Jinah, activating Augment.

"Oh, could it be he's still asleep? It's a disappointment."

"If I guess correctly, you should be Sillad, the Monarch of Frost, and Rakan, the Monarch of Fangs." said Akeno in Korean.

The Hunters' grips on their weapons tightened as Akeno essentially declared to them that each of those two beings were at least as strong as the dragon Kamish that had killed many S-rank Hunters.

The man in furs looked at her in slight surprise, and nodded, replying in Korean as well.

"Even bugs know our names. The Rulers must have told them about us. Rejoice, meat. You are below our notice. You can walk away and spread the word of our coming."

"Thank you for your 'mercy', but I'll pass." said Akeno, taking from her inventory a black sword whose blade was covered with Stop runes and throwing it near Jinah's feet, where it planted itself almost vertically.

Jinah nodded as she took the blade and put it into her spatial ring. In her other hand, she loosely held the swordstaff, that she had turned invisible before the Monarchs left the woods. With just a bit of luck, she would be able to deliver a surprise strike with it.

"We'll have better chances if we separate them." decided Akeno. "So… Alter, you're with me. The two of us will deal with the elf."

"Yes!" grinned Alter.

"Eh!" coldly laughed Sillad. "The people of this puny world truly are amusing. How will you deal with me, I wonder."

"Everyone else, you deal with the cave man. Don't let him escape. And good luck."

"Don’t let him escape, she said." muttered Cha Hae-In, shaking her head. She felt like a kitten facing a tiger right now.

She blinked as she saw something small and iridescent appear in Akeno's left hand, and suddenly, Akeno, Alter and the ice Elf were gone!

The other Monarch was clearly surprised, but didn't lose his confidence as he glared at Jinah who walked toward him, with shadow mages and assassins emerging from her shadow.

…

Sillad looked around, the first hint of doubt appearing on his face.

"What did you do?"

Akeno didn't answer him and turned to Alter.

"You remember what we know about him, right?"

Torri, Eir's Champion, had told them what she remembered about each monarch. Rakan was essentially a werewolf, strong and fast, and able to regenerate even a lost limb in seconds. His regeneration had limits, however, and Akeno trusted Jinah and the others to either injure him over and over until his vitality ran out or use Stop Runes to slow down or negate his regeneration, like she had done with the Hydra.

Sillad was different, as he specialized in crowd control. He was proficient in melee combat using ice blades, but suddenly being encased in ice or having their feet stuck to the ground by creeping ice were what they had to watch out for.

"Yes. Let's get started." smiled Alter fearlessly.

Akeno nodded, and Alter ran toward Sillad on a straight line. The Monarch shook his head, as he had expected better than a simple charge, and waved his hand, sending a wave of freezing cold toward her, intending to instantly encase her in a block of cursed ice that wouldn't let her die.

But his face changed when the gray-haired woman used a strange movement technique, and Sillad only saw a blur before she was already stopping on his left, but he still had time to lift his hand to grab the shaft of the battle flag she was swinging toward him.

He managed it, even if the blow was surprisingly strong, but he felt something pass from her weapon to him. He was about to spread ice from the part he touched to force the woman to either drop her weapon or get encased as well, but had to hurriedly release it as the woman had already drawn the sword on her waist and was slashing at him.

"Bothersome gnat." said Sillad, taking her more seriously and glancing at the other one.

But he didn't see her.

Guessing she had activated some kind of stealth ability, Sillad spread his power, wanting to create a huge ice storm that would freeze everything around him.

A lightning bolt descending from the sky struck him. The shock paralyzed him only for a fraction of a second, but before he could continue, golden swords appearing near the place where the black-haired one had stood propelled themselves toward him.

He used one ability that every Ruler and Monarch Possessed, Telekinesis, to grab the weapons before they could reach him, and retaliated with a barrage of ice shards in the direction they had come from, but none of the shards hit anything.

The gray-haired woman was on him again, and Sillad had to divert his attention back to her as he used his breath attack, finally managing to seal her in ice. He would properly punish her later, after he nailed her elusive friend. Ice gathered on his right hand, extending and forming a thick blade of ice.

Another bolt of lightning, a stronger one this time, hit him, causing him pain and some burns, but he ignored the discomfort and recovered in time to block the black-haired one as she used the same movement technique to try to attack him with two black swords, revealing herself.

"I will make you suffer for eternity, just like your friend." promised Sillad.

"You are just a big fish in a small pond, Sillad. I serve someone far more powerful than even your so-called Supreme Being." said Akeno, wanting to distract him. Not that she had to do it for any longer than…

The spear tip of the battle flag suddenly emerged from his torso, and Sillad looked down in shock, only a fraction of a second before Akeno seized the opportunity, batting away his ice sword and jumping forward, blades flashing, beheading the Monarch.

His expression turned into disbelief as his head rolled to the ground.

When discussing how to deal with each Monarch, Akeno and the members of her faction had come up with a number of tricks, and using the Heroic Spirits' ability to dematerialize had been one of them.

Alter had deliberately let herself be caught in the ice, then dematerialized as soon as Sillad stopped paying her attention, confident in his victory, and rematerialized beside the ice block. Sillad had felt her presence all along but assumed what the presence he sensed came from within the ice.

Until it was too late.

Akeno's goal had simply been to keep him busy and looking away from the ice coffin as Alter made her move, then capitalize on it.

The fight only lasted ten seconds at most, and Akeno collected the head with a satisfied smile, putting it in her inventory. She took from it another sword covered with runes.

"Good job, Alter."

"He was strong, but I'm not satisfied. Do you think I can join the fight with the other one?"

"Yes, but we'll do it smartly and go for the kill from the start. Don't try to extend the fight, or he'll just run away."

"Yes." nodded Alter. She might be bloodthirsty and enjoy fighting, but she also knew that Monarchs were too dangerous to play with.

"Good girl. I'll reward you plenty later." smiled Akeno. "Dematerialize for now and try to hide your presence, I'm about to bring us back to the real world."

Akeno also used Ghost Walker to hide herself. Hopefully, Rakan would be distracted and only notice they had returned as their blades penetrated his body.

…

Rakan was getting seriously irritated. At first, when he saw Ashborn's vessel, he had been both disappointed and relieved that he seemed to still be sleeping. Disappointed that he couldn't truly get his revenge against his hated target, and relieved that it would be easy.

But it wasn't turning out to be easy at all!

Ashborn's lackey Igris wasn't at his peak, and Rakan had quickly torn him apart. He would soon regenerate, as none of his own abilities could sever the bond between the Shadow Monarch and his soldiers.

Sillad could, but he had somehow been transported away.

Another attack came from his left, and he slashed with his claws, wounding the blonde female human who had tried to pierce his heart.

"Hae-In" shouted one of the gnats who knew better than to try to attack him.

Before Rakan could finish her off, another female human as taken her place, and yet another was taking her away, healing her wounds.

It wasn't the first time this had happened, and it was the source of his irritation. Four times already, he had failed to kill his enemies who were taking turns, trying to wear him down. He was constantly attacked by at least three of them at any time, and while his wounds regenerated fast, he still felt the pain!

With a growl, Rakan decided to go all out, his face fully changing into that of a wolf.

He suddenly swung his left arm to the side, smacking away the black ant monster who had tried to take him by surprise. The ant crashed among the trees behind him.

The other source of his irritation was Ashborn's vessel. She was too fast. Faster than a mere human had any right to be. The blonde woman fighting with a banner, of all things, was also too fast, and actually rivalled with him in speed and power.

Rakan ignored the ice and water paws trying to hurt him, as they couldn't penetrate his skin, and dashed toward the injured woman, determined to finish her this time, but his opponents had predicted his move, and Igris rejoined the fight, driving his sword into his hip joint and making him stumble.

"Damn it! I will devour you all!" shouted Rakan.

His anger was reaching its peak, but at the same time, he started to wonder if he should retreat. There were simply too many enemies, and it would be easier to pick them off later.

He decided to wait a while longer for Sillad to return. With two Monarchs, the humans would be overwhelmed.

Ashborn's vessel attacked him again, using this damnable invisible weapon that possessed enough reach that Rakan couldn't counter-attack immediately, and his right arm was loped off. He started to step back to recover, when he suddenly felt a presence behind him.

No, more than one.

Before he had time to turn, a blade pierced his back, penetrating deep. And he felt a wave of weakness spreading from it.

He turned and swung his left harm, or at least tried to. The other enemy struck the back of his knees, making him collapse.

Ashborn's vessel used the opportunity to sever his other arm, and Rakan noticed with fear that his regeneration had slowed to a crawl.

"You!" gasped Rakan, recognizing the two human females. "Where is Sillad?"

The black-haired one waved with a hand, and something appeared and fell, rolling on the ground near him. Sillad's head.

The shock paralyzed his thoughts. How could two humans, none of them being a Ruler's vessel, from what he could feel, kill Sillad? He flinched when he felt death coming for him. Ashborn's vessel was already swinging her invisible weapon toward his neck, and she was also using her Ruler's hand to pin him in place!

Has he been able to use his power normally, he would have evaded without too much trouble by countering with his own Ruler's Hand, then escaped.

"Curse y…" started Rakan, but his words were interrupted when his head became disconnected from the rest of his body.

…

"Great job, everyone." smiled Akeno as she checked on everyone and noticed that no one had died.

"Those two, were they truly Monarchs?" asked Hae-In, getting back to her feet after Joohee was done treating her.

"Yes. Why, do you think they died too easily?"

"Well… They were very strong, but… aren't they still weaker than Kamish?"

"We killed Sillad by exploiting his overconfidence, and Rakan by mobbing him like ants on a mantis and impairing his power. With those two dead, the remaining six Monarchs will be on their guard. They won't be as easy." sighed Akeno.

Personally, she wasn't so certain. She hadn't needed to use Divine Dividing or Bullet Time during this fight. She figured that herself, Jeanne, Alter, and maybe Jinah, might now be strong enough to fight the Monarchs one on one. But she decided to keep that thought to herself, as she wanted them all to keep training without relaxing their efforts.

If she could keep fighting the Monarchs with a numerical advantage, things should go well. And looking at Hae-In and the three Japanese S-rank women, she knew exactly what to do to increase the odds of that happening.