Gullard saw everything clearly.
When the man suddenly appeared in the sky, shock was clear on his face. In an instant, he seemed to observe his surroundings, and upon realising he was in the air, he looked to see where he would land.
The man’s next actions were astonishing. While still in the air, he spun his body around and drew two swords, which he then used to pierce the throats of the two Demons at the same time as he landed.
“Gurk…!”
“Kek!”
Pulling his swords out of the throats of the choking Demons, the man then kicked the Demon on the left in the head.
Paak!
The Demon’s head was immediately ripped off and rolled across the street. Blood spurted up from the severed neck. The force of the eruption was so strong that some of the blood even managed to land on Joanna’s face despite her being a short distance away from them.
Even though she was being covered in red blood, Joanna couldn’t help but feel that she was dreaming at that moment.
What the hell was going on?
“Roar!”
The other Demon lunged forward with explosive ferocity, but the man didn’t seem shocked or surprised by this. Instead, he also rushed forward, narrowing the distance between them.
Then, in an incredible display of martial arts, he unleashed a brutal uppercut, aimed at the Demon’s already injured throat.
This caused the Demon to scream and flinch.
When he saw this, the man narrowed his eyes slightly. He glanced down at his fist for a moment before reaching down to his waist and drawing a pistol that was holstered there.
Bang!
Just one shot.
The bullet hit the Demon’s forehead. Normally, it was impossible to pierce a Demon’s flesh and bones with a bullet shot from a pistol. It was like stabbing a rock with a toothpick.
Crack!
Nevertheless, this bullet pierced through the Demon’s forehead and destroyed its brain before escaping through the back of its head.
The man spun the gun on his finger for a moment before returning it to its holster at his waist. It was a move that would have made even the gunslingers of the west jealous.
“…”
Silence filled the area.
Everyone was surprised by the man’s sudden appearance followed by his actions.
The man looked around once more before turning to Joanna who wasn’t too far away from him.
“Hey.”
“Ye-, yes?”
“Is this Zinga City?”
“Th-, that’s right.”
A look of disbelief flashed in the man’s eyes.
“I should have been at least 1000 kilometers away…”
As he murmured, his tone and expression reminded her of a beast whose pride had been wounded.
Joanna couldn’t help but gulp slightly.
At first, she had been too surprised to notice, but she knew this man.
She had to have. She’d seen his pictures countless times before going there. In fact, she even had a picture of him in her bag.
After all, this man was the reason she’d come to Africa in the first place.
“The Strongest, Kran…”
Kran turned around without responding to her.
He was looking at the spot where Gullard and Lee Jong-hak were standing.
“It seems a troublesome guy has appeared.”
Gullard turned to look at Lee Jong-hak as he muttered.
“It would be really annoying if you two were to work together.”
“…?!”
Bang!
At that moment, a huge shadow struck Lee Jong-hak in the side. The attack was so fast and unexpected that Lee Jong-hak was unable to react in time and was sent flying with a shower of blood.
His body only stopped after he’d completely destroyed two buildings.
“Guruk!”
Lee Jong-hak coughed up a mouthful of blood as he finally saw what the large shadow that hit him was.
It was a giant bat-like wing that had sprouted from Gullard’s shoulder.
“You guys are fighting a Duke?”
When Kran said those words in a slightly mocking tone, Joanna couldn’t help but become a bit flustered.
“Th-, that…”
“You weren’t really fighting him with just the two of you, were you?”
“There were more of us, but they died.”
“But that would still only be four, wouldn’t it? You’re pretty brave.”
“We got caught. We didn’t plan on fighting him.”
“Didn’t you guys know that there was one of the Five Dukes in this city?”
“That…”
Kran snorted.
“No one in that little association of yours can defeat the Five Dukes. Otherwise, that bastard Neil would have already broadcasted the news.”
“…you know the Association President?”
Kran didn’t answer her question. Instead, he looked at Gullard for a moment before opening his mouth again.
“You guys are pretty lucky.”
“Huh?”
“He doesn’t even have half of his strength right now. I’m not sure if it’s because he wanted to play with you or if he had some other goal.”
“…!”
Joanna almost collapsed at those words.
He didn’t even have half of his strength? This being who had been playing with the Human Dragon Lee Jong-hak and whom she could only restrain for a few seconds with her spell?
Joanna took a deep breath and pulled herself together. Ever since Kran had appeared, she’d shown nothing but a pathetic appearance.
She couldn’t let herself show any more of it.
“How do you know that?”
In response to her question, which was asked in a much calmer tone, Kran pointed to the corpses of the Demons he’d just killed.
“Those guys are Gullard.”
“Huh?”
“He has the ability to divide himself. He can use this power as many times as he likes, but the power in his body decreases every time he splits.”
“Ah…!”
If that was the case, then it was highly likely that the Gullard double that they were after was actually an alter ego of Gullard himself.
“Hahaha.”
Gullard burst into laughter, but his eyes remained cold. He stared at Kran with a fierce glare.
“You seem to know a lot about my power. Whom did you hear it from?”
“That coward in Egypt.”
Gullard could no longer smile when he heard those words. Like his eyes, his expression became as cold as ice.
He’d also heard the reports that the Duke he’d stationed in Egypt was dead.
“And now, it seems you have come to kill me without any fear. If you hadn’t come to me, I would have had to scour the entire continent to find you. So thanks for saving me the trouble.”
“I am a hunter.”
Although he said these words in a soft tone, Kran’s voice sounded like the roars of a beast.
“I wouldn’t have come all the way here if I wasn’t confident in my hunt. You will die here today.”
“Kuku. Right. Should I say, ‘As expected of the Top Three’…”
Fwoosh!
Gullard’s bat-like wings spread out. When they were fully extended, they were larger than many of the buildings on the street.
“Return.”
Ohhhh-
At that moment, all of Gullard’s alter ego’s from across the city flew to him. Gullard’s alter egos all took the shape of large bats, and almost all of them had something dangling from their feet.
‘Corpses.’
They were still far away, but it was immediately clear whom those corpses belonged to.
They were members of the Gray Sun.
Flutter…
Gullard accepted the alter egos one after the other. Like clay, the alter egos stuck to his body before being absorbed. And with everyone that he absorbed, the pressure that he released steadily grew stronger.
Before long, Joanna’s face became pale.
“Urk…”
She’d just gotten her act together, but it seemed that her composure was about to break again.
Biting her lip, Joanna forced herself to remain calm.
Gullard must have known the location of the Gray Sun members from the start. Nevertheless, he hadn’t made his move before he was certain that he would catch every single one of them.
“Kuk…”
She bit her lip even harder.
Lee Jong-hak forced himself to stand up.
Multiple ribs had been broken, and the pain was so intense that he found it hard to breathe, but he couldn’t remain on the ground at that moment.
Paht.
Finally, the last alter ego was absorbed into Gullard’s body. Demonic energy erupted from his body like an explosion. The enormous pressure that this energy unleashed made it hard for them to breathe.
“…”
However, Gullard’s expression was a bit strange. He looked as though something outside of his expectations had occurred.
“What is it?”
When Kran asked this in a curious voice, Gullard looked up at him.
“Is this not your true power?”
“…”
Of course, it wasn’t.
One of his alter egos hadn’t returned. It was an alter ego that had 30% of his power.
‘…Elijah Kipatosh.’
The Big Boss of the Gray Sun.
The alter ego who had 30% had naturally gone to kill him. He never thought that it wouldn’t be enough. Rather, it could even be called overkill. After all, 30% of Gullard’s power was comparable to most ordinary Dukes.
Suddenly.
Someone appeared in the sky.
“Huh…?”
When Joanna saw him, she couldn’t help but stare blankly for a few moments.
“Frey?!”