“No!” The extreme pain didn’t stop Gi-Gyu from jumping toward Haures.

“Grr!” The beast bolted toward Gi-Gyu, but he was much faster.

“Super Rush!” Gi-Gyu shouted; Lou could be seen stuck in Haures’ neck the next moment.

“Kwarrrk!” Haures—the best hunter hell had to offer—screamed like a dying dog. The pain must have been unspeakable, but he suddenly grinned and whispered, “Andras…”

Lou was still in Haures’ neck, so Gi-Gyu could feel what Haures must be feeling.

‘He feels betrayed.’ Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time for exploring emotions, so Gi-Gyu focused on the announcement that had appeared after Haures’ death.

[You have obtained Haures’ Ego.]

“Khoff.” Suddenly, he coughed up blood. The crash with the branch manager earlier must have injured him badly. He had succeeded in forestalling the beast’s claw, but it had given Gi-Gyu’s shell a nice shake. It was as if the beast had a skill similar to Hwang Chae-Il.

That was problematic enough, but Gi-Gyu had just used Super Rush, which required a lot of energy. He now had to pay the price for abusing his body.

“Grr.” The beastly creature flailed its arms as it growled and glared at Gi-Gyu. The branch manager’s ten fingers turned into ten claws, and they…

Gi-Gyu couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw those ten fingers turn into spear-like weapons.

“Grr!” The creature ran toward him, but he didn’t try to dodge the attack. Instead, he used the remaining Super Rush to put even more distance between them.

“Dammit…” Gi-Gyu swore when he saw the ten spear-like claws becoming invisible like Haures’ spears.

***

-Just how…? How did he steal Haures’ power? Doing something like that… It’s as if…

Lou seemed just as surprised.

Clang, clang!

Thankfully, the branch manager’s attack pattern differed from Haures’. Haures hunted from the shadows, but the branch manager preferred one-on-one fights. The branch manager’s claws remained invisible, but Gi-Gyu could anticipate them based on the movements of his enemy’s hands and arms.

Gi-Gyu continued to block the claws with Lou as he thought, ‘This isn’t good.’ 

He had tried to subdue the branch manager quickly, but that didn’t work out as well as he had hoped. Was it because his shell had been shaken? Gi-Gyu couldn’t use most of his abilities, including those he heavily counted on. He couldn’t even use Life and Death, which made sense since they were affected by his shell’s condition.

This meant…

“I can only use my physical attributes,” Gi-Gyu mumbled. One positive thing was that he still had Lou and El, whom he could wield expertly. Holding both El and Lou, Gi-Gyu continued to block the invisible claws.

Clang! Clang!

The metal-against-metal sound continuously rang in the air.

-Hmm…

Lou still seemed troubled by how the branch manager stole Haures’ ability.

Meanwhile, Gi-Gyu wondered, ‘Should I open the gate?’ 

Because he couldn’t use Life, his injuries had begun to pile up. His body felt heavy, and his shell refused to stabilize. If he opened Brunheart’s gate, the battle would become easy. His creatures inside the gate could tear the branch manager apart.

‘But I can’t.’ Gi-Gyu knew he couldn’t do this. If opening his gate was an option, he would have brought all of his creatures here from the beginning to clear this area quickly. But there was a good reason why he didn’t do this.

‘If I open the gate and let my powerful creatures run wild…’ Gi-Gyu believed that would trigger the invisible traps here. After all, the barrier around his house had become active the second he had stepped out. Thereby, he believed that this enemy was aware of what was happening. But they still didn’t know what Gi-Gyu was planning. He had to hide his ultimate plan for as long as possible to win this war. When he would unleash his secret weapon, the “when” would be the most important part.

“Huh…?” Gi-Gyu suddenly gasped when he saw the branch manager changing.

“Fuck!” The branch manager had become invisible, just like Haures’ spear.

Gi-Gyu screamed, “Can he do this because his whole body is being registered as a weapon? What the hell is happening?”

Haures’ skill could make weapons invisible. But since the user was still visible, one could fight effectively nevertheless. But now…

-Did that beast perfect the skill he stole from Haures? Or can he tap into the skill’s full potential even when the original owner couldn’t?

Lou seemed intrigued.

“Dammit.” The branch manager’s body was almost fully invisible now.

Lou asked knowingly.

-It’s time for you to make a decision.

“Dammit!” Gi-Gyu swore again. He knew what Lou was asking. “Gosh, I hate this…”

Gi-Gyu’s voice sounded calm, meaning he had already made the decision. He muttered, “I guess I have no other choice…”

“Kekeke.” Lou chuckled after transforming into his child form. “Let’s play.”

***

“I’m definitely not at my best,” Lou grumbled in annoyance. He seemed frustrated by something. Perhaps the missing horns and the wings were the reason.

Gi-Gyu crossed his arms and mumbled, “It’s because you overexerted yourself. That’s why I told you to rest.”

“Shut up. Had you done a good job, I wouldn’t have even gotten involved.” Lou glanced at Gi-Gyu and swung his hand.

Kaboom!

An explosion occurred in a now empty spot, with black smoke drifting everywhere.

“Found ya!” Lou yelled playfully. The black smoke draped itself around a transparent figure, and Lou darted toward it.

“Grrr!” the beast roared as Lou stabbed its stomach.

Lou mocked Gi-Gyu, “You can’t even use what you have effectively, and you thought you could hunt?”

“I was just trying not to use my other abilities.” Gi-Gyu pouted. This was true. Also, he didn’t expect his current impuissance. He wasn’t actually completely powerless, as he could still push himself, but that wasn’t advisable when one had an agitated or disturbed shell.

The problem was that Gi-Gyu didn’t want to push himself. And even though Lou—in some sense of the word—was also one of his powers, Gi-Gyu didn’t want to use him. Gi-Gyu didn’t want to get help from anyone because…

“I don’t want to feel like I lost,” Gi-Gyu muttered. Accepting Lou’s help felt like he was letting Lou win.

Throwing the branch manager down on the ground, Lou replied, “You’re talking nonsense, moron.”

“Grr!” the branch manager screamed; his growl was no longer threatening. There was either fear or pain in his voice.

Gi-Gyu didn’t care what it was because the beast was no longer a threat to him. The branch manager’s head was now buried deep in the ground. And since he was severely weakened, he was no longer invisible.

Lou smiled and announced, “Let’s finish this.”

Gi-Gyu nodded.

Lou swung his arm that had turned into a sword.

Slice.

The branch manager’s head rolled on the ground. Its blood flew everywhere, but Lou quickly absorbed the droplets.

Gi-Gyu apathetically asked, “Is it over now?”

He was not surprised at how this battle ended. If he weren’t trying to avoid using his skills to learn the battle strategy, he would have finished off the branch manager easily and quickly.

“Wait,” Lou whispered.

Gi-Gyu nodded and watched the branch manager’s body and head with curiosity as they slowly turned into dust.

“Huh…?” It seemed that Lou was also surprised, but he still absorbed the dust. It must have been something unexpected because his eyes widened. Once all the dust was gone, Lou realized something.

“This is…?” Lou whispered. Something had changed in Lou, but Gi-Gyu hadn’t noticed anything yet. This was strange since Gi-Gyu was synced with Lou.

“That bastard…” Lou muttered angrily.

Gi-Gyu asked, “What is it?”

Gi-Gyu could tell that Lou had absorbed the branch manager’s blood, thereby his power. He also knew that the soul of the branch manager had been successfully egofied. However, that was all in the expected territory, so Gi-Gyu couldn’t tell what exactly was out of place. Why was Lou acting so strangely?

“Andras, that fucking jerk…” Lou clenched and unclenched his fists. He seemed to feel the branch manager’s blood flowing through his body. The new power in him was taking control over him.

“The First…” Lou muttered.

“Lou!” Gi-Gyu screamed and ran toward Lou who was staggering.

Lou whispered, “I think I know what the First Potion is made of… Old Man Hwang… Take me to…”

Plop.

“Lou!” Gi-Gyu yelled.

Lou collapsed. He had returned to his adult form earlier; now, he was reverting to his child form.

Gi-Gyu picked him up and whispered, “Dammit… What is going on here?”

Gi-Gyu was confused. Why? Why was this happening?

Suddenly, he heard the system announcement.

[You have absorbed a contaminated piece of Lou.]

"...!" Gi-Gyu's eyes widened.

***

The Caravan Guild had assigned a secret branch to guard Gi-Gyu’s home. Gi-Gyu had defeated the manager of this branch and the hidden demon, Haures.

“Dammit…” Gi-Gyu placed Lou on the ground gently. Lou hadn’t and couldn’t return to his ring form.

The contaminated piece of Lou…

Lou had been in this state ever since the system announcement.

“I better finish this off quickly,” Gi-Gyu mumbled. He had planned on taking it slow, but the situation was turning dire. Something had to be very wrong with Lou right now.

“Master!” The door to the boss’ room burst open, and El rushed in. She whispered, “What happened…?!”

Earlier, Gi-Gyu had contacted El about where he was and what was happening.

Heo Sung-Hoon and the Grigories ran inside as well and shouted, “Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu!”

There were fewer Grigories than before because some had stayed outside to watch their prisoners. Behind them were Hamiel and the other two angels. El had created a path through the lava so that all of them could reach here.

El shouted, “Are you okay, Master?”

She was shocked, which made sense. She didn’t expect Gi-Gyu to be stuck so early on in his quest.

Gi-Gyu nodded and ordered, “Let’s get this done as quickly as possible.” He was worried about Lou.

El examined Lou hurriedly, but it seemed she couldn’t find anything wrong with him. Gi-Gyu began walking toward something. El picked up the child version of Lou, and everyone watched Gi-Gyu tensely. Suddenly, Gi-Gyu paused and…

Kaboom!

He drove his energy-drenched fist into the floor.