Dungeon Corpse Stacker: I Absorb Everything to Become Ominous Monarch
Chapter 38: THE EXECUTION OF THE GOLDEN DRAGON

Chapter 38: Chapter 38: THE EXECUTION OF THE GOLDEN DRAGON

The dark sky above the ruined Apex Headquarters churned like an open, festering wound. Thunder rattled the reinforced concrete foundations of Sector 1, echoing the agonizing death knell of an empire that had ruled the country’s Hunter hierarchy with an iron fist for over a decade.

Beneath Renan’s heavy boot, Guild Master Richard lay completely broken, his breath coming in shallow, ragged gasps. The golden dragon scales that had once armor-plated his body had flaked away into gray ash, leaving behind raw, bleeding skin and exposed muscle. His legendary S-Rank broadsword lay shattered into worthless metal shards, his subterranean vault was stripped bare, and his decades of cultivated pride were reduced to fine dust beneath the heel of a former scavenger.

"Look up at the sky, Richard," Renan said softly, his layered voice cutting through the roaring wind with razor-sharp clarity. "The entire world is watching you bleed."

Down in the streets far below, dozens of news broadcast vans, military reconnaissance teams, and high-definition drone cameras zoomed in on the ruined 50th floor. Across the nation, tens of millions of viewers stared at their screens in absolute, paralyzed horror. The legendary Guild Master of Apex—a man considered an untouchable, living god of war—was pinned to the blood-stained ground like a helpless insect by a young man whose golden eyes burned like twin miniature suns.

"I-I built... this nation’s absolute defense..." Richard choked out, tears of blood leaking from the corners of his eyes and running into his graying hair. "Without me... without Guild Apex... the Class-S Rifts will consume... everything..."

"No," Renan replied, his golden eyes narrowing into razor-sharp slits as his shadow stretched across Richard’s broken frame. "You didn’t protect this nation, Richard. You fed off it like a bloated parasite. You used the weak as disposable cattle, tossed nameless scavengers into the jaws of monsters for insurance payouts, and called it leadership."

Renan raised his left hand, spreading his pale fingers directly over Richard’s forehead. A thick, viscous pool of pitch-black miasma erupted from the marble floorboards, wrapping around Richard’s limbs like living, suffocating chains of pure darkness.

[Absolute Extraction System Activated]

Target Locked: Guild Master Richard (Rank-S Vanguard / Dragon Knight).

Initiating Soul Binding & Corpse Extraction Protocol...

"NO! NOOOOO!" Richard shrieked, a primal, bone-chilling sound that echoed through the audio feeds of every television broadcast, radio station, and public monitor in the country.

It was not merely physical pain that made the S-Rank Hunter scream in such absolute agony. His very soul was being ripped from his flesh, torn apart at the conceptual level, and rewritten by the absolute, unyielding authority of the Sovereign. Golden mana bled uncontrollably from his mouth, nostrils, and eyes, instantly devoured and corrupted by the creeping dark miasma pouring from Renan’s hand.

"I will not... bow to a worthless scavenger... I AM A DRAGON!" Richard screamed his final, desperate defiance against the dark.

"You were a parasite," Renan whispered coldly, his grip tightening. "Now, your shadow will serve."

CRACK!

With a final, sickening snapping sound, Richard’s physical heart stopped beating forever. His physical body withered in a matter of seconds, collapsing into a pile of dark gray dust that blew away into the howling storm wind.

From the pile of ash, a towering pillar of blinding violet flame shot fifty feet straight into the sky, piercing the dark clouds above.

A massive, eight-foot-tall silhouette stepped slowly out from the heart of the violet flames. Covered in thick, abyssal plate armor lined with jagged, razor-sharp dragon spikes, the newly born entity held a massive broadsword forged of dark, solid shadow. Twin crimson flames burned behind the narrow slit visor of its helmet.

The entity did not hesitate for a single second. It turned toward Renan, slammed its massive abyssal broadsword onto the stone floor with a deafening metallic clash, and dropped heavily onto both knees in total, fanatical submission to its creator.

[Extraction Successful!]

[New Entity Acquired: Shadow General ’Ignis’ (Rank-EX)]

Attributes Inherited & Multiplied:

+850 Strength

+620 Agility

+910 Vitality

+1,200 Mana

[Unique Skill Acquired: ’Dragon Blood Resonance’ (Rank-S)]

Behind Shadow General Ignis, five hundred Shadow Knights simultaneously dropped to one knee along the perimeter of the ruined skyscraper, their dark steel armor clanking in a terrifying, unified salute that shook the remaining framework of the building.

[System Status Overview]

[Host Status: Peak Monarch Threshold]

[Total Active Shadow Army: 561 Units]

[Guild Apex: OFFICIAL STATUS — ERADICATED]

Renan walked calmly toward the broken ledge of the penthouse, looking down at the sprawling, glittering metropolis of Sector 1. High-definition news drones hovered thirty yards away in the open air, their red recording lights flickering continuously.

Renan did not attempt to hide his face. He pulled down his dark hood completely, letting the wild wind toss his dark hair as his glowing golden eyes stared directly into the camera lenses. His voice, infused with raw Sovereign mana, resonated through every speaker, broadcast frequency, and digital screen across the entire country.

"To the Hunter Association... to the regional guilds... and to those who sit on golden thrones built on the bones of the dead," Renan spoke, his voice sounding like two tectonic plates grinding together. "Guild Apex is no more. Look at your fallen champion, and understand this: the age of your corrupt hierarchy ends today. If you come for me... bring an army. Because every man you send will only serve to swell the ranks of my shadow."

Renan stepped off the 50th-floor ledge into the open air.

WHOOSH!

Five hundred and sixty-one shadow entities dissolved into roaring streams of liquid black smoke, plunging down the side of the skyscraper like a falling waterfall of pitch, wrapping around Renan in mid-air before vanishing completely into the deep shadows of the city alleys below.

The live national broadcast instantly cut to static.

Far away from Sector 1, deep beneath the capital city inside the heavily fortified subterranean command bunker of the National Hunter Association, absolute, suffocating silence reigned.

Dozens of high-ranking military generals, regional association directors, and S-Rank advisors sat staring at the static monitors in paralyzed, pale-faced shock. The cup of coffee in front of the Vice Director had spilled, but no one moved to clean it.

At the head of the long obsidian conference table, President James—a hardened, scarred veteran of the First Great Rift Invasion—slowly lowered his trembling hands to the surface.

"President..." a senior advisor whispered, her voice shaking uncontrollably as she looked up from her terminal. "Guild Master Richard... is dead. Guild Apex... is completely destroyed. The entire security network of Sector 1 has collapsed."

President James closed his eyes for three long seconds, taking a deep, shuddering breath to steady his racing heart. When he opened his eyes, his gaze was stone-cold and filled with ruthless determination.

He reached out and flipped open a red metallic casing on his desk terminal, exposing a glowing, clearance-level authorization screen.

"Declare a Class-S National Emergency across all sectors immediately," President James commanded, his voice echoing through the bunker. "Issue an immediate Class-S Domestic Terrorist Execution Warrant for the entity known as Renan. Set the global bounty at fifty billion credits."

"P-President! Fifty billion?!" the advisor gasped, her eyes widening. "That’s the highest bounty placed on a single target in human history!"

"He is no longer a human Hunter," President James said, staring intently at the frozen broadcast image of Renan’s glowing golden eyes on his personal monitor. "He is a Calamity. Mobilize the Regional Coalition. I want three thousand elite Hunters and every Regional Guild Master assembled at the Northern Gate before sunrise."