Jinwoo was now standing in front of the five elite hunters from different countries.
Each in their own league.
The best in the world.
The woman with the long sword, Erika Stahl, stepped forward, her boots crunching over the rubble.
"Jinwoo," she called, voice firm, "It will be best to surrender. Your accomplice has already been suppressed."
She leveled her blade at him, the steel glinting under the broken light.
What she did not know was that Jinwoo… wasn't listening.
His gaze was unfocused. No emotion. No reaction.
The American woman, Alexis Blaze, smirked, trying to provoke him.
"Cat got your tongue, sweetheart? Or are you just scared?"
The Russian, Viktor Dragunov, laughed, rolling his shoulders.
"Doesn't matter. Once I break him in half, he won't be standing anyway."
From the side, the Japanese swordsman, Rikuya Saito's eyes narrowed.
"…Something's wrong. His breathing… it hasn't changed since we arrived."
The Chinese martial artist, Liang Zhen, tilted his head, studying Jinwoo's stillness.
"He's not even blinking."
They didn't know it yet, but to this Jinwoo…
…their words didn't exist.
For a moment, the only noise to be heard was the fire burning itself out.
A small twitch passed over Jinwoo's fingers.
Immediately after, he disappeared.
The hunters tensed—too late.
Jinwoo appeared behind Viktor, lightning crawling over his palm. He thrust forward, the crackling impact landing square into Viktor's shoulder.
The Russian grunted, body twisting from the force before he was thrown into the side of a tall building. The wall caved in like paper.
Before the dust could settle, Jinwoo summoned a fireball and hurled it at the debris. But Saito moved like a shadow, his katana flashing once—the fireball split cleanly in two and fizzled into nothing.
From the left, Erika rushed forward, sword raised high. She brought it down in a deadly arc—only for her blade to splash uselessly against a conjured water shield.
Jinwoo's fist slammed into her stomach with the weight of a hammer. The breath tore from her lungs, her knees buckling instantly.
Jinwoo was already raising his hand for a follow-up, fire bullet forming at his fingertips, when a massive fireball screamed toward him from behind.
He didn't even turn fully—just pivoted his wrist. A gust of wind exploded outward, vaporizing the attack in an instant.
The heat haze from the evaporated flames still shimmered in the air when Alexis lunged forward, her hands igniting in bright orange fire.
"Try this, sweetheart!" she snarled, spinning into a blazing roundhouse.
Jinwoo's hand shot out, catching her ankle mid-spin.
No sound. No effort.
Just the sonic boom of displaced air as he hurled her sideways into a heap of collapsed concrete. The pile collapsed further under the impact.
Liang Zhen was already in motion, dashing low, feet skimming the ground. His palm struck Jinwoo's ribs with a sharp thud. For the first time, Jinwoo shifted back slightly.
A flicker of interest touched his expression.
Zhen's eyes sharpened. He can be pushed.
He went in again, this time chaining strikes—palm, elbow, knee—each flowing into the next. Jinwoo blocked two, took the third, then caught Zhen's wrist in an iron grip.
With a flick, the martial artist was flung skyward.
Rikuya flash-stepped into the air, catching Zhen's arm and twisting him upright before landing. His katana pointed toward Jinwoo, unwavering.
"Don't lose focus," Rikuya said quietly, never looking away from their opponent.
From the ruins, Viktor's deep laugh rolled out again. He emerged from the rubble, brushing chunks of masonry from his shoulders.
"Finally… someone worth hitting."
Erika was back on her feet, wiping a smear of blood from her lip.
"Quite the talk for someone who got slammed first," she muttered, then sprinted forward.
Her blade came down in a silver arc—Jinwoo caught it with his bare hand, twisted the steel aside, and aimed a kick toward her face.
A silver flash intercepted—the edge of Rikuya's katana slid between them, blocking the strike.
Rikuya twisted his blade, swinging in a tight arc. Jinwoo bent low, the katana passing inches over his head, then snapped upward, his kick slamming into Erika's ribs.
She was thrown back, but before her body could hit the ground, Jinwoo spun on his heel, the other leg striking Rikuya in the chest.
Both hunters crashed into opposite walls, stone cracking and crumbling like sand.
The air was thick now—dust, heat, the copper tang of blood.
None of it was his.
Viktor charged first this time, his fists wreathed in faint blue energy. The ground trembled under each step. Jinwoo met him head-on, their strikes colliding in a shockwave that sent debris flying.
Viktor's raw power forced Jinwoo a step back—just one—but the corner of Jinwoo's mouth twitched in something almost like approval.
Erika joined from the left, Alexis from the right, both swinging in perfect sync. Jinwoo weaved between their blades and flames, his hands a blur as he deflected and countered.
Zhen appeared behind him, his palm aiming for Jinwoo's spine—only for Jinwoo to vanish again.
The martial artist's eyes widened a fraction before a knee smashed into his back, sending him stumbling into Alexis's path. Her flames licked dangerously close to him before she twisted to avoid friendly fire.
Rikuya's voice cut through the chaos. "On my mark—now!"
For the first time, all five moved together.
Alexis's flames roared, Zhen's strikes blurred, Viktor's fists hammered forward, Erika's sword carved arcs of silver, and Rikuya's katana flickered like lightning.
Jinwoo was in the middle, his movements economical but relentless—blocking, redirecting, sidestepping. Every blow he returned left cracks in stone or bodies.
Still, the pressure was real. For the briefest second, his brow furrowed.
That was all they needed.
Erika's blade sliced his shoulder—only a shallow cut, but blood welled bright against his skin.
The hunters froze for half a heartbeat. It was the first time they'd drawn blood.
Jinwoo looked down at it, then up at them.
His eyes narrowed. The wound healed itself with a green effect.
The hunters were sent into a bad shock.
"He can heal!?" Alexis cried. "I am not fighting an elden ring boss than can heal!"
The air itself seemed to thicken.
When he moved again, it wasn't defensive—it was predatory.
Viktor was the first to be struck, Jinwoo's elbow crushing into his sternum. Alexis's flames were snuffed out with a single gust before she was sent sprawling. Zhen barely blocked a kick that still launched him backward, the bones in his forearm creaking under the strain.
Rikuya caught Jinwoo's next strike on his katana, the blade ringing, but the impact forced him to one knee.
Erika swung from behind—only for Jinwoo to vanish again. She spun, searching—then a shadow fell over her.
He was above her.
The kick drove her into the ground so hard the earth spiderwebbed under her.
Dust swallowed the field.
When it cleared, only Jinwoo was standing. The five hunters lay scattered, some struggling to rise, others too winded to try.
The battlefield was a ruin of stone, fire, and shattered steel.
And the blood soaking into the dirt still wasn't his.