Dungeon Predator (WN)

The Oga Wolves were powerful, but their opponents were no pushovers.

Kang Oh, Eder, and Sephiro.

Kang Oh's strength was obvious.

Eder was capable of healing, support, and harassment. He could also deal considerable damage at certain key moments.

Sephiro and Waryong were a dynamic duo. If an enemy got too close, Waryong would buy him enough time to shoot an arrow; this lessened his weakness in melee combat. Plus, their combination attack, Fire Dragon's Arrow, was extremely powerful, making him an even better damage dealer.

The three worked well together, as they'd fought alongside each other for quite some time.

"Eder, behind you!" Kang Oh yelled. He and his teammates were in the middle of a brutal fight with the Oga Wolves.

However, new Oga Wolves had appeared behind them. At this rate, they'd have to face Oga Wolves on both fronts!

So why was Kang Oh calling Eder? It was obvious.

"Understood." Eder cast spell after spell. His skull staff radiated intense light.

AoE Curse: Age!

Putrid Smell!

The aging curse weakened the incoming Oga Wolves, and due to their sensitive noses, the putrid smell caused them to flinch.

In the midst of that... Bone Wall!

"Arise!"

Then, layer upon layer of white bone arose, keeping the Oga Wolves from joining the fight.

"I should be able to keep this up for a minute," Eder yelled. In other words, 'You have a minute before they break through!'.

"Finish them off before then!"

"Yes, sir!"

Kang Oh ferociously swung Demon Sword Blood and sliced through an Oga Wolf. Then, 15 stars appeared along Blood's length.

Blood Bomb!

Scarlet energy exploded from Kang Oh's body.

Boom!

Three Oga Wolves fell to the floor.

Whizz!

A red comet hit the floor.

Fire Dragon's Arrow!

Roar!

Once it touched the floor, the red and yellow flame flapped around like a phoenix resurrecting itself.

Kang Oh quickly threw a Fire Bomb in an attempt to increase the intensity of the flame. It seemed like Waryong had the same idea, as it let out a Fire Breath too.

Grr!

Kuhaahk!

The Oga Wolves either caught on fire or their fur was burnt black; nevertheless, they pierced through the flame and charged at Kang Oh's party. Their eyes glowed with bright red light.

Berserk!

This skill increased one's strength, speed, and destructive power once their HP dropped below a certain threshold.

One of the Oga Wolves attacked Kang Oh head-on, swiping with its front paw. Was it because it was under the effect of Berserk? It was too fast to dodge, and it was too powerful to block.

'At times like this...!'

Sword Parry!

Kang Oh tilted Blood slightly, and redirected the Oga Wolf's claw to the side.

Screech!

As he parried the Oga Wolf's claw, the claw scraped against his blade, producing an eardrum rupturing 'screech'.

'A weak point!'

As always, his Hyper Intuition pointed out the werewolf's weakness.

Slash!

He slashed diagonally across its chest.

"Behind you!" Eder yelled urgently.

Another Oga Wolf had gotten behind him! His Hyper Intuition flared, causing him to feel a chill run down his spine.

He moved faster than he'd expected. Kang Oh rolled forward, and the Oga Wolf swiped at the air.

Meanwhile, Sephiro's arrow hit the Oga Wolf's back.

Thwock!

"It's collapsing!" Eder yelled.

His Bone Wall caved in on itself.

Grr!

The Oga Wolves bared their teeth, and rushed in to help their fallen comrades.

"Eder and I will take care of them. Mr. Sephiro, you..."

"I'll finish him off."

Sephiro aimed his bow at the Oga Wolf he'd been fighting against. Though it was covered in wounds, Berserk had made it even more vicious.

"Haahp!"

The brutal battle continued.

* * *

Kang Oh's party climbed the tower without rest. Eventually, they reached the top, the 13th floor.

However, what awaited them wasn't a boss.

[You have discovered the Oga Wolf, Mandersack.]

[You have discovered the Oga Wolf, Kaderban.]

...

There were ten named Oga Wolves awaiting them!

"Isn't this a little dangerous?" Sephiro slightly pulled himself back. He was ready to run if need be.

"Let's give it a go." Kang Oh took a step forward.

'Let's dance!'

His body turned red.

Devil Trigger!

His face was covered by a bat-shaped mask and wings protruded from his back. The Red Demon had arrived!

"We'll have to give it our all." Eder tightly gripped his staff and stared into Sephiro's eyes. 'Let's give it a try.'

'Ok!' Sephiro immediately nodded his head.

"Now then, shall we begin?" Kang Oh swung Blood.

Fresh Blood Wave!

Kang Oh unleashed a wave as red and sticky as blood. Battle had begun in earnest.

Kuhaahk!

The named Oga Wolves went on a rampage.

"Those forgotten by the world, the undying lumps of flesh, the dishonorable! Answer my call and return from death!" Eder's skull staff radiated intense light.

Large-Scale Summon Undead!

Arise.

The ground broke apart, and out came various undead monsters.

"Hoo." Sephiro pulled out a bizarrely patterned arrow.

Whizz!

Buster Shot!

The arrow flew through the air, and created five magic circles nearby!

Whizz, whizz, whizz!

The magic circles began spitting out arrows.

The werewolves clashed with Eder's undead army, arrows rained down upon them, a lizard spewed fire, and then there was Kang Oh, who crazily swung his sword around!

It was absolute chaos.

* * *

"Hoo." Kang Oh caught his breath.

Rotten flesh, yellow bones, and even rusty metal covered the floor; it's all that remained of Eder's undead army. The Oga Wolves' corpses, riddled with arrows, accompanied them on the stone cold floor.

Kang Oh turned his head and stared.

Eder was sitting on the floor. Sephiro was laying on the floor, his arms and legs spread apart. Waryong was sitting on Sephiro's right leg, completely exhausted.

They were completely drained. It was only natural. They'd cleared the thirteen floor tower without rest, and had fought ten named Oga Wolves at the top using everything they had.

Overall, they'd spent five hours climbing the tower.

"Good work," Kang Oh said.

"Hoo, that was hard," Eder said, looking around. Signs of an intense, hard-fought battle were everywhere.

"But it wasn't as tough as Galmoss, was it?"

"No, it wasn't."

They had been ready to die when fighting Galmoss. This fight, while hard-fought, wasn't on the same level; they never felt like they'd die at any moment.

"Let's rest for 5 minutes and then head to the next dungeon," Kang Oh said, but Sephiro reacted violently.

"No!"

'Give us enough time to rest!'

"I'd like to rest too." Eder had definitely made his stance clear.

Kang Oh grinned. "I was just joking. Rest up, and then let's head to the next dungeon."

"Can't we just stop here? We can go to the other dungeons tomorrow." Sephiro stared at him desperately. 'Can't you just cut back on hunting!?'

"No," Kang Oh said firmly. They'd only hunted for 5 hours. They still had a lot of time left!

Ultimately, Kang Oh's party cleared two more dungeons.

"You demon!" Sephiro gritted his teeth and left like someone who'd never come back.

Kang Oh and Eder didn't stop him. He always complained, but he would always come back the next day.

Hunting with Kang Oh was like a tonic. It tastes bitter, but it's good for you!

It was crazy difficult to keep up with Kang Oh, but at the end of the day, he'd find that his proficiency and level shot up.

After all, the monsters they fought were always higher leveled than Kang Oh. Plus, they disposed of the monsters quickly, and they spent the entire day fighting. Thus, it would be strange if their levels and proficiency didn't go up quickly! It'd have to be a bug or an error!

Ultimately, Sephiro couldn't afford to lose this chance; Despia allowed him to grow faster than any other location in Arth.

"Phew!" He sighed and joined up with Kang Oh again.

* * *

The northern part of the Arth continent.

Yuki-Onna's Paradise.

A blizzard raged across the snowy fields.

Woo!

A monster cried out. It stood on four legs, had a mouth as large as a hippo's, and was covered in gray fur. It was called a Balbarta.

The monster kept flaring its nostrils and moving, as if it had a destination in mind.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

It left behind footprints in the snow as it moved. However, the fierce blizzard quickly covered its tracks.

Woo!

At some point, it cried out once more. It was in front of a dark cave.

Thud, thud!

Balbarta flared its nostrils. 'This is it! This is the location of that sweet scent!'

Drunk on that sweet smell, it fearlessly entered the dark unknown. It was engulfed in the darkness. However, its cat-like eyes allowed it to see in the dark.

Haahk!

The fragrance only intensified, and Balbarta began to drool. It began moving at an even faster pace. No matter what the smell came from, it would eat it!

However, Balbarta wasn't the one doing the eating. It was the one being eaten.

Whoosh!

Thorny vines flew out of the darkness and wrapped themselves around Balbarta.

Uwooh!

Balbarta struggled and screamed, but it was already too late. The vines were too tough, so it couldn't break through, and its pull was much too strong.

Ultimately, Balbarta was dragged into the cave's depths.

There was a large space in the cave, and in the center of it lay a flower bud. This was the source of the sweet smell. Contrary to its beautiful appearance however, the flower bud was surrounded by various monster corpses.

Euuu!

Balbarta was afraid. It knew what would happen.

Swoosh!

Tentacles protruded from the flower bud and stabbed Balbarta.

Gulp!

The tentacle began draining Balbarta's life force, as if it were drinking through a straw. In an instant, Balbarta shriveled up. The vines released it, and it became another one of the countless monster corpses here.

"It's not enough," the being inside the flower bud said.

It was Krishan!

She was one of the ancient Mayanes, which were known for their giant white wings and their desire to supplant the gods!

Krishan touched her left arm and wing, or what was left of them after Ubist tore them apart. She wasn't at full power yet, but a new arm and wing were growing.

After she'd come to Yuki-Onna's Paradise, she emitted a sweet scent to attract countless monsters and drain their life force. Like what she just did to Balbarta!

She was also in the process of regenerating her arm and wing using the God of Creation's power.

Grr.

She gritted her teeth.

"You haven't seen the last of me!"

She would never forgive Kang Oh, the man who'd humiliated her. However, now wasn't the time for revenge. She was still lacking in strength.

"Come, my offerings!" Krishan yelled.

Then, the flower bud surrounding her shook and released a pink powder.

Whoosh!

The wind carried the scent out of the cave and into the snowy fields.

Sometime later, the 2nd and 3rd Balbarta would come and give their lives to Krishan.

* * *

The Storm Guild was one of the 5 great guilds.

It was said that they were the weakest of the five, but that was only when compared to the top 1 or 2 guilds. It didn't mean they were weak.

The Storm Guild was powerful, no doubt about it.

They'd recently become invested in exploring the northern part of Arth, the land of ice and illusion.

Han Seol, the vice-captain of the guild, led this expedition force. She was currently having a meeting with their top executives.

"Within a week, we'll be finished exploring all of Cropes Mountain's dungeons," a man said.

"Do you think we'll find anything?" Han Seol asked, but as expected...

"There's nothing really there."

If there was something there, then she'd have already gotten a report.

"Hoo, is this another waste of time?" Han Seol sighed. The north was more barren than she'd expected.

The weather was severe! And yet, the dungeons didn't offer any special materials or items, and there weren't any great hunting grounds here either.

'But it's still too early to pack up and go home.'

"We'll need to search another location soon. Do you have any ideas?" Han Seol looked around and asked.

"The Unfrozen Lake lies to the east of the Cropes Mountain, and the Yuki-Onna's Paradise lies to the west."

"Which place is bigger?"

"The Yuki-Onna's Paradise."

"Then let's go there next. We'll leave a small group to explore the Unfrozen Lake, and send most of our members to the Yuki-Onna's Paradise."

"Understood."

"Please be prepared when the time comes."

"Yes."

At this point in time, they had no idea what they were in for. Yuki Onna's Paradise was a tiger's den that contained an unkillable monster.