Dungeon Predator (WN)

As its name implied, there was a throne with faded decorations that stood imposingly within the throne room.

Though the carpet was more purple than red.

There were no decorations on the walls, and only the dangling ornamental hooks remained.

Kang Oh surveyed everything in the room, thinking that perhaps his Hyper Intuition would go off.

However, there wasn't anything special here.

"We're here."

Sephiro and Eder, who'd both received Kang Oh's message, entered the throne room.

"Did you finish off all the graverobbers?" Kang Oh asked.

"Yes. They all either died or surrendered. And those that surrendered logged out and were told not to login for a day."

Kang Oh nodded his head.

"Anyway, the Death Potion guild members were weak like you said, Mr. Kang Oh."

The graverobbers were way too weak. He couldn't believe they were level 130. Kang Oh was right; they were indeed level 130 puppets.

"I told you, didn't I? They wait until the monsters respawn, attack them like machines, and only profit off of them. There's no way they'd be strong."

"How was Malcolm? Was he weak too?" Sephiro asked.

"You can tell how everyone else is by looking at the top."

They don't say that there are no cowardly soldiers beneath a brave general for nothing.

Conversely, with Malcolm as the leader, his subordinates were bound to be pathetic.

"But he may retaliate."

"I'd be thankful if they choose to retaliate, since I can just kill them out of self-defense. Although the Death Potion guild will likely be disbanded."

"Disbanded?"

"Compensation for the guild war is 10,000 gold. A person like Malcolm wouldn't fork over that much gold."

"That sounds about right," Sephiro agreed.

"Mr. Kang Oh, what kind of monster is Arumode?" Eder asked suddenly.

"Didn't I tell you before?"

"You just told me why Arumode became an undead."

"Now that you mention it, I don't know much about Arumode either," Sephiro said.

Because Kang Oh was so powerful and he was so easily able to repel the Death Potion guild, Sephiro hadn't been worried about Arumode at all.

However, now that he thought about it, Arumode was a level 150 boss monster. He couldn't afford to take it lightly.

"I understand. There's 5 minutes left, so I'll give you a brief explanation."

"Ok."

"I'm all ears."

Kang Oh began his explanation.

"He's a knight-type. When he was alive, he was a Paladin. But do you know what happens to a Paladin that becomes an undead?"

"I'm not sure," Eder replied.

"I don't think they'd be able to use a god's blessing like when they were alive," Sephiro said.

"They become a Cursed Knight."

"A Cursed Knight?"

"Their power, which is derived from a god's blessing, becomes the power to use curses instead when they become an undead. Therefore, they use all sorts of curses to weaken their opponent. Of course, they can also use a knight's abilities as well."

"Hmm. It must be a pain if you don't have someone who can dispel curses."

"It normally is. But did you know?"

"Know what?"

"Curses act as a blessing to the undead."

Kang Oh looked at Eder and grinned.

* * *

It was time.

Guaah!

The ground underneath the throne opened up and the crown-wearing Immortal King Arumode stood up.

His ashen skin dripped like candle wax, and his eye sockets glowed with a purple hue. He was garbed in royal clothing, but wore armor on the inside.

He held a mace in one hand!

It was a sphere around the size of a human head with sharp spikes attached to it.

In his other hand, he held a shield. On top of the shield, there was the Graham Kingdom's bull symbol.

He boasted an incredible stature, reaching 2 meters tall.

Arumode spoke angrily, "You Thales bastards! You won't come out of this alive!"

Thales was one of the Graham Kingdom's neighboring countries that caused his demise.

At the same time, a Star of David formed underneath him.

Arumode stamped on the ground with one foot.

The Star of David transformed into black lines and blanketed the room in a curse.

There was nowhere to run.

"Ugh."

For Sephiro, the effects of the curse showed up right away.

[Cursed Ground: You are within the Ruined Rampart’s Domain.]

[You failed to resist the curse.]

[Defense and all related stats and abilities are halved.]

By class-changing into a Demonic Swordsman, Kang Oh had gained all sorts of curse and poison resistance.

Thus, he was able to resist Arumode's curse.

[Cursed Ground: You are within the Ruined Rampart’s Domain.]

[You have completely resisted the curse.]

[Your abilities do not drop.]

'As I thought, I can't absorb it with my demon sword.'

Curses were a type of magic, so his sword could absorb them.

However, this AoE curse changed the space itself to Cursed Ground, so it was impossible to absorb it.

Meanwhile Eder was...

"Oooh."

His bones, which had been blackened by Caraco, were shining.

Because curses had the opposite effect on the undead, the Cursed Ground actually doubled all of Eder's defense-related stats.

Arumode's eyes shone in an even more intense purple. It was because the Cursed Ground had increased his defensive capabilities.

He charged towards Kang Oh, who was closest to him, and swung his mace.

Kang Oh chose to swing his sword to gauge Arumode's strength rather than dodge.

Clang!

Once mace and sword met, sparks popped and a loud clang resounded throughout the room.

Arumode and Kang Oh didn't budge an inch and entered a contest of strength. Kang Oh wasn't pushed back at all.

'He's nothing compared to Caraco.'

Caraco was a raid boss while Arumode was just a normal boss. It was only natural that Caraco was stronger.

Most importantly!

'It was killed every single day by the Death Potion guild!'

"Uaahk!"

Kang Oh instantly tensed all of his muscles and repelled Arumode's mace.

Arumode was unable to withstand Kang Oh's strength and was pushed back three steps.

At that moment, he showed an opening.

Swish!

Kang Oh quickly swung his sword.

His target was Arumode's neck. Kang Oh's demon sword cut through Arumode's gray skin.

Thump.

Kang Oh always prioritized the weaknesses that Hyper Intuition guided him towards. This time was no different.

Red shards flew through the air, signaling that he'd gotten a critical hit.

At the same time, Sephiro let loose an arrow that flew towards Arumode's forehead.

Ting!

He'd aimed for a headshot, but the arrow was deflected due to Arumode's crown.

Sephiro quickly followed up with a second arrow. This time, he avoided the crown and hit the forehead.

Headshot!

Giant red shards burst out.

Kang Oh had told him not to use curses beforehand, so Eder was continuously conjuring bone spears and throwing them.

"Kuahk! You lowly Thales!"

Arumode scowled as if in pain. He regained his balance and stomped onto the floor once more.

There were already two purple concentric circles underneath his foot.

Thud.

The concentric circles transformed into purple lines and began spreading everywhere.

They had no way of dodging it this time too.

Kang Oh was closest so he was the first to be affected by the curse.

[Cursed Ground: You are within the Rusty Sword's Domain.]

[You were not able to completely resist the curse.]

[All attack-related stats and abilities weaken by 20%.]

"Tch."

Kang Oh clicked his tongue.

Lowering his attack power was something he could feel. If one attack would've finished him, now it would take two instead.

It was even worse for Sephiro.

"Uahk. This is crazy!"

Although he was a higher level than Arumode, his curse resistance was piss poor.

[Cursed Ground: You are within the Rusty Sword's Domain.]

[You have very slightly resisted the curse.]

[All attack-related stats and abilities weaken by 40%.]

Whereas Eder's bones were no longer just shining, but actually radiating light.

"Oooh!"

He threw a bone spear.

Zoom!

His bone spear made a sound that it wouldn't ordinarily be able to make and flew!

Thud.

What's worse, it made a clear mark on Arumode's armor.

Of course, Arumode also gained more resistance, so he was even stronger than before.

A red haze rose from his entire body.

Just a single glance would tell you that he had 'significantly doped up!'.

"You damn Thales!"

Arumode charged towards Kang Oh once more and swung his mace with double the speed.

Kang Oh chose not to block the mace and instead ducked his head.

Arumode continued to press forward as if he realized this was his opportunity. No, it only seemed like he was pushing Kang Oh into a corner.

However, Kang Oh was nimbly evading every single attack.

"You rat! You sure are good at dodging!"

Something shot out of the giant diamond within his crown.

It was a black evil spirit.

Eder was the first to realize what it was.

"Mr. Kang Oh. That's an aging curse!"

It was a curse renowned for its ability to age its target, which would lower all of their abilities!

Though the curse came for him, Kang Oh remained calm.

He couldn’t help but remain calm. After all, he had multiple methods of dealing with the incoming curse (e.g. absorbing it with his demon sword).

'Shall I try that...'

The black evil spirit came near him, but then...

"Summon Eder!"

Eder instantly appeared in between Kang Oh and the evil spirit.

The black evil spirit attached itself to Eder.

"Oooh!"

Eder overflowed with power. He had become even more powerful through the aging curse.

He created a bone spear and stabbed Arumode's side.

It was quite a powerful blow.

The bone spear pierced through the chainmail and into Arumode's flesh.

Stab!

At the same time, a weak arrow came flying over. It was Sephiro's attack, weakened due to the curse affecting him.

He had aimed for Arumode's exposed flesh.

"My turn!"

Kang Oh stepped on Eder and leapt into the air.

"Uheok!"

The high-hearted Eder was shocked by Kang Oh's sudden action.

Thud.

He'd stomped on him so hard that Eder fell to the floor.

Whereas Kang Oh flew high into the sky.

Then, he began to fall.

Kang Oh swung his blade downwards, aiming for Arumode's head as if he were a lightning bolt that cleaved through the world itself.

He used gravity to make up for his weakened attack power.

It wasn't just any attack either.

It was a combination attack with both Slash and Darkness Strike!

Arumode sensed danger and raised his shield, which he hadn't used until now.

The destructive attack struck the shield.

Clonk!

Clang!

Though he blocked Kang Oh's blow, the intense force behind it caused Arumode to shake. Arumode briefly slipped into a confused state.

Sephiro’s arrows flew like a snake, gnawing at Arumode's neck.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Kang Oh raised his demon sword and swung downwards.

Thump!

Kang Oh cut through the center of Arumode's armor. No, he tried to do so at least.

At that moment, Arumode recovered from his confusion. Arumode raised his shield and blocked Kang Oh's attack.

Clang!

At the same time, Arumode's crown radiated a red light and a dark red chain burst forth.

'A slow curse!'

Eder threw himself at the chains.

The chains wrapped around Eder. Obviously, the curse had an opposite effect.

With his increased speed from the slow curse, Eder quickly rushed towards Arumode.

Eder swung his bone spear as if he were swinging a baseball bat.

Thump.

Once the bone spear made contact, it split into two.

The other half of the spear spun dozens of times in the air and plunged into the ground.

"You rat...!"

Arumode's crown glowed, but then stopped.

He had realized that his curses were actually strengthening this rat.

Seeing that, Kang Oh grinned.

'We've sealed off his curses.'

Everything was going as planned.

As Kang Oh had expected, Arumode used his last resort.

"Uaaahk!"

Arumode yelled and extended both arms.

His armor fell to the floor like a snake shedding its skin.

Kang Oh could clearly see Arumode's chest, and over his heart, there was a sun tattoo that began to glow.

Thud.

Arumode forcefully stamped on the ground. Black thorn vines spread everywhere from the black circle beneath his feet.

"It's the Total Annihilation spell!" Kang Oh yelled.

Total Annihilation!

It was a forbidden spell created by the wicked mage, Katan, who was renowned for annihilating every entity within the Graham Kingdom!

"All of you, die!"

Arumode's desperate cry resounded throughout the room.