Samon was fully covered in golden armor. It was almost like he'd been reborn. There was a huge difference between his power before and after his transformation.

With every swing of his sword, he'd unleash a shockwave nearby, as well as a golden aura that came straight for Kang Oh's party.

Thus...

'This is fun.'

It felt like he was actually hunting a lion, the king of all beasts.

Kang Oh cleaved through a shockwave with Blood, avoided an aura, and approached Samon from the side.

Kuhang!

Samon roared, and swung his sword.

Lion King's Strike!

The shape of a lion flickered from his blade.

Kang Oh swung Blood horizontally. A white line followed his sword, cleaving through space itself.

High-Rank Slash!

Clang!

The two blades clashed.

Samon's strength was greater than Kang Oh's, forcing him back a few steps. Kang Oh hid a hand behind his back, summoning a Fire Bomb in his palm. Then, he dropped it onto the floor.

Samon quickly attacked him.

Whoosh!

Samon swung his blade, coated in a golden aura, diagonally. Kang Oh jumped back, getting out of range of his sword. He quickly withdrew his sword and chased after Kang Oh!

But then...

Roar!

The Fire Bomb beneath Samon's feet exploded, spreading scarlet flames everywhere.

Kuhahk!

Samon pushed right through the flames. His armor radiated dim light. It seemed like it reduced the amount of damage he took from the flames.

'Just as planned!'

Kang Oh had been waiting for this. He swung his blade horizontally. However, his hands were holding Ubist, not Blood.

Everlasting Darkness!

[As a price for using Everlasting Darkness, stolen stats have been consumed.]

[Magic -3]

A massive blast of darkness erupted from his blade. Unable to withstand the force of impact, Samon was flung backwards and rammed into the wall.

"Attack!" Kang Oh yelled.

Eder raised his scythe into the air.

Bone Mass!

A giant lump of bone rained down on Samon, as if it were a boulder flung from a catapult.

Bam, bam, bam!

Sephiro used one of his new skills.

Earth Shaking Arrow!

Thud!

Once his arrow struck Samon's armor, it released a giant shockwave that swept through Samon.

Kuhaahk!

Red shards of light burst from Samon's body. Sephiro's attack was just that powerful!

Samon stood up using his sword like a cane. Then, he swung his sword at Kang Oh's party, eyes filled with killing intent.

Lion's Claw!

The golden aura split into three, and flew towards Kang Oh, Eder, and Sephiro.

Kang Oh activated Devil Trigger. In an instant, jet-black darkness engulfed his form, and from that darkness, a jet-black demon was born.

Abyss Transfer!

The surrounding darkness consumed him. Having lost its target, the golden aura crashed into the wall and dissipated.

Because Absolute Evasion was still on cooldown, Sephiro couldn't use it to save his skin this time. Thus, he decided to use force against force.

Sun Piercing Arrow!

The violently spinning arrow flew right at the golden aura.

Whir!

The spiraling arrow actually pierced through the golden aura.

Eder knew a Bone Wall wouldn't stop it, but he used it anyway.

Bam!

The golden aura instantly blew through the wall.

'Now!'

Eder used Bone Bomb.

Boom!

He exploded the crumbling bone, and the resulting explosion consumed the aura whole.

Samon didn't have the luxury of just sitting there and watching his attacks fail. Kang Oh had reappeared behind him and was relentlessly attacking him, that's why!

"Die!" Kang Oh cleaved through Samon's flank. Black shards burst from Samon's body.

Fang Bearing Blade!

His demon's sword ability, which nullified all defenses, had activated!

'This ability renders your armor pointless!' Kang Oh grinned.

Grr.

Samon swung his gleaming sword.

Lightning Thrust!

True to its name, the blade came for his throat at lightning speed. However, Kang Oh had already seen that trick once before! There was no way it'd work on him a second time.

Because of his Hyper Intuition, or more specifically, the chill he felt that indicated where his opponent was aiming at, he could just tilt his head and easily avoid the attack.

Then, Kang Oh counterattacked!

Thrust!

Stab!

Demon Sword Ubist dented Samon's armor. Kang Oh didn't stop there.

Cut, slash, thrust, slash!

In a single breath, he'd attacked four times.

At the same time, Eder and Sephiro aimed at him from long-range. Bones grew around Samon's arms and legs, restricting his movements, and long, thick arrows that were akin to javelins came for his head and chest.

Kuhang!

Even so, Samon continued to fight back. He roared and feverishly swung his sword. However, Kang Oh wouldn't stop.

'Either you die, or I die!' He too swung his sword crazily.

Samon's armor was gradually being worn down. There was even a huge arrow sticking out of his back.

Ultimately...

Stab!

Demon Sword Ubist pierced through Samon's armor and heart. Samon slowly lowered his head. The battle was over.

[You are the first to defeat Comdo's Champion, Samon.]

[Samon is a boss monster that only drops one item.]

[Samon has dropped Samon's Token.]

[You have defeated a boss monster that lives in the Land that Borders Hell, Despia.]

[Fame has increased.]

[You have defeated a boss monster while assuming the Jet-Black Demon form.]

[More stats have been stolen.]

[Physical +2]

"Bleh. It didn't drop anything good." Kang Oh, who'd deactivated Devil Trigger, scowled.

Comdo's Champion, Samon! He was a boss that only dropped certain items. To make matters worse, he only dropped one of them! The dropped item wasn't even good.

[Samon's Token]

Proof that you defeated Samon.

It was a golden coin engraved with a lion's face. This coin must be needed to open the next door.

"Tch, tch. I suppose he was too weak."

Champion Samon.

It wasn't that hard to beat him. Thus, it made sense that the reward was lackluster.

Even so, Kang Oh carefully searched Samon's Room. Perhaps there was a hidden door somewhere, and perhaps that hidden door led to treasure… Unfortunately, the only thing in the room was a throne. There was nothing else here.

Ultimately, Kang Oh's party was forced to return to Saharamant, only one gold coin richer.

* * *

Saharamant. It was a cylindrical room!

'Now there are only four doors left!' Kang Oh gripped Samon's Token and pushed open the next small door.

Creak.

Last time, it wouldn't open, stating that he wasn't qualified; this time, however, the intricately decorated door opened without resistance.

He tried opening the other doors too, but to no avail. As expected, the same message popped up, stating that he wasn't qualified.

'As expected, you have to go through each door one at a time.'

"Can't we rest a little?" Eder asked.

"Mr. Eder is right. The doors aren't going anywhere," Sephiro added.

"Alright." Unexpectedly, Kang Oh agreed to their request.

"Huh?"

"Really?"

They'd given it a shot, but... Kang Oh wasn't the type of person to rest already. Eder and Sephiro stared at him anxiously.

"What? You don't want to rest?"

"No, I do!"

"I want to rest."

They rested for a short time.

"Mr. Sephiro," Kang Oh said.

"Yes?"

"Please tell us about your class now."

"Hoo, hoo. Can't you tell?"

"I can tell that it's more powerful than your previous class."

"My class is called Giant Hunter. It's a hidden class," Sephiro said, sporting a haughty expression. 'Now I have a hidden class too!'

"Giant Hunter?" He'd never heard of that class before.

"It's an Archer-type class that specializes in killing large monsters. As you saw, it allows me to launch extremely powerful attacks."

"Was that the class you got from gathering the Rose family's arrows?" Kang Oh asked.

Sephiro had been gathering the Rose family's arrows. There were rumors that the Rose family's arrows were connected to a Archer-type hidden class.

"No. The rumors were completely bogus."

"As I thought."

In the past, Kang Oh had given Sephiro the Rose family's purple arrow. However, his Hyper Intuition never said anything about the arrow. Which meant that there was no secret behind it! Sephiro had just proved him right.

"Then how did you obtain the Giant Hunter class?"

"That's a secret. If you want to know, then please pay me an information fee."

Information on a hidden class was worth money. Obviously, Sephiro wouldn't give him this information for free.

"Never mind. I don't really need to know..."

Of course, Kang Oh didn't want to know so badly that he'd pay him for it. Even if he learned how to become a Giant Hunter, he'd never become one.

"Please tell me about the Giant Hunter class. We're going to be hunting together, so we need to know some things about your class," Kang Oh said.

"A Giant Hunter shoots arrows that are much more powerful than an Archer's. In exchange, it takes a long time to load another arrow after the first. My range has gone down too. Also, it's hard for me to make precise shots now."

Before, Sephiro would never miss a shot. But now, he'd occasionally miss.

"Hmm. Is that it?"

"A Giant Hunter can also raise a pet that can help them during combat. But I haven't found the right egg yet." Sephiro scratched the back of his head.

He already had a few skills that he could use alongside a pet. However, he couldn't use them because he didn't have one yet.

"An egg, huh... The Snake Queen, Cassio, dropped a phoenix egg," Kang Oh said.

"A phoenix egg!" Sephiro looked shocked.

Phoenixes were legendary. What if he were to make such a legendary creature his pet?

'I dunno about the Numbers, but I'll at least become a high ranker!'

Sephiro, who was currently a middle ranker, sported a subservient expression.

"Hehe, Mr. Kang Oh. Where is that egg now?"

"Chieftain Aman of the Nedav Tribe should know where it is."

Kang Oh had taken the SS-rank Cassio Ring, and the rest of the items had been divided amongst the tribes. Since Aman had been the supreme commander, he should know where the phoenix egg went.

"The Nedav Chieftain, Aman..." Sephiro's body twitched. He clearly wanted to go there immediately.

"But it should take you about half a year to figure out which tribe has it, and to get that tribe to give you the egg. Someone might have already gotten it too." Kang Oh poured cold water all over him.

"Ahem. I see." Sephiro's face was filled with disappointment.

"It may not be as good, but I have something for you."

"Something for me?"

"Yes." Kang Oh pulled out a round egg from his inventory. It was a black, red-spotted egg, which was even larger than an ostrich egg.

"This is?"

"It's a wyvern egg. Not only that, but it's a mutant wyvern egg!"

"Oooh!" Sephiro's eyes gleamed.

"Please take a look." Kang Oh passed him the egg.

Sephiro carefully accepted the egg and looked over its information.

Gulp.

Sephiro swallowed. It seemed like he wanted it. This is where Kang Oh fanned the flames.

"Wouldn't it be so awesome if you were to shoot giant arrows from atop a wyvern? People would call you something else. Wyvern Rider, Sephiro!"

"Hehe." Sephiro opened his mouth wide.

'It worked.' Kang Oh grinned.

Of course, he had no intention of giving it to him for free.

"Now then, shall we begin negotiating?" Kang Oh's eyes gleamed sharply.