The Black Lion, Raon, was meeting with his guild's chief executives.

"How is the Hegang Alliance doing?" Raon asked.

"We haven't identified any specific movements on their front. But it's clear that they're planning something," Brand said.

"Of course they are. It's clear that they'll lose at this rate."

They may look even, but the Raon Alliance actually held a 6:4 advantage over the Hegang Alliance. However, they couldn't afford to be reckless. A 6:4 lead could always be upturned.

"Do you have any idea what they'll do?" Snow Flower asked.

Brand shook his head. "They have so many options. I can't say for sure what they'll do."

"It doesn't matter. We'll just crush whatever comes our way." Raon clenched his fist and said firmly. His voice was overflowing with charisma. Of course, his fashionable mane and his lion's face only added to that.

"Saladin is ready to mobilize at a moment's notice. I'm sure his squad will shock them." Brand grinned. 'I can't wait for that moment!'

Snow Flower nodded her head.

The Breaker Guild was secretly training Saladin's squad. It only had 100 members, but once it appeared, the Breaker Guild's three squads would become four.

"We have her too," Brand said.

"Give her whatever she needs. And try to recruit her to our guild if you can," Raon said.

"Yes, sir."

"It won't be long before the war's over. Keep up your guard till the very end."

Raon could feel it. That the end of the war was fast approaching.

* * *

Kang Oh stopped by the Tower to see Grano.

"It's been a while," Grano said happily. His middle-aged face was absolutely glowing.

"How have you been?" Kang Oh asked.

"I've been doing well. Hoo, hoo. Haven't you heard of Heaven's Blessing?" Grano beamed.

"You've finally achieved your dream?"

As a native of the Bariton Desert, it had been Grano's dream to create a rain-making device that would turn the desert into fertile grasslands once more.

"It's not perfect, but I've made major advancements. In several years, the desert should be filled with grass once more."

"Congratulations. As expected of you." Kang Oh gave him a thumbs up.

"It's nothing. What did you need today?"

"Could you please take a look at this?" Kang Oh pulled out a Sabra's Contract from his inventory. The contract had a drawing of the Furon Underground Cave's magic circle.

"This is..."

"This is the Furon Underground Cave's magic circle. It seems like the entrance to the hidden dungeon, but I have no idea how to activate it."

"Did you draw it exactly? If it's even slightly inaccurate, then I won't be able to read it."

"I drew it exactly as is."

Grano slowly looked over the magic circle. It wasn't long before...

"You need four things to activate this magic circle."

"What are they?"

"You have to place a fire object here, a water object here, a wind object here, and an earth object here. That'll activate the magic circle." Grano pointed at each of the magic circle's four circles.

"Fire, water, wind, and earth, huh..."

"For the fire element, a Flame Candle should suffice. You can go downstairs and buy what you need at the Tower's store."

"Thank you very much."

"I'll mark the elements on the page, so place them exactly at these points. If you place them incorrectly, it could result in a huge explosion." Grano marked the elements directly on the page with a pen.

"Understood."

Kang Oh parted ways with Grano, went downstairs, and then bought what he needed from the store. Specifically, he bought a Flame Candle, Holy Water, a Wind Doll, and an Earth Shard.

"Go, go!"

He, along with Sephiro, Asu, and Waryong, headed for Furon Palace.

* * *

"You jerk..."

Kang Oh killed Haggler and the Hercules Guild's gatekeepers once more.

Furon Palace had been attacked once before, so they increased security. However, it didn't matter how much small fry they gathered, they wouldn't be able to stand against Kang Oh.

Kang Oh's party immediately headed for the magic circle. Once there, Kang Oh placed the Flame Candle, Holy Water, Wind Doll, and Earth Shard exactly as Grano had instructed.

Whir!

The magic circle began to shine.

Kang Oh expected a portal to open, one that led to the hidden dungeon. Instead, a giant, transparent gray bear popped out of it.

Kuheong!

It roared.

[You have heard the Spirit Bear, Xiwoong's roar.]

[Your high Indomitable stat has allowed you to overcome your fear.]

[Your high Fighting Spirit stat makes you burn with the desire to fight.]

Xiwoong charged at Kang Oh.

"Oppa!"

"Mr. Kang Oh!"

All of this happened so quickly. The two flinched. They saw the Spirit Bear charging at Kang Oh and instinctively yelled.

However, Kang Oh wasn't just calm; he was actually sighing.

'Spirits aren't an issue.'

Kang Oh leapt into the air and swung Demon Sword Ubist downwards. It was the mortal enemy of all ghost-type monsters.

Slash!

Bam!

Kang Oh cut it in half.

However, Xiwoong didn't die in a single hit. It did whatever it could to glue the two parts of its body back together.

But...!

Kang Oh didn't just sit there and watch.

Swish, slash, swish, slash!

Kang Oh cut the Spirit Bear into smaller pieces.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Red shards kept exploding out. At some point, Xiwoong's body disappeared like smoke.

Whir!

The magic circle shined once more.

Another ghost didn't pop out. Instead, the light engulfed Kang Oh's party.

[Entering the hidden dungeon, Furon's Heart.]

The Spirit Bear, Xiwoong, was a guardian created by the Hercules Guild.

It was a ghost, so not only was it immune to physical attacks, but it could also freely pass through the walls and the ceiling. Its strength and ferocity was like a real bear's. However, Kang Oh was its direct counter!

Anyhow, once the gatekeeper was killed, the door to the hidden dungeon had opened.

The intense light dissipated, and Kang Oh's party opened their eyes. They were greeted by the sight of a flower garden.

The area was completely filled with beautiful flowers! They were so colorful and they smelled wonderful.

"Wow." Asu looked around in awe.

At that moment...

The ground cracked open, and a giant flower bud popped out.

"W-What's that?" Sephiro widened his eyes.

Grr.

Waryong bowed its head and snarled.

The flower bud opened on its own, and a green alien-like entity popped out. It had a giant head, huge eyes, a large belly, and arms and legs. Overall, it really did look like an alien.

"Hi, I'm Uru."

"Are you the soul dungeon's guardian?" Kang Oh asked.

"I am."

"Can you give me the soul stone?"

"If you want it, then you need to give me a plant seed. It has to be one that doesn't exist here," Uru said.

"What if I don't have one?" Kang Oh slightly raised his sword.

"I can't fight. In exchange, I'm immune to any and all attacks, so you should just go and get a seed."

"Immune to any and all attacks, huh... Let's test that, shall we?" Kang Oh's eyes shined.

However, Asu suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

"Oppa."

"Yeah?"

"Leave it to me."

"Uh, ok." Kang Oh stepped back.

"Uru, will this work?" Asu pulled out a white seed, which looked like cotton, from her inventory.

It was a Grand seed, a mysterious cloud-like plant that only grew in the flying city, Grand Lotus. She had gotten it to commemorate her date with Kang Oh.

"Yeah." Uru beamed. It seemed like it really liked the Grand seed.

"Can you give me the soul stone?"

"Sure." Uru pulled the soul stone out of its body and passed it to Asu. Asu then passed it the Grand seed.

"Here!" Asu passed Kang Oh the soul stone.

"Hoo, hoo. I wonder who'll come out." Kang Oh examined the soul stone and laughed.

'I hope Shion comes out.'

He was confident that he wouldn't lose in a one-on-one duel with him.

Kang Oh tightly gripped the soul stone.

Whir!

The soul stone emitted intense light.

[You have grabbed an owned soul stone.]

[A Sacred Duel will now begin to determine the dungeon's master.]

[Summoning Furon Underground Cave's proxy.]

The soul stone's light transformed into a pillar of light. A single man walked out of the light.

He was a huge man, one more than 2 meters tall. His skin was brown, and his body was extremely muscular.

His weapon was an axe. Twin axes at that. However, the two axes differed in size. His right hand held a giant axe, while his left hand held a smaller one.

Kang Oh immediately recognized him. He was a prominent figure after all.

'Lacus!'

Rank 14!

Destruction Lacus!

He was the physical embodiment of Hercules' power. In the guild's hay day, both he and Shion were part of the Numbers.

The Hercules Guild was the only guild that'd ever had two Numbers. Of course, that was a long, long time ago.

Whir!

A ring of light appeared on the ground. Sephiro and Asu were pushed out of the ring.

"Kang Oh," Lacus said with a deep voice.

"Lacus," Kang Oh said.

Lacus smirked. "Haha, I always wanted to fight you. Thanks for giving me the opportunity."

Although his opponent was Kang Oh, he didn't seem daunted in the slightest.

Kang Oh thought carelessly. Lacus was completely relaxed, like someone who was truly strong.

He outstretched his arms, holding a demon sword in either hand. His gesture was basically saying, 'C'mon!' or 'Attack me!'.

"Sure, why not." Lacus threw his left handed axe.

Destroy Target!

Whoosh!

His axe spun in the air like a top, and rapidly flew towards the crown of Kang Oh's head.

Kang Oh moved to the side, dodging the axe.

Bam!

Once the axe struck the ground, the dirt surged into the air like a landmine had just gone off.

Whoosh!

The axe flew back to Lacus's hand.

Of course, Kang Oh didn't just sit there. Kang Oh followed the axe right back to its owner.

"Huahp!" He swung Ubist upwards.

Darkness Strike!

A jet-black wave surged like a salmon jumping upstream.

Lacus immediately swung his larger axe.

Shatter!

Bam!

Sword and axe clashed.

However, Kang Oh was the one pushed back.

'As expected.'

It was a well-known fact that Lacus put most of his stat points into Physical. Apparently, his logic was that a man was all about strength or something.

"I'm going." Lacus threw his small axe once more.

Destroy Target!

Kang Oh threw himself to the side, simultaneously swinging Blood.

Tempest Tiger!

A golden tiger pounced on Lacus.

"Hmph, you stupid cat!" Lacus slammed his axe into the ground.

Havoc!

Boom!

The earth shook. A mighty shockwave rose from the ground and devoured the Tempest Tiger.

Then...

Kang Oh pierced through the shockwave, and like a deft snake, aimed for Lacus with Blood.

However, his back suddenly felt cold. Hyper Intuition was warning him of danger.

'The smaller axe!'

Lacus was capable of retrieving his axe. Which meant that this feeling indicated that the axe was returning.

Kang Oh halted midway, and rolled onto the floor.

Bam!

The smaller axe swept through where he'd once been, and softly landed in Lacus's hand.

"Do you have eyes on the back of your head? To think you'd be able to dodge this too. As expected." Lacus's lips curled upwards. 'How fun!'

"I'm just getting warmed up!" Kang Oh stood up and spun both of his blades.

"Let's have some fun!" Lacus widened his eyes. His pose was the common 'All of you come at me at once!'.

"Hmph." Kang Oh snorted. 'You're no match for me!'

"Kuhahk!"

"Haahp!"

The two clashed once more.