Kang Oh was lost in thought.

'I only have 100 days to do this. There are three things I need to do by then.'

Master Demonic Swordsmanship, seal a demon within Akanhoff, and learn a Demonic Swordsman secret technique!

The simplest task was sealing a demon.

Although the demon had to be at least a level 500 raid boss, it was comparatively much easier than the other two tasks.

The problem lay in the other two tasks: mastering Demonic Swordsmanship and learning a Demonic Swordsman secret technique!

His proficiency in High-Rank Demonic Swordsmanship was currently at 67%. Which meant that he needed to raise it another 33% within 100 days.

'Is it possible?'

Normally, he'd say it was impossible. After all, proficiency rose at a snail's pace in Arth.

However, there were three things in his favor.

First, the Earth's Blessing!

The Earth's Blessing would double his experience and proficiency gain.

Second, his talent as a Demonic Swordsman had increased!

Once he obtained his third demon sword, Kang Oh's proficiency in all Demonic Swordsman related skills would increase more quickly.

Finally, the legendary potion, Elixium!

Elixium required four rare ingredients. Dragon's Blood and the Gold Bean could be obtained from his soul dungeons, and he had asked Man Bok to procure the Sun's Seed and the Sea's Tears. If given to a skilled enough Alchemist, these ingredients could be used to produce Elixium.

Drinking this legendary potion increased proficiency gain.

Even taking all of this into account, mastering Demonic Swordsmanship would prove to be a difficult endeavor.

Learning a Demonic Swordsmanship secret technique would be a problem too. Where exactly was he supposed to learn it?

'I guess I have no choice but to find out during my 100 days.'

Kang Oh planned to use his information network to its fullest.

At that moment...

Tap.

Burkan placed his hand on Kang Oh's shoulder.

"Little Brother."

"Yes?"

"If you master Demonic Swordsmanship, then you won't have to worry about the secret technique."

"What do you mean?" Kang Oh tilted his head.

"When you become a Master, you get the opportunity to create your own secret technique."

Kang Oh's face brightened. "Then?"

"Mastering Demonic Swordsmanship and the secret technique are one issue, not two."

"Ah, thank you very much, Brother!" Kang Oh clasped Burkan's hands.

"You can do it!"

"Yes."

"If you're done, then go out and train. You're wasting time that you could have spent killing another monster, or swinging your sword," Valan, who'd been listening in on Kang Oh and Burkan's conversation, said.

Kang Oh stared at Valan. 'You bastard!'

"Why are you looking at me like that? Want to die?" Valan asked, and Kang Oh immediately turned away.

"I have one more piece of advice. You can't become a Master by just training your swords..."

"Enough." Valan cut Burkan off. "He has to figure that out himself. You can't spoon feed him," Valan added.

"What is it? What were you trying to tell me?" Kang Oh asked.

Burkan shook his head. "Never mind. Just keep this in mind. You can do it!"

"Ok." Kang Oh nodded his head.

"Remember to do the missions," Valan said.

Kang Oh bit his lip.

Not only did he need to complete Valan's quest, but he needed to complete the Guardian of the Continent's missions too. He didn't have much time.

'I'll have to hold off on searching for dungeons.'

He had a bitter taste in his mouth. If not for Valan's impossible quest, then he would've been looking for soul dungeons right now, and making a huge profit!

Oh well. He didn't have the luxury of choice. Thus, he had to put everything he had into mastering Demonic Swordsmanship.

'It'd be great if I could fight him along the way.' Kang Oh thought of the perfect target and place.

"If you'll excuse me." Kang Oh quickly left.

'Every second is precious!'

Now, only Valan and Burkan were left.

Then, Burkan said, "That was too much." In other words, 'That quest was cruel.'.

"It can't be helped. The Evil God Worshippers already have two of their sacred treasures. I lost one of my arms too. I can't train him the conventional way."

With two of their sacred treasures reclaimed, the Evil God Worshippers were rapidly increasing their strength and influence at this very moment. It'll be chaos when they decide to use their accumulated power and influence to the fullest.

Thus, he didn't have the time to patiently wait for Kang Oh to grow. That's why he had chosen to be so heartless and cruel. Then again, he was always ill-tempered.

"Do you think he'll be able to do it?"

"He has to if he's going to be my successor."

* * *

There were three kingdoms in the eastern desert region: the Arabas Kingdom, the Baiyan Kingdom, and the Dellas Kingdom. Of these three, however, the Arabas Kingdom was by far the largest and most powerful.

It was said that their mages were superior to the other two nations as well.

In other words, the Arabas Kingdom was like the oldest in the family!

Its desert cities, which were built around oases, were always bustling with nightlife, and were called the Desert's Lamps. Befitting its title as the Desert's Treasure, the Arabas Kingdom's capital, Numeka, was extremely beautiful and mysterious.

However, the Arabas Kingdom was incredibly unstable right now.

The crown prince had suspiciously died, and the current king, Yomund, had fallen deeply ill and could die at any moment now.

With those two out of the picture, the 2nd and 3rd princes were next in line. Thus, the two fought in order to succeed the king.

Fierce battles took place all across the Arabas Kingdom between the 2nd and 3rd prince's forces.

And right now...

The 2nd and 3rd prince's forces clashed above the large sand dune, Camel's Hump.

The 2nd prince's forces were led by the Lord of Cule City, Narbaham.

He led countless Desert Warriors and Insect Mages into battle. The Empire Guild, which was assisting the 2nd prince in the war, had lent them two of their squads, the Moby Dick Squad and the Iron Horse Squad.

The 3rd prince's forces were led by Phukal, a warrior nicknamed the Ghost Spear. He led Desert Warriors and Sand Mages, as well as six intermediate-size mercenary groups.

"I'm your opponent!"

"Chaaht!"

The Desert Warriors, which rode on camels and wore white turbans, swung their scimitars and killed each other.

The sound of metal striking metal, as well as screams, curses, and camel's cries resounded throughout the battlefield.

"Summon Swarm of Red Flies!"

The 2nd prince's Insect Mages summoned swarms of red blood-sucking flies, which covered the sky.

Then, the 3rd prince's Sand Mages responded with magic of their own.

"The desert's heartless winds!"

A sandstorm swept through the swarms of flies.

Summon - Bladed Mantises, Emperor Dragonflies, and Poisonous Spiders!

The two magical disciplines in the east, insect and sand, only made the battle more chaotic and intense.

To add to that, the Empire Guild's Moby Dick and Iron Horse Squads clashed with the 3rd prince's mercenaries.

"They're small fry. Kill them all!"

"Show them the power of the Empire Guild!"

Their leaders, Moby Dick and Taker, yelled.

"Die!"

"Ugh."

"They're strong. Be careful!"

The Moby Dick and Iron Horse Squads were filled with the Empire Guild's elites, the #1 guild in all of Arth.

Even though the six mercenary groups had bunched together, they were getting overpowered right from the start.

"We have to work for our pay!"

"Use hit and run tactics!"

The mercenary groups' leaders yelled, and did their damndest to hold out.

"Die!" Moby Dick rushed at Thalesban, the leader of the Salt Mercenaries.

Moby Dick was a high ranker that was over level 400! His weapon of choice was a mace and a shield.

Whoosh!

Moby Dick's mace came flying at Thalesban's head, so he quickly raised his shield.

Bam!

His power was so great that Thalesban fell to the floor, his shield dented.

Then, Moby Dick's mace unleashed mighty energy.

Typhoon Whale!

A giant, golden whale struck Thalesban.

Boom!

Sand flew everywhere, accompanied by a giant 'boom'. It was as if a bomb had just gone off.

"Hahaha!" Moby Dick smiled and attempted to finish off the greatly weakened Thalesban.

Bam!

Was it his pride as a mercenary leader? Thalesban just barely raised his shield and blocked Moby Dick's finishing blow.

However, he couldn't withstand anymore than that.

"Just die already." Moby Dick swung his mace, crushing Thalesban's head.

Bam!

That was the end of Thalesban.

Moby Dick spun his mace around, and then searched for a new opponent.

Taker had already killed one of the mercenary groups' leaders. The Moby Dick and Iron Horse Squads were slaughtering the mercenaries.

It was completely one-sided!

"Hahaha!" Moby Dick rushed forward. He was ecstatic.

'Who would dare get in my way!?'

However...!

Clang!

He heard a sudden 'clang'.

Moby Dick widened his eyes. Someone had blocked his mace.

"Not bad." He smiled at the man who'd blocked his blow.

It was a man wearing leather armor and a wolf-shaped mask, wielding a purple sword.

Was he a player?

"Try blocking this too!"

Moby Dick's mace began radiating golden light.

Typhoon Whale!

The man swung his sword horizontally.

Whoosh!

His blade unleashed golden energy.

Kuheong!

A golden, roaring tiger aura rushed forward!

Bam!

The two mighty auras clashed and then exploded, resulting in a sand cloud.

Then, a purple blade flew through the sand cloud.

"Uheot." Moby Dick raised his shield and blocked the man's sword.

Clang!

A clear, metallic 'clang' rang out. However, something completely unexpected happened right after.

Crack!

It sounded like his shield had just cracked.

"What?" Moby Dick couldn't understand what had happened. Why had his metal shield cracked?

The man's purple blade came flying through the air once more.

Moby Dick raised his shield.

Bam!

The purple blade had left behind a clear, cross-shaped mark.

Realizing that this wasn't normal, Moby Dick quickly backed off. However, the owner of the purple sword quickly approached him.

Swish.

He swung his sword once more.

'Why is he so fast?'

Moby Dick couldn't hope to dodge the attack. Thus, he raised his shield again.

Bam!

Pieces of his shield fell to the ground.

"Haahp!" Moby Dick swung his mace.

Giant's Hammer!

His mace radiated silver energy, which coalesced into the shape of a giant hammer, and slammed down on his enemy.

The owner of the purple blade backed off.

"Are you alright, Captain?"

Members of his squad surrounded him.

They were all elite members of the Empire Guild. They too had realized that Moby Dick's opponent was on another level, so they had quickly come to help him.

"Tch." The man clicked his tongue from behind his mask.

'How unfortunate. I could've finished him off.'

"Who are you?"

"Reveal yourself!"

There was no way someone with that level of skill was nameless!

The man said nothing. Instead, he pulled out a jet-black sword.

"That sword is...!" Moby Dick's eyes widened. He knew who that jet-black greatsword belonged to.

"You're Kang Oh!" Moby Dick yelled.

"Predator!"

"The Numbers!"

They looked shocked. Why was Predator Kang Oh here?

Kang Oh pulled out a BB-rank mass-produced sword from his inventory and used Gluttony.

All of his abilities were increased twofold.

Devil Trigger!

His body was blackened, as if he'd been covered in squid ink. A beast mask covered his face and a jet-black tail swished behind him. In his right hand lay Demon Sword Akanhoff, and in his left, Demon Sword Ubist!

Because Akanhoff wasn't inhabited by a demon yet, Devil Trigger had transformed him into the Jet-Black Demon, not the Dual Demon.

"It's whale hunting time!" Kang Oh rushed at them with blistering speed.

* * *

"Stop him!"

"Holy shit! Why is he so strong!?"

"My sword broke!"

Kang Oh killed the members of the Moby Dick Squad again and again. There were already a ton of them that'd died by his hand.

He was so strong that people would take one look at him and think, 'As expected of one of the Numbers.'.

His purple blade, Demon Sword Akanhoff, was the most dangerous part about him. Anything it touched would break, whether it be a weapon or armor.

That wasn't all. It amplified his damage by a factor of 1.5 to 3 times!

Just a few attacks would be enough to kill the members of the Moby Dick Squad.

Ultimately, Moby Dick sacrificed his subordinates in order to buy time, and called Taker for aid.

If he wanted to beat that crazy beast, then he needed Taker's help. It was impossible to beat him alone.

Sometime later...

Only after he'd killed several members of the Moby Dick Squad did Taker arrive.

"Kang Oh showed up?"

"That guy over there." Moby Dick pointed at Kang Oh.

"Nice. Let's kill him."

"Don't underestimate him. He's a monster," Moby Dick warned.

"We'll see. Let's go."

"Yeah!"

Taker and Moby Dick. They led two of the Empire Guild's eight squads.

"Let's go too!"

"For the Empire Guild!"

The Moby Dick and Iron Horse Squad followed behind them.