Kang Oh had never seen these monsters before.

They lacked arms or legs, and were as long as anacondas; they had to be about 5 meters long. Their skin also shimmered, as if they were coated in some sort of substance.

They had giant silver wings, triangular faces, and sharp horns at the end of their noses.

These monsters were completely new, and were brought about by the Great Change.

They were called...

'Serpentra!'

Blue Sky had not only unveiled the Whispering Wind Cliff, but the existence of the Serpentra as well.

They were about level 550.

The Serpentra were difficult to face due to their exceptional flying abilities, as well as their 'Mysterious Scales'.

Their scales had a high chance of making both melee and ranged attacks miss. It was apparently close to 50%.

However, they also had incredibly high elemental resistance.

"I ain't doing this. I can't kill them!" Blue Sky's mage had said in annoyance.

Moreover, each one's elemental affinity differed.

Some of them could spew flames, venom, darkness, or light, while others could shoot water, dirt, or lightning from their bodies.

At least 50 of them had appeared.

Swoosh!

The Serpentra opened their mouths, simultaneously unleashing fire, lightning, poison, etc.

Countless colors mixed in the air, as if there was some fabulous show going on.

Danger, danger!

His body felt cold. Hyper Intuition was warning him!

Kang Oh leapt into the air.

Now!

Some of them flew towards him, their large, tough horns ready to skewer him!

Swish!

They were like giant arrows shot out of a ballista.

'C'mon!'

Markings of the Yuki-Onna Tribe appeared along his purple blade. He had activated Demon Sword Sarahoff's new ability!

Ring of Frost!

Whoosh!

A cold wave spread outwards.

The Serpentras' silver wings were frozen solid, and then their bodies followed suit.

Despite their high level and elemental resistance, Ring of Frost had still managed to freeze them completely!

Amazing!

Every monster within a 5 meter radius of him was frozen solid, and their bodies plummeted to the floor.

Gravity was a cruel mistress; Kang Oh started to fall too. In spite of that, he swiftly swung his twin demon swords.

Mad Wind's Sword!

Their 'Mysterious Scales' offered them little protection while they were frozen.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The ice coating their bodies broke into pieces and went everywhere. These were followed by red shards of light flying through the air.

In the midst of that, Ubist's special ability, 'Rip Apart' had activated, so he could see black shards in the air too.

[You have defeated a Sky Predator, Serpentra.]

[You have defeated a Sky Predator, Serpentra.]

...

Attacking an enemy while they were 'frozen' ensured that you'd deal extra damage, but… it was much greater than he anticipated.

To think he'd be able to defeat level 550 monsters this easily!

Of course, there was also the fact that Kang Oh was way too strong, and that the Serpentras' defense was much lower than you'd expect from a high level monster.

Kyaa!

The remaining Serpentra cried out at their comrades' tragic demise, and flew at him even more fiercely than before.

They were clever too.

The Serpentra had realized that close range combat wasn't the answer, so they kept their distance and attacked from afar. Not only that, but they did so while maintaining formation.

Kang Oh threw himself out of the way.

Bam!

Huge holes appeared where he'd just been. Jet-black darkness shimmered from beneath the holes.

'This formation of theirs... is a lot more dangerous than I thought!'

He was standing on a descending spiral road. Although it was illuminated by faint light, there were no guardrails that'd keep him from slipping off.

However, it wasn't just a matter of dodging the Serpentras' attacks. Their attacks were gradually destroying the path itself.

'If that's the case, then...' Kang Oh forcefully threw his demon swords.

Weapon Bombardment!

His jet-black greatsword and purple longsword fiercely spun and flew at his enemies.

Swish!

Bam!

The Serpentra were ripped apart by his spinning blades. As expected of a secret technique developed by the battle hardened Tuslam!

However, the Serpentra were not to be underestimated.

They flew through the air and dodged his spinning blades, and then immediately reformed their ranks. After that, they bombarded Kang Oh with all manner of elemental attacks.

Kang Oh urgently moved his body in order to dodge their attacks.

Bam! Bam!

The Serpentra continuously poked holes into the path.

'If that's the case, then...'

Kang Oh decided to use their formation against them.

"Tasha, turn back into a sword!" he said. Tasha had her hands full fighting them off.

"Got it!"

Kang Oh grabbed the snow-white sword as soon as the transformation was complete. He then used Weapon Bombardment with all three of his demon swords!

It was draining on his MP reserves, and it was a lot harder to control all three at once than he'd expected. Moreover, he had to focus on dodging the Serpentras' attacks as well.

In spite of that, Kang Oh was capable enough to perform all of these tasks.

Ubist and Blood acted like herding dogs, forcing the group of Serpentra into a corner, while the fiercely spinning Sarahoff ripped them apart.

The properties of their Mysterious Scales frequently made his attacks miss, but he attacked so many times that it didn't matter.

Kang Oh also added Darkness Chain into the mix.

Kyahaahk!

Kyahuu!

The cliff was filled with the Serpentras' cries.

His three demon swords didn't stop until all of the Serpentra were dead.

* * *

Swish!

The wind whispered to him once more.

"Come here."

"Let's play together."

Kang Oh ignored the whispers and picked up the glimmering silver scales.

[Serpentra Scale]

A scale that shines silver. This scale can make physical attacks miss. Each Serpentra only possesses one scale underneath their neck.

Material Rank: AA.

The Serpentra were a new type of monster. However, they dropped precious materials. Moreover, each one of them dropped one scale without fail.

If he sold these to new material enthusiasts, then he could make a fortune.

He also felt like Hoffman would be able to craft new dragon equipment with these.

'It's a gold mine.'

As expected, the dungeon rewards matched the difficulty level of the dungeon.

Kang Oh collected the Serpentra Scales with a satisfied look on his face.

After that, he continued down the winding road.

The Serpentra would periodically attack him.

The group steadily became larger and larger, and Serpentra Leaders started to appear too.

They were quite intelligent, and were skilled at commanding large groups, so even Kang Oh was put in danger when he faced them and the groups they led.

Plus, some of the Serpentra shot blasts at him that were stronger than two or three Serpentra combined.

Then there were Serpentra with especially large horns that charged at him.

However, they weren't nearly strong enough to stop Kang Oh, who was slowly getting used to using Weapon Bombardment with three demon swords.

But...!

Kang Oh progressed through the dungeon much slower than normal.

Why?

First off, the difficulty level was extremely high. Even someone like Kang Oh would take at least 30 minutes to clear out a group of Serpentra by himself.

Plus, he had to use his MP every battle. Therefore, he had to constantly drink the MP Potions he'd brought with him and/or wait for his MP to regenerate after each battle.

Ultimately, it took about ten hours for him to reach the end of the dungeon, even though he'd taken a quick break in the middle for lunch and had spent all of his time hunting.

'Finally.'

At the end of the dungeon lay a large, circular plate.

It was there that...

[You have discovered the Serpentra Queen, Rubion.]

[You are the first to discover it.]

He found the dungeon boss, which radiated an overwhelming presence.

* * *

Rubion reminded him of an eastern dragon.

Its long, giant, coiled up body was covered in shining silver scales. On the contrary, normal Serpentra only possessed one such scale.

And yet, its entire body was completely rife with them.

As expected of the Serpentra Queen!

It had a long face, and two horns were situated on its forehead, not its nose. However, its horns were colored differently than normal Serpentra.

They were black and white respectively.

'Does she possess the darkness and light elements?'

He had realized something after fighting countless Serpentra. The color of their horns hinted at what elemental attribute they possessed.

Those with reddish horns possessed the fire element, while those with bluish horns possessed the water element.

Plus, the depth of the color would determine how powerful their elemental attacks would be.

The Serpentra Queen's horns were extremely dark and bright.

Finally, its wings were extremely large and beautiful.

'It's about... It has to be level 600.'

At least level 600. It was possible that it was even higher than that.

The circular plate that it lay upon seemed to be about 100 meters in diameter.

'Can I beat it?' Kang Oh thought from atop the adjoining path.

It didn't seem easy. He didn't have Eder or Sephiro with him either.

However, Valan told him that 'Trials will make [him] stronger'.

Kang Oh made up his mind, and stepped onto the circular plate.

Then...

Flap!

Rubion rose into the air.

It uncoiled its body, making it seem even larger than before.

[The Serpentra Queen, Rubion has revealed itself in its entirety.]

[All beings cower in its presence.]

[Your high rank, as well as your Mental, Courage, and Indomitable stats have allowed you to overcome your fear.]

[Fame has increased.]

Bam!

Rubion unleashed a ray of light from its mouth.

Photon Cannon!

Kang Oh leapt into the air.

Boom!

The blast pierced a hole in the ground. It was as if the darkness was speaking to him. 'If you don't want to die, then don't fall into the abyss.'

Kang Oh focused entirely on the Serpentra Queen.

Whir!

This time, it used its darkness element.

Black Sphere!

A giant black sphere came out of its mouth. It sucked in and devoured everything around it like a black hole.

Tempest Tiger!

Kang Oh swung Ubist, unleashing golden energy at the Serpentra Queen.

Bam!

The Black Sphere versus the Tempest Tiger!

The two blasts collided in midair!

However, the Black Sphere devoured the Tempest Tiger and continued on, threatening to devour Kang Oh too.

But Kang Oh had already vacated the area. Once more, the ground was perforated with another hole.

At that moment...

Swish!

A snow-white blade and a purple longsword fiercely spun and flew towards its sides.

When the two energy blasts had collided, Kang Oh had thrown two of his demon swords.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The two demon swords cleaved through Rubion's flesh. However, there weren't as many shards of light as he expected.

Rubion's scales were far greater than normal Serpentra scales. It possessed the 'Queen's Noble Scales', which were a step up from the 'Mysterious Scales'.

These scales made physical attacks miss more than 50% of the time. That was why it took so little damage from Weapon Bombardment.

"Hmm."

Kang Oh had clearly seen his attacks miss. Thus, he immediately realized how much greater its scales were.

'Are they even better than the Mysterious Scales?'

Kang Oh had made his way here by cutting down countless Serpentra. Thus, he knew exactly what their weaknesses were.

A Serpentra's weakness was physical attacks. Unbefitting a high level monster, their defense was poor.

In exchange, their elemental resistance was extremely high.

Thus, the Serpentra possessed the 'Mysterious Scale' ability, which made physical attacks miss.

In other words, victory or defeat against a Serpentra was determined by how well you were able to overcome this special ability.

The strategy wasn't much different, but the difficulty level was.

Swish!

Rubion spun in the air, and then unleashed six beams of light from its wings.

Serpent Queen's Judgment!

It was exactly as advertised. It was a barrage of beams.

Kang Oh threw himself out of the way.

Boom, boom, boom!

In no time at all, there were eight holes in the ground.

He realized that the Serpentra Queen's bombardment wouldn't end anytime soon, and that if this continued, then there wouldn't be anywhere he could go. If he let that happen, then he'd either be swept away by the bombardment, or he'd fall through one of the holes and sink into the abyss.

'I can't let that happen!'

He had to end this quickly.

Kang Oh stuck Ubist into the ground and extended both his hands.

Swish!

Sarahoff and Blood softly flew to his hands like birds returning to the nest.

He had three demon swords.

'What I need right now is...'

The ability to fly, which was granted by Blood, and Gluttony, which Ubist could provide.

He placed Sarahoff inside his inventory so that he could switch his weapons whenever necessary, and then gripped both of his blades.

Devil Trigger!

Blood and Ubist's energies engulfed Kang Oh's body.

Then...

Kuwaang!

The Serpentra Queen unleashed darkness energy from its mouth, which completely devoured Kang Oh.

Bam!

A dark red winged demon pierced through the darkness and flew into the air.