How much time had passed?

A giant, yellow sand cloud covered the battlefield, and the Death Eagles soared through the air.

Black Wolf's face stiffened. "Mm."

Once the Mamonas's body fell, Black Wolf ordered his men to fly as high as possible.

The Death Eagles were powerful flying monsters. Thus, they were able to navigate through the raging sand winds and escape the devastation.

Of course, not all of them made it out.

He didn't see three of the Death Eagles or their riders. However, it was insignificant when he took into account the scale of the Mamonas's attack.

The problem was...

Unlike him, his companions had no way of escaping the blast radius.

'They didn't all die, did they?'

They probably did.

Surviving that seemed like an impossibility.

Black Wolf cooled his head, and organized his thoughts.

'First, let's focus on the Mamonas. It'd be difficult to defeat it with the troops I have on hand.'

He opened a message window and clicked on Jegal from his friends list.

Jegal was on standby with Dalton and 10,000 troops from the Arabas Army. They were quite far away from the battlefield due to the Mamonas's size.

- Mr. Jegal.

- What's the matter? I felt an earthquake, and I saw a giant sand cloud in the air.

- The Mamonas caused it.

- How is the situation?

- It looks like we lost all of our troops on the ground. The Mamonas is still alive, so we'll need our reserve troops if we want to finish it off.

- Understood.

Black Wolf waited for their reserve troops.

At that moment...

A small portion of the Mamonas's body could be seen amidst the dust cloud.

'As expected!'

It was still alive.

"Black Wolf Squad, the Mamonas is still alive. It might attack us next, so fly up even higher."

"Yes, sir!"

However, the Mamonas didn't attack them again. And the Mamonas wasn't the only thing moving within the dust cloud.

* * *

Black Wolf rightfully assumed that their ground troops had perished at the hands of the Mamonas's Catastrophic Disaster. It was a logical conclusion. After all, its attack was like a black hole that devoured everything in sight.

However, more people had survived than expected.

Some people, like Dukeram or his captains, survived through sheer skill, while others were helped by their companions.

The latter included the Insect/Sand Mages.

Sadry watched the sand fall from his body with respect.

There were two reasons he had survived.

First, Serena's Water had significantly weakened the Mamonas. If it had been at full strength, then the blast radius would've been far greater.

Weakened as it was, most people weren't able to survive the Mamonas's Catastrophic Disaster.

However...!

Dukeram had performed a miracle.

He had summoned sand soldiers, which shielded the ground troops with their own bodies.

The sand soldiers, which covered them like armor, were akin to a bomb shelter, and doubled as an oxygen tank that allowed them to breathe underneath the sand.

'I won't forget this debt.' Sadry stared at Dukeram and deeply bowed his head.

A short while later...

The surviving members pierced through the sand one or two at a time.

Alas, Dukeram mostly remained an observer throughout the battle. He wanted his captains to be the star of the show, so he remained on the sidelines. His captains were skilled enough to finish the Mamonas off without his intervention.

"We're rebuilding our ranks. Yellow Dragon Squad, come over to me!" Erik, who assumed the form of the Great Wind Spirit, raised his sword into the air.

Whoosh!

Wind raged around his body, which began to blow away the sand cloud. The members of Yellow Dragon gathered at his side.

"We'll assess our losses later. We have to focus on killing the Mamonas for now!" Irene yelled.

The remnants of the Glacier Squad gathered around her like bees seeking their queen.

The other squads gathered around their respective captains.

"Irene, Taker. The plan remains the same. We'll attack, while Moby Dick, Brown Bear, and Giant Soldier tank it," Erik yelled.

"Ok!"

"Got it."

Moby Dick and Taker replied, while the rest of the captains acted.

"Kuskal," Erik said.

"I know what you're going to say. We'll attack it too."

The Red King Squad was responsible for protecting their mages. At the moment, however, killing the Mamonas as soon as humanly possible was far more important than protecting them.

Kuskal rushed at the beast, and his squad members, garbed in black, followed him like a shadow.

"Let's go!" Erik and the Yellow Dragon Squad charged.

Guoooh!

The Mamonas popped out of the sand. Its body was lined with wounds.

However, it's said that a wounded tiger is more dangerous!

It fired its eight eye lasers, rained down lumps of sand onto the battlefield like hail, opened its mouth and sucked in everything in sight and/or fired beams, and burrowed into the sand, only to pop up from underneath its prey.

However, the battle had already been decided.

When its Catastrophic Disaster failed to reduce their numbers to a manageable level, it had lost.

Moreover, their reserve troops of 10,000 strong had joined the battle. Not to mention they were the Arabas Kingdom's elite troops led by their greatest general!

The Mamonas, long since called an invincible being, a disaster, or the Ruler of the Golden Desert, died this day.

And...

[You have achieved a great feat that will remain in the annals of history.]

At that moment, eight new Masters were born.

* * *

The Empire Guild had kept the Mamonas hunt a secret. Most of the rank and file members didn't even know about it.

They didn't suspect a thing. After all, they assumed that the captains and their elites were just given separate missions.

Mobilizing 10,000 troops had also been disguised as an expedition to wipe out thieves.

The fact that 100 Sand/Insect Mages had gone to the Golden Desert had also been hidden from the masses.

Even Breaker or Storm, who were watching them like a hawk, didn't know about the Mamonas hunt.

That's how well Jegal covered his tracks.

However, there was something that the Empire Guild couldn't control: the ranking system!

Eight Masters had been born simultaneously. Plus, they were all part of the Empire Guild, which possessed the most power and influence on the continent.

The Numbers and the high rankers had changed significantly.

[Ranking]

1: The One and Only God, Dukeram!

2: Predator Kang Oh!

3: Master of Gold, Wang Seo Rim!

4: Spirit Swordsman, Erik!

5: Ghost Spear, Taker!

6: Genius Bart!

7: Beast King, Black Wolf!

8: Scheming Master, Jegal!

9: God Hand, Arthand!

10: Black Lion, Raon!

11: Blood Witch, Helena!

12: Spear King, Hernandez!

13: Whitebeard, Moby Dick!

14: Giant Tainos!

15: Leopard Squad Captain, Snow Flower!

16: Queen Bee, Irene!

17: Brown Bear, Ridgeley!

18: Red Rain, Kuskal!

...

It was both frightening and shocking.

Dukeram and Jegal had already been part of the Numbers before, but now Erik, Taker, and Black Wolf had joined their ranks.

Half of the spots were occupied by the Empire Guild.

Moreover, their weaker members had become the top high rankers.

Above all, Helena, Raon, and Hernandez had been ejected from the Numbers! This meant that the balance of power among the four great guilds had completely shifted.

The gaming networks, as well as the normal news networks, broke the news.

Arthtory's chatting channels and message posts were going crazy right now.

[I wonder what happened?]

[A huge change in the rankings!]

[Supreme Dignity, Empire!]

[The One and Only God, and the one and only Empire!]

[Hypothesis on what happened! (My opinion)]

...

- This is crazy!

- What happened?

- What's going on!?

- Whoever's part of the Empire Guild, come out!

- I'm a member. I can't disclose my ID or my affiliation though. But even I don't know what's going on.

- That doesn't make any sense.

- It does. If someone like me knew, then you'd have all known about it by now.

- That's true.

- The poor get poorer.

- What happened? What exactly did the Empire Guild do!?

- I don't know!

- Come out, Speed Wagon!

- ...

- Didn't Kang Oh's rank skyrocket after he became a Master? The situation's similar. However, the Empire Guild's eight captains simultaneously rose within the ranks. That means they all become Masters. What's the chance of that happening? Well, this is just a theory of mine and there's no way of verifying it. We'll have to listen to their official statement to find out for sure.

- So when's their official statement being aired?

- Dunno. That's up to them.

- What are the networks doing!?

- TGN and VG should try harder. They can't lose to GBS again, like they did with the goddess's quest footage.

The networks tried contacting their acquaintances in the Empire Guild via their phone or their character codes. However, they weren't able to get a hold of them.

The rank and file members didn't know anything, and the higher ups weren't willing to talk.

"They'll reveal what happened soon. Please wait until then."

The network's employees were feeling anxious.

"And how soon will that be?"

"Aren't we close? Can't you give me a source at least?"

"How much do you want?"

The networks tried to barter with the Empire Guild's top brass, but they weren't able to get anything out of them.

Jegal had warned them that if the information leaks before they make their official statement, then they'd be sure to regret it.

After that, the Empire Guild remained silent, even though people were getting more and more curious.

* * *

Arabas Kingdom's Palace.

Dukeram and Jegal met.

"We've controlled the flow of information. I told the networks to wait for the time being," Jegal said.

"Good work."

"What about the captains?"

"I told them to make a secret technique by the end of the week."

When one becomes a Master, they are able to create a secret technique that cannot be taught to others.

The Empire Guild had just gained eight new Masters, so eight never-before-seen secret techniques will be born within the next week.

"One week, huh..." Jegal stroked his chin. His mind started racing. "Once the captains return, we should establish the Empire, and begin our war of conquest," Jegal said.

Their preparations were all complete. Now all they needed to do was carry out their plans.

"In one week... Not bad."

"We're ready to fight at a moment's notice. Our enemies, however, aren't. I believe it best if we take advantage of this and declare war as soon as our captains return. If time passes... and it's revealed that our captains have become Masters, then our enemies will join together."

"Indeed. Then the date has been decided. In one week, on Friday the 13th."

"It will be a bloody Friday." Jegal smiled wickedly.

"It'll probably be a national holiday once this is all over." Dukeram grinned. Then, he continued, as if he'd just remembered something, "Ah, that's right. Do you have any more information on Grandmasters?"

"We're still investigating. What we've discovered is... that you need a god's help to become a Grandmaster."

"A god's help?"

"You can only become a Grandmaster by transcending humanity's limitations. Only a god can lift these restrictions. We're currently investigating how to get this help, as well as the relevant quests."

"The way to get a god's help..." Dukeram's eyes gleamed. Then, he suddenly thought of something. "Like the quest that brought about the Great Change?"

Jegal's eyes widened. "You don't think... Then Kang Oh?"

"I'll need to see for myself," Dukeram said.

"But you can't afford to mess with Kang Oh. It's like stirring up a hornet's nest."

Following the Dungeon Liberation Movement, the people had been on Kang Oh's side. If they messed with him, then the public could turn against them.

"That's only true if the guild gets involved. I'll act covertly. I have a good way of luring him out."

"Which is?" Jegal tilted his head.

"A soul dungeon," Dukeram replied curtly.

"Ah, a Sacred Duel!" Jegal struck the palm of his hand with a fist.

A smile appeared on Dukeram's handsome face.

'I've finally gotten my hands on a worthy opponent.'

He was truly excited for his fight with Kang Oh.