While Kang Oh was hacking at its side, the Mamonas opened its mouth.

Suck!

Kang Oh was sucked in by an incredible vacuum force.

However, Kang Oh still had his wings of light. They glowed with more intensity, and kept him from getting sucked in.

The explosive spheres couldn't get anywhere near him either.

Demon Sword Chow had created a suit of lightning armor around him, which went out and destroyed the spheres before they even got close.

Kang Oh, who had assumed the form of a gigantic demon, continued his assault using Mad Wind's Sword.

Crackle!

Whoosh!

Black lightning and emerald winds continuously flew through the air.

The Mamonas was forced to divert all of its attention to Kang Oh. In the meantime, Ubist dodged the monster's tentacles and spheres, and got on top of its back.

Grr!

Ubist unleashed abyss energy, which grabbed a hold of the Mamonas's soul. However, there was something different about Ubist; it was huge compared to when he'd last seen it.

It had doubled in size by devouring the baby Mamonas and the tentacles.

Ubist opened its mouth as wide as a snake, and began to devour the beast. A monster of Mamonas's size was like a blessing for one with such a voracious appetite as Ubist.

Ever since it'd departed from the Demon World, it had never encountered such large, tantalizing prey. After all, Valan had been the first individual it'd encountered in Arth, and had promptly been sealed away.

Meanwhile, Asu, Rudy, Nile, Sephiro, and Waryong were busy at work softening the Mamonas up.

Kang Oh's party had impressive whale hunters and chefs.

Kuhaaah!

The Mamonas violently struggled, summoning more of its minions and unleashing beams of light from its twenty eyes.

It also created as many tentacles and explosives as it could.

The intense battle continued on.

However, the tides had already turned.

It only lasted as long as it did because the Mamonas, unlike other monsters, was much larger, so it had a gigantic HP pool to match.

In the midst of that, the Soul Guardians began to defeat their own Mamonas one or two at a time.

The Mamonas, cognizant of its impending death, summoned baby Mamonas of all sizes that ran away from the battlefield. Some of them were the size of elephants, while others were the size of a fingernail.

"Don't let a single one of them escape!" Javen yelled.

The Soul Guardians nodded their heads.

If they allowed even a single one of them to escape, then the Mamonas would proliferate. It could then potentially cannibalize itself and transform into a giant Mamonas once more.

Then...

Eder raised the Demon King's Staff into the air.

Soul Binding Net!

Mysterious chains, which had the power to trap even the soul, formed a giant net that fell from the sky like a veil.

"Nice." Kunta grinned and destroyed the Mamonas that were trapped inside.

The other guardians cleaned up their end, and made sure they didn't allow a single Mamonas to escape.

From then on, Eder would cast Soul Binding Net on the Mamonas whenever it died.

Crack!

Once he used up the staff's charges, it shattered like glass.

Eder felt bitter with disappointment. But he'd made good use of it, so he didn't have any regrets.

Now there were only two Mamonas left.

Kang Oh's ultra-large Mamonas and one normal sized one.

The Soul Guardians focused on the smaller one first. If you're too greedy and go for two rabbits at once, you'll lose both of them. Thus, they focused on one and made sure it was dead before they moved on to the next one.

They finished it instantly.

Once the Mamonas exploded, the baby Mamonas exited its corpse and tried to make their escape.

"Don't let them get away!" Howlka yelled.

The five guardians did their best.

Eder also supported them with Soul Bind. Tasha used her sticky blood like an adhesive.

"Hoo."

The mission was successful.

Extermination complete!

Now all that was left was the ultra-large Mamonas.

However, there was no need for the guardians to get involved.

The King of Demonic Beasts, Ubist!

Its darkness spread all over the Mamonas's body.

Kuhaang!

The Mamonas continued to struggle, but it couldn't extinguish the darkness.

Chomp! Chomp!

Ubist continued its feast.

It kept going until there wasn't a single shred of its soul left. Of course, Kang Oh didn't stop attacking till the very end either.

* * *

They had completed their whale hunt.

However, Ubist was still hungry. Now that it'd gotten a taste, it couldn't help itself.

Kuhaang!

It charged at Kang Oh, its red eyes glowing. 'I'm hungry!'

By devouring the ultra-large Mamonas, Ubist had increased to monstrous proportions. It was so big that it made Kang Oh, who'd increased in size via Great Spiritization, look like a dwarf in comparison.

It had also regained its full strength. Ubist had nothing to fear.

However, neither humans nor demons could do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. They would pay dearly for it.

"Please help me!" Kang Oh yelled.

"Got it."

The Soul Guardians joined the fray.

Sometime later...

The defeated Ubist returned to its demon sword form.

"Tch, tch." Kang Oh clicked his tongue. 'You idiot!'

With this, everything had been resolved.

"The Mamonas won't return," Javen said.

Their hunt had gone perfectly. They hadn't let a single one get away either.

"Good work."

"Good job."

Kang Oh and his party said.

Rudy, who'd returned to its chick form, tucked itself into Asu's chest and entered a deep sleep.

Waryong also rested its wings, choosing to float around in the air.

"The Resurrection Stone!" Kang Oh looked at the Resurrection Stone, which was reminiscent of a miniature sun, and yelled. Then, he extended his hand.

The guardians didn't stop him. After all, the Goddess of Death had agreed to give him a Resurrection Stone in return for his services.

"Ooh!" Kang Oh held the stone with both hands.

[Resurrection Stone]

May create a container for the soul. If a soul enters this container, then the deceased individual will come back to life. When the container is fully formed, the Resurrection Stone will break.

It is an item coveted by powerful individuals that seek immortality. They foolishly order their men to retrieve it, sending them to their death.

Finally!

He had gotten what he'd come for.

They would be able to heal Valan with the Resurrection Stone.

"Are you going to leave?" Javen asked.

Kang Oh shook his head. "No. I'd like to stay here a little longer."

Valan wasn't in critical condition, so he planned on training in the underworld for as long as possible. If possible, he would stay here until he became a Grandmaster.

"Mr. Kang Oh," Eder said.

"Yeah?"

"I'll be leaving."

"To where?" Kang Oh tilted his head.

"Home."

"Why?"

"I need to treat Lord Valan."

"We can take our time with that..."

Eder shook his head, sporting a grave expression.

"Is... Master Valan in critical condition?" Kang Oh asked in astonishment.

"No. However... he's probably experiencing excruciating pain."

"Pain?"

'He didn't show any signs of that though.'

"I only learned of this right before we left for our trip. I coincidentally saw Lord Valan squeezing his chest in pain. If he had shown how much pain he was in... I can't even imagine how he'd react."

"Mm." Kang Oh's expression adopted a similar severity. 'He had been meeting me this entire time in such incredible pain, yet he kept a smile on his face?'

He had never once asked them to fix him, nor had he asked them to alleviate his pain.

Kang Oh recalled Valan's confident expression, as he stated that he'd defeat the Evil God's energy on his own.

'Saying it doesn't hurt when it does isn't a virtue. If it hurts, just say so! How can you be so stubborn?'

"Let's go," Kang Oh said.

Eder shook his head. "Just give me the Resurrection Stone. I'll go by myself."

"Why?"

"Lord Valan's treatment doesn't require all of you. So please stay here until you get what you want."

Asu shook her head. "How can we do that?"

'We're all part of one team! Plus, we should be there when you're treating Valan!'

Kang Oh, Nile, and Sephiro nodded their heads.

How could they leave such a difficult task to Eder, while they were here having the time of their lives? They couldn't do that.

However, Eder remained firm.

"No. You all have to stay here as long as possible. That way, you can tell me all about your experiences later. Plus, I'll need all those stories for when I write my book!"

Eder wanted to stay in the underworld too. There was no greater research material than the underworld.

However, he was a Healer before he was a Necromancer. He had a duty to his patient, to relieve Valan's pain as soon as possible.

Thus, this was the best he could do.

"But..." Sephiro remained hesitant.

"Lord Valan would be disappointed in you if you were to discard such a valuable opportunity for him," Eder said.

"Nah, he'd probably say I did good," Kang Oh retorted.

"Are you sure of that?" Eder stared at Kang Oh.

"Hoo, no. He wouldn't say that."

Valan was ill-tempered, but he was a good man. That was irrefutably the truth.

"Then we've decided."

Eder took the Resurrection Stone from Kang Oh.

"Experience all there is to the underworld. I'll do my best on my end."

"Got it."

"Yes."

Kang Oh and Asu replied.

Sephiro clicked his tongue, while Nile furrowed his brow and scratched his head. 'It doesn't feel right...' It sounded like that's what he was saying, at least.

"Sir Loxia."

"Alright."

Loxia led Eder to the underworld's front door.

The rest of them followed Eder all the way to the door and said their farewells.

"I'll see you later." Eder smiled and waved. Then, he completely disappeared from the underworld.

* * *

Once Kang Oh returned to Noah, he immediately headed for the three legendary blacksmiths. He went there while dragging Demon Sword Homura and Demon Sword Chow across the ground.

He wasn't sure how they'd heard, but the three blacksmiths were waiting outside of their smithies.

"You're here?" Bargo said.

"We heard that your hunt was a success. Good work. So..." Bargo trailed off, but Kang Oh knew what he was asking.

'So, which demon sword was the best?', Kang Oh assumed.

"Why!? Why are you using two demon swords at once? You didn't actually use them together, did you? I definitely told you not to do that; that my demon sword was good enough on its own." Sun Lei crossed his arms and stared at Kang Oh.

"Of course one is good enough. If you're talking about my Demon Sword Chow, that is. But why are you carrying my sword with that pathetic wing?" Max scowled.

Kang Oh laughed.

That was exactly the reaction he was looking for.

'Now, let's begin, shall we?'

Swoosh! Swoosh!

He threw the demon swords at Max and Sun Lei's feet.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"How dare you do this to one of my swords!"

Sun Lei and Max's faces became red with anger.

"Your demon swords are the worst."

He was speaking from the heart.

It was like the president of your company did something bad, and you were awarded something in recognition of your achievements. You wouldn't want to take it because it'd leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

"Do you want to die?"

"I'm going to kill you!"

"You made it so that they couldn't be used together," Kang Oh said furiously.

"What?" Bargo looked astonished.

"What's wrong with that?"

"So?"

Max and Sun Lei didn't look ashamed at all.

"You're fighting on the battlefield, yet your weapons have a deliberate design flaw. Would that make someone angry or not? Huh?"

"A design flaw?"

"That's funny."

There was nothing else he could say to them.

Though their skills might be top-notch, their personalities were the worst. They were so interested in ending this long, unending competition of theirs that they were willing to introduce flaws in their products. He no longer had any expectations for either of them.

Then, he pulled out Bargo's demon sword from his inventory.

"This one was the best."

Demon Sword Karadin was different from Chow or Homura.

It worked well with other demon swords, and it was also designed to maximize the potential of other demon swords as well.

Bargo had one simple goal in mind: to make the best demon sword that he could. And the results showed.

That was what he'd concluded after testing out the sword spear some more on his way here. It was good enough that he thought, 'I should've just used this one from the beginning.'.

"Thanks." Bargo beamed. Then, he clicked his tongue at Max and Sun Lei. "Tch, tch."

'You've forgotten the basics.' Bargo's face definitely conveyed that.

Max and Sun Lei looked like they couldn't accept the result, but they also looked ashamed. However, they had no intention of repenting for what they did.

"Fine, just keep being like that."

Then, Kang Oh took his leave.

After that, Kang Oh never visited Max or Sun Lei ever again.

He did, however, speak with Bargo, who occasionally came looking for him.