The entrance to Inarius's Nest was like a sideways ripped open mouth. It felt like a frightening monster would come right out of it.

Kang Oh looked over his companions' faces. None of them looked particularly nervous.

"Let's go."

A short while later...

Kang Oh's party was enveloped in deep darkness.

[Warning! This is Inarius's Nest.]

This wasn't the first time he'd ventured into Inarius's Nest. Sometime after the Empire's fall, Kang Oh had come here to kill Inarius.

However, he couldn't even make it past the guardians, so he was forced to retreat before he could even see it.

'This time will be different.'

There were ornately sculpted pillars inside, which supported the ceiling and lay equidistant from each other. They were created by the dwarves that Inarius had captured. Some of them were even sculpted by the Black Hammer Dwarves.

Warriors, who wore glimmering scale mail, appeared from the far side of the passageway. Their faces were wide like lizards.

Spartoi.

They were the most commonly seen enemies within a dragon's nest.

However, Inarius's Spartoi were stronger than the norm. Their weapons, which the dwarves put their blood, sweat, and tears into, gave them an edge over their peers.

"Trespassers."

"Exterminating them."

Ten Spartoi rushed at Kang Oh's party. They were so quick and agile that they reached them in a flash.

Swish.

One Spartoi swung its blade at Kang Oh. Considering how sharp the blade was, it must have been made by a dwarf with some skill. He wasn't sure whether the blacksmith had created the blade of his own free will, or if he was forced to by the dragon.

'I suppose this'll do for a light warm up.'

Kang Oh dodged the blow by twisting his body, and then used Switch to pull out Blood and Sarahoff.

Devil Trigger!

His body was soaked in blood red energy, and horns and wings protruded from his head and upper back respectively.

Frostblood!

Red ice spread across Blood and Sarahoff, transforming them into ice blades.

Swish! Slash! Swish! Slash!

Kang Oh's swift, powerful attacks passed through the Spartoi's body.

* * *

The Spartoi weren't the only ones guarding Inarius's Nest. There were the Kula, Oricon, Clockwork Steel Golems, and Chimeras.

Kula wore bear fur, and traveled alongside fire-spewing Hellhounds. Oricon were half-snake, half-human monsters, while Chimeras were monsters made up of several different beasts.

They were all more powerful than the Spartoi. Even so, they weren't nearly strong enough to stop Kang Oh's party.

Kang Oh occasionally saw some dwarves too. In fact, some of them rushed at them stating 'Lord Inarius!' like religious zealots.

On the other hand, they also encountered dwarves in chains, who gave Kang Oh a quick glance and then went back to work.

Kang Oh looked at them, and realized that that was how the Black Hammer Dwarves had lived under Inarius's rule.

"Let's go." Valan tapped Kang Oh's shoulder.

Valan's gaze was intense. As the Guardian of the Continent, he would punish the wicked dragon for its crimes.

"Yes." Kang Oh nodded his head.

He pledged to kill Inarius no matter what.

Inarius's Nest was vast. The evil dragon would capture dwarves, and use them to further expand the dungeon.

There were statues of Inarius everywhere. The other statues depicted people trembling in fear of it or begging for mercy.

At that moment...

"Careful!" Nile yelled urgently.

Then, Kang Oh, who led the pack, froze.

Swish.

Nile quickly pulled him back.

"It's a trap." Nile pointed at the floor.

"There weren't any traps here last time."

"They either moved the traps or added more." Nile quickly disarmed the trap.

'I would expect nothing less!' Kang Oh gave him a thumbs up.

However, the traps weren't the only things that had changed. The path inside had changed as well.

Although he'd come here once before, he inevitably got lost.

Meanwhile, more and more Chimeras started to attack them.

"Eliminate the invaders."

"For Lord Inarius!"

At some point, they only encountered named monsters. They were intelligent, and were far more powerful than the rabble they'd faced before.

However, the power level of Kang Oh's party was out of this world. Especially Kang Oh and Valan.

They swept through the monsters like an irresistible force. No one could stop them. Until 'that guy' appeared, that is.

* * *

They encountered an individual garbed in black armor; his face was concealed by a helmet, and he held an incredibly sharp sword. It was clearly an excellent blade.

"You're here."

He was the reason Kang Oh had been unable to advance any further last time.

The Black Knight!

Since he hadn't heard his name last time, he labeled him as such for convenience's sake.

"I thought you died last time... Are you an Immortal?" The figure spoke in a baritone voice. "I guess it doesn't matter. I can just kill you again. After all, entering Lord Inarius's nest without permission is a crime punishable by death."

"Who's going to kill who?" Valan retorted and stepped forward, holding an ordinary 'steel sword' in his hand.

Kang Oh had done his best to help Valan awaken Max Perado. In the end, however, there was nothing strong enough to truly endanger him.

Although he couldn't see the Black Knight's face, he clearly saw the tip of his blade slightly shake at Valan's appearance.

'Is he excited or is he scared?'

There was no way of knowing just yet.

Then...

Valan attacked.

The battle had begun.

The Black Knight blocked Valan's attack with ease, and then countered with a sharp blow of his own.

"Are you a Dragon Knight?" Valan asked.

"Yeah. I'm Lord Inarius's loyal servant. Who are you?"

"Valan, the continent's strongest swordsman."

"The strongest, huh..."

The Black Knight and Valan's duel intensified instantly. The Black Knight had suddenly switched gears.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sharp metallic 'clang' noises rang out repeatedly.

'I've never seen swordsmanship like that before.'

Kang Oh carefully watched the Black Knight. However, his style seemed completely unfamiliar to him.

"Are you an elf?" Valan asked.

The Black Knight flinched, but didn't answer him.

"..."

"You fight like an elf."

"You're a sharp one."

The Black Knight removed his helmet, revealing a pointy-eared elf. However, his skin was coffee-colored; he was a Dark Elf.

"What's your name?" Valan asked.

"Rokan."

"Your name starts with Ro, which means... Are you from Roharim Forest?"

"...That's right."

"You're a survivor of the Roharim Forest Massacre."

The Roharim Forest was home to the Roharim Elves.

However, there were some insane fair-skinned elves that believed that Dark Elves were impure, and should be annihilated from this world.

The Elf Purebloods!

They were the orchestrators of the Roharim Forest Massacre, which happened ten years ago. Only a small handful of Dark Elves survived this tragedy.

Rokan was one of the few that had survived.

Eight years after the Roharim Forest Massacre, countless elves were killed. It was the actions of the Dark Elves, who'd lost their families and parents at the hands of the Purebloods.

The problem was that the Dark Elves killed innocent people too.

"Mad Rokan!"

Rokan's lips curled upwards. It was quite the cold smile.

A long time ago, Rokan had come to Inarius's Nest seeking power; power to take revenge on the Purebloods for taking away his parents and siblings.

Inarius was impressed by his heart, which burnt with a desire for vengeance, and granted him immense power.

The power of a Dragon Knight.

Rokan, who made this power his own, set out to take his revenge. Then, he started to target the Elf Purebloods.

However, he was never fulfilled, regardless of how many he killed.

Whenever he saw a fair-skinned elf, it felt like he'd go mad with rage. Ultimately, he killed countless innocent elves as well.

"Did you kill Corsi!?"

The reason he was so knowledgeable about elvish affairs was because he had a close friend who was an elf.

The Elf Master Swordsman, Corsi.

"Corsi, huh... I haven't heard that name in a long time. He was a fool for trying to stop me. Haha. His screams were delightful." Rokan licked his lips.

Valan was seriously pissed.

"I'll kill you!" Valan's sword came for Rokan's neck with blistering speed.

Rokan quickly swung his sword too.

The two exchanged blows again and again.

Kang Oh's party also engaged in battle.

Several guardians had followed the sound of Rokan and Valan's fight.

The Paladin of Life, Isshin, raised his hammer into the air, and it brimmed with warm and iridescent light.

Joy of Life!

This increased his party's HP regeneration significantly. As a side benefit, it also increased their defense and elemental resistances slightly.

AoE Taunt!

The guardians in front rushed at Isshin. He defended himself with his shield, and gave them a taste of his hammer.

Asu interchangeably used Fire's Heart and Lightning's Heart. Rudy didn't transform into its true form; they needed it to hold off until they faced the dragon.

She was plenty strong without Rudy. So much so that she was encroaching upon Snow Flower's position as strongest swordswoman.

"Invaders!"

Spartoi rushed at Sephiro from every direction. Their weapons glinted sharply.

Sephiro nimbly dodged their attacks, and then unleashed an arrow in front of him.

Shining Bombardment!

A giant arrow struck the Spartoi head-on. Even they wouldn't be able to withstand a straight shot.

Several Spartoi corpses rolled onto the floor around him.

Swish!

Waryong hung off the ceiling, pulled its head back, and then unleashed a Fire Breath.

Bart forwent his specialty, summoning Giants. Even without them, he was formidable indeed.

'Add Homing Arrow to Chaos Sphere... Come out, Chaos Arrow!'

Chaos Sphere was a spell that combined light, darkness, and chi together. However, he had added another element into the equation.

He had created a fusion spell incorporating four different elements!

A black and white spinning arrow shot forward.

Normally, a Homing Arrow was quite slow. However, Bart's fusion technique had completely eliminated that downside.

Whir!

The Chaos Arrow struck a Chimera's forehead.

Boom!

This resulted in a massive explosion.

The nearby Chimeras were caught in the explosion and turned to ash.

"...The name of fire."

"...Flower that blooms on frozen land!"

Two Helenas were present.

One of them was an illusion, but the illusion's magic dealt a considerable amount of damage with its spells regardless.

Imaginary Projection!

It was an arcane spell that made illusions real! She had used the spell that the Illusion Master, Ared, had created.

This spell was described in three volumes of Illusion More Real than Reality Itself.

Kang Oh had owned the first volume, while Helena had owned the second. The two had agreed to give the last volume to the one who found the final volume, and Kang Oh had found the third.

However, Kang Oh had made a promise with Ared's spirit when he obtained the third volume.

He had promised to restore the Miraculous Oasis, which would appear to those in the desert and quench their thirst.

Unfortunately, Kang Oh wasn't a Mage. Moreover, Imaginary Projection required the user to have mastered an illusion spell.

Helena, however, was qualified.

He formed a contract with her and gave her the grimoires. She agreed to help him ten times, and also recreate the Miraculous Oasis.

It was a satisfying agreement. After all, you couldn't get someone of Helena's caliber just anywhere.

It was also because of that deal that Helena had agreed to help him! Plus, he could ask for her help several more times.

Helena performed the role of about four to five high rankers by herself. But with Imaginary Projection, she was more useful than ten high rankers combined.

Her ice and fire spells immediately swept through the guardians.

Nile swung his leg. Originally, he had focused on his arms, but through Khan's tutelage, he had begun to incorporate more kicks into his fighting style.

'Your legs are stronger than any weapon in this world,' Khan had said.

Nile somewhat understood what he was saying.

Whoosh!

He swung his leg upwards, and the guardian's head popped like a watermelon. To think his kicks would be this powerful, despite not fully acclimating to his new fighting style yet!

Then...

"Kuhaahk." It was the Dragon Knight, Rokan.

Rokan had made a huge mistake; he had angered Valan.

"Die!" Valan cut off his head.

Swish.

Rokan's severed head flew through the air.

As expected of Valan!

To think he'd be able to defeat the warrior that'd beaten him so easily!

He couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.

However...!

All of a sudden, a giant magic circle appeared beneath his party's feet.

Kang Oh remembered this magic circle.

'Gainus's transfer magic circle!'

That's right. It was a teleportation magic circle. The only one who could possibly use magic of this scale was Inarius.

"Get out of the magic circle..." Kang Oh yelled urgently. However, he wasn't able to complete his sentence.

Suck!

Kang Oh's party was sucked into the magic circle one or two at a time. Valan and the decapitated Rokan were sucked in as well.

A short while later...

Kang Oh sensed an incredible presence in the room and opened his eyes.

[You have discovered Dragon Inarius.]

Inarius was right in front of him.