While Ian was exploring Forlas Plateau with Harin, the defending battle of the Lotus Guild ended smoothly.

Just like Ian predicted, the Polaris Guild had used over half their fighting power in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th match.

And with Polaris Guild like that, the Lotus Guild fought against them with almost all of their fighting power, excluding Ian, preserved.

On top of that, as it was a defending battle that the Lotus Guild could only be at an advantage with, no matter if the Polaris Guild had hired mercenaries, there was no way that they could win against the Lotus Guild which was at a similar rank as them.

In the end, just like Ian’s strategy, the Lotus Guild had won their first territory war with the sixth battle as their last one.

“With this, we’ve guarded it for another week for now.”

At Fiolan’s words, Herz smiled happily as he responded.

“In a week, our Military Facility will probably be at lv 3, and the Defense Tower that we’re building now will also be mostly completed, so even if a stronger guild tries and raids us, we should be able to block them off.”

In Kailan, a Domain that has gone through a territory war will change into a base protection state for a week.

There was an exception, though, that if they were to attack a different Domain while they were in the duration of base protection, the base protection of the Domain would automatically be released, but as they had no intentions, it was just something they were saying.

“This… I feel like we’ve won when I haven’t done anything, so I feel a little embarrassed.”

As Fiolan spoke with a bashful expression, Herz also nodded his head.

“Well, I’m feeling the same way. It’s all something that Ian made alone. In the end, we went with the strategy that Ian planned out as well. At least you got to take play in the last defending battle with an AoE attack, so you’re a little better than I am. Since I’m a Knight class, there’s seriously nothing that I’ve done.”

It was hard for close-combat classes to play an active role in defending battles.

Especially, in a battle that was won as easily as this, it was even more so.

The troops of the opposing side needed to break through the exterior and get inside for the close-combat classes to get a chance to fight, but as the Polaris Guild didn’t have much troops left, they weren’t even able to get over the exterior.

“Well, anyways. Thanks to that, the guild’s rank has gone up by two, so it put me in a good mood.”

“No kidding.”

“But, once the base protection for the week is over, do you think another guild will declare a territory war against us?”

“Hmm…”

At Fiolan’s question, Herz, who momentarily thought about it, slowly responded.

“I think that the chances for it to happen are quite high. Everybody has become more careful in declaring territory wars now compared to the beginning, but our Domain is very desirable.”

“I see.”

“And when the protection duration is about to end, Ian said let’s try and declare territory war on a couple of places…”

“Huuuh?”

Fiolan, who was only thinking about defending the Domain, was taken aback at Herz’s words.

Her words continued.

“Would we have enough strength to spare for that?”

Herz shrugged his shoulders as he responded.

“Well, it’s not something that’s been decided, and I do think it could be dangerous… But Ian also probably said it with thought put into it, right?”

While in a territory war, if another guild was to even raid the Lotus Domain, that would be a problem.

This was because, even if they were two different territory wars that happened at the same time, guild members that were registered for one battle couldn’t participate in any other battle.

Fiolan, who thought about it for a moment, mumbled.

“Hmm… Let’s just trust the Lord.”

As Fiolan shook her head, Herz laughed as he agreed with her words.

“That’s right. And for now, for the next week, we should also hunt a little diligently. If it continues like this, I feel like Ian will catch up to our levels.”

As he said so, Fiolan grinned as she answered.

“Didn’t he already catch up to you, Herz?”

Herz let out a sigh as he responded.

“I’m still 1 level higher than him. Probably…”

Fiolan snickered as she added on.

“Are you sure?”

* * *

The dungeon that Ian discovered first in the Forlas Plateau was a place with the name ‘Bloody Way’.

And fitting of that name, the dungeon’s structure was just one long, winding passageway, and was stained with blood here and there.

When they first entered the dungeon, because of the slightly frightening atmosphere, Harin was petrified, but as the battle started, she instead found stability immediately.

For now, this was because the monsters that appeared weren’t much different from the ones outside of the dungeon.

On top of that, as the passageway wasn’t that wide, it was instead possible to hunt more securely than when they fought in the field.

Because the passageway was structured so narrowly, if there were about two Ddukdae’s, they would be able to block it off perfectly, so unless Ian, who fought at the front, didn’t die, there was no reason for Harin to be in danger.

Like that, Harin, who had hunted with Ian like that for some time now, mumbled as she spoke.

“Speaking of which, this passageway is quite long.”

At her words, Ian nodded his head.

“No kidding. It’s not even a structure that can go down or up to some other floor, so it must just continue straight like this.”

“Yeah. I wish there was a little bit of change… Will a brighter place not appear?”

At her words, Ian replied and grumbled.

“First, shouldn’t we have to reach the end of this passageway in order for a brighter map to appear? In the meantime, I wish that a lot of monsters will appear, but why are there only small amounts of them? I need to hunt a ton while I can get double the EXP…”

Harin shook her head before she even realized it.

From her perspective, the hunting level was quite difficult even now, but while looking at Ian complain, she automatically let out a sigh.

“It’s enough even now, Jinsung.”

At Harin’s scolding, Jinsung turned his head in order to reply.

However, just before Ian was about to open his mouth, a familiar cry was heard from deep within the dungeon, in a place that couldn’t be told.

Awoooo-!

It was none other than the howling of a wolf. It was even similar to Ly’s.

The atmosphere of the place was already eerie, but as the howls of wolves rang through on top of that, Harin wore a slightly petrified expression.

“Yo, it looks like more monsters were made because you complained.”

While looking at Harin, who stuck like glue to his side and glanced around, Ian smirked.

“If you just think of them as lumps of EXP, you’ll be at ease.”

Ian got into stance.

Based on the senses felt from deeper within the dungeon, he felt that there would be quite a large number of monsters that would appear.

“Ddukdae, get ready!”

Deu-reuk- Deu-reu-reuk-.

Because of the constant little appearance of two to three monsters, Ian wasn’t able to use any AoE skills, and as a matter of fact, his body was itching.

“Lake, Pin. You guys as well, once I give you the signal, prepare to use your skill right away. Understood?”

At Ian’s words, the two Familiars responded at the same time.

Grr-.

Kku-ruk- Kku-ruk-!

And shortly after, from the dark depths of the cave, the forms of monsters began to appear.

Grr- Grrr-!

However, Ian, who had checked each and every one of the monsters, was considerably flustered.

“What the hell, they’re Ly!”

Harin was just as surprised.

“Ehh? The same kind of species as Ly existed in the field as well?”

The name ‘Blood-Red Maned Wolf’, which was just above the heads of the monsters, confirmed the two people’s words.

Ian made a hand action towards Harin as spoke.

“Harin, I think we’ll need to be a bit more careful this time. Stand a little farther back.”

“Okay, understood.”

At Ian’s words, without hesitation, Harin hid in a spot a little far-off.

In the case of the yetis or Ice Trolls that had appeared up until now in the dungeon, since they were big in size and their movements were slow, if Ian guarded her from the front, it wasn’t dangerous at all, but it was a different story if it was a Blood-Red Maned Wolf, whose base reflexes were far superior.

On top of that, there were a lot of them, so he had no idea when they would find the chance and attack Harin.

If she was properly bitten and received critical damage, Harin would have to instantly see a grey screen.

‘On top of being around lv 125, they’re all Rare-rank monsters…’

There wasn’t a big difference in their levels with yetis alone, but the problem was that they were a higher rank than them.

Ian, who was personally nurturing his Familiars, was well aware of how much one rank difference made a difference in the stats.

‘A total of about seven… And during battle, any amount of them could additionally appear.’

Ian felt nervous for the first time since coming to hunt at Forlas Plateau.

And the wolves that discovered Ian quickly began to charge towards him.

“Ddukdae, forward first!”

Just like he always did, Ddukdae moved forward in order to find the most optimal angle to cast Abyss Hole.

And Ian shot his Magic Spheres cleverly and induced the charging wolves to move towards one side of the passageway.

“Now!”

As Ian yelled, without hesitation, Ddukdae spread both of his arms forward.

Kuoooh-!

And amongst the total of seven wolves, five of them began to be sucked into the range of Abyss Hole.

“Pin, Lake!”

As Ian made a hand action, the two Familiars’ AoE skills burst out without fail as well.

Kwaaah-!

Ian, who had checked that the AoE skills were invoked properly, got on top of Halli’s back.

“Halli, Ly. Let’s go!”

Ian, who was on Halli’s back, and Ly quickly charged towards the remaining two wolves.

• Familiar ‘Halli’ has used the skill ‘Guardian of the Wind’.

• Familiar ‘Halli’s Agility will increase as much as the total value of the rest of his combat stats.

Wind energy charged with a white light wrapped around Halli and Ian and began to blow violently.

Ian held onto Halli firmly.

For the next 2 minutes, if he was to try and not fall off the back of Halli, who was moving like a crazy wind, he couldn’t let even a little bit of his nervousness go.

Kyaooh-!

Ian, who put strength in his legs in order to not fall off, fired Magic Spheres from the back of charging Halli.

Pung- Pu-pung-!

And with his recovered Spirit Magic, he invoked Current Proliferation right after.

Za-Zap- Za-Za-Zap-!

Even on top of Halli, who was moving at a fast speed, there was no way for Ian’s attacks to miss.

The Current Proliferation that had exactly hit the wolves had also dealt additional blows and after bouncing around a couple of times, they disappeared into the air.

• The ‘Blood-Red Maned Wolf’ has gone into ‘paralyzed’ state.

• The cooldown time of ‘Current Proliferation’ has been reset.

Meanwhile, owing to Ian’s active part on his back, Halli was also able to approach the subject he had targeted.

Crunch-!

Halli, who had succeeded in yanking the shoulder joint of one of the monsters, roughly ripped through its neck.

• Familiar ‘Halli’ has dealt critical damage to the ‘Blood-Red Maned Wolf’!

• The Vitality of the ‘Blood-Red Maned Wolf’ has been reduced by 8125.

The Blood-Red Maned Wolf had low Vitality and Defensive Power, but as their levels were at 125, they didn’t die easily from a couple attacks.

‘So, their levels are gangsters?’

Ian was a little surprised.

This was because even the five wolves that couldn’t avoid any of the AoE attacks were still breathing.

If the power of Lake’s Breath and Pin’s Crush skills were considered, it was quite surprising.

However, Ian, who saw that the names of the wolves were quickly flickering, gave a command to Ly without hesitation.

“Ly, Thirst for Blood!”

It was the most optimal time to invoke the Thirst for Blood skill!

Grr-!

A bright, blood-red aura began to gush out from Ly’s body.

• Familiar ‘Ly’ has used the ‘Thirst for Blood’ skill.

• Familiar ‘Ly’s Offensive Power and Agility have increased by 30% for 3 minutes.

• Familiar ‘Ly’s movements have increased by 40% for 3 minutes.

• From now on, whenever an opponent with Vitality lower than 30% is attacked, all damage dealt by ‘Ly’s attack will double.

Ly charged towards the wolves without hesitation.

And seeing that, Ddukdae and Lake, as well as Pin moved intelligently and blocked off the route of the wolves.

Kyaooh-!

Pin, who had cried in the air once, helped Ly and subdued the wolves one by one with incredible reflexes.

• You have killed the ‘Blood-Red Maned Wolf’. You have obtained 142,300 EXP.

• You have obtained 4122 gold from the ‘Blood-Red Maned Wolf’.

• You have obtained ‘Slice of Blood’.

Ian, who had discovered the item called ‘Slice of Blood’, which he was seeing for the first time, from the corpse of the wolf, wore an expression full of curiosity.

‘What’s this? Is this like a quest item?’