Until the very moment, only one dragon’s lair had been found in the Korean server of Kailan.

It was in a volcanic area at the center of the Central continent.

It was the very lair of the ‘Sun God’s Dragon, the Ranohel’, which came from the lava in the highest level of the dungeon that could be found during the main quest which was related to the Dimensional War.

But even then, no one succeeded in attacking it even though it was discovered.

Even the one who found it—Remir—couldn’t.

‘What did Remir noona say then…? That the dungeon’s environment was really like hell?’

Before entering the lair of Lugarix.

Ian reminded himself of the story he heard from Remir about the Sun God’s dragon lair.

‘Are all the monsters there Drakes or Wyverns?’

‘Almost. Most are named monsters like Guardians. Golems appear too, around 90% of them has Heroic rank.’

‘What are their levels?’

‘If my memory serves me right, then Drakes are around level 370, and the wyverns were around level 340, but we’re surprised since those monsters didn’t try attacking us.’

‘Hmm, I’m guessing the reason why they didn’t try attacking you guys was because those monsters were all below level 300 when you found them, right noona?’

‘That’s probably the case.’

‘But why didn’t you try to explore the dungeon more?’

‘Well, we tried exploring deeper into the dungeon until we reach the level 320 monsters. I went with some of my ranker friends like Shakran and many more, but we couldn’t get through the dungeon no matter how much we tried so we just gave up.’

‘Why so?’

‘The atmosphere there was like hell. There was literally fire everywhere. It had gotten so difficult that even walking through the dungeon was almost impossible without full flame resistance equipment starting from the 3rd basement.’

‘Hmm… it surely would’ve been tough then.’

‘Well, you can try going into the dungeon if you want. It’s probably easier to explore the dungeon now. I’m actually planning on exploring the dungeon again..’

Ian snapped out of his thoughts the moment Levya had spoken.

“Why are you spacing out, Ian? Don’t you want to come in?”

The two already entered the dungeon while Ian was lost in his thoughts.

Ian looked at Levya and nodded.

“Oh, I was thinking of a strategy before we enter the dungeon.”

Hoonie and Levya asked Ian a question in unison,

“Strategy for the dungeon?”

“Uh? Have you been to a dragon lair before?”

Ian then said while bending his head,

“No, I haven’t been to a dragon lair before. From what I’ve heard from Remir noona, I’m assuming that a dragon lair would be the same with normal dungeons.”

“Ah…”

“Yeah? Then tell us about this so-called strategy of yours then.”

Ian smiled at Hoonie and said,

“Let’s go inside. The first-floor won’t be difficult. Let’s warm up there, and then I’ll explain.”

Levya and Hoonie both nodded and said at the same time,

“Okay… okay hyung.”

“Alright, let’s go.”

* * *

At the entrance of a dungeon in the deeper end of Heinz plateau.

The place was filled with the fluttering flags of the Titan Kingdom. A user suddenly appeared and then said,

“Huck, Huck…! Master! It’s a big deal!”

The man was feeling really nervous while he looked around the dungeon.

The Master of the Titan Kingdom, who felt the man’s nervousness, asked him with a silly expression.

“Umm? What’s the big deal?”

“Haven’t you seen the guild chat?”

“The dungeon has been opened a while back.”

The dungeon of the Heinz plateau was difficult to clear even for top guilds, but the Titan Kingdom could surely do it.

All kinds of chats and messages could be seen in Kailan’s community chat box since the Titan Kingdom decided to try out such a difficult dungeon.

As a well-organized party, they should avoid any mistakes. If they did such mistakes, they would be wiped out.

The man who went back at an agonizing speed—Shakran—said,

“What the hell is going on? You know that I don’t do stuff unless they are a big deal. There is no guild that has the guts to attack us, and it isn’t like Ikarun Kingdom will suddenly proclaim a war.”

The Ikarun Kingdom, the name of a newly established Kingdom in the western region after the fall of the Luspel Empire and the Kaimon Empire.

Among the many new Kingdoms that had been created, and among the various Kingdoms that have been created so far, they were all keeping a close eye on the Titan Kingdom.

So Shakran had no choice but to stay alert for a possible war.

However, Shakran couldn’t help but feel shocked upon hearing the man’s words.

“It is the Ikarun Kingdom, master.”

“Uhm…?”

“Just 30 minutes ago, Ikarun Kingdom has called for an army against the Titan Kingdom.”

Shakran had now finally understood what was happening.

“No way?! The Ikarun Kingdom shouldn’t be in a state to call forth a war?”

It wasn’t just the Ikarun Kingdom that had shared borders with the Titan Kingdom.

There was also the small NPC Kingdom of Lamaris.

They were all waiting like hyenas for the Ikarun Kingdom to show them an opening.

The Ikarun Kingdom would be taking a huge risk if they engaged an all-out war against the Titan Kingdom.

The man spoke again after hearing what Shakran said,

“The Kingdom of Ikarun sent a large army not towards our Titan Kingdom, but to someplace else.”

“Cheap bastards. The Kingdom of Ikarun is indeed powerful, but this is suicide.”

“Not really, master. The Kingdom of Ikarun is now supported by tens and thousands of the Legions of Darkness.”

“The Legions of Darkness…? Now, what’s with that nonsense?”

“Ikarun seems to be holding hands with the Richie King.”

“…?!”

“Not just the Ikarun Kingdom, there are many Kingdoms throughout the continent that are seeking the help of the Richie King’s legions.”

Upon hearing this, Shakran immediately summoned the guilds and ordered them to return to the Kingdom as soon as possible.

The situation they were all afraid off was now happening.

‘This is it. I’ve always known somehow that the new episode’s updates will turn into this’

Almost 60% of the new map of Heinz plateau had already been explored by Kailan’s users in just over a month.

This meant that they would be able to attack Richie King Chalian after just a month or two.

In general, when a new episode appeared, it would usually take around six months for the episode to be cleared up, which was why the current happenings in this new episode were lacking.

Shakran opened the guild chat and began to analyze the information that was there.

‘Ikarun, Lamaris, etc… all the seven kingdoms have the Legions of Darkness with them. What is it that they have in common?’

Shakran started to get nauseous just thinking about it.

The Legions of Darkness was now also appearing in the NPCs’ Kingdoms.

Somehow Ikarun Kingdom didn’t attack Lamaris Kingdom even though their location was just in the north side of Ikarun Kingdom.

Ikarun Kingdom’s actions were suspicious.

Shakran soon realized that.

‘Yeah! That’s it! The seven kingdoms have all put Kades as the religion of their state!’

Shakran had a gist of what was happening now.

‘Is the God of Darkness—Kades, on Chalian’s side?’

Shakran smiled upon arriving at that conclusion.

He thought that the new episode was lacking, but he was now starting to enjoy it.

It was going to be a lot more difficult, but he liked where this episode was heading.

* * *

[The Dark region, you have entered the last area.]

[After 10 seconds. The guardian guarding the 4th floor basement, ‘Chaotic Drake (Lv 375)’ will appear.]

When the system messages came up, the three quickly checked their status.

The monsters in the dungeon didn’t stop spawning, but the three of them were able to handle them.

Ian gave instructions to Hoonie and Levya upon seeing the system messages.

“Be careful! It’s going to be a Chaotic Drake!”

“What is that?”

“I’ll explain later. Hoonie move back for now!”

“Okay!”

According to Ian’s instructions, Hoonie moved back and Levya immediately began to cast a spell.

Ian just kept moving as well while the two were doing their thing.

He did that so he could scout the area while Kaka’s Wide Vision was still on cooldown, and to also keep Levya safe with the help of his familiar.

The three of them spent almost a day attacking the monsters in Lugarix’s lair, but their movements hadn’t slowed at all.

It was normal for any user to be exhausted after half a day of playing. However, the three of them proved that they were rankers for a reason.

Kukung- Kung-!

They suddenly heard a loud noise that resembled the sound of giant footsteps.

A Drake had appeared.

A Drake that was three times bigger than a normal Drake.

The dungeon’s darkness was being sucked into the Drake’s mouth every time it breathed.

After seeing such a huge figure, Hoonie couldn’t help but sigh out of nervousness.

“Chaotic Drake, right? How would I be able to use that skill on such a drake?”

Among the Warlock’s skills, there was a skill that was really hard to obtain. That skill was the ‘Chaotic Drain’.

The Chaotic Drain was a skill that could absorb all the dark energy in its range, and it could be obtained from an Undead Named monster called ‘Chaotic Mage’.

Hoonie tried using it, but it wasn’t working which made him confused.

“It isn’t Chaotic Drain. It is Chaotic Breath.”

“…?!”

Hoonie’s eyes went wide upon hearing those words. All the dark energy he tried to gather went into the Drake’s mouth.

Levya saw that and cast a skill out of reflex.

Her splendid radiance began to emerge from her white wings!

The radiance that was being emitted by her wings turned into a wall that protected her party members.

Krrrwah-!

The Chaotic Breath of the Chaotic Drake struck Levya’s shield of light.

In this battle between light and darkness…

Levya’s light emerged victoriously.

Chak-!

This made the Drake angry. The Drake then puffed dark smoke from his nose.

Hoonie then spoke,

“This… this is just a hunch but… the power of this Drake’s attacks seemed to be proportionate to the amount of dark energy that he absorbs, right?”

Ian smiled and nodded in response to Hoonie’s keen analysis.

“Bingo.”

If Hoonie hadn’t fallen back, his energy would’ve been taken by the Chaotic Drake, and the power of his breath would’ve been much stronger.

If it wasn’t for Ian’s instructions earlier, Levya’s shield wouldn’t have worked.

“Hyung, how did you know?”

Ian responded like it wasn’t a big deal.

“Noel told me. He is very knowledgeable when it comes to dragon monsters, and what he told me about dragons were right. ”

“Ah, sure.”

Canoel, who was a dragon tamer, was lacking compared to Ian and was now looking for summoners.

He just recently managed to level up to 330.

It would’ve been great if Canoel got the third class of the Hidden Class, but it was still a notable achievement.

In addition, his first dragon—the black dragon ‘Orden’—evolved into a myth class, and now even Ian was seeking Canoel’s help.

“Levya! Give us a light buff!”

“Okay!”

The Drake raised his head towards the air.

Taking advantage of that opening, Ly quickly dug into the Drake’s side.

Tatt- Tat-!

Ly was Ian’s fastest familiar, and that was the reason why Ly was able to take advantage of the Drake’s opening.

Ly’s red mana turned white.

Woong-!

Ly changed the attribute of his attack to light and the damage of his attacks were temporarily boosted because of Levya’s buff.

Claws of Ly were emitting white light!

The same time…

The Chaotic Drake’s eyes turned bright red.

“Bbookbbook-ah! Use Curtain of Water”

“Kay Bbook!”

Bbookbbook who was in his tortoise form was riding Halli’s back, and from his mouth, a blue stream of water came out.

The blue stream went right between Ly and the Drake.

Swooah-!

The Curtain of Water hit the Drake’s red eyes, which made the red aura from the Drake’s eyes disappear.

Kwahh-!

The Drake cried out of rage.

Clak-!

Ly, splashing through the water, lunged his pure white claws at the Drake’s abdomen.

Kwak-!

Ly had chosen the perfect time to attack!

If Ly didn’t have any trust in Ian, there was no way he would have chosen to do such a thing.

Ly once again managed to get there quickly. He attacked the Drake and twisted himself out of harm’s way avoiding the Drake’s attack.

Keak-!

The Drake cried out in pain.

Hoonie along with Ian wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

“With the power of darkness…!”

Hoonie started casting a spell, and darkness poured out of his staff.

“Halli! Guardian of the Wind!”

In a moment, apart from Bbookbbook, Ian wielded his Judgment of the Spirit King and climbed on top of Halli.

Kwang-

At that very moment…

System messages started to pop up in front of them.

[Inside the ‘Lugarix Lair’, on the 4th floor of the dungeon, you have defeated the named monster ‘Chaotic Drake’.]

[You have successfully defeated all the guardians in the dungeon of the Lugarix Lair.]

[You’ve earned the title, ‘Guardian Hunter’.]

[Earned 150,000 worth of fame.]

(Syncopation)

[After a while, you will be moved to the 5th floor of Lugarix Lair.]

They read the messages quickly.

The moment they checked the last message.

[The Dragon of Darkness—Lugarix—has woken up from its deep sleep.]

The whole dungeon began to shake the same time the system message appeared.