Falling… Falling… Falling…

Deep in the darkness of Yudonia’s ocean, a bulky figure continued to descend like none before it ever had. It was free from the immense pressure of the deepest oceans and was able to move as if the earthly forces were a joke to it. Dark miasma permeated out from its armour, voiding any lifeform that dared to venture close to it.

Fishes swam away at the sight of the monster while whales ascended in the opposite direction. They wanted nothing to do with the foreign invader that possessed an aura of death. And fortunately for them, the Black Knight felt the same way.

The Black Knight didn’t take two glimpses at the runaway lifeforms and continued on its journey to the bottom. Eventually, once it had escaped to the place where no light could be seen, ten familiar auras rushed up to welcome the Sovereign of Death back. An A-ranked Shark and a multitude of former high-ranking oceanic beasts swam at breakneck speeds, kneeling at the foot of the Black Knight on its return.

None of them could speak, but the Black Knight could feel its subjects’ anxiety. They were worried that their Sovereign would have perished on the surface, at a place where they weren’t able to protect it. However, the Black Knight ignored those worries and instead, stormed right back into its palace in a foul mood.

The oceanic undead were dumbfounded, some of them even shared weird looks at one another. Alas, they weren’t in any position to question their supreme being. Like the faithful servants they were, they returned into the underwater dungeon in the same manner that the Black Knight had in the beginning.

The dungeon had remained mostly unchanged since the Black Knight had first opened its eyes. No, there was one distinct difference. Hundreds, if not thousands of undead monsters lined up in rows and every floor was filled with skeletons and rotten flesh. They moved independently, unlike puppets. They were true individual creatures that had been risen from the netherworld, given free reign to walk the earth once more.

Some of them guarded the dungeon as if they were true protectors of the realm. Others cleaned the palace so that its owner wouldn’t have to live in filth. It was a well-organised utopia, for the dead that is.

Ever since its revival, the Black Knight had been killing and adding new soldiers to its undead army. Wordlessly, the Black Knight continued its crusade to turn the underwater bed into its own necromancer playground. Kill, revive. Kill, revive. Rinse and repeat.

The Black Knight didn’t know what drove it to continue on this cleansing, but it continued to do so anyway. Its instinct was screaming out… That was the only way for it to strengthen itself.

Why did it need to strengthen itself? The Black Knight didn’t know. Ever since it woke up, the Black Knight had been moving on pure instinct alone and had never stopped to question its purpose.

Why was it resurrected? Why was it placed in the deepest part of the ocean? What was its purpose?

Those were all questions that were unknown to the Black Knight.

Until now that is…

The Black Knight released its hold on the huge greatsword and returned back to its throne. With a loud thud, the Black Knight fell to its bum. An aura of death seeped out from its cracks, and thick miasma took over the underground dungeon. All of the Black Knight’s subjects cowered in fear, lowering their heads to not meet its Sovereign’s eye level. The power that the Black Knight was emitting, far surpassed anything that any S-Rankers could use. Heck, even the legendary SSS-Ranker would probably turn away to pee their pants.

But the Black Knight wasn’t in a foul mood. Far from it in fact. It was jovial. Happy that it had finally found its purpose.

Why was it resurrected? Why did it seek out power? Why did it have the power of death by its side?

The Black Knight finally knew.

Clenching its two fists, the Black Knight remembered everything. It looked up at the ceiling, trying its hardest to see beyond it. But it didn’t need to. All that the Black Knight wanted to know was within its mind.

The memory of the brown-skinned man… His beautiful golden eyes and near-invincible body. The Black Knight remembered it all now.

Its purpose… Why it was brought back into this world… Why it needed to grow stronger...

The Black Knight’s purpose was...

...to kill the man.

❖❖❖

A day had passed since Aurum was attacked by the unknown entity that came from the ocean. To Aria and Yvette, it was a nightmare that they would never want to live through ever again. However, for most of the world and Yudonia for that matter, it was a disturbance that they would hardly ever notice. Why?

Many weeks had passed since Yudonia cleared the S-Class Dungeon and changed the fabric of the world. Mana concentration levels had risen exponentially, and the Greater Humanoid Species were undergoing drastic changes that were unprecedented in its history. New Rankers were popping out by the second, and existing Rankers gained a surplus of power that they could never imagine before.

The earthquakes and hurricanes had long subsided, giving civilisation a chance to reset. Buildings were being reconstructed rapidly to accommodate the thousands of displaced families. At the same time, trillions of dollars were spent to restore the failed economies. With the new peace, the Ranker’s Association from each country could now focus on developing the new talent that came through their doors.

And shockingly enough…

In a span of a mere two days, there were over a million new Rankers! Every country in the world, from Elfheim to Bestia, they had recorded a staggering amount of new powerhouses. Before, a Ranker was someone who was above the common folk. A being of massive power that could hunt monsters in dungeons and protect them against the dangers of the beasts.

Now… Rankers were starting to become more commonplace, and it was only a matter of time before they were a dime in a dozen.

The New World.

A term first coined by the Egan Times, the entire planet were now chanting those three words. The Greater Humanoid Species were on the verge of entering a new frontier, a world where everyone held the power of Rankers. It didn’t matter if they were a vagabond on the street or an heir to a massive fortune. Everyone was now able to feel and use mana like the Rankers that they adored.

And some might even reach the realm of the High-Rankers.

It became a universal cry. Every newborn, teenager, working adult, grandparent… They were now able to become Rankers that could fight against the monsters of the world. And that power… was meant to be used. A large majority of the newly-awakened Rankers wanted to show-off or test their newfound powers. They couldn’t just leave it there to rot!

And fortunately for them, their wishes were about to come true.

As if hearing their pleas, in a never-before-seen phenomenon, the world had spawned new dungeons by the hundreds! Dungeons were highly concentrated areas where beasts and other monsters would spawn, and if nothing was done about them… the civilised world would overflow with those unsightly beings.

Therefore, every Ranker’s Association were now busy training the new talent to help in the clearance of those dungeons. And for the most part, it was an excellent strategy. The new Rankers were now able to hone their skills in the dungeons while the countries would be able to prevent a Dungeon Overflow.

The problem was… no matter how much they trained the newbies, none of them were capable of attempting the S-Class Dungeons. It was far too dangerous, as per the results of Yudonia’s own raid. A Dungeon Overflow of a typical dungeon was bad but manageable. A Dungeon Overflow of an S-Class Dungeon, on the other hand…

No one wanted to see yet another country fall from the mismanagement of the dungeons. To combat that, Gondor had proposed for all members of the World Congress to help each other in need. As expected, many countries were resistant to that idea in the beginning.

In the first place, the World Congress wasn’t a binding organisation, rather a place where countries could mediate their foreign affairs. Every country had their own governments and had no need to follow the instructions of the World Congress. Not to mention, there had been historical tensions between some of the larger countries.

Unfortunately, the new World that Yudonia had ushered wasn’t a forgiving one. If they didn’t set aside their differences, S-Class Dungeons would overflow and eventually, the Greater Humanoid Species would be threatened with extinction. Thus, with unwilling hearts, the leaders of every member nation of the World Congress had agreed to follow with the Gondor Accords.

In no time at all, countries began sharing information about the dungeons within their borders, particularly the higher-ranked ones. And…

“Three in the United Houses of Egan, two in Elfheim, one in Gondor, one in Raklius, three in Bestia and three in Vishaal… A grand total of thirteen S-Class Dungeons… Since when did S-Class Dungeons become as common as water?” Aria held her head in disbelief after reading the document that the President had provided.

“Thirteen S-Class Dungeons… It was rare to even see one in ten years before.” Yvette nodded, agreeing with Aria’s sentiment.

“Thirteen… By the way, is Elfheim fine with you helping us in the other raids?”

“There were some dissenting voices, but my grandfather shut them all up.”

“Is that fine? Wouldn’t you want to protect your homeland?” Aria turned back to the blonde elf who was seated comfortably by her side.

“Hmmm, I do have some urge to return to Elfheim, but even if I did return, I wouldn’t be able to impact much.” Yvette flashed a lonely smile.

Elves were proficient in the magical arts, particularly ones that involve life and nature. And that included the healing arts. Excluding Yvette, there were about a dozen S-Class Healing Saints, not to mention the numerous A-Class Healers in their midst.

What Elfheim lacked, were physical tanks that could hold the frontlines in dungeons. While they did have their Dark Elves defenders to rely on when it came to pure attack power, the Elves rarely produced a high-ranking tank from their bloodline. And that was where Yudonia came in.

As the only human country that was allied with Elfheim, Yudonia focused on producing top-tier tanks such as High Paladins or even the highest of tanks, the Guardian Paladin. S-Rankers such as Finn and Arius were the prime examples of their years of hard work.

Through this partnership, Elfheim would provide Yudonia with support and resources while Yudonia would pledge to serve the Elves with their best tanks when needed. In fact, the main reason why Yvette was on an exchange programme with Yudonia was because Elfheim needed three S-Class High Paladins from Yudonia for their own dungeon raids.

“Furthermore, even if I return, I’ll only be locked away in some hospital. I would rather stick by your side as we adventure through the other S-Class Dungeons!”

“... You’re such a child,” Aria chuckled, wondering why she even worried about her mischievous friend in the first place.

“Hehe, soooo what’s our first destination?!” Playing her role, Yvette leapt into the air like an excited toddler. She leaned her face closer to Aria’s touch-screen terminal. “Please don’t tell me you’re going to choose Elfheim after I’ve said that much…”

“Hah! That would be rich, wouldn’t it?” Aria smiled sinisterly.

After the President had given them the green light to explore other dungeons, Aria had been browsing through the list of available S-Class Dungeons. While choosing one of the Elfheim’s dungeons may be tempting, Aria had already narrowed down her choice.

“The United Houses of Egan should be ruled out since it's too far. No matter what, I doubt Yudonia would allow us to travel to a place that wouldn’t allow a tactical retreat.”

Yvette nodded wordlessly.

“As for Vishaal and Raklius… They’re both on bad terms with Yudonia, so it wouldn’t be wise to tackle their dungeons.”

Aria continued to cross out the unsuitable S-Class Dungeons through a process of elimination.

“Gondor… While tempting, their dungeon doesn’t seem to be from an ancient era. It looks like their S-Class Dungeon is a newly formed one so even if we brought Aurum there, there’s no chance of him regaining his memories.”

“Wait, if you’re going to cross out Elfheim as well that it leaves us with...”

“You got it,” Aria pointed her finger at the elf with a cheesy smile. She scrolled through her tablet and expanded the information on her targeted dungeon.

“Bestia, the continent of the Beastmen Alliance.” Aria declared. “It’s a three-hour plane ride away from Yudonia and their relationship with us ain’t all that bad. But most importantly… Look at this dungeon.”

Aria handed her terminal over, giving Yvette a chance to read the expanded information. The elf didn’t even need a minute before her jaw dropped in astonishment.

“An S-Class Dungeon south of Lafae that possesses stone golems… which seemed to be a ruined tomb... similar to that of the Terracotta Army?!”

“Eerie, isn’t it?” Aria folded her arms, and the arch on her lips curled down. “For all we know, this dungeon may be a sister one to the one we just conquered.”

“... would there be another Aurum?”

“Hard to say,” Aria didn’t give Yvette a definite answer. One Aurum was enough of a headache, let alone two.

“From the information that Bestia had made public, it seems like a watered-down version of our Dungeon. There weren’t any remains of Dragons, and neither were there any relics from the Age of Origin. However, they’ve only explored the dungeon halfway, so who knows?”

“You’re right… This does seem to be the ideal location for Aurum...” Yvette nodded seriously. However, within her alluring eyes, a shadow of doubt crept up. A shiver ran down her spine, and her body went limp. She had remembered that day… the day where Yudonia lost half of their S-Rankers.

“Hey… I should have asked this first, but we aren’t going to go alone… right?”

Aria jerked and turned around to her bosom friend. She realised her folly and instantly moved to reassure her: “Don’t worry! I’m not suicidal enough to risk my own life! We have some reliable support joining our ranks!”

“Support?”

“Hehe, just wait a bit!” Aria grinned like a schoolgirl who was awaiting her prank to come to fruition. “They should be arriving soon! Oh, and you should go change. They’re both young men so if they view your tender, rosy flesh fresh out from the bath… I won’t be responsible for what happens next!”

“Y-you!”

Yvette was instantly able to understand who Aria was referring to. After all, there were only two men around her age that Aria was familiar with, and… Yvette knew them far too well!

“Hmph! I’m ignoring you!” The elf harrumphed and got off the sofa. Unfortunately, Yvette couldn’t hide her expectant smile. Her quick shuffling feet which raced towards her closet was adorable, to say the least.

‘Oh, you lucky bastards… I wonder which one of you has caught Yvette’s favour?’