Dungeon Predator

[Cursed Ground: You are within Total Annihilation's Domain.]

[Resistance is impossible.]

[HP falls rapidly.]

[HP falls by 1%.]

[HP falls by 1%...]

Total Annihilation was such a powerful curse that not even Kang Oh could hope to resist its effect.

He was also losing 1% HP per second.

In other words, if a living being remained within the domain for 100 seconds, then they would die; what a truly fearsome curse.

Of course, Total Annihilation had the opposite effect on Eder; his HP actually rose by 1% every second.

Arumode's HP did the same. There was only one way of defeating him now; depleting all of his HP with a single blow. 

But there was always another way out. There was an easy way of beating Arumode whilst Total Annihilation was active. 

If he struck the black sun tattoo before the Total Annihilation curse killed him, then the curse would be dispelled and Arumode would die.

"Attack the sun tattoo on his chest!" Kang Oh yelled and rushed forward.

Sephiro and Eder were already familiar with this, so they acted immediately.

First, Sephiro notched three arrows and fired.

Triple Shot!

At first, the three arrows flew in different directions, but then changed course and homed in on Arumode's heart.

However, Arumode protected himself with his giant shield.

Bang. 

The arrows struck the shield and fell to the floor.

Kang Oh seized that opportunity and rushed forward. He kicked off the floor and leaped into the air once more.

"Hueup."

Last time he leaped off of Eder's back, so he couldn't reach the same height as before, but he was still high enough. He then swung downwards with his blade.

If Arumode were to raise his shield to block the attack, then it would leave him open to Sephiro and Eder’s attacks. 

Thus, Arumode didn't raise his giant shield.

Instead, he bent his knees and tilted his shield as if to hide his body.

By doing so, Arumode protected both his torso and head with his shield.

Clang!

His demon sword struck the shield.

Arumode staunchly remained in place.

Kang Oh quickly moved behind Arumode.

He saw Arumode's back, covered with his faded robes.

Swish.

Kang Oh swung his blade diagonally. He slashed through Arumode's robes and left a clear sword-cut.

However, it didn't break Arumode's chest guard.

Arumode's wound was quickly healed through the effect of the Total Annihilation curse.

'Do I have to use Devil Trigger?' Kang Oh pondered momentarily.

If he used Devil Trigger, then he might be able to break through Arumode's iron defense, or inflict enough damage that it overwhelmed Arumode's healing capabilities.

At that moment, Eder moved.

Eder's voice was dreary, a sign that he was casting a spell.

Eder extended his bony hand towards Arumode.

It was Bone Bind, a spell that created bone in a designated area!

Bone formed around the bull symbol on Arumode's shield.

Eder quickly canceled the spell, re-calculated where he wanted it next, and cast Bone Bind once more.

His body had been too weak before, so he hadn't been able to show all he could do. But now that the curse had amplified his abilities, he was able to show much more of his original skill.

His casting speed was light fast and the bones formed instantaneously. 

Boom!

It sounded as if something exploded.

Thud.

The shield fell to the ground, revealing Arumode's chest.

A single shard of bone had pierced the sun tattoo!

Arumode had definitely blocked Kang Oh's sword and Sephiro's arrows, but he wasn't able to block Eder's bone magic as well.

Although his defensive posture allowed him to effectively defend against physical and long-range attacks, he had no defense against magical attacks.

That's why someone as weak as Malcolm had been able to kill Arumode with such ease.

Malcolm had imbued his poison with life and used it to attack Arumode. With it, he was able to strike Arumode's sun tattoo with ease, like how the smallest crack would cause water to spill.

"Guuu."

Arumode groaned in pain.

The black sun tattoo, pierced by the bone shard, began to fade. 

"Oh Graham, eternal..."

Arumode fell to the side.

Thud.

His massive body caused dust to rise up as he fell flat onto the ground.

[The effects of Cursed Ground's Domain have ended.]

[You are no longer cursed.]

[You have defeated the Immortal King, Arumode.]

[You have leveled up.]

"Hoo."

Kang Oh caught his breath.

"We won," Eder said happily.

He had finally obtained a new body!

"Brother, if not for you, we would have died. Thank you very much," Sephiro said joyfully.

Kang Oh picked up the shield that Arumode had left behind.

[Graham's Bull Shield]

The shield that the Graham Kingdom's king, Arumode used.

It was created long ago and is emblazoned with the symbol of the Graham Kingdom, the bull.

This shield was created at a time when craftsmen were unskilled in handling metal, so it is both extremely thick and heavy.

Arumode continued to use this shield even after he became undead, so it possesses the power to defy death.

+ Immortal's Shield: For 30 seconds, you heal the amount of damage that you blocked with the shield.

Cooldown: 10 minutes

Rank: BB

Abilities: Defense +170, Physical +20, Mental -10, Curse Resistance +5%

Minimum Requirements: Level 100. Physical 200.

"He really is an undead; he didn't drop much."

Arumode only dropped a single shield. Not only that, it was only BB-rank.

Compared to Baramut or Caraco, Arumode's loot was poor.

"But we were able to get a new body in exchange," Eder said.

His shoulders heaved at the prospect of obtaining a new body.

"I guess you're right. Can you possess that thing?"

Kang Oh pointed at Arumode's body.

"I'll give it a try."

Eder left his skeleton body and entered Arumode's body.

Eder began to control Arumode's body. 

He pushed against the floor with both his arms and stood up. However, he wasn't used to Arumode's body, so he lost his balance and began to stumble around.

"Mr. Kao Ooooh!" Eder said, having barely stood up. 

He wasn't accustomed to the body, so his pronunciation was still poor.

"Did you say Mr. Kang Oh?"

Eder nodded his head.

"How does it feel?" Kang Oh asked.

"It's cwamped," Eder replied, his pronunciation still poor.

"It's cramped?"

Kang Oh’s expression seemed to say 'There's no way that's possible.'.

If his skeleton body was like a small, cheap hotel room, then Arumode's body was at least like an apartment with three rooms.

"I think he's saying he likes it," Sephiro said, and Eder nodded his head.

"He can't even pronounce words properly, so it doesn't seem right to ask you anything else. Get used to that body for now."

"I undwerstand."

This time, Kang Oh could understand him.

"Then let's go back."

He had no more business here.

"Alright."

* * *

Kang Oh's party left the Graham Ruins and returned to Altein.

They passed through Altein's front gate, which was always wide open, and Sephiro said his farewells.

"Today was fun. I'll see you later."

"Ok. Thank you for all your hard work."

Sephiro was a slave he could use a limited number of times. No, it was because he was a mercenary that Kang Oh couldn't bring him along to find dungeons or go hunting.

Thus, Kang Oh didn't stop him from leaving.

"Mr. Kang Oooh," Eder called.

"Yeah?"

"I will need some time to reeemodel this body too."

Eder had practiced his pronunciation while returning to Altein, so Kang Oh could understand him now.

"You need time to remodel Arumode's body for your purposes?"

"Yes."

"How much time do you think it'll take?"

"I'm not sure right now."

"You have until our departure for the Bariton Desert," Kang Oh said.

He'd give him until they needed to leave for the Bariton Desert, meaning that he had about 2 weeks.

"Thank you."

That much time should be plenty. Eder expressed his thanks.

"Yeah. Make sure you remodel it to your liking and get a lot stronger."

That way, he could continue to work him like a horse in even more difficult areas.

"Ok. Then, I'll gettt going now."

Eder left, heading for his mansion.

When Kang Oh was about to leave, he received a message from Asu.

- Oppa, have a happy Chuseok!

- It's not Chuseok weekend yet.

Chuseok weekend was the day after tomorrow. 

- My schedule's packed during Chuseok, so I won't be able to login to Arth. So that's why I'm giving you my good wishes now.

- Then I suppose I should tell you to work hard instead of to have a nice Chuseok. Make a lot of money, Ms. popular idol.

- Ok! You make a lot of money too, Oppa!

- Alright. See you later.

Kang Oh closed the message window.

"I wonder when Dungeon Conquering Man airs..."

The Man Who Conquers Dungeons or Dungeon Conquering Man would air in two days.

* * *

The next day.

Death Potion's guildmaster, Malcolm, returned to the Graham Ruins.

"I'll kill you!"

Once he entered the Graham Ruins, he began to curse.

He'd already cursed Kang Oh's party several times in real life and had angrily called his workers absolutely useless too. Despite all that, he hadn't been able to vent all of his anger.

The vice-captain approached him.

"President, please calm down. Please sign a postwar agreement."

As a result of losing the guild war, all of their guild members were affected by the 'Loser's Brand' debuff.

The Loser's Brand lowered one's abilities by 90%.

With this, they wouldn't be able to continue their operations in the Graham Ruins like before.

Thus, their top priority was to sign a postwar agreement to remove the debuff.

"I'm not signing anything," Malcolm declared.

"Excuse me?"

The vice-captain's expression seemingly said, 'What the hell are you talking about?'.

"I'm going to disband the guild."

"If you disband the guild without signing an agreement, then... you cannot make or enter a guild for half a year."

There were several benefits to a guild.

If a player was in a guild, then when they went hunting or created items, they would receive additional experience or proficiency.

The additional proficiency in skills or magic was especially tempting.

Also, whenever a guild member hunts or creates an item, they accrue guild points.

These guild points could be spent at the guild market to buy all sorts of liquid medicine or powerful equipment.

However, if Malcolm disbanded the guild now, then not only would they lose all their accrued guild points, but they wouldn't be able to enter a new guild for half a year.

"Please reconsider one more time..."

Obviously, the vice-captain didn't want the guild to be disbanded.

"Then are you saying I should give those bastards all that money?"

What the vice-captain was saying pissed him off. He needed to pay Kang Oh's party 10,000 gold.

That was 100 million won ($100,000 USD). 

He could just disband the guild and the matter would be solved, so why should he give them the money?

"..."

The vice-captain kept his mouth shut.

He also inwardly chewed Malcolm out.

'He should've made several hundred thousand gold from selling the Arumode Poison, yet he's being stingy for 10,000 gold.... You bastard!'

"What? You have a problem with that?"

Malcolm scowled and stared at the vice-captain.

"...No."

"Hmph. Tell our boys that we're disbanding the guild. And make sure they agree with it."

"I understand."

The vice-captain turned around to leave. However, his eyes were filled with hate.

A short while after they left, Malcolm opened the guildmaster window and pressed disband.

[Are you sure you want to disband the Death Potion guild?]

"Yes," Malcolm said without an ounce of hesitation.

[The guild members will now vote Yes or No.]

[Voting in progress.]

[The majority agreed to disband the guild.]

[The Death Potion guild has been disbanded.]

[The Going as Three guild's Right of the Victor has disappeared.]

[The Loser's Brand has disappeared. All abilities return to their normal state.]

[The guild has been disbanded without signing a postwar agreement. As a penalty, you may not create or enter a guild for half a year.]

Malcolm, who'd read the system message, checked the time. There wasn't much time before Arumode respawned.

- Hey, call everyone here to kill Arumode.

Malcolm sent a message to his vice-captain.

The vice-captain arrived personally, rather than reply to the message.

"I told them to be on standby."

"Let's go."

Malcolm headed for the throne room.

His subordinates were all gathered within.

Malcolm checked the time once more.

It was time for Arumode to respawn.

Though time passed, Arumode still didn’t respawn. 

"What is this?"

Malcolm and his subordinates waited another hour. Despite that, Arumode wouldn't appear.

"Something's wrong."

Arumode was a boss monster that respawned once a day.

The fact that it didn't meant that Kang Oh's party had done something to stop it from doing so.

"How dare you mess with my source of income!"

Malcolm fumed and stomped on the ground. As if that wasn't enough, he threw a fit.

Then, the vice-captain raised his sword.

"I was going to do this after we'd killed Arumode, but I guess I don't need to wait for that anymore."

He stared at Malcolm, his voice filled with killing intent.

"You, what the hell are you doing!? Do you want to die?" Malcolm shouted.

"Boys!" the vice-captain yelled. 

Then, the former guild members surrounded Malcolm.

"You bastards! Do you really think you'll be safe in real life if you do this!?"

They weren't just connected through the game.

He was their president, debtor, and creditor.

They were indebted to him!

So how dare they raise their hand against him!?

"That's only if you stay safe in real life."

"What?"

"Kill him!"

The vice-captain rushed towards him and stabbed.

Stab.

The graverobbers swarmed him like a pack of savage dogs and stabbed him with their gaffs.

"Do you really think I'll die from something like this!?"

Malcolm gritted his teeth and from his jar, shot out the Arumode Poison everywhere.

The poisoned graverobbers died right then and there. However, Malcolm met the same fate and died as well.

The vice-captain yelled to the remaining graverobbers, "Hurry up and log out. We have to teach him a lesson. That's how we get out of this alive!"