Dungeon Predator

Eder swung his mace, hitting the last remaining tentacle.

Heavy Blow!

Bang!

Heavy Blow caused a tiny explosion and the stinger portion of Gureko's tentacle fell to the floor.

Gureko absorbed what was left of the tentacle.

Kura!

Gureko shrieked and its eyes radiated light as its body began to shake.

Fssssh!

Suddenly, the Gureko's tail area sounded like a deflating balloon. 

"It's letting out gas," Eder yelled.

It wasn't just letting out gas.

Gureko was releasing black smoke from its tail area. It was the very same smoke that resulted from the Tardens' acid touching the water.

Of course, that wasn't all.

Gureko, which had once remained frozen in place, began to move.

It moved its fins across the mudflat like a goby fish, charging violently at Eder.

Think about it. How would you feel if a 5 meter tall boss monster that was even wider than it was tall came rushing at you all of a sudden?

Not only that, it was rushing towards you at a speed you hadn't thought possible!

Rat-a-tat-tat!

The ground shook under its rushing.

"Dodge!" Kang Oh yelled at Eder.

Kang Oh knew that they couldn't afford to take Gureko's charge head-on.

Eder was of the same mind.

He'd finally obtained a body he liked, so he couldn't afford to lose it by getting tackled by a monkfish-looking monster.

Eder ran as fast as he could, but Gureko got right behind him.

It opened its gaping maw, ready to devour Eder.

"Ugh!"

At that moment, Eder threw his body.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Gureko swept through his previous location and passed by, leaving behind huge traces of its charge.

Because it continuously emitted black smoke from its tail, the smoke rose into the air in thick clouds.

Kura, kuha!

Gureko, who hadn't been able to swallow Eder whole, halted and exhaled as if it were out of breath.

That's when Kang Oh moved.

"Attack him before he can move again!"

There were no absolute beings amongst humans or monsters. In exchange for Gureko's destructive charge, it wouldn't be able to move for a while.

Still, it wasn't defenseless.

Its hump continued to release acid.

Kang Oh got close whilst evading the acid, and thrust with his demon sword.

Thump!

He'd thrust with all his might, yet still, his sword didn't go deep.

'It's thick and tough!'

Its body was completely different from the tentacles that he'd cut through so easily.

Kang Oh, with his blade still embedded in Gureko's body, dragged it through flesh towards the creature’s mouth.

Rip!

His demon sword passed over Gureko's uneven skin, yet it only left a small trace.

Kang Oh continued towards Gureko's mouth.

Kura, kura!

Once his blade reached the exhaling Gureko's mouth, it released a foul odor resembling rotten milk.

"Jeez man, brush your teeth."

Kang Oh furrowed his brow and prepared himself to swing his blade once more.

There were several sharp teeth within its large mouth.

If it closed its mouth, whatever was caught inside would be crushed to bits!

However, Kang Oh saw something like a red flower bud with flecks of green within its throat.       

'A weakness!'

His Hyper Intuition was guiding him towards that flower bud.

At that moment, the flower bud bloomed.

A far worse smell than the previous rotten milk smell wafted over to his nose.

Within this bloomed flower came out a Kurima and a Tardens coated in a sticky liquid.

'Fine!'

Kang Oh had a good idea.

Kuheong!

He'd used Baramut's Roar.

A silhouette of a tiger briefly appeared behind him and then disappeared soon after.

"..."

Kang Oh held his breath so he wouldn't have to smell that foul stench and swung downwards.

Swish!

His demon sword emitted a golden light and was soon followed by a tiger aura.

Tempest Tiger!

The aura entered the inside of the Gureko.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The tiger swept through the Tardens and Kurima and struck the flower bud.

There was chaos within Gureko's mouth.

The Kurima and Tarden spilled shards of light from their bodies!

The flower bud quivered and released large red shards of light.

In other words, firecrackers were going off in Gureko's mouth.

Kuruararara!

Gureko writhed in agony.

It opened its mouth, spilling out the Tardens and Kurima outside and was followed by the shards of light that hadn't yet disappeared.

Gureko closed its now empty mouth and focused its sights on Kang Oh.

It began to charge once more. Its attack was even fiercer and deadlier than before!

With Tempest Tiger still active, the wind whips continued to rage. However, they weren't enough to prevent Gureko's advance.

Kang Oh and Gureko were way too close to each other.

No matter where he went, Kang Oh would be caught in Gureko's charge.

"Shit."

Kang Oh shielded himself with his demon sword.

Gureko's charging form reminded him of the truck collision.

Kang Oh gritted his teeth.

'I have faith in you, Baramut!'

Faith that his Baramut armor set's effect would activate, which would nullify a fatal blow to its wielder!

Fortunately, he found a helping hand, or rather a helping foot in an unexpected place.

Grano stretched his hand towards the sky.

There was a one-time use magical device in his hand. It was made of glass and was in the shape of a bird's talon.

"Hawk's Talon!"

Grano yelled the keywords that would activate the magical device.

The magical device cast a spell that was akin to a crane machine that picked up an ally or enemy into the sky!

Crack!

The glass magical device cracked. At the same time, the one-time use magic activated.

Kang Oh felt as though something was picking him up and his body rose vertically.

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Right after he'd risen into the air, Gureko swept through the area where he'd once been with its giant body and passed by.

"Hoo."

Kang Oh looked down and sighed in relief. Gureko had completely trampled the area below him.

"The effects of Hawk's Talon will end soon," Grano yelled.

As he said, the feeling that something was keeping his body afloat gradually disappeared.

Then, he began to plunge from the sky!

Kang Oh safely landed onto the floor.

Following its attack, Gureko opened its mouth once more and breathed heavily.

"It has a weakness inside its mouth. Mr. Grano, give it a big one!" Kang Oh yelled.

"With water magic?"

"Yes!"

Grano acted immediately.

His orb began to rotate violently.

Once he was finished casting, Grano extended his orb-holding hand.

Torrent!

Six powerful water cannons were unleashed from the orb.

Grano's aim was true.

The water cannons flew into Gureko's mouth.

It quickly shut its mouth, but it was too late; it took severe damage before it managed to close its mouth.

Of course, there was a price to using water magic.

Gureko's acid made contact with his water spell and a large quantity of black smoke began to rise.

'There's a way around that.'

Kang Oh dashed towards Gureko's front.

Rat-a-tat!

Gureko began to charge in order to intercept Kang Oh.

It seemed as though it still couldn't forget the huge shock that it'd received from Kang Oh before.

'Just as planned!'

Once it charged towards him, Kang Oh grinned.

There was a circular dome at the center of this room.

In other words, there was an area where the smoke wouldn't spread to.

If he led Gureko over there, then they wouldn't have to worry about the smoke created via Grano's water magic.

Gureko chased Kang Oh with incredible speed and the distance between the two gradually began to lessen.

Contrary to before, where he couldn't dodge its charge by himself, he could now.

At just the right time, Kang Oh quickly turned his body 90 degrees and jumped.

Due to its large size, Gureko wasn't able to turn its body instantaneously.

Ultimately, Kang Oh dodged Gureko's charge and it was defenseless once more.

Grano, who had followed them, unleashed another powerful spell.

Waterball!

He shot a waterball into Gureko's mouth.

Kura!

Gureko's body quivered in agony.

'Just a little more.'

Kang Oh felt like it would be over soon.

He used himself as bait once more and ran in front of it once more.

* * *

Gureko's end was more futile than he'd expected. Even Kang Oh was surprised by the result.

Using its charge had cost some of its HP.

Gureko charged at Kang Oh once more, but it suddenly stopped and fell over, as if it were headphones that had run out of batteries.

[You are the first to defeat the Seed of Calamity, Gureko.]

[As a reward, the monster will drop its highest ranked items.]

"What a joke."

To think it would charge and then die mid-way.

Kang Oh smirked at the unexpected ending.

"It would've been different had it been in the water," Grano approached and said.

"That's true."

The sea was Gureko's domain. However, it was a fish out of the water, so it was only natural that it had died.

Kang Oh approached Gureko's body. It had left behind three items before dying.

One of those items was a giant seed.

Kang Oh picked it up and appraised it.

[Gureko's Core]

The core of the Seed of Calamity, Gureko. It emits an incredibly ominous aura and smells terrible.

The seed was none other than Gureko's Core.

It was the same item that Lupenia's queen, Roane, had asked him to bring her.

Grano, who approached from beside him, seemed interested in the core.

"Is this the core?"

As he was a magic engineer that focused on creating magical devices, he was particularly interested in materials.

"Yes. Would you like to take a look at it?"

Kang Oh passed the core to Grano.

Grano took the core and meticulously examined it. While he was doing so, Kang Oh examined the other items.

[Gureko's Acid Sac]

This sac contains potent acid. It seems like an item that Alchemists would be interested in.

Material rank: BB

The sac, which was shaped like a stomach, was a material that contained Gureko's acid.

Kang Oh passed it over to Grano, telling him to take a look.

Finally, Kang Oh picked up a ring.

The ring's surface was surrounded by liquid that had hardened like a rock, so he couldn't tell what it originally looked like.

[Unknown Black Ring]

A ring that wandered through the Seed of Calamity, Gureko's body.

The ring has lost its original form due to Gureko's darkness and acid and gained entirely new abilities as a result.

+ Summon Tentacle: Summons a tentacle that aids you in battle.

+ Acid Monster: Summons a monster that spews acid.

Rank: A

Abilities: Main stats +20, Charm -20

Minimum requirements: Level 150

"It's a summoning ring..." Kang Oh fiddled with the ring and said.

There were some people who were crazy about items that summoned particular monsters like this one.

"Mr. Grano," Kang Oh called.

"Yes?"

"May I take this ring?"

When their hunt was over, Grano would take 30% of the profits as his share. Obviously, Kang Oh couldn't just take the ring as he pleased.

"Go ahead."

Grano didn't even look in-depth and generously agreed.

"I'll take this item in exchange."

Grano shook the acid liquid sac that he was holding.

"Alright, go ahead."

After that, Kang Oh and Grano split the junk items they'd obtained from the Demon's Lair 70-30.

Kang Oh fed his demon sword the junk items right then and there.

"Eat up."

The demon sword emitted darkness and said darkness devoured the Kurima's teeth and suckers, as well as the Tarden's eye, etc. 

Kang Oh petted his demon sword.

'It won't be long now.'

Whenever his demon sword was fed items, its satiation would increase and when its satiation reached 100%, the sword would become even stronger.

Right now, its satiation was over 90%. It wouldn't be long before it reached 100% and his demon sword became even stronger than before.

"Let's see."

Kang Oh tied his demon sword to his back and began searching every nook and cranny of the 2nd underground floor of the Demon's Lair.

He felt that there might be some riches here that Gureko had accrued.

However, there wasn't anything in particular.

"Maybe it's in the lake..."

Kang Oh thought about searching the lake, but he couldn't actually go in.

The lake had been contaminated by Gurekturon's blood, which was known as the Calamity of the Sea, so it was black like tar.

He couldn't imagine going inside.

It would be different if he was sure that there was some valuable treasure inside.

"Hoo, Mr. Kang Oh, let's return to the Lupen Crystal Palace," Eder said.

He needed rest.

"Mr. Grano, do you still need to look at Gurekturon's corpse?" Kang Oh asked.

"I saw enough."

Grano smiled. While Kang Oh was busy looking around the lake, he had been busy examining Gurekturon's corpse.

"I understand."

Kang Oh began to move.

'It's fine I guess. Since Lupenia's treasure house is waiting for me.'

He didn't really get much from conquering the Demon's Lair. However, Lupenia's treasure house was waiting for him.

Kang Oh's party left Gurekturon and Gureko's corpses behind and departed from the underground 2nd floor.