Dungeon Predator (WN)

"This is..." Lubatchi stared at the melting Evil God Worshippers and furrowed his brow.

This light was like a natural enemy to anyone who possessed the Evil God's power. It belonged to one of the four Primordial Gods: the God of Life, Luhan!

Luhan's light annihilated anyone who bore the Evil God's power.

"What do we do now?" an Evil God Worshipper asked.

Lubatchi immediately threw him at the device that emitted the light.

"Uhahk!" the Evil God Worshipper screamed.

At the same time, the device emitted Luhan's light, which devoured the Evil God Worshipper.

"It works more than once." Lubatchi's expression was calm, despite the fact that he'd just used his subordinate as a lab rat.

What's worse, the rest of the Evil God Worshippers thought his actions were justified.

Anyhow, Lubatchi stretched out his hands, and shot out the Evil God's energy.

The energy flew towards the device. However, the device sensed the evil energy, and Luhan's light filled the cave once more.

Bam!

Lubatchi hoped that his energy would last long enough to break the device.

However, it was a fruitless endeavor. Before it even reached its target, the Evil God's power had completely disappeared.

"Tch, how annoying. Lord Sraka," Lubatchi said to the bronze mask man.

"I'll take care of it." Sraka stepped forward, and drew the greatsword from his back.

Swish!

He swung his sword, unleashing the dreary, wicked energy of the Evil God.

The device unleashed Luhan's light once more.

Upon contact, Sraka's blast weakened, but it didn't disappear completely. It was such a giant, powerful blast of the Evil God's power!

"As expected of you, Lord Sraka!" Lubatchi was in awe.

Bam!

The device broke into pieces. The transparent sphere, which controlled Luhan's light, had been destroyed, so they no longer had to fear being vaporized.

"Let's go."

Lubatchi and his men progressed through the cave. They had to deal with the devices that unleashed Luhan's light time after time.

However, Sraka destroyed every last one of them. Though he was an Evil God Worshipper, his power and skill were undeniable.

After all, he had killed the Baiyan Kingdom's Master Warrior, Heinel.

Killing Heinel had turned the battle into a one-sided slaughter in favor of the Evil God Worshippers.

Anyhow, the traps couldn't hold back Sraka. Ultimately, the disciple and his men reached Axion's coffin.

"The sacred treasure is definitely in here," an Evil God Worshipper said excitedly.

Thick energy rose from the coffin and permeated the room.

"Hurry up and get it out. We have to reclaim Lord Jaila's sacred treasure as soon as possible," Lubatchi said. Then, Four Evil God Worshippers stood at the four corners of the coffin and pulled.

At that moment...

Luhan's light seeped out of the coffin, filling the world with light.

"Guaaahk!"

"Ugh."

All of the Evil God Worshippers were vaporized, aside from Sraka, who'd shielded himself with his greatsword, and Lubatchi, who'd hidden himself behind Sraka.

Thud!

Since the Evil God Worshippers who'd opened the lid had all been vaporized, they covered the coffin once more, and the light disappeared.

Grr!

Lubatchi gritted his teeth.

'To think there'd be a trap of this magnitude at the very end!'

But there was a bigger problem here. If they wanted to open the coffin and reclaim Jaila's sacred treasure, then they needed to somehow deal with Luhan's light.

Sraka solved the problem again. His greatsword unleashed giant, sticky energy, which devoured the coffin.

Boom!

Once the Evil God's energy destroyed the coffin, Luhan's light spilled out. Sraka pushed even harder, imbuing his sword with even more of the Evil God's power, and completely suppressed Luhan's light.

Crackle! Crackle!

Ultimately, Luhan's light completely disappeared and the coffin was destroyed. Axion had died a long time ago, so his body hadn't remained. Instead, the Evil God's sacred treasure lay there.

It was a bronze ceremonial knife.

This was the sacred treasure known as Jaila's Knife. It was the blade that the four-armed Jaila wielded in one of his bronze arms!

"Ooh!"

'Lord Jaila! We've finally reclaimed your sacred treasure!'

As soon as he saw the treasure, Lubatchi knelt down onto the floor and slammed his head onto the floor. Sraka also knelt down, and bowed so deeply that his bronze mask touched the ground.

They were showing an extreme level of respect towards Jaila's sacred treasure.

A short while later...

Sraka respectfully wrapped Jaila's Knife in cloth, and placed it into his breast pocket. His chest was the safest place in the world for it.

"We've completed our mission, so let's go. The demons are waiting for us outside," Lubatchi said.

"Alright."

Sraka and Lubatchi lightheartedly left Axion's grave.

However...!

Someone completely unexpected was waiting for them.

"Uhahk!"

"Lord Jaila!"

Kyaaahk!

Not all of the Evil God Worshippers had entered the cave. On the contrary, there were more people that stayed outside.

However, all of them and their mounts had been killed by just one man.

Sraka and Lubatchi couldn't understand what was happening.

The Evil God Worshippers did the slaughtering, not the other way around.

"Grr! Lord Sraka, I'll take care of this. Please go on ahead and take the sacred treasure to safety," Lubatchi said.

"Alright. There's nothing more important than the sacred treasure, after all." Sraka raised his hand, and two hideous demons flew down. The two then rode on top of them.

Sraka rose higher into the air, while Lubatchi descended to the ground in order to kill whoever was responsible for killing his men.

At that moment...

Whoosh!

All of a sudden, a long line, one that resembled the horizon itself, flew through the air. That line passed right through Sraka's flying demon.

Swish.

It was so quick that the flying monster kept flapping its wings, unaware of its death. However, it soon split in two, and Sraka plummeted to the ground.

Lubatchi quickly caught Sraka with his own demon.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"I'll put you down first." Lubatchi dropped Sraka to the ground.

Thud.

A middle-aged man, who'd killed all of the Evil God Worshippers and their demons, walked over to Lubatchi and Sraka.

He had slicked back hair, a sharp jawline, stubborn eyes and lips, and wrinkles on his face!

The man held a sword in his hand, yet it didn't seem like a particularly good weapon. No, it actually seemed like a cheap, low quality sword.

There was only one man in this world that could unleash such a powerful attack with such a crappy sword.

Valan!

He was both the Guardian of the Continent, and the continent's most powerful swordsman.

"Who are you!?" Lubatchi yelled angrily.

"..." Valan remained silent, turning all of his attention to Sraka.

"You're a follower of a false god that doesn't know his place. How dare you ignore me!?" Lubatchi stared at him with bloodshot eyes.

All of a sudden, however, Sraka gripped Lubatchi's shoulder.

"Fall back."

"Excuse me?"

"You can't beat him. This is the first time I've seen someone so strong ever since I was revived."

"Mm."

That stung. Although he was the Evil God's Third Disciple, he was nowhere near Sraka's strength.

Tap, tap.

Sraka stepped forward.

"Are you an Evil God Worshipper too?" Valan asked.

"That's right. I'm Jaila's First Sword, Sraka."

Valan furrowed his brow.

He knew who Sraka was. That's why he was confused.

Sraka shouldn't be standing here. Why, you ask? He'd been dead for hundreds of years already.

"Are you really the Devil's Sword, Sraka?"

"That's right."

"How did you come back?"

"Lord Jaila is the one true god. His power is infinite." In other words, the Evil God, Jaila had revived him.

A light bulb went off in his head. "Ilunati's Snake!"

Ilunati's Snake was, like Jaila's Knife, one of the Evil God's sacred treasures. In exchange for the lives of thousands, or even tens of thousands, Ilunati's Snake was able to revive the dead.

"So you know," Sraka said.

"The Evil God Worshippers have already reclaimed one of their sacred treasures, huh." Valan's eyes glowed intensely. He knew full well what would happen if they reclaimed all of their sacred treasures.

'At minimum, tens of thousands will die. They'll sacrifice them to bring Jaila back into this world.'

The Evil God's sacred treasures, such as Nemeth's Skull, Jaila's Knife, and Ilunati's Snake, were all meant to be used to bring Jaila into this world.

That was their final goal; to bring Jaila into Arth.

"Give me the sacred treasure while I'm still being nice." Valan's voice suddenly became rough.

"Not a chance!" Lubatchi yelled.

'How dare you demand that we return the sacred treasure!?'

"Lubatchi. Take this and leave."

Once Sraka pulled out Jaila's Knife and passed it to Lubatchi, Valan swung his sword.

Divide the Sea!

It was the greatest slash, one that could cut through anything!

"Uheok!"

A diagonal line flew at Lubatchi. He imagined his body being cut in half.

If Sraka hadn't swung his greatsword, then Lubatchi's vision would've come to pass. However, Sraka had blocked Divide the Sea, allowing Lubatchi to come out unscathed.

"Go. I'll take care of him."

"Yes, sir."

Lubatchi realized that Valan wasn't someone he could contend with.

He called his flying monster, but Valan attempted to stop him. Unfortunately, Sraka wouldn't let him interfere.

Clang!

Sraka's greatsword and Valan's steel sword clashed.

It'd been a long time since Valan's sword had been blocked.

Flap!

Lubatchi got onto his mount, and the demon outstretched its crow-like wings.

Valan swung his sword at Lubatchi again. However, Sraka blocked his blade once more.

'Damn it. I should've brought Burkan, or even Kang Oh with me.'

Valan regretted coming here alone. If he'd have brought one of them with him, then he wouldn't have lost the sacred treasure.

In the end, Valan wasn't able to stop Lubatchi from running away with the sacred treasure.

The Devil's Sword, Sraka!

He was a swordsman that became a Grandmaster hundreds of years ago. During his time, it was said that Sraka killed more than tens of thousands of people.

How would Valan have known that they'd revive a legendary swordsman to stop him!?

'Whatever the case, I have to kill this guy.' Valan focused entirely on Sraka.

It was completely silent, and neither side moved a muscle. However, they were actually engaged in a fierce, invisible fight.

How much time had passed? It seemed like a lot of time had gone by.

A single drop of sweat dripped from Valan's forehead, which slipped into his eye.

Valan instinctively blinked!

At that moment...

Sraka swung his sword, and Valan belatedly followed suit.

It all happened in an instant. In that short time span, the battle had been decided.

Thud.

Valan's left arm fell to the floor. A stream of red shards of light spilled from the wound.

On the other hand, Sraka looked just fine.

"Is this what you were aiming for from the start?" Sraka asked.

"An arm to kill a Grandmaster. What a cheap deal," Valan said nonchalantly, despite the loss of one of his limbs.

"What about the sweat?"

"I don't sweat that much."

"Amaz..." Sraka couldn't finish his sentence. A red line appeared across his throat, and his head rolled onto the floor.

Only then did Valan grimace. There was no one who'd be ok with losing their arm!

"Ugh." Valan gritted his teeth, bore the pain, and left with his severed left arm.

* * *

Valan had told him to come and find him once the demon sword was completed.

By bringing the sword to him, Valan would formally acknowledge him as his successor, and would begin teaching him in earnest.

Kang Oh, who'd gotten a feel for his new demon sword, recalled Valan's words, and came to the Holiseum.

Fortunately, he'd come at the right time. Both Valan and Burkan were here.

"Master Valan, I've finally created the demon sword as you instructed."

'So please teach me Divide the Sea.' went unsaid, but then Kang Oh's eyes widened. After all, one of Valan's arms was missing!

"Huh? Master Valan, what happened to your arm?"

"Some guy chopped it off," Valan said nonchalantly.

"Is that possible?"

'To think that someone could cut Valan's arm off. Who was it?'

"Shut up. Come over here and sit down." Valan pointed at the chair in front of him with his foot.

"Yes." Kang Oh did as he asked and sat down. He didn't want to anger Valan, especially with his arm chopped off. There was no reason for things to get heated, was there?

"Give me the demon sword."

"Yes!" Kang Oh respectfully presented the sword to him with both hands.

Valan stroked the sword with his one remaining arm.

"It's too good for you," Valan said, looking at him with a jaundiced eye.

"Hehe." Kang Oh scratched the back of his head.

'Can't argue with that. This demon sword is quite overpowered.'

"Eh, a promise is a promise. From this point forward, you're my successor," Valan proclaimed.

Kang Oh had finally become the successor of the continent's most powerful man.