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“Huh, what happened? What is it?” Bogle asked, and Dalgil answered while turning around.

“We found traces.”

“What kind of traces?”

“Airi is looking at them,” Dalgil said calmly and inspected the ground. Chi-Woo was curious about what these traces were too, but he didn’t move from his position. From the last expedition, he learned that maintaining one’s own position while advancing forward was important. And thus, everyone was standing in their own spot on high alert while waiting for Dalgil to continue.

Dalgil looked intently at the hole and tilted his head. “A hole. By the width of it, I have a guess. Isn’t it that snakehead who has influence over this area?”

“If you are talking about the 17th-rank demon Botis, you are right,” Airi said.

Dalgil clicked his tongue and said, “If you think about his army of soldiers, it explains why there are holes everywhere on the ground. This isn’t good news for us.”

“I think it’s too early to say that though,” Airi said.

“Why?”

“Although the legions of anguses Botis command move underground, they usually leave more traces—not just holes, but a particular venomous stench.”

“I was informed that when Botis’ army tries to move stealthily, they don’t leave any traces besides holes.”

“That’s true, but this place could be seen as Botis’ territory even though we’re at the very edge of it. For what reason would they need to move so stealthily?” Airi asked insightfully. “Moreover, I’m sure Dalgil also knows the current situation. It has been quite some time since the Demon Empire troops had been pushed back from this area.”

In the war between the two forces over the holy city Shalyh, the Demon Empire suffered huge losses. Not only did they lose a great asset in the form of a great demon, but Kabbalah’s territory was also established in a place that had belonged to the Demon Empire. And demons couldn’t recklessly barge into a holy city—a holy territory, or whatever one called it. Thus, it was even more of a crazy thing for humans or members of the Cassiubia League to venture into a great demon’s territory of their own will.

When the Demon Empire confirmed the holy territory’s existence, they tried to quickly mobilize their troops, but failed to attack in the end. If they used all their forces, they might be able to stomp one holy territory, but they must consider more than one small holy city. Beyond the Cassiubia League mountain range, the league’s main forces were always aiming their swords at the Demon Empire; and they would be leaving their backs too exposed if they ignored the Abyss and Sernitas. Thus, they must not make a rash move at the current time.

But the Cassiubia League didn’t forget the Demon Empire’s belligerent personalities and kept their guards up. As they continued to watch the Demon Empire on high alert, they received surprising news. The Demon Empire’s troops that had encircled the Shalyh city like they were about to swallow it in one fell swoop had suddenly backed away. It all happened overnight.

Hearing that the Demon Empire’s troops had retreated hurriedly instead of biding their time, the Cassiubia League supposed that something significant must have happened. The 16th rank Zepar was extinguished. The loss of a high-ranking member of the 66 demons took the Demon Empire by surprise. They quickly conducted an investigation to find out what happened, and the Abyss soon became their number one suspect. Although Zepar acted in secret, he had fought the Abyss with his forces not long before his death; it was only natural that the demons would make the assumption. Perhaps they needed to enter a war again.

And even if they didn’t, they couldn’t just let a great demon’s army be without a leader. And while they were trapped in this dilemma, the Demon Empire decided to bite the bullet in the end. Even though they were inherently hungry for war, they judged that they were in no position to fight enemies on both sides after great demons were defeated one after the other. In the end, they withdrew their troops surrounding the Shalyh city, and nearby territories were transformed to act as border states. Since the Demon Empire had given up on the fight and backed away, the area was much less dangerous than before. This was the main reason that Zelit brought up, which Chi-Woo used to persuade Chi-Hyun to let him join this expedition.

Chi-Woo had been stunned when he heard this. The Demon Empire moved exactly as his brother said they would. Chi-Woo wondered what would’ve happened if the Demon Empire had found out what really happened with Zepar, and humanity had continued to stay at Salem city—the thought of it sent chills down his spine. But back to the point, considering all these factors, Airi claimed that it could not be the army of anguses that Botis led.

“Personally, I think it could be the digrams.”

“Their habitats should be farther away from here though.”

“That was before the emergence of the Demon Empire. Location may not matter since the digrams mostly live below the ground. Did you forget that it is also the anguses’ main specialty to go around by digging through the ground?”

“Then why did those digrams come all the way here?”

“Who knows? They could be trying to move their habitat first. Since those guys are calm and peaceful unlike how they look, they were probably good prey to eat for the anguses further inside,” Airi shrugged and continued. “Or they could be coming toward this area because they are hungry.”

Dalgil organized his thoughts for a bit and nodded. Airi had some valid points.

“If it really is the digrams, there isn’t much for us to worry about.”

“Probably? If we don’t bother them first, the digrams will avoid us on their own.”

“Good. Then let’s recommence our march. Be careful of the floor below you just in case.”

“Fufu. Don’t worry. I already surveyed the area, and I didn’t feel any presence inside the holes.” Airi gripped her fist, which was the size of a tiny cotton ball, and pounded on her chest. They began to march again.

—Um…hey, Chi-Woo.

Philip spoke up while tilting his head.

‘What?’

—Tell them to stop marching for a bit… Ah, wait. Damn it. Y-You know, the carbuncle isn’t wrong, but…

Philip scowled like he was struggling to remember something. For some reason, he appeared very hesitant about all this. And they hadn’t walked much before there was a loud explosion. Boom! The ground exploded, and something gigantic surged from below. Swept by the sudden happening, Airi flew into the air without even being able to let out a scream. It happened all so suddenly that everyone looked at Airi for a good second before they did anything. Then she was snatched from the air like prey being hunted and slammed hard onto the ground.

“Airi!” Bogle shouted.

“Damn it! It’s the anguses! They were hibernating!” Dalgil shouted while gritting his teeth. The holes that the expedition team spotted were anguses’ tunnels. They had dug holes deep underground and were hibernating. Because they had stopped most physical functions and were doing the minimum to maintain their lives, Airi hadn’t noticed their presence.

“Everyone stay put in your place! Protect your spots, but don’t stand still. Keep moving in all directions!”

In urgent times, it was best to listen to the most experienced member of the team. Thus, as soon as he heard Dalgil’s words, Chi-Woo quickly moved left and right and rolled his feet like he was doing a tap dance.

“Don’t attack them below their necks!” Dalgil continued to shout as he swung his club. “If possible, aim for their heads! If not, their maws—!”

Bababam! Dalgil’s last words were muted by the continuous sound of explosions. Dirt sprang out from everywhere, and something that looked like a long, giant mealworm pierced through the sky. Chi-Woo’s heart dropped as he saw that the angus had popped out of the spot he had been standing still on. If he hadn’t listened to Dalgil, the same thing that had happened to Airi would’ve happened to him. The angus was large and long, so it cast huge shadows all around it. After failing to catch Chi-Woo, the angus twisted its body and stretched its mouth wide open. It was about to slam its jaws down when it screeched with pain and shuddered.

Bam! Two daggers flew into the air and pierced the angus’ face. Hawa was flinging her arms about and swinging them hard.

“Pretty good!” Dalgil didn’t miss the opportunity to attack. He sprang up and swung his club. Bam! The gigantic steel club displayed the might of its size, and surprisingly, the angus’ humongous head was smashed into pieces. Yet Dalgil didn’t stop there. He turned around, jumped, and swung the club widely one more time. Two heads exploded one after the other. Then while Dalgil was coming down and swinging his arm downwards—bam! His club not only penetrated an angus’ head, but crushed the head of the one behind it like tofu. It was one—no two kills per hit. Chi-Woo gaped in shock as he watched Dalgil taking care of five anguses in an instant. It appeared that Mangil’s description of Dalgil as a blessed warrior wasn’t a lie.

However, Dalgil didn’t look pleased. A total of eight anguses had popped out. He managed to get rid of five by giving it his all, but there were three still remaining. It would’ve been a win if they were fighting most opponents, but that wasn’t the case when fighting anguses. The army of anguses gained notoriety for their poison alone; their poison was so strong that one sniff of it blackened one’s insides and hardened their blood. The moment those monsters appeared above ground, they needed to end the battle in 12 seconds or less. That was the time an angus needed to gasify the poison from the pouch inside their stomach and poured it out. If they failed to pierce their fangs into their victims, they sprayed poisonous gas; so the best way to deal with them was to either get rid of them all within 12 seconds, or run far away within that time frame. Since they chose to do the former, it was too late for them to try the second option now.

“Damn it!” Dalgil didn’t even have the time to lift his club again. Feeling urgent, he raised both hands and tried to catch one more when—

Thump! Dalgil’s eyes widened as he saw an angus’ head fly. Before he realized what was happening, Dalgil turned in the direction of the emerging wind. Ru Amuh was piercing through the air and passing through the angus like flowing water. When he came back down to the ground, the angus stopped moving. It tilted diagonally until its head fell off. It was a very clean attack, but the problem was that there was still one angus left, and 12 seconds had passed. The last remaining angus opened its mouth wide; gas with a deep, greenish light was already coming up its throat and out of its mouth.

Seeing Airi lie dead-still in front of the angus, Dalgil gritted his teeth. She wasn’t the only one in danger, but everyone.

“Everyone stop breathing and escape!” Dalgil knew it was pointless, but couldn’t help but shout a warning. Then he gasped. “What…!” He was shocked to see one of the humans jump right in front of Airi—it was the human hero said to have defeated Vepar.

“That crazy guy…!” They needed to evade it, but he was jumping in front of the attack? It made no sense, and what happened next felt even more insane. Shaaaa!

A faint light poured out all over Chi-Woo’s body. Dalgil doubted his eyes as the cluster of light burst out and ate away the poison. Like poison was meeting poison, the gas melted away as soon as it touched the light. And it didn’t take long for the deadly fog ready to spread everywhere to fully disappear. As it did, Chi-Woo’s light also dimmed. The battle halted then. Dalgil was shocked, and even the angus that sprayed its poison looked confused.

“?”

Then the wind blew again. It was too late when the angus recollected itself. Sharp winds passed through its forehead, and the angus fell weakly onto the ground as its head was diagonally sliced from its body. With this, they succeeded in defeating all eight enemies.

“Are you hurt anywhere, sir?” Ru Amuh asked while flicking away the fluid on his sword. He had already witnessed so many miracles while traveling with Chi-Woo that he wasn’t even fazed anymore.

“Ah, hmph!” On the other hand, Dalgil finally managed to regain his senses and turned his head. “Bogle! First…!” He was about to tell Bogle to check Airi’s condition, but it was unnecessary. Bogle was already running toward her. Then, while looking worriedly at Airi, Dalgil let out the breath he had been holding.

“Good work. Your swordsmanship was quite impressive. As expected of a gold rank,” Dalgil said to Ru Amuh.

“I was able to fight smoothly thanks to you quickly relaying to us the important information,” Ru Amuh replied.

Then Dalgil glanced at the person staring intently at him. Chi-Woo was looking at Dalgil full of admiration. It was his first time seeing a being who fought as well as Ru Amuh and with a different style. Chi-Woo particularly liked how explosive Dalgil’s club swings had been. Since they both used clubs to fight, Chi-Woo looked at him with even more awe.

Dalgil also looked intently at Chi-Woo, but his gaze was different. He looked at Chi-Woo like he was seeing something unbelievable. Although he had personally witnessed what happened, he still found it hard to believe. The reason why anguses were dangerous wasn’t only because of their poison; there was also the evil energy combined with the poison. Although this evil energy could be purified with holy energy, what happened earlier couldn’t be seen as a purification. It nullified, distorted, crushed, and frantically ate away the evil energy. It was his first time seeing such an overwhelming and destructive power against evil. No, there was only one being that came to his mind who could do this—the pivotal existence among the Cassiubia League and said to be the only one existence like it between Liber’s earth and heavens: the final dragon.

“I didn’t think the person who defeated Vepar would be a priest. No, does that actually make more sense?” Dalgil spoke.

“I’m more of a warrior than a priest since I use a club from time to time,” Chi-Woo replied brightly.

Dalgil sighed, “What a pity that I couldn’t really see your skills, but it’s all right. Once we start our test, I bet you won’t even be able to rest.” Then he looked around and sighed, “But it really is a big issue. Why are anguses at this place…?” Dalgil licked his lips but then stopped.

“C-Captain!” Bogle spoke then. “Airi is…!” He cried out in a teary voice, not knowing what to do.