The hunt went smoothly.

Kang Oh hugged the wall and slashed at any incoming Kurima tongues. Then, Grano would finish them off with his Water Prison.

Two Kurimas were killed without incident.

But once the monkfish-shaped monsters surrounding Eder began spewing liquid, the situation became dire.

The liquid was incredibly viscous.

Eder was unable to block all the liquid with his shield, so he rolled onto the floor.

Splatter.

Water splashed around and Eder was quickly drenched.

Black smoke began to rise from the groundwater once the liquid made contact with it.

The smoke traveled along with the wind, heading for Eder. Eder protected himself with his shield and retreated.

Hiss!

The smoke slightly touched the shield and hissed as the surface melted.

Eder quickly disengaged even further.

"This smoke is acidic!" Eder yelled as he realized the surface of the shield was melting.

The wind in the cave carried the smoke towards Kang Oh's side next.

His Hyper Intuition warned him.

Danger, danger!

'This is...?'

Radium had told him that there was a monster in the Demon's Lair that could spew acidic liquid. It seemed that these monkfish monsters were what he had been referring to.

If their acidic liquid touched water, then it turned into smoke that resembled a black mist and spread everywhere.

It did, of course, retain its high acidity even when it transformed into smoke.

"Don't get touched by the smoke!" Kang Oh yelled while avoiding the mist and moving away.

The monkfish-shaped monsters continued to spew acidic liquid. If Eder dodged the liquid, then it would touch the groundwater and become smoke instead.

The black smoke gradually began to fill the passageway.

However, it seemed as though the Kurimas were completely unaffected by the black haze.

Rather, they actually seemed to rush Kang Oh more ferociously than before.

Kang Oh bashed the head of an approaching Kurima.

"Mr. Grano. Is there a way to clear the smoke?"

"It's possible to get rid of the smoke with water magic, but... Considering the fact that it becomes smoke as soon as it touches water, it may actually make things worse."

Grano was calmly monitoring the situation from the rear.

He was well aware of the fact that the acidic liquid became smoke once it touched water.

"Let's try it. I'll take care of the rest," Kang Oh said.

Grano nodded his head and began casting his spell immediately.

The orb emanated a blue aura.

Boom!

A tsunami surged forth from the other end of the passageway. The tsunami passed Kang Oh's party and engulfed the black smoke.

Once it made contact, not only did it not get rid of the smoke, but it actually caused the smoke to spread faster instead.

The result was the situation becoming much worse for the party. The passageway was now filled with smoke.

"I'm afraid this isn't going to work," Grano yelled.

"It's ok."

Kang Oh stepped forward. He swung his sword downwards, the blade vibrating with a golden aura.

Tempest Tiger!

A roaring tiger-shaped aura dashed forward.

Boom!

The tiger aura pounced on the monkfish monsters.

At the same time!

Whoosh!

Intense whips of wind began to rage.

The wind ripped apart the black smoke.

'As I thought, wind does work.'

The wind within the passageway had spread the smoke around. Thus, a strong wind should be able to do just the opposite.

"Mr. Grano, is it possible to absorb all the water here?"

His maneuver had only given them a temporary respite.

The monkfish monsters began spewing acidic liquid once more and black smoke began to rise again.

If that's the case, then they just needed to get rid of the water. Plus, they happened to have a water mage beside them.

"I have a good idea."

As expected, Grano could control the water and get rid of it.

He extended his hand and began casting a spell. The ankle high water began to recede like an ebbing tide.

The floor to the passageway was soon clear.

"I've gotten rid of as much water as I can. I will keep the ground clear, so please take care of the monsters in the meantime."

"I understand. Eder, keep the Kurimas busy."

Kang Oh rushed forward.

"Yes sir!"

Eder cast Cursed Ground's Domain once more.

Thud! Thud!

He stomped on the ground twice and applied the Ruined Ramparts and Rusty Sword curses throughout the passageway.

"Let's go!"

Eder swung his mace at the Kurimas.

Kang Oh dashed towards the monkfish-shaped monsters.

In response, the monkfish monsters spewed their acidic liquid at Kang Oh.

One of their attacks shot right in front of his face.

Kang Oh tilted his head.

The acidic liquid grazed the side of his face and struck the wall.

Hiss!

The acid melted the wall and emitted a slight amount of smoke.

However, the smoke dispersed as if it were ash in the wind.

'Ok.'

As long as it didn't touch water, the acidic liquid wasn't much of a threat.

Kang Oh grinned and gripped his sword tightly.

He swung his demon sword downwards.

Kang Oh was aiming for their sole eye. It was their weakness according to Hyper Intuition.

Swish.

Red shards spilled from its eye.

Kyaru!

It let out an agonizing cry and in its rage, retaliated by swinging its raked leg.

Kang Oh blocked its leg with his sword and counterattacked immediately.

Once his blade made contact, the monkfish collapsed.

Kang Oh chased after the rest of them.

Thump!

He kicked a monkfish monster into the air and stabbed it.

Stab!

Kang Oh thrust his demon sword into the mouth of the screaming monkfish.

At that moment, Grano's spell came hurtling towards it. It was a gray sphere the size of a baseball.

Magic Sphere!

It was not only the most basic spell that a mage could learn, but it didn't possess any elemental affinity either.

Because he was busy keeping the water from reentering the passageway, Grano was only able to cast a Magic Sphere to help Kang Oh out.

Even if he were capable of using water magic here, he likely wouldn't.

If he cast a water spell, then it could spell disaster for them as the black smoke would spread everywhere.

In any case, Magic Sphere, befitting a beginner mage spell, was weak. In exchange, Grano used quantity over quality.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Grano barraged the monkfish-shaped monster with countless magic spheres.

Kang Oh seized the opportunity, pulling his blade out of the monster's mouth and finishing it off.

Slash!

His demon sword bisected the monkfish-shaped monster.

[You have defeated a Tardens.]

The monkfish-shaped monsters were called Tardens.

Kang Oh rushed into the center of the gathered Tardens.

Five nearby Tardens shrieked as if enraged.

Kya!

The surrounding Tardens spewed their acid at him.

Acid came flying from every direction.

However, he moved his legs a few times and managed to avoid the acid.

It was the combination of his Hyper Intuition and his peak evasive abilities!

"My turn!"

Kang Oh swung his sword forward, cleaving in a wide arc.

Swish! Swish!

Three birds with one stone!

His demon sword cleaved through three Tardens.

Kang Oh attacked with even greater ferocity.

Grano too, continuously barraged them with magic spheres as if he were bombarding them with missiles.

Like a light drizzle that eventually wets ones clothes, the countless magic spheres struck the Tardens and gradually wore them down.

Meanwhile, Eder did his best to fulfill his mission.

He fought the Kurimas with a combination of his now proficient blunt weapon and shield skills, as well as his arsenal of curses..

That's why he was able to take on seven Kurimas at once. He was indeed a Curse Knight.

A short while later.

Kang Oh had finished off all of the Tardens.

His party had also killed the rest of the Kurimas by using the tongue attack, Water Prison method.

"Mr. Grano. If any more Tardens show up, please get rid of the water for us. And Eder, you do what you just did: fight the Kurimas. Once Mr. Grano and I are finished with the Tardens, we'll move on to the Kurimas as well."

Kang Oh informed them what their battle plan was.

Eder and Grano nodded their heads.

Kang Oh's party progressed through the passageway once more.

Only Tardens and Kurimas showed up in the underground's first floor.

Therefore, Kang Oh's party was able to advance quickly.

"There are more stairs," Eder yelled.

There was another set of stairs that went further down in front of them.

* * *

The underground's 2nd floor was the bottom of the Demon's Lair.

There was a lake here, as well as a giant body that filled said lake.

[You have discovered the Calamity of the Sea, Gurekturon's body.]

The body belonged to Gurekturon!

Gurekturon, said to be a giant monster of the sea, was felled by the previous owner of his demon sword, Valan!

Seeing it now, it made sense how it was called a calamity.

First off, its size.

It was overwhelmingly huge. It looked like it was about the size of ten whales combined. No, perhaps ten whales weren’t enough.

It looked similar to the Tardens, which resembled monkfish.

Gurekturon's mouth was huge, seemingly able to swallow anything; it also possessed a huge body and rugged, uneven skin.

It had thorn-covered fins on the ends of either side, and there were dozens of tentacles protruding from its tail area that were crammed into the lake.

There was a giant lump on its back with several holes in it.

It would be terrifying to face Gurekturon in the sea. It was just that brutal.

However, he was certain that it was dead.

Gurekturon's giant body was cleaved in half and possessed the accompanying wound to match that served as evidence of its death.

Sticky black tar-like blood flowed from its wound, and fell into the lake.

[You have seen a trace of a mastered 'Divide the Sea'.]

[You have gotten a taste of such mastery.]

[Proficiency in Slash has increased by 20%.]

By just seeing a trace of Divide the Sea, his proficiency in Slash had increased by 20%.

"Haa. This Valan guy. He's really no joke."

Kang Oh was in awe of the past wielder of his demon sword, Valan.

Valan was truly in a league of his own. What was the right way to put this? He was an overpowered character like a hero who'd been blessed by a god!

'I have to get closer to him, but if I do, it might become troublesome for me.'

Kang Oh was ready to flatter Valan at anytime, anyplace.

However, for some reason, he felt like if he did get closer to him, Valan would give him troublesome responsibilities.

'Well, I could always meet him first and make a decision later.'

Kang Oh decided to hold off on deciding anything regarding Valan for now.

"Gurekturon. Gurekturon, huh..." Grano muttered.

Grano had come here with them because of his interest in Gurekturon.

Now that he was here, it was time to sate his curiosity.

Grano walked closer to the lake in order to study it more closely.

Kang Oh and Eder were the only ones left.

"Hoo, it's huge," Eder marveled.

Kang Oh looked at Eder and suddenly had a thought.

"Hey, why don't you try possessing that body?" Kang Oh asked, his eye glinting.

If Eder could possess such a large sea monster, then he could ride on its back and travel the seas!

Eder shook his head.

"Although it is a body, it still retains such powerful residual darkness. If I attempt to possess it, I will likely be consumed by the darkness right then and there."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. The darkness that it emits from its body is so great that I'd rather not even get close to it," Eder said firmly.

"Still, you never know, so why don't you give it a try..."

"No thank you."

Eder sported an expression that seemingly said, 'Not on your life.'.

He was really content with his current body. Eder wouldn't possess a new body for the time being.

"Alright fine."

Kang Oh wouldn't kill Eder or allow him to escape from his grasp until he'd received the 4,000 gold he was promised.

At that moment...

"Please come over here!"

They heard Grano's voice.

Kang Oh and Eder turned their heads towards Grano's voice.

Grano had been examining the lake, but a small monster resembling Gurekturon popped out of it.

'The boss monster!'

Kang Oh immediately realized what it was.

It was definitely the Seed of Calamity that the Lupenia queen, Roane had talked about.

"Let's go."

There was no time to think about it. Kang Oh's body moved first.

Kang Oh began sprinting towards it with Eder close behind.

Squelch!

The boss monster opened its mouth.

Five Tardens and Kurimas each came out of its mouth.

That wasn't all.

Once it had expelled the monsters, it stretched out its 20 tentacles at its tail region.

It then used those tentacles to attack Grano.