Though he'd had to 'die' to find out, Kang Oh had learned that he couldn't use the same trick twice against Violf.

Even so, Kang Oh did exactly as he'd done before.

He pushed away the lions and unleashed another Abyss Claw. Then, he used Abyss Transfer once more.

Violf's face contorted, as if saying 'What is he doing?'.

It looked like Kang Oh hadn't learned his lesson.

Violf turned to platinum, quickly reverted to normal, and then waited for Kang Oh to reappear.

Bam!

Abyss Claw hit Violf dead on. Though the attack was powerful, Violf could handle it.

At that moment...

Kang Oh reappeared.

However, he wasn't anywhere near Violf. He'd reappeared between its minions, and was beyond its reach.

"Die." Kang Oh swung Ubist.

Swish.

Demon Sword Ubist cleaved through the lions, cracking their platinum bodies.

Kuhahk!

Violf charged at him.

Using a beam or shockwave was out of the question. There was a chance that its minions would get caught in the crossfire.

Kang Oh acted like he'd keep focusing on the lions, but he suddenly switched targets, and dashed towards Violf.

Violf kept going.

Suicide Charge!

If they clashed head-on, then Kang Oh would definitely be blown away. The difference in weight between the two was too severe.

Kang Oh grinned.

He swung his sword before Violf made contact.

Tempest Tiger!

A golden tiger dashed towards Violf.

Violf briefly thought over what it should do.

If it kept going as is, then it might be able to trample Kang Oh. However, that would mean taking the Tempest Tiger head-on.

Conversely, turning into platinum would mean ending its charge. After all, turning into platinum completely immobilized it.

Ultimately, Violf chose the latter.

Violf was worried about Kang Oh's strange movement skill.

If Kang Oh used that, then there was a high chance that his charge would end in failure.

Ting.

Tempest Tiger was deflected once more.

Then...

As expected, Kang Oh used Abyss Transfer.

He reappeared... at Violf's side. Violf tried to deactivate its platinum mode, but...

"You're too late!" Kang Oh swung upwards.

Slash!

Split!

His sword sliced through its body, leaving behind a thread-like fissure at the center of the wound, and red shards of light gushed out.

Kang Oh followed this up with another attack.

But by then, Violf had managed to deactivate its platinum mode. It approached him, fully intent on biting his head off. Its lion's mane fluttered in the wind.

Chomp!

Unfortunately, Violf chomped on air. Kang Oh had halted his attack midway, choosing to dodge rather than attack.

"I got you good this time. Let's keep going, shall we?"

Kang Oh got back into position and unleashed another Abyss Claw.

* * *

Kang Oh and Violf fought to the best of their ability, but ultimately, Violf was the one that capitulated.

"I lost."

Violf had blocked Kang Oh's move, and then countered with its front paw, bringing Kang Oh close to the jaws of death.

That had been Violf's one and only chance to win, and it had taken full advantage of the opportunity. After all, the results speak for themselves; it had managed to give Kang Oh a game over.

But it all proved meaningless in the end, as Kang Oh possessed a ridiculous resurrection ability.

After that, Kang Oh didn't fall for any of Violf's tricks. He didn't attack recklessly either.

Kang Oh had a wide array of abilities, such as Abyss Transfer, Abyss Claw, Tempest Tiger, etc., allowing him to slowly turn the tide.

In the end, Violf was forced to accept defeat.

"Mm. Your strength is even greater than noble blood. I, Platinum Violf, accept you as my master," Violf declared.

"Give me the soul stone." Kang Oh extended his hand.

Violf opened its mouth, and a triangular, pyramid-shaped soul stone flew towards him. Eventually, it landed in the palm of his hand.

White energy resided within the soul stone, and there was a lion emblem engraved at its center.

'My second soul stone!' Kang Oh tightly gripped soul stone, causing it to radiate iridescent light.

[You have become the master of the soul dungeon, Beast's Tower.]

[You may now exercise your power as dungeon master.]

[You may change the dungeon's name whenever you wish. However, you can only change it once.]

"Dungeon Management," Kang Oh yelled.

The soul stone floated into the air, and the white energy formed a rectangular screen.

[Dungeon Management - Beast's Tower]

'It's the same.'

Managing the Beast's Tower and Moss Cave seemed largely the same.

Violf laid down like a lazy lion and said, "Ah, so you were already the owner of another soul dungeon."

"Yeah. Did you sense something?"

"That's right. I sensed another guardian connected to you."

"Owning multiple soul dungeons won't be a problem, right?"

"No."

"Mm. I'll be counting on you from now on."

Kang Oh began fiddling with the Dungeon Management window.

Dungeon Information!

[Beast's Tower]

A 10-story tower where various beast-type monsters appear. If the 10th floor's named ogre is defeated within an hour of entering the tower, then a portal will appear that leads to the secret room.

[Dungeon Reward (Monthly Payment)]

800 gold.

50 Beastskin.

1 Violf's Platinum.

'Hmm, the reward isn't great.'

800 gold a month. It wasn't a small amount, but he wasn't satisfied with it. Plus, Beastskin was only worth 1 gold each.

'Violf's Platinum, huh...'

It was clearly a material. There was a high likelihood that the material would confer Violf's Deflect ability.

After all, 'Violf' was in its name.

If Kang Oh was right, then he'd be able to sell it for quite a high price.

'I'll find out more about it later. First, I should see to the dungeon's defenses.'

Kang Oh clicked on 'Change Topography and Environment'.

Then, he spent a ton of money to set up several traps throughout the tower.

In order to open the portal to the Lion's Room, a player would need to clear the tower within an hour.

If that's the case, then he'd set up several traps, making it almost impossible for players to clear it within an hour.

As someone who'd cleared the tower within the time limit, Kang Oh believed that adding all these traps would make it extremely difficult to clear it within an hour.

Of course, that didn't make it impossible though.

'I'm done.'

He'd spent more than 1,000 gold to set up traps across the tower. With this, he shouldn't have to worry about the dungeon for the time being.

'I'd like to strengthen Violf just in case...'

Violf was powerful, but it had lost to Kang Oh. There was no reason to assume that it wouldn't lose to another player.

Kang Oh clicked on the 'Strengthen Guardian' tab.

He could strengthen Violf so that it could attack while using platinum mode, but it would cost an astronomical amount of gold or repel points.

"It's impossible." Kang Oh gave up strengthening Violf.

He thought about adding more guardians to the tower, but if someone were capable of clearing the tower in an hour even with the added traps, then his new guardians wouldn't make much of a difference.

In other words, adding guardians was probably a huge waste of money.

'I have nothing else to do.' Kang Oh closed the Dungeon Management tab.

The floating soul stone landed on his palm, and the white energy returned to the stone.

"Violf, keep this safe for me."

"Understood." Violf swallowed the soul stone once more. Guardians must have a separate space within their bodies that stores the soul stone, as both Violf and Teynos had shown.

"Oh, and activate the transfer magic circle," Kang Oh said, and Violf nodded its head.

A magic circle appeared on one side of the room, radiating bright light.

"See you later. Keep the place safe for me." Kang Oh waved his hand.

"I hope you come back even stronger."

"Yeah. I'm going to become way stronger." Kang Oh stepped atop the magic circle and instantly disappeared.

* * *

Countless tribes lived in the western grasslands.

Some were small and weak, while others were extremely powerful and wielded great influence.

There were countless tribes that were small and weak, but there existed three that were considered the 'Great Tribes'.

The trolls of the Ingrit Plains, the orcs of the Ruman Mountains, and the elves of the Nigel Forest.

Among these three, the Ingrit Trolls were the most numerous, controlled the vast Ingrit Plains, and had the most military might.

The Ingrit Troll's Great Chieftain, Razul, wanted to use their strength to control the entire western region.

However, the other two races put a stop to his ambition.

Once it was revealed that the trolls sought to conquer the western region, the two other great powers, the Ruman Orcs and the Nigel Elves, acted.

Individually, these two groups were weaker than the Ingrit Trolls, but if they combined their strength, they were able to match them.

But that didn't mean they got along.

In the past, the Ingrit Trolls had used the Ruman Orcs as slaves. The Ruman Orcs weren't capable of forgetting their painful past.

The Nigel Elves lost their birthplace from the Ingrit Trolls.

Their original home was the Romande Forest.

Claiming that they'd annihilate all the elves, the Ingrit Trolls had burned the entire forest down, so it no longer existed.

Thus, they rejected any sort of peace offerings from the trolls, and interfered with any and all of the trolls' business.

The elves and orcs weren't on good terms, but when the Ingrit Trolls stirred up trouble, they would immediately join forces. After all, the Ingrit Trolls were a common enemy!

"Those damn orcs and elves!"

He bore green skin and tusks (which symbolized a troll's pride) protruded from his mouth. He also wore golden earrings and a necklace made from orc and elf skulls. This was the Great Chieftain of the Ingrit Trolls, Razul. Right now, he was angrily looking down.

One year prior...

The Ingrit Trolls had formed an army meant to conquer the western grasslands. However, they had been defeated by a coalition force consisting of the orcs, elves, and other small tribes.

Back to the present...

Razul had gathered his forces once more, creating an even greater and more powerful army than the one a year ago.

But even this wouldn't be enough to defeat the alliance between the orcs and the elves.

Because the trolls had continued to raise an army and strengthen themselves, the orc and elves had followed suit.

They couldn't face off against the countless Anti-Ingrit tribes that inhabit the western grasslands either.

"Those bastards!"

Crack, crack.

Razul grabbed his necklace's elf and orc skulls, and smashed them in his hand.

Then...

Someone entered his residence.

The individual wore a smile mask, and was completely covered in black robes!

"Oh my, is something the matter?" the mysterious figure said.

"Ugh, why have you come again?" Razul looked at him suspiciously.

"The offer I gave you last time... I came to tell you that it's still on the table."

The figure's face was obscured by their mask, but Razul believed that they were smiling underneath.

"Get lost. I don't want to hear it," Razul yelled angrily.

"Hoo, hoo. If we work together, then your dreams can become a reality. You're quite foolish," the figure said, being deliberately demeaning.

"Hmph. Do you know how many of our ancestors you killed!?" Razul yelled.

"The past is the past. What matters is whether you can achieve your dream or not. If you want to make your dream a reality then... Become a demon," the masked man said.

Grr.

Razul's eyes shined violently. He wanted to cut this man in two.

"Oh my, you seem quite angry. I'll leave this behind and take my leave. Then I'll see you again soon." The masked man left behind a bronze gargoyle.

"Die!" Razul couldn't bear it any longer and attacked.

Swoosh.

His sharp scimitar cleaved the masked man in half.

Or so he thought. It was futile.

The man's body instantly turned into black smoke, and had completely disappeared.

Grr.

Razul gritted his teeth once more. He was about to throw the gargoyle away, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Mm." Razul looked down at the bronze gargoyle, his eyes clearly showing his inner conflict.

He couldn't move for quite some time.