It had been two days since Kang Oh had gone to Zepharius's Nest.

Whenever he had a bad feeling about something, it would almost always come true. Fortunately, that wasn't the case this time.

"Zepharius has no connection to the Mamonas," Javen said.

"Really? Oh, thank god!" Kang Oh clasped his hands together. 'It's not a dragon!'

"But the culprit is somewhere inside his nest."

"Have you found him?"

"Yeah."

"Who is it?"

Rather than answer him right away, Javen waited for the rest of the guardians to arrive.

Kunta, Loxia, Howlka, and Khan came to Javen's residence one by one. They had come with Nile, Sephiro, and Asu too.

"I found the culprit," Javen said.

The guardians' eyes gleamed, and they waited with bated breath. Kang Oh's party did the same.

"Katan."

"Mm," Kang Oh said curtly.

The Worst Mage, Katan!

He was strong enough to fight Howlka to a standstill, so he was definitely a Grandmaster!

"Are you sure it's him?" Khan asked.

"With Acasus's help, we figured out where the Mamonas is. It's in Zepharius's Nest."

"Zepharius's Nest? Is a dragon involved in this matter..." Khan furrowed his brow.

"No. He has nothing to do with this. However, the culprit is operating from within his home."

"There's no way. How could Zepharius have nothing to do with this when it's happening in his own home... Are you telling me that his home was stolen from him?" Khan looked at him in disbelief and asked sarcastically.

'Yeah, no way someone was able to steal a dragon's nest. That's funny...'

"Yeah, it was stolen from him."

"Excuse me?"

"Zepharius lost a bet with Katan, so he agreed to lend him his nest for half a year."

"Hoh, then where is Zepharius staying?"

"He's been staying with Merius. I heard it directly from her, so it has to be the truth."

Kang Oh suddenly recalled something.

He had seen Katan and Zepharius in the Alain Restaurant one day. At the time, Zepharius had glared at Katan with incredible hostility.

"Katan is definitely using Zepharius's Nest. A dragon's nest is safe from prying eyes, and is probably the best place to raise a creature like the Mamonas. That's why we were led to Zepharius's Nest while we were tracking the culprit."

"Katan's definitely the type of person to do this. But do you think he's working alone?" Loxia asked.

"I've never seen him with anyone else," Howlka said.

"But you never know; someone may be helping him," Kunta said.

"That's why all of us will go," Javen said.

Although he was called the Worst Mage, none of the guardians would lose against him in a one-on-one fight.

However, they didn't know if Katan had a helper or not, so they would all go just in case.

"We're leaving in 10 minutes. Be ready by then."

* * *

Zepharius's Nest was shaped like a small hill. On the outside, however, it looked like the tip of an iceberg.

If you passed through the entrance, which was essentially a giant, thick pillar, then you would find yourself in front of a grand, underground room.

Normally, there would be keepers standing guard outside, but there weren't any present at the moment. After all, there was nothing to protect in the underworld.

Thus, Zepharius didn't have any keepers.

Because of that, Kang Oh's party was able to reach the innermost area of Zepharius's Nest.

They found themselves inside of a giant room reminiscent of a soccer field! This is where dragons rested while assuming their true forms.

Katan was standing right there.

He was a middle-aged man with tattoos lining half of his face, and he was holding black spheres in both of his hands.

"Welcome." Katan's lips curled upwards.

Howlka furrowed his brow. "Welcome? You were waiting for us?"

"I was." Katan laughed.

Javen took a step forward. "Are you confessing to your crimes? You were the one who unleashed the Mamonas?"

"Would you believe me if I said it wasn't me?" Katan asked back.

"If it wasn't you, then cooperate with our investigation. As the leader of the Soul Guardians, I promise that the investigation will be fair."

"No thanks."

"Then we have no choice but to use force."

"Nice. That's exactly what I was waiting for." Katan snickered.

"Crazy bastard," Kang Oh muttered.

Words hold no meaning now.

The guardians resorted to force.

It was instantaneous.

The guardians unleashed powerful energy, which came at Katan from every direction.

At that moment...

Katan's spheres split open, releasing a ton of black smoke.

That smoke completely devoured the guardians' attacks. Then, the smoke bunched together, transforming into a giant Mamonas.

'As expected.'

Katan was the source of everything.

However, something unexpected happened. The Mamonas devoured Katan.

"What?" Kang Oh widened his eyes.

'What the hell is going on?'

On the other hand, the Soul Guardians didn't seem very rattled. They immediately unleashed mighty energy at the Mamonas.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Their attacks dented the Mamonas's body, turning it into a crushed can.

Whir!

Then, something unusual happened.

The Mamonas's crushed body swirled around like water flowing through a drain, and was sucked through one spot.

A short while later...

The Mamonas disappeared, and Katan stood in its place. However, it was as though Katan's body had been painted with ashes.

"A Soul Eater!" Javen lamented.

Katan had devoured the Mamonas's soul.

Crack, crack.

Katan cracked his neck and assessed his condition.

Thud.

Howlka kicked off the floor, instantly closing the distance, and swung his axe downwards.

Bam!

His gleaming blade split Katan's body right through the middle.

However...!

"Hehehe!"

"Hahaha!"

The two separate halves uttered similar sounds of laughter. Moreover, the two halves transformed into two complete Katans.

"Proliferation!"

That was definitely the Mamonas's special ability.

"Now..."

"Then!"

The two Katans yelled simultaneously.

Their heads split apart once more, creating another two copies.

Now there were four of them!

But that wasn't the end of it.

Two more split apart! Now, all of the guardians rushed forward.

Flashy and impressive attacks filled the giant space.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Massive explosions rang out one after another.

A powerful shockwave swept through everything around it. Kang Oh tightened his legs and grabbed onto Asu's arm so that she wasn't swept away.

Sephiro and Nile hid behind Waryong.

Rumble!

The huge room shook and a ton of dust fell from the ceiling, obscuring their vision.

How much time had passed?

Once it was all over, the ceiling, the ground, and the walls stopped shaking.

Kang Oh swung Ubist horizontally with his free hand.

Tempest Tiger!

The golden tiger dashed forward, dispersing the dust in the air.

Then, Katan and the guardians' forms were revealed.

To be more specific, there were five diamond-shaped mirrors which each contained a copy of Katan and a Soul Guardian.

The Soul Guardians and Katan were fighting intensely from within the mirrors. It was as if Kang Oh's party was watching an action film on TV.

God Sealing Mirror!

It was capable of even sealing the gods themselves.

No matter how powerful the Soul Guardians were, they wouldn't be able to break these mirrors. Until they defeated the Katans within the mirrors, that is.

There was also a Katan outside of the mirror.

Right when Katan was about to split into eight, the guardians worked together to kill one of them right away.

Thus, he didn't go from four to eight, but from three to six. Five of them had been trapped in the God Sealing Mirrors with the rest of the Soul Guardians.

The last remaining Katan was...

"Hehe." Katan smiled wickedly and walked towards Kang Oh's party.

* * *

The reason the Mamonas's Proliferation ability was so overpowered was because the copies possessed the exact same strength as the original.

Basically, there was no loss in strength in the division process. Rather than 0.5 and 0.5, you had 1 and 1.

Katan was a Grandmaster known as the Worst Mage.

Even if Kang Oh worked together with his companions, their chances were pretty slim.

It would be a better option to stay alive as long as they could. If they did, the Soul Guardians could eventually break through the mirrors and help them.

"Stay alive." Kang Oh gripped Sarahoff in his empty hand.

He was already holding Ubist. Blood, or Tasha, was sealed in the God Sealing Mirror with Loxia.

Nile, Asu, Sephiro, and Waryong prepared themselves for battle too.

But...!

Kang Oh suddenly felt cold, so he instinctively pulled himself back.

Swoosh!

A square-shaped mirror appeared in front of him.

Sealing Mirror!

It was a low-rank spell, but... It would be good enough to seal Asu, Sephiro, and Waryong. Unlike them, Nile had reacted, but he was just a little too late.

Ultimately, Kang Oh was the only one who hadn't been sealed within the mirror.

"Hoh." Katan licked his lips. His eyes were reminiscent of a snake staring at its prey.

'Damn it.'

Kang Oh used Devil Trigger.

Frozen horns sprouted from his jet-black beast mask. His arms and legs were covered in shimmering, glacial armor, and a jet-black tail swished around from behind him.

Then, he pulled out S-rank shoes from his inventory. They were called Sylphir's Feather Boots!

In preparation for his trip to the underworld, Kang Oh had bought plenty of items that had all sorts of abilities. These boots were one such item.

These boots were great for increasing his survivability.

Swoosh!

Without warning, darkness spears surged from beneath his feet. But with his Hyper Intuition, he was able to react in time.

He immediately used Gluttony. His jet-black greatsword overflowed with darkness, which then devoured the boots whole.

All of his abilities were increased threefold!

Sylphir's Feather Boots gave him two abilities: Feather-like Steps and Sylphir's Barrier.

Feather-like Steps increased his movement speed, as well as how high he could jump.

On the other hand, Sylphir's Barrier negated damage that exceeded 30% of his HP. This ability could be used once every 10 minutes.

"You sure are good at dodging!" Katan smiled and swung his bent fingers.

Spatial Rake!

Three claws came through space as if an invisible beast had swung its claws at him.

However...!

Kang Oh pushed himself towards the claws. It would be an act of lunacy if he didn't have Demon Sword Ubist.

Swish!

He swung his sword horizontally at the diagonal claw marks. Then, Abyss Blade activated and absorbed the spell.

Tap.

Due to the combination of Gluttony and Feather-like Steps, Kang Oh could charge at explosive speeds.

Swoosh!

He lunged with Sarahoff.

A Grandmaster Mage was capable of using buff spells like Strength Reinforcement or Speed Reinforcement that gave them more power or speed than most close-range classes.

Katan was the same.

He sharply dodged Kang Oh's attack and then unleashed an even more powerful spell.

A darkness spear came flying at Kang Oh.

Swoosh!

At the same time, an ice pillar surged from the ground.

Crack, crack!

The ice pillar broke into pieces, but Kang Oh was already gone.

Abyss Transfer!

Katan furrowed his brow and stomped on the floor. Then, a black circle spread outwards like a ripple.

That's when Kang Oh reappeared at Katan's blind spot. As soon as he appeared, however, the ground began to shine.

It was a magic circle.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

As if they'd been shot out of a shotgun, bullets came out of the magic circle covering a wide radius. It was a situation that'd make you want to curse.

However, Kang Oh quickly swung his twin demon swords and deflected all of the shells.

"Hoh."

To Katan, Kang Oh was simply a way to pass the time. He then cast his next spell; it didn't even take 1 second for him.

But Kang Oh's sword was faster.

Swish!

His jet-black greatsword cleaved through Katan's body. Black shards of light burst from the wound. Rip Apart had activated!

Kang Oh attacked once more, and Katan retaliated with another spell. This time, bullets came out of the ground.

However, the outcome was the same.

Kang Oh's attack was faster than Katan's spell.

Even if he purposefully cast the spell late, Kang Oh would just dodge it or absorb it with his jet-black greatsword.

Katan looked overjoyed.

"This is great! Absolutely amazing!"

Katan had taken it easy at the beginning. But soon enough, he began to cast his spells at full force.

"Hmph!"

However, Kang Oh's ice, darkness, and his ridiculous evasion kept him from taking much damage from Katan's spells.

Moreover...!

Demon Sword Ubist was capable of cleaving souls!

Not only was it capable of absorbing magic, but it was super effective against souls.

'He's a lot stronger than I expected!' Katan beamed.

To think he'd be able to have such a match against someone he thought would be a time sink! 'Good, good!'

'I'm stronger than I thought.' Kang Oh smirked.

"Haahp!"

Kang Oh, a Master, was overwhelming a Grandmaster.

This was a completely unexpected development.