Chapter 500

The Dungeon Liberation Movement was in full swing.

Kang Oh, with Sephiro in tow, came to Albation’s Nest. Albations, ostrich-like monsters, spawned in this dungeon.

The Albation Egg, which could only be found here, was one of the five greatest delicacies of Arth.

At the moment, this dungeon was under the ownership of the 6th ranked Swift Steed Guild.

“K-Kang Oh!”

The guild’s guards recognized Kang Oh from afar. There was no way they couldn’t.

After all, he was one of the Numbers, a Master, and the leader of the Dungeon Liberation Movement!

“He’s here. Inform the guildmaster immediately!”

“Understood!”

The entrance guards lifted their respective weapons.

On the outside, they looked resolute, but there were signs of unmistakable fear on their faces.

Tramp, tramp.

Kang Oh approached them. Tasha, Sara, Sephiro, and Waryong followed from behind.

“The guildmaster has given the order. Withdraw into the dungeon,” one of the guild members said.

“Understood.”

The guards vanished before Kang Oh’s party even reached the entrance.

“Man, look at them go. They run as soon as they see us like we’re some plague,” Sephiro said.

“So we’re not fighting?” Tasha asked, sporting a dissatisfied expression. She really wanted to let off some steam.

“No, we are,” Kang Oh said.

Why had the guards retreated inside? There was no way they’d just hand over the dungeon to him.

‘They want to fight me for real.’

Swift Steed’s guildmaster was probably gathering his most elite members via the soul dungeon’s transfer magic circle.

“Let’s go.”

[Entering the dungeon, Albation’s Nest.]

Kang Oh’s party made their way through the dungeon without any resistance, and opened the door to the soul dungeon with a method that’d been revealed to the entire world.

“T-There are way too many of them.” Sephiro’s voice shook.

The giant, ostrich-shaped monster, the Albation Queen, stood in the middle, while countless members of Swift Steed stood around her in formation!

He quickly counted how many enemies there were with his hawk eyes. There had to be around 1,000 of them.

“Hello.”

One man made their way through the crowd. He was Steel Steed’s guildmaster, Kwon Rang. Not only was he a renowned Fighter, but he was also a high ranker.

“Good of you to come.”

Kwon Rang confidently stared Kang Oh down. It was only natural. He had brought his entire guild with him!

Normally, a guild wouldn’t gather their entire force unless they were battling another guild. After all, no one would be crazy enough to keep their headquarters, businesses, and other dungeons unguarded, now would they?

But Kang Oh made it possible.

The Dungeon Liberation Movement prevented the large guilds from making any hasty moves, and a few of them had even made an agreement to not attack one another for the time being.

“C’mon.” Kwon Rang beckoned Kang Oh with one finger, sporting an expression of arrogance. He was singling him out.

Tasha couldn’t hold herself back any longer.

“You got it!”

Her eyes turned red, and red energy gathered in her white hands.

‘I’m the Great Forest’s Demon!’

“Are we really doing this?” Sephiro asked, gauging Kang Oh’s reaction.

Kang Oh coldly stared at the battlefield and assessed it. Then, he said, “Thanks for the warm welcome.”

“Welcome?” Kwon Rang said.

“I’d like you to open your dungeon to the public so that anyone can go through it,” Kang Oh said calmly.

“Shut up and attack. And prepare yourself. No matter how strong you are, you can’t beat the Swift Steed Guild. This is the power of a large guild!” Kwon Rang opened his arms wide.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Steel Steed’s members simultaneously stomped on the ground, causing the ground to shake. The pressure they were exerting was tremendous.

“Hmph!” Tasha snorted. She couldn’t hold herself back anymore, and was about to rush in. ‘I’ll kill you all!’

However, Kang Oh grabbed her wrist.

“We’re leaving,” Kang Oh said.

A part of him wanted to take them on, but there were too many of them. There were 1,000 of them for god’s sake! Moreover, they were on their enemies’ home turf.

“What?” Tasha looked at him in disbelief. ‘You want us to go home with our tails between our legs?’

Kang Oh slightly nodded his head, pointed at Kwon Rang with his index finger, and whispered into her ear. “You’ll see him get his just desserts, I promise. So for now, let’s back off.”

“…Alright.” Tasha bit her lip and slightly nodded her head.

There was only one person in this world that could stop her: Kang Oh.

“Who said we’d let you leave? Boys, attack!” Kwon Rang yelled.

“Uwaaahk!” the Steel Steed members shouted and rushed at Kang Oh’s party.

At that moment…

“Run!”

Sephiro, who’d already twisted his waist around, turned fully and rushed for the exit. Waryong and Sara moved quickly too.

Kang Oh and Tasha didn’t leave without a parting gift though.

Abyss Predator!

Red Spear of Judgment!

Demon Sword Ubist’s darkness rushed forward like hail, while countless red spears descended on their enemies like rain.

“Keok!”

“Ugh.”

“I need healing!”

Their power was tremendous. So much so that Steel Steed’s vanguard staggered.

Kang Oh and Tasha took advantage of that and ran away.

“Catch them!”

“Stop right there!”

Arrows, magic, and projectile weapons came flying at them from afar, but they weren’t very threatening to the two.

While running away, Kang Oh’s party unleashed another barrage of powerful attacks, and then focused on running away.

In the end, they were able to get out of the dungeon safely.

“Tch.” Kwon Rang clicked his tongue. Losing Kang Oh was disappointing. Though they had profited from this endeavor.

“Upload the video of Kang Oh running away.”

That day…

A video titled ‘Kang Oh runs away from the Swift Steed Guild with his tail between his legs’ was uploaded on the internet.

Those who were jealous of Kang Oh, or were quick to judge went ‘This is my chance!’ and commented on the video.

At the same time, Kang Oh’s supporters did their best to back him with comments of their own.

– As I thought, even Kang Oh can’t do it. A corner shop can’t beat a huge business.

– Swift Steed Guild > Kang Oh.

– Kang Oh didn’t even make it to the 4 great guilds and was beaten by the Swift Steed Guild, right?

– Are you really bragging that you stopped 1 guy with 1,000 people?

– Cowardly Swift Steed Guild. Ptoo, ptoo!

– It looks like the large guilds are gonna stop Kang Oh by using mass numbers to their advantage.

– I have faith in you, Mr. Kang Oh!

Six hours after the Swift Steed Guild uploaded their video, Kang Oh uploaded his own on Youtube.

“Hello, this is Kang Oh,” he said, displaying his jet-black greatsword. “I was going to liberate the Albation Nest, but I backed off. You might be wondering why. Because there were 1,000 of Swift Steed’s elites waiting for me.”

At that moment…

The camera turned, giving the audience a closer look at the newcomer. It was a man that was just as famous as Kang Oh.

“So what’s your plan now?” It was the Genius Gamer, Bart.

“Hmm. What do you think?” Kang Oh asked back.

“Should we take them on by ourselves?” a calm female voice asked. The woman wasn’t visible on the screen.

Step.

A red-haired woman, who wore horn-rimmed glasses, or Helena, entered the screen.

“You two would be a huge help.” Kang Oh grinned.

“I’m here too.” Sephiro raised his hand.

“I don’t think you’ll be much help.”

“What did you say!?”

Gyaa!

Sephiro and Waryong stepped forward, and stood side-by-side with Kang Oh, Bart, and Helena.

“But they’re not the ones I need the most help from. I want your help.” Kang Oh stared off into the distance and opened his arms wide. He was speaking to the audience now.

“What do you need their help for?” Sephiro asked.

“I’m going to make a second attempt at liberating the Albation Nest tomorrow. If there’s any of you out there that want to join me, then please come to the Maduria Plains by tomorrow at 6:00 P.M. Let’s liberate the dungeon together.” Kang Oh emphasized the word ‘together’.

“Are you afraid that the Swift Steed Guild will strike back? Then please come with a mask on in order to keep your identity a secret. However, you must come with a blue band around your wrist. After all, blue is the color of freedom.”

France’s national flag was made up of three colors. And its three colors, blue, white, and red, represented freedom, equality, and benevolence respectively. It represented the mindset of the French Revolution.

Thus, blue was the color of freedom.

“So what if you’re lacking in skill or ability? Come and at least get a hit in. You’re not a combat class, you say? Then come and do whatever you can. If you’re a Blacksmith, sharpen our swords. If you’re a Tailor, then repair our clothes. If you’re an Alchemist, you’re welcome to join us too. I’ll buy potions from you!”

Kang Oh briefly let his words stew, and then said, “Finally… If you do nothing, then nothing will change. So let’s do this together!”

Kang Oh clenched his fist. Bart, Helena, and Sephiro were standing by his side.

“Thank you for hearing me out!”

That was the end of the video.

* * *

The next day.

Kang Oh, Sephiro, Helena, and Bart made their way to the Maduria Plains. Tasha and Sara had returned to their demon sword forms, and were safely stored in his inventory.

“How many do you think showed up?” Sephiro asked.

“I’m not sure.” Kang Oh shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m sure a ton of people came,” Bart said.

Helena looked like she didn’t care either way.

“Really?” Sephiro’s eyes lit up.

“Yes. The community sites are going crazy. That cringe worthy video you put up… When we were filming that, I felt like I’d throw up. Anyhow, the community sites are filled with posts talking about that video.”

“How are people reacting to it?”

“There are a ton of people saying they’d be here.”

“That’s a relief.”

A short while later…

Kang Oh’s party finally arrived in the Maduria Plains.

However…

“W-What is this?” Sephiro looked shocked.

Why, you ask?

“Uwaaaaah!”

A huge cheer erupted from the crowd. It was as if lightning struck; the crowd’s cheers were loud enough to rupture his eardrums.

“It’s Mr. Kang Oh!”

“Kang Oh! Kang Oh! Kang Oh!”

There were way too many people here. To put it into perspective, the vast Maduria Plains were crammed with people.

Some of them wore masks, while others didn’t. However, all of them wore blue bands around their wrists.

‘There’re at least 10,000 people here. How many people actually showed up?’ Sephiro gulped.

“See? A lot of people showed up.” Bart grinned.

“There are way too many people here!” Sephiro yelled.

“Yeah.” Kang Oh nodded his head. He’d gathered a lot more people than he had expected.

“Kang Oh! Kang Oh! Kang Oh!”

The people were staring at Kang Oh like sunflowers.

“Ms. Helena, please make me a tall platform with your earth magic.”

Helena immediately cast the spell.

Whoosh.

The ground Kang Oh was standing on rose into the air.

“I cast wind magic to project your voice,” Helena said.

Kang Oh slightly bowed his head to her, and then stared at the crowd once more.

“Hello.” Kang Oh’s voice resounded throughout the plains.

“Uwaaaah!”

The crowd cheered once more.

Kang Oh softly waved his hand, and the crowd quieted down.

“I truly thank you for coming here to help me.” Kang Oh bowed his head, and the crowd applauded him.

Clap, clap, clap!

“I was surprised that so many of you came, but our mission hasn’t changed. Dungeon Liberation. Then let’s enter the Albation Nest immediately. Are you all ready? If you are, then please raise your freedom bands into the air.”

Kang Oh raised his right hand into the air. The blue band fluttered in the wind.

At the same time…!

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!

Countless blue bands rose into the air, fluttering in the wind.

It was a magnificent sight.

“My comrades and I will stand at the vanguard. Please watch our backs! Now, let’s go!”

“Uwaaaaah!”

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The ground shook as the players moved in unison!

It was time to attack.