Kover Dungeon,

Briarhoard, Rosendun.

10:23 p.m. 18th Banem 1092.

BOOM!

A massive battle in which hundreds of adventurers faced off against thousands of cambions neared its conclusion at the final floor of the Kover Dungeon. The dungeon's numerous entrances converged at this floor, pooling together the strength of all the adventurers, and the enemies were worthy of the number.

2000 Cambion Regulars.

200 Cambion Captanis.

20 Cambion Generals.

2 Cambion Royals.

Even with Kashi and Leila's help, there was no way the Maggots could handle that massive number on their own, so they had to collaborate with the other guilds. Luckily, Kashi took on the Cambion Royals while Leila, and other guild leaders occupied the Cambion Generals, allowing the other adventurers to contend with the Cambion Regulars and Captains.

The battle was incredibly tough and raged on for over four hours, during which there were many losses, but eventually, Kashi managed to knock both Cambion Royals unconscious. Following this, he assisted against the generals, quickly bringing those battles to a close. Then the guild leaders, led by Kashi, reinforced the other adventurers, to slaughter the remaining cambions.

"WHOOO!"

"YEAAHH!"

The Hopeful Maggots along with many other guilds happily cheered when the final cambions of Kover dungeon fell to their knees in surrender, finally bringing the dungeon clearance quest to a close.

As usual, Kashi sent the unconscious demons to his inner world for submission. This trip had netted him two Royal Cambions, 30 General Cambions and just over 1000 Regular and Captain Cambions. The size of Kashi's inner world increased, and he received a permanent +17 increase to his Strength stat, and +50 increase to his Charm.

Kashi accepted the changes with a slight nod, and then turned to look at the giant crystal floating at the end of the hall. The daeben recognized the mana crystal, as he had seen similar ones in Aygorzi. He had given one to Lunette as a gift, while Aygor left the second as a power source for the city's defenses.

Kashi walked up to and then examined the crystal, eyes brightening when he spotted thin threads running from the crystal to an array formation on the ground. Kashi was by no means an expert on arrays, but he could recognize a couple of runes within the array, and thus concluded this was array was responsible for replenishing the cambian forces. As to whether it was a portal to the Netherworld, or a simple spawning system, he could not tell for sure.

Kashi took a small parchment and quickly traced the array formation, making a mental note to pass it on to Jade for experimentation. He placed the finished portrait in his inner world, and only then did he use [Inspect] on the crystal.

Kashi did not use [Inspect] to begin with because in L.N.E, those who relied too much on the game's systems never saw the full picture.

As expected, the table did not show the full picture. Information about the nature of the mana crystal and the array were missing.

"It is hard to believe something so beautiful, can produce such horrible creatures," Leila mused as she walked up to Kashi's side.

"In the animal kingdom, the more beautiful something is, the more dangerous it is," Kashi replied with a thin smile, and then looked at Leila. "The clean-up?"

"We reached an agreement with the other guilds," Leila nodded as she looked over her shoulder. "The loot has been neatly divided."

"That's good," Kashi acknowledged and then asked with furrowed brows, "How many did we lose?"

"Four dead," Leila reported, "Many are severely injured, but our priests will have them good as new in a few minutes."

Kashi's brow shot up. "I've been meaning to ask: Do we have a system in place for those that die while on quests. After all, it's not like they can get their characters back – not anytime soon at least."

"Yes we do in fact," Leila replied with a proud smile. "They can return to the guild anytime with new avatars, and receive ample compensation for their sacrifice. Also, if they want, they can rejoin the guild without the examination process and join the 'level-carry' program free of charge."

"Oh, you really do think of everything," Kashi praised with an embarrassed chuckle as he returned his attention to the Dungeon Core.

"We just have to destroy this, and it'll be over," Leila said, as she too looked at the Dungeon Core. "But, it seems you have something else in mind."

Kashi chuckled, "Well, destroying it would be a waste, don't you think?" The daeben's eyes lit up as he clenched his fist. "I have an idea. It won't be too late to destroy the core if it doesn't pan out."

Leila's brow rose. "What's your plan?"

Kashi grinned as an excited glint flashed in his eyes. "If this is the dungeon core, what do you think will happen if I put it in my world as is?"

Leila's eyes widened. "You can't be thinking... in front of all these people?"

"A secret is only powerful because no one knows it exists," Kashi replied. "But sometimes, to hide a secret, you have to expose thousands more."

"Can you give a straight answer?"

Kashi laughed as he replied, "The straight answer is the secret." With those words, the daeben launched himself over the mana crystal. At the apex of his jump, he extended his hand and poured the entirety of his mana into the portal that appeared in front of it.

WOONG!

Fueled by the daeben's mana, the portal rapidly expanded to a radius of five meters. Kashi did not dare 'pull' on the dungeon core, for fear of damaging the array, and instead, 'dropped' the portal onto the mana crystal. As the daeben fell to the earth, the portal swallowed up the mana crystal, along with a small portion of the ground.

PING!
Numerous notifications rang out in the hall, alerting the warriors of the quest's success. The quest did not care whether the core was destroyed or transported, as long as the dungeon ceased to exist. Since Kashi had forcefully seized the core into his world, the Kover Dungeon would no longer have any cambions spawning. In the future, some bandits or monsters might make it their home, but there would never be a case of cambions spawning from this dungeon.

Cheers once again rang out as the EXP from the quest's completion pushed numerous adventurers past the threshold to a new level. The adventurers were more than satisfied with the exploration. Between the loot and the XP, they'd gained more than expected.

Meanwhile, Kashi oblivious to the cheers, paid attention to the system prompt that appeared the moment he swallowed the dungeon core.

"Any changes?" Leila asked as she walked up to Kashi.

"Nothing much," the daeben replied and then proceeded to expose the details of the prompt he just received,

"This could work in our favor," Leila mused as numerous calculations ran through her head. "Like you've explained, spending one minute under Yggdrassil's branches is better than five hours spent under best priests. Since that's the case, the best place for our guildmembers to undergo tough training will be in your world. We just have to steal a few dungeon cores, to set up dungeons in your world."

"Then anyone who gets injured during the training only has to leave the dungeon to get healed," Kashi completed with a fascinated expression. "It's a brilliant plan."

Leila's brow rose. "I was sure you'd thought that far when you chose to steal it."

"No, that's not it," Kashi refuted with an embarrassed smile.

"He saw something shiny and wanted it for himself."

"Damn it!" Kashi shouted as he jumped forward and then turned around. As expected Shadow stood there with the signature blank gaze.

"I should have known it was something like that," Leila muttered with a sigh. She looked at the disgruntled daeben and warned, "Do not go around putting just anything in your world. You never know what trouble that could cause."

"Do not waste your breath," Shadow warned as he cast a judging glare at Kashi. "He's the type to get bitten a thousand times and never learn." After those words, he looked at Leila. "It has been a while Leila. I haven't had a chance to properly greet you."

"It's nice to see you too, Shadow," Leila greeted with a warm smile, and then proceeded to tease him, "You have become a lot more talkative since we first met."

"I have no choice in the matter," Shadow lamented with a shrug. "I find tormenting Kashi to be more fun than keeping silent."

"is that any way to treat your Great Guildmaster?" Kashi protested with an angry frown, to which he was met with condescending gazes from both Shadow and Leila.

"Our great Guildmaster, who nearly died twice from eating candy he picked up off the street," Shadow mocked.

"Our Great Guildmaster, who doesn't know the names of more than ten people in his own guild," Leila added.

Kashi grimaced, feeling like rocks had been piled on him, but quickly retorted, "Shadow, that is what one calls a risk-taker. A brave guildmaster who is ready to face any danger to protect his guild, and Leila, you clearly do not understand the bond I have with the department heads. It's because I trust them so much, that I don't need to know too many people. Trust!"

There was a brief moment of silence, but then Kashi burst into laughter, unable to stomach the bullcrap he was selling. The daeben's laughter broke the dam for Shadow and Leila, both of whom, broke into light chuckles.

The trio laughed for a short while, before Kashi finally regained himself and said, "Whatever. Now that we're done with this dungeon, it's time to start rounding up everyone for this trip." The daeben looked at Leila and asked, "Do you know where Stryke is?"

Leila tapped her chin and then replied "Stryke is on the southern islands. The resort and amusement park's preparations are nearing their end."

"Good," Kashi said with a nod. "Everyone else is in Merriheim. I'll drop by Merriheim to pick them up, then go pick up Stryke."

"You've never been to the southern islands though," Leila pointed out. "It'll be a long journey without your teleportation."

"I may have never been to the islands, but," Kashi said as he took out a painting of the Norcha Outpost. "I still have a painting of Norcha. On Drixlia, it should only take a few hours at most from Norcha."

"You are well prepared," Leila said with a hint of praise in her voice.

"Of course, I even have rope," Kashi replied with a cheeky grin as he took out a bundle of rope from his inventory.

Leila rolled her eyes. If they were alone, she might have choked Kashi with that rope. The sight alone made her recall unpleasant memories of Razznik seriously lecturing her on the importance of rope for every adventurer. The wisben buried her feelings and instead passed out a few instructions to some Maggots and then returned to Kashi's side. "Alright, I'm ready to go anytime."

Kashi nodded and then opened a portal, which Leila, Hogosha, Shadow, and Larsial entered. The daeben then took out a painting of Rine's Bar and ripped it in half. A bright light encompassed him, and by the time it disappeared, the daeben had vanished from view.