The Hercules Guild's headquarters had fallen. Now, the Storm Guild's flags flew within their base, a clear indication that the Hercules Guild was no more.

The Storm Guild stole most of the Hercules Guild's dungeons, mines, villages, businesses, etc. The Breaker Guild had arrived late to the party, so they only got a small piece of the pie.

Both guilds sent out a kill on sight order on Shion, Lacus, Light Rock, Dulvanetta, Paton, etc. Of course, the members of the Hercules Guild faced the same treatment. If they abandoned the Hercules Guild, however, they wouldn't have to fear any retaliation.

Most of Hercules' members chose this path and left the guild. They had already realized that the Hercules Guild was a sinking ship.

Shion hadn't officially disbanded the guild, but it was as good as done.

The 5 great guilds had been reduced to 4: Empire, Breaker, Steel Heart, and Storm!

The Storm Guild had profited the most from this war. Not only did they steal the Empire Guild's dungeons, but they also absorbed the Hercules Guild's influence and power.

However, it wasn't all good news. When the Arabas Kingdom's civil war ended, the Empire Guild would turn their gaze towards the Storm Guild.

The Empire Guild doesn't turn the other cheek. After all, their motto was to pay back twice what they're owed!

The Breaker Guild also profited greatly from this war.

First, they received considerable war reparations, soul dungeons, and high quality equipment from the Steel Heart Guild.

Second, the traitorous White Lion and Black Sword Guilds collapsed, and the Jairus Guild was absorbed into the Breaker Guild. 

"Lion Heart and Lee Tan. They were part of the Cerberus Alliance, yet they betrayed us. We almost lost because of them. So you and the Jairus Guild have to take responsibility. Please make your decision. Will you lose everything, or join us?" Brand said sharply while Raon and his executives watched. 

Jairus had no choice but to nod his head. "Understood. We'll join the Breaker Guild."

"A wise decision."

"Then what about the Ecle Palace?" Jairus said carefully.

"Give it back to Helena."

"What?" Jairus widened his eyes.

"We made an agreement with her. In exchange for her cooperation, we agreed to leave the Ecle Palace alone," Brand said.

"Then?"

"As part of the Breaker Guild, you cannot mess with the Ecle Palace. It's better to return the Ecle palace to her, and have her in our debt."

"But that's where you get the mysterious scroll! Isn't it a waste to give it up?" Jairus said.

"We keep our promises," Raon said, his voice heavy.

The Breaker Guild respected strength, and they used their might to steal from others. However, they always kept their promises.

"In exchange, we'll let you manage one of the soul dungeons Steel Heart gave us," Raon added.

"Mm."

"Take care of the dungeon. You only need to give us half of its rewards."

"Still..."

Ecle Palace was on a completely different level compared to other soul dungeons. The mysterious scroll was just that valuable.

"Jairus, you're part of my family now, and you're also my subordinate," Raon stared at Jairus and said. In other words, 'Follow my orders.'.

"Hoo, understood." Jairus arduously nodded his head.

Thus, ownership of the Ecle Palace returned to Helena.

Things went better than Kang Oh could've hoped.

At first, he believed that retaking Ecle Palace from the Cerberus Alliance wouldn't be that difficult, so long as the 5 great guilds didn't get involved. 

However, the Cerberus Alliance crumbled, and the Jairus Guild was absorbed by the Breaker Guild. To think they'd return the Ecle Palace so easily!

Meanwhile, Steel Heart kept their heads down. They didn't go outside, and focused all their efforts on recouping their losses while guarding their territory.

Fortunately, Steel Heart was filled with talented craftsmen. They created goods from morning to night, allowing them to quickly recoup their losses.

The Ecle War, which involved four of the five great guilds, had ended.

There were actually only 4 great guilds left, as the Hercules Guild had been destroyed.

Few people knew that Kang Oh set this all into motion; only Helena, the Witch's Forest, Hernandez, Han Seol, and Shion knew this.

* * *

Drops of sweat fell from Hoffman's face. However, he didn't have the time to wipe the sweat off. He was focused entirely on the purple molten metal. 

The molten metal was Halium. It was an alloy made of the world's toughest metal, adamantium!

Halium was a mysterious alloy. It was as tough as adamantium, but as light as a feather.

Hoffman used the Draxek Powder to increase the heat, allowing him to completely melt down the adamantium. He also crushed the Death Eagles' Eggs and the Kaitan's Horn into a fine powder, and mixed it with the mysterious liquid within the Kalvaidum's Heart. By combining all of these at an exact ratio, he was able to create the legendary alloy, Halium!

If this ratio was even a little bit off, then the alloy wouldn't be formed properly. Thus, Hoffman had to focus entirely on creating the alloy, and was ultimately rewarded for his efforts.

"Hoo." Hoffman took a deep breath, and poured the molten Halium into the mold.

The mold only kept the sword in a simple shape. Now it was time for him to swing his hammer.

Sometime later...

The Halium cooled, and assumed the mold's shape. Hoffman then began lightly hammering away at it.

Clang, clang, clang!

He couldn't afford to hit it too hard.

Hoffman had to regulate his strength, striking the metal hard enough to remove the impurities in the metal and gradually increase its toughness, but not so much that it shatters the cooled metal.

Then, he melted the metal again, cooled it, and hammered away at it. Rinse and repeat.

This arduous process was required to create the perfect Halium!

It obviously wasn't easy. The slightest mistake, or a small lapse of concentration would ruin all of his efforts thus far.

However, Hoffman didn't lose focus, not even for an instant. He had a clear goal in sight.

He wanted to create a demon sword capable of killing Inarius! A demon sword that'd get him his revenge for the death of his wife and son!

Hoffman would make it. 

'No matter what!'

This clear goal gave him the strength and toughness necessary to undertake this monumental task.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

He pounded on the metal lightly, yet carefully, and the metallic 'clangs' resounded throughout the room at regular intervals.

* * *

Kang Oh had gotten his own share of the profits too.

Furon Underground Cave!

Of the three soul dungeons he'd stolen from the Hercules Guild, two of them went to the Storm Guild. However, he kept this one all to himself.

Kang Oh extended his hand to the soul dungeon's guardian, Uru.

"Could you give me the soul stone?"

Uru looked like a green alien. Its residence, Furon's Heart, was a garden filled with various blooming flowers.

"Ok." A triangular soul stone popped out of its body.

"Dungeon Management," Kang Oh gripped the soul stone and yelled. Once the Dungeon Management window opened, he immediately went to Dungeon Rewards.

[Dungeon Rewards (Monthly Payment)]

800 gold.

10 Silver Lavender Seed.

5 Bronze Herb's Leaf.

1 Gold Bean.

"Hehe." Kang Oh laughed.

This is why he'd taken this soul dungeon over all the others.

The Gold Bean!

Eating a Gold Bean would randomly increase one of your main stats by 3. It was also an ingredient for the legendary potion, Elixium.

'Elixium! It increases HP, MP, and Stamina by a ton, increases all elemental resistances, and also increases all main stats by 10! Above all, drinking Elixium will increase your proficiency gain.'

Another ingredient needed to create Elixium was Dragon's Blood! 

'I just need the Sea's Tears and the Sun Seed to create an Elixium.'

The Sea's Tears occasionally dropped from giant sea monsters.

The Sun Seed was called the Desert's Treasure. It looked like a yellow topaz, and was the Baiyan Kingdom's regional product.

The Gold Bean and Dragon's Blood were the hardest of the four to procure. If you could collect those, then finding the other two would be doable.

'With this, I'll be able to drink Elixium every month.' Kang Oh's lips curled upwards.

Drinking Elixium every month would be a huge help to him.

'So I can't let anyone steal this place.' 

Kang Oh made the dungeon's layout extremely complex.

[You have changed the layout of Furon Underground Cave. The paths have become more complex, and monsters will more often lay in wait.]

[1,000 gold has been spent.]

He added traps, and obviously added guardians too.

Kang Oh added three Mekradins, monsters with two snakes as arms.

[You have spent 1,500 gold.]

[You have added a Mekradin as a guardian.]

[The Mekradin has evolved into the Venomous Kurasque.]

...

He also added a plant-type monster, a Tentacle Hunter, too. This was a monster that remained on the ceiling until an enemy came passing by, and then attacked using its tentacles.

[You have spent 1,200 gold.]

[You have added a Tentacle Hunter as a guardian.]

[The Tentacle Hunter has evolved into the Expert Hunter, Mendalias.]

...

'With this, I own four soul dungeons! I still don't have enough.'

The Moss Cave, the Beast's Tower, the Saul Graveyard, and Furon Underground Cave!

However, Kang Oh still wasn't satisfied. He wanted to own even more soul dungeons.

'The more buildings and soul dungeons you have, the better.' Kang Oh licked his lips and then opened a message window.

- Mr. Man Bok.

- Yes?

- How is business going?

By business, he was referring to Man Bok's new store, Gold Dragon. It was a store that sold the dragon equipment Hoffman and the Black Hammer Dwarves made.

- Many people are coming.

- They aren't just coming to see the goods, are they?

- Of course not. We actually don't have enough. Because of the war, more people came looking for dragon equipment.

A war increased demand for such goods.

- I'm glad to hear that.

Gold Dragon doing well was good news for Kang Oh.

- Did you need something?

- The Sea's Tears and a Sun Seed. I also need an Alchemist capable of creating Elixium.

- Are you referring to 

that

 Elixium?

- Yes. I have a way of procuring half of the ingredients now.

- You have the Dragon's Blood already, and you need the Sea's Tears and a Sun Seed, so you must've gotten your hands on a Gold Bean.

Man Bok was a skilled merchant. He had detailed information on all sorts of goods, so he knew what Elixium was!

- That's right.

- Understood.

- You can take your time with it. It's not urgent. After all, I don't have the Gold Bean just yet.

- Yes.

"Uru, I'll be going now." Kang Oh waved his hand.

"Master, I have a favor to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Bring me seeds."

"What kind of seeds?"

"The rarer the seed, the better."

"I'll get some for you if I get the chance."

"Please."

"You got it."

Kang Oh stepped onto the magic circle and vanished.

* * *

The Ecle War had ended, but for some, the war went on.

The scramble for soul dungeons!

Although Ecle Palace returned to Helena, there were still countless players that came looking for it.

Most of them were mercilessly killed by the soul dungeon's guardian, the Steel Princess, Amanda, but if they somehow managed to get past her, Helena would be waiting for them. No one had managed to defeat Helena in a one-on-one fight just yet.

More people came to Kang Oh's Moss Cave too. Most of them desired the dungeon itself.

The gentle turtle, Teynos, was busy dealing with these uninvited guests.

However, Teyno's special ability, 'Returning Pain' made him unbeatable. Attacking Teynos would damage the attacker, so most of the time, the challengers would end up retreating.

Aside from that, wars and battles raged across the continent over the soul dungeons that'd been revealed during the Ecle War.

People were obsessed with finding soul dungeons. The prospect of another dungeon offering a mysterious scroll was too hard to resist.

For a similar reason, many people went around looking for soul dungeons that hadn't been revealed to the world yet.

Now, players didn't go to dungeons just to hunt. They went to dungeons that held some sort of secret, or dungeons that had a suspicious feel to them.

New information on Arth's soul dungeons came up every day. After all, they could make some money posting this information if they didn't have enough skill to take ownership of the soul dungeon!

Surprisingly, the 4 great guilds didn't get involved.

The Empire Guild was still busy with the Arabas Kingdom's civil war, and Storm, Breaker, and Steel Heart were busy reorganizing themselves after such a large war.

The large, intermediate, and small guilds took this opportunity to seize as many soul dungeons as possible. When the 4 great guilds return to normal operations, then they wouldn't get a chance to take these soul dungeons.

The scramble for soul dungeons was in full swing.  

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