The Sain Dungeon long before the closing bell was yet to come.

In Nimgefo, a hidden place where no monsters could find, was where Tepi was.

"Is, is this all it takes to become strong?"

Tepi’s voice sounded a bit shaky.

"That’s right, just like this you can become strong, so go for it."

The speaker was a young woman with a slightly pleasant tone, was it Isha?

"Hiss..." Tepi gasped in cold breath, then resolutely said, "Then let’s do it!"

"Then I’ll shoot." Isha made up her mind.

Like a sudden thunderclap on the ground, gunshots abruptly echoed across the land of Nimgefo, scaring the bald eagles perched on the rooftop of Aire Church away.

"Ah!"

Tepi’s scream suddenly rang out, followed by Fanen’s somewhat panicked voice on the scene, "Uh oh, he’s hurt, quickly heal him."

"No, just continue like this, don’t interfere, survive through peril!"

Yuffie, clad in light armor, waved dismissively, signaling Fanen not to intervene, even though Isha’s shot seemed to have put a hole in someone’s kidney.

"Then, then I’ll keep shooting..."

Isha swallowed nervously, looking somewhat reluctant about what she had to do, yet her tone betrayed some delight.

In a helpless manner, she raised the Hunter’s Pistol, aiming it at...

Tepi, whose hands were bound to the cross at the entrance of Aire Church.

"Wait, wait!" The wound on his kidney pained Tepi into a grimace, quickly shouting, "If it’s evasion training, shouldn’t it start progressively with pebbles or flying knives? The pistol is too advanced!"

"The speed at which the Omen Demon throws daggers is faster than bullets. If you can’t even dodge bullets, how will you challenge him?"

Yuffie drew a long spear from behind, aiming it at Tepi, "Then how about replacing bullets with my spear tip?"

Tepi’s face turned pale, with an air of enlightenment said, "I’ll stick to dodging bullets then..."

"That’s more like it."

Yuffie nodded in satisfaction, finally lowering her spear, adding, "Fanen and Isha have already trained to the point of dodging my casual shots, Mr. Basque, you must try harder, or you won’t beat Leon."

Upon hearing this, Tepi immediately stopped grimacing, enduring the pain and said to Isha:

"Bring it on!"

And so the gunshots continued as Tepi, with his hands bound, relied solely on the strength of other parts to evade bullets.

This was the special training aimed at the Omen Demon!

Yuffie had summed up two key traits necessary to defeat the Omen Demon:

First, extremely fast reaction speed to cope with the Omen Demon’s lightning-fast deceptive moves.

Second, calm observation skills to deal with the Omen Demon’s counterintuitive Fast and Slow Blade, especially the Slow Blade.

Fanen and Isha had long completed the training for these two abilities, both had slimmed down significantly.

Tepi originally had also completed it; when unrestrained, he could successfully dodge Yuffie’s thrown pebbles one or two times out of ten attempts, which was barely sufficient to challenge the Omen Demon.

However, Yuffie whimsically tossed the person bound to the "cross" at Aire Church’s entrance down, and tied Tepi up there instead, having Isha, skilled in shooting, use him as a target for her gun practice, requiring Tepi to avoid fatal injuries with his hands restrained.

As for why Tepi needed additional training, it’s naturally because he was the weakest.

So at least the life-saving skills needed honing well.

In an instant, gunshots echoed continuously, occasionally interspersed with Tepi’s pained grunts, to a degree that evoked tears from any onlooker.

However, the effectiveness of this method was indeed quite significant; after this ordeal, it’s expected that Tepi’s evasion rate against the Omen Demon’s quick attacks would improve to a considerable level.

If a person can dodge the attacks of the Omen Demon, what challenging thing could possibly defeat him?

None easily, absolutely none!

The training continued, with Isha training her gun skills, and Tepi honing his movement technique, both benefitting, while Fanen took on the more arduous task, going solo against the Big Tree Guard.

No matter the outcome, at least battling the Big Tree Guard truly teaches something, doesn’t it?

Meanwhile, Yuffie was sitting by the fire with the merchant Curry, even dominantly leaning against his donkey.

She was reflecting on events from a few days ago.

Previously, Lanle had given Tepi and Gerhard some preparation days for a competition, saying she was thinking of ways to deal with the Omen Demon during those days.

In fact, besides the Omen Demon issue, she did a bit of "serious business."

That was taking the siblings Fanen and Isha for a visit to their father’s old home.

Not the White Blood Dungeon, but a peaceful town near the Imperial Capital, serene and harmonious, unaffected by any external influences.

It is said that most residents of that town were once descendants of monsters who escaped from the White Blood Dungeon yet reverted to human form, but no matter what detection methods were used, results proved they were pure humans, without any monster traits mixed within.

Of course, only a small number of upper echelons were aware of this matter, as these residents showed no exceptionally strong powers, thus held no value for special attention or disturbance, aside from the occasional magician dropping by for a glance, the residents lived here as if forgotten.

Fanen’s father, the man called Van Helsing, lived in a relatively secluded place even within the town.

It was nothing but a plain wooden cabin, with a leaking roof, a somewhat weak fireplace, a creaking wooden door, the only commendable feature being the neatly arranged items.

There were no miraculous secret arts or elixirs left by any father. Before they arrived, the people of the Warrior Country had already searched thoroughly, so there was nothing worth coveting.

After taking Fanen and the others back to their hometown, Uffie left, giving them a day of solitude together, so nobody knew what they truly felt.

It was only known that when they returned to Black Stone City, they took a few relics with them.

A diary of Van Helsing, authenticated by the Warrior Country, contained only entries about his hunts for the Blood Clan, aside from the occasional bouts of violence, there were no sensitive topics.

A stake reported to have pierced the hearts of several dozen Blood Clan members and drank their blood until it was nearly black and rotten, yet it did not breed worms.

In addition, there were miscellaneous trinkets, necklaces, rings, and such.

After returning to Black Stone City, Fanen and Isha seemed as if a weight had been lifted from their shoulders, relaxing significantly and redoubling their efforts in training.

It was undoubtedly a good thing.

Meanwhile, after arriving in the Capital, Uffie went to find King Banto to recount her experiences in Red.

She was only a titular general, acting on her whims, and ordinarily, she wouldn’t have needed to seek out the King, but she went to the Royal Palace to ensure the follow-up compensation for the soldiers who accompanied her to Red and died would be safeguarded.

She also happened to hear some interesting news.

For example, the new Teleportation Gate in the Sain Dungeon, located within the Warrior Country, was spread to the Yanor Kingdom.

And the reaction from Yanor Kingdom was intriguing... resembling a little wife bitterly abandoned by an unfaithful husband.

It was truly a lamentation resounding across the land.

However, they didn’t blame the Sain Dungeon, as people could not feasibly hold grudges against a lifeless dungeon.

So this incident rapidly transformed into a conflict between the two countries.

More precisely, it intensified to a greater degree as a dispute between the adventurer groups of the two nations.

Facing the expansive, reportedly treasure-filled new area of the Sain Dungeon and the mockery from foreign adventurers, the Yanor Kingdom adventurers remaining in the old areas were incensed.

They ignited a wave of "re-exploring Sain," vowing to scour through Sain Dungeon’s old areas to ensure nothing was overlooked, believing valuable items comparable to the new area must be hidden within; they had no reason for envy!

However, a group of frontline explorers headed by the Skyrim Strategy Group did not partake in this activity. Instead, they diligently sought ways to reach the new area, believing that the various sections of the Sain Dungeon must be connected and they might find a path somewhere unexpectedly.

For the time being, the Strategy Groups hadn’t achieved results, prompting some adventurers to hastily set forth to the Warrior Country.

Adventurers felt utterly uncomfortable, much like their favorite game receiving a major update on the international server, while they were stuck on the domestic one, unable to play it.

In response to the Yanor Kingdom adventurers’ actions, the Warrior Country adventurers eagerly traveled to Black Stone City, among them were elite experts, swearing to be the first to conquer the Sain Dungeon, though currently, the experts were likely still en route.

This conflict among adventurers overall... benefited the dungeon.

The adjacent Giant Stone Dungeon also experienced increased traffic, reportedly because many sought psychological balance there after being mentally overwhelmed by Sain. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Uffie was most interested in the movements of Leon and his group, but unfortunately, she couldn’t get any information.

However, Gapar was reportedly on his way back to the Warrior Country, having accepted a request long ago from the King to preserve the combat skills that no one could master, keeping them for future inheritance.

"What else was there..."

Uffie took a few bites of fruit, throwing the core into the fire in front of Curry.

Oh, there was also the old King Fred of the Warrior Country’s commission.

After the end of Black Hawk’s Chaos, Fred wrote to Ainz III, requesting the dispatch of a mission to learn the warrior’s spirit, to which Ainz III gladly agreed.

Not long ago, the personnel for the mission was finally decided, having already departed and expected to reach the Yanor Kingdom in the coming days.

It was heard that the Yanor Kingdom had also completed their reception preparations.

Unfortunately, the number of participants in the mission was much lower than the old King anticipated, to which he could only sigh.

"It seems there’s nothing else particularly noteworthy."

Uffie was about to pull out a second fruit when Tepi’s voice came from the side, filled with exhaustion yet brimming with confidence.

"I did it."

"Oh?"

She looked up at Tepi, who was drenched in sweat, covered in numerous healing spear wounds, but there were no new ones.

Without a word, she threw out her long spear; its body darted like a soaring dragon, hurtling towards Tepi in the blink of an eye, its speed surpassing that of the Omen Demon’s thrown dagger.

"Boom—"

The spear pierced through the air, only stopping when it collided with the big tree beside it.

And Tepi, already panting heavily, lay beside it, sweat pouring down his body, gasping for air with each breath.

He looked rather disheveled, but he had successfully dodged an attack he couldn’t have evaded before!

The special training paid off!

"Sure enough, a tiger’s cub doesn’t have a dog’s father. You obviously have an excellent talent."

Uffie generously praised, extending her hand to Tepi.

The latter took another breath, lifting his sore and numb arm, and was pulled up by Uffie.

"Rest for a bit, then we’ll strike while the iron is hot, let’s head straight for the Omen Demon."

She clenched her fist, saying,

"This time we will surely win!"