Once their Yumas crossed through the central region, Kang Oh and Sephiro were welcomed by Calabros. These monsters, which resembled gibbons, rode on giant spiders and shot leech arrows at their enemies.

Kang Oh and Sephiro dealt with them quickly.

Munch, munch.

Waryong was chewing on one of the giant spider's legs. What was the best way to put it? It was like a dog chewing on a bone.

"This way. Hiya!" Sephiro pulled on the reins, and took the lead.

Kang Oh and Sephiro engaged in several battles along the way.

Maucrocker!

These monsters, which possessed perfect camouflage, would lie on the ground, the trees, the rocks, etc. until they found their prey. When they did, they'd mercilessly rip apart their prey!

Giant Kruger!

They were the very definition of brutality. The Giant Krugers were advanced Krugers, which were known as the Tyrants of the Great Forest!

Amtaurus!

These beasts, which possessed the upper body of an ogre and the lower body of a bull, were called the Great Forest's Butchers! Even Giant Krugers cowered before an Amtaurus!

Ripplesia!

It was a carnivorous flower, one which appeared like a flower bud with serrated teeth. A Ripplesia's roots had suckers on them like an octopus's legs, which were used to hunt its prey.

Countless players that'd entered the central region were killed by these dangerous monsters. However, even the strongest of these monsters, the Amtaurus, was no match for Kang Oh and Sephiro's combined might. 

They would be fine as long as they didn't encounter the Amtarus Chieftain, which was rumored to be somewhere deeper inside the forest. 

"We can't go there no matter what." Sephiro pointed at a quarry made of red rocks.

"Why's that?"

"It's the Killer Wasp's Nest."

"Mm!"

The Killer Wasp's Nest, the Inescapable Swamp, the Poisonous Spider's Den, etc. With Sephiro's help, they were able to avoid all of the Great Forest's most dangerous zones.

Ultimately, Kang Oh and Sephiro safely made it to their destination.

"We're here."

"Hoh." Kang Oh was astonished.

There were a ton of ruins amidst the various sized trees. Old buildings, statues, and structures, which were colored red, white, and black, were there, and were surrounded by walls with a diamond-shaped pattern evenly spaced apart.

[You have discovered Talastrum.]

[Talastrum is one of the Great Forest's mysterious areas.]

[Who created these huge ruins? And why were they created?]

"It's huge," Kang Oh said.

"I don't think anyone knows how big this place is. No one has properly explored it yet," Sephiro replied.

"Then let's find out ourselves." Kang Oh's eyes gleamed. 'Will there be a dungeon inside the ruins too?'

"Be careful. We'll encounter the Tuslam now."

Kang Oh grinned. 'That makes me even more excited!', his smile seemed to say.

Tramp, tramp.

Kang Oh and Sephiro passed through the arch-shaped entrance.

Talastrum had a complex layout. The buildings and structures weren't the same size, so there were stairs everywhere; there were also plenty of bridges that connected these buildings together. 

Some of the ruins had protrusions on the outer walls. Thus, they would have to climb them as if they were rock climbers.

Plus...!

"That's them." Sephiro pointed at the Tuslam. At the same time, they seemed to notice them too.

"Trespassers."

"Take care of them."

Two Tuslam rushed at them.

Kang Oh and Sephiro immediately readied themselves for battle.

Kang Oh pulled out Blood and Akanhoff; his snow-white blade radiated scarlet light, while his purple blade gave off a black sheen.

Sephiro notched an arrow on the Lasselpino Bow. Waryong stood behind Sephiro, ready to fly into the sky or spew flames whenever necessary.

[You have encountered Tuslam's Descendent, Yan.]

[You have encountered Tuslam's Descendent, Menar.]

The Tuslam didn't look much different from humans, and their faces were all different too.

Yan was slit-eyed, while Menar had a piercing on his thick lips.

Both of them looked approximately 2 meters tall and their skin was brown. They seemed to have trained their bodies rigorously, as their long arms and legs were filled with lean muscle.

Several gold boomerangs hung from their belts.

On the way here, Sephiro had explained that the Tuslam were masters at boomerang throwing.

Of course, boomerangs were their secondary weapons. The Tuslam had specialized in something different.

It was their custom to craft their weapons out of the monsters they killed, using their skin, claws, bones, stingers, etc.

Yan wielded a serrated sword, crafted out of a Maucrocker's teeth, while Menar wielded a spiked club, studded with the Killer Wasps' stingers.

"I'll deal with the swordsman." Yan pointed at Kang Oh.

"No. I want to fight the swordsman too. You take the archer," Menar said.

"Fine." Yan nodded his head.

"Haahp!" Menar forcefully kicked off the floor, and instantly closed the distance between him and Kang Oh. He was like a tiger pouncing on its prey.

Whoosh.

The club came flying at Kang Oh. The stingers embedded within reflected the light of the sun and glimmered.

Kang Oh swung Akanhoff.

Clang!

The stingers scraped across Akanhoff.

Killer Wasp stingers were more durable than most steel. Thus, Akanhoff's Absolute Destruction ability hadn't broken them in a single strike.

"Ugh." Kang Oh was pushed back. 

Whoosh!

Menar's club came flying at him once more.

Kang Oh bent backwards, dodging Menar's attack, and then swung Blood.

Swish!

Menar sidestepped Kang Oh's sword and then kicked him.

'He's fast.' Kang Oh gritted his teeth and ducked. Luckily, Menar's kick only grazed his hair.

He felt a tingle go down his spine.

Menar continued his assault.

He continually attacked with his club, fists, or feet. His attacks were incredibly powerful, not to mention they were incredibly fast and they aimed for his vitals every time.

Kang Oh was busy dodging his attacks.

Of course, he wasn't getting hit. His Hyper Intuition, coupled with his tremendous evasion, made it extremely difficult to hit him.

'I have to finish him off with a single strike.'

It'd been a long time since he was the one on the defensive. Kang Oh's eyes gleamed as he waited patiently for his opportunity to strike.

'Now!'

Right when Menar swung his club downwards, the world slowed.

Kang Oh swung Akanhoff diagonally.

Transcendent Blade!

Akanhoff was surprisingly light. Which meant that he could swing it faster than Blood or Ubist. Add Transcendent Blade to that, which allowed him to swing it even faster than he would've normally been able to, and he had an unavoidable attack!

However...!

Menar managed to block the attack with his club!

Screech!

Upon impact, a shrill 'screech' rang out. It was the sound of the stingers scraping against Akanhoff.

'He blocked this?' Kang Oh's eyes widened. However, he quickly calmed himself down and swung his sword once more.

In any case, he'd managed to counterattack, and Menar had been forced on the defensive. If he continued to attack, then he would regain the momentum as planned.

However, Menar responded with an insipid plan. Match fire with fire!

Swish!

Akanhoff passed through Menar's earlobe. At the same time, Menar's club grazed Kang Oh's side.

Shards of light rose from their bodies, and both Kang Oh and Menar stared at each other. They were both pretty much saying, 'Let's see who wins.'.

"Huahp!"

"Liaht!"

Their battle only intensified from there.

* * *

Swish! Swish!

Quickly spinning metal boomerangs came flying at Sephiro and Waryong. This was the work of Tuslam Yan.

"Waryong, be careful!"

Gyaa!

Waryong forcefully flapped its wings and rose into the air, while Sephiro shot an arrow at Yan.

Sun Piercing Arrow!

Whizz!

Bam!

The spinning arrow collided with the boomerang, pushing them both in opposite directions.

Waryong flew away, hiding in between the branches of a tree. Thus, the boomerang hit the tree instead of Waryong.  

Bam!

Something unexpected happened.

Upon impact, the tree was split in half, as if it had been cut by an axe.

What incredible power!

This was the true power of a boomerang thrown by a Tuslam. That was also the reason that Sephiro had used a Sun Piercing Arrow against the boomerang.

Last time, Sephiro hadn't been concerned with the boomerang, and he'd paid dearly for it.

"Hueup." Sephiro quickly shot another arrow.

Whizz!

The harpoon-like arrow came flying at Yan.

Yan deflected the arrow with his serrated sword.

After that, Waryong flew over at top speed, and spewed flames from overhead.

However, the flames didn't do much.

A Tuslam's skin was tougher than a Maucrocker's skin. Plus, the Tuslam Tribe inherently possessed high elemental resistance. That was the reason they didn't need to wear armor. Their bodies themselves were top-tier armor.

Yan planted his serrated sword into the ground, and pulled some more boomerangs from his belt. Two in each hand!

"Haaht!" He stretched out his arms and then forcefully threw them. Four boomerangs flew through the air.

All four of those boomerangs had only one target: Sephiro.

"Shit." Sephiro quickly shot another arrow.

His skill was tremendous, allowing him to hit two of the four in quick succession. However, he didn't have time to deal with the other two.

Absolute Evasion!

Sephiro threw himself out of the way.

Bam! Bam!

The two boomerangs struck the area he'd once been in, causing dirt and pebbles to go everywhere. It was as if there had been an explosion.

Yan pulled out many more boomerangs. As stated, the Tuslam were specialists in boomerang throwing.

Some boomerangs came straight for Sephiro and Waryong, while others flew around the trees and came for them from behind.

It was impossible for him to dodge them all, as he didn't have something as overpowered as Kang Oh's Hyper Intuition.

"Ugh." Sephiro cried out in pain, as a boomerang struck his shoulder blade.

The Tuslam were powerful enough to overwhelm a long-range specialist in long-range combat. They were also skilled in close range combat, as Menar was displaying in his fight with Kang Oh.

They truly were the ones who'd saved the weak Altein Empire from invaders.

Fortunately, Yan didn't have any more boomerangs left. They were either scattered across the floor, or were stuck in something.

Tramp.

Yan rushed forward.

Sephiro quickly righted himself, and shot an arrow at Yan's feet.

Landmine Arrow!

Boom!

Once the arrow touched the ground, it created an explosion. However, it wasn't a large enough explosion to force Yan back.

Yan pushed through the surging dirt and swung his serrated sword at Sephiro's neck.

Sephiro rolled on the floor. If he'd responded a little later, then he would've taken a ton of damage.

Bam! Bam!

Waryong swooped down on Yan.

"Hmph!" Yan turned his body and kicked Waryong away.

Whack!

Waryong's body soared into the air, and slammed into a tree.

However, Waryong's diversion allowed Sephiro to shoot another arrow.

Earth Shaking Arrow!

It was an arrow shot at point blank range.

Even a Tuslam wouldn't be able to dodge it.

Bam!

The arrow pierced Yan's chest, and created a shockwave that coursed through his body. Yan was pushed back, and landed on his butt.

Sephiro decided that it was time.

He notched an arrow much larger than the usual arrow. This was called a Giant Killer! It was originally designed to kill large enemies like Giants.

Sephiro forcefully pulled the bowstring. When he couldn't pull back anymore, he let loose.

Ting!

A pleasant sound rang out, and the giant arrow spun around.

Sun Piercing Arrow!

The Giant Killer pierced Yan's shoulder. Several shards of red light exploded too.

However, Yan didn't just sit there and take it. He'd thrown his serrated sword before the arrow hit him.

Bam!

Sephiro looked down at his chest.

"Shit."

There was a sword protruding through his chest. Red shards of light spilled from the wound, as if it were profusely bleeding.

At that moment...

"Kuhaahp!" 

Yan rushed over in order to finish him off!