Ash Crow, who had been considering whether to flee, pretended to look back in hesitation.

    Suddenly, a gust of wind whipped through the area, and a vortex, like a dragon’s whirlwind, appeared, forming a massive twister.

    “Kkaaaak!”

    “Kkaak! Kkaak!”

    “Kkaaaah—!”

    They tried to escape, screaming in panic, but the suction power was too strong, and they couldn’t get away.

    The swirling wind was sharp, and as it cut into their bodies, deep wounds began to form one after another.

    Seong nodded in approval, clearly pleased with the results.

    [You have gained experience!] ×13

    This time, the skill used was the Storm Whirlpool, available from the Anemore Slayer title.

    Seong, using flight as well, looked down at the Ash Crows from above.

    ‘Flight isn’t bad either.’

    As he summoned the Storm Whirlpool, the nearby Ash Crows were sucked in and couldn’t resist the force. All the scattered Ash Crows gathered together in one spot.

    The damage was impressive, and it was perfect for mobbing.

    Using flight, he looked down on them and activated his newly acquired Overlord-exclusive skill, Whirling Blood.

    It was an area of effect (AoE) skill, so to speak.

    Compared to his previous skills, the mana consumption was enormous.

    Though a significant amount of mana remained, it was still a considerable drain.

    ‘For a single-target skill, this really consumes the most mana.’

    The Legion of Death was a sustained skill, so even if large amounts of mana were drained, it would continue to operate steadily.

    However, Whirling Blood quickly drained mana all at once, and it was an unfamiliar experience.

    The large amount of mana that drained away caused a phenomenon to occur.

    Starting from the first droplets of blood in the air, more droplets began to form, and they began to spin in one direction.

    Swooosh.

    At first, the rotation was subtle, but it gradually gained speed, like a violent water current encountering rapids.

    The flow became stronger, and the blood turned into a vortex, much like a swollen river after heavy rain.

    The blood vortex, formed from the accumulated blood, was initially smaller than the Storm Whirlpool summoned with the title.

    But as it swept through the Ash Crows, its size grew and became a small disaster that covered all the Ash Crows in the vicinity.

    “Kkaak!”

    “Kkaaaah—!”

    The screeching of the Ash Crows echoed from all directions.

    As the screams reverberated, the blood vortex grew larger, reaching an unstoppable size.

    The Ash Crows, flapping their wings desperately to escape the powerful suction, were devoured entirely.

    Splash, splash, splash—Boom!

    Even when the Ash Crows were sucked into the blood vortex, only small ripples appeared on the surface, and they had no impact.

    The ripples, too, were quickly swept away by the strong current, disappearing without a trace.

    [You have gained experience!] ×49

    The experience notifications kept appearing, one after another.

    “Wow...”

    Even Seong, no matter how composed he was, couldn’t help but be amazed at the power.

    Once the forest was swept clean, the blood vortex gradually died down, as if it had completed its task.

    It shrank back into small droplets of blood and disappeared.

    The Ash Crows that had been swept into the blood vortex fell to the ground with a thud.

    However, the bodies of the fallen Ash Crows, devoid of any blood, shattered into pieces upon hitting the ground, unable to turn into a blood heap.

    All the blood had been absorbed.

    After countless deaths, a massive Ash Crow, now devoid of vitality, let out a roar.

    “Kkaeeaaaah!”

    It sounded like the cry of a crow, or perhaps the piercing screech of a bird of prey.

    The creature, seemingly showing its strength as if it had survived the blood vortex, opened its beak wide.

    “Kkaeeaaaah—!”

    With the roar, the following message appeared:

    [You have encountered the field boss, ‘Queen of the Ash Crows, Kaishak’.]

    Kaishak, huh?

    Just as expected.

    ‘She’ll make a perfect vessel for Anemore.’

    Seong thought this and prepared to use a skill.

    However, Kaishak was faster.

    Already severely wounded by the Whirling Blood, she, furious, gathered a grayish aura in her beak and aimed it directly at Seong.

    She intended to strike first before he could react.

    As the grayish energy condensed to its limit in her beak, it shot out like a dragon''s breath.

    Kkaeeaaaah——!

    There were nearly fifty of them.

    Since they all contained souls, Seong wasn’t too worried about them.

    The empty ones created with Add More had all been used up in the explosion earlier.

    But that wasn’t all.

    Next to Kaishak''s undead, another undead appeared, identical to her.

    An undead version of Kaishak created using Add More.

    Since it lacked a soul, unlike Kaishak, it didn’t bow or pledge allegiance.

    It would follow orders if given, but it was clearly different from the others with souls.

    Seong couldn’t play around with such a powerful body for too long.

    He immediately summoned a Giant Killer Bee from the Underworld, containing Anemore’s soul.

    Fwoooosh!

    The sound wasn’t that of a bird of prey, but rather the fierce flapping of insect wings reaching their limit.

    “A new body for you. Stay there for a moment.”

    Seong spoke as he removed Anemore''s soul from the Giant Killer Bee and placed it into the empty undead body of Kaishak.

    Immediately...

    Bwaaaaah——!

    Perhaps it was because she received a body so similar to her original form, but she appeared even more joyous than before.

    Having tested these new skills, Seong smiled as he pulled out an item from his inventory that had been lying dormant.

    It wasn’t too old of an item.

    Treasure Goblin Kahku’s Treasure Map → Unique → A treasure map drawn by the Treasure Goblin Kahku. → The exact contents are unknown, but a terrible presence was guarding it, forcing Kahku to abandon the treasure. → It is said that this map was made to later recover the treasure. → Only players who have completed their second class advancement can use it. This map records hidden raid monsters. It is in a usable state. Using it will reveal the identity of the NPC with the quest.

    It was the treasure map from Kahku that he had obtained earlier today.

    Seong smiled as he looked at the map, which detailed raid monsters.

    Now, it was marked as usable, and a new line appeared with a puzzled look on his face.

    ‘An NPC with a quest?’

    So it wasn’t about heading straight for the raid.

    But that was even better.

    ‘A quest.’

    Thinking about it, it had been quite a while since he had done one.

    This was a treasure map that would lead him to a hidden raid monster, so he expected the quest to be quite interesting.

    Just as he was about to use it, he received a message from Rapid.

    They had registered him solo for the raid, and they would be making the necessary changes to the contract as quickly as possible.

    Seong thanked them and mentioned he would hunt the hidden raid boss and send the video.

    They’d probably like that, right?

    Thinking so, Seong hurriedly decided to use the map.

    ‘Oh, Serodin.’

    He didn’t know much about it, but like Trinium, it was the third village.

    This village had a hidden raid boss.

    ‘Let’s go right now.’

    Once his mind was made up, Seong couldn''t wait any longer. He was about to use his flight magic when he looked around.

    Then his eyes fell on Kaishak and Anemore.

    They were flying units.

    It seemed like he had gotten some better units than he had expected.

    Serodin, one of the third villages, was most commonly known by the epithet "The Village of Three Rivers."

    As the name suggested, three different rivers converged in Serodin, giving the village its title.

    Compared to Trinium, its size was significantly smaller, but it was still a medium-sized village by most standards.

    The scenery was quite beautiful, and it was a popular destination for players.

    However, there was one major downside for users in Serodin.

    There was no suitable raid boss to hunt.

    That was the only drawback.

    But...

    “Kyaa, I come to Serodin for this view!”

    “Really. It’s so healing here, I swear.”

    “Why go abroad for vacation? Level 50, park it here, and Serodin becomes your trip~”

    Many players treated it as a resort, so it didn’t matter much.

    Who would come all the way to a resort and hunt a raid boss?

    At the beginning of the game’s launch, a few players, noticing the lack of a raid boss here, speculated that a hidden piece was hidden in Serodin and started spreading rumors.

    But even those players eventually accepted that Serodin had become more famous as a relaxing vacation spot.

    A village where everyone could relax and return to peace.

    In such a village, someone came, not for ordinary healing, but with a different kind of intention.

    A figure cloaked in black entered the village.

    ‘Ashin, that NPC, is in the forge, right?’

    Though their kind of healing was a bit different...