"I will do my utmost,"

Cedric replied with a determined smile. He propelled his form, which was now embodied in the Blood Ruby Sword, towards the Hydra's central head, the one adorned with the green stone and the surrounding heads that was closing ranks to defend it.

"Interesting, I didn't expect to see such a toy!"

Demos remarked as he caught sight of the Blood Ruby Sword hurtling from Chang Long's form. His interest in Chang Long seemed to intensify.

"That kid is truly something else,"

echoed the voice from Demos' subconscious, which belonged to the manticore.

"I'm itching to fight her already,"

Demos laughed with excitement.

"Hehehe, she's not worth the exchange yet. Believe it or not, but that kid is the heir to one of the Seven Pirate Kings, named Devi Jones,"

the manticore revealed while Demos tore into one of the Hydra's long necks, causing its hard green scales to rain down onto the ground.

"How do you know that?"

Demos asked, puzzled. He momentarily paused his battle, turning to get a better look at Chang Long.

"That's him, Pirate King Devi Jones." the manticore pointed out.

Demos froze in shock as his head involuntarily turned in another direction, beyond his control. His gaze locked onto a pale, commanding man with long black hair, whose every move in combat exuded authority.

"No way. How is he still alive?"

Demos muttered to himself, astonished. According to the game's lore, the story of the Seven Pirate Kings occurred over a hundred years ago, and all of them were supposed to be dead, leaving only their graves and treasures for players to discover. Yet here, what he saw, was a living Pirate King, young and seemingly unaffected by the passage of time.

The Blood Ruby Sword, now acting independently without a physical body to control it, surged towards its target—the lone head of the Hydra Beast King adorned with the vibrant green stone. As instructed by its master, the ruby embedded in the sword gleamed brilliantly before the blade spun violently toward its mark.

Slash!

The Hydra's green-stoned head was severed in one swift motion, eliciting a cacophony of anguished cries from the remaining heads. Everyone's attention immediately shifted to the Hydra's core, eager to see the face of the one who had finally brought the beast down.

The Blood Ruby Sword hovered in mid-air, spotless and free of the green blood of the Hydra. Opposite it, a man with large bat-like wings flapped them powerfully. His red, lion-like mane blew wildly in the wind, and his body was drenched in the Hydra's green blood, including the claws he had used to slay it.

"Return, Cedric,"

Chang Long mentally commanded Cedric, who was bound to the Blood Ruby Sword. As the Spirit Realm skill dissolved unnoticed, Kimhant quickly rushed to secure a spot on a Maritime Association's ship that was still operating as usual, unlike the system ships that would not resume service until the dock was repaired.

The Blood Ruby Sword immediately flew back to its master upon being summoned, but it was caught by Demos' sharp claws. Driven by curiosity, Demos wanted to understand the unique properties of this sword—why it could float and even attack autonomously without anyone wielding it.

"Tch, this demon! How dare you touch my sword without permission,"

Cedric cursed angrily, releasing a surge of dark red electricity. This was a sign that the weapon was resisting its holder, causing Demos to release it quickly in surprise.

Chang Long caught the sword and swiftly disappeared into the crowd of players and NPCs who had gathered to watch the event. She did not want to draw any more attention, especially from Demos. Meanwhile, the players and NPCs at the dock were busy scavenging the dropped items from the Hydra Beast King, making Demos lose sight of Chang Long in the crowd.

"What a shame, she's vanished,"

Demos muttered to himself, scanning the area again in hopes of spotting Chang Long, but to no avail. He then flew away from the battlefield as more players began to take notice of him and point in his direction with curiosity.

Once he reached a secluded forest, far from the prying eyes of other players, Demos collapsed onto the ground, clearly in pain and suffering. As soon as he hit the ground, he started coughing up blood uncontrollably, his body flashing red as his health bar dropped dangerously low. If he delayed any longer, he would enter a coma state or even die if not treated promptly.

"Great power always comes at a high price, human. If you still desire strength and power, you must train yourself to be worthy of that power. This is my final warning to you!"

the manticore's voice echoed in Demos' fading consciousness. The young man forced himself to swallow a dozen blood crystals before passing out, unable to take any more healing items. The massive shadow of the manticore appeared beside him, as if to watch over the fragile, defenseless body of the human who had bonded his soul with it.

.....

Troy City

Half of the dock was closed for repairs due to severe damage. The members of the Caesar Guild, who had just appointed a new guild leader, began to rethink their approach. They started helping other players with minor issues, such as reuniting with lost friends or finding various locations within the city. They took pride in being good citizens of Troy, happily assisting others in the community.

Chang Long had to pay out of pocket to compensate players who lost their belongings due to the awakening of the Hydra. She also had to compensate the game officials, who were explaining why she needed to pay and how much she had to reimburse each affected party. After making the necessary payments, she received a receipt stamped by the game's emblem and the Asian Paradise company, the owner of the game.

Feeling extremely frustrated, Chang Long boarded the ship. Hulu, who had caused all this trouble, was getting an earful from both Devi-chan and Kitsune. Despite Hulu being the sole culprit, Chang Long had decided to reduce the amount of food everyone received as punishment, explaining to the two spirits and the dog,

"Next time, you'll help keep Hulu in check!"

Kimhant stood at the right starboard side of the ship, staring at his ring, which was faintly glowing black. It looked beautiful, but he wondered why it was glowing. The system soon answered his question.

"Felon's health is down to one due to being unfed for too long."

"Woah. Unseal Felon!"

The drowsy Kimhant snapped awake and quickly unsealed his pet from the ring, immediately feeding it canned food before it could even ask. Then, he dashed below the deck to the ship's kitchen to order some food for Felon. After giving it pet food before and seeing that Felon did not even spare a glance at the food made him realize that it would only eat human food—and only the best kind at that.

"What's with him, Kitsune?"

Chang Long asked, puzzled by Kimhant's frantic behavior.

"I have no idea,"

Kitsune replied, turning back to enjoy the view with Chang Long. Meanwhile, Hulu sat dejectedly, listening to Devi-chan's relentless scolding, looking like a child on the verge of tears. Despite feeling a little sorry for him, Chang Long thought it was a fitting punishment, considering how many hundreds of thousands she lost because of his antics. Letting Devi-chan continue to lecture him for a bit longer seemed like a good idea.

.....

After a well-deserved rest, Crown's group resumed their journey. After overcoming two brutal challenges, they encountered a massive stone door with a wolf's head symbol engraved on it. On its forehead was an Arabic numeral zero, and between the two door panels was a carved pair of crossed swords, resembling the pair Crown had acquired.

When Crown placed his swords into the carving, the heavy stone doors opened, revealing a sandstone cavern, intricately carved into dome-shaped ceiling and Arabian columns, illuminated by torches that had lit up automatically. The shimmering sands glittered under the torchlight, momentarily mesmerizing everyone with the cavern's beauty.

Upon closer inspection, they noticed numerous wooden levers on the cavern's circular walls, more than fifty in total. Nearby, there were slots sitting thereas if waiting for the group to open them up to secret passages. After thorough investigation and discussion, they found a wolf's head symbol near one of the levers and gathered around it, assuming it was the correct path.

Though it seemed too easy, Crown reached out and pulled the lever near the suspected passage. The sound of stone grinding echoed as a passage opened—not the one they intended, making it clear they had to find the correct lever to open the right passage.

As the randomly opened passage fully revealed itself, a chilling moan emerged. Everyone readied their weapons, prepared for whatever might come out.

From the passage emerged skeletons dressed in ancient black Arabian warrior attire, wielding long, crescent-shaped swords. Initially, they appeared fully clothed in robes, gloves, boots, and brass masks, hiding their skeletal forms. However, after a brief skirmish, the group realized that the tomb guardians were, in fact, just skeletons underneath all that armor.

Each passageway was guarded by varying numbers of tomb-guardian warrior beasts, with no fewer than ten in each. Their levels ranged from 38 to 52, with the level 52 ones acting as the leaders, each group having only one leader. This made it somewhat manageable for Crown and his friends to fight through, though they still spent considerable time and various crystals to overcome this trial. After more than five hours, they finally managed to open the correct passage and quickly moved forward.

During those long five hours, Crown's group lost another member, and the remaining ones were severely injured, unable to continue much further. Karen, a warrior class player, was in the worst condition, lying in a coma with a deep sword wound across her abdomen. Her friends frantically fed her blood crystals and tended to her wound.

Everyone collapsed, exhausted, after dealing with the remaining tomb guardians that had tried to follow them into the passage. Duncan handed out candies to the group, knowing they were effective at reducing accumulated fatigue, and they gratefully accepted. They waited until Karen recovered and her status returned to normal before cautiously resuming their journey.

However, the narrow passage that forced them to walk in single file posed a significant challenge. Eventually, they emerged into a wide open sand-covered arena. Above them, a massive chandelier illuminated the area as brightly as the midday sun. At the center of the white sand stood a waist-high stone pedestal, atop which rested a golden chest intricately carved with a creature bearing the face and chest of a woman, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle.

Some in the group had already guessed what this creature was. Since the room contained nothing else of interest besides the golden chest, they did not hesitate to approach it. They had only taken a few steps when the creature depicted on the chest glided down from the dark heights of the ceiling, tilting its head and smiling slightly at the intruders.

"Are you here to steal my chest?"

It asked in a melodious voice, though its bloodthirsty expression sent chills down their spines.

"Sphinx!"

Everyone exclaimed in unison. The majestic figure, a beautiful woman with the body of a lion and the wings of an eagle, stood around two meters tall when seated. It gazed at them with gleaming eyes, while Crown and his friends watched it warily, unsure of how to deal with this formidable obstacle. The Sphinx did not seem intent on attacking them, but it also was not willing to let them pass.

With no way forward, Crown reluctantly decided to plead with the Sphinx to let them through. The creature chuckled, amused by their request, finally understanding that these humans had grasped the right approach.

"You may pass if you wish. The door is over there."

The Sphinx said, pointing with a lion-like paw towards a large arched door behind it.

"W-We can really pass through?"

Karen asked, still wary.

"Of course, but even if you reach the door, you won't be able to enter. The key is in here,"

The Sphinx responded, tapping its paw on the golden chest resting on the stone pedestal beside it.

"Then what do we have to do?"

Duncan asked, already suspecting that it would not be so simple. The Sphinx smiled brightly, pleased that they had asked the very question it had been waiting for. It then replied with evident delight.

"Answer my riddles. Just two questions—if you answer both correctly, you will receive the key inside this golden chest and can proceed to the door without any interference from me."

After a long deliberation, Crown and his friends reluctantly agreed to the Sphinx's challenge. They had little choice, as battling the Sphinx was far from a guaranteed victory. Even if they somehow managed to defeat it, they would likely be too exhausted and low on supplies to continue their journey. Moreover, the Sphinx was a primordial beast, making the odds of winning even slimmer.

However, choosing to answer the riddles was also risky. If they got even one wrong, the Sphinx would devour them as a snack. With no better options, Crown turned to face the Sphinx, which sat patiently awaiting their decision, and finally agreed.

"Alright, we'll answer your questions."

"Excellent. Wise choice,"

the Sphinx praised them, and then it began to pose its first riddle.

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