"That's one down.." I said aloud as I quickly retracted my Monke Staff after I knocked a goblin Dungeon Master unconscious with a quick smack to the face. "Dozens more to go.."

I winced as I saw some of the Dungeon Masters battling it out, most of the cannon fodder already kicked out of the event within seconds of the clash. Most of the disqualified Dungeon Masters were low-level species, such as goblins, kobolds, some orcs, and trolls.

From an average human standpoint, those species sound terrifying, but for my current allies?

"Ha! I've been bawred fawr quite a wile. It's been ages since I 'ad a good scrap!" Arekhus bellowed as he swung the backside of his axe towards a poor orc, causing the orc to be sent flying and promptly turned into particles of light, before vanishing, disqualified from the event, as well as sporting a good few broken bones and bruises, which should be fixed up by the medical team, if the Gods are to be believed.

I dodged an incoming attack from a panicking arachne with a quick sidestep, and brought my Monke Staff to bash her head, causing her to fall tumbling to the ground and causing her to turn into particles of light as she was quickly whisked away from the battlefield and into the medical field.

'Ugh.. I really want some EXP from these guys.. Too bad we aren't allowed to kill..' I thought darkly as I blocked an incoming sword slash with my Monke Staff, before pushing it upwards and grabbing the offender with my free hand.

The troll's eyes went wide, before I promptly, and forcefully bashed his head on the ground, causing it to lose a few teeth and turn into particles of light, a clear indication that it lost consciousness the moment it hit the ground.

'Plus.. I could assimilate their Dungeons with mine, causing my own to be stronger than before..' My rational and logical side of my brains came up with another brilliant idea, one that my moral side heavily disagreed with.

'.. I've wasted too much by being taken over by my emotions and morals.' My mind recalled one of my regrets in the form of Lennon and Kayla dying right outside my Dungeon due to me being an asshole to the wrong people. 'Never again.'

'Sadly, killing these Dungeon Masters will be put on hold, since I wouldn't want the group I'm with to suddenly turn their backs from me.' I dodged another attack, this time from a magical projectile made of water, while I thought a bit disappointed. 'Oh well, at least this way, I can create some connections with clearly stronger Dungeon Masters than me.

'Like that giant over there..' I smacked the end of my Monke Staff against the aggressor who threw a ball of water at me by extending the length of my staff and having the sudden extension hit the caster, who was an elf (to my surprise) square in the face. It seemed that the elf didn't expect my Monke Staff to extend and bonk him on the face with the force of a ball batted by a professional batter.

The elf soon turned into particles of light and promptly vanished from my sight, which made me look at the giant causing havoc within the enemy lines.

"FI FI FO FUM! MY HAIRY LEGS WILL STOMP YOU ALL!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Tanjin, who grew at an enormous rate once in the heat of battle, raged across the battlefield with only his body as his weapon, particularly, his giant, hairy legs.

Good thing he had baggy trousers on.. I wouldn't want to see a giant nutsack hanging from a giant dude..

Taking my gaze off the giant, I then spotted Oshurkova within walking distance making a brief, but tense conversation with another Dungeon Master, who was also female.historical

Punching a Dungeon Master in the face with my [Gorilla Go Smash!] skill active, since it was a troll this time, I creeped in closer, all the while making sure that no attack snuck up on me within this chaotic battlefield, to eavesdrop.

"So.. Lupu.. How many times does it make now?" Oshurkova asked, a bit annoyed, but mostly, enraged at the sight of the female Dungeon Master, who happened to be a Wolf Beastman, if her furry ears and tail were any indication.

"Meh, lost count after the eleventh.. Damn, we're old." The werewolf (I'm calling her a werewolf for now) shrugged while placing a hand on the hilt of her sword.

"And why won't you stop?" Oshurkova asked, her eyes closed and nose scrunched as she readied herself for a fight, her arms making sure that the robes she had on were fastened tightly to make sure that not one ray of sunlight made contact with even a centimeter of her skin.

"It's good training for those under me." Suddenly, her demeanor changed from bored to serious, her eyes giving off a dangerous glint. "Plus, your sister has been messing with some of my subordinates, causing some of them to lose their lives in the process. I'm here to collect your dues."

".. Goddamn it, Odette.." Oshurkova cursed under her breath, her whispers carried by the wind and into my ears. "I take it you wouldn't settle for any other than my disqualification, or the blood of some of my members?"

"Pretty much, yes." The werewolf then went back to her usual bored demeanor. "The last time I raided your camp, it was just for training. Now, it's personal."

Oshurkova bit her lip, a bit of blood trickling down from under her dark hood. In the meantime, I blocked another Dungeon Master's attack and used a quick flame punch (derived from my Flame God Mode, only partially active) to the gut and smacking him on the head with my Monke Staff, causing the Dungeon Master, who was a human to crumple to the ground and turn into particles of light.

'Welp.. It's a good thing Oshurkova told me not to kill during the attack. Otherwise, I might've made it a bit harder for her.' I gave my condolences to the vampire, who was suffering the consequences of her sister's actions.

".. Hah, fine.. I'll disqualify myself, just leave my members out of it." Oshurkova sighed, defeated. I had to do a double-take at the sudden submissive tone of the vampire.

"Sure. Just make sure this doesn't happen again, otherwise, I'll come back, and I won't be as merciful as before." The werewolf once again changed her demeanor into serious mode, before settling back into bored mode the next moment.

"Hey, wait for a second." I, however, had to make a very huge gamble. "How about a deal before you let my leader disqualify herself?"

"Hmm..? Who are you?" The werewolf looked at me a little surprised, but nonetheless, bored as usual.

"Jionni? What the fuck are you doing?" Oshurkova behind me hissed with a whisper, her enraged face giving me chills.

"Just trust me with this." I reassured Oshurkova, who, for all intents and purposes, looked as if she wanted to strangle me and hang me from a noose. However, she remained silent, her gaze settling on mine as she nodded the go-ahead.

"Greetings, fellow Dungeon Master. My name is Jionni, a new member of my leader's group, Hemoglobin, and I wish to make a deal." I bowed towards the werewolf, garnering her attention, as well as stopping the nearby fighting, with Arekhus looking at me funny while Tanjin was grinning madly. "In exchange for my leader's disqualification, I ask for a match. You and me. I win, you let my leader off the hook. You win, you get to have me as your subordinate, or whatever you call them."

I had to stop shaking from the enraged glare bearing down on my back from behind. I was sure that Oshurkova was not happy with my decision, but she kept quiet, since she didn't want to interrupt my deal-making with the werewolf in front of me.

".. And why would I accept that? As far as I can see, you hold no value. You're a nobody, a starting Dungeon Master with delusions who thinks he is stronger than a century-old Dungeon Master." She said mockingly, her bored expression slowly shifting to that of a mix of pity, disappointment, and contempt.

"Care to make a bet?" I made my exterior as natural as possible, making sure that I reeked of self-confidence that no other Dungeon Master could exude when talking to a being higher than them. This gave the werewolf pause, and she decided to humor me a bit.

".. Very well.. I don't sense any arrogance within you. What are the rules?" She asked, a bit interested in me as her initial contempt faded away.

'Heh, a confident exterior will always fool people into believing that you have something to back it up.' I had the urge to thank some of the teachers I met personally back in my old life. They were wrecks in their personal life, but the business side, they prospered. 'It all comes down to appearances. Show them your confidence, then they'll believe you, somewhat. Show them your weaknesses, however, and watch as you find yourself crashing down to the ground.'

"I choose how we fight, and we do it now. That's all." I named my terms, causing everybody here to raise their eyebrows up in confusion.

".. You're an interesting one." The werewolf blinked, before nodding. "Alright, deal. So, what do we do now?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked." I smiled, a bit glad that my ploy worked. This was a huge gamble, and it fucking worked.

I phased my hand through space, causing no small amount of shock from the weaker Dungeon Masters, and raised eyebrows from the other higher-ranked Dungeon Masters.

'Might as well show them a reason why I'm valuable..' I grinned, and took out a table, with a board game right on top of it. "Ever heard of the game chess?"