Chapter 90

"Heaven’s Blood Meng."

"Lord of the Heavenly Night."

"Heaven’s Dark Crow."

"Three Nation-Destroyer–class monsters spawning in a single dungeon... unbelievable."

Akase stood atop the corpse of one of the monsters, a massive greatsword resting on his shoulder.

Even after collapsing, the creature’s body still towered nearly twenty meters tall.

"Kid, that trick of yours is seriously incredible!"

"I’ve never seen three Nation-Destroyer–class monsters appear in the same dungeon before."

Oh~

In truth, Akase probably wasn’t short on money.

Especially since they had just cleared a Tier-7 dungeon.

Iz and the others had never mentioned money, but judging by the situation and applying Rei’s own reasoning, they were probably already wealthy beyond the level of nations.

Yet the Akase standing here now was clearly extremely excited.

"This Heaven’s Blood Meng should be worth around 300,000 gold."

"This Heaven’s Dark Crow... hmm... about 100,000, I guess. There’s really not much valuable on it."

"And this one—the Lord of the Heavenly Night—about 250,000."

That valuable?

One alone was worth three hundred thousand?

And that was without Harvest Month?

For a moment, Kanzaki Rei froze, feeling his eyes almost dazzled by the sheer amount of money.

Who would ever complain about having too much gold?

Especially after being scammed once by that fortune teller—a few casual sentences costing him 55,000 gold, which had deeply impressed upon Rei just how quickly 210,000 gold could disappear.

And now—

In one move, they had just earned 320,000 gold.

Rei suddenly felt...

Like he had struck it rich.

Previously, Rei hadn’t interacted much with Akase.

Even though half a month had passed, Rei still felt that they were somewhat unfamiliar with each other.

Maybe it was because mages and warriors simply didn’t have much to talk about.

Or maybe it was because talking to an idiot was difficult...

No—Akase was still a senior member of the party.

Better not attach the word idiot to him.

Though it might also be because every time they met, Akase would randomly demand Rei treat him to meals.

In any case, they really hadn’t shared many conversational topics.

Usually Akase was the one initiating conversation, and Rei simply responded politely.

Their relationship had seemed to stop there.

But now—

After just two dungeon runs, Rei and Akase were already walking shoulder to shoulder with arms around each other.

"Next one! Next one!"

Akase looked exactly like a gamer who had suddenly discovered a money farming exploit.

In the past, they would spend entire days exhausted, wandering outside searching for dungeons.

Sure, being strong made it easier to earn money.

But once someone’s strength reached a certain level—

Their earning speed didn’t necessarily increase much further.

As for dungeons?

These Tier-3 and Tier-4 dungeons scattered outside—farming them all day might not yield much.

If luck was good, a King-class monster might appear, earning a few thousand gold.

If luck was bad, it might be nothing but Lord-class monsters all day long.

From sunrise to sunset, the reward might only be a few hundred gold coins.

"What a pity there aren’t any Tier-5 dungeons nearby. Otherwise we could farm one of those."

Rei asked, "There won’t be any problems, right?"

"What problems? Soloing a Tier-5 dungeon is like playing around for me."

Especially since Tier-5 dungeons and above were extremely rare.

For Tier-3 and Tier-4 dungeons, it was almost as if the dungeons waited for adventurers to explore them.

But once you reached Tier-5, it became adventurers searching for dungeons instead.

Even Iz and the others had been traveling across the continent specifically to locate high-tier dungeons to challenge.

As for Tier-6 dungeons, there were only a few famous ones across the entire Ruilen Continent, all of which were currently sealed.

One of them was the dungeon Iz’s team planned to challenge soon:

[Cavern of Despairing Wails].

As for Tier-7 dungeons, only one had appeared in the past hundred years.

And it was the very one Iz’s party had just cleared recently.

Akase and Rei exited the dungeon and headed toward the next one.

While walking, Akase suddenly recalled something.

"I actually once encountered a dungeon that mutated because of a Death Priest."

"But that dungeon wasn’t anywhere near as dangerous as the ones you create."

"It was shortly after I had just reached Level 2, I think."

"At the time, a Tier-3 dungeon appeared near my hometown. Two adventurer parties tried to clear it but failed and suffered casualties."

"Later, investigators from the Tribunal arrived."

"They discovered traces of heretical cultists, and that’s when they realized a Death Priest had tampered with the dungeon."

"After that, I joined a team and we cleared it."

"But the strongest monster inside was only a single Tier-3 King-class creature."

Akase glanced back toward the dungeon they had just left.

"It’s nowhere near the level of the dungeon you just mutated."

His expression grew slightly serious.

Rei’s ability was, frankly speaking...

Terrifying.

If he casually found a Tier-4 dungeon, he could potentially create three Nation-Destroyer–class monsters.

Even a normal Level-5 adventurer party—could they handle such a threat?

And the real danger wasn’t fighting three monsters separately.

When monsters fought together, cooperating and coordinating...

Killing three simultaneously could be harder than killing ten individually.

Compared to Rei’s magic...

This ability he had displayed was far more dangerous.

Akase glanced at Rei, countless thoughts passing through his mind.

But soon, he tossed those thoughts aside.

What did it matter?

Power itself wasn’t the problem—it depended on who wielded it.

If one wanted to talk about danger—

Iz was far more dangerous.

If that guy ever stopped holding back, he could probably flip the entire continent upside down, and no one would be able to stop him.

If dangerous power had to be restricted...

Then why level up at all?

"Looks like your Death Priest talent is pretty strong too."

"But honestly, you should try becoming a warrior sometime. Being a warrior is amazing—fighting is both fun and exhilarating!"

Rei kept those words in mind.

Tier-3 King-class monsters...

He wondered how many souls they had sacrificed, and what quality of soul essence had been used.

Rei only knew that his own soul quality was higher than that of a newborn infant.

But he had no idea how much higher.

After all, he had no point of comparison.

And of course, Rei couldn’t exactly go around killing random people just to test it.

"Haha. If I get the chance, I’d like to try becoming a warrior too."

Rei wasn’t brushing him off.

He genuinely meant it.

Not long afterward, the two arrived at the next dungeon.

Another Tier-3 dungeon.

This time, Rei sacrificed 5000 souls.

The dungeon’s glow shifted from pale blue to orange-red.

"Akase."

"I’ll handle the monsters this time."

Akase shrugged.

"Sure. No problem."

Rei stepped inside.

Before him stretched a blood-red plain.

At a glance—

There were thirty-three King-class monsters.

And surrounding them were dense swarms of magical beasts, packed so tightly they looked like a black tide.

So it seemed—

Sacrificing a dungeon did not allow monsters to exceed the dungeon’s tier.

Secondly—

King-class monsters also wouldn’t undergo another qualitative mutation.

There was no such thing as a Tier-3 Nation-Destroyer–class monster.

It seemed that King-class truly was the upper limit for Tier-3 monsters.

However—

Last time, sacrificing 1000 souls had produced ten King-class monsters.

This time, sacrificing 5000 souls had only created thirty-three King-class monsters.

Though there were now over a hundred Lord-class monsters...

Inside the dungeon, it looked almost like a miniature beast tide outbreak.

Rei’s thoughts raced rapidly.

At the same time, the staff in his hand began to glow.

Brilliant elemental colors surged upward.

More than a hundred layers of multicolored earth spikes erupted violently from the ground!

In an instant, they pierced through four or five King-class monsters, stabbing through their vulnerable abdomens.

BOOM!

At the same moment—

Hundreds of ranged attacks exploded in front of Rei.

Blades of light and energy blasts of every color detonated simultaneously.

But shields of light, darkness, wind, water, ice, stone, fire, lightning, and more had already surrounded Rei—

Protecting him like a turbid sphere of swirling colors.

..

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