It didn’t take us long to clear the remaining floors of the tower.

From the second floor onward, we swept through with ease, reaching the fourth floor without much trouble.

Now, we were on the fifth floor.

“Fuck, these spear users are annoying as hell!” Kagami muttered, his frustration clear as he faced off against multiple spear-wielding golems.

Unlike the massive waves of unarmed golems on the previous floors—mostly around B-rank in strength—these ones were different.

They were at the top when it came to skill efficiency among A-ranked monsters, and their precise, relentless attacks made them far more troublesome to deal with.

Still, it was impressive watching Kagami hold his own.

He was fighting three of them at once, all while dodging arrows fired by bow-wielding golems positioned at the back.

If he wanted to win, he had to deal with the archers first.

But with the spear users constantly pressuring him, there was no opening to charge up his S-rank skill, [Meteor Strike].

If he wanted to survive this, he’d have to adjust—fast—before his stamina ran out.

BOOM!!!

A deafening explosion shook the entire floor.

“Hahahaha! Take that, you bastards!” Kagami laughed wildly, his voice filled with exhilaration.

Or… he could just brute-force his way through everything.

That worked too.

I knew he had an absurdly high pain tolerance and skin tough as diamonds when he wanted to, but would it kill him to dodge once in a while?

At this rate, we’d burn through most of our potions just keeping him patched up.

And to make things worse, his attacks were wrecking the entire area.

If he decided to unleash [Meteor Strike] in the middle of this, there was a real chance he’d bring down the whole damn floor.

“Rose, can you put up a barrier? Just in case.”

“Sure~”

She was still holding my hand but nodded without hesitation.

Stretching out her free hand, she conjured a transparent golden barrier around us.

Not that we desperately needed it—but with the way Kagami was fighting, I’d rather focus on the battle than waste energy dodging the flying debris he was bound to cause.

CLANGGG!!!

The sharp clash of metal rang through the air.

Looks like that guy finally mellowed out a bit…

I glanced over at Lucas, who was locked in battle with his own set of golems.

Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, I noted that he wasn’t as overly excited as before.

Last time, he got so carried away that he ended up hurting Janica in the process.

I wasn’t sure what had gotten into him, but I had a feeling my comment questioning his morality as a knight had really gotten to him.

Right now, much like Kagami, he was handling multiple golems at once.

But unlike Kagami—who was dealing with three spear-wielders and an archer—Lucas had a different challenge.

He was up against two sword users, a twin-dagger assassin, and three archers supporting from behind.

Two frontliners, one assassin, and three ranged attackers…

A solid strategy. Against most people, this formation could be deadly. But unfortunately for them, their opponent was Lucas.

As we progressed through the dungeon, the golems seemed to adapt, their numbers and tactics adjusting to counter our strengths.

The dungeon must have determined that this specific formation was the best way to challenge Lucas.

And to be fair, it was impressive.

And to add even more problem for him.

Lucas couldn’t go all out.

Not with Kagami and Janica nearby.

Unlike before, he couldn’t afford to let loose, which meant he had to rely entirely on pure skill to win.

’Maybe the dungeon noticed that too…?’

Turning to the other side, I noticed that Janica moved with the most fluidity among the three. Her attacks were clean and precise, slicing through golems with swift, practiced movements.

I had expected her to be the most shaken, especially after what happened earlier. But I guess I overthought things.

If anything, she and Lucas seemed closer than ever now.

That said, they weren’t pulling off their usual synchronized combo attacks. It made sense, though.

With the gap in their strength right now, I doubted Janica could fully keep up with Lucas, aside from being a bit more nimble.

Their stats alone made that clear.

Still, after clearing this dungeon, I planned for her to take a Heavenly Divine Pill—something that would help her break past her current limits.

Kagami would probably throw a fit and insist on hoarding all the pills for himself, but that didn’t matter.

The whole reason I brought Janica here in the first place wasn’t just for power—it was for her to build some self-confidence.

In the game, Janica was the only key heroine who had a deep inferiority complex toward the others—especially the main characters.

Unlike the literal monster-tier geniuses around her, she was just a prodigy by normal standards.

She had talent, sure, but to even be considered in the same league as them, she had to work twice as hard.

Now that she had seen what Lucas was truly capable of, I could only hope she wouldn’t go down the same path of unnecessary envy she took in one of her routes.

[Note: Showing party status (X2)]

[Party member (1)]

[Name: Lucas]

[Race: Half Angel]

[Level: 147]

[Strength: S]

[Agility: A]

[Endurance: S]

[Luck: A]

[Power: S]

[Skills:]

[Advance Swordsmanship] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Divinity] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Aura] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Golden Shower] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Luminous Pierce] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Verdant Slash] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Solar Wheel] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Chrysalis Strike] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Golden Riposte] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Twin Lights] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Void Step] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Luminous Armor] [Proficiency: (98%)]

[Golden Gaze] [Proficiency: (89%)]

[Hero’s intuition] [Proficiency: (80%)]

[World Shift] [Proficiency: (70%)]

[Lord of Light (S)] [Unlocked]

[Holy Sword’s Blessing (EX)] [Unlocked]

[Sword of the Divine (EX)] [Unlocked]

[Passive Skills:]

[Divine attack Immunity] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Corruption Immunity] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Elemental attack Resistance] [Proficiency: (90%)]

[Mystical attack Resistance] [Proficiency: (90%)]

[Evil Attack Resistance] [Proficiency: (90%)]

[Weapon Master] [Proficiency: (90%)]

[Sword Master] [Proficiency: (89%)]

[Sword Genius] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Lion’s Heart] [Proficiency: (80%)]

[Knight’s Will] [Proficiency: (80%)]

[Fast Heal] [Proficiency: (70%)]

[Special abilities]

[Limit Breaker.]

[Description: No limits shall be placed upon the destined one]

[Overview: Beloved by the world]

…..

[Party member (2)]

[Status info:]

[Janica Mortelina]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 140]

[Strength: B]

[Agility: S]

[Endurance: C]

[Luck: D]

[Power: B]

[Skills:]

[Advance Swordsmanship] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Aura] [Proficiency: (100%)]

[Piercing Death] [Proficiency: (90%)]

[Triple swallow] [Proficiency: (85%)]

[Swift Blades] [Proficiency: (80%)]

[Thought Acceleration] [Proficiency: (80%)]

[Accel Shift] [Proficiency: (80%)]

[Passive Skills:]

[Intuition (B)] [Proficiency: (90%)]

[Rapier Master] [Proficiency: (90%)]

[Adapting Sword] [Proficiency: (90%)]

[Aura Genius] [Proficiency: (85%)]

[Special abilities]

[Balance] [Sealed]

[Description: Balances and shares the status between the user and the opponent]

[Overview: Destined flower of the light]

As expected, Lucas had now unlocked his S-rank skill [Lord of Light], along with [Holy Sword’s Blessing (EX)] and yet another broken skill, [Sword of the Divine (EX)].

At this point, his stats were practically designed to push him past his limits. Just five more levels, and—just like me—he’d break through his limit cap.

I was worried about this bastard for nothing. He really was the damn protagonist, huh?

With the way he was progressing, dealing with the demons about to attack the academy wouldn’t be much of a threat to him anymore.

Emilia would probably be thrilled once she saw the overwhelming light inside him.

That was at least somewhat reassuring, considering I had no idea how long my fight with the White Queen—alongside Senior Alice—was going to last.

As for Janica… her stats weren’t bad either. In fact, they were better than mine.

If I didn’t have my cheat-like skills, she would undoubtedly be stronger than me stat-wise.

That said, she still hadn’t unlocked [Balance], which was a bit surprising.

But a simple intake of the Heavenly Divine Pill would likely help her with that.

[Name: Riley Hell]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 145/200]

[Strength: S (???)]

[Agility: B (0/80)]

[Endurance: C (0/60)]

[Luck: 0 (????)]

[Power: C (0/60)]

[Skill Points: 121+20+20+12]

[Total Skill Points: 173]

With the huge amount of bonus status points I got from my recent ascension, I had way more points to distribute than usual.

My level cap was even higher than Lucas’s, at least for now.

And with my skill [Divine Will], if I managed to reach level 200, the added status boost against evil entities would let me surpass whatever Lucas could reach in the game.

Right now, with the blessing from the goddess, I was pretty much just as stacked as Lucas when it came to broken skills.

A few more points, and I could push my Agility to S-rank, which would make mastering my [Hidden Blade Technique] far easier.

But for now, I’d have to make do with my still-lagging stats.

I began allocating my points where they were needed most:

[Available Status Points: 173 → 60]

[Endurance: C (60/60)] → [B (0/80)]

[Available Status Points: 113 → 60]

[Power: C (60/60)] → [B (0/80)]

[Remaining Status Points: 53]

This should be a good start.

Now, I just needed to plan out my next stat boost carefully before leveling up again.

With this, my build should finally be much more balanced.

While focusing on a single aspect can be effective, one thing became painfully clear to me after my ascension yesterday—being more well-rounded suits me better.

Especially with the status boosts I get, spreading my growth across multiple areas ensures I don’t have any glaring weaknesses.

Even though the system assigns most of my status points as (EX) when I ascend, I can still feel subtle differences between natural growth and skill boosts.

The system simply can’t quantify anything beyond (EX) rank, which means there are probably even greater levels of strength that it can’t measure properly.

I glanced at my updated stats:

[Strength: S (???)]

[Agility: B (0/80)]

[Endurance: B (0/80)]

[Luck: 0 (????)]

[Power: B (0/80)]

A sudden wave of heat surged through my body, and I felt a sharp tightening in my chest—not exactly pain, but something close to it.

My muscles tensed and shifted, adapting to the new surge of power.

At the same time, I could sense my mana expanding, rippling through me like a current.

And with it, my divinity had also grown stronger.

Before I could focus on this newfound power any further, a familiar voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

“Riley, can I join now?”

I turned to see Seo standing beside me, her red eyes locked onto mine.

“Are you bored?”.

She nodded without hesitation. I chuckled and reached out to ruffle her hair, causing her to close her eyes slightly but not pull away.

Well, I guess for someone as strong as Seo, just standing around and watching must be agonizing.

She might not be a battle junkie, but anyone would get restless just spectating while a full-blown fight unfolded before them.

Even I was itching to jump into the fray.

But for now… that could wait. I still wasn’t done assessing these guys just yet.

“We’re gonna have to wait a bit more before we take our turn, Seo. Don’t worry, though—there’s a boss up ahead that’s a perfect opponent for you.”

Seo didn’t reply right away. She simply nodded in understanding; her expression unreadable as always.

Meanwhile, I turned my attention back to Lucas and the others, observing how they handled the remaining enemies. That’s when I noticed Janica—her gaze was directed toward me.

“Hm?”

Our eyes met for the briefest moment… but the instant they did, she quickly turned away, almost too quickly.

Huh.

Was she annoyed that Rose, Seo, and I still hadn’t joined the battle?

It wouldn’t be surprising—watching others fight while we stood around must have been frustrating for someone as prideful and competitive as her.

…

’Agh… don’t get distracted, Janica!’

Her blade sliced cleanly through the final golem, the last remaining obstacle in her path.

As its massive body crumbled into dust, a wave of relief washed over her—but it wasn’t enough to calm the tightness in her chest. Stay updated with NovelBin.Côm

Her heart was still pounding, faster than it should be.

’Riley is just being Riley… that’s all.’

Her grip on her sword tightened as she let out a slow, controlled breath.

Yet, despite trying to push the thought away, her eyes betrayed her.

Before she even realized it, she was looking at him again.

And there he was.

Standing comfortably, completely unbothered by the battle.

Patting Seo’s head.

Her eye twitched.

A strange, unconscious annoyance bubbled up inside her chest.

’Yes. That’s why I’m annoyed. It’s because they’re not helping. It’s because they look so relaxed while the rest of us are fighting. That’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less.’

Thump—!

She felt it.

A sharp, quickened beat in her chest, one she immediately forced herself to ignore.

Yes, that’s definitely all it was.

Before she could dwell on it any further, a familiar voice called out to her.

“Janica! Let’s go! Riley said the entrance to the sixth floor is just ahead!”

It was Kagami, waving at her from a distance.

She exhaled, gripping her sword tighter before finally turning away.

“Coming.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep