—–

“You woke up the boss already?!” Agustina panicked.

“Looks like we’re fighting the big one right away. We skipped the boring army!” Anastasia laughed.

“Heh!” Mirai transformed into her demon form, brows furrowed in a savage grin. “Think fast, losers!”

BOOOM!

She kicked the ground and shot straight toward the Hellfire Salamander King alone. The move shocked everyone except Louis, who caught up to her almost instantly while fusing with his Incarnations.

“Eager, aren’t you?”

“Heh. It’s mine!”

Mirai summoned her long demonic katana and swung it at the colossal salamander. The beast stared blankly at them for a moment before slowly opening its gigantic maw and unleashing a tsunami of deadly lava.

SPLAAAASH!

But Mirai’s sword was faster.

“Chaotic Demon Blade!”

“First Form…”

“Earth-Severing Chaos!”

In all her time training, Mirai had developed her own swordsmanship techniques. She only had two forms so far, but she was constantly refining them.

The result was devastating.

SLAAASH!

A titanic slash cleaved straight through the lava tsunami, splitting it in half. The molten flood instantly hardened into stone boulders that shattered and exploded outward, crushing hundreds of monsters behind them.

Her blade carried the power of “Chaos” she had only begun to tap into. It allowed her to throw elements into disarray and entropy, completely altering their composition.

This let her transform liquid lava into brittle volcanic stone and shatter it like a fragile wall.

At the same time, Louis kicked aside falling boulders and fully transformed into his strongest Dragonoid form. His skin darkened to gray, his hair lengthened into white flames, four enormous skeletal wings unfurled from his back, metallic scales covered his body, a second pair of metal arms grew, and a long bone-and-metal tail lashed behind him.

“My turn now!”

He opened his jaws and unleashed his Breath of Ruin, a devastating torrent of black-and-dark-purple Flames of Ruin. The moment they struck the Hellfire Salamander King, the creature screamed in agony and began to convulse.

Its soft skin dried out and flaked away, burning horribly. Yet as it roared, a fiery red aura surged from its body and its wounds began healing at a terrifying pace.

“The Hellfire Salamander King’s regeneration is going to be complicated to deal with!” Louis warned. “But I still have a few seconds left, so…!”

He poured every ounce of his Aura into Gungnir until the spear blazed with blooming roses of Flames of Nirvana. Then he thrust forward, combining the Rune of Slaughter with Niflheim, Muramasa, Ashen Frost Blades, Fantasium Aura, Breath of Ruin, Nirvana Flames, and more.

BOOOMMM!!!

A colossal dragon of destruction erupted from his spear and pierced straight through the salamander’s body, leaving a gaping hole in its stomach. The creature was hurled backward down the mountain, crashing below in a spray of blood and entrails.

“G-GROOOOHHHHH!”

And yet it still lived. It roared ferociously as it summoned thousands of giant stone spikes and rivers of lava that took the form of coiling serpents, attacking everything in sight.

“That didn’t do it?!” Anastasia shouted from a distance.

“It’s weakened!” Louis called back. “Now that it’s pouring all its vitality into healing that wound, aim for the head!”

“Alright then. The kill is mine!” Mirai declared. She charged forward with blazing demonic wings and unleashed dozens of Chaos Bullets that bombarded the monster, twisting and exploding its flesh with raw entropy.

At the same time, the rest of the group attacked the titanic beast, tanking its flames and volcanic stone towers as best they could.

Drake charged in relentlessly, digging into its thick skull with a barrage of techniques.

The combined assault eventually shattered the monster’s skull. True to her word, Mirai delivered the finishing blow, striking the exposed brain and slicing it into dozens of pieces before detonating them all.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Some men might have been furious that a woman stole their kill, but Louis felt only admiration for her strength and the fierce, competitive fire in her eyes. It drove him to push himself harder too.

“I did it!” Mirai celebrated, drenched in blood and brains.

“Yeah, you did, but you’re covered in nasty stuff, Mirai!” Anastasia teased.

“Ah, right…!” Mirai reverted to her normal form and used her fire to incinerate the gore clinging to her body, reducing it to ash. “Phew! So that was the fourth layer’s boss, right?”

“Yeah. It was really damn annoying. Took us almost half an hour to kill it!” Timothy complained.

“And that’s without counting all the monsters that kept showing up…” Melisa sighed.

“Rawr, but they look tasty. Wait, can we eat this?” Selene asked, wagging her tail cutely.

“Later. We can have a feast,” Louis said with a smile. “Or are you too hungry? Anyone?”

“Eh, well, we could eat some of these monsters’ meat!” Mirai suggested. “And their cores. They’re rich in Mana.”

“Yeah!” Selene nodded eagerly. “I’m very hungry! I want monster meat!”

“But Selene, we just ate like an hour ago!” Melisa protested.

“You guys are so weird. Why would you want to eat raw monsters you just killed? Ew,” Agustina sighed, shaking her head.

“Ahh, I mean, if we roast them… wait, but they’re fire monsters, right? Can you even roast that?” Timothy wondered.

“I don’t know… maybe they’ve got a natural smoky flavor,” Anastasia mused.

“You’re all taking this way too casually,” Zorba said, shaking his head. “Lord Louis, shall we advance to the Fifth Layer?”

“Yeah,” Louis agreed. “Anyone hungry can grab something and eat on the move. If you want anything else, Pandora will provide meals and drinks immediately.”

Louis opened Pandora. The spirit promptly offered a wide variety of food: hamburgers, fries, chicken nuggets from fast-food places, and sugary sodas to keep everyone energized.

Louis himself drank an elixir crafted from Dragon parts, obtained through a deal with family members, then consumed several Fantasium Cores. He had never been someone who enjoyed food much, not since his mother fell ill. Everything tasted bland to him.

Except one flavor.

The taste of strength.

The delight of growing stronger.

Ding!

[You and your party have slain [Hellfire Salamander King x1]]

[You and your party have slain [Fire Elemental (Level 3 Anomaly)] x100+]

[You and your party have slain [Crimson Wyvern (Level 3 Anomaly)] x100+]

[You and your party have slain [Volcanic Pterodactyl (Level 3 Anomaly)] x100+]

[You and your party have slain…]

[…]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Your Level has increased from Level 95 to Level 103/150.]

[All of your Stats have increased.]

Louis quickly stored all the monster corpses inside Pandora, an immensely convenient ability, and discovered several dropped items among the carnage.

After slaying so many random mobs, some had left treasure chests containing loot.

Among them were a Crimson Wyvern Bracelet (E-Rank Fire Affinity +20% Fire Magic Damage), a Fire Elemental Scepter (same Affinity + access to Fireball, Volcanic Eruption, and Flame Tower spells), and several Fire Spirit Rings (Vitality & Endurance +2% each + F-Rank Fire Affinity).

Everyone received something for their efforts. Louis gave the scepter and bracelet to little Melisa, stacking their effects to grant her C-Rank Fire Affinity, enough to make her a potent fire conjurer. It would prove invaluable in the next layer.

The boss itself dropped a fairly common item: Hellfire Salamander Oil. Applied to the body, it granted complete immunity to the Fire Element for a day. If ingested, it allowed the user to breathe fire for the same duration.

“Huh, what do I even need this elixir for? What a letdown,” Mirai sighed, slipping on a few stat-boosting rings.

“Well, I’ll take it then,” Louis said, snatching the oil from her and tossing it into Pandora’s open maw. “Let’s move. We’ve had enough of a break.”

The group quickly located the exit to the fifth layer and advanced, finally reaching the mid-stage of the Sinners Academy Dungeon.

A vast blue sky stretched overhead. Towering white stone mountains rose, blanketed in lush vegetation. Enormous Chinese-style buildings and tall pagodas crowned the peaks.

Far on the horizon, an enormous golden palace stood atop the tallest mountain.

“Wait, are we in another world now or something?!” Mirai asked, bewildered.

“Welcome to the Fifth Layer of the Dungeon,” Louis said with a faint smile. “The Celestial Peaks Realm, or as some call it, the Immortal Mountains.”

The shift from blistering heat and roaring volcanoes was jarring. Cool mountain winds swept over them, carrying the faint scent of pine, spiritual herbs, and distant incense. The sky was an endless, perfect azure dotted with lazy white clouds and drifting jade platforms that floated like islands.

Massive white stone peaks rose like the spines of ancient dragons. Terraced slopes held elegant pagodas, arched bridges, and shimmering waterfalls that glowed with faint rainbow qi.

Atop the tallest central mountain loomed the golden palace, its curved roofs like phoenix wings. Every tile gleamed with molten sunlight, surrounded by rings of defensive arrays pulsing with soft golden light. Even from this distance, the palace radiated oppressive majesty, as though judging every soul that dared approach.

The entire group stood in stunned silence, awed by the breathtaking beauty of this layer. It felt less like a dungeon and more like an entirely different world, one with a living civilization.

—–

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep