The instant the King-tier monsters launched their long-range attacks, countless projectiles tore through the air—
—and yet not a single one managed to injure Kanzaki Rei.
As for the attacks from the Lord-tier monsters, Rei blocked them even more effortlessly.
Earthen Flames. Ten Thousand Vines. Thorn Barrage. Stone Arms. Crushing Spike Walls…
Seas of Fire. Ice Bursts. Flame Waves. Multi-Chain Lightning…
The defining characteristic of Second-Tier spells was elemental dominance.
Offensive and defensive magic built around every conceivable element.
Magic erupted from thin air, sweeping across the battlefield again and again. Each surge carved through another King-tier monster.
Wherever the spells passed—death followed without exception.
Meanwhile, the Sea of Fire spread across the ground like a blazing ocean, while large-scale spells of every element rapidly cleaned up the lesser enemies scattered throughout the field.
In truth, the other spells were almost unnecessary.
Simply casting Sea of Fire—powered by the sacrifice of 100 souls—across the ground in front of him was already enough.
Even Third-Tier Lord-class monsters could not cross it.
Touch the flames—
—and die.
These minor monsters were nothing more than deliveries of souls to Rei.
Rei didn't clear the battlefield as quickly as Akasei, however.
It took him about 40 seconds to eliminate all 33 King-tier monsters.
From beginning to end—
he never moved a single step.
Even when a few exceptionally resilient monsters managed to push forward, Rei forced them back using:
[Repelling Wind Blast][Rejection Water Ring][Surging Push Tide][Shifting Shadow Mire][Anchoring Mud Bog][Ultra-Tough Binding Vines]
No matter what tricks the monsters attempted, none of them could get close enough to harm him.
The only damage they could inflict came from sonic pressure or mental attacks.
Unfortunately for them—
the monsters capable of mental or sonic assaults were the first ones Rei killed.
The few that survived for a few seconds longer after that posed no real threat.
Akasei laughed loudly.
"Ha! Not bad."
"You've got a bit of my style from back in the day."
Even as he said it, however, Akasei felt a little uncertain.
Did I really have this kind of style back then…?
Muttering to himself internally, Akasei began collecting the corpses.
As for the Lord-tier monsters, he didn't even bother.
Spending half the day harvesting materials only to earn a dozen or so gold coins wasn't worth the effort.
But King-tier monsters were different.
With their fifty-fifty split, each one still brought in roughly 1,000 gold coins.
Thirty-three of them—
That meant 33,000 gold coins.
Rei was quite satisfied with the 50/50 distribution.
He could handle Third-Tier monsters on his own, but if they encountered Fourth-Tier Catastrophe-class monsters, he would still need Akasei's help.
As for souls, Rei had gained 4,122 souls.
He had sacrificed 5,100 souls earlier…
Looks like he still needed to hunt more insect-type monsters.
These beasts charged in groups and looked overwhelming, but in reality their numbers weren't that large.
They only seemed numerous because of their massive bodies.
More experiments would be needed.
"Akasei… about the fact that I can mutate dungeons…"
"Yeah, yeah. I know," Akasei replied immediately. "I won't go around telling people."
"I understand how things like this work."
Rei nodded.
"Mm. Thanks, Akasei."
The two of them continued roaming around in search of new dungeons to sacrifice.
This place truly deserved its reputation as a famous adventurer's hotspot.
Walk a short distance—
and another dungeon entrance would appear.
They seemed endless.
Standing before another Third-Tier dungeon, Rei activated the ritual again.
Sacrifice — 10,000 Souls
A Third-Tier dungeon infused with 10,000 souls produced 50 Third-Tier King-tier monsters.
The number of lesser monsters didn't increase much.
Rei cleared this dungeon personally as well.
His Soul Collection specialty was incredibly helpful—it allowed him to keep track of exactly how many monsters he had killed.
King-tier monsters: 50Lord-tier monsters: 122
The remaining Elite and Normal monsters were practically indistinguishable cannon fodder.
Altogether, their total number was only around 6,000.
When sacrificing 1,000 souls, the dungeon produced 10 King-tier monsters.
With 5,000 souls, it produced 33.
Now, with 10,000 souls, there were only 50.
…The cost-performance ratio was getting worse and worse.
After leaving that dungeon, they found four more Third-Tier dungeons.
Rei experimented with sacrifices of:
6,000 souls7,000 souls8,000 souls9,000 souls
Carefully controlling the variables.
His hypothesis was quickly confirmed.
The more souls he sacrificed—
the slower the growth rate of powerful monsters became.
After several runs—
Akasei suddenly shouted in excitement.
"Oh! Another Fourth-Tier dungeon!"
His enthusiasm was obvious.
This time, they decided to test a Fourth-Tier dungeon.
Rei performed the ritual again.
Sacrifice — 50,000 Souls
Even Rei felt a sting of pain sacrificing 50,000 souls.
Gathering them was far from easy.
But when he remembered that a single Fourth-Tier Catastrophe-class monster could be worth over 200,000 gold coins, the pain eased considerably.
"Akasei."
"For the Catastrophe-class monsters this time… can I try fighting one myself?"
During the past half month, Rei had already fought Fourth-Tier King-tier monsters.
Using only the Mage class, he could kill them.
But Catastrophe-class monsters—
he had no real understanding of their strength yet.
"Sure, that's fine," Akasei agreed readily.
Rei continued:
"If I get into danger, please protect me."
That was the entire reason Rei had asked Akasei to accompany him today.
He wanted to experiment with dungeon sacrifices.
But experiments weren't reckless gambles.
He needed a safety net.
Catastrophe-class monsters existed only in records—he had never fought one personally.
Without fighting one, he couldn't truly know their strength.
And before performing the sacrifice, Rei had no idea what form the dungeon would mutate into.
Everything they had seen today—
was the result of first-time experimentation.
What if the dungeon exit disappeared?
What if the ritual summoned monsters beyond the dungeon's original tier?
What if Catastrophe-class monsters appeared that he couldn't defeat?
What if he could defeat one—but several appeared at once?
Every unknown risk demanded a backup plan.
If Akasei hadn't come today—
Rei would have abandoned the experiment entirely.
He would never gamble with his own life.
They stepped into the dungeon.
What appeared before them looked like mountain ranges stretching endlessly.
Catastrophe-class monsters truly lived up to their name.
They were enormous.
Standing before Rei was something like a 50-meter-tall wall of flesh, its massive four legs shaking the ground with every movement.
Even if spells like Piercing Pillar or Ice Lance struck its body—
they would probably feel like mosquito bites.
And monsters like this—
stood before him in groups of ten.
50,000 sacrificed souls had produced:
10 Fourth-Tier Catastrophe-class monsters.
Alongside them were 17 Fourth-Tier King-tier monsters.
Rei swept his gaze across the battlefield.
At once—
the surrounding elements erupted into violent turmoil.
BOOM!
Using Wind Blast and Bursting Spring, Rei launched himself high into the sky.
The ground below instantly turned crimson and molten.
Centered beneath his feet—
a 500-meter radius transformed into a blazing sea of pure scarlet.
..
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