Undying Warlord

Now that Dilan had figured out the upgrade requirements of [Thunder Step], he was quite happy.

After the advancement from a Tier-0 ★★★ to a Tier-0 ★★★★ ability, the only thing that had changed about [Thunder Step] was that its duration increased by 5 seconds for every Unit of Mana he had used to activate it.

It was not a massive change that allowed Dilan to increase his combat power in an instant but it was still better than nothing.

Kathrine was still bothered about his right arm but when she saw that it took him only a few minutes to move his arm once again, she calmed down.

As long as Dilan was not crippled in any way, everything would be fine, which was what she told herself repeatedly.

Their current plan was to enter the Pagoda of Time once again. That was also what they did without wasting more of their precious time.

While Dilan was still at Tier-1 and Level 9 by now, Kathrine had already reached Tier-1 Level 13.

As long as she absorbed all the Essence crystals they were to procure in the <Duo> raid of the Pagoda of Time, she would cross Level 15 after which she would be forbidden to re-enter the instance dungeon.

But that was not important right now because their plan was different, either way.

"I just need the first four Essence crystals of every new type of monster we kill. Other than that, I think it would be best to accumulate more Essence crystals so that we can test out which permanent Gate provides what kind of treasures." Kathrine had made it clear right from the beginning.

Each permanent Gate provided different treasures in exchange for Essence crystals.

They demanded different numbers of the same type of Essence crystal as well, which was why the Pagoda of Time was also quite useful in this regard.

The same monsters would reappear over and over again, providing more than enough Essence crystals of the same type of monster.

Killing multiple birds with one stone was what Kathrine had in mind by conquering the Pagoda of Time as quickly as possible before they would collect the treasures dropped in the Instance Dungeon.

Following that they would gain more treasures by exchanging the Essence crystals at a different permanent Gate, where they would procure more information about each Gate's exchange system.

Dilan liked her plan, which was why he doubled his efforts to conquer the Pagoda of Time quickly along with her.

The interior of the Pagoda of Time didn't change much after he switched from the <Solo> Modi to the <Duo> Modi.

The floors were just more than twice the size as before and the number of monsters that appeared more than doubled.

Dilan could tell from the beginning of the <Duo> raid that the Pagoda of Time was laid out in a way that demanded bigger groups to work together so that they would be able to reach a combat strength that exceeded each of their individual prowess added together.

He presumed that the Pagoda didn't want 1+1 to equal 2, which would be an ordinary addition. Instead, it wanted them to achieve a strength where 1+1 equals 3!

It was mathematically wrong, but possible if one exchanged each '1' with the combat prowess of an Individual resulting in their combined combat prowess, and what they were actually capable of by working as a team.

There was no need for Dilan and Kathrine to work together in the first 9 Floors.

Dilan could crush all of the ordinary and Bronze monsters around him single-handedly.

He left behind more than enough monsters for Kathrine to kill and to gain more status points. However, it was most important to rush through the floors in the <Duo> mode to receive more Dungeon Points for breaking the previously set record.

Upon reaching the 10th floor, Dilan and Kathrine changed their tactics of clearing the floors. Dilan could kill the Silver Tier-1 monsters with two strikes if he were to focus on one individual.

But instead of focusing on the strongest monsters, he obliterated everyone else, while simultaneously inflicting minor injuries to the stronger monsters.

This didn't actually hurt the monsters but it was more than enough for Kathrine to eliminate them by using her lightning strike with the use of little Mana.

Working together made many things easier, even more so, if one had a partner who could launch a lethal attack.

Dilan was merely using his [Thunder Step] ability to accelerate their speed of clearing the floors.

This made things even easier when they reached the 15th floor after almost four hours had passed.

Using [Thunder Step] with little mana, fully empowering [Second Acceleration], and [Mana Slash] with the remaining mana he had left, Dilan severely injured the three Gold Tier-1 Minotaurs they faced.

Meanwhile, almost all the other monsters simply died, or were lethally injured, and were taking their last breaths.

Dilan created enough ruckus to make the monsters focus on himself and leave Kathrine alone. This allowed her to pick her targets carefully. The strategy worked as she eliminated the three Gold Tier-1 Minotaurs using her [Compressed Lightning strike] three times in succession.

She killed them easily as her highly empowered bolts of lightning pierced into her opponent's flesh due to the injuries they had already sustained at the hands of Dilan.

Through this, they were exhausted once the last battle finished, but it was a successful raid that granted Dilan additional 7500 Dungeon Points.

Meanwhile, Kathrine earned more than 15 Status points, she leveled up once, and the gains they received baffled her extremely.

"So if we were to conquer the Pagoda of Time several times a day, with multiple groups of Elite Ascenders, we will be able to get our hands on hundreds of ability crystals, pieces of equipment, and whetstones…every day?!"

They took quite a while to collect all the Essence crystals and monster drops.

However, once they were done Kathrine was more than just a little bit baffled. She was stupefied about their gains.

Dilan was also quite satisfied and happy but he was also aware of the dangers inside the Pagoda of Time.

"Well, sorry to break your bubble but are you aware of how many Ascenders died inside the Pagoda of Time until now? What do you think…how many of our people must have died?"

Greed was dangerous. It was addictive and intoxicating, and Dilan didn't believe that it was possible to think rationally while being possessed with the desire to obtain something, not if it reached the extent of obsession.

He could tell that Kathrine was not overly greedy and that she was not a materialistic person either. However, even she was beginning to show signs of greed.

She was so happy about the gains they made today that her mind disregarded the fact that the monsters they had faced were extremely powerful.

It was only because of Dilan's extremely high stats and prowess that they didn't face any problems while conquering the entire Pagoda of Time.

Kathrine had received a first taste of the benefits of the Pagoda of Time, and she wanted more. Dilan could tell that. It was not actually hard to perceive this.

The Ascenders, who had entered the Pagoda of Time before Dilan entered it for the second time, had also heard how much he had benefited from the Pagoda of Time.

Thus, many had grown greedy. That was what Dilan believed to have happened, and he would be forced to face the bitter reality just like everyone else had to.

The bitter reality unveiled itself directly in front of Dilan the moment he and Kathrine left the Pagoda of Time.

A few dozen Ascenders were spread out in front of the Pagoda of Time, looking devastated.

Some were staring into the empty space, others were crying while leaning over bodies that had been covered with thin blankets, and another few Ascenders were looking at their blood-smeared and trembling hands in disbelief.

Their adventure to the Pagoda of Time, and the trip they had imagined to be a glorious experience had left them shaken. Their hopes of winning grand and victorious battles against the vile and ferocious monsters had turned out to be a bloody nightmare.

Instead of procuring numerous treasures, death greeted them with wide open arms.

"That's what happens if you allow greed to corrupt your senses if greed is what makes your decisions!"

Dilan looked over the groups of Ascenders. His eyes were cold and he didn't show any empathy to those, who had just been traumatized by the choice they had made.

There was not a single Ascender in front of the Pagoda of Time, who he wasn't familiar with. He knew all of them quite well, but this disappointed Dilan even more as if they were nobodies, trying to make a name for themselves.

All of the Ascenders had been nurtured by him and the others. They had been rewarded with an ability and pieces of equipment, which he had gotten from the Sacred Shop.

He was well aware of the Ascenders' strength, and he clearly knew what they were capable of.

"Greed and arrogance… what a shame, and a waste of precious resources."

"..."

**

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