The explosion happened just as the giant purple-black sword struck the monster’s body. A cry of pain rang out from the monster boss, the attack hitting its weak spot.
"What... what happened?"
Agares lost his strength. He landed softly from the sky and watched the monster boss slowly crumble. A system panel appeared, displaying the active buffs.
[ 850 damage] [Critical ATK]
[Chain Effect Activated]
[Dark Mark Activated]
[Doom Activated]
Not only was the Dark Mark active on the turtle’s forehead, but the Doom rune pattern was also active and spreading throughout the monster’s body.
But before Doom could be triggered, the monster boss exploded and splattered its blood all over the place.
Crygma Crystalshell was dead, as were the Crygma Shardlings. There were no other monsters left in the fifth floor boss room.
[DING! Congratulations, Agares! You have defeated the floor boss monster]
[Na: Crygma Crystalshell]
[Type: Ice Turtle]
[Affinity: Ice]
[Lv: 5]
[ 700exp]
[EXP: 28,550/28,900] [ 700]
"Tch! Just a little more, why is the number always so low?!" complained Agares.
But look on the bright side, Agares had defeated the fifth floor boss and opened the door to the next floor. His adventure was not over, it had just begun with his Shadepiercer sword.
Agares stepped closer to Crygma Crystalshell’s corpse and held out his hand to pick up the dropped item.
[Dropped Item:]
[ 20 Silver Coins]
[1x Crystalshell Carapace]
[1x Crygma Shard]
[1x Crygma Core]
[5x Monster Core]
’Every ti I defeat a floor boss in solo, I will get one valuable item from the monster,’ explained Agares.
While the dropped item panel was still displayed, Agares pressed the Crygma Core item and revealed a blue diamond with the Crygma Crystalshell monster inside it, as if frozen. The diamond also continued to emit steam from its ice affinity.
"Nyx."
[Standby Mode Deactivated]
[Do you need anything, Master?]
"Scan this item and tell why it’s so expensive in the dungeon rchant."
[I’ll do it, Master]
[Starting item scan]
[1%] [100%]
[Item scan successful]
[Item: Crygma Crystalshell]
[Desc: A rare-tier valuable item obtainable from floor bosses via 1vs1 battles. Typically used to enhance weapons with ice affinity or forge new weapons with ice affinity. The Crygma Crystalshell inside can be extracted into a pet or weapon spirit]
"A pet or weapon spirit? Wait! This is material for making a tier five weapon?" Agares asked.
[Correct, Master]
[When a monster’s soul is extracted into a weapon, the weapon gains affinity similar to that monster. The monster’s body transforms into a weapon spirit]
"Tell , how much is this item worth on the market?"
[Considering its quality and rarity, items like Crygma Crystalshell are estimated to be worth 100–150 gold]
"150 gold? No wonder rchant Li was so interested in this item."
"Knowing it’s that expensive, I should have negotiated the price with him."
"Forget it."
"I’ll do it later."
Obtaining a valuable item like the Crygma Core made Agares happy. But he couldn’t let his guard down. The next monsters might be much more troubleso and difficult than the previous ones.
For that reason, Agares had to be prepared for any possibility.
Agares put the item away and stepped closer to the open dungeon hallway. Aoi woke up and poked her face out of Agares’ shirt pocket, yawning sleepily as she asked about what had happened.
"Nothing. Let’s go to the sixth floor."
"Did you defeat the boss on the fifth floor?" asked Aoi. Agares nodded.
Aoi smiled happily, relieved to see Agares was okay. However, Aoi wasn’t feeling so great.
The fox was hungry!
"I... I’m hungry."
"Haha!"
Agares tapped his magic pouch and took out the piece of bread, luckily it hadn’t molded yet. He gave Aoi a large piece of bread while saying sothing.
"After this, you have to help a lot, Aoi," Agares requested.
"Sure. After I finish eating this bread, I’ll help you."
"You’re such a kid."
***
One month later.
Capital City of Solaris.
The Great Empire.
"It’s the Hero Lux Jonathan!"
"Wow. I never thought they’d survive that dangerous mission on the Red Line."
"Are you kidding? He’s the best, soone with over 80% light affinity."
"No one can defeat him, not even the monster Agares."
Thousands of people flooded the main street of the Solaris Capital to welco the arrival of the Celestial Vanguard team—Jonathan’s team and other selected heroes.
There were six in the team, consisting of four chosen heroes and two ordinary knights with the highest light affinity in the hall.
Jonathan, as the holder of the highest light affinity, was the team leader. He smiled with golden armor and a white robe draped over his body.
His appearance was elegant and srizing, hypnotizing many people into admiring him.
They arrived in the city on a luxurious horse-drawn carriage, gold-plated and large in size. Jonathan stood there holding his light spear, greeting the people of the city warmly.
"I’m leaving," said an Assassin nad Quillen.
Jonathan turned around, suddenly changing his smile into a tense expression, staring at Quillen with a stern and intimidating gaze.
"If you step out of this horse-drawn carriage, I will replace you in the team!" he threatened softly.
"A-Alright, Sir Jonathan."
Quillen sat back down helplessly, forced to enjoy the horse-drawn carriage procession. Silva sighed, the mage with the highest light affinity stepped forward and approached Jonathan.
"Aren’t you being too harsh on him?" Silva asked softly.
"I did what I had to do. If he leaves, people will think we’re not loyal, " Jonathan explained.
"That could ruin their hopes for the Great Empire."
Jonathan turned his head, looked at Silva with a smile and closed his eyes. Silva looked at Jonathan’s face, he tried to hold back his anger because he was in public.
"Do you understand what I an, Mage Silva?" asked Jonathan.
"I understand, Lancer Jonathan."
"Co on, smile and greet their hopeful faces. They are the only reason we must continue to fight," pleaded Jonathan.
Silva was silent, then stepped aside. She was wearing a beautiful long dress in a combination of white and gold, her right hand clutching a magic wand encrusted with gold and the rarest gem in the world, Luncryst.
"Lady Silva. I love you."
"Thank you for always protecting us, Lady Silva."
"You look elegant and charming, Lady Silva."
The woman was used to hearing their complints, the cheers they had received countless tis every ti they returned to Solaris after a mission on the Red Line.
Their missions were dangerous, but the welco from thousands of people, to the point that the Empire closed all shops for a day, was too much.
Silva turned to look at Jonathan, thinking that he was actually enjoying the welco. For so reason, ever since he joined the Lancer Hall and beca the leader of the Lux heroes, his attitude had changed drastically from what Silva had imagined.
’Agares. What has happened to you?’ Silva asked, staring at the sky.
Soon after, the Celestial Vanguard arrived at the Imperial Palace. Emperor Altherius IV stood in the front yard, along with Empress Magdalena III, the princes and princesses of the empire.
Not only them, but the ministers and leaders of the six knight halls were also present to welco them. The Celestial Vanguard’s achievents were beyond their expectations.
Jonathan and the others got off the golden horse-drawn carriage one by one, then lined up neatly in a row.
Emperor Altherius IV walked forward, raised his sacred staff, and touched it to each person’s forehead.
It was a sign of blessing, but Silva called it bullshit.
"Welco to the capital of Solaris, Celestial Vanguard Team."
"You have carried out your mission very well," praised Emperor Altherius IV.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. May you be blessed," said the six knights in unison.
A middle-aged man in an imperial robe walked over and stopped right in front of Jonathan. Among the others, he praised Jonathan more.
"You are a beacon of light for humanity. Your service is beyond asure."
"If you don’t mind, I would like to discuss your proposed marriage to Princess Karina."
Jonathan gasped, then turned to look at the beautiful woman nad Karina. Jonathan smiled; he had fallen in love with her since Jonathan arrived in Solaris, so of course, Jonathan would not refuse a proposal from Emperor Altherius IV.
"Of course, Your Majesty. I am very honored," said Jonathan, feeling grateful.
"Good. Co with ."
He nodded, stepping into the imperial palace following the emperor’s family. The five hall leaders walked to the mbers of the Celestial Vanguard team, congratulating them.
"Thank you, Hall Leader," they said in unison.
"May I ask sothing, Hall Leader?" said a Warpriest, Delvin.
"Go ahead, Warpriest Delvin," said the Hall Leader of the Warpriests, Elvan.
"What is the situation with Agares?" asked Delvin.
"Huff."
"No one knows. He entered the S-level dungeon."
"You don’t need to worry about that monster anymore. Caer Vireth Castle has taken control of the situation there."
"Your task is to clear the Red Line and defeat the Demon Emperor."
"What if Agares manages to escape?" asked Delvin.
"It’s impossible. Once he exits that dungeon, that’s his death."
Silva listened to their conversation. She beca increasingly worried about Agares, her good friend. But she couldn’t do much because Agares was a criminal.
Lux heroes were forbidden from cooperating with criminals, and Agares was one of them.
’Agares... I hope you can resolve your problems.’
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