Chapter 78: Is This Really Happening Again? (2)

For the past two months, they slept, ate and did business in turns. They used the rest of their time to tirelessly advance through the ancient temple. The ancient temple was longer and deeper than any Dungeon they had gone through. On the other hand, the party had grown so much that their martial prowess couldn't be compared to before.

They were rising in level as they fought the ancient merfolk. Even though the merfolk's levels also rose steadily, it didn't slow down the speed of their advance through the temple.

"Oohp. The water is heavy."

"Oppa~"

At some point, the party realized that the temple's hallway had narrowed. They realized the atmosphere within the temple had changed.

"Artpe, our surrounding became darker."

"The Mana's property has changed..... The truly dangerous beings will come out now. You should be on your toes."

Once one enters the deep ocean, it's a place where sunlight doesn't reach. The only light that illuminated the surrounding was the Mana infused within the ocean water. As the properties of Mana changed, the light naturally changed in strength and chromaticity. It also meant that the abilities of the monsters changed depending on where they lived!

[Nyaaaaaaa.]

"You are very drunk on the energy."

If one had to pick a member of Artpe's party, who had grown the most in the past two month, it would have have to be Roa. She was born as the Greed Beast, and her growth was dependent on what she ate. After being born, she had been traversing on the silk road up until now. However, the ancient temple exceeded anything she had come across before.

"As we travel further inward, the evil energy is being upgraded into becoming demonic in nature, so this result is to be expected. But....."

[Nyaa, nyaa-oooooh.]

Roa was currently at level 222. Sienna possessed the lowest level amongst Artpe's party at level 235. This show how ridiculously fast Roa had grown. Of course, Maetel possessed the highest level at 246. Artpe was close behind her at level 245.

'It's incredibly hard for humans over level 200 to develop further. Every one of us were able to increase our levels in just two days. This is why a hero's ability is labeled to be the best. Even the chef would be surprised by it.'

At this point, Artpe was sure of one thing. Maetel's Innate ability of Acceleration was being shared by the party.

If not, he couldn't explain why Sienna and he was growing at comparable speed as Maetel!

"Hmmm······."

"What is it, Artpe? Even if I am pretty, I'll get embarrassed if you stare at me like that."

"You are becoming more shameless."

"It's because I take after you, Artpe! We really are made for each other."

He had enough circumstantial and material evidence to support his claim. If he explained it to her, she would just tilt her head in puzzlement. He didn't know if she was acting ignorant or if she really wasn't cognizant of it. In either event, this was what she wanted in her heart, so Artpe didn't go out of his way to tackle this issue.

Even if her Innate ability was shared by the entire party, Maetel's growth speed remained crazy. There was no change, so it wasn't a big problem. At this point in time, he wondered if her ability was being applied equally instead of being split.

[Koo-hoo-ahhhhhhhh]

Artpe's party was traveling at high speeds. They were vigilant of their surrounding as they explored the heart of the temple. At that moment, they heard the breathing sound of terrifying monsters from far away.

"I wondered why we didn't run across anything for a long while."

"It feels like they are mid-bosses. If we compare it to the Demon King's army, they are like the Four Heavenly Kings."

"So they are inconsequential?"

"······yes. I guess they are."

These were elite monsters that had been asleep for countless years. They had opened their eyes to punish the delinquents that had dared to invade the deepest part of the temple. It wasn't just one or two monsters. Artpe already sensed five of them.

"They are over level 250······."

"It's all right. We can win against them."

"Of course, we can win against them. Still, you shouldn't underestimate them. You should face them one at a time."

"All right."

As one traveled further up in level, the difference between a single level became stark. Moreover, one had to keep in mind that monsters drastically increased in power every 50 levels. If one considered this point, the monsters living at the heart of the temple were truly calamitous.

What would have happened if they were released into the ocean? The Lunatic Wave that impacted on Diaz would look like a joke compared to what would happen.

'I've always had this thought, but isn't the world too unstable? If there were no heroes, the Demon King's army would have no reason to step forward. In spite of that the human realm seemed destined for ruin.......'

Artpe grumbled as he raised his hands. White magical energy was produced from the tip of his fingers. It covered the entire party as it formed a pentagonal barrier of light.

It's identity was a Priest's skill called the Holy Barrier. It was mainly used to block magical energy, but it also had the effect of resisting against physical attacks. This barrier could be used in conjunction with Mana String and Hyper Rubbing. It increased the power of the barrier to fantastical level. Now Artpe didn't hesitate to call these two spells as his main power.

[Ka-ha!]

After Artpe created the barrier, a monster valiantly charged out from the darkness. It rammed into the barrier. Just a single collision created a large crack, and instead of maintaining the barrier, Artpe purposefully broke apart the barrier. The fragments of the barrier embedded itself into the body of the monster.

[Koo-wahhhhhhng!]

[Hweeeee. Our enemies······!]

"They are coming from other directions. Be on your guard!"

Holy Barriers formed wherever Artpe waved his hands. As if they were keeping a promise, the monsters rammed their heads wherever the barriers had formed.

Of course, Artpe was using his Read All Creation ability, so he was able to read their Mana and life signs. He could predict their paths, so he had created the barriers beforehand. From the perspective of the monsters, it was a very frustrating development.

"Sienna!"

"Yes, unni!"

The rest of the party members didn't pay attention to the other monsters. They focused on the monster that had charged in first. They focused their attack on the monster that had been battered by Artpe's magic. This was a tactic that couldn't be used unless they were confident that Artpe could block the advance of rest of the monsters.

[Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!]

"Now!"

Roa absorbed the monster's demonic energy. When the monster lost focus, Maetel used her long sword. It shot out towards the monster's body under the influence of her Innate ability of Acceleration.

[Koo-oh-ahhhhhhhhh!]

"Divine Hammer!"

Her consecutive attacks didn't allow the monster to form a skill or a spell. It screamed as it tried to retreat. Hover, Sienna was already ready for it. She gripped her enormous hammer, and she brought it down on the monster! The monster was already filled with evil energy, so Sienna's single blow brought its life to an end.

"One down! Next!"

"Hurry up!"

"I'm going right now!"

While the girls were able to leisurely kill a single monster, Artpe was busy using consecutive Holy Barriers and Mana Strings.

Artpe's Mana Strings were connected to ten Holy Barriers. When Artpe twitched his fingers, the Holy Barrier sliced through the ocean water to stop the charge of the four monsters. How much spare Mana did one need to pull this off? It was a shocking sight!

"Divine Hammer! Divine Hammer!"

"Hoo-ooooohp! Beaaaaaam!"

[Nyaaaaa!]

Artpe was amazing for blocking monsters over level 250 by himself, but the rest of his party members were amazing too. The three of them were able to kill each monster by pouring out their skills at once.

Artpe was famous for possessing vast quantities of Mana, so he was the exception. Of course, the battle was a bit of a handful for Maetel and Sienna. However, all their difficulties were solved with Maetel's Record Divide skill. For them, Artpe's magical energy was like an endless source.

[Kyaa-hahhhhhk!]

[This is vexing. Our enemy is right in front of our eyes......]

He had been telling the truth that each level up brought significant change. However, the level up of the members of the hero's party couldn't be compared to a normal level up. Their increase in ability was overwhelming.

In the past two month, Maetel had perfected and adapted the use of Acceleration, while they explored the temple. Sienna was able to showcase more powerful abilities than Maetel when she faced Demons or monsters that possessed the Demonic gene. They were able to flawlessly kill opponents that were 10 or 20 levels higher. They didn't even receive a single scratch in the fight.

Roa got ahold of the enemy to weaken the monster. Maetel brought down the guard of the monster, and Sienna finished it by striking the monster with her powerful energy. Their ability to link their skills had reached full maturity.

"Artpe, there is still one left!"

[Koo-ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!]

"Tsk. What a nimble bastard······."

In no time, four monsters were killed and there was only one left. The remaining monster was much bigger and stronger than the others.

It possessed brutal power. It could break his Holy Barrier with just one charge. This particular monster had come after Artpe from the beginning. It had charged after Artpe once it had caught sight of him.

[Koo-ohhhhhhhhhng!]

In terms of Mana, Evil Reflector Sienna would repulse the monster more. Maetel's attacks were able to create a more destructive result. It wouldn't have been strange if the monster had decided to attack either of the girls. However, the monster had come after Artpe as if he was a sworn enemy. He had no idea why this was the case.

"Sienna, give me your Mana!"

"Yes!"

He shared Sienna's Mana through Maetel. Since this monster possessed Demonic energy, this monster was only a slightly annoying foe.

"Die!"

[Koo-haaaaaaaaaaaaaahk!]

The Mana String was formed after being infused with a significant amount of Sienna's Mana infused within it. Several dozen threads shot out at once from Artpe's body. They pierced through the entire body of the monster, who had been charging forward as if it wanted to crush Artpe.

It was reminiscent of a magic that had appeared only once in the past. It was a magic used by the highest priest, who was the proxy of a god. It looked like highest ranked imprisonment magic called the God's Chain.

[Koo-ohhhhhhng! Ooh-goo-ahhhhhhhng!]

There were eight thick octopus legs attached to its lower body. It stretched its legs out all at once to resist against the attack, but Maetel and Sienna followed up immediately with their attack. In the end, it died in a futile manner. Maetel was right. It hadn't been much of an opponent like the Four Heavenly Kings. This fact hurt an unknown portion of his heart.

Maetel tilted her head in puzzlement, while she looted the dead enemy.

"This guy has the face of a human, yet it only made unintelligible sounds."

"As we travel deeper, we are more inclined to find such beings. As these monsters fail to reach an equilibrium between their demonic energy and pure Mana, their intelligence starts to deteriorate. They chose the wrong path to become stronger, and this one is probably at the end stage of this process."

[Nyaa nyaa-ah.]

It didn't matter if her enemies were smart or dumb. They were just delicious preys for Roa. However, she suddenly tilted her head in the middle of consuming the monster's demonic energy.

[Nyaa-ah? Nyaa nyaa-ha? Nyaa-ooh-ahh?]

"You tasted this somewhere before? It probably taste like all the monsters you've been eating up until now."

[Nyaa, nyaa nyaa! Nyaa nyaa-ah nyaa nyaa nyaa!]

"Ha. You are forcing me to delve deeper into this."

Artpe let out a sigh as he widened both his eyes. It wasn't difficult to read the information from a dead corpse.

His Read All Creation ability assessed the Ancient Merman, who had octopus legs. All the records regarding the monster appeared in front of his two eyes.....

[Ancient Kraken Merman]

[Level : 261]

[Mixed blood between Ancient Kraken and the Ancient Merfolk. The Demonic gene was applied to the two Races. It caused an overlap that resulted in a miraculous birth. An excessive amount of demonic energy is focused in this small body, and it ate away at its soul. It grew in an unbalanced manner.]

"······what?"

Artpe couldn't believe his own two eyes, so he spoke out with a dumbfounded voice. However, this was information found through his Read All Creation ability, so there was no way the information was wrong.

He quickly checked the corpses of the other four monsters. Their names were revealed to be either Ancient Merman or Ancient Mermaid.

They were of an ancient race of the ocean that arose from the primal source of demonic energy.

Yes, they were all the same except for the one called the Kraken Merman.

[Koo-oooh-ohhhhhhh.]

As if it had been trying to time this exact moment, an imposing sound rang out from the deepest part of the temple.

It was the sound of mourning for the children that had died in this place. The voice sounded as if it wanted its children to rest in peace, since it would finish what they had started.

Artpe already knew the identity of the monster.

It truly was an unfortunate turn of events!

[Koo-ohhh-ahhhhhhng.]

The voice sounded a little bit closer. Soon, it would be very close. Artpe let out a benevolent laughter as he caught Roa by the scruff of her neck.

"Hey. I thought you said this place wasn't that dangerous."

[Nyaa-ahhhhhhhhhhh.]

Roa replied by pointing out there was no way she could know everything. Even her master hadn't known about this. To his regret, she had told him the correct answer. Artpe could no longer berate her. Moreover, even if he had known that there was a dangerous being hidden within the temple, he probably would have entered no matter what!

"Artpe, is it the boss?"

"Yes, it's the boss."

Artpe answered Maetel's question. He let out a bitter laugh as he spoke further.

"We've become stronger. I'm sorry, but we'll have to put our lives on the line as always."

[Koo-ohhhhhhhhng!]

Soon, the heinous beast that had been sealed within the ancient temple made its appearance. The Ancient Kraken made its appearance.

This time it was an octopus.