Chapter 508: First Gate Fragment
Cataclysmic Soul Fireball!
The enormous projectile shot toward the monsters, illuminating the chamber with its blue glow before exploding among them.
Its destructive power spread throughout the room, directly attacking the souls of every creature caught in its path while tearing through their bodies.
Several monsters attempted to escape by jumping toward the upper platforms, but the blast caught them before they could reach safety.
However, the attack did not eliminate all of them.
The surviving monsters immediately retaliated, launching hundreds of projectiles toward Leon from different directions.
Blue and dark-colored bullets filled the chamber, moving so quickly that avoiding them all would have been practically impossible.
Leon did not even attempt to dodge.
Ultimate Darkness Barrier!
A massive barrier of darkness formed around him just as the projectiles arrived, shielding his entire body from the incoming barrage.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
The bullets struck the barrier one after another, creating countless flashes of energy across its surface.
The chamber was filled with the sound of repeated impacts as the monsters continued firing, attempting to overwhelm Leon with sheer numbers.
Yet the barrier held firm.
Not a single projectile managed to reach him, and Leon remained completely unharmed behind his defenses.
’That’s a lot of attacks.’
Although he was not concerned about the damage, the sheer number of projectiles was impressive.
The monsters had clearly been designed to overwhelm intruders through coordinated attacks, making it difficult to escape once they had surrounded their target.
Unfortunately for them, Leon possessed more than enough destructive power to deal with the entire group.
He extended his hand toward the monsters and activated another skill.
Soul Chains!
Three chains erupted from the ground, shooting toward the creatures and binding several of them before they could retreat.
The chains tightened around their bodies, restricting their movements and preventing them from continuing their relentless barrage.
At the same time, Leon directed his staff toward the remaining monsters.
Venom Nova!
A massive explosion of venom spread across the chamber, engulfing the creatures that had managed to avoid his chains.
The poisonous energy coated their bodies and began eating away at their defenses, weakening them while dealing continuous damage.
Before the monsters could recover, Leon followed up with another skill.
Vines of Desolation!
Countless dark vines erupted from the ground and surged toward the remaining enemies, smashing and piercing them.
The chamber quickly descended into chaos.
Some monsters attempted to escape the vines by leaping toward the upper platforms, while others struggled against the Soul Chains, but Leon gave them no opportunity to regroup.
He raised his staff once more, gathering an enormous amount of energy at its tip.
’The good thing about this evolution...’
Cataclysmic Soul Fireball!
The second fireball tore through the chamber, engulfing the remaining monsters in its blue flames.
Their souls were struck once again, leaving them unable to withstand the destructive power concentrated within the projectile.
’...Is that every single fireball is a soul-attack!’
Within moments, every monster in the chamber had been killed.
The vines slowly withdrew into the ground, the venomous energy faded, and the Soul Chains disappeared as Leon lowered his staff.
Ding!
[You have killed x11 "Void Ravager" and gained 1,600,000 experience points.]
[You have killed x9 "TuskSpirit Bear" and gained 1,550,000 experience points.]
[100% Drop Rate has triggered...]
Leon glanced through them, confirming that the entire group had been eliminated.
Once the last notification disappeared, the doors around the chamber suddenly swung open.
Leon glanced toward the nearest exit, but something else caught his attention before he could move.
A faint glow was coming from the middle of the room.
He frowned and walked toward it, wondering why the item had not automatically entered his Storage Space like the other rewards.
As he approached, the glow became clearer, revealing a small fragment floating just above the ground.
[Gate Fragment (1/5): Opens the gate leading to the top of the Tower of Souls.]
He stared at the notification for a moment before his expression changed.
’So that’s how it works.’
Apparently, defeating the guardian was not enough to open the path forward this time around.
They also needed to find five of these fragments, which would presumably allow them to unlock the gate and continue their ascent.
Leon picked up the fragment and stored it away.
’Looks like I’ll need to collect all five before reaching the top.’
With that discovery, Leon finally understood everything he needed to do in this floor.
Leon’s [Celestial Hand] skill triggered four times against the group of monsters, allowing him to select the B-Level Soul Regeneration sub-talent from each one.
The other drops were mostly ordinary items, materials, and essences, none of which were particularly valuable compared to the sub-talents.
The monsters had not even dropped any Skill Stones or Enhancement Stones.
He collected everything before consuming some of the essences to strengthen himself, deciding to save the remaining ones for the girls.
Even if the stat increases were relatively small, there was no reason to waste resources that could help them become stronger, especially Emilia.
’I should genuinely spend a week or two just feeding Emilia any and all Spirit-related essences I find, she would likely reach 15 million combat power or more very fast.’
Once he finished sorting through the rewards, Leon took out the [Supreme Spirit Enhancement (S-Level)] sub-talent scroll and decided to attempt the fusion one more time.
Fwoosh!
[Fusion failed.]
"...Of course."
Leon watched the scroll fall apart before storing away the remaining rewards, having expected the result even before the fusion began.
He really wanted to acquire the SS-Level [Supreme Spirit Enhancement+] sub-talent though, as it would increase his spirit by 100% and thus make him much stronger.
’The odds are too low, and I’m not wasting my [Enhancement Frenzy Liquid] on anything less than for a sub-talent to reach SSS-Level.’
If he ever decided to use it, he wanted to make absolutely certain that the resulting improvement would be worth the investment, especially considering it was impossible to obtain another one.
’...Or maybe if I find an item that resets the use of another item/skill,’ Leon suddenly thought, ’Maybe that exists.’
For now, he would have to rely on ordinary fusion attempts.
Leon gathered the twenty-four B-Level Soul Regeneration sub-talents he had collected and began combining them.
The process took several attempts, with some fusions failing along the way, but he eventually managed to produce four A-Level sub-talents.
’Not bad.’
Although he would have preferred to obtain even more, four additional A-Level sub-talents were still a decent result.
He could give them to the girls and let them attempt their own fusions, potentially allowing them to have an S-Level soul-talent too.
’I don’t expect it to work, but oh well. Emilia’s luck always seems quite good, maybe her talent has a hidden luck boost or something.’
For now, he wanted to find the remaining [Gate Fragments].
Leon turned toward the exit and prepared to continue exploring the third floor, intending to search for more of the closed chambers where he could defeat the monsters and obtain additional fragments.
However, just as he took a step outside the chamber, an enormous explosion suddenly echoed through the halls.
BOOM!
Leon immediately stopped and turned toward the source of the sound.