Undying Warlord

There was not really more for Dilan to say, which was why he decided to enter the Krendel's Underground Valley to approach the large Gate.

He had more than 500 leftover Bronze Tier-1 Essence crystals to exchange with treasures.

'The number of Bronze monsters keeps increasing. If their numbers keep increasing like this, they might outnumber the ordinary monsters in the future…'

Dilan began to exchange batches of 50 Bronze Tier-1 Essence crystals of the same monster at the blueish Gate while his mind was deep in thoughts.

He was quite bothered about a few things but he didn't have the capabilities to procure more knowledge to figure out more.

Even after combing through the Sacred Shop, Dilan didn't find many things that were of high use to him in this regard.

'I can only try to focus on strengthening everyone, and to keep them safe as well.'

Dilan sighed deeply as he closed the Sacred Shop once again after he received a total of 8 Bronze Tier-1 treasures.

The 500+ Essence crystals belonged to different types of monsters. It was already a wonder that the leftovers were enough to procure eight treasures.

One of the treasures was even another Penta Item pouch. On the other hand, there was a pair of boots, three weapons, which Dilan straight up ignored, and three ability crystals.

[Magnastrian Silver Boots] <Bronze Tier-1> Treasure

[+8 Agility], [+8 Strength]

Even if they're not the most comfortable boots owing to their heavy weight, true warriors will be able to make use of the boots' heavy weight to issue powerful attacks!

Others might have a great use for these boots, but not Dilan. He was satisfied with the Aeris' leather boots. In his opinion, they were far stronger than the Magnastrian Silver Boots, either way, simply because [Gale] was a powerful ability he still used quite often.

Dilan didn't pay too much attention to the boots. He stored them inside the Penta Item Pouch and averted his attention to the three ability crystals.

[Basic Blademaster Mastery (Passive)] Tier-0 ★★★

[Nightwalker Lion Summoning (Active)] Tier-0 ★★★★★

[Triple Shot (Active)] Tier-1 ★

"Amazing!"

All three ability crystals were exceptional, to put it simply.

With the passive mastery ability, they could create one more powerful Ascender with lots of combat experience and some powerful fighting techniques.

Meanwhile, even an inexperienced Survivor would be able to use [Nightwalker Lion Summoning] as long as they had enough mana to summon the monster.

Another powerful Ascender could be created with the summoning ability crystal.

On the other hand, [Triple Shot] would be best for a seasoned Archer to increase his or her combat power by a few times.

'Ailee should be the most suitable candidate for [Triple Shot]. Her archery mastery passive ability will allow her to master this ability quickly.'

Dilan was more than just a little bit satisfied with the gains their group made in a single day. Three powerful weapons, a good pair of boots for a close combat warrior, and three strong abilities were certainly pleasing to the eye.

From the looks of it, everything was going smoothly for Dilan's group.

Ever since the day when the monsters had escaped from the mountainside, they had not faced any more problems with beasts or any invaders.

It almost felt like it would be possible for their group to return to a normal life after a few months, or years if it were to continue like this.

Everything was going according to Dilan's plan without any kind of issues. There had not even been a casualty in their group of Porters, who had carried the corpses back and forth in the Shikan plains.

Even Dilan felt like he could relax and that it was fine to allow everyone to ease their tension a little bit.

It was only fortunate for Dilan to have noticed that something was amiss, that the situation was too good to be true.

Not only the Sun temple and both the Ligrav and Rasnian race were something he shouldn't underestimate by any means but the mountainside's dangers were even bigger.

'Will we have another week of peace and quiet?' Dilan suddenly asked himself.

He was actually not sure how much time they had left before something would happen.

However, what he knew was that chaos would descend on mankind…and that the situation was bound to worsen compared to the period immediately after the Primordial Ascension.

When Dilan returned to the hospital, he found out that Williams, Kathrine and the others were still sitting together.

He chose not to join them because they looked as if they were deep in thoughts, and currently thinking about various things.

Instead of joining them, he put down the Bronze treasures he had obtained before he returned to his room.

Dilan needed some good sleep to recharge his energy.

Meanwhile, a few Ascenders, who had heard the earlier discussion Dilan had with the others, couldn't help but start their own gossip.

"What do you think about the Leader's words? Will it really be necessary for us to leave soon?" A young woman asked while biting her nails, apparently worried about the future. Everything she had heard worried her as she clearly recalled the horrifying scenes of her friends being torn apart when the Primordial Ascension had started.

A wonderful new year's eve party had turned into the start of a never-ending nightmare.

"Leaving the Rian mountainside hospital is possible now… well as long as you're slightly stronger, that is.

You haven't been outside with us but I personally witnessed how Dilan, the others, and obviously I as well, slaughtered large herds of hundreds of monsters with ease. Leaving the hospital will probably be a necessity if our groups keeps increasing in size. Our group will probably accept survivors from everywhere as long as we can find and save them.

That's at least my guess. But that we'll have to leave because of danger? I really doubt it!" A middle-aged man, and Tier-1 Ascender commented, waving off his hand to reassure the young woman from before.

"Dilan is so powerful, we have nothing to worry about. He is probably just trying to ensure that we dont slack off and stay focused and become stronger for potential future threats.

A friend of mine in the Porter Unit saw the Lion-headed Ligrav race and the Hawk-headed Rasnian race. He says that their presence is even stronger than Dilan's!! That means we have to become stronger and be prepared for the possibility of them attacking us all of a sudden!"

This time, a young man began to speak about the two foreign races they made contact with. His voice was filled with excitement and not a trace of worry could be sensed in the way he acted.

It was almost as if he trusted Dilan with his life, soul, and body.

They continued to speak about all kinds of topics but nobody took Dilan's word seriously, at least, not as much as the people, who were the closest to Dilan did.

After all, they knew that Dilan didn't give out warnings without reason…and the worry and confusion in his voice had been more than enough reason for them to start worrying about the mysterious existence lurking within the mountainside.

It was not as if they had never worried about the mountainside but the Sun temple had seemed more dangerous to them, even after the night where all monsters had escaped from the mountainside.

The Sun temple's danger could be assessed to some extent. That was why nobody was truly worried about it for now, simply because it looked like they only needed help to hunt monsters.

Thus, even Kathrine and the others had slowly relaxed a bit up without even doing it consciously.

Only Dilan's comment had pulled them back to their senses, which was why they worked even harder in the following four days.

Four days.

It was not long, and there were merely three days left before Dilan would have to meet the quota given by Priestess Brashta.

However, in these four days, everyone had hunted more than enough large groups of monsters to sacrifice more than 15,000 corpses.

They didn't need to hunt a lot anymore to fulfill the given quota.

However, Dilan was far from happy.

He had hoped that the day wouldn't come and that it wouldn't be necessary for him to say this but Kirak's Vassal wreaked havoc with his mind.

The premonition and the situation on the mountainside had kept worsening day after day according to his perception. It was impossible to postpone the inevitable.

Dilan knew that if he wouldn't give the instruction now…everyone would die, including himself…

"It looks like we have to go now. Everyone pack up…" Dilan suddenly announced, his voice both eerily calm and overflowing with uncertainty about the future.