In a panic, the monster started stomping faster and more erratically, giving the groups near it less and less time to move out of the way. Seeing this, Damian immediately used Lucian's famous spell, pouring massive amounts of mana into it, freezing the monster halfway through.
He had only meant to freeze its leg—guess he made it a bit too powerful.
As he kept chanting random words, Damian launched air blades to weaken the creature further. Sam and the others, now free from dealing with other monsters, rained down aura blades, one after another, making the lizard look like a helpless beast being mercilessly attacked.
Over fifty students bombarded the immobilized creature with spells, dealing significant damage. Occasional laser blasts struck its hands and face, leaving the lizard with no choice but to roar and scream in agony. As Damian predicted, it attempted to launch the spikes from its back, but with half of them already frozen, the attack was ineffective. Damian swiftly erected another air shield, protecting all the students.
Rather than the worry of injuries, the students were simply exhausting their mana from continuous attacks. But at last, it was over. Even an emperor-ranked creature couldn't withstand that much damage. Now at its last breath, the monster struggled to remain standing. Damian formed a concentrated beam of mana and fired it directly at its head, killing it instantly.
A cheer erupted from all fifty students. In that moment, no one cared about individual contributions—it was a shared victory.
Damian could have ended the fight in minutes using a few well-placed lasers and a wormhole to slice through the monster. But that would have made it his victory alone. Since he had brought them along, he needed to teach them the value of teamwork. He could handle most things alone, but he wasn't arrogant enough to believe he needed no one. Without his mana generator, he would stand on the same level as them—maybe a bit stronger, but still the same.
Everyone who contributed to the fight received a massive level boost, scaling with their efforts. Damian had done the most damage, yet he only leveled up twice—from 78 to 80. Higher levels required significantly more experience points, and since he was Godless, he needed twice as much per level.
Still, he wasn't going to carry them all the way—only up to level 25. That would be enough to repay the conpensations they had given to him for their spots in the dungeon team. By then, those already halfway through their second jobs should be second-rankers. After that, he would keep only a small team of close friends and focus purely on leveling.
While the others busied themselves with cutting rare materials from the lizard's corpse, Damian retrieved the emperor-ranked monster's mana core. He was impressed by its size—it could power massive runic structures for a while. Yet even a core this powerful didn't compare to a quarter of the mana stored in his single liquid mana container.
The core's deep red hue signified its fire affinity, making it impractical for mana powder too, if it was rare light or dark he would have kept it. So, Damian simply stored it, deciding they would determine its owner later through their usual nightly dice game.
From the distance, he noticed the Highswords staring at him and the monster's corpse, their expressions frozen in shock—as if they were dreaming.
Damian just smiled. Good. It was about time they realized just how easily he could kill any of them if he wanted to. Maybe now they'd stop bothering him with their dumb offers.
More than the corpse, what truly caught Damian's interest was the cave itself. It wasn't a naturally formed cavern—the walls were polished by hand. There were seating areas, sleeping spots, and even rudimentary stone tools.
As if that weren't intriguing enough, at the cave's deepest point stood a glowing, spherical keypoint—eight feet in diameter—its blue light illuminating the walls.
Etched into those walls was a story.
Murals, preserved against time, depicted a lone figure standing before warring tribes, his arms outstretched as if calling for unity. The next carving showed him leading them, wielding both sword and wisdom—striking down tyrants and banishing evil.
In the following image, the people knelt before him—not in fear, but in reverence, their hands raised in adulation. As the murals continued, they depicted his ascension to power—not as a dictator, but as a beloved ruler. His kingdom flourished, and though time had worn away his name, it was carved into the very foundation of this ancient place.
Yet, the figure in the mural wasn't quite human.
His proportions were different—smaller limbs, a larger head, and tusks.
This was not a human civilization. But whatever species they were, they had been just as intelligent.
Captivated by the murals, Damian didn't even notice when his companions had finished looting the monster's corpse and gathered behind him inside the cave. Since the keypoint was inside, they had to store Dreamlight in the cube again.
At last, they were ready to move forward.
After defeating such a giant foe, morale was at an all-time high. The team chatted excitedly as they prepared to advance.
The high-pitched sounds of Kishi, following behind Einar, her idol, were particularly annoying to Damian's ears, but he refrained from commenting. That was just his loner nature acting up. Spending so much time around this many people was unnatural for him.
He didn't want to notice people's annoying habits—but he just couldn't help it.
Damian shook his head, clearing his mind, and stepped through the keypoint with Reize beside him.
Once again, they arrived in a snowy region.
But.. this one was exactly the same as before.
Barely any wildlife. The same Whitefang wolves. The same blue goblins.
It felt like a waste of time.
Damian decided to board everyone onto Dreamlight and fly straight to the end of Level 11. But the others, still relishing the cool air after suffering through the previous heat, were unwilling to leave just yet.
So, he relented. They would camp here for a few hours, replenishing their mana and stamina before moving forward.
Still.. Why did a dungeon focused on heat keep repeating a cold region every sixth level?
What kind of logic was that? A prison that made invading it easier for people?