Storm of Lightning! Cataclysmic Fireball

Zap!

Karl's staff released a storm of lightning in the hall, the bolts flashing through the air and rushing straight toward all of the [Low-Level Moon Sect Members] standing before him.

The lightning scattered across the stone floor, jumped up the walls, and then wrapped around the three figures at once.

It hit all of them cleanly.

-36,240! -36,240! -36,240!

The numbers floated up in the air for a moment, burning into Karl's vision.

But right as the fireball emerged from the tip of his staff and blasted forward, the sect members reacted with perfect coordination.

They lifted their scepters in unison, eyes glowing brighter.

Moon Immunity!

Their aura pulsed outward, and they focused their power together to summon a massive silver barrier around themselves.

It spread like a thin dome of moonlight and locked them inside it.

BOOM!

Karl's fireball slammed into the barrier directly.

The explosion shook the hall, silver shards and embers flying everywhere, and the barrier shattered under the impact, but the shield had still done its job.

It had protected the sect members enough to prevent a full wipe.

They survived, coughing, staggering, yet still alive.

And at that exact moment, Karl noticed the three of them were already preparing the next round of spells.

Their hands glowed, their weapons vibrated, and the air around them thickened with silver mana.

'Not working out the way I expected.'

Karl wasn't worried about his health.

His [Invincible Magic Barrier] could absolutely tank anything these level 22 NPCs threw at him, even if all three attacked together.

But just because he could tank everything didn't mean he wanted to.

Mistakes happened, after all, and Karl didn't like taking unnecessary risks.

And so…

Revenant Call!

Karl shook the necklace hanging around his neck.

A dark pulse of energy ran through it, and a moment later, a [Soul Revenant] emerged from within the gem.

He rarely used this ability, most fights didn't require it, but this situation was exactly the type where it was perfect.

[Soul Revenant (Level 8): Rare-rank. 3,000 HP.]

It looked small, weak, almost pathetic compared to the enemies.

The summon was so weak that it could die in one or two hits at most.

But Karl didn't summon it for strength.

He summoned it for distraction.

'Attack.'

With that single command, the [Soul Revenant] rushed forward immediately, its claws raised, its hollow eyes fixed on the sect members.

"…?"

"Level 8."

"Is this human stupid?"

Their voices echoed strangely in the hall as they stared at the revenant like it was some sort of joke.

From their point of view, it was.

A level 8 monster barely had 3,000 HP, while they all had around 80,000.

This alone showed how fast the scaling in [Gods Ascension] was once past the early levels.

If someone didn't level properly, the game became brutally difficult.

Karl knew this better than anyone.

Bam! Boom!

The sect members fired several moonlight spells at the revenant, and before the little creature even reached them, it was instantly vaporized, leaving nothing but a puff of fading blue smoke.

"Idiotic."

"Let's get rid of him now, I hate those guys."

"Do not let the king be disturbed!"

They all mocked Karl, speaking in annoyed and arrogant tones.

But the moment their eyes returned to him…

"Oh."

BOOM!

While they were distracted by the revenant, Karl had already charged and fired his next attack.

Lunar Beam!

The 1-second charging time would normally allow enemies to interrupt him easily.

But by using the revenant to draw their attention for that second, Karl ensured they weren't watching him at all.

The silver beam erupted from the staff, blindingly bright, and cut straight through the hall.

It tore through all three sect members and continued forward, carving a clean line through the wall behind them.

The impact was instant and absolute.

They attempted to cast [Moon Immunity] again, but the shield disintegrated in the very first second of contact.

Blocked! -30,000! -30,000!

Ding!

---

[You have killed x3 "Low-Level Moon Sect Members (Level 22)"]

[You have gained 60,000 experience points!]

[You have gained 2 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 75 Lives!]

---

Since Karl was level 18 and the NPCs were level 22, the [Experience Boost] effect gave him a huge surge of XP.

But even that wasn't the part that surprised him the most.

'2 EP from three normal monsters,' Karl's eyes widened slightly, 'I guess that [EP Boost] exists too, huh.'

He usually never got EP from normal monsters.

And at best, if he did, it was always one point.

But now, with these higher-level NPCs… he got more.

And it wasn't by chance, either. It was clear this floor rewarded fighting stronger enemies.

Then there were the lives: 75 in total.

NPCs didn't work the same way as monsters in [Gods Ascension].

NPCs had "Lives" as well, the same way players did.

And the only way to kill them permanently was to reduce their lives to zero.

Because of this, they were also affected by the same [Lives loss rate], twenty-five on this floor.

Karl killed three of them. Twenty-five lives each. Seventy-five total.

Once finished, Karl walked deeper into the corridor from which the sect members had come.

But the moment he stepped inside…

"Oh."

Another group was waiting for him.

"I heard some noise."

"Shit."

Karl's [Lunar Beam] was extremely loud.

The sound of the beam firing echoed like thunder, and any intelligent creature nearby would easily notice.

"Be ready for battle. Kill ANYTHING on sight."

Karl tightened his grip on his staff as the new group stepped forward.

There were more of them than before, far more.

He scanned them, evaluating the situation.

"The [Moon Skeleton King] has already been complaining. We can't risk any more damn it."

Karl picked up on their dialogue quickly.

They always talked about the [Moon Skeleton King] like a being they worshipped.

But strangely enough, none of them had said anything about the [Fifth Floor], even though that was where the true boss of the [Moon Tower] resided.

Either they didn't know, or they knew and deliberately avoided it.

Considering the danger level, Karl assumed it was the second.

'I can't use [Revenant Call] anymore.'

The necklace had a 10-minute cooldown.

As useful as the bait tactic was, he couldn't repeat it now.

'In situations like these,' Karl thought, 'A restraining skill would have been perfect.'

Mages weren't just about blasting things with spells.

They had buffs, debuffs, restraints, special-effect magic… Karl had a long list of spells he wanted eventually.

But for now…

Lunar Beam!

He began charging again.

The moment the sect members realized what spell he was using…

"SHIT!"

"It's a human!"

"He's probably the one that killed the others!"

"You idiots, just attack him!"

Among the group stood someone clearly different.

Larger, stronger, more imposing.

---

[Low-Level Moon Sect General (Level 25)]

[Rank: Epic (Boss)]

[HP: 200,000]

---

A strong one.

And even though he was considered "low-level," he radiated far more pressure than the others.

He carried a larger silver scepter, and his robe was firmer, with a symbol woven into it.

'I didn't notice before…' Karl thought, 'But their robes have some symbols.'

The normal members had insignias showing a gray moon: an empty moon.

The general had a mostly gray moon with a small crescent revealed.

'Probably their ranking system.'

Which also meant there were likely others further in [Gods Ascension] with half the moon visible… or the entire full moon.

"No need to think about that," Karl muttered, focusing on the charge building in his staff, "Let's end this."

The sect members lifted their weapons, but it was too late.

BOOM!

Karl fired the [Lunar Beam], flooding the entire hall with silver light.

"SHIT—"

"There's no time to use a spell, damn—"

The attack tore through all of them.

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