Frostbite Crystals!

Karl immediately summoned five crystals out of thin air the instant the battle began.

They swirled around him in a sharp, cold orbit, the icy glow reflecting off the narrow stone walls of the maze.

Then he sent them all at once.

Fwish!

-15,000! -15,000! -15,000!

The hall he stood in was way too tight, barely wide enough to move in normally, the entire space became dominated by the presence of the creature ahead.

The [Maze Dweller Leader] didn't just fill the hall, its body swallowed it whole.

Its massive spider-like frame pressed against the walls and ceiling, each limb scraping as it shifted.

It felt like standing in a coffin with a monster that could tear through him in a heartbeat.

There was no room to properly maneuver, and that meant something very simple: Karl would be forced to fight in close-range whether he liked it or not.

He needed to deal as much damage as possible, as fast as possible, before the thing overwhelmed him.

Because no matter how much experience he had from his previous life as a [Warrior], none of that mattered when stuck in a confined space like this.

Positioning, kiting, spacing, none of those skills had any value here.

What mattered was raw, overwhelming power.

Swing!

The boss struck first.

It swung two, then four, then all of its spider-like legs in a rapid, vicious barrage toward Karl.

Each strike came with a slicing whistle, the force behind them making the air pressure shift.

Karl was forced to dodge and twist between them, sometimes stepping back, sometimes deflecting the blows using his staff as a shield.

'Come on, there's only a 15-second time on my [All-Powerful Magic Barrier],' Karl thought while moving backward, his boots sliding across the stone floor, 'I only need to survive that long.'

But luck never lasted long, and sometimes battles ended in less than a few seconds.

And this one was about to be one of them.

The [Maze Dweller Leader] continued its relentless swings until—

Slash!

Two of its legs crossed in a deadly arc, and one of them actually managed to clip Karl's side.

-1,700!

The hit ripped away nearly a third of Karl's HP instantly.

The impact forced him back several meters, and he had to plant his staff on the ground to stabilize himself before he fell.

And worse, things got bad in an instant.

Right as he steadied himself, the few remaining [Maze Dwellers] that survived Karl's previous [Storm of Lightning] crawled down from the walls at once.

Their bodies dropped like shadows, landing between Karl and the boss.

In seconds, they formed a full barrier in front of the leader, shielding it from Karl.

ROOOAR!

The boss let out a throaty, vibrating roar that rumbled through the maze, its power buffing every smaller monster around it.

Their eyes sharpened, their motions grew quicker, and their aggression spiked.

But Karl didn't care.

His irritation and urgency aligned into a sharp focus the moment the monsters lunged at him.

Fire Meteor! Lunar Beam!

He pointed his staff forward and activated the first spell.

A massive fiery sphere materialized above his staff and crashed down instantly, engulfing the monsters in scorching flames.

Because of its huge area of effect, every single creature in front of him was hit.

-321,600!

All of the [Maze Dwellers] were vaporized on the spot.

Even the leader at the back staggered from the impact, its body recoiling slightly.

And before it could recover—

Karl's [Lunar Beam] had already charged.

Boom!

A silver beam erupted from the staff and shot forward like a piercing moonlight cannon.

It was wide enough to fill the entire hall, illuminating everything in blinding silver.

But, of course, the boss didn't just sit there.

Fwoosh!

It kicked off the ground and leaped straight up, gripping the ceiling and the walls with its spider-like limbs.

In one fluid movement, it clung high above the beam and skittered sideways.

Apparently, it thought Karl couldn't reposition the spell mid-cast. Big mistake.

Karl tilted the staff upward without hesitation, dragging the beam with him.

The silver ray locked onto its body immediately.

-40,000! -40,000!

The damage tore through its HP, but not enough to finish it.

The boss endured the hit, already preparing to leap again.

But Karl wasn't done.

Storm of Lightning!

-257,280!

A violent surge of lightning exploded from Karl's staff, filling the hall, the ceiling, and the walls with crackling electric arcs.

The electricity struck the [Maze Dweller Leader] directly, crawling across its limbs and bursting inside its joints.

Ding!

["Maze Dweller Leader" has been stunned.]

'Finally,' Karl thought.

The powerful shock made the boss lose its grip on the ceiling entirely.

Its limbs spasmed, and it slipped—

BOOM!

The creature crashed down onto the ground on its back, smashing the stone floor beneath it.

The impact alone caused massive damage.

-999,999!

It was enough to finish it instantly.

The boss's body convulsed once more, then went still.

Ding!

---

[You have killed x15 "Maze Dwellers (Level 38)"]

[You have killed "Maze Dweller Leader (Level 40 Epic-Rank Boss)"]

[You have gained 775,000 experience points!]

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 35 + Level 36!]

[You have gained 10 points in all of your attributes, and 10 free points to distribute.]

[You have gained 27 Evolution Points!]

[You have gained 372 Lives!]

---

The experience, evolution points, and lives were much lower than what he earned from the [Gardener], but that made sense.

These monsters' levels weren't as high, and the difference in level wasn't as massive.

Even so, Karl felt genuinely satisfied as he breathed out.

Hand of Oblivion!

[You have gained 184 Lives!]

'No additional EP,' Karl noted, 'Which means… the boss itself dropped equipment.'

And sure enough, ahead of him on the ground, he noticed an item glowing with a golden light.

"Oh shit!"

The boss was epic-rank, meaning the highest drop was supposed to be epic.

And yet… here was a legendary item.

Karl instantly knew why.

His newly upgraded passive from [Hand of Oblivion] had triggered.

It had a 25% chance to increase an item's rank by one. And this time, it worked.

Karl quickly gathered the items dropped by the normal [Maze Dwellers], storing them away before stepping toward the leader's corpse.

Two items had dropped.

---

[Dweller Sword (Epic): Warrior/Sentinel-type weapon. +3,300 Strength, +1,500 Agility. Requirement: Level 40.]

---

Then the evolved item, glowing with its golden hue:

---

[Dweller Boots (Legendary): +1,500 Constitution, +900 Agility, +1,000 Physical Resistance. Requirement: Level 40.]

[Wall Dweller (Passive): Able to temporarily climb up walls while these boots are equipped.]

---

"Damn!"

These boots were absolutely incredible, showcasing the raw power that equipment could offer in [Gods Ascension].

Just the 1,500 Constitution alone translated to 15,000 HP, a ridiculous amount of survivability.

Even a single item this strong could let a player take several hits from bosses that would normally kill them.

And this was only boots.

Armor and robes granted even higher stats, and weapons scaled even harder, just like the [Dweller Sword].

Karl stored everything inside his inventory, then glanced at his remaining space.

[Inventory Space: 38/50]

'I guess it's almost full,' he grinned, 'It still fills up fast even after increasing my storage.'

With that done, he turned forward.

'I'm level 36. Only 14 more,' he thought, confidence rising, 'My leveling speed is insanely faster than in my last life.'

It couldn't be denied.

He was getting multiple levels per battle now because he kept fighting overleveled targets. And he welcomed it.

Getting stronger as fast as possible meant entering the heart of the labyrinth sooner.

And indeed, the moment he stepped ahead, another notification rang.

Ding!

---

[You have entered the "Depths of the Flower Labyrinth"]

[Lives loss rate: 150.]

[Description: The "Depths" of the "Flower Labyrinth", where its biggest dangers lie, and where most of its secrets hide.]

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