Leon stepped through the giant’s final swing and brought the heavy axe down with both hands, Qi bursting across the blade as it tore through the damaged armour covering Morse’s chest.
The giant staggered backwards while Leon forced the axe deeper, and the entire fortress shook when its enormous body finally crashed onto the stone floor.
[Overlord Morse has been defeated.]
[Giant Fort has been cleared.]
Leon remained standing for another few seconds before letting the axe fall beside him and dropping onto the ground.
"Finally."
He leaned backwards against a broken section of stone and released a tired breath.
"I am thoroughly exhausted. Becoming a professional really isn’t as easy as everyone makes it sound."
Mira walked past him while cleaning one of her daggers.
"You spent half the fight complaining."
"That doesn’t make the other half less exhausting."
Leon turned his head toward Karl, who had already started moving through the bodies scattered around the ruined hall.
Death Energy spread from the Death Stick and entered several fallen giants while their damaged bodies slowly began moving again.
Leon sighed even harder.
"It’s especially difficult when somebody works you like a slave."
Mira looked toward him immediately.
"Oi, stop complaining and look at your status panel first. Even if we had spent the whole month grinding inside the city, you wouldn’t have reached anywhere near this quickly."
Leon paused before opening his panel.
The tired expression on his face disappeared almost immediately.
[Level: 77]
He stared at the number for several seconds before a satisfied grin slowly appeared.
The last month of almost continuous fighting had actually paid off.
"Alright."
Leon closed the panel.
"Maybe being worked like a slave has some advantages."
Mira rolled her eyes while Karl ignored both of them and continued using Death Legion on the remaining useful corpses.
The smaller giants rose first before Karl finally walked toward Morse and placed the Death Stick against the fallen Overlord.
Dark energy spread across the enormous body.
Several seconds later, Morse’s fingers moved before the giant slowly pushed itself upright and joined the undead standing behind Karl.
Leon stared at the growing group.
"You seriously want an army of giants, don’t you?"
Karl glanced toward him.
"Maybe."
Before Leon could question him further, white light covered the three of them and the ruined fortress disappeared.
The familiar reward space formed around them soon afterward, but Leon’s excitement lasted only until he saw the empty platform waiting ahead.
He looked around once.
Then again.
"Where’s the reward?"
Mira checked the notification that had appeared before her.
"There isn’t one."
A small amount of experience entered their bodies before another message confirmed that the settlement had already finished.
Leon stared at the empty platform with obvious disappointment.
"That’s it?"
Karl had expected as much.
They had been raiding Giant Fort repeatedly for four days, and whatever worthwhile rewards the dungeon could provide had already been exhausted long ago.
Leon slowly turned toward him.
"Karl."
"What?"
"Why have we been clearing this same dungeon for four whole days?"
Karl remained completely calm.
"It has giants."
Leon narrowed his eyes.
"You actually do want an army of giants."
"Maybe I do."
"That’s still a lousy excuse."
Karl shrugged without answering.
They had already cleared or exhausted most of the worthwhile dungeons along the route they had followed during the last month, so Giant Fort was still decent enough for experience and collecting undead.
That was not the real reason Karl had stayed around this region.
"We’ll raid it a little more later."
Leon immediately frowned.
"Again?"
"After we rest."
The reward space disappeared before Leon could continue complaining and all three were transported back outside Giant Fort.
Victor was already waiting beside the jeep while the dungeon entrance behind them returned to its usual state.
A stone leaderboard nearby suddenly shone.
The previous record disappeared before a new one replaced it.
[Giant Fort — Clear Record Updated.]
[Record Hoarders — New Fastest Clear.]
Leon glanced toward it and released another tired breath.
"At least we’re breaking our own records now."
Karl barely looked at the leaderboard.
His attention had already moved toward the surrounding wilderness.
Where the hell is it?
For the last four days, Giant Fort itself had only been part of the reason Karl kept returning here.
In his previous life, something much more important had appeared somewhere around this region during this period.
A special one-time dungeon.
Its entrance had appeared at different locations before finally stabilising, and one unfortunate team had been dragged inside before anyone properly understood what was happening.
Only two members of that team had eventually returned.
The rewards they brought outside were enough for Karl to remember the incident even ten years later.
Rare materials, unusual treasures and several items that eventually entered major auctions throughout the Alliance.
One item mattered to him far more than everything else.
Divine Elixir.
Karl still remembered the ridiculous price it had eventually reached.
More importantly, the elixir possessed restorative effects powerful enough that he believed it could cure the damage accumulated throughout Arthur’s body.
If he could obtain it here, there would be no need to search for another method later.
The system mission involving his grandfather would also be completed.
Yet four days had already passed without anything appearing.
Karl had even started wondering whether his regression had changed the event entirely.
"Young Master."
Victor’s voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
Karl turned toward him and immediately noticed that his usual relaxed expression had disappeared.
"You came out at the right time."
Leon looked around suspiciously.
"What happened now, Uncle? Another ambush?"
Victor gave him a flat look.
"Let’s not joke about that."
Leon immediately shut his mouth and Victor looked toward Karl again.
"I detected several spatial shifts nearby while you were inside. The city department has already confirmed similar disturbances across this entire region."
Karl’s attention sharpened as Victor continued while looking toward the distance.
"We should leave before they become worse. If a spatial rift opens nearby, none of us need to be standing next to it."
Leon frowned while Mira also looked around the surrounding wilderness.
Karl remained silent and astrange smile slowly appeared across his face, so it is time.
He had spent four days waiting for exactly this. Behind them, Giant Fort suddenly trembled.
Everyone turned toward the dungeon entrance, the portal had started rotating.
Its blue surface twisted slowly at first before the entire entrance began spiralling inward faster with every second.
Victor immediately moved away from the jeep.
"Back up."
The three followed him as Giant Fort continued collapsing into itself.
Within seconds, the entire dungeon entrance had disappeared.
Nothing remained in its place, then the space there twisted again and a red portal slowly opened.
It expanded far beyond the size of Giant Fort’s original entrance before finally stabilising, crimson energy constantly moving across its surface while the interior remained completely black.
Leon stared at it.
"What the hell is that?"
Mira activated Perception while Karl did the same and a panel appeared before them.
[Name: ???]
[Recommended Level: ???]
[Difficulty: ???]
[Information: ???]
Victor looked at the panel before turning toward Karl.
"Damn, Young Master."
Karl glanced at him as Victor pointed toward the portal.
"Maybe you should start staying away from strange things."
Leon immediately nodded.
"I strongly support that."
Karl ignored both of them while continuing to stare at the red entrance.
There was no information available and even Perception could not identify what existed beyond it.
That only made Karl more certain, found you at last.
but then another notification appeared.
[Warning!]
Karl’s smile disappeared.
[Host should leave the premises immediately.]
Karl frowned.
What?
The system spoke again before he could ask anything.
[Dangerous foreign divine presence detected.]
Karl’s body immediately tensed.
The system had never reacted like this before.
[Host, leave immediately!]
Victor noticed the sudden change in him.
"Young Master?"
Karl had barely opened his mouth when the red portal twisted violently.
Something moved inside the darkness.
A gigantic arm suddenly stretched out from the portal and reached directly toward Karl.
Victor reacted first as black energy erupted around him as he crossed the distance almost instantly, but the enormous hand had already reached Karl.
Its fingers closed around his body.
"What the—"
Karl was dragged backwards before he could activate a skill.
Victor reached for him but his hand missed by inches and Karl disappeared into the portal.
Leon and Mira had barely understood what happened when the team formation connecting the three of them suddenly reacted.
White light wrapped around both of their bodies.
Leon looked down at himself in horror.
"Wait, wait, WAIT—"
His body vanished and Mira disappeared immediately after him.
Victor stopped in front of the portal with his hand still extended.