Far away from the carnage, hiding behind the shadows of the trees were two beings. Along with the chaos happening, they were closely monitoring the passage of time.

Glancing at the panel from time to time, the demon was busy weaving mana into his hand.

The other appeared to be just leisurely watching, but his task was the most important. With his numerous eyes, he was coordinating the monster.

The monsters were nothing but puppets that were following the will of the hands that guide them.

As the seconds passed, two crimson balls formed in front of the demon. Instead of letting them hover, he catches and begins putting force from all sides.

It wasn’t physical pressure, no, it was achieved through mana. Here, Lucain has to be very careful, because if one side gets more force than the others, the ball would collapse, and he has to start over.

Fortunately, nothing of that sort happened, and the spell was halfway done.

"How much time is left, master?" Looking beside him, he asked with a grin.

"Just a minute and you can start... is everything ready on your side?"

"Yep..." Smiling, the demon nodded his head.

Like a bubble, the blood in his hand began trembling, ready to spill out any second. But the demon not only protected it from spilling but also continued to compress it further to restrict its movement.

Only half a minute was left, and so was the final preparation of the spell.

’What should I make the blood do...’ Lucian thought about altering the properties of his blood.

Because of his Quirk [Alteration], the demon possesses a unique talent to change the trait of his blood.

Turning his blood poisonous was the first trick he had learned, but not the only one.

’If they somehow survive the attack, then poison wouldn’t work because of that girl there...’ Thinking, Lucian turned and glanced at the battlefield. His gaze turned slightly, looking at the bahemoths that were moving closely to the hunters.

’Paralyze... it is then...’ Smirking, he alters the property of his blood.

Coincidentally, a voice was heard from beside him, "Shoot. Left, 10 o’clock and another at 11 o’clock...."

The order was absolute, and Lucian fired the beam without a single ounce of hesitation. Cutting through the leaves, two beams of dark red blood shot forward in such incredible speed that it was impossible to catch it with the naked eye.

With a sharp hiss, both of the beams found their exact mark.

Crackk!!

A thin, dull crack appeared over the hunter’s head as their pupil moved upward, trying to comprehend the absurdity. Before they could understand anything, a thin stream of blood gushed from the head, and they collapsed on the ground.

[You have killed a human: Vaidya Varanasi.]

[You have gained essence]

[You have leveled up.][You h....]

[You have killed a human: Nyron Mihnatyia.]

[You have gained essence]

[You have lev...]

[You have reached the maximum level of your Tier. Please evolve further to gain any essence.]

"Two are killed, master..."

Ignoring the notification, the demon jumped from the tree and began sprinting toward the battlefield.

The monsters are dwindling slowly, and if someone doesn’t do something, the hunters will win it all. And Lucian wouldn’t let that happen... not until he is alive at least.

’I’ve already endured this much... I can’t let them continue to tarnish the dungeon like this...’

Midway to the position, Lucian conjured some blood in his hand and altered its properties.

After some experimentation, what he had learned about blood is that it can also be used as a buff. The problem is that he can’t use his own blood to buff himself. The way to avoid that is to use someone else’s blood.

And he had plenty of that in store. Drinking the conjured blood, Lucian felt a sudden boost in his overall strength.

Grinning, he increased his speed when the sound of something exploding reverberated in the surrounding.

Booooommm!!

Along with the sound, a gush of hot wind surged, throwing him a few steps back. Pausing, Lucian looked at the sky and found the jungle covered in a crimson hue.

[You have reached the end of your time. Offer something to the dungeon.

Remaining time: 1 Minute.]

Ignoring the notification, Michael gritted his teeth and lifted his staff high in the sky. Mana began to gather above their head as he warned everyone.

"Everyone, protect yourself..."

Saying these words, he let the weave unfold.

As if hell had manifested itself, multiple pillars of flame began to descend from the sky. Hunters distanced themselves from the monsters, but not all were able to do it.

Guided by the caster, the flame descended upon the warlords.

Arghhh!!

Their screams were like an epiphany to his ears as Michael watched them being burned to ashes. Soon, a harmony had erupted as the monsters burned one after another.

[Time Remaining: 40 Seconds.]

Glancing toward the countdown, Michael gulped a mana potion and extended his staff and the other hand. Manipulating the fire, he created a kind of protective wall around the group.

"Go to hell, you bastard." Blood began to bleed out from his nose as he maintained control over the flame pillars.

Having reached tier III just a few days ago, he wasn’t supposed to tire himself this much. This was the time for his body to create a balance between the soul and his strength... but when has time ever stopped for anyone?

Heading to his command, the pillar of inferno began to spread outwards.

The weak hide did not protect the monsters from blazing fire, as any monster caught within the inferno would be doomed to be burned alive in seconds.

The flame snuffed any life out of them, leaving a charred black corpse in its path.

Michael didn’t stop there. After moving outwards for a few seconds, he collapsed the pillar into a single ball and began to compress it. A moment later, he detonated all of them.

Booommm!!

Booommm!!

...

...

With a big flash, the sound reverberated in the surroundings. Closing his eyes, Michael looked at the panel blinking in front of him.

[Time remaining: 10 Seconds]

With the last seconds remaining, he first thought of sacrificing the item he had planned to do from the beginning, but stopped as something flashed past his mind.

Everything had happened so fast that it felt like a dream.

He still remembered the look Krishana gave when his skull was crushed into a pulp. He couldn’t imagine what Vaidya and Nyrom must have been thinking with a hole in their skull.

Michael wanted nothing more than to mourn the death of his teammates, but he understood their sacrifice shouldn’t go to waste.

Biting his lips, he sprinted and ran toward Vaidya and unbuckled the artifact binding her hand.

His hands trembled, but Michael controlled himself and wanted to say something, but couldn’t. As if something was blocking his throat, no words left his mouth.

Whimpering, he looked at the panel and nodded his head.

As if mocking his situation, a notification appeared in front of him.

[Dungeon of Greed will remember your sacrifice.]

"Everyone quickly sacrific-"

Before he could finish his words, he found something moving in the shadows of his vision. With two horns sprouting above his head, it was anything he had seen before.

Licking the blood on his lips, the demon was looking at him. Then it turned its head slightly to the left.

The demon was now looking at the girl, stumped on the ground, having lost all reason to fight.

"Nooo you won’t..."

The demon ran, and so did Michael.