The Spartan gasped for air as he was thrust back into reality. His eyes took a while to readjust back to the bright lighting of the room, but he was able to do so without much problem. He patted himself down to test his theory and to his relief, he found that his belief had proven correct. He had none of the injuries from the previous battle, with the benefit of having his stamina fully recovered. Best of all, his divinity had been strengthened. That meant he could do so much more than before, perhaps even having his range greatly increased or even having more intricate paths to make.

Though, there was one thing that he had to recall: before he was able to touch the soul shard on his own, he had been shoved forward. The one that had been behind him during that time was the Crusader. That meant…

He turned back to his associate and staggered up to a standing position. The man was stuck laying down, weary and defeated. His breathing had weakened to the point of being nearly faint. He had a small puddle of sweat underneath him and his whole body was shaking violently.

This was clear signs of nothing more than the heavy backlash of using too much of one’s divinity in a certain timeframe. If he did not get any help at all, then it was obvious that he would succumb to his weakness and perish.

Something that the Spartan wasn’t quite willing to allow. After all, his associate was the one who provided the means for him to recover. He had saved his life, and now was the time to repay the favor.

The Spartan picked up his associate and hefted him over one shoulder before moving onwards. He didn’t know what the stone coffin tossed from those previous monsters held or what its purpose was, nor did he care. That was not his focus anymore, that was beneath his attention.

He had to make grounds to help out his associate. They couldn’t stay in this room, not when those monsters could come out of the walls without warning and when there were two entryways to this area. No, the best way was to get out of this area and to head onwards to the next location to rest up. As risky as that process was, these steps were a necessity to move onwards to find a safe zone to rest up in.

He didn’t care which direction he went down. All that mattered was getting out and helping out the Crusader.

He looked between the two available gateways. One of them had a sword with wings, while the other had a claw with wings. He couldn’t tell the difference between the two options, if there were any. There were no other indications for the possible dangers either option offered and to be honest, he couldn't care less at this time. What mattered to him at this point in time was finding a new place to set up a temporary camp.

So he didn’t think about his options when he went through the sword doorway. The path changed quite a bit after entering the area, turning from that of a stone brick to one with rocks cobbled together with some strange red, sticky material. He found himself in a hallway that led onwards for a good while.

The journey was grueling. Not because there were any threats that popped up to challenge him, nor because there were traps laid within to act as obstacles in his path. The true reason was due to the added weight of the Crusader and having to go slow to ensure that his associate wasn’t in too much pain with his movements.

Step by step, the duo got closer to the exit of this hallway. The Spartan kept his grip on his associate while struggling to have his shield and spear prepared to take on any incoming threats all at the same time. He kept his eyes open and his body alert as he went through the doorway.

What he found was something that made him annoyed beyond reproach.

He was in another room, but this one was formed circularly. There was a giant staircase that led towards the ceiling, which bent in on itself to reach such a height. Another fountain laid within the center of this room, though it was empty of any liquids. Three long tables laid around this fountain perpendicularly to the staircase, along with five seats for each of these tables. These black wooden pieces would be useful for making them turn into a makeshift shelter, but there was one problem with that.

The monsters that were in this room right here in front of him. A giant crowd were present to fight him here and now, with six of them being the giant hulks, eight being the lizards on top of the horses, and the remaining twenty being the spiked arm freaks. All of them turned towards him with pure hatred in their eyes as they screeched and got ready for combat.

This was not the situation he wanted to be in. Perhaps he would have been better off going over to the claw doorway, but now it was far too late for him to do any of that. No, the best thing he could do now was fight off the imminent swarm with his own two hands and hope once more that the staircase led to a safe zone.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

An annoying situation for certain. However, this was one that he was confident with dealing with. He had all of his spiritual and physical energy back. He had his weapon and shield. This battle was one that he could deal with, something that he shouldn’t be too terrified over.

He took the Crusader and laid him down for a moment while he got ready to fight. By the time he was ready, the enemies had all gotten into their battle stances and were prepared to fight.

The lizard riders had covered their entire being with a giant sphere of flame. The hulks had formed into a line that was marching onwards to his location, fully intent to take him down here and now. Lastly, the spiky arm monsters were all rushing him with clear intent to overrun him and put him down into an early grave.

All of this was absolutely nothing in the wake of his newly activated divinity. This time, he realized something that he hadn’t been able to do before.

He could path inside these monsters. There was no longer any reason to worry about striking forward to complete the attack. No, if he so desired, he could merely path his spear directly into the brain of these monsters without any kind of concern.

However, doing so would use much more of his mystical abilities. Going all in would certainly result in him being weakened at a faster pace than when he would use his powers regularly. The backlash would be far more than before, and he needed to be careful with his actions.

Though that being said, he already had the perfect targets for this method. The lizards had to be the first ones to go, else he would be put into a moment of desperation to defend against the giant flaming attacks that would come his way.

He threw his shield up as he got ready to attack with his spear. The spiked arm monsters got closer and without further ado, he utilized his brand-new powers. The spear did not move at all, nor did he budge in any way. And yet, the tip of his weapon found itself in the brain of each of those lizard monsters.

All of them fell from that strike. The sphere of flames that covered both them and the horses all vanished up into nothing but air, leaving behind a pile of their dust and bones on top of their mounts. All the horse monsters reared back in shock and let out a high squeal before dashing about in fear. The hulks stepped back away from the lizard monsters and grew hesitant.

However, none of these applied to the spiked arm monsters, who were still far too focused on their assaults to care about what had occurred to their other comrades. The first one got close to the Spartan and got ready to swing its arm to break his skull into multiple fragments. There was only one thing the enemy failed to account for: the range of the spear.

The end jotted forward and pierced right through the monster’s throat, eliminating the hostile’s life in a single strike. The Spartan did not let any of that get through his head as he quickly reared back and struck out continuously further on.

More of the spike monsters fell. None of them had any special abilities to overcome the incoming rainstorm that was the spear thrusts. They were all felled without much complication, as they were far too dumb to comprehend the idea of dodging the incoming assaults.

Three were killed. Then six, then twelve, and then there were two remaining. At that point, they were far too scared to move onwards, hesitant to continue forward as the rest of their flock had been so quickly wiped out without much fanfare. The Spartan did not let up on this advantage and rushed forward. He thrust his spear forward and slammed into one of the remaining spike arm monsters, going directly into the heart and forcing the organ to explode out the back of this freak.

Seconds passed before it transformed into dust and bone. The last remaining spike armed freak jolted back in shock before swinging with its left arm in pure panic. That attack bounced off the Spartan’s shield without much effort, and the monster got its throat slashed open with the spear. Then all that remained were the six giant hulks that began to huddle up near the entrance of the staircase, corralling themselves into a triangle position. Why they decided on such an action was beyond the Spartan, but there was one thing for sure.

These monsters made themselves all an easy target to take down. By creating more space between him and them, that allowed him to go ahead and focus on navigating a path to strike their necks and avoid the shimmer. There was no need to put in heavy effort into this action, this time around he had more than enough strength to achieve his goal.

All he needed was one thrust to kill every single one of those hulks. The paths that he had set up with his divinity acted as the network for all of his attacks to go through and slam into the necks of these beasts. Each of them had an eruption of blood that gushed the moment his strikes landed, and a loud death wail erupted from all of them before dissipating into dust and bone once more.

The fight was over. The road forward was clear, and he was hardly tired from the usage of his divinity. In fact, it felt like he had not even touched the surface of his absolute limit, as though he had merely used a single drop of water from a full bucket. He had the capacity to keep going, and now he wondered about one thing.

Would he be able to get all the information of this tower with his divinity now?

Beforehand, he was not able to do so. When he had tried to scan the building previously, he had been locked out and unable to get any information whatsoever. However, now that he was stronger, perhaps he would have the ability to get the full building scouted out. At least then, he would have the safety and security of knowing what was up ahead.

He closed his eyes and expanded his range. While he was aware of the possible dangers of doing so with the backlash, he had some confidence in his newly obtained abilities. This was a worthy risk to take and in the end, his gamble paid off.

He was able to get all the information in his hands.