"This isn't the power a peak Lieutenant level should have..."

Because of his special physique, Dante's cultivation had stagnated at the peak of the soldier level for a year.

No matter how much he exerted himself or fought life and death battle in the Dungeon's missions, he still couldn't break through to the Lieutenant.

And now that he broke through he even reached the peak of the Lieutenant level, isn't this too far-fetched?

He didn't expect such a major gap between him and other Lieutenant levels.

It was as if he was watching everything in slow motion, his opponent's every move seen through by him.

Usually, a peak Lieutenant level could handle from four to seven late-stage Lieutenant levels without sustaining too many injuries, but his limit far exceeded that.

"With this power backing me, I should be able to hold my ground when battling a Shaman."

Dante was silent for a brief moment before he said.

"If I only had this power back then..." A look of regret appeared on his face, but he hid it quickly as determination filled his eyes.

Dante was behind one of the barricades they had made before the battle, there was no one near him so it was relatively safe, but he still paid attention to his surrounding.

He began running through the recent battles he had, as Dante felt there was something fishy going on.

"I have finished the first part of the mission, now I only have to kill a hobgoblin Shaman.

Of the eleven hobgoblin Chefs I killed, six of them had at least one defensive talisman while 3 of them even had an additional offensive talisman. Ten talismans were at the mid-grade while two of them were low grade.

Mid-grade talismans can heavily injure anyone under the mid-stages of the Lieutenant level, these monsters were really prepared, they should have someone of great status backing them or there's no way they would have all these talismans."

Dante stopped thinking for a moment, he cleared his mind to reorganize his thoughts.

He looked at the pouch filled with talismans, before pondering.

"I had to kill forty hobgoblins more than required because those talismans had offset the balance of the battle, and even after killing and running so much I still feel no tiredness.

Isn't this too monstrous?"

He didn't know that even a Commander level would still need to recover a bit after doing what Dante had done.

But it had to be said that Dante's killing efficiency was mainly due to his amazing senses which gave him the ability to attack without wasting too many movements.

Dante decided to ask his master about the matter.

"Teacher do you know what happened to my body? Is it related to the Death Mark's abilities?"

Rayleigh didn't answer him immediately as it was probably something even he wasn't too sure about, but he still replied.

"Your Teacher only has a general understanding of the Death Mark capabilities, as you the detailed information will have to be bought with merit points, but I still think that your situation is too exaggerated. I understand that you have a sturdy foundation thanks to a year of accumulation but it hasn't even been a day and your improvement is so shocking, Dante are you one of those blessed with a special constitution?"

"Actually teacher, your student has been diagnosed to have..."

Dante was just about to answer his teacher's question, when he felt the earth tremble.

A mushroom cloud rose from the horizon, scaring the shit out of Dante.

He could see it because of its humongous size and the elevation of the ground.

"What the fuck was that!?"

"Kid, it should be the work of that elf and ogre's battle. They should be at the late stages of the battle, if not at their final attacks.

Hahaha, it's been too long since I last went all out.

Dante, you should hurry up and kill a Shaman before their fight ends, it will be too late to act if one of the leaders returns.

You should be able to handle a Shaman with your current skills."

Rayleigh's voice had traces of bloodthirst in it.

Dante was confused while his voice was still shaking when he asked.

"Master, what do you intend by one of them? Both of them still have their subordinates here, they would surely return to save them."

Rayleigh frowned as he replied. The bloodthirst in his voice even more evident.

"Do you really think that the loser will be able to save anyone aside from himself?

The winner will return and wipe out the loser's subordinate."

Dante didn't think twice before dashing off towards the battle between Commander levels, the sooner he completed his mission the better his chances of survival were.

He had to flee as far as he could if Pan didn't win they would all die here.

That earthquake only increased the sense of urgency in his heart.

"Faster, faster."

Dante ran as if his life depended on it.

...

"Poisonous cloud! Ignite poison!"

Two Shamans quickly chanted a chained magic as the area were a Commander level mercenary suddenly burst into green flames.

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However, the mercenary seemed to have sensed the danger as he gave an instantaneous burst of speed before reappearing near one of his comrades, his complexion a little pale.

"James they almost got you right now, those Shamans are even able to use such tricks..."

James shuddered as he looked at the flames which were corroding the spot where he was just a moment ago, had his reaction been a bit slower...

"Gordon cut the crap we have to stall for time until our Boss... FUCK, LOOK THE BOSS HAS GONE..:"

But James didn't get the possibility to finish his sentence as an ice spear pierced his armour and punctured his liver.

Spurting blood, James fell from the sky but was saved by Gordon who put him in his internal world.

At the Commander level cultivators formed their inner world in which they could put their stuff.

Only at the late stage Commander level could life forms enter the inner world.

With his vitality as a mid-stage Commander level, recovering from that wound would take James no more than two days of rest.

"Shit, they got James that was actually a trap."

Gordon felt like the Shamans were playing with them, what was happening? They were now three vs five.

It would be much more difficult from now on.

"I didn't even hear them chant a word... Could one of them have mastered Chantless Spellcasting? No, he shouldn't be at that level yet or James wouldn't have simply been heavily wounded.

At least we can somewhat defend against him, James was too careless just now..."

He understood the reason why James got careless, seeing that mushroom cloud he left a gap that the enemy didn't leave unexploited.

Quickly conveying his findings to his two comrades, Gordon avoided another Magic Bullet fired by a Shaman.

However, as he avoided the Magic Bullet his expression suddenly changed as what he thought was merely a Magic Bullet revealed the real deal.

He got tricked.

It was Force Lance, a 4th Circle magic which could only affect him for a brief moment as its main features were stunning and knocking back the target.

However, that brief moment was more than enough to decide this life and death in this battle!

As terror flooded his eyes, Gordon struggled with all his strength to release himself from the binding powers of Force Lance.

Just when he thought it was the end, Gordon felt the power binding him disappear as if the caster had dispelled his magic. He immediately used a secret technique to escape, leaving an afterimage behind him.

"Fireball!"

Right after Gordon disappeared, two fireballs landed on the spot he had been a moment ago.

The Shamans were smug about their results, thanks to Rain's Chantless Casting they had been able to heavily injure one of their opponents, forcing him to leave the battle. Now they had even killed a Commander level powerhouse!

Doron would surely report their merits to the Lord and their positions would surely soar!

But their pleased expressions quickly changed into shock as they were brought back to reality by the harsh truth.

Even if Fireball was a 5th Circle magic they had barely been able to cast it, so it should leave some charred remnants of the mercenary's corpse, but they couldn't even see cinders!

However that wasn't the end of it, what had truly shocked was Rain's condition.

Rain had been a mage genius since a young age, mastering 2nd circle magic before twelve years old coupled with him being adept at Chantless Casting, it had turned him into one of the geniuses which the Lord groomed with care.

Now that same Rain was lying in a pool of his own blood, a sword stuck in his head. A demon was beside him, looting the corpse without a care.

The two Shamans were furious. Who cares about merits? Who cares about status? They had been tasked with ensuring Rain's safety and now the boy got himself killed by a random demon at the Lieutenant level!?

This is a crime which can't be repaid even with a thousand death!

Quickly chanting their most powerful magic, the two Shamans used up all their remaining mana in this final attack.

If they didn't kill the culprit, Doron would just kill them on the spot when he got wind of what happened!

The demon didn't seem to feel the changing flow of the mana around him, as he continued looting the body.

"Pay the price for your offence demon!"

A Fireball was cast in front of the two Shamans, compared to the ones they had cast before this Fireball was much smaller but it carried an aura far more dangerous.

The small size was an indicator of the high mana concentration, which raised its power by two folds.

It could deal with anything under the peak of the Commander level.

Seeing that their threat had no effect on the demon, the two Shamans fired the 5th circle magic with all their might.

The demon seemed to have found what he wanted from the corpse as he calmly looked up at the incoming Fireball.

A mocking smile could be seen on his face.