"In the end, he forced me to use the fourth Scarlet Sword"

Pan looked at the deep abyss which had formed in the middle of their battlefield, several spatial cracks had formed due to the sheer power of their final moves.

"This level of power is already comparable to those King levels who have found their path... The commotion will surely draw the attention of the Dungeon."

Pan didn't expect Doron to obtain a Divine Protection after gaining enlightenment in his evolved ability.

"What a freak! He caught the attention of one of those sovereigns of the Monster race... He will surely experience a meteoric rise in the future."

Pan only felt respect for someone of Doron's calibre. The elf had always treated that fourth sword as a trump card and as a double-edged sword. It was his trump card because the sword formation he practised would rise four times in power with its addition, but at the same time, it was a double-edged sword because he couldn't control it well and it affected his mental state.

Proof of this was the loss of his right arm.

"Hehehe, at least I didn't let that Doron leave unscathed."

He still remembered Doron's horrified face as he damaged his Life Core, it would take the ogre at least a month to recover even with the Sovereign's help.

"In the end, he fled or it would be better to say that I spared him."

Pan's satisfied face quickly darkened when he thought about what happened.

"I would have never thought that Doron was under the wing of Lord Ceasar, one of the supreme geniuses of the Monster race. If Doron only had a Divine Protection I would still kill him as there are many monsters who have it, but that Ceasar... He isn't someone I can offend, even the Lord backing our mercenary group would have to bow in front of him."

Pan clenched the only fist he had left, in it was a medallion with a dice and a river carved on it.

It was Lord Ceasar's symbol.

"The last time someone offended him, he personally went and slaughtered a clan of three thousand people with his own hands. When they tried to stop him, he killed all pursuers. When the Dungeon sent a battalion of commander levels he turned them into charcoal. In the end, no one could do anything to him as his Master personally mediated the situation.

Now that five years have passed he is surely more powerful than before."

Pan shuddered at the thought of being hunted down by someone like Ceasar, but he managed to calm himself quickly as he still had many things to do.

"I have to return to the battlefield and kill those puny Shamans. I shall stabilize my injuries and recover a bit before going."

The battle had been decided when Doron chose to flee now it was only a question of cleaning up the surviving hobgoblins.

...

After he entered his Orb, Dante found himself in the same barren land he left the last time.

No that's not right, there were actually some big changes.

He could feel that the inner-world had grown to the size of 8 km after his breakthrough to the peak of the Lieutenant level, now at the centre of the land, there was a towering bronze pillar.

Near the pillar, there were three buildings, a library, an armory and a temple.

The three buildings formed a triangle with the pillar at the centre.

Two km from these buildings there was a Colosseum exuding an ancient aura.

Dante was stunned when he saw these things, after some thinking he quickly understood that they were related to the Death Mark.

"Impressive isn't it? The Death Mark abilities are heaven-defying. Generation after generation of Sardior clan's leaders have walked the doors of these three buildings and now you also have the possibility to attain their greatness if not more!"

Rayleigh's excited voice sounded out. Dante looked at his teacher who looked the same as before, red hair and golden eyes which balanced his bloody aura. On Rayleigh's arms, there were golden tattoos which stood out due to his black skin.

"Master, can you tell me more about those buildings?"

Dante's curiosity had been piqued, he still remembered how Rayleigh had described the Sardior clan... They were the overlords of Rayleigh's era as they ruled by themselves two of the five great continents. What kind of existence was the leader of that clan?

Even if he was amazed by what Rayleigh told him, Dante still felt that something was off.

How could such a great clan not leave a mark in history? Had they truly existed, how could the current world not know about their greatness?

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Rayleigh had long ago sensed Dante's doubt about the things he said, but he let it go as even he had a bad premonition about it.

"Patriarch, have we underestimated the threat of the Outsiders?"

He had asked himself this question countless times until now without reaching an answer, maybe he would never get one...

After a moment of silence, Rayleigh answered Dante's question after putting these matters in the back of his mind.

"I can only give you some general information and I will explain the reason during my explanation.

I will begin from the Colosseum. The purpose of the Colosseum is to give you fighting experience by making you fight against the previous owners of the Death Mark when they were at your level, by winning you can obtain conquest points which have a value ten times higher than honour points."

Rayleigh halted his explanation so that he could let the new information sink in.

Dante was dumbfounded, he had never thought that he would have the chance to battle the previous owners of the Mark.

After a while, Dante finally recovered and another question which had been puzzling him since he completed his mission.

"Teacher, what are honour points exactly?"

Rayleigh smiled before answering.

"I knew you would ask that honour points are rewarded when you change the course of an event to your side's advantage or when you accomplish great things. Your status in the Death Mark system is now that of 'Student' by obtaining enough honour points you can upgrade your status to the next level which is 'Elder', this is really important as your status determines the degree of authority you own in the Death Mark."

Dante already had some speculations about the use of honour points, many of which had been confirmed.

His status as 'Student' meant that he had the lowest of authorities which explained why he couldn't see some of Rain's information before.

Seeing that Dante had understood everything, Rayleigh went on with his explanation.

"Now let's talk about the Temple, that will be the place where you will receive your rewards. For now, that's it, but you have to remember that the Temple is actually the most important building among them, when your status reaches the Baron level you will understand.

The Library and the Armory are actually pretty similar in function, anything in them can be bought with merit points.

In the Armory, you can buy all types of artefacts, weapons and armours while in the Library you can buy books, grimoires and diaries.

They work like a normal store except that there are some set requirements when you try to sell them something, those requirements will be explained by the Administrators of the buildings."

Looking at Dante's face, Rayleigh decided to add something.

"Yes, there are Administrators. Even the Temple has one but you won't be able to interact with him now, they are the incarnations of those Death Mark's owners who contributed the most to these buildings.

You have to remember that all the items and artefacts in the Library and the Armory have been supplied by the previous owners of the Mark.

Now go to the Temple to pick your reward, the next time you will be able to explore everything. You have to return to the battlefield quickly."

Dante was enlightened by Rayleigh's words but hearing what his teacher said, he frowned.

"Teacher I was thinking of staying in the Orb for a day, to make sure that no matter if Pan or Doron won I would still be safe."

Hearing his disciple response, Reileigh'a face darkened as he said.

"You are underestimating that elf, the level of power he displayed against Doron at the beginning wasn't his limit.

As a half step General level, the technique he practices lets him display his peak power only when he enters a berserk state and when he fought at that time he could still maintain a clear mind.

I can assure you of Pan's victory, besides you wouldn't be able to remain in your inner-world for a day with your Student level status."

Dante was stunned by Rayleigh answer, but he still couldn't help say.

"But it's my inner-world!"

Rayleigh laughed as he said.

"The Death Mark has long since remodelled your inner-world's essence, you can only remain in it for half a day with your status as Student."

Dante walked to the Temple with a crestfallen face, he didn't look like someone who was about to get a reward.

...

...

After leaving the inner-world, Dante quickly returned to the battlefield.

As he ran, he saw several uprooted plants due to that shock wave from before.

Finally arriving at the battlefield, Dante was welcomed by thunderous cheers.

"Hurray! Our Saviour is alive!"