The Breakbone Hills were expansive, stretching for almost a thousand miles across the surface of Tartarus. Worse, they were absolutely filled with monsters. For the last few days, Jonathan and the others had fought their way across them, dealing with all manner of strange foes. The goblinoid tribe that called the region home enslaved the beasts of the region to act as shock troops, and the first time a hill had burst apart, revealing a troll the size of a building, Edgar had almost been pulped by a swing of its club. As to how the monster had simply stayed within a hill for so long, none of them knew.

As soon as the troll had fallen though, a tide of goblins had erupted from the shattered hill, swarming them. These goblins were a cut above those from the Ash Heaps, with swarthy, muscular bodies and skin the color of a dying ember. They were short, but not overly so, and they even seemed to have some sort of rudimentary language. Individually they were weak, but together, they acted like a horde, pulling down any foe that they came across.

More annoyingly, they counted shamans among their numbers, magic users who could empower those around them. Facing off against a hundred goblins, each glowing with volcanic light, was a test of willpower and bravery.

However, many rewards had been reaped from this journey, and Jonathan had gained five levels for his troubles. Unfortunately, the rate was really starting to slow down, given the levels of the monsters he was fighting.

It was taking more effort now, as compared to when he was at a similar level in Tier 2, to achieve the same effects in terms of leveling. Naturally, it would only increase the higher Tier he reached. He assumed that there were more aspects to leveling at higher Tiers, as it would be a bit strange for one to be mechanically able to ascend to godhood by simply fighting an ever larger number and level of monsters.

Perhaps at Tier 10, there was some sort of bottleneck that one had to ascend past. Otherwise, there was no way that one could grow to the level of strength necessary to destroy planets by the time they were at a much higher Tier. Sure, Jonathan could probably take out a small town right now in a single attack if he really let loose, but the mass of an entire planet was so much larger than that that it was in another realm of existence entirely.

He pondered such things as they trekked through the hills, killing monsters as they went. Eventually, they came to an opening in the earth, leading down into a smoke filled crater. Red light sparked at the bottom as the smoke leaked out, making it look like the maw of a dragon.

A faint sense of System authority drifted out of it. Then Jonathan realized what it was. There was a dungeon here. It didn’t look like one of the main dungeons of the realm, unlike in the last circle of Tartarus, but it was definitely one. Jonathan was unversed in the mechanics of dungeon creation, but he suspected that the number of monsters living in close proximity for so long had triggered the dungeon to come into being.

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“Do you guys feel that?” He asked.

“Yes. That’s a dungeon, isn’t it?” Edgar asked.

“Would be interesting to take a break from all of the goblins and their slaves,” Hushar replied. “Though it might just be more goblins in there.”

“There isn't much of a difference between going in there and staying out here, save for the fact that there might be loot in there,” Jonathan replied. “I vote that we go in.”

“Let’s do it,” Edgar said, nodding. Air condensed around his fingers as he prepared. “We need as much power as possible to liberate the others.”

“Or get revenge for them,” Hushar added. A dark look marred his face.

A few minutes later, they had descended into the dungeon, and were heading towards the source of the light. At the very bottom, a portal of reddish energy rested in the center of a pool of lava, which was giving off the reddish glow. The smoke drifted out of the portal itself, hinting at what might be inside.

The three men gave each other a look, and then leaped in, falling through the disk of light. A moment later, reality warped, and they were standing in the middle of a vast plain. Two armies warred, locked in what seemed to be an endless battle. One was made up of goblins, and the other was made up of the massive trolls that they had seen in the Breakbone Hills. It seemed to be reflecting some ancient war, perhaps the one that had led to the enslavement of the trolls in the first place. As they watched, a notification appeared.

You have entered the Pyroclastic Plains, a dungeon of Tartarus.

This dungeon has an average level of 270.

There was little else to the notification, likely because the entirety of the dungeon was already visible.

Reinforcements came from both sides, seemingly out of the ether, as soon as one fighter died, ensuring that the battle continued forever. The arrival of the trio of outsiders created a change in the pace of the battle though, and soon there were units of goblins and trolls charging them, bellowing battle cries.

Jonathan grinned, and summoned the purple light of the Void to his arms. Edgar floated up into the air, creating a tempest of swirling wind around himself. Finally, Hushar coated his blade in obsidian, and slashed through the air, projecting out a crescent of stone.

As the monsters approached, they let loose. Jonathan shouted as he sent a tidal wave of purple energy pouring out of his outstretched fingers, tearing through the goblins like they were made of spun sugar. A tornado of swirling blades came into being at Edgar’s behest, cutting through the nearby enemies. Finally, a hundred of them were bisected by Hushar’s stone crescent, falling into two halves on the already blood soaked ground.

The creatures kept coming, seemingly spurred on by the gruesome attacks. There were tens of thousands warring across the field, and as the battle ramped up, more and more of them headed their way. The trolls were smaller than they had been on the outside, but they were still many times larger than Jonathan, and were quite imposing. However, that much weight going at such a high speed was a recipe for disaster if interrupted. Multiple black holes detonated next to knee joints, tearing apart the flesh of the trolls. Tumbling forward, many of them tore their legs apart with their momentum, crashing down to the ground. There, it was child’s play to boil their brains with elemental energy.