His vision grew increasingly blurred.
His entire body felt increasingly numb and weak, with pain radiating from every wound.
Croton moved through the forest with great difficulty.
But he had escaped. He had escaped!
He was still alive!
As his body grew heavier, Croton was forced to collapse under a tree, struggling to recover.
Not far from the large tree, Croton spotted the attendant who had fled earlier.
"L-Lord Croton?"
The attendant looked at Croton in disbelief.
He seemed unable to believe that Croton had actually managed to escape from that monster.
"Come here and bandage my wounds!"
Croton forced himself to stay conscious and barked the command at the attendant.
Seeing the attendant still hesitating, Croton could no longer contain himself and cursed.
"You bastard! You deserted your post, and now you dare disobey my orders? Get over here right now!"
Croton's anger was impossible to restrain.
If not for this coward's desertion, how could he have fallen to such a state?
As one who was now extraordinary, he certainly could have dealt with that monster without sustaining such heavy injuries.
Moreover, he was now a first-rank swordsman, a noble existence on par with the aristocracy.
This commoner actually dared to defy his orders.
The attendant shuddered and quickly ran over.
"Lord Croton, I'm so sorry. I... I was just so scared."
The attendant apologized in terror.
"If I hadn't broken through to become extraordinary, you wouldn't even have found my corpse."
"Who do you think is to blame for all of this?"
As Croton finished speaking, the attendant's hands trembled.
Then, he lowered his head.
A first-rank swordsman. The man before him had become a first-rank swordsman. Would he ever forgive him?
No matter how strong Croton had been before, he was still human, just like him.
But now, he was extraordinary.
Would he show mercy? Before an extraordinary being like him, would he still be seen as someone of the same class?
The attendant's expression gradually twisted.
Croton, however, could not see the distorted look on the attendant's lowered face.
"What you can do now to atone for your crimes is help me..."
The attendant suddenly drew his sword, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the hilt, and lunged fiercely at Croton.
How could this man have escaped?
This man should have died! It was enough that he himself was alive!
As long as he was the only survivor, he could explain everything however he wanted!
No one would ever know he had deserted!
The sharp blade pierced deep into Croton's chest. Croton's eyes widened as he looked down at the blade in disbelief.
The attendant gave Croton no chance to struggle.
At this moment, there was only madness in his eyes.
He pulled the blade out without hesitation and stabbed again.
Strength and blood continuously leaked from Croton's chest.
"Everything is my fault? It's clearly all your fault!"
"You're the one who caused us to lose men so early! You're the one who forced us to keep exploring even though we were short-handed because you were afraid of the Lord's punishment!"
"You're the one who wanted all the rewards, leading us to our deaths one by one!"
"We were just pawns to be used in your eyes! What did you think our lives were? Stepping stones!"
"It's all your fault!"
The attendant shouted as he stabbed frantically.
His raspy voice echoed through the forest.
"How can you be so selfish!"
The attendant's frantic movements finally stopped. Covered in blood, he looked at Croton.
Only then did he realize that Croton had long since stopped breathing.
His eyes were still wide, staring fixedly at him, his mouth agape as he died unable to rest in peace.
Seeing Croton's unblinking eyes, the attendant dropped his sword in terror and scrambled away from the corpse.
He panted heavily.
It wasn't his fault. It was clearly Croton's fault.
Sam, the attendant's son, grabbed his weapon and fled the scene.
No one would know, and he was innocent. He had been forced into this.
...
"That was spectacular."
Dalun Li had witnessed the entire event from start to finish.
Croton had achieved an explosive evolution, only to die at the hands of his own man instead of the powerful Exiled Sentry.
Having watched this man from the moment he entered the dungeon until his tragic death on this floor, Dalun Li felt a bit sentimental.
However, regardless of what happened, life had to go on. Croton was dead, but he was still alive.
And his own crisis was still steadily approaching.
He had to seize every opportunity to develop, increase the dungeon's depth, and enhance its power.
Croton's group had provided a significant amount of Earth Vein Power.
And Croton was the first extraordinary being to die in the dungeon.
Before him, none of those hunted by the dungeon had been extraordinary; they were all within the human realm.
Dalun Li could not wait to confirm the difference in an extraordinary being's power.
Croton's body was submerged in soil, swallowed by the dungeon.
Naturally, his equipment was transferred to the sixth floor.
As for his flesh, it was entirely converted into Earth Vein Power.
[Earth Vein Power +400]
[Small Piece of Earth Vein Essence +1]
"As expected of an extraordinary being. The Earth Vein Power he contained is incomparable to ordinary people!"
"This is enough to open a whole new floor for me!"
"But, Earth Vein Essence... what is this?"
Dalun Li had never seen Earth Vein Essence drop before.
Neither the treasure piles nor the other adventurers had ever yielded such a thing.
[Small Piece of Earth Vein Essence] can be decomposed into 100 points of Earth Vein Power, or used as the power to create magic tools and equipment of lesser magic grade (magic tools and equipment created from Earth Vein Essence cannot attract Earth Vein Power).
Dalun Li was startled.
Synthesizing magic tools and equipment—the Earth Vein Essence actually had such an effect.
In other words, as long as he had magical materials and consumed Earth Vein Essence, he could create magic tools and equipment.
It was just like consuming power and using materials to create monsters.
Although magic tools and equipment created this way could not attract Earth Vein Power, they were still magic items.
However, did this Earth Vein Essence only drop from extraordinary beings?
Croton was only first-rank, so he only dropped a small piece.
If it were a high-ranking being, perhaps a higher grade of Earth Vein Essence would drop, allowing for the creation of even higher-grade magic equipment.
If that were the case, he could use magic tools and equipment as treasure to attract even more adventurers in the future.
Then he could relentlessly slaughter adventurers, craft more magic equipment, and create deeper floors.
Eventually, he would become the most powerful, impenetrable legendary dungeon in the world, dominating the entire world.
And then... cough, he was thinking too far ahead.
Currently, he only had six floors; he wasn't even considered a small-scale dungeon.
At this depth, someone could easily reach the end.
The crisis had not yet been averted.
Croton's Earth Vein Power had already been credited.
And so...
The silver orb floated slowly above the pedestal in the desert.
"Seventh floor, create!"
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