A New Trump Card

The second layer of the Academy Dungeon.

“Hey, why has your expression been so disgusting for the past few minutes?”

Victoria accurately pierced the core of a monster with a Flame Spear. After watching it dissipate into points of light, she bent down to pick up a dropped Basic Gem.

She turned her head and couldn't help but frown at the sight of Greg’s face, which wore a bizarre, smug smile.

“You wouldn't understand.”

Greg crossed his arms, a look of complete satisfaction on his face.

“I successfully prevented a tragedy from occurring, so I have every right to enjoy the fruits of my victory.”

In his imagination, Vivian and Lilith should currently be sitting in some cozy tea house in the academy, enjoying exquisite snacks while sharing the long-overdue sisterly talk.

This meant the conflict between them should have been completely resolved, and their bond re-established.

With Lilith’s support, Vivian wouldn't be vulnerable to the Demon King Cult’s interference at a certain point in the Act Three plot.

This was simply a perfect, happy ending for everyone!

“Sigh, it’s impossible for someone like you, whose inner world is as barren as your chest, to understand me.”

Greg sighed, speaking in a tone that suggested it was lonely at the top.

Victoria looked down at her chest, then looked up, her gray eyes burning with fury.

“Hmph, what are you still rambling about back there? The monsters have respawned, and it’s first come, first served!”

With that, she turned and charged toward the group of monsters ahead, magic light flashing in her hands as she prepared for a slaughter.

“Hey, don't get too cocky! Be careful not to mess up again!” Greg shouted as he hurriedly chased after her.

Although Victoria’s current strength was enough to handle the elite monsters of the second layer in a one-on-one fight, it was still dangerous for her to be surrounded.

Furthermore, Greg didn't intend to let Victoria have all the monsters this time.

During their last expedition, he had realized that aside from his dark-attribute magic, which served as his trump card, he lacked too many other means of attack.

This put him at a significant disadvantage in certain situations.

So, he planned to take advantage of the time before the exchange to grind some mobs and see if he could get more basic elemental attack skills to diversify his arsenal.

Additionally, he intended to verify a theory.

Greg pulled a polyhedral transparent gem from his pocket.

The gem was about the size of a thumb, with facets as smooth as mirrors, reflecting brilliant light even in the dim dungeon illumination.

This was the high-tier Diffusion Gem that had dropped after killing the Thirsting Maw.

When the gem first dropped, he had been worried about how to divide it, since he and Vivian had defeated the Boss together.

However, Vivian had directly given the gem to him, saying, “You probably need it more than I do.”

Seeing this, Greg didn't put on an act and accepted it, as he truly needed this gem to test his idea.

The effect of a Diffusion Gem was to spread the effect of an original spell in a diffuse form, greatly increasing the area of coverage while weakening the original power.

Simply put, it turned a laser beam into a curtain of light.

In Greg’s theory, the Diffusion Gem should also work on his dark-attribute magic.

If he used the World-Devouring Black Flame in conjunction with the Diffusion Gem, he should be able to turn a single-target skill into an area-of-effect skill that hits multiple targets simultaneously.

If it were truly feasible, it would drastically improve his mob-clearing efficiency and battlefield dominance when necessary.

To confirm his theory, Greg shouted to Victoria, who was fighting ahead.

“Dear Junior Sister, please lend me your magic conduit for a moment.”

Victoria didn't even look back as she fought. “Don't you have your own? Everyone gets one upon enrollment!”

“I don't. The stuff in my dorm was tossed out as trash long ago,” Greg said righteously.

“You’re clearly the trash that most deserves to be tossed out.”

After delivering a merciless retort, Victoria unclipped her magic conduit from her waist and tossed it behind her without looking back.

Greg caught it steadily.

It was a standard academy magic conduit with two socket slots on the staff.

He carefully placed his high-tier Diffusion Gem into one of the slots.

Then, Greg raised his palm and cast World-Devouring Black Flame. A cluster of black fire ignited silently above his palm.

The fire was unlike ordinary flames; it had no temperature and seemed like a hole leading into the void, causing the surrounding air to distort around it.

“As a thank you, watch me put on a show for you.”

He raised the magic conduit, aimed it at the group of monsters near Victoria, and activated the Diffusion Gem’s effect.

A wave of black light diffused from the tip of the magic conduit, turning into a fan-shaped curtain of light that enveloped the monsters.

The monsters illuminated by the black light were instantly engulfed by those bizarre black flames.

They struggled collectively for a moment before collapsing to the ground as if all their life force had been drained, losing all signs of life.

At the same time, a series of system notifications rang out in Greg’s mind:

[Killed Lava Beetle, obtained skill: Earthfire Blast LV1. Effect: Condenses mana into a molten sphere on the ground, triggering an explosion and burning effect upon activation.]

[Killed Lava Beetle, obtained skill: Earthfire Blast, proficiency increased to LV2]

[Killed Lava Beetle, obtained skill: Earthfire Blast, proficiency increased to LV3]

[Killed Water Hunter Spider, obtained skill: Wave Current LV1. Effect: Condenses high-pressure water waves, producing a strong impact and drenching effect upon hitting.]

[Killed Water Hunter Spider, obtained skill: Wave Current, proficiency increased to LV2]

[Killed Cave Troll, obtained skill: Earth Pierce LV1. Effect: Thrusts earth-and-stone spikes from the ground, producing piercing and terrain destruction effects upon hitting.]

[Killed Cave Troll, obtained skill: Earth Pierce, proficiency increased to LV2]

[Killed Cave Troll, obtained skill: Earth Pierce, proficiency increased to LV3]

Having a higher Luck stat is truly useful!

He had obtained three basic elemental attack skills in one go, and their proficiency levels had even increased slightly!

This perfectly filled the void in his elemental attack methods.

“And as expected, the gem can be used with this dark-attribute magic.”

Greg nodded with satisfaction.

Although the power was much smaller than when he dealt with the Thirsting Maw due to the diffusion, it confirmed his theory—this method was viable.

The issue of reduced power would be easy to solve.

He just needed to add the high-tier Fission Gem he got after defeating Lady Eight-Legs and combine it with the new-model magic conduit with max conduction efficiency that Alice and the others were working on. That would completely solve the problem and provide him with a devastating new trump card!

The only slight pity was...

Greg removed the Diffusion Gem from the magic conduit and carefully observed its surface.

A thin crack had appeared on the originally mirror-smooth surface, like a frost-crystal pattern on porcelain, extending from the edge to the center.

Gems had a limited number of uses.

A Basic Gem would become completely useless and turn to dust after a single use. While high-tier gems could be used several times, they still had a finite limit.

Therefore, now that the verification was successful, this trump card had to be saved for the most critical moment.

“Greg, you bastard! You’re returning kindness with ingratitude by stealing my kills!”

Victoria’s shout echoed from the battlefield ahead.

She stood among a pile of freshly fallen monster corpses, hands on her hips, with the fire of anger burning in her gray eyes.

She had worked hard to fight those monsters for so long, only for Greg to take them all out in one move. How could she not be angry?

“Hehehe.”

Greg let out a villainous laugh.

“This is the first lesson your Senior is teaching you—don't just hand your things over to a scumbag!”

He tossed the magic conduit back to Victoria and officially joined the hunt.

The sounds of their alternating combat soon resonated throughout the entire second layer.

Not far behind the two, a pitch-black cat crouched on a protruding rock, its amber vertical pupils silently watching Greg’s back.

Nightmare licked her paw and gently shook her head. “Even though he resisted so much at first, he’s already completely immersed in it now.”

Then, she shifted her gaze toward Victoria.

The gray-haired girl was currently tangling with an elite monster, her movements agile and her magic usage proficient. She didn't look like a newly enrolled freshman at all.

“And this girl...”

Nightmare’s pupils narrowed slightly.

“When I saw her last time, I felt a slight discordance, but it was so faint it was almost negligible. But now, I feel that discordance has increased slightly. Is it my imagination? Or is there... really something wrong with her?”

As Nightmare was deep in thought, she suddenly felt a strange fluctuation.

It was a torrent of faith, meaning the number of her believers had increased again at this moment.

Though she didn't know which new faces had joined the order to worship her, that converging power of faith was continuously nourishing her broken Godhood and repairing her damaged Authority.

She could feel her strength recovering a bit more.

It had reached a level... where she could grant Greg a Divine Protection.