Outside the dungeon, the two sides were still in a standoff.
In the past half hour, another conflict had erupted between them.
Neither side gained an advantage.
Currently, each side was about 50 meters away from the dungeon entrance; neither could approach.
Anyone who approached would face a thunderous blow.
Suddenly, five figures appeared at the dungeon entrance.
Along with them were ten Skeleton Warriors.
Morintis and the others emerged from the dungeon under the protection of the Skeleton Warriors.
"They're out!"
"So fast!
Only half an hour, right?"
"Probably couldn't beat it and withdrew."
"Heh, these skeletons look pretty tough, probably just that—tough, good for tanking."
In their eyes, the Skeleton Warriors were just hard, numerous, and nothing more.
The Sakura Nation people sneered one after another.
They absolutely refused to believe Morintis had cleared the dungeon.
Only half an hour was definitely not enough.
Even the most perfectly configured team couldn't clear a Nightmare difficulty dungeon in less than one or two hours.
The Divine Dragon Empire side had a different reaction.
Seeing Morintis and the others return safely, they breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as they returned safely, it was fine.
"Brother, come back quickly!"
"It's okay if the dungeon failed.
Staying alive is what matters."
"As long as you're alive, there will be plenty of chances in the future."
Ethan sneered, "Lucky to even come out alive."
Peach scanned both sides and noticed no one was missing.
This meant no one had entered the dungeon.
"Be careful."
Isla Ning smiled happily.
"Don't worry!
With Morintis here, nothing will happen."
"Mm, I'll wait for you outside."
Daniel and Jade also said, "Good luck."
After speaking, the three retreated back to the Divine Dragon Empire group.
Isla Ning and Morintis formed a two-person party.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Isla Ning took out a Cooling Charm and activated it!
Amidst a faint light, the dungeon cooldown timer reset to zero.
The two entered the dungeon again.
"How are they entering again?"
"What are they doing?
A two-person dungeon run?"
"Even on Normal difficulty, two people aren't enough, right?"
"A Low-Grade Cooling Charm!
This woman actually has such a high-level item.
She must have an unusual background."
"This is a valuable item that's hard to buy even with money!"
Low-Grade Cooling Charms weren't easy to obtain.
Morintis had looked in both the Empire Exchange and the Academy Exchange; neither had it.
This item was clearly somewhat precious.
He had only seen one in Sophia's possession before.
He had only asked tentatively earlier, never expecting Isla Ning actually had one.
Like Sophia's, it was a Low-Grade Cooling Charm with 10 uses.
After 10 uses, it needed energy replenishment.
The one in Isla Ning's hand still had 5 uses left.
If they brought Peach and the others, they could only run one more time.
If it was just Isla Ning and Morintis, they could run two more times.
After discussion, they decided Morintis and Isla Ning would run the dungeon alone.
After all, whether Peach, Daniel, and Jade were there or not made little difference.
As long as Morintis was there, it was enough.
Inside the dungeon, Isla Ning's face beamed with a bright smile, as if even the dungeon's stench wasn't so bad anymore.
"You promised to power-level me.
I didn't expect it to happen so soon."
Morintis smiled.
"A promise is a promise."
Isla Ning's smile grew even brighter.
"Then you have to carry me later too!
You can't just do it once and stop."
"Okay."
Morintis agreed.
Ten Skeleton Warriors charged out, running forward along the passage.
With experience from the previous run, Morintis didn't waste time killing monsters one by one.
He directly had the Skeleton Warriors drag the few monsters in the passage along.
The Skeleton Warriors led the way, with the Mermaid Elite Soldiers chasing behind, moving all the way through the passage.
Five minutes later, the Skeleton Warriors, dragging over thirty Mermaid Elite Soldiers, reached the end of the passage and arrived at the cavern of the Mermaid Queen's Pet Snake.
The Skeleton Warriors leaped down.
The monsters behind followed, jumping down one after another.
After they all jumped down, Morintis and Isla Ning appeared at the passage end.
The giant serpent, an Elite Boss, was frantically pursuing the Skeleton Warriors along with the Elite Soldiers.
Skill: Slow Curse.
As red light flashed, shackle symbols appeared above all the monsters' heads.
Their speed instantly slowed.
At that moment, the Skeleton Warriors turned around simultaneously to counterattack.
Over a dozen Skeleton Warriors focused their attacks on a single Elite Soldier.
The unlucky Mermaid Elite Soldier was almost instantly killed.
Skill: Corpse Explosion!
BOOM!
The explosion sound erupted abruptly.
The cavern shook violently, countless gravel falling.
Almost all the Mermaid Elite Soldiers were killed in an instant.
[Killed Level 21 MermaidElite Soldier. Experience +25000]
[Obtained Fish Skin 6]
[Killed Level 21 Mermaid Elite Soldier. Experience +25000]
[Obtained Fish Skin 10]
A series of prompts appeared.
Over 30 Mermaid Elite Soldiers brought over 700,000 experience to each of them.
Their experience bars rose rapidly.
The giant serpent hadn't yet processed what happened.
During the Corpse Explosion, it sustained significant injury.
Morintis continuously activated the skill, triggering Corpse Explosion ten times almost within three seconds.
With a final wail, the giant serpent crashed to the ground.
[Killed Level 23 Mermaid Queen's Pet Snake. Experience +125000]
[Obtained Silver-grade Armor: Snakeskin Light Armor.]
[Obtained Mid-Grade Monster Crystal Core.]
Last time, clearing up to this point by killing monsters one by one took over half an hour.
This time, it was only 5 minutes.
The speed was several times faster.
"So amazing!"
Isla Ning's eyes curved into crescent moons, very beautiful.
Morintis was momentarily captivated, then said softly, "Let's go."
The two jumped into the cavern and continued forward.
They soon arrived outside the Mermaid Queen's Palace.
A large number of Mermaid Elite Soldiers patrolled outside the palace.
The Skeleton Warriors quickly ran over.
Soon, amid several consecutive, violent explosions, the two gained another large amount of experience and materials.
White light enveloped Isla Ning.
"Yay!
I leveled up!"
"Finally Level 20."
Isla Ning stretched lazily, sighing with emotion.
When Morintis first met Isla Ning, she was already Level 19.
At that time, Morintis was only Level 10.
These days had passed, and Isla Ning was still only Level 19.
Morintis understood just how slack this girl was about leveling.
Probably the type who wouldn't move if she could avoid it.
Azure blue light showered down, and the Mermaid Queen's Palace opened once more.
The beautiful, noble Mermaid Queen emerged from the palace.
With her previous experience, Isla Ning whooshed behind Morintis.
"If I don't look at her, I won't be charmed, right?"
Using Morintis as a shield worked; she wasn't charmed.
Seeing her soldiers all dead, the Mermaid Queen angrily let out a sharp scream.
This time, Morintis had experience and was prepared.
The Skeleton Warriors quickly retreated, carrying the corpses of the Mermaid Elite Soldiers.
The corpses weren't swept away by the shockwave from the scream.
After the scream ended, the Skeleton Warriors carried the corpses back.
Morintis acted simultaneously.
Skill: Slow Curse!
Under the crimson shackles, the Mermaid Queen's speed instantly slowed.
The Skeleton Warriors carried over a dozen corpses back to the Mermaid Queen.
Skill: Corpse Explosion!
An old, unoriginal, yet highly effective tactic.
Furthermore, this dungeon indeed had aspects Morintis could exploit.
Who told her to have so many Enhanced Elite Monsters in front of her palace?
The corpses of monsters killed in the dungeon had a limited existence time.
Only about two minutes or so.
Coincidentally, the Mermaid Queen rushed out within this short time.
If she had emerged later, Morintis couldn't have used these corpses.
Corpse Explosion's attack power was based on the corpse's health.
After talent amplification, the damage became 300% of the corpse's health.
A full 3 times damage.
The Mermaid Queen, as the dungeon BOSS, only had about twenty to thirty times the health of an Enhanced Elite Monster.
Amidst a series of explosions, the Mermaid Queen fell to the ground with a mournful cry.
She didn't even get a chance to use her skills; it was practically an instant kill.
[Killed Mermaid Queen. Experience +200000]
[Obtained Silver-grade Weapon: Mermaid Queen's Dagger]
[Obtained Silver-grade Weapon: Mermaid Queen's Spellbook]
[Obtained Mermaid's Tear 1]
[Mermaid Queen's Dagger: Silver-grade. Agility +50, Constitution +50. Assassin-type skill power increased by 10%. Usable after Level 20.]
[Mermaid Queen's Spellbook: Silver-grade. Spirit +100. Mage-type skill power increased by 10%. Usable after Level 20.]
This dungeon run had taken less than 10 minutes.
The speed was outrageously fast.
The efficiency was terrifyingly high.
Isla Ning clapped her hands excitedly nearby.
"Quick, quick, quick!
Let's go again!"
"Let's get all three Mermaid's Tears!"