"Boom boom boom!"

The remaining snake, witnessing its companion being slain, sensed its authority had been challenged.

It lunged forward at incredible speed, but unlike its companion, it didn't attempt to swallow Leonard whole—this time, it wanted to crush him with its massive body.

Leonard cast the snake a glance, his pupils suddenly narrowing into vertical slits like those of a wild beast.

At the same time, countless scales erupted across his body, and in no time, his lower half had fused into a massive serpent's tail. Jagged scales also spread across his hands and face, gleaming with a glossy black sheen.

His body was lifted high by the serpent's tail, now standing equal to the serpent.

Four massive tails crowded the castle hall. No matter how vast the castle might have been, it suddenly felt cramped, no longer leaving room for ordinary humans.

By now, the other snake had already recovered, its two halves merging back together as it began to "stand" again.

The two snakes bared their fangs and clawed wildly at Leonard.

Leonard's slit pupils gleamed. His scarlet irises, the jagged scales, and the massive tail made him look nothing short of terrifying. He opened his mouth wide, hissing sharply, but his jaws split even further in that instant—his whole face twisted, two long fangs sprouting forth. Bloodthirsty, monstrous—he looked more beast than beast itself.

With a thunderous roar, Leonard coiled himself around the two giant snakes, beginning to tear into them savagely.

As long as he could seize their flesh and blood, he would live until the monsters were the ones who died!

[Holy shit, Leonard is invincible!]

[He must have been faking weakness all this time to pull off this grand finale!]

[This has gotta be Nerio's evil influence!]

[What are you talking about? Nerio is innocent.]

[We've been calling for Nerio so often—will he show up in this dungeon or the next? I miss him.]

[Hahaha, scream all you want. Soon enough, these humans will exhaust themselves and die anyway. I want to see Drake ripped in half!]

[Not anytime soon, hahaha!]

Below, the lesser monsters continued swarming out endlessly. Cocona couldn't help but wonder how many people had once lived in this castle when the fire first broke out.

But that thought didn't hinder her performance in the slightest.

She raised her hand, and lightning bolts immediately crashed from the heavens, piercing through the castle roof and opening several skylights. The next instant, they swept through the horde of monsters—wherever they struck, not a single creature survived. Charred once already, the monsters were scorched even further.

Cocona's lightning left them no chance to rise again, turning them into dust!

For over five minutes, the lightning raged, and when it finally dissipated, only a layer of ash remained on the ground—no trace of monsters left.

Cold sweat streamed down Cocona's face, her lips paling. Her hands clenched in pain, though her withered, burnt arms barely responded to her will anymore.

Then, cracks began spreading across them—until they crumbled directly into dust.

"Fuck!" Cocona cursed outright!

She and Drake were the two most heavily cursed among them.

At the very least, she could still lift her arms—whereas Drake's legs had already transformed into vines. And moments ago, her hands had crumbled into dust from overusing her powers.

Simply standing, she felt unimaginable pain. She couldn't fathom how Drake could endure his curse while forcing his power to activate. From beneath his tattered, charred clothing, scales had begun spreading from his back to his ribs.

It was truly a double-layered curse. Yet Drake acted as though he felt nothing, still throwing himself headlong into slaughter, as if he hated himself for not dying sooner.

"Does Drake not remember that he will become the most terrifying monster once he's finished killing the monsters? Prophet isn't here—who's going to stop him?" Cocona cursed inwardly, thinking Drake had gone utterly mad.

Silas shook his head to the side. "These monsters won't die. They don't even have weaknesses. If we keep fighting them with sheer force like this, we'll be the ones to die first."

Never had Silas felt so powerless. His ability had been completely meaningless up until now. The shockwaves from the battle above whipped up gales, sending his long hair flying, as though trying to veil his face.

His eyes, which had always been shut tight, remained so even now, and his lips pressed into a thin line. He couldn't bring himself to speak.

What could he possibly do against monsters that couldn't even be killed?

[So in the end, Silas isn't all-seeing after all.]

[He should have been able to see the heart of the sunflower back in the first space if his power was that great...]

[Give me a break. None of you said a word when he was pulling his weight before. Silas isn't weak—the monsters in this dungeon are just too damn strong.]

"So we're going to lose..."

Cocona muttered. She didn't doubt Silas's words, yet couldn't help but feel a stab of frustration and despair. If even Silas said they had no chance of winning... then they truly had none. Silas had never been wrong.

Just then, Silas suddenly walked past Cocona, heading toward Alice, lying off to the side. He moved so hastily that his long hair whipped across Cocona's face.

Cocona frowned and brushed it away.

"You should get a buzz cut like mine," she grumbled.

At that moment, she saw Silas bend down and pick up the divine brush Alice had been clutching all this time.

Alice's grip hadn't loosened even in unconsciousness, but her frail strength was nothing to Silas.

As his fingers closed around the pen, the ancient, sacred patterns carved into its shaft seemed to glow faintly at his touch.

Standing off to the side, Cocona couldn't help but feel suspicious. "What are you planning to do with that?"

Just then, Drake—locked in a sky-high battle—seemed to sense something. His eyes widened, and then, suddenly, he dove straight down!

At the same time, Cocona furrowed her brows, whipping around to place her back before Silas. A massive lightning pillar erupted before them, struggling to block Drake's giant blade, wreathed in black flames.

"Are you insane, Drake?!"

Cocona roared.

Drake's eyes burned a deep crimson, his gaze radiating black fire.

Yet he didn't look at Cocona—instead, his eyes were fixed on Silas. Or rather, on the divine brush Silas held in his hands. His voice ground out word by word: "Mine!"

Just then, the massive serpent that had been battling Drake swooped down, jaws gaping to devour him whole. But the black flames ignited from Drake's skeletal wings, instantly incinerating the serpent into dust. It would take time before it could revive again.

Still, Drake's crazed eyes remained locked onto the pen, his pressure mounting. Cocona could feel it—she couldn't hold on much longer.

"Damn it, that's Alice's pen! Go beg Prophet for your own!" Cocona bellowed, pouring in more strength. She had the sinking feeling that even her body would turn to ash after this.

But Drake didn't waver in the slightest. Instead, he pressed harder, his expression a strange mix of madness and eerie calm.

"Silas, whatever you're going to do—do it now!" Cocona could only scream. "I can't hold this for long—soon enough we'll all be dust together!"

[God, I'm dying of laughter—this is supposed to be tense, right? But come on, it's Alice's pen! Drake's making no sense.]

[He's completely lost all rationality.]

[Alright, time for Prophet to show up and fix this. Everything turned out this way because he never gave Drake a divine artifact, right?]

[Humans fighting each other is just as intense as fighting monsters. If Cocona still had both arms, we might be watching a duel between Rank 1 and Rank 2 right now.]

[Way more entertaining than humans versus monsters, hahaha.]

[Is no one curious about what Silas is planning?]

Silas seemed deaf to Cocona's shouting and her desperate clash with Drake.

He gripped the divine brush tightly in his hands. He didn't know if he could truly succeed, but his powers had always been tied to divine energy—to glimpses of time and stolen peeks at heaven's secrets.

The eye on Silas's forehead snapped open, rolling wildly as it trembled, gazing down at the divine brush he clasped in both hands.

Prophet had said: Paint the world you desire with this pen. And what Silas wanted to draw was...

He didn't own it. But with his power, could he make it work? No—he must make it work. He would make it work.

A gate.

A gate to summon the gods to this very place!