Free Web NovelChapter 469: Chapter 466 – Unexpected EXP
After Qilin officially joined their group, the atmosphere among Sylvia, Stacia, and Alicia felt much more lively and hopeful. The golden sacred beast walked gracefully beside Alicia, its steps light yet full of hidden power. Its holy aura spread gently like a calming golden morning mist that soothed the dungeon’s darkness. Sol had returned to his usual golden cat size and perched comfortably on Sylvia’s shoulder, occasionally letting out soft meows in a rare tone of delight, as if his old friend’s presence brought deep nostalgia and joy. They left the now corruption-free Qilin altar area and immediately flew toward the eastern area that Stacia had previously discovered.
Stacia led from the front, her eight pitch-black wings spread wide, accompanied by gusts of dark wind like a living cloak protecting their formation. Alicia floated beside her, the soft white light of her spirit body serving as a reliable guide in the crater’s darkness. Sylvia rode steadily on Sol’s back, who had once again enlarged into a medium-sized dragon. His golden scales shimmered beautifully in the air despite the dungeon’s dim lighting. Qilin flew behind them with graceful, balanced movements. His horns emitted a faint holy aura that helped stabilize the wind currents around them, making the flight smoother and safer.
This time, crossing the massive crater felt faster and more comfortable. The cold wind still blew fiercely from the depths, whipping Sylvia’s black dress and making her long hair flutter wildly, but with Qilin’s addition, their formation felt far more balanced and powerful. Sylvia enjoyed the sensation of flying on Sol’s back, her hands gripping the golden dragon’s small horns firmly, feeling the warm pulse of holy power flowing from her companion’s body. "The eastern area should have a new tunnel," she said softly, her voice nearly swallowed by the wind. "Hopefully something remains after yesterday’s explosion. If not, we’ll have to look for an alternative route."
Stacia landed first in the eastern area she had reported earlier, folding her wings neatly as her feet touched the ground. The others quickly followed, Sol landed gently, Qilin glided down gracefully, and Alicia descended while her white light slowly dimmed. The moment their feet touched the cracked and unstable ground, everyone immediately realized something was very wrong with this place.
The area was empty. Only a few relatively fresh deep and wide claw marks remained on the severely cracked stone walls, as if a giant monster had gone on a rampage here before vanishing or dying. Yesterday’s massive explosion had destroyed most of the eastern area. The space was no longer very large; the walls had collapsed and melted into sharp black glass, leaving rubble scattered everywhere and several small gaping abysses leading into darkness. Not a single monster was visible. There were almost no traces of life at all, no insects, no moss, no pheromones. Only an eerie silence and the lingering smell of burning hung in the air.
"Where are the monsters?" Stacia frowned, scanning all directions warily. She quickly opened her grimoire and released several search spells in the form of thin black mist, but there was no reaction at all. "I’m sure there was a strong aura here earlier. Several monsters were moving... but now? Completely empty."
Alicia floated slowly above the rubble, her magic staff shining brightly with holy white light that pierced the darkness. "There are no traces of life at all. Not even small insects. This seems to be the final area... or yesterday’s explosion truly wiped everything out in a very wide radius. That mixed holy and death energy of yours is truly terrifying, Sylvia."
Sylvia dismounted from Sol’s back and walked steadily through the destroyed area, her boots stepping on still-warm rubble. Qilin followed beside her with graceful steps, his horns emitting a faint golden light that illuminated the surrounding ruins. They searched everywhere, checking every crevice, pile of debris, and scratch on the walls, but there was no path leading to the next area. No hidden gates, no intact new tunnels, and no monsters appearing to attack. It was as if the entire eastern section of Greywood Dungeon had become dead ruins after Sylvia’s explosion. freewebnovel.cσ๓
"It really seems like this is the final area," Sylvia muttered as she stood in the middle of the rubble, her hand touching the melted stone wall. "The Qilin area earlier was a hidden one. The explosion I created was too powerful... I might have unintentionally cleared most of this dungeon. This crater has erased the main routes."
They all stood in a long silence, confused by the unexpected situation. There were no enemies to kill and no clear continuation path. Only the gaping giant crater and silent stone ruins surrounded them. A cold wind blew gently, carrying fine dust that stung their eyes.
Suddenly, Sylvia stopped walking. Her undead body tensed violently.
System notifications rang out repeatedly in her mind, like victory bells that wouldn’t stop.
[EXP +18,500]
[EXP +22,700]
[EXP +15,900]
[EXP +19,300]
[EXP +24,800]
[Level 100 → Level 101]
[Level 101 → Level 102]
...
[Level 108 → Level 109]
[Level 109 → Level 110]
A massive, warm surge of energy flooded Sylvia’s body like a river of holy lava. New power flowed vigorously through every undead cell, making her death aura even thicker and more oppressive. Her Abyss chains vibrated violently in the shadows, as if alive and thirsting for more power. Her level skyrocketed directly from 100 to 110 in an instant, giving her an incredible euphoric sensation of near-instant regeneration, thicker and faster chains, and increasingly perfect control over darkness.
Stacia and Alicia stopped walking, their faces showing the same astonishment. Through their strong soul bond, they also felt a significant surge in power. Stacia’s wings felt lighter, sharper, and filled with more stable dark runes, while Alicia’s spirit body glowed brighter and more stable, her mana recovering rapidly.
"Where did all this EXP come from?!" Stacia asked in confusion, looking around while keeping her grimoire ready. "We didn’t kill any monsters here. Is this a system bug? Or...?"
Sylvia was also puzzled, her dark red eyes narrowing. "I don’t know... but this is an enormous amount of EXP. It feels like the entire area is rewarding us for destroying it."
Sol and Qilin closed their eyes almost simultaneously. The two sacred creatures stood still, their auras spreading widely to map the entire crater area with extraordinary holy power. Moments later, they opened their eyes at the same time.
At the bottom of the crater, Sol said through telepathy, his voice full of caution.
There is something large... already dead, Qilin added with a gentle but firm voice. It was dying from explosion. The internal damage was too severe.
Without wasting time, they all flew toward the bottom of the giant crater. Sol carried Sylvia steadily on his back, Stacia flew beside them with powerful wing flaps, Alicia floated quickly accompanied by her white light, and Qilin glided gracefully behind, his horns illuminating the way.
The crater floor was truly vast and completely destroyed. Melted rocks were scattered like a sea of shattered black glass. Thin smoke still rose from the cracks, and in the center lay one giant monster that had already lost its life. The monster was even larger than Sol in his full size, its body about 25 meters long. It resembled a thick, muscular giant serpent covered in dark green scales that were now cracked and badly scorched from the explosion. The most striking feature was its four heads growing from a single main body. Each head had broken sharp horns, dull and empty eyes, and mouths full of teeth that were partially destroyed and melted. It was an Ancient Hydra, a legendary creature that should have been extremely difficult to kill due to its extreme head regeneration ability.
Sylvia approached and used Appraisal with full concentration.
[Ancient Hydra – Rank 8 (Dead)]
Description: A legendary creature with extreme regeneration and deadly poison. It died from massive internal damage caused by the mixed holy and death energy explosion. Its life core was completely destroyed before it could regenerate.
Stacia shook her head while chuckling softly, her voice echoing at the bottom of the crater. "A Hydra should be extremely difficult to kill... but it died from your instant explosion attack. Even though it wasn’t immediate, it eventually died without us doing anything else. How ironic."
Alicia approached and examined the giant corpse with her gentle white light. "Yesterday’s explosion was too powerful. Your combined flames destroyed its life core from within. Even the Hydra’s regeneration couldn’t keep up with the mix of War Sun Flame and Death Flame."
Qilin bowed his head respectfully before the Hydra’s corpse. "This creature must have been the guardian of the final area. Your explosion prevented it from fully regenerating. We were lucky... or perhaps this was fate."
Sol meowed in agreement, his eyes shining with satisfaction as he rubbed his head against Sylvia’s arm.
Sylvia stood before the massive Hydra body, feeling the remaining waves of EXP still flowing into her like a rain of energy. Level 110 granted her extraordinary new strength; her Abyss chains felt heavier and more lethal, her regeneration was nearly instant, and her death aura could now easily influence a much wider area.
"I think this is the end of Greywood Dungeon for now," Sylvia said softly as she gazed at the crater around them with a mix of awe and satisfaction. "We’ve cleared almost everything... including its final guardian. That explosion turned out to clean up far more than we expected."
