The battle had no suspense whatsoever.
Now that Cao Ye had advanced to Level 2, and with the A++ Noble Phantasm Excalibur in his hands, his strength had already far surpassed that of the Silverback Ape.
This could hardly be called a battle anymore.
It was a completely one-sided slaughter.
Slash!
Blood splashed into the air.
The blade pierced straight through the Silverback Ape's body.
Despite its enormous size, before death it was just as fragile as anything else.
Poof—
The corpse dissolved into black smoke.
Only a magic stone remained on the ground.
"Seriously… this really is the legendary 'curry stick.'"
Looking at the Sword of Promised Victory in his hand, Cao Ye felt that if he faced Goliath again—
He probably wouldn't even need to fight.
Just fire a beam cannon and "nuke" it directly.
Of course, that was just a fantasy.
With his current magic reserves, he couldn't release the Noble Phantasm yet.
Excalibur was an A++ rank Noble Phantasm, and releasing it required an enormous amount of magical energy.
In the Fifth Holy Grail War, the reason there was such a huge difference between Artoria before and after corruption was partly because her Master, Shirou, had insufficient magical power.
After corruption, Artoria didn't need to worry about mana consumption.
She could use her ultimate move like a normal attack.
Before that, she had to carefully manage her magic usage.
Otherwise, the sword would begin draining the Master's magical energy.
And Shirou's mana…
Well, if Artoria fired a few beams, he'd probably be completely drained dry.
Putting away Excalibur, Cao Ye continued moving deeper into the dungeon.
One fight wasn't enough.
He hadn't had enough fun yet.
It was like when you played Terraria.
After finally crafting the Zenith Sword, how could you resist using it to slaughter a few bosses?
Since it was late at night, Cao Ye hadn't encountered many people.
The dungeon felt unusually quiet at this hour.
Tap tap tap—
Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed through the tunnel.
And from the sound of it—
There were quite a few people.
"This is all your fault! You insisted on killing those Killer Ants!"
"How was I supposed to know they were so tough? Even after that attack they still didn't die!"
"Shut up! The ant swarm is catching up!"
"Run!"
From the noisy conversation, Cao Ye quickly understood the situation.
Someone had done something stupid.
Although Killer Ants were individually weak, they were swarm-type monsters.
Once attacked, they would emit a signal that summoned their entire colony.
In the upper floors of the dungeon, countless adventurers had died after being surrounded by them.
That was exactly why they were called "Killer Ants."
They were literally ants that kill people.
If you were surrounded by them—
Even a mediocre Level 2 adventurer would struggle to survive.
"Hey! There's someone ahead!"
"Perfect luck! Run past him!"
"Isn't that a bit wrong?"
"What's wrong with it? Do you want him to die, or you?"
"..."
So-called kindness usually existed only when one's own safety wasn't threatened.
But when real danger arrived—
Most people would become the most selfish version of themselves.
To survive, they would do anything.
Dragging someone else down?
Even killing someone?
They wouldn't hesitate.
Soon Cao Ye saw the group approaching.
They were dressed rather revealingly, with impressive figures.
However, their dark skin somewhat diminished their charm.
He immediately recognized them.
Amazon warriors.
Women like dark-skinned African fighters.
In Orario, only this race looked like that.
"What a handsome little guy,"
the leading Amazon woman said to Cao Ye.
"If this were a normal situation, I might even spend the night with you for free."
"But right now… I'm afraid you'll have to suffer a little."
The other three Amazons beside her looked at Cao Ye with expressions of regret.
Such a handsome man was rare.
Under normal circumstances, they would gladly try to get close to him.
But now—
They didn't have the luxury of wasting time.
Rustle rustle rustle—
A chaotic wave of sound echoed behind them.
An enormous swarm of Killer Ants surged forward.
Looking at their numbers, Cao Ye wondered if these women had destroyed an entire nest.
The ants were pouring out like a tidal wave.
"Sorry about this, handsome,"
the Amazon woman said as she rushed past him.
"But we don't have a choice."
Cao Ye wasn't stupid.
He immediately understood what they were trying to do.
They were redirecting the disaster toward him.
In Orario, this tactic even had a name:
Monster Offering.
It was a tactic sometimes used by adventurers in the dungeon.
When retreating, they would lead the pursuing monsters toward another adventurer, forcing the monsters to target that person instead.
That way they could escape.
Technically, dungeon etiquette dictated that adventurers should not interfere with each other's operations.
But when faced with immediate danger, some teams resorted to this method.
It was an extremely shameful tactic.
But when your life was on the line—
Shame became meaningless.
Cao Ye glanced at the swarm of ants approaching.
Then he looked at the Amazons rapidly fleeing.
His expression turned cold.
So this was how it felt to be treated as expendable bait.
Rustle—rustle—
The sound of crawling insects grew louder.
The Killer Ants were already closing in.
To monsters, all humans were enemies.
Even if Cao Ye hadn't provoked them—
They would attack him anyway.
Flash—
"Projection… begin."
As Cao Ye spoke, a sword materialized beside him.
"Broken Phantasm."
BOOM!!!
The projected sword was thrown forward like a grenade.
Then Cao Ye detonated it midair.
It was still a Broken Phantasm, but at the lowest level.
However—
For this situation, it was more than enough.
RUMBLE!!
The explosion shook the entire cavern.
Rocks began collapsing everywhere.
Broken Phantasm—detonating a projected weapon—created enormous destructive force.
The already narrow tunnel collapsed completely.
The falling rubble blocked the path of the approaching Killer Ant swarm.
It wasn't that Cao Ye couldn't deal with the ants.
But instead—
He intended to pay back the real culprits.
After all, they had given him such a generous "Monster Offering."
Naturally—
He had to return an equally generous gift.
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