CHAPTER 34: THE CRIMSON WORLD

Everyone sucked in a cold breath as they looked at Natasha as if she were a stranger. It was a widely known fact that Natasha had an easygoing personality, and even when people would mock or insult her, she wouldn’t lose her calm.

Because of that, they had really forgotten the other name she was famous for.

Beautiful Death.

She really wasn’t some sweet lady. No, she was a beautiful rose with sharp thorns. And she had just shown her vicious tongue.

Even Sarah was left gobsmacked and couldn’t react properly. She just stared at Natasha in disbelief as she still couldn’t believe those words had come out of her mouth.

She had truly believed Natasha was some goody-two-shoes kind of woman.

Natasha was waiting for a response, but when she didn’t receive one, she shook her head in disappointment and turned around to leave.

If one couldn’t even respond properly, then they really didn’t deserve to be in her attention!

"Let’s go! We shouldn’t waste any more time," Natasha said as she tried to get back into her normal mood.

Leon saw that and smiled. He turned toward Sarah and said, "See ya later. I hope you get the day you deserve."

That earned him a few smiles and chuckles from his teammates, while Sarah’s teammates were left glaring at him.

’What one-dimensional characters. Really, I was quite noob in the start to make such a character.’

He glanced at Amber, who was enjoying the show with a face full of smiles. She sensed his gaze and sent a thumbs-up to him.

’You got good girls chasing after you.’

Leon rolled his eyes at her and entered the portal along with his teammates. His vision darkened, and a sense of dizziness washed over him. His body felt a strange sensation of moving at incredible speed yet remaining in the same spot.

Before he could understand what he was going through, Leon was pushed out of the portal, and he came upon a sight that left him rooted to the ground.

Even if he had designed it himself, even if he had seen it countless times on the screen, Leon still felt his heart shaking from the scenery before him.

Especially since it was his own creation coming to life.

Before him was a crimson world with patches of battlefield spread across the horizon. Spiraling towers could be seen perched upon a fortress in the distance, with powerful ballistas sitting at the top of them.

All around him was the uneven battlefield of an ancient war, with mangled corpses littered around in such large numbers that he found it hard to count them.

The metallic smell of blood was still fresh in the warm air, and a disgusting aura was filling the surroundings. No doubt, they all recognized it, as they were all too familiar with it.

Every human was familiar with the aura of Corruption.

"I didn’t think you would have such a sweet tongue, Little Brother," Natasha commented playfully. "I’m still curious, though. Their insult didn’t trigger you two or anything?"

Denver shrugged lightly and said, "Why should I care about criticism or insults from someone whose advice I wouldn’t even seek?"

"Haha! Well said!" Leon chuckled, patting the big guy’s shoulder. "But we should prepare for the first round. We need to clear it as soon as possible."

"Oh yeah, you must have studied this dungeon deeply, right?" Natasha asked.

"Yes. This is the first sector of the dungeon—Ashen Barracks, which consists of Lava Imps and Burning Skeletons. Both are Tier 1 monsters, but the real danger lies after the Lava Imps are killed. They explode upon death."

Leon paused and pointed at the ground below them, "There are also heat vents that can affect you mid-battle and also a few lava bursts that trigger when someone steps on pressure tiles."

"Professor didn’t tell us this," Bella said with a sigh.

"She likes to give challenges to her students, so I was expecting something like this," Leon shrugged and unsheathed his pair of short swords from his back. "Be ready, but let us handle these guys since we’ll be useless later on."

"Sure! We’ll keep an eye on you," Natasha gave him and Denver an encouraging smile.

"What about you, Big Guy?" Leon asked Denver, who was tightening his gloves. "Are you gonna punch them?"

"This suits me the best. I don’t like weapons much," Denver said as he clenched his fists tightly.

Just then, they heard crackling sounds as several corpses stood up in strange motions. Then, a fire ignited inside them before it expanded all of a sudden, bursting the rotten flesh of the corpses.

All that was left were Burning Skeletons that surrounded all of them with malicious fire blazing in their eyes. Their weapons were also set ablaze as the skeletons brandished them and moved forward toward the enemy.

"Welp! It’s hammer time!" Leon smiled and used Sprint Boost, which allowed him to reach the skeletons in a second.

He jumped in between them and spun, his short swords slicing off the necks of skeletons in one swipe. With just one attack, three Burning Skeletons fell, surprising the audience.

Even Denver, who was going to join him, was surprised. These were Tier 1 monsters, so how was he slaughtering them like pigs?

Leon didn’t stay in one place and began to dance around the battlefield, killing the skeletons one after another with just one blow to each of them.

He made it look so easy, but anyone with eyes would be able to see that he was just dancing on the verge of death. He was so close to being hit by the Burning Skeletons, but he was swift and always managed to evade just in time.

Leon was already at Level 11 and had even hunted down the true top of Tier 1, so how could these half-dead zombies pose a challenge to him?

As for the reason he was so happy slaughtering the skeletons, it had to do with the fact he received a notification when he killed one of the Burning Skeletons.

[Obtained a portion of Corrupted Mana!]

[Do you want to purify it to Essence?]

He was so delighted seeing that message that he went on a killing spree. But even then, he didn’t lose focus and avoided all the heat-venting spots and also the lava bursts from the traps.

As he sliced one of the Burning Skeleton’s necks, he sensed danger from behind him and instantly rolled away, but that brought him into the middle of seven Burning Skeletons.