The High Priest and the War God trembled as they saw the Nether Phoenix's miserable state. Their faces turned pale.
Then they stared at Kolan in terror.
Only now did they realize that Kolan had reached the Mid-God level.
At the same time, they were incredibly grateful that they had never antagonized him. Otherwise, they would have been doomed.
No—not even death would have been an escape.
Just look at the Nether Phoenix. He couldn't live, yet couldn't die!
Kolan sneered. "Don't worry. I'll let you live for another ten years. You can die after that!"
As if he'd let someone under his control die right in front of him. Dream on.
The Nether Phoenix then began laughing like an idiot.
Not long afterward, he clutched his head and screamed in agony, over and over again.
Kolan glanced at the High Priest and the War God.
His gaze made the two of them feel as if they'd fallen into an icy pit.
Their legs went weak.
Fortunately, Kolan merely glanced at them before flying off to begin his search.
Before long, Kolan discovered that there were only two Low-Gods on the twelfth floor.
He easily killed them both.
"What a pair of paupers!" Kolan grumbled to himself as he dripped blood onto the two Low-Gods' Space Rings to claim them.
Aside from the artifacts they carried, there was nothing valuable in their Space Rings.
After putting the Godsparks and artifacts into his Space Ring, Kolan headed toward the passage.
A circular tray sat at the entrance to the passage. Ten Soul Gold Beads rested on it.
"What kind of reward is this?" Kolan grumbled to himself. Beirut really was stingy.
Instead of entering the thirteenth floor right away, Kolan began absorbing the Soul Gold Beads.
His Saint Domain True Body absorbed four Soul Gold Beads before its soul became saturated.
The Death Rules Divine Clone absorbed the other six. But after absorbing them all, its soul power was still slightly weaker than the Life God Clone's.
Kolan shook his head, then stepped onto the thirteenth floor.
On the twelfth floor, the High Priest and the War God exchanged glances.
"O'Brien, what do we do now?" The High Priest looked to the War God, unsure.
"Kolan is a Mid-God. He shouldn't have any trouble clearing the twelfth floor. Let's search this floor for treasures, then head to the thirteenth," the War God said after a moment's thought. "We'll let Kolan take the lead. Neither of us could beat a single god-level expert last time. The god-level experts on the thirteenth floor will definitely be even stronger. At best, we can scavenge whatever's left."
"By the way, Catherine, the Nether Phoenix just said Kolan is a Mid-God. Does that mean god-level experts have different ranks?" The War God looked puzzled.
He had become a god by refining a Godspark, so he didn't know that gods were divided into Low-Gods, Mid-Gods, and High-Gods.
Ever since he had refined the Godspark and become a god, his strength hadn't improved at all.
"There might be. We'll probably have to ask Lord Beirut about that," the High Priest said. "You're right about what you said. We're both weak, and I'm not good at fighting. We should stay behind Kolan. If we encounter a stronger god-level expert on the thirteenth floor, we'll retreat to the twelfth floor immediately."
The High Priest and the War God then began searching the twelfth floor.
Outside the Necropolis of the Gods, Beirut watched the situation inside closely and shook his head with some amusement.
He didn't care that Kolan had attacked the Nether Phoenix.
The Gatekeepers had been granted their freedom and permission to explore the Necropolis of the Gods. That was already an enormous favor.
As for whether they lived or died inside the Necropolis of the Gods, Beirut didn't care.
"With Kolan's strength, he should reach the fourteenth floor, but probably won't make it through the fifteenth," Beirut estimated to himself. "Soul Mutants really are enviable!"
The twelfth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods held Low-Gods, the thirteenth held Mid-Gods, and the fourteenth held powerful Mid-Gods. The fifteenth held ordinary High-Gods, the sixteenth held High-Gods at the Six-Star Fiend level, the seventeenth held High-Gods at the Seven-Star Fiend level, and the eighteenth held High-Gods at the Prefect level.
Of course, the Necropolis of the Gods in the South Sea was different.
Beirut estimated that Kolan's strength was on par with that of an ordinary High-God.
The thirteenth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods was a world of ice. Snow-covered mountains stretched into the distance, the temperature was bitterly cold, and heavy snow fell from the sky.
Kolan released his soul power.
It could cover an area two kilometers across.
As a Soul Mutant, he didn't have to worry about anyone detecting his soul probes.
Unless his opponent was a High-God.
Before long, Kolan had mapped out the thirteenth floor. There were three Mid-Gods on it.
Kolan flew in one direction and soon arrived at a manor.
A Mid-God lived there.
Kolan swung his blade down.
Boom!
The entire manor was reduced to dust.
"Someone actually made it to the thirteenth floor! If I kill you, I, Delkang, will regain my freedom!" A cold voice rang out. Then a burly man appeared as if by teleportation, swinging the heavy sword in his hand at Kolan.
"Hmm? That should be Earthwalking from the Laws of Earth, along with the Profound Mystery of Earth Element!" Kolan wasn't a practitioner of the Laws of Earth Elements, but he still knew a little about the laws and profound mysteries of the other elements.
"Die!" Kolan swung his blade at him.
He didn't use Fused Divine Power. He treated the battle on the thirteenth floor as a rare opportunity to train.
These Mid-Gods came from the Divine Planes and the Supreme Plane. They had extensive combat experience.
Fighting them would greatly improve his own strength.
To be honest, although he was a Mid-God now, he didn't have much experience in god-level combat.
The High Priest and the War God were simply too weak.
They couldn't serve as worthy opponents at all.
After a few exchanges, Kolan had a good grasp of the situation.
This Mid-God wasn't particularly powerful. He simply had a lot of combat experience.
Kolan continued fighting Delkang, steadily building up his own experience.
"So my strike has an opening there!" Delkang broke through one of Kolan's attacks, but Kolan was delighted rather than worried.
He'd thought his move was perfect, without a single flaw.
But now Delkang had broken through it.
Clang!
Delkang's blade struck Kolan.
It clashed against the armor on Kolan's body, sending sparks flying.
"Highgod Artifact armor!" Delkang stared at the armor Kolan wore beneath his torn clothes. "That Highgod Artifact armor is mine!"
Delkang's eyes lit up.
A Highgod Artifact armor was worth several million Ink Stones in Hell. It was a tremendous fortune.
Delkang could barely hide his greed. With this Highgod Artifact armor, he could return to Hell as a free man and enjoy a comfortable life.
"Die!" Delkang put all his strength into a slash at Kolan. Its profound technique was swift and ferocious!
He was going to kill Kolan, so the strike carried a Soul Attack!
Since the other man was protected by Highgod Artifact armor, a material attack wouldn't work. He'd use a Soul Attack instead!
Before you continue