I Know the Secret to Surpass Level 100

As though he was merely painting with his flaming hands in the air, Frederick absorbed all of the arrows. He was the front line while he absorbed the arrows. Luck, Midnight, and Sun were behind him, acting as guards in case a beast attacks Frederick.

"This seems easier than I would've thought," Hope said to which was immediately shut down by Connor.

"Don't jinx it," Connor said. "We don't know what lies beyond that front door."

"Jinxed or not, it is a fact that there are things beyond that door that are much better to be left unsaid," Irus said. "The aura of these Palace beasts alone are already comparable to the aura of the ones who are supposed to be inside."

It was a general knowledge that in each Palace, the deeper you go, the stronger the beasts are. This being said, the end game of the Palaces are the Throne Room where the Kings reside, these are the hardest to defeat.

The Phantoms who roam the Palace grounds are the easiest to beat because they are at the outermost layer of the palace. The King's magic affected them the least, that's another way to put it.

"If Excalibur can do this, then we might have a chance to beat Death," Elliot said. "Their increase in power is really amazing. It's beyond comparison."

"Taking possession of the sword is one thing," Leviathan said. "Beating Death is another and dare I say a stretch if we did manage to get Excalibur."

"We still don't have anyone to wield it yet," Irus said. "That's what he meant. We have Arthur, we have Katarina, but who can wield it better so we can get the win against the Guard?"

Elliot was silent after the two demons spoke. They were right. He was too excited that he thought too far up ahead.

In fact, he was so far that now he questions their capabilities if they could even beat the Azure King in the first place.

"When doubt is present, there is no room for growth," Leviathan whispered to Elliot with a wink. "You have to trust yourself and the people around you, okay?"

"Alright," Elliot grinned and nodded.

It wasn't long after that they arrived safely at the front door. Frederick ceases his umbrella of flames while the other three continued to battle against the guards.

"Hope, stay with them," Frederick said. "You and Midnight can reach the archers above while they take care of the ones on the ground."

"I wanted to come inside and help," Hope pouted. "I promise to be useful."

"When you clear the beasts here, then is the only time that you are allowed to go inside," Frederick said sternly as he opened the door.

They arrived inside and there were no beasts roaming the main hallway. The Knights will show up once they get past the first hallway and then the next will be a couple of halls more until they reach the throne room.

"This is where it gets tricky," Frederick said. "The hallways would often rearrange themselves, so it was hard trying to figure out where you should go next."

Frederick was saying that but he passed through three doors without hassle. It was still odd how there were no Knights that started to charge toward them. It was like the inside of the Palace was barren of any kind of presence.

"Frederick, why aren't there any beasts in here?" Elliot asked. "Where are the Knights?"

"I don't know too," Frederick narrowed his eyes.

From the corner of the hallway that they are walking on, a sound of footsteps was heard. They raised their guards after feeling the ominous presence of the footsteps.

"Be careful, there are three of them," Frederick said. "Irus, what can you–"

Irus threw a helmet of a knight toward them. Mammon was carrying another while Leviathan was also carrying one. Saitan was running from behind them as he carried four helmets with him.

"I win," Saitan cheered. "The reward should be something amazing. Like a giant ox."

"Dream on," Irus chuckled before pouring several more helmets from his hands. It was like his palms were pouches that carried the helmets with him.

"Same here," Leviathan sighed. He raised his finger up to his chest and a small altar filled with helmets would arise. Mammon shrugged while dragging a net filled with a few more.

"Y-You defeated the Knights just like that?" Frederick stuttered, his eyes twitching in shock. "But how?"

"We overpowered them," Irus chuckled. "Power is power after all."

And so the Knights were cleared with just one swift moment from the Behemoths. They were proud of themselves as they provided a safe journey through the hallways.

They turned to a corner when a door suddenly popped out from the ground. They stayed back and raised their guards as the door slowly creaked open.

"Blood for Blood," Saitan immediately cast. He pointed his palm forward and a pentagram made from his own blood appeared in front of him.

When the door finally opened, a gigantic clawed hand reached out. It was similar to the Crescent Devourer, but this one was much smaller.

The hand reached Saitan's pentagram and it was immediately sucked inside. The length of the arm that the hand was attached to was beyond comprehension. It was simply too long.

"That was a miniature version of the Crescent Devourer," Leviathan said. "I can't believe they mimicked my skill."

"Not only that, there are more," Saitan said. He then pointed around them when several more doors appeared all around the hallway.

"Aw, pathetic cheap trick," Saitan chuckled. "The Mages did this."

"Then you do what you have to do," Leviathan said. "Show them how the Crescent Devourer can be devoured."

"Oh, I'll show them," Saitan cut his own palm with a star-like pattern. He drew blood from it and created a giant pentagram above him.

The sign spanned across the large hallway and it was glowing with a bright red color. Saitan smirked, "I guess I'll have to drink a lot of tea and water after this. Shame Aquarius is outside."

With a blink of an eye, the pentagram flashed with a bright light. It was like a lightning struck from the skies, just one flash, and all the doors were shattered into hundreds of pieces.

The Terrans were left in shock after this. Not only did they take down all the Knights, just one of them was also able to destroy a technique that several Mages cast.

"This is impossible," Elliot whispered. "Just really… how strong are you guys?"

–

Meanwhile, at the Palace grounds, Aquarius was almost done taking care of the Phantoms. As he expected, he took out the most number of beasts but his allies helped too.

"We should get inside soon," Aquarius said. "We need to reinforce them."

He was drowning a phantom with his liquid sphere when a sudden fog covered them. He lost his vision and his magic perception. He was basically blind.

"Hello?" Aquarius called out, but he heard no response. "Minos? Ethan? George? Where are you guys?"

The fog was dense and it was hard to move around. Aquarius was taking one step forward when he was suddenly stabbed in his chest.