Rana grabbed the edge of the inverted platform and pulled herself onto its surface. She rolled onto her back and slung one arm off of the edge. She could feel the mana humming in the air as it caressed her arm like a soft breeze of wind. It was only when surrounded by mana she was able to feel truly alive. It was a shame that mana existed only to destroy.

She looked at the chasm walls towering over her and surrounding her. The Dungeon changed. The flowing red that seemed to leak out of the cracks now fully dyed the cliff sides in a hue of red, as if they were gazed on by a setting sun. The platforms were no longer stuck to the side of the cliff and were now pushed out into the middle by an invisible path. The area in which they protruded from were now tunnels, no doubt leading to different areas.

The Dungeon has changed and paths that did not exist were now opened. There was no doubt that the flowing red below was the correct way forward, but there was no reason to rush the conquest. If Sunset Spears was truly powered by the Ruby Ring, then the final guardian monster would no doubt share its properties. Without the proper preparation, the duke’s marked ones would definitely not be able to fight the monster, let alone make it to the core and conquer it.

Still, there was still a chance that the duke knew far more than he let on. He was too confident. Arrogance and delusions of grandeur could lead to someone having misplaced confidence, but the duke did not seem like someone to place their full trust onto insubstantial sources. There was a reason why he was confident, and that reason was something far more dangerous than someone having too large of an ego.

Rana wondered how she should proceed. The climb up this platform alone already exhausted quite a number of her wards. The chains were not infinite and time was needed for the crescent blade to burn off its ashes. She could brute force her mana into the staff with the aid of the Sapphire Ring, but she did not want to waste too much mana and be left with little when venturing into the unknown.

Her constant mana regeneration might’ve had no downside as it only gave her more options, but it was sometimes nice to be able to discard ideas just because they were impossible. Regardless, she had to move forward. The only problem was in which direction. Thankfully, even though it was hard to get a bearing within the Dungeon without a landmark, there was one here. It was the sunset.

The direction Rana had to go was decided, but which tunnel should she traverse? Since there was no real way to know of what was inside those tunnels or where they lead to, there was only one variable she had to consider. In the end, she chose the one that required less mana to reach.

She raised her crescent bladed staff and the edge burned. She traced the ashes into a ward and infused it with the energy from the Sapphire Ring. She felt the Spell take form and now they swirled around the blade of her staff. She had four uses, and although she preferred one more as a backup, she had trust in her own skill.

Rana pointed towards a platform with her staff and unleashed the magic within. The ashes emitted a blue glow and traced their path like a river in the air. The war latched onto the underbelly of the platform and chains shot out of the runic formation towards her. She held onto the chains and allowed it to pull her towards the origin of the magic. When she was about to crash before the rock, she pulled her body upwards and flung herself over the platform and into the air.

Before Rana reached the apex, she shot out another ward and had chains fly towards her. She grabbed them, but instead of letting the Spell pull her in, she tightened it and allowed herself to fall. However, because of the chains, her fall was like a swing. When the momentum built up and she was almost parallel to her initial position at the other side of the platform, she let go and flung herself upwards.

Now, it required perfect execution.

The platform she needed to go to was far from the cliff and connected to the opposite side. The distance was too far for one chain, but not two. When Rana was at the apex of her rise, she quickly fired off a ward as she was suspended in midair. She grabbed onto the chain and pulled herself forward. The ward was in midair, it meant that it would not last long. However, the time was enough for her to reach the distance she could fire off another one and latch it onto the platform. With one final swing, she was now at her destination.

Rana flicked her Status open and closed it. She only had a quarter of her mana reserve left, but thanks to her jacket she would be able to regenerate it. The only issue was the speed of the regeneration. She knew what the Ruby Ring did, and there was no doubt the Dungeon would have similar capabilities.

No matter. She would continue to move forward.

Rana knew that conquering the Dungeon by herself was nearly impossible. The last time at the Trees of Ashen Falls and its success was due to Alpheia. The moon-kin was as powerful as an ascended one and could most likely take the guardian monster herself if she was well-prepared and equipped. However, even then it was rather dangerous. It was only due to the core being powered by the Sapphire Ring and Alpheia able to manipulate the environment hazards thanks to the ability to fly they were able to win. If Rana was not able to call on Astral Lance, the two would’ve fallen.

Sunset Spears should be no different in terms of difficulty, and this time the Ruby Ring was not something she could rely on until after the conquest. Not only that, but she would also be surrounded by marked ones who wanted her dead. There were too many variables and risks if she were to continue the conquest as normal. This meant that the only way forward was to break the current situation.

The first step was to confirm whether or not that was doable.

However, before she could do so, it seemed like there was one obstacle to get through. Good, it was about time to get a glimpse of the Dungeon monsters and what they were capable of.

The clopping of hooves echoed in the darkness of the tunnel. Slow, steady, and sharper with each step. The red eyes of the beast emerged from the shadows, but its body lay hidden within the darkness.

It then retreated, back into the emptiness.

However, Rana knew it did not run away. Its hostility was subtle but there was no doubt who the target of it was. Then there was a screech and the monster lunged. From where she didn’t know. She just knew it was going towards her.

Rana prepared her staff.