Being hit by these demons was not an option, their bodies were full of dense magic, just being grazed by them would mean death for James.

James was a bit worried that he was getting desensitized to the danger. When every monster can kill you with one touch, at a certain point the whole concept becomes less intimidating. So he reminded himself that above all else, he must never let them touch him.

Helios was able to control the battlefield by bashing the demons with his shield. But that wouldn't last long, the demons were already figuring out ways to dodge and move past him.

James realized that just attacking wasn't an option, he needed a way to control the battlefield as well.

And he had just the tool for the job.

It was something that had been on his mind the whole night. If he had used this on the skeletons, the fight would’ve been much easier.

James began conjuring a huge ball of ice. When he got it as big as he could, he then started condensing that entire mass into a flat disk, which required so much effort that blood was oozing out of his ears from the strain.

But in exchange, the huge ball turned into a razor-sharp disk of reinforced ice. The material was so sturdy and strong that it could probably hit steel and the steel would be the one that shattered.

“Hurry up!” Helios said as he was bashing the demons around, preventing them from reaching James. Lunaris was assisting Helios, lobbing light rays at the demons’ eyes, which were stunning them just long enough so Helios could bash them back.

James was almost done though. All that was left was making the edges serrated for additional power.

[Skill unlocked: Razorice Saw]

James then began using mana to spin the ice disk at such speeds that he thought it rivaled or even surpassed the circular saws that woodworkers used back on Earth. It was probably rotating fifty thousand times per minute. He pumped as much mana into the spin as he could, to the point that it exceeded his mana recovery rate.

He’d have to control it with the utmost caution. If it slipped, his head would be cut off before he even knew what hit him.

Even in the heat of battle, Helios and Lunaris couldn’t help but stare for a few seconds at the spinning behemoth. The sheer sound it made was incredibly intimidating, worse than even the sounds of these giant, snarling demons. But the sight of it was even more awe-inspiring.

James was finally ready to contribute. He stayed a few feet behind the saw, controlling it with his mana.

But the demons noticed the danger of the saw as well, and they were dodging and weaving to save their life.

They started throwing fireballs at James, but Helios’s immense shield was able to intercept them.

The demons’ dodges were too quick for the saw that was quite hard to control. So James had to wait to strike only after Helios bashed the demons, or when Lunaris struck them with the light rays. But even then, the demons were just too quick.

So the fight became a game of positioning. James had to stay behind Helios and his shield, while the demons had their movements limited by the flying saw.

Lunaris understood the game immediately, so she began channeling a wall of holy fire on the side that the saw couldn't reach.

Now the demons were at an impasse. They couldn’t advance through the walls of fire that Lunaris was channeling, while Helios was protecting his friends with a seemingly impenetrable shield. And the saw just kept getting closer and closer.

Seeing that they couldn’t get through Helios or Lunaris’s fire, a demon thought that perhaps stopping the ice saw would be the best option.

The demon reinforced its hands with earth magic, coating them in a thick layer of earth and Darkness that was stronger than steel armor. It then conjured hellfire in its hands and tried striking the saw, thinking that its magic would be enough to overpower the ice.

But it couldn’t have been any more wrong.

James could’ve jumped into the fight much earlier. But he had taken time during combat, where every second is valuable, to condense, compress and enchant this ice to make it as durable as possible.

And now it was spinning at fifty thousand rotations per minute. A speed that the demon’s brain couldn’t even comprehend.

As soon as it struck the saw with its hands, it was clear that the protections it cast were useless compared to the might of the saw.

Because a second later, the mangled remnants of what used to be the demon’s huge hands were scattered across the floor.

The demon shrieked so loud that James almost lost control of the saw as he tried to cover his ears.

Neither of the three expected what happened next: the demons quickly started retreating.

The sentient dungeon noticed the effectiveness of the saw, being able to predict where the battle was going. The crafty bastard wanted to deny them the xp. It realized that even the level 60 demons couldn't beat this group.

But James wouldn’t let them retreat only for them to attack later with a stronger force. He had an idea.

“Hide behind the shield, don't let even an inch peek out!” James shouted. For this plan, a single finger protruding outside of the shield would be too risky.

As the demons were dashing for the door, James chugged another potion and used the entirety of his mana to throw the saw after them. He used so much mana that the speed of the rotation had increased tenfold, to five hundred thousand rotations per minute, to the point it was wobbling uncontrollably.

While the trio ducked into a corner with the shield protecting them, James’s saw was flying after the demons at a mind-boggling speed, ricocheting through the room faster than the eye could see.

Seeing this, Helios quickly pulled out another shield, this one smaller than the gargantuan wall that was his main shield, but just as sturdy. With one shield in front of them and the other covering their heads while they were ducking in the corner, they were safe from every direction.

The same couldn’t be said about the demons.

Out of the 10, the group heard at least 2 being hit in mere seconds. At this point the saw was randomly flying through the room, but the speed was so insane that every other second a demon would be hit.

Even though Helios’ shields were very strong, the group was still pretty anxious. Just as often as the demons were hit, so were the shields.

Every time the saw hit the shields, the impact was deafening, it was like hearing a gunshot right next to your ear. Luckily, potions can heal tinnitus.

Even with Helios’s strength, when the shields were hit, he would almost fall over.

“That’s quite a powerful spell you’ve got there, buddy.” Helios laughed nervously.

“Yes, it’s almost more of a threat than the demons.” Lunaris chuckled.

The onslaught of the saw continued for minutes, long after the demons were gone.

By the time it stopped, Lunaris had to heal all three of their eardrums, because the extreme sound the saw made when it hit the shield caused them to rupture.

When they could finally look around, they noticed that seven of the demons had been killed. They didn't drop any loot, but at least James could finally replenish his reserves of Darkness. At least there's one good thing demons are good for.

But saying that the demons were simply killed was an understatement. They were cut so many times, the cuts being so incredibly clean, that they were basically demon fillet at this point. They didn't even look like demons, more like indiscernible pieces of meat ready to be put on the grill.

“Good thing you didn’t infuse it with Darkness or it would’ve cut through the shield like butter.” Helios and Lunaris were proud of James for having the foresight not to do that.

That’s when James became thankful of his forgetfulness. He definitely would’ve made that mistake if he had remembered that it was an option. Luckily, he was too absorbed with creating the new spell.

[You have reached level 30]

“Huh? I expected a lot more since the demons were level 60.” James said.

“Yep, it’s because we fought with you. Even though our levels are dampened, fighting as a party reduces the xp you get, and it splits it among everyone as well.” Lunaris clarified.

“Did you two level up as well?”

“I wish it were that easy.” Helios laughed. “We’d need to kill monsters as strong as our real levels in order to level up. But at least our current levels are in sync with yours, so we're level 30 as well.”

“What do we do now?” James paused and look ahead. “Do you guys feel it?”

“Aye, we feel it. The dungeon core isn’t that far from here.” Helios then sat down and began pulling out supplies from his ring.

Lunaris sat down and began doing the same thing. “We need to get ready. These demons were strong but they were still small fries. The dungeon core will definitely be a lot stronger.”

“Tuck the teleportation scroll in your waistband so it's easily accessible. If things go south, rip it and teleport immediately. You must promise me you’ll do that, you reckless hotheads.” Lunaris begged the two.

After recovering and strategizing for a little while, the group was ready to tackle the final boss.

“Let's keep in mind that sentient dungeons are very intelligent. Maximum caution at all times.” James warned the other two, more as a reminder for himself.

Little did they know, the perilous journey to the dungeon core was not quite over yet.