Chapter 523: Using The Lord of Souls' Items, Almost Level 100...

Celeste removed her [Flameheart Spear +3 (Ancient)] and [Spirit Tenacity Armor (Legendary)] before equipping the newly acquired [Soulflame Spear (Divine)] and [Lord of Souls Armor (Divine)].

Both pieces of equipment provided enormous stat bonuses, and the moment she equipped them, her combat power increased by more than 2.5 million.

‘No wonder. They’re Divine-rank items, and they belonged to someone as powerful as the Lord of Souls.’

It would be difficult to find anything better for Celeste in the higher domains, especially considering how much power these two items provided.

Unless they encountered another extraordinary treasure, the most reasonable way to improve her equipment would be to use enhancement stones to increase the levels of her new spear and armor.

However, there was still one more item she needed to use.

Celeste took out the [Enhanced Soul Fragment] and fused it with her soul, hoping to strengthen it further.

Ding!

[Your soul has grown stronger.]

Although the [Enhanced Soul Fragment] was still inferior to a [Soul Shard], its effects were considerably better than those of a normal [Soul Fragment].

Considering how important soul strength was when dealing with powerful enemies, even this small improvement could make a difference in future battles.

Once Celeste had finished using her rewards, Violet began applying the sub-talents Leon had given her.

She successfully acquired evolved her existing sub-talents to [Soul Protection (S-Level)] and [Supreme Agility Enhancement (S+-Level)].

However, when it came to [Supreme Strength Enhancement (S+-Level)], Violet already possessed the same sub-talent, meaning that she would have to attempt a fusion if she wanted to improve it further.

“Should I do it? That would be a waste if it fails…” Violet muttered as she examined the sub-talent. “We could give it to Celeste instead, since her sub-talent should only be S-Level.”

“She already received the spear and armor to help her,” Leon replied, shaking his head. “Just use it.”

“Alright…”

Violet decided to follow his advice and attempted to fuse the two sub-talents.

Fwoosh!

The energy surrounding her briefly intensified as the fusion began, but the process ended almost as quickly as it had started.

Beep!

[Fusion failed.]

“As expected.”

Violet sighed when she saw the notification, although she was not particularly surprised by the result.

Players could not fuse an S-Level sub-talent with an S+-Level one, so the two sub-talents had to be of the same rank for the fusion to have a chance of succeeding.

Since Violet already possessed [Supreme Strength Enhancement (S+-Level)], she would need to obtain another S+-Level version before she could attempt to upgrade it.

Nevertheless, Leon was not too concerned about the failure.

‘The odds of advancing from S+-Level to SS-Level should be much better than advancing from S-Level to SS-Level.’

Of course, that did not mean the fusion would be easy.

Even with a better chance of success, it could still fail several times before finally working, and there was no guarantee that Violet would succeed on her next attempt.

However, as long as they continued obtaining powerful sub-talents, she would eventually have another opportunity to try.

For now, there was no need to worry about it.

Emilia also finished using her reward around that time, successfully acquiring [Supreme Spirit Enhancement (S+-Level)].

The effects were immediately noticeable, as her combat power shot up to nearly 13 million from that upgrade alone.

Considering how heavily her magic relied on Spirit, the improvement was particularly significant.

Her spells were now powerful enough to inflict serious damage on beings with around 40 million combat power, and depending on their defenses and the nature of her attacks, she might even be capable of killing them.

Although the difference between their combat powers was still enormous, Emilia’s offensive abilities had become far more dangerous than before.

Leon was satisfied with the results. All three girls had become stronger, and they were now much better prepared for the battles ahead.

Finally, it was Leon’s turn to use his rewards.

He first removed his [Frost Gloves +3] and handed them to Emilia.

She already possessed a pair of the same gloves, but hers were only the +2 version, so replacing them with the stronger equipment was an easy decision.

“Here, take these.”

“Thanks!”

Emilia accepted the gloves and equipped them, her combat power rose a little further, pushing her even closer to the 13 million mark.

With that taken care of, Leon finally took out the [Lord of Souls Essence].

Out of all the rewards he had obtained from Nier, this was the item he had been looking forward to using the most.

[Lord of Souls Essence: Consuming this essence will increase all stats by 50,000 and boost soul-related skills/abilities.]

Leon swallowed the essence.

Nom! Ding!

[+50,000 Strength, +50,000 Agility, +50,000 Constitution, +50,000 Spirit.]

[Your “Soul Protection (S-Level)” sub-talent has evolved to “Soul Protection (S+-Level)”]

[Your “Soul Chains (Divine)” skill has leveled up to Level 3.]

Leon’s eyes widened slightly as he read the notifications, ‘Amazing!’

The direct attribute increases alone provided another 600,000 combat power, but that was only part of the improvement.

If Leon accounted for the effects of his enhancement sub-talents and the other bonuses, his total gain reached exactly 2.1 million combat power.

His combat power had now climbed to around 22 million.

With such a substantial increase, Leon was becoming increasingly confident in his ability to deal with powerful enemies.

“So, what do we do now?” Violet asked as she turned toward the remains of the Tower of Souls. “Do we head to [Higher Domain #3] to buy items, or go directly for the next hunt?”

Leon considered the question for a moment.

At first, he had believed that the Hunter had not given him enough time to prepare for all three hunts.

Finding powerful targets across different domains could take a considerable amount of time, especially if he had to search for them without any reliable information.

In fact, the Hunter probably expected the quest to be nearly impossible for most players, which would explain why it was an SSS-Level quest in the first place.

But thanks to [Divine Answer], he learned the exact domain and even the location of his targets.

That meant he had enough time to handle other matters before beginning the next hunt.

He could visit the higher domains, purchase useful items, improve his equipment, and deal with unfinished business without worrying too much about finding the next target.

Yet, as Leon opened his status panel and looked at his current level, his expression became slightly troubled.

[Level: 99 (87,295,400/105,200,000)]

‘Damn it. I might only get one more boss kill before reaching Level 100.’

That was the real problem.

Once Leon reached Level 100, he might be forced to head to the [Eternal Battlefield], and he still did not know whether there was a way to delay that requirement.

He had no intention of rushing into another dangerous area before dealing with the matters he wanted to settle in the current domains.

‘There must be a way to avoid going there immediately. The other celestials probably didn’t head straight to the [Eternal Battlefield] as soon as they reached Level 100.’

He needed to investigate the matter before reaching that milestone, but there was something else he wanted to take care of first.

If he truly had no choice but to leave the [Higher Domains] after reaching Level 100, then he needed to settle one particular matter before that happened.

Leon closed his status panel and looked at the three girls with a small grin.

“I think its time to deal with the Requiem Guild.”