Being able to use both the 72 Slashes of Destruction Sword Style and the Zephyr Steps movement technique at the same time, it was no problem for Dilan to change his combat style following the battles after the 25th round.
His stats were compatible with someone at the peak of the second Tier, and the number of opponents he was forced to compete against had decreased drastically.
Instead of facing a high quantity of enemies that had weaker or the same stats as Dilan, ferocious monsters much stronger than himself were thrown into the Colosseum's Arena.
At least their stats were higher than Dilan's. As for their combat prowess, it was terrific, but not something Dilan couldn't handle by himself.
He was just required to make more effort.
The weapons in the weapon stand had been upgraded after a while but that did little to appease him. The black iron weapons wielded by Dilan broke one after another, giving the Ascender a big headache.
After all, he had been forced to use Weapons without a rank to slaughter all kinds of ferocious monsters up to the second Tier.
The defenses of most monsters had been too powerful for the black iron weapons to inflict any real damage.
Thus, Dilan had been forced to use some of his own abilities. He had replicated the effect of the Mantle of Elements with the precise control of Mana and the Ring of Infinite Elements.
His black iron weapons had been empowered and forcefully reinforced to an extent where the blades of unranked weapons were powerful enough to cut cleanly through the monsters' hide with the strongest defenses.
Unfortunately, black iron weapons were quite fragile and not made to endure the pressure Dilan had to put on them to reinforce them enough to fight the monsters he had to face.
'At least the artificial intelligence of the Trial of Power had some conscience!'
Dilan picked the closest longsword and he mantled it with a Destruction layer.
Finally granted stronger weapons, Dilan was given the opportunity to unleash far more strength. Thus, by using the Zephyr Steps movement technique to attain a speed much higher than anyone else, and exerting the 72 Slashes of Destruction Sword Style, there was no way left for a single beast to emerge victorious against him.
Or so Dilan thought until he reached the 40th Floor.
His confidence was at an all-time high, he was certain to advance to the 50th round and pass it with flying colors because his utilization of every technique and trait in his possession exceeded the norms by far and large.
He had undergone grueling training for ten thousand years, so it was only obvious that ordinary monsters had no chance against him. But that was exactly where Dilan made a big mistake in overestimating himself.
He was certain that he would only face ordinary monsters, summoned by the artificial intelligence of the City of Trials.
Never in his wildest imaginations would he have assumed that he could possibly face the residents of the City of Trials as he kept advancing through the Trial of Power!
However, that was exactly what happened the moment he reached the 40th round in the Trial of Power…
"The Demon of Greed, Boba? Looks like I have to get beaten up quite a lot…hah…"
A Lesser God, cursed with the sin of greed, and an inhabitant of the City of Trials, Boba, or what most Soul Shards called him, Fatty Boba!
"I guessed that you didn't want to give me Oricalm and even more so the True Destruction trait, but aren't you being too sleazy?" Dilan grumbled to himself, despite knowing deep down that his words of discontent were useless.
'So for the next ten rounds I will keep facing Lesser Gods, who have resided in the City of Trials for God knows how many thousands of years? That makes me so happy…yeah…'
There were not only True Gods in the City of Trials but also outstanding Lesser Gods who had special traits. Because the Oracle and the Origin didn't know everything about the future, especially when it came to those without locked Fate, it was impossible to know which traits they possessed before they met each other.
Thus, many Soul Shards of Lesser Gods with all kinds of unique special traits had become residents of the City of Trials.
Boba was one of those residents, and Dilan had only heard of him because he was a Troll with the Curse of Gluttony.
He was almost ten meters tall and more than five meters in width and breadth. Boba was far from agile, and it was unlikely that he could get his hands on Dilan even if his stats had just been enhanced to 1000 Units.
This was much higher than his stats outside the City of Trials, but that was not something Dilan could be bothered about right now.
He was told to face a Lesser God while having the stats of a fourth Tier Ascender!
'Not even his stats are restricted, and his fat absorbs the impact of attacks…his regeneration is also terrific from being able to devour the surrounding mana at once…how the hell am I supposed to defeat you?'
"Dilan Cier, I've heard a lot about you!" Fatty Boba suddenly greeted him, smiling widely while drool trickled down his double chin's double-double double chin. "Unfortunately you will have to die so that I can leave the City of Trials while retaining my memories!"
"Oh? Is that what you've been promised? That's not a bad deal," Dialn agreed to the AI's ways of motivation. They were much better than the Oracle's ways of motivating him either way.
Receiving permission to leave the City of Trials without losing their memories about everything they had learned so far would allow their old body to recall and learn enough to break through the shackles that had held them back in the past.
As for the high possibility that they died in the vast Universe after facing a situation they couldn't overcome, it would still be possible to reincarnate in someone else's body.
Using the body of someone suitable as a vessel, who died only moments earlier would allow the Soul Shard to reincarnate.
Through this, they might lose their powers but it was not as if they couldn't regain them over the course of time and with the necessary effort.
No matter what would happen, giving the Soul Shards a chance to leave the City of Trials without the loss of the memories they bore in the City was worth fighting for.
Furthermore, Dilan wouldn't actually die even if he were to be torn to shreds during the Trial of Power.
This gave the Lesser Gods even more reason to fight without holding back in the slightest. They could just give their all, eliminate Dilan without actually annihilating one of the Fate Changers while simultaneously getting a chance to become True Gods…or ascend even higher than that!
That was not related to his Undying Origin ability but the fact that he would be considered to have been defeated after his Essence Crystal was crushed…or that was how it's supposed to be.
Unfortunately, for Dilan's opponents, and maybe his mental health as well, his situation looked a little bit different.
He was in the possession of an ability that didn't allow him to die, after all!
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