Chapter 453: A Fateful Choice in the Dungeon

In the dim apartment building, Liang Lie stood like a statue in the corner, his eyelids heavy.

His slightly hunched body leaned silently against the bare concrete wall.

Without the subtle rise and fall of his chest every minute to prove he was still alive, one might have thought he was already dead.

Occasionally, his drooping eyes swept over to Yenir, who was crouched on the ground, scratching his head; only then did a hint of spark flicker in Yenir’s lifeless gaze.

The two had been hiding in some random nook for half an hour, and during that time, Yenir wrestled with a monumental dilemma, unable to decide.

“Which one do I choose… damn it…”

Squatting in a not-so-dignified manner, Yenir silently cursed, feeling more conflicted than ever.

Since his rebirth—no, even considering his past life—he had never felt this torn.

“It seems like any skill fusion would work…”

“Logically, fusing the strongest skill is best! If you’re aiming for maximum power, go all out—fuse Divine Rage!”

“But… I’m just worried the activation conditions might be even tougher…”

His eyes flickered as he watched the fusion options light up one after another. To him, they looked like a 360-degree spinning, big-ass gorilla screaming wildly, urging him to decide.

It was no wonder he was so torn.

These brand-new fusion options were like a one-time cheat code—one misstep and there’d be no crying over it.

With only one chance, and no guarantee there would be another, he had to choose wisely.

“The best skill is the one that suits you best… or rather, fits the situation.”

“Fusing Divine Rage with another skill might unleash even greater power, but if it ends up unusable, it’s worthless…”

“From a practical standpoint, combining Sky Rift Radiance with Dimensional Slash is the most versatile combo!”

He rose to his feet and exhaled slowly.

Reviewing the descriptions of his two main skills, Yenir knew these were the ones he relied on most.

One delivered a high-damage burst to a single target, and the other allowed instant teleportation for close-range execution—both indispensable in battle!

As for the other combinations…

Theoretically, pairing Fallen Heaven with Sword Breath Torrent was his most tempting idea for an area attack, though it might not perform as well in practice.

“If all goes well and their effects stack, Fallen Heaven plus Sword Breath Torrent should send me soaring, grant a shield that negates control, and then rain down a massive, long-range bombardment on the ground…”

“And after that, deliver one final shock—who knows, I might even trigger a ring of ‘Sword Lotus’ upon landing…”

“That would basically turn me into a human bomber.”

“But against enemies stronger than me, it’d still be too stiff, too inflexible…”

“Yet just thinking about that image is insanely exhilarating…”

“It’s so hard to choose… too hard…”

With a quiet sigh, Yenir experienced for the first time just how agonizing it could be when there were too many good options.

He felt like Tang Sanzang stumbling into the Daughter Kingdom—wanting everything.

“Maybe… I’ll choose Sky…”

A few seconds later, just as Yenir was about to settle on a decision, a sudden, rapid thud echoed from his chest.

A message from Blood Nightingale was flooding in continuously.

“Yenir!? Where are you?! When do you plan to act?”

“Yinglong is already set on heading to the final floor! His mission requires him to grab a stone from the altar first.”

“According to the mission, only by seizing the stone can one access the final core! There’s no midway entry during the final battle. If you want to ambush him, you need to beat him to it now!”

Momentarily stunned by Blood Nightingale’s message, Yenir suddenly remembered that he had entered the Dungeon with her this time.

Even without seeing her face-to-face, from her words he could almost picture Blood Nightingale’s anxious expression.

Hmm…

It’s not that I’m heartless…

It was simply that after the system upgrade, there were so many changes he had completely forgotten about it.

He didn’t reply immediately, though he could tell Blood Nightingale was in a hurry.

“Strictly speaking, I could already make a run for it…”

Hesitation flashed a strange glimmer in Yenir’s eyes.

He had secured what he needed; as for the remaining Legendary Suit… frankly, it was just too challenging.

At first, he planned to snatch the suit to bolster his strength for a rapid boost. But now, he was confident enough. With his current power, he could take down Lu Tianming and sweep through the East Asia Dungeon to complete his earlier plans.

Grabbing the suit wasn’t essential.

Moreover, after unexpectedly discovering that this Dungeon even had a Fourth Stage, the challenge had far exceeded his expectations.

“Yinglong dared to proceed to the final floor knowing about the Fourth Stage because he was deceived into believing he had backup.”

“If I follow him in… the risk is just too high…”

Clutching the Communication Stone, Yenir couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

After all, that was… Fourth Stage.

Having experienced Fourth Stage power firsthand, he knew exactly how terrifying it could be. In the trial, he’d only seen the tip of the iceberg.

With his current strength, facing Fourth Stage was nothing short of courting death.

“However, on the final floor, there might be something that counters the Fourth Stage. In theory, any Dungeon can be cleared—it’s all based on the challenger’s strength.”

“The system will always provide a way out, a glimmer of hope for success.”

“And it might not even pit you directly against Fourth Stage; otherwise, the Dungeon’s difficulty would be well above S-tier.”

After a quick analysis, Yenir reached a conclusion. Yet, despite his reasoning, the risk still loomed.

In an instant, two competing thoughts surged within him.

Should he go or not? Should he run or stay?

Perhaps sensing something, while Yenir stayed silent, Blood Nightingale on the other end kept sending message after message.

Clearly, she’d suspected all along that Yenir hadn’t brought anyone with him!

Yenir’s objective was met, meaning he could bail at any time. But as his ally, she couldn’t just leave—especially after having fabricated a lie to cover for him with Yinglong.

If Li Dafu didn’t show up later in the battle, Yinglong would certainly be suspicious of her! Even if nothing catastrophic happened, she already felt as if she were standing on the edge of a cliff!

Under these circumstances, how could she not be frantic?

“Buzz—”

“Buzz—”

Messages kept streaming in.

Clutching the Communication Stone, after a long silence Yenir finally replied briefly that he’d follow.

Of course, he knew exactly what Blood Nightingale was worried about.

That woman had truly helped him; without Blood Nightingale, he probably wouldn’t have managed to scam the materials.

“Although making a run for it now wouldn’t be the end of the world…”

He shook his head slightly.

For Yenir, abandoning Blood Nightingale now wouldn’t matter—after all, their alliance never explicitly required taking down Yinglong.

In the end, he planned to check out the final floor—not out of mercy, but because he just couldn’t let go of that suit.

After all, it’s the Legendary Suit… it would be a lie to say it didn’t tempt him.

Having reached his decision, Yenir stared silently at the Skill Fusion panel for a moment before turning it off.

“I’m going to take a peek… without Yinglong knowing, I’ve got a huge advantage.”

“Let him scout ahead; if I can actually snag the suit, not going would be a massive loss.”

“As for fusion skills… I’ll combine them on the fly based on the situation. Who knows, it might work wonders!”

Adapt to the circumstances.

After much deliberation, a brand-new idea suddenly sparked in Yenir’s mind.

“Using fusion skills is like having a cheat code on the fly! I can fuse whatever I need!”

“Passing up on this chance would be an absolute waste…”

“If everything goes smoothly… the rewards from this Dungeon might just exceed all imagination!”