Zarek took a deep breath, inhaling and then exhaling as the fifth Gladius slowly faded.
The last two battles were undoubtedly the toughest, each one threatening to send him over the brink. During both, he hadn't even had the chance to use his Lurker's Whip, and every time he had the intention to, he even felt that doing so might lose him the one weapon he could actually rely on in this place.
But not using it was also a huge detriment to him as well.
After the fifth battle, he became certain that it wasn't just the strengths of the Heroes increasing, nor was it just their Skills and Talents becoming deeper, stronger, and more detailed…
But even their armor, their shields, and their lances were all becoming stronger as well.
At this sort of stage, even if you had had eight participants to enter this Tear with, it would have practically been suicide unless all of them had similar levels of talent.
You didn't just need a team, you needed an elite squad.
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