The staircase spanned half the room. It led into a gloom of bruised purples and swirling blacks. Crackling streamed from deep within, the sounds of eager fire. Cavernous groanings. A relentless heat pounded from inside. There was a smell of brimstone, of charring meat. Ghostly shrieks wafted out, as though slowly tortured…
Reina did not like it one bit. Avery squinted at it. Evan maintained a positive attitude. Zane, meanwhile, was still eager. That fight was good—but it still hadn't really pushed him. He wanted more.
But before they moved on, they decided to do one more round of power-ups. Mostly for Evan and Avery.
Another day did it. Avery finished up one last Concept—the Concept of Reflection. That plus her Godbeast Bloodline meant she got a new skill: Mirror Shield. She could summon these big glassy shields that bounced attacks right back.
Evan happily took his Cookie. His Fourth Evolution came in an exultation of golden light.
His soul weapon got a massive upgrade—from a saber to a big shining pristine sword, something a royal knight might wear. It was almost a little too big for him—he was kind of wobbly underneath it. The Weapon Soul was set in its hilt: a golden orb. Evan loved it.
It rocketed up the firepower of all his Skills. Even far stronger beings would have to be wary of his sniping now, especially with his friends nearby to boost him.
He also got a special movement Skill that let him ride on rays of sunlight. It was called the 'Hero's Journey'. With it, he could pretty much teleport around the room. Speeding here and there, blasting things to smithereens.
He and Avery tried testing their new Skills by playing some ping-pong, shooting Evan's new solar-flare beams all over the chamber. But even Evan didn't realize how much stronger he got. He loosed one fat laser that blasted straight through the top of a pillar—and disintegrated it instantly. It almost caved in the roof.
They stopped after that.
Zane and Reina only found out after coming back—they had snuck off to do some of their own Leveling. But despite lots of hard work, they couldn't quite manage it—they'd have to wait until the next floor.
Zane's last Level Up was for his Chains. He took in the three Weapon Spirits he'd just gotten, and—
𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕦𝕡!
𝕎𝕖𝕒𝕡𝕠𝕟 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕝 𝟛->𝟜
𝔸𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕦𝕤 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤' 𝕕𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕘𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕤 𝕖𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠 ℝ𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕊𝕜𝕪-𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝.
Nothing had come close to testing its durability or strength before. It was even more overwhelming now.
Together they descended…
***
ꜱᴜᴘᴇʀᴅᴜɴɢᴇᴏɴ
ꜰʟᴏᴏʀ ???
There was a floor deep in the Superdungeon—so deep it nearly went down to the bottom—that held just one prisoner.
It was a lightless realm. Walls of obsidian bedrock. And every inch of it, plunging into the seemingly endless depths, was etched with glowing runes. Powered by enough Heaven-grade Spirit Stones to last several Chaos Cycles.
Torches of cold white fire lit the way, spiraling down, down, down…
At the very bottom of this strange well, there stood a pillar of blemishless white rock. A flat monolith. Two symbols were carved on the very top of it in a language long lost.
One of them meant Suppress. The other, Contain.
Chains snaked out from this pillar. Chains of a caliber of craftsmanship only a handful of true masters in the Dragonspire Galaxy could fathom. Binding a single creature to that pillar. Stabbing through its flesh. Locking its essence, its Laws, even its soul…
All was silent.
The creature had a wormlike body, so big you could've mistaken it from a distance for rolling barren hills. Shadows clung to every inch of it, smoking and whispering. It was flecked with inky scales. Six tattered wings sprouted out its back, seething a shadowy mist.
Its face was a shifting scarred horror. Something beyond knowledge. If a mortal gazed at it they would leave with little impression of it at all—just the abject fear, the hopelessness it left behind…
The only other thing they'd recall were its six crimson eyes. Staring, staring…
𝔾𝕚𝕝𝕘𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙 (𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝔼𝕞𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕣)
𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕝 ???
They called this Monster the Chained One. And it was bound here by Aiwe, creator of the system himself. But that might as well have been an eternity ago. Back then its restrictions were so fierce it could not even think. They had weakened greatly over the years.
Especially now, as they approached the peak of this Chaos Cycle. When monstrous powers were rising like a new moon, when the System was at its weakest—when the time of the Jailbreaks, the Monster Waves, quickly approached…
Not only could this Monster think —it could also see. Its enormous soul had gained enough freedom to communicate. To have some influence over its bindings, its prison.
Right then its six eyes were closely monitoring thousands of realms at once…
but one in particular concerned it the most.
It watched as a certain big man defeated the Knights it had sent to crush him.
Not just defeated. Destroyed so badly it genuinely stunned this Monster.
The scene vanished and its red eyes flickered, blinking.
Then they narrowed all at once.
A furious hissing echoed down the space. Gaping voids tore open all over—
The runes on that white pillar flared bright. An absolute power, an echo of long-gone will, washed over the room, reverberating like a struck gong. Reverberating through every last particle of this Monster; for a second it flickered, its very existence in this reality destabilized. It jerked as though struck, settled down…
Its eyes stayed narrowed.
It was furious. It was also concerned.
It was very rare that it felt this way about a candidate. Just a handful of times every Chaos Cycle—and those it did not manage to kill would invariably become a true powerhouse of the Galaxy, a pillar of the forces of Creation…
That could not be tolerated.
It saw just how fast Zane Walker was growing.
More than ever, it felt a certain conviction.
Zane Walker must die.
But how?
It quivered there thinking. Most of its powers were bound so many times over it was hardly worth considering them. Even its soul didn't have much reach…
Every Monster it had brought to kill Zane had failed in spectacular fashion. And if it tried bringing some of its Lieutenants from its deeper floors—creatures sure to kill the meddlesome upstart—it would be too big of a splash. The System would take note.
Gilgorath could not afford any more failures.
There was a simpler way. A sure way.
Its eyes curved to crescent slits.
It could slightly curve the trajectory of the staircase. To send Zane to a realm far deeper than intended…
Infernia. Birthplace of Demons. And the Chained One's own ancestral home. A place where it had tremendous influence—and oh-so-many great minions, eager to do its bidding…
It would send Zane Walker to slaughter.
It let out a pleased hiss. And then began to work. Its six eyes narrowing as it carefully exerted its massive soul. Gently brushing aside the Superdungeon's thinning defenses. Pulling at its mechanics, nudging at the deep, immensely complex Laws that governed its inner workings…
Even making such a small change was a very difficult thing. It had to expend so much of its soul power it almost spiraled into a slumber once more.
But at last—it was done.
It let out a shrieking hiss. And its prison echoed with the sounds of its triumph.
***
ꜰʟᴏᴏʀ 36
At the end of the final section of a moss-riddled labyrinth, there lay a sandstone staircase. Leading deep into the floor below. Sands billowed out of it on scorching gusts, making little piles around the entrance.
But the way was blocked. A host of lizardkin and catkin ringed it, sealing it off.
Emeka Eze stood still in the center of the Boss Chamber. His honor guard tight around him. They had just finished off the Final Boss—at no small cost too…
Behind, more lizardkin, bear-kin, humans with red eyes shored up the exit. Hemming them in.
Not Monsters.
Thainish candidates.
"What is the meaning of this?!" growled Taiye, one of Eze's lieutenants.
"Isn't it obvious?" said the big Catkin at the front—Weereen, Essence Level 139. He let out a shrill laugh. "You've been had!"
His crew leered behind masses of sharp glinting steel. "Drop your weapons, your bags of holding, your armors, and you may pass. Come now."
Eze stared him down. "I refuse."
"Just as well," said Weereen, shrugging. He gave a sly grin, made a hand gesture, and his crew began drawing closer at both ends. Closing the noose. "I must admit—I've told a little lie. You could never be allowed to live, Emeka Eze. Geld here—" He nodded to the ten-foot-tall hammer-wielding bearkin beside him— "Just so happens to be a high-ranked Earth-wielder too. And the Factions only have so many Essence Stones to go around, I'm afraid…"
They closed in.
Eze closed his eyes. Sighed. Took off his gloves, exposing raw knuckles. The Thainish kept coming. Closer, closer—
What happened next went very fast.
Bang. Bang. Bang.—one after another. A dozen in a row. Softly, almost gently—the force of it somehow shivered the air, shivered the astral plane, like stones tossed into the grand pool of Fate, disturbing the waters…
Bodies dropped like sacks of potatoes. Dissolving before they struck the ground. No screaming.
Eze stopped moving, eyes still glowing purple, the vast image of a Golden Lion staring coldly overhead. Calmly, he took his gloves back out of his pocket. Put them back on in smooth, methodical motions.
"Let's go," he said.
"Yes, Lord Eze!"
But before they could move, Eze's pupils contracted slightly. He turned.
There, at the end of the tunnel, a cold air was billowing… and with it, Vanessa Volkova strode through. Her snow-white dress was stained with soot and blood. She surveyed the scene, looked at the mini map, saw all the X's…
"You ran into them too?"
"Unfortunately. And you?"
"Some of their top Rankers, a few bends back." Vanessa shrugged. "We would've been happy leaving each other be. But they weren't."
Eze made a noise. "It seems to be the way of their Planet."
They nodded to each other. And kept descending.
***
ᴇᴠᴇʀɢʀᴇᴇɴ ɢʀᴏᴠᴇ
ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴇᴍᴘʟᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴛʀᴇᴇ
"You have a visitor, your Holiness."
"Not now!" snapped Lan Arandor. He'd just finished watching Zane's last battle. His face was set in a deep snarl. "Do I look like I'm in the mood for—"
"Your Holiness," said the servant, cringing. "It's… it's Ancestor Eldrin."
The Patriarch stilled. Paused. Closed his eyes, visibly restraining himself. Then, through gritted teeth, almost calmly—"Tell him I would be delighted to have him."
A breath later, a tall elf crossed under the leafy arches. He wore simple dark-green clothes, the colors of deep old forests. His hair was bone-white, his eyes shocking purple. There was not a line in his porcelain mask of a face. He could have been thirty or a thousand years old; it was impossible to tell.
The bow strapped to his back, meanwhile, was pearl-white. Its string a deep gray, pulsing gently. The beast it'd belonged to had been dead thousands of years, yet you could still feel echoes of its power emanating, a steadfast aura washing out in waves…
Lan swallowed. That was the Colossus bow. Eldrin's fourth Spirit Weapon Augmentation was to remake its string from the tendon of a full-grown Titan Rhinoceros. One of a handful of truly legendary weapons in the Galaxy.
Just as legendary was the elf who owned it. Reality seemed to teeter slightly around him, the way fabric stretches around a heavy object. Lan stiffened to attention.
"Greetings, honored Ancestor," he said. He bowed. He gave a polite smile on muscles not used to smiling. It came out slightly off-putting. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I've come to inform you," said Eldrin, looking faintly bored. "That I am about to enter short-term seclusion. When I return, it will be as a True Immortal."
Lan's eyes widened. "Why—congratulations!"
Eldrin kept going as though the Patriarch hadn't said anything. "For these few years, I will not be around to supervise you. Or the matters of our house. I expect you to keep things in proper order. Should you permit our affairs to fall into disarray…"
The Ancestor shrugged. "You have many cousins. Siblings of surpassing competence. You are not so precious that you cannot be replaced. Do you understand?"
"…Yes, Ancestor," said Lan. His face twitched, but that was all.
"Good," said Eldrin. His eyes grew suddenly sharp. "And what is this I hear about this new Mistress Maker?"