Chapter 20: Face-to-face
[You have entered the third level.]
[You have entered the fourth level.]
[You have entered the fifth level.]
Spotting a humanoid crocodile with scales so thick from head to toe that it seemed to be wearing full-plate armor, Nith dashed at the monster, running across the corridor at full speed. He didn't blur into a bolt, but his steps resounded throughout the corridor, each one cracking the floor beneath him. So much strength coursed through him that he couldn't stop his advance.
His Eclipse Venom had reached new heights.
Nith learned how to control its strength bonus.
Prior to this evolution, his entire body instinctively distributed the strength he'd absorbed from enemies to every muscle and cell. Now, however, Nith could focus most of it wherever he wanted.
Gathering the majority of his additional strength into his arms, with the rest equally spread across his other body parts, Nith's fists became significantly heavier.
Eclipse Venom sheathed his arms in a purple aura, which emanated a poisonous mist of the same color that would afflict anyone he touched. This was the second evolution.
Unaware of what kind of existence blocked its way, the scaled crocodile reacted to Nith's hostile intentions by charging at him. Its short arm stretched toward Nith, aiming to counter the purple fist barreling towards it!
Upon contact, the monster's arm exploded into bloody fragments, splattering Nith and the corridor's walls.
As the crocodile shrieked, Nith twisted his waist and added his back to the second punch, throwing his left fist into the monster's abdomen. True to his expectations, this part was much tougher, and only the scales shattered, revealing a mangled, bloody mess beneath.
Nith shoved the monster aside and walked over its half-dead body, picking up the pace to continue his task.
Behind him, Kyouka breathlessly chased his wake. She didn't have much of a role against a single opponent, but her presence shone when many of them clustered in one spot.
After a few turns, Nith entered a cavernous space, akin to a colosseum arena, where a swarm of turtles rested. Each turtle had a shell whose carapace could carry two adult humans, and their heads were large enough to munch on a human's head.
Their black flesh and shells, combined with the dense water and dark cave, blended together so well that no one would dare to disturb the monsters' peace.
Standing over the scene, close to the ceiling, Nith sneered. He bent his body and prepared to jump.
He screamed, "Don't lag behind!"
Flying over the turtles, whose heads peeked out from their shells, Nith exuded black mist, transforming into a black-purple star. A second later, a wave of potions caught up to him, floating around him like mini-stars, each filled with dark-purple liquid sloshing against the glass!
"GO TO HELL, BASTARD! I'M NOT LEAVING MY ALCHEMY BASEMENT AFTER THIS FOR A MONTH!" Kyouka shouted at him, her voice triggering her gravity abilities, which plunged not only her potions but also Nith down to the cave floor.
He descended onto a turtle, whose shell burst open under his weight, revealing a naked monster.
Amidst the chaos, potions crashed into other turtles, their contents flowing into cracks and open holes within the turtles' shells, attacking their strengths.
Kyouka's potions were nothing short of amazing. They transformed from liquid form into a dense gas, stacking upon one another.
As the dark-purple cloud billowed, the black-purple star zoomed from one point to another, breaking open the turtles' shells and beating them half-dead, spending this additional surge of strength to keep himself sane.
Otherwise, he would have gone insane and crumbled.
'The sixth floor is the last… we will see third grades here…' Nith thought as he exhaled a dark-purple mist. 'I feel the limit very well… I can fight for ten minutes at my current strongest. The other monsters we left half-dead on other floors won't stay down for much longer. We must clear this floor faster!'
He raised his voice, "The Meteorite Shower once again!"
With a half-emptied mana potion between her lips, Kyouka inaudibly replied before spitting out the vial and combining her gravity and eagle-eyed skills. Although she threw only a single vial, twenty more disappeared from her backpack as Kyouka's Prodigal Title evolved to match Nith's vision.
After a few more explosions, the duo seemingly left the ruins casually and entered the last level.
A new arena unfolded before them—a small marbled circle, surrounded by dense water, awaited them, as the other party stood there, their bodies and clothes dripping with blood.
Across the arena, a stone monument of a huge toad adorned with accessories like rings, necklaces, and other piercings stood. Those items weren't carved; anyone could probably pick them up.
Breathless and grabbing her knees to support her upper body, Kyouka stared at the shiny objects with craving eyes. She was a woman who liked those things.
Nith, however, focused on the enemy team. Three men, gripping swords and wearing black robes that were torn and cut in many places, turned their heads to glare at him, responding to his hostile stare.
An old voice boomed in everyone's heads.
"All have gathered! You are two groups that have found a way to the Swamp Islands' Sixth Level, to its very heart! Win, and dominion over this land shall be yours!"