The tendrils came from all directions. Dozens of them. A black storm of death, twisting and slashing, aiming to tear Joon-ho apart before he could even react.
But he was already moving.
[Phantom Step – Advanced] Activated.
His body flickered.
One tendril missed his head by an inch. Another lashed where his torso had been. Joon-ho spun midair, landing on the shifting stone floor, only for another strike to carve through the space beside him. The tendrils were fast—too fast.
But Joon-ho was faster.
He twisted, **dodging left, then right, then up—**a perfect chain of movements that wove through the deadly barrage like a ghost slipping through walls.
A gap.
Joon-ho's eyes flashed. He lunged forward, dagger slashing out.
The Guardian reacted. Another tendril formed in an instant—blocking his strike. The impact sent shockwaves through the air, the force alone cracking the ground.
Joon-ho gritted his teeth. This thing isn't just powerful. It's adapting.
The Guardian's endless red eyes gleamed. "You persist, but the abyss is eternal."
Its mass shuddered. The darkness around it twisted, forming a second body.
Joon-ho's stomach dropped.
"It can clone itself?!"
The second Guardian attacked.
A massive claw formed from its void-like mass and swiped down. Joon-ho barely managed to roll away before the ground he'd been standing on disintegrated into nothingness.
[Warning! Abyssal Consumption Detected!]
His mind sharpened. If I get caught in that, I don't take damage—I cease to exist.
Joon-ho's grip on his dagger tightened. I need to end this. Fast.
His gaze locked onto the core of the Guardian's form. The swirling mass of abyss shifted constantly, but there—**deep within its body—**something pulsed.
"That's it."
Joon-ho sprinted forward.
The Guardian lashed out again. A spear of darkness shot toward him.
He didn't dodge.
Instead, he met it head-on.
[Spectral Shift – Forced Activation.]
His entire body split into three.
The spear impaled one image of him—but it was an illusion. The second afterimage flickered to the left, drawing the Guardian's attack.
The real Joon-ho was already above it.
His dagger descended.
The Guardian reacted. **A wall of darkness shot up—**but it was too late.
Joon-ho's blade pierced its core.
A soundless shockwave erupted.
The abyss shuddered.
The Guardian's eyes widened. Its form convulsed, the darkness collapsing inward.
But Joon-ho wasn't finished.
He twisted the dagger.
[Judgment Ignition – Full Release.]
A second explosion—this one of pure golden fire—detonated inside the Guardian.
It screamed.
The entire chamber shook, the walls splintering, as the golden flames devoured the abyss from within. The Guardian's mass boiled, its eyes flickering in and out of existence.
Joon-ho landed, rolling into a stance. His breath was ragged. His vision blurred for a moment, his stamina nearly drained.
But he kept his stance firm.
The Guardian staggered.
Its form began collapsing.
Joon-ho exhaled, watching as the abyss disintegrated, the endless blackness shrinking inward, devoured by the very flames he had unleashed.
The last thing he saw were the Guardian's eyes—not in rage, not in anger, but in something else.
Recognition.
Then, it was gone.
[You have defeated the Guardian of the Abyss.]
[Floor Clear.]
Joon-ho straightened, rolling his shoulders.
"One step closer to the top."