Chapter 74: The Tower of Ash: The Rematch (2)
Chapter 74: The Tower of Ash: The Rematch (2)
The Floor 6 portal sealed behind them, and the tunnel narrowed, pressing in around them.
Nathan’s [Hunter’s Insight] flared, threading the darkness ahead. The corridor was exactly as he remembered it—walls weeping molten rock, ceiling dripping fire, the air thick with the skitter of too many legs. Magma Crawlers boiled through the shadows, their segmented bodies glistening with volcanic secretions, venomous mandibles clicking in the dark.
Last time, this floor had been a death trap. The tight quarters, the ceiling ambushes, the paralytic venom that had nearly cost them Garrett. They’d cleared it, but it had been desperate.
This time, Nathan knew exactly what to expect.
"Garrett, keep an eye on the ceiling," Nathan called. "Elise, ice up the walls. I don’t want anything dropping on us. Mirko, funnel formation. Same plan as Floor One."
Garrett planted his feet, already rolling his mace through short, controlled swings as Red’s wool expanded into layered armor around him. His gaze swept the cavern in an instant.
"Left side, twelve. Right, eight. Six on the ceiling," he reported. "I’ve got eyes on all of them."
Nathan gave a single nod.
"Good. Let’s clean this floor out."
Mirko activated [Impenetrable Fortress] and slid forward. The mana barrier angled and curved—not a flat wall, but a funnel that caught the first wave of Crawlers and channeled them into a narrow corridor. They couldn’t spread. Couldn’t climb the walls. They poured directly into the kill zone.
Elise lifted her staff, firing a volley of [Mana Bolts] into the cavern ceiling. Each impact erupted with a sharp burst of mana, Her frost Golem freezing over cracks and crevices where the Crawlers liked to hide before dropping onto unsuspecting prey. Their ambush routes vanished beneath thick sheets of ice, forcing the monsters out into the open where the party dictated the fight.
At the rear, Garrett stood like an immovable wall. [Impact Strike] crashed down, pulverizing a Crawler’s armored shell and spiderwebbing the volcanic stone beneath it. Red lunged in front of him, its dense wool effortlessly soaking up a pair of venomous bites before they could reach him. Garrett answered with a wide, crushing swing that launched both monsters across the corridor.
He wasn’t the fastest, nor did he rely on spectacular techniques. But his strength lay in something far more valuable, consistency. No matter how chaotic the battlefield became, Garrett held the line, giving everyone else the freedom to fight at their best
Dillon’s katana became a silver blur. [Quick Draw] flashed through the corridor, slicing cleanly through legs, armored shells, and glowing cores before the Crawlers even realized they had been hit. Every strike was clean. Every movement economical.
But there were too many.
The Crawlers poured in from every opening, filling the narrow corridor with a relentless tide of chitin, fangs, and venom. Every monster that fell was replaced by another scrambling over its corpse.
Dillon exhaled, his breathing growing heavier as he cut through another pair. Then, instead of grimacing, he broke into a grin.
"Hey, Cross." He rested the katana against his shoulder for the briefest moment. "Wanna see something new?"
Without waiting for an answer, he raised the blade.
The Cloud Serpent slipped from around his shoulders, its long body crackling with the pale-blue static as it coiled around his arm. It glided over the length of the katana, scales brushing the cold steel.
The moment they touched, electricity exploded across the blade.
Blue-white lightning raced from hilt to tip, wrapping the weapon in a humming mantle of thunder that filled the corridor with the sharp scent of ozone.
[Thunder Edge.]
He vanished.
His [Flash Step] Kill launched him forward so quickly that only a fading afterimage remained where he had been. An instant later, he appeared in the heart of the swarm, his lightning-wreathed katana already cutting downward.
The moment the blade struck, thunder erupted through the corridor.
Blue-white arcs exploded outward, leaping wildly from one Crawler to the next. Electricity ripped through their bodies in a cascading chain, burning out glowing cores, splitting armored shells, and locking dozens of twitching legs in place. The air filled with the crack of thunder and the sickening smell of scorched chitin as venom sacs burst under the overwhelming current.
By the time the last sparks faded, the center of the swarm had been erased.
A dozen Crawlers dissolved into shimmering motes of light, leaving only scorched stone behind.
Dillon stood alone amid the empty space he had carved out, faint ribbons of lightning still dancing along his katana. The Cloud Serpent rested proudly across his shoulders, its scales flickering with quiet arcs as Dillon flashed the others a satisfied grin.
"New skill," he said. "Just reached Level 35 and got it, Hardwork paid out eh?"
Nathan lowered Moonlight. "It sure did, Good timing."
[Floor 6 Cleared.]
---
Floor 7 opened into the chamber of unstable platforms.
The obsidian floor was a shattered mosaic, sections tilting under their own weight. Lava bubbled up through fissures. The heat ticked upward to Extreme. Last time, this floor had shattered Red. Last time, Garrett had screamed in grief as his summon dissolved into crimson light.
This time, Garrett was ready.
The Magma Serpents rose from the lava. The Ember Hounds charged across the platforms. The stone tilted and groaned. But Garrett’s voice cut through the chaos—calm, steady, in control.
"The left platform’s giving way!" Nathan shouted. "Elise, lock it down!"
Elise reacted instantly. A volley of [Mana Bolts] slammed into the tilting slab in rapid succession. Each impact burst with mana explosions, her frost Golem coating the fractured stone in thick layers of ice. The platform shuddered violently before settling just enough to hold, buying the party the precious seconds they needed to cross.
Nathan’s eyes swept the battlefield, processing every threat in an instant.
"Dillon, serpent at your two o’clock!" he barked. "Mirko, Hounds on the right! Don’t let them flank us!"
Dillon’s katana flashed—[Quick Draw] severing the serpent’s head before it could strike. Mirko’s [Aegis Strike] scattered the Hounds, their cores shattering mid-lunge. Nathan’s [Mana Arrows] picked off the survivors.
Garrett was everywhere. His mace swung in relentless rhythm, [Impact Strike] shattering Hound cores and serpent scales. Red moved with him, wool armored, horns deflecting strikes. When a serpent lunged at Elise’s blind spot, Garrett was already there, his mace intercepting the strike.
Then the platform beneath him collapsed.
Nathan saw the sequence unfolding before it happened.
The obsidian platform groaned beneath Garrett’s feet. Hairline fractures raced across its surface, and the entire section began to tip toward the churning lava below. Last time, this was where everything had gone wrong. Garrett had lost his footing, Red had thrown him onto its horns and dragged him to safety, and the lava serpent had struck during that single moment of chaos.
This time...
Garrett was already moving.
He’d spotted the spreading cracks a heartbeat earlier. Before the platform could give way, he shifted onto stable ground in one smooth step. The slab collapsed into the lava behind him, but Garrett never stumbled.
The serpent burst from the molten river anyway, jaws snapping toward what should have been his exposed back.
Instead, it met the full force of Garrett’s mace, already swinging to greet it.
Red intercepted. Horns caught the serpent’s jaws. Garrett’s [Impact Strike] came down on the creature’s skull. The serpent dissolved before it could strike again.
When the floor was clear, Garrett was breathing hard—but standing. Red was standing.
"Nice read," Nathan said with an approving nod.
Garrett looked back at him, breathing hard. Sweat ran down his face, but there wasn’t a hint of hesitation in his eyes.
"Told you," he said, tightening his grip on his mace. "I’m this party’s shield."
A small, confident grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"And this shield doesn’t break easily!."
[Floor 7 Cleared.]
---
Floor 8 was the vertical vent—a chimney of volcanic stone rising toward a distant exit. Cinder Bats dove from above. Magma Crawlers skittered up from below. Last time, Dillon’s Cloud Serpent had shattered here.
This time, the Cloud Serpent owned the sky.
It launched upward in a spiraling ascent, scales crackling with electric fury. Static arced across the vent, frying bat after bat before they could dive. Their premature detonations lit the shaft like fireworks.
Dillon climbed beneath his summon, katana flashing. [Thunder Edge] sent electrical discharges racing up the vent walls, stunning Crawlers before they could reach the party. They fell, convulsing, into the darkness below.
Elise’s [Mana Shield] layered over the climbers—angled panels that deflected the bats that slipped through. Mirko’s [Aegis Strike] cleared the path above.
They climbed. No one fell. No summons shattered.
They emerged at the top, breathing hard, but whole.
[Floor 8 Cleared.]
---
Floor 9 was the threshold.
The chamber was exactly as Nathan remembered it—walls of frozen lava, air so hot it felt like breathing glass. The portal to Floor 10 pulsed at the far end. Between them and the portal, three Elite Magma Centipedes waited.
Massive—segmented bodies armored in obsidian plates, scythe-like legs clicking against the stone. Their cores hidden deep within. Last time, they’d coordinated. Baited Mirko’s [Aegis Strike]. Flanked from behind. Shattered her.
This time, they didn’t let the monsters fight as a pack.
"Elise, lock down the one on the left," Nathan ordered. "Kuro, take the one on the right. Mirko, the center one’s yours. Garrett—"
"I’ve got the spaces between them." Garrett cut him off, lifting his mace as he stepped into position. "Don’t let them regroup. That’s what got us last time."
Nathan nodded.
"Exactly. One at a time."
The centipedes attacked in their familiar pattern—the center one lunging at Mirko, scythe-legs sweeping low, while the second circled to flank.
Mirko met the center centipede with [Impenetrable Fortress]. The impact cracked the stone beneath her, but she held. The second centipede moved to flank.
Garrett was already in position.
[Impact Strike] slammed into the flanking centipede’s legs with explosive force. The impact split the obsidian beneath it, snapping its advance and throwing its coordinated attack into disarray.
Garrett didn’t rely on flashy defensive abilities. He didn’t need them. His greatest weapons were his instincts, his positioning, and a mace that landed with devastating force.
"You’re not getting past me," he growled.
Behind him, Elise calmly raised her staff.
A [Glacial Lance] formed at its tip, condensing into a spear of impossibly dense ice. Frost spread through the air, and countless crystalline particles hung suspended around the weapon, making the temperature plummet in an instant.
With a flick of her wrist, she fired.
The lance crossed the chamber and punched through the left centipede’s obsidian armor. Ice erupted outward, freezing the creature solid in a cocoon of pale blue crystal.
Kuro materialized behind the right centipede. [Invisibility] had carried her across the chamber unseen. [Assassinate] drove both daggers into the soft tissue behind the creature’s skull. The centipede convulsed once and collapsed.
Mirko’s tenth [Unstoppable Force] strike crashed down on the center centipede. Obsidian armor shattered. The core was exposed.
Nathan had been charging [Focus Shot] for thirty seconds.
Moonlight hummed in his grip. The arrowhead blazed white-hot. He released.
The arrow crossed the chamber and punched through the exposed core. The centipede froze. Its antennae drooped. Its scythe-legs collapsed.
[Floor 9 Cleared!]
[Level Up! Nathan Cross: Level 38]
[Level Up! Kuro: Level 22]
Nathan lowered Moonlight. His arms were steady. His mana was recovering. The chamber was silent except for the distant rumble of lava and the quiet breathing of his party.
Mirko sheathed her sword. Elise dismissed [Glacial Lance]. Dillon’s Cloud Serpent crackled with energy. Garrett leaned on his mace, Red’s wool slowly softening.
Kuro materialized beside Nathan. Her daggers dissolved into shadow.
No shattered summons. No desperate extraction. Just victory.
"We’re almost there," Garrett said quietly. He was looking at the Floor 10 portal.
Nathan nodded. He checked his mana reserves—steady. He checked his party—battered but unbroken, exhausted but triumphant. Nine floors cleared. Only the Pyre Wyrm remained.
He stepped toward the portal. The volcanic light washed over him.
"Let’s finish this."