Chapter 292: The End of the Wasteland [1/2] Final

Elsewhere on the third Floor, Austin Locke had finally reached his limit.

His longsword pierced straight through the chest of the last magical beast. Blood ran along the blade and splattered across the shattered canyon floor as the creature collapsed at his feet.

Breathing heavily, Austin pulled his weapon free and looked toward the teleportation gate slowly forming ahead.

[Third Floor Trial Completed!]

The gate leading to the Fourth Floor opened, but before he could enter, the ranking display appeared at the edge of his vision.

[Current Ranking:]

[First Place: Zich Grave, Fourth Floor.]

[Second Place: Nadia Voss, Fourth Floor.]

[Third Place: Helen Magnus, Fourth Floor.]

[Fourth Place: Austin Locke, Third Floor.]

Austin stared at the ranking, his chest rising and falling beneath his torn clothing.

"Let’s do this."

He tightened his grip around the bloodstained longsword and stepped into the gate leading to the Fourth Floor.

...

Across the wasteland, the prolonged battle around the altar had already drawn the attention of every awakened magical beast nearby.

Those redirected by the hidden rule continued forcing their way toward the Wasteland Slumberer. Some were blocked behind the Earth Vein Ancient Turtle’s enormous shell, but several reached the incomplete creature and staggered to a halt beneath the gaze of the crimson eyes in its chest.

Thin currents of black energy began emerging from their bodies and flowing toward the Wasteland Slumberer.

Zich saw the change from the corner of his eye.

Although the absorption had begun, his attacks did not slow in the slightest.

No matter what, that barrier had to fall!

At that moment, he noticed a weakened section along the barrier’s lower edge where the spatial energy flickered between each reinforcement.

"Iron, below the horn!"

Iron quickly changed the angle of its bone greatsword, driving the blade into the portion of the barrier directly above the weakness. The four Undead Skeleton Soldiers struck around the same point as well, widening the distortion before the Guardian could stabilize it.

Slimy tightened its nearly transparent threads once more.

The Level 30 Guardian tore several strands apart as it forced its hind legs forward, but the interference shifted its stance for a fraction of a second.

Taking advantage of that fraction, Tiamant folded her wings and descended from the right while the Silverback Ape Grunt launched itself from the left.

As for Iron, the undead knight raised its bone greatsword from the front, its armor grinding beneath the force gathered in both arms.

Their decisive attacks landed together.

BOOM!

Cracks spread across the silver white barrier, branching outward from the weakened lower edge until the entire defensive shell shattered.

Fragments of condensed spatial energy scattered through the air before dissolving into thin streaks of light. The recoil forced the Altar Guardian backward, its four hooves tearing deep grooves through the ground as it struggled to stabilize itself.

The Earth Vein Ancient Turtle, which had remained pressed against the barrier, lurched forward when the resistance disappeared. Its mountain like body crashed into the altar’s outer platform and forced the Guardian to turn aside to avoid being trampled beneath its forelegs.

Zich gave it no opportunity to reconstruct the defense.

[Shadow Blink!]

His figure crossed the collapsing spatial energy and appeared directly before the Slumbering Altar. The Frostgrave Scythe was already raised above his shoulder, frost spreading along its curved blade.

Behind him, the Altar Guardian lowered its horn and attempted to rush back, but Iron and the four Undead Skeleton Soldiers closed around it while Slimy’s remaining threads caught its hind legs again, disrupting its footing and hindering its charge.

The Silverback Ape Grunt moved between the Guardian and Zich.

"Tiamant, hold it back!"

Tiamant changed direction in the air and flew toward the Wasteland Slumberer, placing her massive skeletal body between it and the altar as its increasingly stable frame began advancing.

Before the scythe could descend, the entire wasteland trembled.

The black currents flowing from the awakened magical beasts surged into the Wasteland Slumberer. Their bodies began to wither as life force was forcibly stripped away, while black bone and flesh fused across the Slumberer’s torso, sealing more of the unstable gaps within its incomplete body.

The two crimson eyes in the center of its chest remained fixed upon the altar.

System notifications flashed rapidly before Zich.

[Warning!]

[Wasteland Slumberer awakening level has reached: 78%.]

[A large number of life fluctuations detected.]

[The Wasteland Slumberer is absorbing the life force of surrounding awakened magical beasts.]

More awakened magical beasts staggered to a halt around it. Their bodies withered rapidly once the absorption took hold, their limbs weakening and collapsing as streams of life force flowed toward the Slumberer.

Its incomplete body grew more stable with every current it absorbed.

79%.

The black bones along its shoulders fused together.

The Wasteland Slumberer swung one massive limb toward Tiamant, forcing her to beat her wings and pull away before diving back toward its chest.

80%.

Dense flesh spread across the exposed portions of its torso.

Behind the Earth Vein Ancient Turtle, the remaining awakened magical beasts pushed against one another, attempting to force their way around its shell and reach the Slumberer.

81%.

The oppressive force rolling from the creature intensified, and even the cracked ground beneath it began to sink.

Zich’s gaze shifted from the rising percentage to the altar before him.

There was no more time to waste.

"Let’s see whether you complete your awakening..."

Both hands tightened around the Frostgrave Scythe as cold mist rolled from its blade.

"...before I finish this floor."

The scythe descended, splitting the air apart!

BOOM!

The curved blade carved through the altar’s center, and the accumulated power within the ancient structure erupted outward. Black stone fragments and scarlet mist were blasted across the wasteland as deep fractures spread through its foundation.

[The Fourth Floor’s Core Objective has been destroyed!]

[Fourth Floor Trial Completed!]

[Hidden Condition Detected: Destroy the Slumbering Altar before the Wasteland Slumberer fully awakens.]

[Hidden Condition Completed!]

[Calculating Trial Evaluation...]

Behind him, the Altar Guardian released one last furious roar as its silver white scales began breaking into fading particles. Slimy’s threads loosened, and the four Undead Skeleton Soldiers withdrew around Iron while Blood Leech retreated from the collapsing perimeter of the altar.

The Earth Vein Ancient Turtle staggered as the platform beneath its weight disintegrated, its immense body remaining visible for several more moments before beginning to dissolve into light along with the other creatures belonging to the trial.

[Trial Evaluation: SSS.]

After the notification appeared, a teleportation gate slowly opened before Zich.

[Fifth Floor Unlocked.]

At the same time, the Wasteland Slumberer’s enormous body, which was nearly fully completed, began to dissolve into particles of light.

Tiamant flew away from the disintegrating creature and returned toward Zich as the Slumberer reached for the destroyed altar, but its massive limb crumbled before it could cross the distance.

Farther away, the Earth Vein Ancient Turtle was still dissolving with the collapsing trial space, its mountain like shell breaking apart into countless particles of light.

Zich put his scythe away, and after returning his pets to the graveyard, he stepped into the teleportation portal, advancing to the next floor.

At that same moment, in the plaza outside the Heaven Reaching Trial Tower, the ranking on the black monument changed.

[First Place: Zich Grave, Fifth Floor.]