The temperature on Floor 2 didn’t just drop—it froze the moisture in my nostrils.
The spiral stairs opened into a vast, underground mausoleum. The walls were not made of petrified bone anymore, but carved from solid, blood-stained obsidian. Dozens of ancient sarcophagi lined the hall, their lids shattered from the inside.
The smell here wasn’t just old dust and decay. It was the thick, metallic tang of ancient blood.
"Stay sharp, mortal," Valeska said, her voice unusually strict as she walked beside me. "These are not brainless husks. The warriors buried in this floor belonged to the ancient Bloodline Houses. Even in death, their martial techniques remain in their marrow."
I tightened my grip on my dual katanas, my knuckles white. "Got it. Watch the shoulders, move from the root."
Before I could take another step, three figures emerged from the shadows between the sarcophagi.
Unlike the rusted, clumsy husks of Floor 1, these ones wore pristine, dark steel armor etched with glowing crimson runes. They held long, two-handed greatswords, and their movements were eerily smooth—devoid of the jerky, mindless shambling of common undead.
The lead Bloodline Husk stepped forward, its hollow sockets burning with two crimson embers.
It didn’t roar. It didn’t scream.
It simply raised its greatsword, dropped into a flawless, low combat stance, and lunged.
SWOOSH!
The speed was absurd.
I barely had time to cross my dual katanas in a defensive block.
BOOM!
The impact felt like getting hit by a runaway train. My katanas held, but the sheer kinetic force passed straight through my arms and slammed into my chest.
CRACK!
My sternum fractured instantly. I flew backward, smashing through a stone sarcophagus before tumbling across the blood-stained floor.
"Gah!" I spat a mouthful of dark blood, gasping for air.
[Innate Trait: [Endless Resilience Lv. 1] Active!]
[Severe Sternum Fracture Repaired (10%... 12%... 13%..)]
"Top-heavy," Valeska criticized coldly from ten feet away, her arms folded over her chest. "You tried to absorb the strike with your arms instead of redirecting it through your hips."
"He moved like a bullet!" I wheezed, pushing myself up.
The second and third Bloodline Husks didn’t give me time to recover. They moved in perfect, military coordination—one sweeping low at my legs, the other bringing a overhead slash aimed straight for my head.
I ducked the overhead slash, using [Adaptive Resonance] to read the trajectory, and drove my right katana upward into the lower husk’s armpit.
CLANG!
My blade bit into the runic armor, but before I could channel an [Ashen Pulse], the second husk’s gauntleted fist crashed directly into the side of my face.
CRACK!
The sound was horrifying.
My skull fractured along the left temple. Blood instantly flooded my left eye, blinding me, while my vision in the right eye spun out of focus. A sickening, white-hot agony exploded inside my head, making my legs completely buckle.
I hit the floor hard, my left katana slipping from my fingers.
[CRITICAL WARNING: Skull Fracture Detected!]
[Severe Brain Trauma Imminent!]
[Environmental Decay Accelerating...]
"Ah... Aaaargh!" I clutched my head, writhing on the cold obsidian floor as blood poured down my cheek. The pain was so overwhelming that I couldn’t even stand up.
I reached for my belt with a trembling hand, snatched my second High-Grade Vitality Potion, and smashed the bottle against my teeth, gulping down the freezing crimson liquid.
GLUG! GLUG!
The potion’s magic forced my skull back together, but the environmental decay on Floor 2 was relentless. The excruciating pain didn’t stop—it lingered like hot iron burning my brain.
I pushed myself up, my vision still blurry with blood, just in time to see a seven-foot-tall, heavily armored Bloodline Sentinel General step out from the central sarcophagus.
It held an immense, double-headed war-axe that hummed with dark, crimson Aether.
The General didn’t hesitate. It raised the war-axe with both hands and brought it down toward my crushed body with enough force to shatter the floor.
’I can’t dodge this,’ my brain screamed as my legs refused to move. ’My body can’t take this force anymore.’
I raised my right katana, bracing for the impact that would turn my upper torso into paste.
"Enough," a voice echoed through the crypt.
BOOM!
A blinding wave of pitch-black, kinetic fire exploded over my head.
Valeska stepped directly in front of me. She didn’t use a subtle strike. She drew her six-foot black greatsword with a sound like thunder, her visor burning with a blinding, apocalyptic red light.
"Insects," Valeska growled, her voice shaking the entire mausoleum. "You have tested my patience."
She swung her greatsword in a single, 360-degree sweep.
SWOOSH—BOOM!
A massive, hundred-foot ring of black, Calamity-rank fire erupted from her blade, expanding across Floor 2 like an exploding star.
The Bloodline Sentinel General, the five surrounding husks, the obsidian sarcophagi, and the stone pillars were all instantly swallowed by the black inferno.
CRACKLE... SHATTER!
In less than two seconds, the entire army of Floor 2 was reduced to piles of fine, white ash. The obsidian walls of the mausoleum melted, turning into smooth, glass-like surfaces from the extreme heat.
Valeska sheathed her greatsword, her tattered ash cape settling behind her. She didn’t look back at the devastation. She simply looked down at me as I lay on the floor, breathing heavily, my face covered in blood.
"Your footwork was garbage," Valeska said coldly. "Fix it before we proceed."
"Thanks for... the encouragement, Empress..." I wheezed, slowly sitting up as my ribs finished mending.
At the far end of the melted mausoleum, a massive, ancient stone gate stood embedded in the wall, leading down toward Floor 3.
The gate was sealed shut, covered in glowing, pre-Empire glyphs that pulsed with a deep purple light.
I limped toward the gate, leaning on my katanas for support. I looked at the strange, ancient symbols, but I couldn’t read a single word. "I think there’s something written on it. Can you read it, Valeska?"
Valeska walked up beside me, her featureless helmet staring at the ancient glyphs for a quiet moment.
"It is the Ancient Script of the First Era," Valeska replied, her voice serious. "It reads: ’The Seal of the Third Floor shall remain closed. The next floor will unlock after 48 hours.’"
I stared at the sealed stone gate, then looked back at the melted, silent mausoleum of Floor 2.
"Forty-eight hours..." I muttered, letting out a dry, pained laugh.