Chapter 175: Floor Twenty-Five, Elven Princess.

Entering the tower, Ethan was thrust back into the twenty-fifth level.

The familiar arena materialised around him, but the pressure immediately indicated unprecedented challenge. Reality itself seemed thicker, more resistant to movement, while magical saturation created ambient effects that challenged his senses.

The creature that appeared before him made Ethan finally understand why Seraphina and Magnus had struggled so desperately at this threshold.

The being was so overwhelmingly powerful that it made perfect sense that the tower had provided preview opportunities, allowing climbers to assess whether they preferred attempting impossible victory or accepting dignified retreat.

But what stood before him defied every expectation about monstrous opposition.

The creature wasn’t massive. It wasn’t ugly or twisted by corruption. On the contrary, it was absolutely beautiful—a figure that commanded aesthetic appreciation even as it radiated power that challenged comprehension.

An elf with flowing golden hair that seemed to capture and reflect light from sources that didn’t exist. Female, elegant, with features that approached perfection while maintaining expressions of wisdom.

<Princess of Elves>

<Archery Talent: S+>

<Elemental Manipulation Talent: S>

<Rank: High-Saint>

Two S-rank talents. The impossibility of such capability concentration explained why previous climbers had considered floor twenty-five the absolute limit of individual achievement.

S+ grade Archery meant projectile mastery that transcended physical limitations entirely—arrows that could pierce reality itself while maintaining perfect accuracy across impossible distances. Combined with S-rank Elemental Manipulation that matched his own capability, the Elf Princess represented opposition that exceeded his current power level by substantial margins.

“High-Saint rank with dual legendary talents,” Ethan observed with precision while Stone Heart’s emotional dampening prevented fear from clouding rational assessment. “This explains why the tower offered retreat options.”

Looking at the female elf, Ethan frowned with tactical recognition rather than aesthetic appreciation. This would be extraordinarily difficult. The opponent before him possessed capabilities that exceeded his own.

Him and Rambo were both Low-Saint rank individuals. Coupled with equipment enhancement, he barely reached effective mid-Saint combat capability. But the Princess of Elves represented High-Saint power backed by talent combinations that most beings never achieved despite centuries of dedicated advancement.

The challenge seemed almost impossible as difficulty had increased exponentially from the previous floor’s manageable opposition.

[Floor 25 – LEGEND BREAKER CHALLENGE]

[RETREAT REMAINS AVAILABLE]

[DEATH PROBABILITY: EXTREME]

But retreat had never been an option since his tower ascension began. Advancement meant accepting risks that others considered suicidal, then proving theoretical impossibility wrong through power, courage and sheer luck.

“Ready?” he asked Rambo while drawing the Blade.

The Blood Dragon spread crimson wings while SSS-rank talent prepared techniques that would prove decisive against legendary opposition.

The Elf Princess raised her hand, and reality responded with enthusiasm that spoke of absolute environmental control. A bow materialised from air while arrows formed from condensed elemental energy that blazed with destruction.

[3… 2… 1… Begin!]

Combat erupted with intensity that shattered the arena’s foundational architecture.

S+ grade Archery activated. The Princess drew her ethereal bow while arrows formed from pure elemental energy—fire, water, earth, wind, and something approaching light all compressed into projectiles that moved faster than thought.

WHISTLE! PIERCE! DEVASTATE!

The first arrow carved through space where Ethan had been standing, its passage creating dimensional rifts that leaked energy from spaces between realities. S+ classification meant attacks that operated beyond normal.

Enhanced Speed was activated to maximum sustainable levels while B- Super Sonic carried him through evasion patterns that challenged visual tracking. But the Princess’s enhanced senses followed his movement with accuracy that suggested prophetic rather than reactive targeting.

TWANG! MULTIPLY! BARRAGE!

Dozens of elemental arrows filled the arena’s airspace while environmental manipulation created three-dimensional kill zones that eliminated safe positioning. Each projectile carried enough energy to level mountains while maintaining perfect trajectory toward his constantly shifting location.

S rank Elemental Manipulation answered with comprehensive defensive barriers that absorbed some impacts while deflecting others toward less critical angles. Fire walls, water barriers, earth shields, wind deflection, and crystal armor all coordinated to create layered protection.

BOOM! SHATTER! PENETRATE!

But S+ grade projectiles carved through his S rank defences with inevitability. Superior rank meant penetration capabilities that exceeded his current defensive potential.

Pain blazed through his body as an earth-element arrow found gaps in his protection, the impact creating trauma that challenged Diamond-rank durability. Blood splattered across arena stones while regeneration systems struggled against damage that exceeded normal healing parameters.

PIERCE! AGONY! PERSISTENCE!

Rambo struck with SSS-rank biological manipulation, blood spears materializing around the Princess while targeting circulatory systems that should have been vulnerable to such techniques. But High-Saint physiology combined with legendary talents created resistance that challenged even blood control.

Despite not dealing high damage to the elf princess, Rambo was still able to weaken her using his blood talent.

DEFLECT! COUNTER! RETALIATE!

Wind arrows dispersed the blood projectiles while fire elements superheated the arena air to temperatures that made breathing dangerous. The Princess’s combat demonstrated why High-Saint rank represented the near pinnacle.

But Ethan’s systematic advancement had prepared him for encounters that exceeded comfortable capability margins. Yin-Yang Manipulation activated with S+ grade potential that matched her archery classification.

BALANCE! HARMONY! TRANSCENDENCE!

Darkness and light unified into attacks that operated on fundamental universal principles rather than simple elemental manipulation. Order and chaos were weaponised through duality control that challenged conventional defensive responses.

WARP! TWIST! REALITY!

The Princess’s expression shifted from confident to slight concern as his Yin-Yang techniques proved resistant to elemental countering. S+ grade duality manipulation was incredibly powerful.

But her response demonstrated why dual legendary talents created overwhelming combat advantages.

Arrows became delivery systems for elemental attacks that operated beyond normal projectile limitations entirely.

FUSION! AMPLIFY! DEVASTATION!

Lightning-fire arrows created plasma storms while earth-water combinations generated gravitational effects that challenged movement across the arena floor. Her talent coordination achieved results that exceeded individual capability summation through multiplicative rather than additive enhancement.

…

The progression of the fight was clear—continued engagement at current intensity levels would favour the Princess. Ethan had to take a calculated risk; otherwise, they would remain locked in devastating combat for perhaps an hour, and such extended fighting might cause him to make deadly mistakes that would prove fatal.

He had to end this decisively.

Rambo nodded solemnly as their mental connection conveyed the desperate plan forming in Ethan’s mind. Partnership coordination that had carried them through twenty-four floors of challenges would now determine victory or death against opposition that exceeded their combined capabilities.

The strategy required perfect timing and absolute trust in each other’s abilities.

Ethan would engage in close-range combat to capture the Princess’s complete attention, drawing her focus entirely onto his movements and techniques while Rambo prepared something that would change the encounter’s dynamics permanently.

Time for maximum commitment.

But the Princess, despite her injuries and exhaustion, remained dangerously focused on both opponents simultaneously. Her senses tracked multiple threats while S+ grade archery prepared projectiles that could eliminate either target through superior positioning.

What she failed to realise was that Rambo—who appeared to be merely standing still—was actually preparing a deadly surprise that would redefine their situation entirely.

Beneath the surface visibility, the Blood Dragon was carefully assembling a devastating attack concealed by environmental chaos and cloaked with energy borrowed from Ethan’s Yin-Yang manipulation. Darkness and light unified to create camouflage that rendered SSS-rank preparation invisible to the princess.

To the Elven Princess, it seemed like Rambo was simply resting, perhaps even exhausted from the earlier skirmishes that had pushed all participants beyond comfortable margins.

But in reality, a massive pulsating blood bomb was silently forming at his position, drawing power from every drop of spilled essence across the devastated arena while SSS-rank talent shaped the blood material into an explosive configuration that would challenge High-Saint rankers.

The battlefield lay silent for a brief moment, as if the world itself were holding its breath before decisive action would determine ultimate victory. Tension stretched between combatants while enhanced senses gathered final tactical information.

The Princess tightened her grip on the ethereal bow while golden eyes remained locked on Ethan’s position. Her combat instincts recognised approaching danger, but her archery provided confidence that distance advantages would prove decisive regardless of his choices.

She never suspected that the true threat was assembling behind her peripheral awareness.

Ethan moved with graceful aggression, closing distance toward the Princess while every step brought him deeper into her optimal striking range. Speed carried him through evasion patterns that challenged projectile targeting while positioning for blade work.

The air between them crackled with elemental tension as magical energies prepared for final exchange. Her bow sang with harmonic resonance while arrows flew at insane speeds.

Blades and projectiles began their deadly dance as Ethan reached close-combat range, where her archery advantages transformed into positioning liabilities. The Blade in Ethan’s hand channelled elemental combinations while her ethereal weapons created counter-techniques that sparked with energy.

She was powerful, fast, and cunning, dodging Ethan’s strikes with dancer’s elegance.

Fire spells created thermal barriers while earth manipulation shifted footing beneath his enhanced positioning. Her S rank elemental control challenged his movement while creating opportunities for archery techniques.

But this was all part of the plan.

Then, when the time was right, when the princess was entirely focused on Ethan, Rambo launched the bomb.

It soared through the air like a comet, humming with deadly power. The princess barely had time to register the sound before it struck her with an explosion of red and black light.

The force of it knocked her off her feet, sending a shockwave across the clearing.

The impact left her dazed and bloodied, her body riddled with shrapnel of pure energy. She struggled to get up, her arms trembling, her lips stained with blood. But it was too late.

Ethan stood above her now, calm and composed.

“You lost,” he whispered.

With a swift, final blow, Ethan ended it.

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