Chapter 178: 29th floor, shock.

The bat he had just killed rose instantly, glowing green and already flying.

It tackled the fifth from behind, claws slashing.

Ethan finished them both with a Yin pulse, dissolving their bodies with entropy.

The true boss finally descended, having understood its opponents by using its fodder.

The Night Monarch’s wings stretched wide, almost 30 feet across. Every flap summoned blades of wind. It moved with horrifying grace, screeching with concentrated magic.

“Let’s test this.”.

With the elven princess beside him, he didn’t worry. Together, they moved like mirrored dancers.

The Night Monarch dove.

Ethan blocked with a hardened shield of elemental earth. The Princess countered with an arrow of pure lightning, blasting one of the bat’s wings.

It shrieked in fury.

“Let’s clip those wings.”

<Transformation: Elven Princess (High-Saint)>

Once again, he transformed back into the elf princess, just like the last floor.

His form shimmered and narrowed. His skin turned faintly luminous, eyes glowing softly.

He could feel everything: wind, flame, stone, water, lightning—all around him, responding to his presence like waiting hounds. With this body, he had control over the princess talents. A S+ Rank talent and an S Rank talent weren’t too bad when merged with a high saint body.

He walked beside the real Princess, now not just allies, but mirrors. Twin streaks of high-born elemental mastery.

The Night Monarch flew fast, slicing through the air with impossible grace, but now Ethan was just as fast—and far more precise.

“Split and flank,” Ethan said telepathically to the Princess.

She nodded silently and veered off to the right, conjuring a massive storm bow made of ice and light. Ethan took the left, gathering wind threads and binding them into a long-distance spellform.

He launched the first bolt.

The Night Monarch twisted in midair, avoiding it narrowly—but a second came from the Princess, curving in from above and cracking across its left wing. The bat shrieked and whirled, dodging erratically now.

They kept firing.

Arrow after arrow. Bolt after bolt. The Night Monarch’s grace was beginning to falter. Facing two High-Saint level spellcasters—both of whom had perfected elemental fusion—was pushing its limits.

But it wasn’t done yet.

As they pressed in, closing the circle and tightening the pressure, the Night Monarch suddenly froze in midair, wings wide.

Its mouth opened wide—unnaturally wide—and let out a sound that shook the arena.

The bat had used his sonice talent, and stunned everyone in the arena at once. He had been waiting for the perfect moment, and it seemed like it had arrived for him.

The sound wasn’t just loud—it was violence incarnate. It hit Ethan like a metaphysical punch, crashing through his transformation like shrapnel.

His body froze. Mind staggered. Mana stalled.

The Princess was hit too—her jump dipped as the wave slammed into her senses.

Stunned.

For just over a second, the world went silent.

And the Monarch dove.

Wings outstretched, talons forward, jaws open—blackened by corrosion and hunger.

Ethan’s mind fought through the paralysis, forcing command back into his limbs.

Not yet. Not like this.

He twisted away just as the Night Monarch passed him, its claws raking past where his heart would’ve been.

“Close,” he muttered, catching his balance mid-flight.

The Princess blinked next to him, regaining control. “He’s weakening.”

Ethan could see it too.

The bat’s breathing had grown erratic. Its wingbeats were no longer smooth. The elemental arrows and previous clashes had taken their toll. Cracks had formed in the membranes of its wings. Blood dripped from its side where lightning had pierced it.

It was still dangerous, but cornered.

Perfect.

Ethan raised both hands.

The spear formed from ice and white plasma, its shape elongated and charged with unstable mana.

Beside him, the Princess conjured a similar spell, but hers shimmered with flame and pressure.

Together, they released them.

The two spears spun like twin missiles, trailing arcs of energy as they surged forward—one from above, one from below.

The Night Monarch couldn’t dodge both.

It spun upward—but too late.

The first spear hit its chest, breaking through its hardened hide, and the second punched into its spine, detonating in a shockwave of white-hot force.

The explosion rippled across the cavern roof. Stone rained. The monarch screamed.

The Monarch flailed once.

Then fell.

It hit the ground like a meteor, its body shuddering once before going limp.

Silence.

The oppressive aura in the cave vanished. The elemental forces around Ethan calmed. The light in the Princess’s staff dimmed as she lowered herself beside him.

“Well done, Master,” she said calmly, her voice carrying respect and relief.

Ethan exhaled and let the transformation end.

His body returned to normal—strong, human, and glowing with newly absorbed power.

[FLOOR 28 CLEARED][Record Time Achieved – 00:04:22]

[Double Reward!]

[Reward: Bat Wings (Tier 10)

Ethan reached down and retrieved the fallen Night Monarch’s wings, their surface smooth as midnight silk and pulsing faintly with lingering magic. The leathery membrane shimmered in the dim light, etched with faint runes that glowed with residual energy.

[Bat Wings][Tier: 10]Description:A rare artifact forged from the wings of a Night Monarch. Grants the user the ability to fly freely at will. When equipped, it increases Agility by +2000 and enhances aerial manoeuvrability to a supernatural degree. The wings adapt to the user’s physique and combat style, enabling silent flight and swift evasive movement.

As he held them, the wings responded to his mana signature, folding into a compact, wearable form that latched gently onto his back.

Ethan smirked.

“Now we’re airborne.”

He walked towards the bat and devoured it, gaining its sonic talent that stunned opponents. Then he walked towards the other bats and devoured them too, earning more agility.

Ethan checked his status that was nothing like his previous one.

<Human: Ethan Brandon>

<Rank: Mid-Saint>

<Talents: Elemental Manipulation (S), Yin-yang (S+), Archery(S-), Undead (S-), Sonic(S-) Super Sonic (A), Titanium Skin(S-), Mental Enhancement (A), Regeneration (B+), Dagger Wield (F-), >

<Transformations: Night Monarch(High-saint), Minotaur(High-Saint), Elven Princess(High-Saint), Sky Luminary(Low-Saint), Balor(Low-Saint) ,Minotaur(Low-Saint), Dark Crocodile(Peak-Diamond),Imp(High-Diamond),Basilisk(Mid-Diamond), Hydrant(Mid-Diamond)>

<Level 15>

<Health Points: 59000> <Mana Points:75000>

<Strength: 18,500 (+1000)> <Agility:10850 (+2450)>

<Intelligence: 7500 (+510)> <Vitality: 5900 (+500)>

<Free Attributes: 53>

<Skills: Advanced Stone Heart(Novice – 10%), Mid Fast Steps (Apprentice- 76%), Basic Swordsmanship (Perfection), Basic Mana control (Perfection)>

He had five S-rank talents, insane stats. His strength was very close to the high-saint rank, and his agility had reached mid-saint rank, too.

Glancing at the portal that would move him to the twenty ninth floor, Ethan smirked

As Ethan stepped through the shimmering veil into the twenty-ninth floor, his instincts flared.

Before him stretched a battlefield of broken stone and half-buried weapons. This was no longer the arena he had been in for the past floors. The faint hum of mana residue lingered in the cracks, echoing with battles long past. But it wasn’t the environment that caught his attention—it was the people.

At least a hundred.

Humans.

Every single one of them emanated power—their bodies carved like that of combatants, their weapons steady, eyes lifeless yet alert. They stood in loose formation, their gazes locked on him the moment he arrived. Among them, a towering figure stood at the center. His presence alone pressed the air down like gravity.

Peak-Saint.

Ethan’s brow furrowed. The man didn’t move, but the sheer weight of his aura told him enough—this wasn’t just a strong fighter. This was a killer. A warrior who’d bathed in blood and come out colder.

How were they here?

Ethan narrowed his eyes, watching the eerie stillness of the figures before him. Human—clearly—but wrong somehow. The way they moved. The way they stood. Too still. Too controlled. Not a single tremble of breath or twitch of uncertainty.

He had cleared Floor 25—the first in history to do so. The tower itself had confirmed it. So how…?

Could they be echoes? Copies of past challengers? That would explain their familiarity with battle, their unity in movement. But then again, if they were fakes, how did the pressure of that Peak-Saint feel so real? It gnawed at his skin, a dense suffocation that came only from someone who had truly surpassed countless life-or-death trials.

“Are they the ones who died here…?” Ethan muttered. “No, that can’t be. Even if they were former challengers… a Peak-Saint couldn’t have died before the twenty-fifth floor.”

He clenched his jaw.

“Unless… the tower lied.”

No. The tower didn’t need to lie. It had no ego to protect, no illusions to uphold. That meant—maybe these weren’t challengers at all. Maybe they were created. Crafted. A force designed by the tower for this exact purpose.

Or worse…

Maybe they were summoned from another world entirely.

Before the thought could evolve further, a pulse rippled through the room. A chime echoed inside his mind—clear, mechanical, and absolute.

[Floor 29 Challenge Initiation Available][Do you wish to begin the challenge?]

Ethan’s eyes snapped forward. The army of saints remained motionless, as if waiting for his word. But even now, he could feel the pressure rising.

He glanced at Rambo, his blood monarch dragon perched at his side, wings twitching in response to the tension.

Ethan smirked.

“Yeah. Let’s start.”

The moment he gave the mental confirmation, a tremor ran through the air. Mana thickened like syrup. The sky above dimmed, and the pressure of a hundred saints sharpened into a blade’s edge.

Ethan didn’t hesitate.

With a flick of his wrist, he summoned the Elven Princess’s card.

It materialised in his hand, warm, thrumming with ancient power. The image of her glowing faintly against the card’s surface.

He activated it.

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