Chapter 66: [GOLDEN AURORA DRIVE]

The instant Eli sprinted forward, every nerve in his body screamed.

The priest’s molten eyes pinned him, a predator savoring prey, its grotesque stone grin stretching wider with unnatural malice.

And then—

DANGER DETECTION DETONATED.

Agony lanced through his skull like molten iron driven straight into his brain. His vision warped, his legs almost locking mid-stride as if the dungeon itself was trying to freeze him in place.

’—Shit, it’s coming!’

The priest’s rosary arm swung down with the force of judgment itself, the beads snapping like thunder, each one carrying the weight of a mountain.

Eli didn’t think—he moved. Both trembling hands heaved Caelen’s golden blade upward.

CRAAAAACK!

The impact split the chamber in half. Shockwaves howled like hurricanes, stone bursting apart in an eruption of dust and shrapnel. The ground beneath him cratered, his knees almost dislocating from the sheer force.

The weight was monstrous, beyond human—beyond anything Eli’s body could endure. His bones screamed, his muscles tore, his chest caved under the pressure.

And yet—the blade held.

Golden resonance rippled down its length, molten cracks glowing as if the weapon itself rejected the priest’s might. Light flared, forcing back the crushing dark.

The sword didn’t break.

And somehow—somehow—neither did Eli.

But the force flung him anyway, body whipping through the air like a rag doll before he slammed into broken stone. He tumbled hard, ribs jolting, shoulder searing as rubble tore across his skin. His lungs filled with dust, each cough a knife in his chest.

And still—when he staggered upright, blood on his lips, vision spinning—he was alive.

Not crushed. Not shattered.

’…It worked.’

That was why he’d demanded Caelen’s sword. An S-Class weapon wasn’t just a blade. It was a fortress condensed into steel, forged from dungeons themselves. It absorbed. It repelled. It carried protections no human frame could.

Even if Eli’s body couldn’t withstand the priest… the weapon could.

Across the chamber, Caelen’s voice ripped out, sharp with disbelief. “Hey! Can you actually do this?!”

Eli spat grit, chest heaving, sweat burning his eyes. His voice rasped raw. “Yes!”

His yellow eyes burned, and his thoughts spiraled into venom, fury drowning the pain.

’You smug, overgrown roach. You think I’m just meat to crush? You think you’re untouchable? Try me again. COME ON—TRY ME AGAIN!’

His grip tightened on the blade until his knuckles burned white. His ribs stabbed with fire, his arms shook as if they’d tear from their sockets—yet still, he charged forward again, refusing to stop.

And then—

Ding.

[SYSTEM WARNING]

> Player is currently in a dire situation. Survival rate decreasing rapidly.

’Yeah, no shit!’ Eli roared inside his mind, fury cutting through terror. ’You think I don’t know that?! Stop telling me the obvious and HELP ME!’

No answer. No prompt. Just silence.

He grit his teeth, spittle mixing with blood. ’Fine. Screw you too. I’ll live without your help.’

The priest moved again. This time—both arms.

The rosary swept from the left, tearing the air apart with howling weight. At the same instant, its free hand clawed from the right, stone fingers closing in to pulp him flat.

His Danger Detection screamed red-hot.

Eli dropped.

His boots slammed into fractured stone, knees collapsing as his chest hit dust. The blade clanged beside him—

And the world above EXPLODED.

BOOOOOOM—!!

The priest’s two arms collided mid-swing, rosary beads cracking against stone flesh in a cataclysm of sparks and seismic force.

The sound alone rattled Eli’s bones, a thunderous shockwave ripping fissures across the chamber walls.

Dust geysered upward in a choking storm, fragments raining like shrapnel. The ceiling trembled, cracks spreading in jagged veins of doom.

Eli’s ears rang, his vision spun, his body shook uncontrollably against the shattered ground.

Slowly—groaning, trembling—he pushed himself upright. Scrapes burned across his arms and jaw, blood slicked down his temple, but his yellow eyes blazed hotter than before.

“Fuck you,” he hissed, voice shredded and low. His grip tightened again, knuckles raw.

The priest loomed, pulling back for another strike.

Eli narrowed his eyes. ’Three seconds… that’s all I’ve got. One… two… three…’

He rolled hard, his instincts detonating again—

And the priest’s colossal hand slammed down where he had stood, stone claws obliterating rubble into dust.

’Wait…’

The moment the hand slammed down, Eli got yet another reckless idea. His eyes widening.

’Should I do it?’

One…

A reckless idea that he might regret.

Two…

“Fuck it,” Eli muttered, legs burning as he sprinted and vaulted onto the priest’s massive hand.

“Elione?!” Caelen’s voice cracked across the chamber, shock flaring as Eli climbed higher, clinging to stone ridges that burned under his palms.

“Three!” Eli shouted.

As expected, the priest reacted—its molten grin twisting as the hand Eli stood on began to rise. The other hand—the one wielding the rosary—reeled back, ready to crush him out of the air.

Eli didn’t wait. He let go.

His body plummeted, weightless for a breath. Dust howled past his ears as the priest’s bead-laden fist came crashing down—

Right into its own hand.

KRAAAAAASH!

The impact roared like an earthquake, stone slamming stone with a catastrophic shatter that shook the chamber to its foundations.

“Now, Caelen!” Eli screamed mid-fall.

There was no hesitation.

Caelen’s molten form blurred upward in a streak of golden light, his sword igniting with radiant power. His roar split the air, rattling the broken chamber walls.

“Golden Aurora Drive!!”

The blade erupted—detonating into brilliance, a miniature sun bursting alive inside the dungeon.

Eli’s eyes seared white, vision swallowed in burning radiance.

’Did he do it?’ Eli thought, but before he could see what happened next—

Gravity seized him.

He crashed.

His body slammed against fractured stone, agony lancing through his spine. The impact wrenched the air from his lungs in a violent gasp.

Dust surged up in a choking wave, swallowing him, grinding into his eyes, his mouth. Through the haze, the blinding golden light still raged above.

Ding.

The system’s chime echoed in his skull. Words flickered faintly across his vision—but his sight was smothered in grit, his body screaming with pain, his vision blurred beyond recognition.

He couldn’t read it. Couldn’t move.

’Did we clear it?’

The thought clawed at him as he tried to force his body up, tried to see—but nothing answered. His limbs refused. His breath faltered.

’Am I dying again?’

And slowly—helplessly—his eyes sank shut.

Darkness claimed him.

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