Chapter 176: 176. The Final Push (2)

Floor 50.

The chamber was vast. A perfect circle. A hundred meters in diameter. The ceiling stretched impossibly high, disappearing into darkness dotted with stars that weren’t stars. The floor was polished black stone that reflected everything.

At the chamber’s center, a figure waited.

Not a construct. Not a beast.

A person.

Humanoid. Male. Tall. His skin was deep crimson, almost blood-red, with intricate black tribal markings running down his arms and across his bare chest. His eyes were solid gold, no pupils. Two curved horns jutted from his temples, swept back along his skull. His hair was long, black, tied in a warrior’s knot. He wore loose pants bound with cloth wraps, and his feet were bare.

His CE signature was overwhelming.

[Unknown Entity – Tier 4, One-Star]

Owen’s blood ran cold.

The figure’s golden eyes locked onto him.

“Welcome, challenger.” His voice was deep, resonant, carrying power. “I am Kareth. Guardian of Floor 50. You have climbed far. Farther than most Tier 5 hunters manage.”

He drew a blade from thin air. A curved weapon, somewhere between a scimitar and a sickle. Its edge glowed with violet resonance energy.

“But this is where your climb ends. Defeat me, and the dungeon rewards you. Fail, and you die.” Kareth settled into a combat stance.

“Show me what you have learned, Tier 5.”

Owen’s gauntlets hummed. His CE flared. Indestructible Scales manifested across his arms, chest, and legs. Black-gold plating that caught the chamber’s light.

Tier 4, one-star. Ten thousand CE baseline. More than twice Owen’s current reserves.

But Owen had climbed this far.

He wasn’t stopping now.

He activated Dragon’s Aura and the Pressure exploded outward, causing the chamber to tremble.

Kareth smiled. “Good. You have spirit.”

Then He vanished.

Owen’s Dragon’s Eye barely caught the movement. Behind. Left. Above.

Kareth’s blade came down.

Owen raised his arm. Scales blocked the strike.

CLANG!

The impact drove Owen to one knee. The force was immense. His CE dropped by 50 just from the shock.

Kareth didn’t relent. He spun, slashed, thrust. A whirlwind of strikes. Each one precise. Each one lethal.

Owen dodged. Blocked. Countered when he could. But Kareth was faster. Stronger. More experienced.

A slash caught Owen’s ribs. His scales held, but the impact cracked one. Pain flared. 30 CE lost to damage. Ultra-Regeneration kicked in. 25 CE to heal.

“Stop…toying with me!”

Kareth stepped back. Lowered his blade slightly. “You defend well. But defense alone will not win this fight.”

Owen’s jaw tightened. He gathered CE into his fist. 200 points. Cosmic Impact Fist.

He charged.

Kareth sidestepped. Effortless.

Owen’s fist hit empty air. He spun, tried to catch Kareth with a follow-up. But the guardian was already gone. Behind him.

A kick to Owen’s back sent him sprawling.

He rolled. Came up. Spat blood.

’I can’t match his speed or his power. I need to change the fight.’

Dragon’s Breath. 300 CE.

Black flames erupted. Not aimed at Kareth. He Aimed it at the floor. The walls. The ceiling.

The fire spread. Consumed the ambient CE. Turned the chamber into an inferno of black flame.

Kareth’s eyes widened. Just a fraction.

“Interesting.”

He moved through the flames. They didn’t harm him, but they obscured his vision. Slowed his movements slightly.

Owen used Momentum Shift to reposition. 7 CE. He appeared behind Kareth. Drove a 150 CE punch into the guardian’s spine.

CRACK!

Kareth stumbled forward. For the first time, he took damage.

He turned. His golden eyes blazed. “Better.”

He raised his blade. CE gathered along its edge. Not violet. Gold. Pure, refined, overwhelming.

He swung.

A crescent of golden energy shot toward Owen. Faster than anything Owen had dodged before.

He couldn’t dodge.

Dragon’s Tongue.

“{Deflect}”

Cost: 100 CE.

The word resonated. The crescent’s trajectory bent. Just slightly. Just enough.

It grazed Owen’s shoulder instead of splitting him in half. His scales shattered. Blood sprayed. 100 CE lost to damage. Ultra-Regeneration burned 80 CE healing.

Owen’s CE: 3,608.

Kareth advanced. Blade raised.

Owen’s options were running out.

’One more trick.’

He channeled everything into his core. Not for a punch. Not for flames.

Dragon’s Aura. Full power. Directional burst aimed at Kareth.

Cost: 500 CE.

The pressure exploded forward. A tidal wave of force that cracked the floor, shattered the black flames, and slammed into Kareth like a physical wall.

The guardian’s eyes widened. He raised his blade to block.

The aura hit.

BOOM!

Kareth was thrown backward. His feet scraped across the stone. His blade trembled in his hands.

Owen didn’t waste the opening.

Momentum Shift. 7 CE. He closed the distance. Poured everything into his fist. 800 CE. More than he’d ever used in a single strike.

Cosmic Impact Fist.

His gauntlets blazed with violet-black light. The energy was so dense it distorted the air around his hand.

Then He punched.

Kareth tried to dodge but he was Too slow.

Owen’s fist connected with Kareth’s chest.

BOOM!

The impact created a shockwave that rippled across the entire chamber. The floor cracked. The walls shook. The stars above flickered.

Kareth flew backward, crashing into the far wall and Collapsed.

Owen stood in the center of the chamber. His fist still extended. His CE reserves nearly empty.

2,301.

Kareth pushed himself up. Slowly. His chest was cracked. Black blood leaked from the wound. But he was smiling.

“Impressive.” He coughed. Wiped blood from his mouth. “You win, Tier 5.”

His body then dissolved into light.

The chamber pulsed.

[Floor 50 – Final Boss defeated]

[Dungeon complete]

[Calculating rewards…]

A pedestal rose from the floor. On it, three items.

One Grade 5 Cosmic Core. One skill orb. One token marked with the symbol of Resonance.

Owen absorbed the core immediately.

2,301 → 2,801 → 3,301 → 3,801 → 4,301 → 4,801.

[DING!]

[Breakthrough threshold reached!]

[Cosmic Rank: Tier 5, Five-Stars]

[Cosmic Energy: 5,000]

Power flooded him. His core compressed one final time. The density was incredible. His CE flowed like lightning through his body. Every technique felt lighter. Faster. More potent.

He picked up the skill orb.

[Resonance Wave (Advanced Cosmic Skill – Grade 3)]

He absorbed it. The knowledge flooded his mind. A technique that sent ripples of CE through space, disrupting enemy techniques and destabilizing constructs.

The token pulsed in his hand.

[Token of Resonance – Proof of Dungeon Completion – Floor 50 Clear]

A portal opened at the chamber’s edge. Not back to the hub. Straight to the exit.

Owen stepped through.

—

He emerged into the nebula’s void.

Ships still clustered around the dungeon entrance. Hunters coming and going. Some celebrating. Others limping back to their vessels.

Owen’s comm buzzed.

Gorvax’s voice. Strained. Exhausted.

“Dragon. Meet me at the ship. Now.”

Owen flew toward their docked vessel. His CE reserves slowly climbing through ambient absorption. 5,050… 5,100…

He landed on the ship’s deck. The airlock cycled.

Inside, Gorvax sat in the cockpit. His void-black covering was torn. His blue skin visible beneath. Blood leaked from a wound on his arm.

He looked up as Owen entered.

“Did…. you break through?” Owen asked.

Gorvax shook his head. “No.”

His voice was hollow. Defeated.

“I reached Floor 97 and Fought the guardian. A Tier 3, three-star monstrosity.” He gestured to his wound. “But I lost… And barely escaped.”

He slumped in the pilot’s seat.

Owen sat in the co-pilot’s seat. Said nothing.

Gorvax’s hands trembled. “Seri is dying. And I can’t save her.”

The ship’s monitors beeped. A proximity alert.

Gorvax pulled up the display.

Ships. Multiple. Approaching fast.

Enforcers.

And at their head, a massive vessel. A Tribunal cruiser.

Gorvax’s voice was cold. “They found us.”

Owen’s CE flared. “We gotta run again”

“There’s nowhere to run.”

The comm crackled. A voice, mechanical, cold.

“Gorvax, the Sower. This is Tribunal Enforcer Kaelon. Surrender peacefully, and your associate will be spared. Resist, and you both die.”

Gorvax’s hand moved to the controls.

Owen stood. “Don’t.”

“Don’t worry, Dragon. I’m not surrendering.”

“Neither am I.” Owen’s gauntlets hummed. “But we’re not fighting a Tier 4 Enforcer in open space without a plan, are we?…”

Gorvax looked at him. His eyes, visible through the torn covering, held no hope.

But he nodded.

“Then we run. One more time.”

The engines roared to life and the ship shot forward, diving into the nebula’s ionized clouds.

Behind them, the Enforcers gave chase…

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