Chapter 221: Fifty-Ninth Floor, Companion's Sanctuary (2)

The Community of the Dead, on the fifty-ninth floor.

[Does this trial even make sense? Can anyone realistically beat that monster?]

[Impossible.]

[Don’t doubt Su-Hyeok.]

[You still don’t trust Kwon Su-Hyeok?]

[I did until a thirty-meter lava monster showed up.]

[Now’s not the time to be watching Kwon Su-Hyeok. Some lunatic is jerking off in one of the train cabins.]

[Wait, seriously?]

[What the hell, LOL.]

[That’s Tom Morgan, he is ranked 38,291.]

[Well, if you think you are gonna die at any second, I guess it makes some sense.]

[Let’s respect personal privacy.]

[Nope. I don’t care about that.]

[Does that even matter right now? The fight is starting.]

***

[Listen to the followers’ grievances and resolve their troubles. Time remaining: 5 hours 46 minutes.]

Since entering the Tower of Ordeal, I had grown accustomed to witnessing the unimaginable—or so I had thought.

The sheer enormity of the thirty-meter-tall lava monster left me momentarily speechless.

Boom! Boom!

With each swing of its colossal fists, the cavern trembled violently. The sheer force behind each strike seemed powerful enough to reduce me to dust if it managed to land a direct hit on me.

I quickly scanned my surroundings, taking in the vast cavern. Entrances were scattered along the walls, and a spiraling staircase stretched down to the molten floor below, though much of it had been reduced to rubble, most likely due to the monster’s rampage.

“W-well then, Apostle, we leave it to you!” my guide stammered, their composure from earlier now shattered.

Though they had seemed unfazed by the tremors before, such close proximity to the beast had clearly rattled them.

I nodded and took a step forward. “Alright. It’s dangerous, so step back for now.”

“Thank you for your concern!”

As he hastily retreated, I refocused on the lava monster. It was still unaware of my presence, continuing to pound against the cavern walls.

Molten rock bubbled and rolled down its towering frame, pooling around its legs, which remained submerged in the lava. Judging by the way it pulsed, it seemed to be continuously absorbing magma from below.

Good thing I listened to Hee-Jeong.

Though I hadn’t been ambushed the moment I arrived, equipping my most powerful armor beforehand had been the right call. Trying to change here would have been a pain.

I took a deep breath, bracing myself for the battle ahead as I mapped out a strategy in my mind. Unfortunately, the terrain was far from ideal. With lava covering the ground, my movement options were severely limited.

Of course, the Footsteps of the Abyss would allow me to walk on any surface without issue. However, while my feet would be safe, the rest of me wouldn’t be.

Even now, the bubbling magma launched fiery droplets into the air, and as the battle intensified, the splashes would only worsen.

Considering that this lava could melt soulsteel, there was a real possibility that my cloak or armor wouldn’t hold up. I could reinforce them with magic, but wasting mana on that wasn’t a viable long-term strategy.

I would have to minimize my contact with the lava as much as possible, relying instead on mid-air leaps and the remaining stairway along the cavern walls.

This monster is completely unlike any I have faced before.

I had fought massive creatures before, like dragons and greatworms, but never one made entirely of molten rock.

How am I supposed to approach this fight? What would be effective against lava... Lightning and Master of Shadows probably won’t do much.

After considering my options, Aura seemed like my best bet. It would consume a fair amount of mana, but if I amplified it enough, I could likely cut through even a creature of this size.

Would that even do anything?

Even if I managed to slice through it, I wondered if the monster would simply regenerate. Monsters like this usually had a core that needed to be destroyed.

“Ryun.”

“Speak... your mind...”

“You think I can cut that thing down with Aura?”

“There is... nothing... your blade... cannot sever... unless it is... divine in nature...”

“And my weapon. Will it hold up?”

After all, I was about to swing a weapon into lava potent enough to melt metal. Even with Aura, I assumed my blade wouldn’t remain unscathed.

“

Hmm...

I have never... split lava... before... I cannot... say for certain...”

Even Ryun couldn’t provide a definite answer.

Not that it mattered. I was already set to receive a soulsteel weapon as a reward for clearing the fifty-ninth floor, and I had plenty of spare axes stored in my mimic. Even if my weapon broke mid-battle, it wouldn’t be completely disastrous.

As long as I utilized Aura, I could at least inflict damage.

This should be enough for now.

I would have to figure out everything else during combat. Some things could only be learned through experience, after all.

Exhaling heavily, I rolled my neck from side to side to loosen any lingering tension before locking my gaze onto the lava behemoth.

A notification window appeared, but instead of the usual title and description, I received nothing but an unidentifiable string of distorted text.

Is it some kind of clue for a hidden mission?

Of course, I had no way of knowing. Dwelling on it wouldn’t help, either, as I lacked information. The only way to find out was to fight.

I turned to Doppy. “Doppy, max out the buffs.”

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t use buffs?” he responded playfully, obviously not stressed about the fight at all.

I frowned. Given the situation, he should have been more serious.

Has he grown complacent?

The recent floors had been too easy, and despite my previous warnings, it seemed like he had let his guard down.

I shot it a pointed look. “You’re looking at that and still cracking jokes?”

However, Doppy grinned mischievously, clearly not grasping the gravity of the situation.

Without hesitation, I raised a fist and rapped his head with a dull thud.

“Never drop your guard while we are conquering a floor. We don’t know when we could die.”

His demeanor shifted immediately, and his expression hardened as the realization finally sank in. “Understood! Su-Yeok, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. Just cast the buffs and stay back.”

Nodding determinedly, Doppy clasped its hands together and began chanting in a solemn voice.

A radiant glow descended upon me. My muscles surged with newfound strength, and I felt so light that I almost thought I could take flight. An exhilarating sense of vitality coursed through me.

Doppy had come a long way. Even if he had let his guard down earlier, the buffs he could cast now were far superior to those from before. I had already noticed the difference while training against Kalain.

I stepped to the edge of the entrance. A stairway lay directly ahead, but I had no intention of using it.

Whether the lava monster possessed intelligence or not, it had yet to acknowledge my presence. Likely, it was still focused on breaking free from this cavern.

I wasn’t about to abandon the advantage a sneak attack would offer me, either.

Typically, the head is a weak spot.

That would be my target.

I kicked off the ledge and soared into the air, approximately seventy meters above the lava pool’s surface, and about forty meters away from the top of the lava beast’s head.

As soon as I entered open space, an even more intense wave of heat enveloped my face.

Thanks to my experience on the fifty-second floor, though, I had developed some resistance to extreme temperatures. Without that prior conditioning, simply breathing here would have been difficult. Even so, the burning sensation felt unpleasant.

Thirty meters left. The monster remained unaware of me.

I raised my axe high above my head, simultaneously channeling my mana and igniting my Aura. Since this battle could turn into a prolonged engagement, I controlled my mana output.

Fifteen meters away.

The creature continued hammering its fists against the cavern walls.

Boom—

Another deep impact, and the wall caved slightly under the force of its strike.

When I was about six meters away, I wreathed the Wrath of Yagmur in crackling lightning.

Sizzle—

Sparks flared in the air.

At the same time, I enveloped myself in a mana barrier.

Though I was on the offensive, I couldn’t ignore defense. The creature was composed entirely of molten rock, and approaching unprotected would be reckless.

Only now did the monster acknowledge my presence.

“Kuooo?”

The lava giant, mid-swing, turned its gaze upward with a dull, bewildered expression.

It was far too late for it, however. I had gotten too close, and the momentum from my fall only enhanced my sneak attack. Lightning-infused steel cleaved through the creature’s skull.

I didn’t stop there. Tightening my grip on the axe handle, the blade continued its descent by carving from the monster’s crown, splitting past its navel, and cleaving straight through to its groin.

Schlaaash—

It felt like I was slicing through a wave. Scalding magma splattered continuously and rained onto me. The molten droplets slid down the surface of my mana barrier, sizzling as they hardened.

As soon as my axe exited the molten behemoth, I kicked off the air and propelled myself toward the half-collapsed stairway on the cavern wall.

A faint murmuring sound echoed through the chamber.

Did it just cry in pain?

I shook my head inwardly. The cry didn’t sound pained—it had sounded sorrowful.

The lava monster split apart, its form unraveling.

The molten mass that had composed its torso lost cohesion, crashing against the cavern walls before cascading downward. Its legs crumbled and sank into the magma below.

Silence overtook the cavern, broken only by the sound of lava trickling down the rock face.

The monster had fallen far more easily than expected.

Is it over?

I doubted it—I hadn’t felt like I had truly cut something down. It felt more like my axe had simply passed through an untouchable force of nature.

Regardless, it couldn’t be dead.

And as expected, not even twenty seconds passed before the lava below began to bubble. Violent bursts of heat surged upward, culminating in an eruption that sent a column of magma shooting skyward.

With a

whoosh

, the molten pillar soared thirty meters into the air before reshaping itself into a familiar form.

The monster had returned.

Hmm, how do I deal with this?

Striking the creature hadn’t revealed a core, and I hadn’t sensed one either. It seemed like as long as it stood near lava, it would regenerate nonstop.

Then, an idea struck me.

Can I just store the lava in my mimic? If its source is removed, wouldn’t that eliminate its existence? No, that won’t work. They didn’t ask me to get rid of the lava, and they need it to forge new companion weapons.

From the perspective of the non-humans who had requested my help, eliminating the lava would be just as problematic.

Besides, even if I could store it, what if summoning it back caused the monster to return?

If I ran out of options, I could try it, but not yet.

As I pondered, the fully restored monster let out a deafening roar,

“KUUUOOOOO!”

Now recognizing me as an enemy, it swung a massive fist. For all its size, its movements weren’t particularly fast, and I dodged the strike easily.

After I evaded a few times, the creature switched tactics and began hurling lava instead.

“Oh, great.”

I dashed along the cavern wall, narrowly avoiding the barrage.

It wasn’t scooping up lava from below. Instead, it generated the projectiles directly from its hands like a mage casting fireballs.

Just like I had guessed, the lava below supplied it with energy, and unfortunately, attacks.

The sheer speed and volume of those projectiles were problematic. Even if I avoided a direct hit, splashes from their impacts forced me to keep my mana barrier active.

I need to take it down before my mana runs dry.

No. That was the wrong way to approach this. Maintaining the shield against an endless stream of attacks would only waste my mana. Rather than focusing on defense, I had to simply cut it down again and use the brief gap in its regeneration to plan my next move.

After all, if I killed it enough times, there was a chance it wouldn’t resurrect again.

With that in mind, I activated Flash Strike and lunged. An instant later, my lightning-clad axe slashed through the monster’s neck.

Before its severed form finished collapsing, I leaped back to the stairway. Once again, the molten remains crashed downward, flowing into the lava below.

The faint murmur repeated again.

This time, I could tell that the voice was distinctly female. Although I still couldn’t understand what had been said, I could hear the regret within the voice.

Wait. A female voice?

That was strange. The first time I heard it, the voice had been male.

A realization struck me like lightning.

They called this place the Companion’s Sanctuary.

The creature’s name had been hidden, displayed only as a jumbled string of tiny, unreadable text.

Soulsteel, and a monster with changing voices.

The pieces clicked together. These non-humans were born with unstable souls, pushing them to forge soulsteel weapons to sustain themselves.

When their users die, the weapons are melted down to create new ones. But then, what happens to the souls contained within those weapons?

These spirits, bound to their wielders for a lifetime, had likely lingered even after their bodies had decayed.

I turned to the molten pillar, now rising once more.

The sorrowful cries when it falls apart, and the endless cycle of rebirth. This lava monster...

It was the culmination of countless forgotten souls, remnants of warriors long melted away.