CHAPTER 309: FLOOR 50

The Holy Church was stuck on a floor filled with charm-based vampires. Their backline kept getting confused, walking forward to "hug" enemies. It was chaos.

"How are they resisting Divine Restraint?!" a paladin yelled, wrestling a teammate back into formation.

"Because you’re panicking instead of reading the pattern," their leader barked. "Shields up! Stop letting the spirit attacks slip through!"

Even with the command, it was clear they were under heavy pressure.

Their ranking continued to drop, and everyone watching saw it.

...

Inside the Tower, Broken Dawn stepped onto Floor 33.

The environment changed again. The corridors here were narrower, the ceiling lower. Bloodstains was splattered on the walls and floors as if dozens of parties had died here before.

Looking at the map, Gabriel saw a split trail with three main branches—just like before when he shared it with Sophie.

He preferred to show her because she had shown a certain level of understanding when it came to vampires and the Tower in general.

"Two are trap-heavy and loop back," he explained. "One is direct but has higher mob density. We take the direct one."

Sophie frowned slightly. "Not the safer route?"

"Traps cost time," Gabriel replied. "Here, we want predictable danger, not random ones. Dense mobs are easier to manage than hidden triggers."

He wasn’t guessing. The partial territory map he’d extracted earlier clearly highlighted several "high-risk unknown" zones. He avoided those on instinct.

That instinct had been helping them climb efficiently since the beginning.

They took the direct corridor.

Almost immediately, the difference in mob density was obvious.

Vampire squads were packed closer together. As soon as they finished one group, another waited just ahead, already forming ranks with shields and blood archers.

It looked dangerous on the surface, but it was predictable.

Cassie snapped her fingers. Buff auras spread across the group.

Gabriel led each pull with controlled aggression. He didn’t go all-in every fight; he conserved just enough stamina to maintain the same pace. Whenever he noticed the group drooping or losing rhythm, he adjusted their speed slightly.

Blood Bombs stayed inside his inventory. He didn’t waste a single one on this floor.

By the time they reached the boss room, everyone was tired but not burnt out.

The boss was a Blood Zombie—a massive shielded vampire trying to push them into a corner.

It never got the chance.

They didn’t play by its rules.

"Don’t tank it head-on," Gabriel warned calmly. "It wants us in a straight line."

Instead, they spread out slightly and dismantled it from the sides. Skeletons and Ragnarok kept its attention split. Anna dragged off the smaller adds trying to reinforce it. Sophie disrupted its footing.

A few minutes later, it was over.

[BLOOD TOWER – FLOOR 33 CLEARED]

[Ranking Update – Valerian Sector]

1st – Olympus Guild – Floor 38

2nd – Martial Palace – Floor 35

3rd – Broken Dawn – Floor 33

4th – Adventurer Guild – Floor 32

5th – Holy Church – Floor 31

"Adventurer Guild finally reached Floor 32," Bunny noted. "They’re doing steady progress."

"If they don’t rush, they’ll last longer overall," Sophie muttered, her mind briefly wandering to Scarlet.

She had known Scarlet for years; it was obvious she was the reason for their progress.

No one said it out loud, though.

They were too busy enjoying being ranked third.

...

Outside, Doodle pointed at the board. "Broken Dawn refuses to disappear! They’re behind Martial Palace—and not by much. At this pace... they might actually challenge for second place later."

His co-host added, "What’s more surprising is their stability. They haven’t had a major wipe yet. Their death count is ridiculously low compared to other guilds on similar floors."

"And people still say they’re just ’lucky’," Doodle snorted. "If this is luck, I want it."

...

Back in the Tower, on Floor 34’s staircase landing, Gabriel finally stopped walking.

"We’re taking a proper break here," he said. "Fifteen to twenty minutes."

Nobody complained. In fact, they were almost joyous—this was their second actual break, the first being when Gabriel used the memory fragment.

They had just entered Floor 34’s initial safe zone—an antechamber with no mobs and a single doorway leading deeper in. According to the map, the rest of the floor spread out into a network of intersecting corridors and cluster rooms. Entering while half-asleep would be dangerous.

Samantha sat down, leaning against a pillar. "Finally."

Cassie dropped onto a step, exhaling. "I can actually feel my legs again."

Ragnarok flopped down without dignity. "I vote we stay here for an hour."

"Fifteen minutes," Gabriel repeated calmly, eyes half-closed.

Bunny checked her stream data, then muted her broadcast. No need to show the world every strategy meeting and rest break.

Sophie walked over and sat near Gabriel, though not too close.

"You think Floor 34 is going to be a spike?" she asked.

"Not as bad as 30," he said. "But it’s a buildup floor. Lots of elites. If we’re careless, we’ll bleed resources before the actual bottleneck."

She studied him from the side. "Your knowledge still ends past this point, doesn’t it?"

"Mostly," he admitted. "The map gives branches and danger spots, not strategies. From here on, we move with partial information."

"Meaning we go back to raw instincts," she sighed—more acceptance than fear.

He didn’t answer, but internally he agreed.

The Tower had given him an advantage with the map. It wouldn’t hand him the entire path.

For the remaining minutes, everyone dug into their rations—simple compressed nutrition bars, dried meat, and bottled water. Not tasty, but effective.

Bunny checked the fortune board, then looked up. "Other guilds are starting to report brutal debuffs on certain floors. Blind corridors, gravity boosts, anti-magic zones..."

"Expected," Gabriel said. "The Tower likes variety. We’ll get our share soon."

They sat together quietly for a while.

Despite the fatigue, the mood wasn’t bad. They were still climbing. They hadn’t hit a real wall yet.

After the break, Gabriel stood first and led the way.

In the blink of an eye, Broken Dawn reached Floor 50. Upon arrival, the danger level spiked considerably. Even with Gabriel present, things started to look more threatening.

"I guess the real challenge has finally begun," he muttered as he plunged his sword straight through the heart of the Floor 50 boss.

In the real world, Doodle’s eyes widened as he jumped to his feet.

"Whoop! Whoop! Look at that... Martial Palace and Broken Dawn are about to meet!"