CHAPTER 1186: THE STRUGGLE DONE

They pressed forward without losing momentum, slipping from one battlefield into the next as the Dungeon World reshaped itself around them.

Level 6 opened to a valley shrouded in deep twilight. Where giant moth-like beasts drifted silently above fields of violet grass.

Their wings scattered clouds of toxic dust that shimmered like stars.

The group moved with precision.

Sylmira froze the dust midair, Saeldir sealed the moths’ Magic, and the others killed them before the poison could settle.

Each of those kills sent more essence spiraling into their bodies, strengthening their limbs and sharpening their minds.

Level 7 erupted in thunder the moment they stepped through.

Floating platforms hovered above an endless storm ocean, lightning pillars rising and falling at random.

The monsters here were serpentine creatures with metallic scales that attacked from all directions.

Adrien and Billy’s various Magic attacks harmonized with the storm, ripping through the drakes in blinding surges.

The essence that entered their bodies this time felt heavier and denser, settling into their bones like solid power.

Level 8 was a labyrinth of stone bridges suspended over a void. Aurdis and Arty held hands because they were too scared of this sight, despite being able to fly.

Wind roared like a living beast beneath them. Golems crawled from the pillars. They were creatures with bodies of cracked stone and glowing cores that pulsed like beating hearts.

Their footsteps made the bridges tremble, but Aerchon and Arty who decided to take action first destroyed the first wave of those monsters with an overwhelming speed. Then the others continued, the explosion of stone scattering more essence into the air.

Level 9 greeted them with utter silence and pale white fog. No wind or sound. Then the monsters emerged like silhouettes. Black shadows things that shifted between reality and illusion turned out to be needing to be struck at the perfect moment.

The group adapted quickly, fighting with focus rather than brute force this time.

When the last creature dissolved into drifting ash, the fog peeled away, leaving the group standing on a wide stone clearing glowing faintly under their feet.

This was already the second day since they all entered. The levels on reach levels were getting more numerous so they needed to spend more time clearing them.

Erend stepped forward, wings folding behind him.

"The next level will be different. From here on, you will face a Boss. The strongest monster you’ve encountered so far." he said, his voice steady.

Aerchon asked. "What kind of monster is that?"

Erend shook his head. "I don’t know. If I came alone like before, I might have predicted it. But with all of you here, the Dungeon World will change the design. The Dungeon will create something suited for everyone."

Billy tilted his head. "So you really don’t know?"

"No." Erend smiled, a spark of excitement in his eyes. "That’s what makes it interesting, isn’t it?."

He looked at them closely. There was no fear among them. Only curiosity and anticipation.

They had grown stronger level after level and felt power fuse into their bodies, discovering new strength they didn’t have before.

And in this dimension where every creature was unlike anything in the real world, those unknown factors must have thrilled them.

"Now are you ready?" Erend asked.

Their voices rose as one.

"Of course."

With a simple gesture, Erend summoned the black door, taller and heavier than the ones before. Its surface rippled as if made of liquid shadow.

Erend and Eccar stepped through first. The others followed without hesitation.

And in the next heartbeat, they vanished into the Boss Level.

—

In the chamber of black and red flesh, Zerathul finally felt his power stabilizing.

The pulsing veins along the walls beat in slow but also heavy rhythms that matched the throb of his own soul.

After a battle that felt endless, like a war waged inside the deepest layer of existence, he sensed Krono’s resistance fading at last.

The Time Dragon’s rebellion no longer tore at him. The furious storms that had raged within Krono’s soul quieted to faint echoes. The roars, the defiant shouts, and the violent thrashing of a Dragon who refused to die, all of it weakened and smothered under Zerathul’s crushing will.

Krono wasn’t erased yet. Zerathul could still feel the faint flicker of his presence, like a dying ember buried under ashes.

But that ember meant nothing now. It held no strength.

Zerathul believed he had won. And because he believed that, he allowed himself to savor it.

He spread his arms wide as a distorted grin split across his torn face.

"So this is all you had left, Time Dragon? This pathetic whisper?" His voice dripped with mocking triumph. "You should have accepted oblivion!"

With a wet, grotesque sound, the tentacles that had fallen from his face began crawling back toward him.

Chunks of flesh slid across the floor, pulled by invisible force, reattaching to his body in slick layers.

His limbs that had been scattered rose from the ground and rejoined their sockets with sickening cracks.

His skin stitched itself back together with tendrils of black muscle, writhing and knitting into place.

His silhouette swelled. He became larger, stronger, and more defined, as Krono’s time essence seeped deeper into him, empowering every cell in his monstrous form.

The chamber trembled around him as he absorbed that strength.

Zerathul threw his head back and let out a jagged, triumphant laugh that rattled the walls.

"Hahaha... yes. I knew it. The power of time belongs to me now. Krono... your name will fade into nothing, and only I will remain."

The last of the loose flesh slid into place.

His body now stood whole again. He was perfect, restored, and pulsing with the stolen power of a Dragon.

In the hollow corners of his soul, the faint ember of Krono’s consciousness flickered quietly and weakly. However, it was not yet entirely gone.

Energy coursed through him in violent waves now. The energy even sends a pulse that shakes the walls of living flesh.

He flexed his claws, eager to tear into the world he wanted to destroy.

But the moment he tried to lift his arm fully, a deep tremor tore through his core.

His muscles tightened, seized, and then burned as if resisting him. The aftershocks of the soul-battle he had just endured rippled painfully through his body.

He snarled. He wanted to strike now. He wanted to move and kill, to bring ruin.

But he couldn’t do it yet.

The toll of his clash with Krono even though it was short in the flow of real time felt as if it had lasted millennia inside him.

The pressure, the rage, and the tearing apart and redefinition of their souls left fractures deep within his essence. Even now, the Time power swirled wildly under his skin.

Every attempt to summon his full strength sent a sharp burn through his chest. His legs trembled with unstable power.

Zerathul’s grin slowly faded. His triumph turned into irritation.

"Hnn... this pathetic body," he growled. "So close to perfection, yet still... unfinished."

The urge to lash out surged again. He imagined entire continents crumbling and mortals screaming. But his body refused to obey. His vision flickered with static, his pulse beating unevenly.

He hated this weakness.

For a moment his fury spiked, twisting his expression into a snarl that looked demonic. But then, slowly, he let out a deep, rattling breath.

A long and begrudging sigh left him.

"...No matter," he muttered. "The time will come."

He lowered himself into a crouch, letting the living chamber support him as veins of crimson light crawled up his limbs.

"It doesn’t matter if I wait a moment...or a thousand years." His lips curled into a savage smile, eyes gleaming maliciously.

"When I strike, I will not stop." Zerathul whispered.

—

They arrived at Level 10 in a sudden drop of temperature, as if the air itself thickened around them.

The world unfolded into an enormous circular arena suspended in darkness. No sky or ground. Only a vast hollow space where faint red lines pulsed beneath their feet like veins.

The floor looked like polished obsidian soaked in dim crimson glow and every step they took echoed unnaturally far, as though the chamber stretched endlessly in directions their eyes couldn’t see.

Black pillars jutted from the edges of the arena, curving upward. Heavy shadows pooled between those pillars.

The group instinctively tightened formation.

Arty moved closer to Aurdis. Saeldir scanned the edges with narrowed eyes. Sylmira’s Magic coated her palms without her realizing it.

They all felt the pressure like a silent weight that pressed down on their shoulders, warning them that something was watching.

But the Boss wasn’t there.

No footsteps or roar or stirring of Magic. Just the distant hum of the arena.

King Gulben exhaled slowly and said. "It’s hiding."

"Yes," Erend, who was now hovering in the air with Eccar and Aesa said. He was looking around for the Boss monster but even he couldn’t see it.

"Hmm... this may become a little bit of a challenge for them." Erend thought.

—