CHAPTER 39: 20TH FLOOR AGAIN

At last, they reached the 20th floor.

The moment they set foot, the air grew colder. The walls seemed to close in, dripping with black moss that swallowed light. Countless red eyes glimmered from the shadows, staring at them with unblinking hunger.

The heroes froze.

This was the same place. The same floor where everything had gone wrong. Where Oliver had been swallowed by the abyss below.

None spoke, but the memory weighed on them all. Daniel clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. Alice shivered despite her flame spell hovering at her side. Even Jason, who always carried himself with confidence, faltered for a heartbeat as the eerie silence pressed down on them.

Samuel’s gruff voice shattered it.

"How long are you going to stand frozen? Being stuck in the past won’t change a damn thing. Rather than grieving, turn that grief into strength. You lost someone? Then carve through the bastards that took him."

The words hit like a whip crack.

Jason exhaled sharply. "You’re right, sir Samuel. We can’t just stand here." He turned, fire flickering in his eyes. "Even if it is presumed that Oliver is dead... it’s not certain yet. And even if it is, then we make sure it wasn’t for nothing. We investigate this floor. For that, every monster here must fall."

Amy stepped forward beside him, her voice trembling but resolute. "Yes. Nothing is certain yet. We’ll fight. For him."

Jason nodded, drew his blade, and darted forward.

The red eyes moved. Golems of stone and shadow emerged from the darkness, each one towering over them, their eyes glowing like molten coals.

Jason didn’t hesitate.

"[Wind Slash]!"

A crescent blade of wind ripped through the first golem, splitting its torso apart in a spray of dust and shattered stone.

"Forward!" Samuel barked.

The dungeon floor erupted into battle.

"Here we go again..." Jason muttered, tightening his grip on his blades.

The red-eyed Golems lurched forward in unison, their heavy steps shaking the ground. Unlike their first disastrous encounter few days ago, the students didn’t freeze this time. They moved as one.

Jason darted ahead, his twin swords flashing in wind-enhanced slashes. Brandon braced at the front, hammer swinging in wide arcs to keep enemies from closing in. Daniel fought like a beacon, his holy sword cleaving through stone as if it were wood.

Behind them, Ray unleashed bolts of lightning that danced across multiple targets, while Sophie rained down explosive arrows with uncanny precision. Alice froze incoming projectiles midair, the shards of ice doubling as weapons when she sent them flying back. Lisa layered shimmering barriers whenever someone faltered, her chants steady and clear. Amy’s healing light followed, knitting cuts and bruises as fast as they came.

Even with fewer numbers, they carved through the first wave cleanly. Stone bodies shattered into heaps of rubble.

"Hah! This is nothing like last time," Jason shouted, smirking as he wiped his blade clean on a golem’s crumbled remains.

Samuel’s stern voice snapped from the back, "Don’t get careless. The floor’s not cleared yet."

And he was right.

At the far end of the chamber, the boss golem sat slumped against the wall, silent and still like a massive statue. Its form was hulking, over three meters tall, its surface crisscrossed with cracks like an ancient ruin. Last time, it had remained lifeless, never stirring even after the students fled.

But this time—

The ground rumbled.

The boss’s eyes flared, burning crimson. Its massive head tilted upward, and an incomprehensible, guttural sound erupted from its chest.

"Guurugaa!!"

It stood. Slowly, deliberately, shaking free centuries of dust. Each step was like a drumbeat, echoing across the chamber. Compared to it, the students were insects.

"Holy shit..." Jason breathed, faltering for the first time. Even Brandon’s hammer wavered in his hands.

The mercenaries tensed but did not move—they had their orders. Only if death loomed would they step in. The knights stood steady at the edges, watching.

The students’ confidence cracked. The memory of Oliver’s "death" surged in every trembling chest. The weight of their last retreat pressed down.

Then—

Daniel stepped forward. His jaw clenched, eyes unyielding. "We don’t back down."

He raised his sword high, light blazing along its edge. "If we hesitate here, then Oliver’s death was for nothing."

He charged.

"[Herculean Strength]!"

Mana flared, muscles surging with impossible power. His blade came down in a diagonal arc across the golem’s chest. Sparks flew. Stone cracked. A deep scar carved across the giant’s torso.

"Guurugaa!!" The monster roared, staggering back a step before its fury redoubled.

The floor shook as it swung a massive stone arm down toward him. Daniel barely rolled aside, the impact cratering the floor where he had stood.

"Move! Don’t just stare!" Daniel’s voice snapped the others out of their stupor.

Brandon bellowed, charging in. "Cover me!"

He swung his hammer into the golem’s knee, cracks spiderwebbing through the stone. Jason blurred past him, blades dancing, carving into the same weak point.

"[Chain Frost!]" Alice’s spell froze the cracks solid, making the stone brittle. Ray followed instantly, a surge of lightning blasting into the joint—

Boom!

The knee exploded, forcing the golem to stumble.

Sophie seized the chance, drawing her bow taut. "[Explosive Arrow!]"

The shot streaked into the wounded chest, detonating in a burst of flame and rubble.

The monster reeled, but didn’t fall. Instead, it swung both arms wildly, sweeping through the chamber like a hurricane of stone. Brandon raised his hammer to block and was sent skidding back, blood at his lips. Jason dodged by a hair, panting hard.

Lisa’s wards flared, shattering one after another under the force of the blows. "I can’t keep this up forever!"

Amy’s healing light danced frantically between her classmates, sweat beading on her brow.

The golem bellowed again, its glowing eyes intensifying as cracks across its body began to burn with molten red light.

Daniel planted his sword, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Everyone! Focus on its core—we bring it down together!"

The golem’s molten cracks pulsed brighter, like veins carrying liquid fire. Its massive frame shook violently, chunks of stone breaking off and clattering to the ground.

"Wait... it’s changing!" Alice cried, eyes wide.

The monster slammed both fists into the ground.

BOOOOM!

A shockwave rippled out, hurling everyone back. Dust exploded into the air, and when it cleared, the boss looked reborn—its outer layer of stone shattered away, revealing glowing magma-like flesh beneath. The once sluggish giant now radiated raw energy, its steps shaking the floor like thunder.

"Shit—it evolved?!" Jason cursed, scrambling to his feet.

Phase One was over. Phase Two had begun.

The molten golem swung with terrifying speed, nothing like its earlier lumbering self. Brandon barely raised his hammer in time, the impact sending him tumbling across the ground. Jason darted under another swing, blades sparking as he slashed the glowing flesh.

"It’s softer now!" he yelled. "The cracks are weak spots—aim for them!"

Ray unleashed another storm of lightning, his magic surging through the molten channels like conduits, forcing the beast to spasm. Alice layered ice over the glowing fissures, the rapid heating and cooling making the monster’s body brittle in places.

Daniel didn’t hesitate. "[Divine Smite!]"

His sword glowed white-hot as he slashed across its chest again, widening the diagonal scar he had carved earlier. Sophie followed with a volley of enchanted arrows, explosions peppering the wound until it burned like an open furnace.

"Don’t let up!" Samuel barked from the back, his gruff voice cutting through the chaos.

The students rallied, pressing forward. For the first time, they felt like a true party of heroes.

But the golem wasn’t finished.

"Guurugaaaaa!!!"

The molten giant’s roar turned into a shriek, almost like metal tearing apart. Its core—visible now in its chest—flared with blinding crimson light. The cracks in its body deepened, glowing so brightly that the entire chamber lit up as if under a second sun.

Amy’s eyes widened in horror. "It’s going to explode—!"

"No," Daniel said grimly, gripping his sword tighter. "It’s not exploding... it’s transforming again."

The monster’s molten shell collapsed inward, sucked into its glowing core. Then, with a deafening crack, the core burst open—reforming into a sleek, obsidian body lined with molten runes. The sluggish behemoth was gone. What stood before them was leaner, faster, and far more terrifying.

Its eyes narrowed into slits, glowing like burning coals. The runes across its body pulsed in sequence, powering each movement with unnatural speed.

Phase Three had begun.

The golem vanished—reappearing in front of Lisa in the blink of an eye.

CRASH!

Her barrier shattered instantly, the force hurling her across the room.

"Lisa!" Amy cried, rushing to heal her.

Jason’s face twisted. "It can use the runes—like Isolde’s kind of shit!"

The monster blurred again, striking at Daniel. Only sheer instinct let him block in time, but the impact sent him skidding across the stone, his boots carving furrows in the ground.

"This... thing’s fighting like it’s alive," Daniel hissed, blood on his lip.

"It is alive!" Ray snapped, charging another spell. "That core—it’s its heart!"

The rune-lit monster let out a guttural roar, pounding its chest like a challenge. Each rune flared brighter, its entire form trembling with unstable, furious energy.

Samuel’s voice thundered. "Heroes! Prove yourselves—bring that thing down!"

Daniel raised his blade high. "Everyone, hit the core together! That’s its weak point!"

The students steeled themselves. No running this time. No Oliver to distract the enemy for them. It was just them, their blades, their spells, their will.

The final phase had begun.