Toward the 100th Floor (4): The Elevator Battle Begins
The elevator battle begins.
Creeeak—
The door to the 81st floor slid open.
A monstrous beast with the lower body of a massive horse fused to a human torso. It was clad in heavy armor, hoisting a ranseur as tall as me.
Pruuurrr!
It pawed the ground viciously with its hind legs, poised to charge at any moment.
Normally, this would've been the moment I'd order the Blood Knight to rush in. But not this time.
Time for a real-world test of Death Mark.
"Blood Knight, don't attack. Just stand in front of me and defend."
<...Your command...>
At my order, the Blood Knight stepped in front of me, laying its blood-mist greatsword horizontally.
Clop! Clop!
The centaur charged. Its ranseur thrust forward at terrifying speed.
Claaang—!
The Blood Knight's greatsword clashed with the ranseur, sparks flying everywhere.
Clang!
Whoosh—! True to my command, the Blood Knight didn't counterattack, merely deflecting and parrying the blows.
From behind it, I focused my mana into my eyes.
My two mana circles in my dantian spun, drawing up power. My vision warped, and crimson-black lines like heat haze rose over the centaur's body.
I imagined plunging my mana into the point where they converged.
Fwaah—!
A single dark-red slash scarred across the centaur's chest like a wound.
[ - ]
Success.
"Good. Next."
I focused again, but the line didn't appear right away. Cooldown, huh.
Unique skills like Death Verdict - Slash or Death Verdict - Gaze showed cooldown holograms from the system. But this Death Mark, like Black Shift, wasn't listed in my status, so no exact timer.
Guess I'd have to feel it out with my body and count the seconds manually.
One, two, three...
While the Blood Knight blocked the centaur's onslaught, I counted silently. Cooldown scaled with INT stat, right? With my current 79 INT, how long would it be?
Eleven, twelve...
Thirteen.
Fwaah—!
My mana resonated once more, carving the second slash into the centaur's body.
[ - - ]
13 seconds.
Screeeech—!
The second stack didn't change the centaur's behavior—it clearly hadn't noticed. Another 13 seconds ticked by.
Fwaaah—!
The third slash completed the character as the dark-red lines overlapped.
[⬛]
That was the moment.
The centaur's heartbeat surged violently. Thump—! Its massive body toppled over. Thud—the ranseur clattered noisily across the floor.
81st Floor: Armored Centaur defeated successfully
Promotion Reward: 8,000G acquired!
I couldn't help but marvel at the sight.
"...Isn't this basically instant death?"
That was my honest thought.
Just 26 seconds. Fix my gaze, inject mana—that's all it took to kill the monster.
And Death Mark wasn't even a true instakill. It was a derivative black magic branched from the two-stage instakill Death Verdict - Etch.
Even this offshoot one-killed an 80s-floor monster without resistance.
So what insane power did my prior four-stage instakill Death Verdict - Gaze hold?
"I wasted that from the start, huh..." I was getting hyped to try the three-stage Death Verdict - Slash too.
But no worthy foes had shown up yet.
82nd floor. 83rd. 84th.
I breezed through without a hitch. Blood Knight as my shield, stacking every 13 seconds from behind.
Range was huge—no issues.
About half the arena's size, meaning if the monster spawned center, I could land stack one the instant the elevator started.
[⬛]
Every one dropped dead before reaching four stacks, the character completing.
And then we hit the 85th.
Creeeak—
The door opened to a very different arena vibe.
A massive wolf covered in black fur. Its standout feature: the greatsword clamped in its jaws.
"Wouldn't claws or fangs be better for a beast...?"
Thinking that, I activated Death Mark on instinct.
Fwaah—!
[ - ]
"Stack one for now."
Grrrrrr...
It growled deep in its throat, coiling power in its legs.
"Blood Knight, defend."
The knight assumed position, greatsword at the ready.
Sword Fang leaped.
Shwaaaa—!
Insane speed.
It looked like it would crash down from midair into a charge, but—
Swoosh—! It twisted in empty air.
Drawing a house-sized arc.
Swinging that jaw-clamped greatsword.
Swooom—!
The blade came crashing down brutally. Claaang—!
The Blood Knight barely blocked, but the impact shoved it back a couple steps.
Cling! Clang! Crunch!
The barrage continued. Unpredictable combos from the beast's flexible joints and muscles.
Right to left.
Left to right.
Now top-down. Fluid and lightning-fast. Cracks started forming on the Blood Knight's armor, focused solely on defense.
Keep this up, and the Blood Knight's toast.
I hurriedly drew mana from my dantian.
"Blood Command."
Repaired the Blood Knight's armor.
Then used Ribbon's Black Shift to create distance. Switched orders.
"Blood Knight, go all out!"
<...Your command...>
Blood mist exploded from the Blood Knight's neck. Its greatsword parried Sword Fang's slash, turning defense to offense.
Claaang—! Booom—!
Beast swordplay clashed endlessly with the greatsword. Sparks flew, marble floor shattered.
In the gaps of their exchange, I focused my gaze.
Stack two! Fwaah—!
[ - - ]
Thanks to the Blood Knight holding its attention.
13 seconds later.
Finally, stack three.
Fwaaah—!
[ - - - ]
"Oh."
First time the character didn't complete. Varies by target's vitality, as expected.
Tough one.
GRRROOOAAAR—! It roared, ramping up its attack tempo.
Another 13-second cooldown. The Blood Knight sacrificed an arm to block the greatsword, buying the opening for my fourth Death Mark.
Fwaaaah—!
[⬛]
The incomplete character took form. [⬛] Looked like "death" (). Shinigami script from the realm's great slate, probably...
Thump—! The beast's massive frame convulsed, dropping the greatsword from its jaws before collapsing.
85th Floor: Sword Fang defeated successfully
Promotion Reward: 8,400G acquired!
My earring glimmered.
I gazed down at the fallen massive wolf corpse. "That was on another level..." Never-seen speed and attack style.
Sudden possessiveness hit me.
I want it as a spirit soldier.
The Spirit Blood Tea Ritual basics said max spirit soldiers scaled with circle count.
I had two circles. One spot left after Blood Knight.
"This one's perfect."
Stronger monsters ahead, so now was prime time to bolster forces.
Approached the corpse.
Had to hurry—corpses vanished in tens of seconds max.
Time attack.
"Blood Drain." "Blood Command."
Dark-red blood gushed from the giant wolf like a waterfall, pooling in midair. Way bigger glob than for the Blood Knight.
"Whoa..."
Infused mana, then used Blood Command to force the blood into every corner of the corpse. Circulated through thick vessels and muscle bundles, imprinting my mana.
Then extracted it again.
Fwoooosh—
The airborne blood turned translucent reddish-brown—the color of spirit blood.
Meaning the soul was gone.
Now the grossest step three. I squeezed my eyes shut and opened wide.
Gulp glug gluuuuurp—!
A massive volume poured down my throat and into my lungs.
"Guhhh!!!"
Way more intense foreign-body sensation than last time.
Sheer volume.
Even filling my body to bursting, over half had to circulate externally. And faster than before—double speed for the timer. Lungs burning like fire, guts twisting.
Nausea surged, but I choked it down fiercely.
Spun my two dantian circles like mad, circulating spirit blood through every vein. Imprinted my body's structure and mana waves into the blood.
"Bleeuuuugh—!!"
At my limit, I vomited the spirit blood onto the wolf corpse.
Sizzzzzz—!
The blood coated the body, rapidly coagulating.
Crunch craaack! Crack!
Where black fur fell out, congealed blood and mana formed dark-red exoskeleton. The greatsword fused into its jawbone, protruding as one.
Time for naming.
"...Sword Fang."
At the word, the massive red wolf slowly rose. Crimson-mist eyes fixed on me.
A bit scary, but I patted its head vigorously.
Telepathic voice echoed in my mind.
<...Master...>
Your second soldier has come under your dominion.
Check the subjugated soldier list in your status.
"Perfect. Chapstick acquired."
Now with Blood Knight and Sword Fang, my two bulwarks were set.
Team color: red.
Next floor.
"Sword Fang, charge. Blood Knight, flank defense."
Sword Fang shot out like a cannonball.
Insanely fast.
"Mess 'em up."
Sword Fang darted everywhere, crumbling the enemy's formation. Blood Knight stuck by my side, guarding.
"One more makes it way more stable." I just had to stack Death Mark from the rear.
[ - ]
[ - - ]
[ - - - ]
[⬛]
Thump—!!
Blasted through to the 87th in a flash.
87th Floor: Dark Elf Sword Demon defeated successfully
Promotion Reward: 8,600G acquired!
Checked my banked stat points.
"Just right..."
I'd reached the first hill: Sense.
STR, AGI, SEN—all at 74.
First even-out complete.
Then—
Fwaaaah—!
".....!"
A massive surge of pleasure pierced my body, freezing me in place.
Blood racing through veins, muscle fibers, core organs—their frequencies synced in resonance.
"So harmonious."
Whoooosh—!
Air resistance vanished.
Bouncy tension dominated my body.
I clenched my fist, wondering.
How much stronger am I compared to the Blood Knight now?
Turned to the Blood Knight.
"Mind stepping back over there?"