The stone portal opened with a sharp crack, releasing a cold wind that reeked of iron, moss, and blood gone stale.
The ground ahead was uneven — not naturally, but as if something underneath had tried to break free.
Fissures pulsed with a faint red glow.
Not light.
A heartbeat.
Lukas stepped in first.
Boudica’s hand landed on his shoulder — firm, unshaking.
— “Do not run.” — her tone was low, calm, absolute. — “The ones who run… die.”
He didn’t argue.
He felt it too.
The air here had weight.
Behind them, Luiz silently directed the Copas, while Alenna and the Valkyries spread out, shields forward.
Leli, Springblade in hand, traced the walls with her eyes — not looking at the shadows, but almost as if she expected the shadows to look back.
A distant roar echoed.
Then another.
Closer.
Cracks splintered across the ceiling.
Someone muttered a prayer.
The ceiling broke open like ribs being split apart.
And it fell.
But not from above —
it slammed down, like it had been waiting there.
A six-legged creature landed on shattered stone, its body covered in black bone plates that steamed and hissed like hot metal touching ice.
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The ground shook under its impact.
Someone stumbled.
— “Floor Guardian…” — Alenna whispered.
She didn’t shout.
She already understood.
It heard them.
The creature didn’t roar.
It exhaled — a deep, steaming breath that bent torches and made ears ring.
Valquíria stepped forward, raising her shield just as the beast lunged.
The impact flung her back three meters, boots dragging deep marks on the stone — but she held.
— “It’s testing us.” — she spat, steadying her shield. — “It wants to see if we break.”
Boudica spun her twin spears — they blurred into a longbow, string thrumming with violet mana — and released three arrows in rapid succession.
They struck — but didn’t pierce.
They ricocheted, hissing, glowing faintly — as if rejecting the armor.
— “Aim for the eyes!” — Luiz barked.
It didn’t fear them.
It charged.
Lukas and Leli sprinted to the flanks — the ground cracked under their boots as they moved, the pulsing glow beneath the stone tracking their steps.
The Guardian turned.
Too fast.
Leli slid low, Springblade flashing — slicing across the armor gap near its leg joint — sparks flew, but it was too shallow.
Lukas moved with her, using a split in the stone as cover — blade scraping the underplates, leaving a thin cut, but still too shallow.
Not enough.
The monster adjusted — and this time, it learned.
Its tail slammed into the ground — cracking the stone like glass, sending U-shaped spikes of bone jutting upward.
Someone screamed.
The formation staggered.
The Guardian’s eyes glowed, like molten metal.
It was about to hunt, not defend.
Valquíria struck again, shield first — this time the impact nearly crushed her arm, but she held long enough to draw its attention.
Boudica used the opening — four sharp arrows, enchanted, aimed for the eye.
Two deflected.
One cracked through.
The last — pierced.
The beast recoiled.
Now.
Leli and Lukas moved in unison — one low, one high — striking opposite pressure points; armor cracked, heat hissed, steam bled from the wounds.
It roared — not in anger.
In recognition.
It was now fighting.
Not testing.
Luiz stepped in.
Horizontal stance.
Breath held.
Weight forward.
One clean strike.
The Guardian’s head fell — not dramatic, not explosive — just heavy, lifeless, meaningful.
Silence didn’t follow.
It lingered.
---
No one spoke.
Not out of relief.
But out of respect.
Luiz was the first to breathe again.
— “Welcome,” he said quietly, not smiling.
— “Welcome to the Seventh Floor.
From here… it only gets worse.”
Lukas wiped sweat from his brow — but his eyes rose toward the staircase beyond the corpse.
Not with excitement.
Not with pride.
But with acceptance.
— “Then we don’t stop.”
— “The Eighth Floor awaits.”
End of Chapter 5
