The 100th floor of the Tower of the Unfortunate did not look like a hall… it looked like a tomb.

  The black marble floor was broken into irregular slabs, and from each crack rose a frozen vapor that burned the skin. Shattered columns held up a ceiling so high it vanished into purple mist, and ancient symbols glowed with crimson light on the walls, pulsing like a sick heart.

  Lukas climbed the last step, his legs heavy as lead. Behind him, Luiz staggered, leaning on his right arm. Leli was being carried by Boudica, the wolf-warrior, while Valquíria held her hammer, her face stained with dried blood.

  No one spoke. The silence was not merely the absence of sound — it was a pressure, as if the Tower itself was holding its breath to see what would happen.

  Above, on a balcony of black stone, Morgana watched. Her white hair hung loose, her purple eyes burning in the darkness. Tears were already running down her cheeks before the battle even began.

  "Do not interfere, Morgana." The voice of the King of Disasters echoed in her mind, deep and absolute. "This is the final test."

  She bit her lips, her hands trembling.

  Then the gate ahead — a cyclopean arch of runes and bones — groaned. Chains came loose. The air smelled like iron and rain.

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  From the darkness, two red points emerged. Then footsteps, like war drums.

  Maugrim, the Voracious, appeared.

  A colossal werewolf, nearly three meters tall, clad in armor forged from polished bones and golden fangs. His dark grey fur was stained with ancestral blood, and around his neck hung a grotesque necklace of teeth — each one torn from warriors he had hunted and killed. His hands ended in curved black claws, vibrating as if they could cut the air before even touching it.

  The gate opened. Lukas and the others crossed, entering the 100th floor.

  The voice was a guttural growl: — Heroes… came to my gate.

  His gaze passed through each of them but stopped on Lukas. — The smell of battle… but also of exhaustion. The smell of death lingering over your shoulders. A smile full of fangs. — Perfect.

  Leli whimpered, trying to stand. Boudica growled to Lukas. — Step back. Protect her.

  The world flickered.

  Maugrim vanished.

  When he reappeared, he was behind them.

  A dry crack — like a snapping branch. Boudica’s scream tore through the air.

  He grabbed her from behind, his claws piercing through her chest. Hot blood splattered across Lukas’s face. With a brutal movement, Maugrim bit the base of her neck and, without effort, hurled her body against a pillar, which shattered into rubble.

  — NO! Lukas ran, slipping on her blood.

  She still breathed for a moment. Her golden eyes searched for his. Her mouth opened, as if to say something… but no sound came out.

  Her body fell.

  Luiz didn’t make any jokes. His expression remained like stone. — …You’re dead, mutt.

  Maugrim licked the blood from his claws and chuckled softly. — Mmm, one down. Three to go.

  From above, Morgana closed her eyes. With each heartbeat, the urge to defy orders and jump down grew stronger. But for now… she simply began channeling energy, hidden in the shadows, sending an invisible thin thread straight to Lukas.

  He did not know yet, but that extra strength would be the line between life and death in the minutes to come.