Welcome to the Final Floor!
As the doors of the 80th floor opened, streaks of light shot
vertically with incredible force.
Half of those who were caught off guard were immediately
eliminated.
"What was that?"
A massive, three-eyed goat stood solidly before them.
"Don't let your guard down!"
Garcia snapped, bringing everyone back to focus.
Harbel and Garcia positioned themselves on either side of the goat, ready to attack.
"Hyaaaaaah!"
Leon stepped forward and shouted, "Glacial Grip!"
The goat's legs were completely encased in ice.
"Nice one!"
"Flash Fist!"
"Hyaaaaaah!"
Beams of light struck the goat from both sides. However, thanks to the goat's three eyes, all the light magic was
absorbed, and the scattered light was repelled, flying in all
directions.
Those who had strong magic defenses were spared, but
another three were eliminated.
"We can't afford to lose any more!"
Alexia's cry rang out, followed by, "Blazing Edge!"
Alexia summoned a massive sword of fire and cleaved the
goat in two.
"Wow, Alexia, you did it!"
"But this is bad, we've lost too many..."
"Uh, that's 18 people..."
"We need 50 for the next floor, right?"
"Will we make it..."
"If I remember correctly, there were 32 people on the 80th floor, so we should just barely have enough!"
Harbel said with relief.
They quickly headed to the safety zone of the 80th floor,
where they were met with a less than warm welcome.
"We thought you weren't coming..."
"There's so few of you..."
"Well, they were the ones left behind on the lower floors, what can you expect?"
"Don't talk like that!"
Harbel retorted, his tone sharp.
"Alright, alright, calm down!"
"Finally, we can go to the 90th floor!"
"We've been waiting forever!"
"Tch, how convenient for them!"
"Do you know how hard Harbel and the others fought...?"
Tact was visibly annoyed.
There were 11 days left. They were on track to meet their
initial goal, as long as they made it to the 100th floor.
The boss of the 90th floor was a Nightfire Dragon.
"Huh? A dragon?!"
"A dragon of darkness and fire..."
"Light, water, and wind should be effective, right?"
"Light attribute frontliners, get ready!"
"Backliners, provide defense and healing for the frontliners!"
"Those with unfavorable attributes, stay behind the backliners!"
As expected from those who had made it this far, they each had the qualities of a leader.
The Nightfire Dragon roared, "GRAAAAAH!"
"Attack incoming!"
"Brace for impact!"
Along with the roar, dark flames gathered in the dragon's mouth and were unleashed in a devastating burst.
"BOOOOOM!"
The dark flames engulfed the area. Some of the frontliners
were obliterated.
"Sanctified Rain!"
Leon immediately chanted.
Thanks to Leon, the dark flames were beginning to dissipate.
Harbel and Garcia took their stances again.
"Thunder God Fist!"
They unleashed multiple orbs of lightning at the dragon,
causing bolts of lightning to rain down from all directions.
The Nightfire Dragon twitched, paralyzed by the electricity.
"Leon, finish it!"
"Aurora Ice Javelin!"
Leon summoned a massive ice spear imbued with holy light
and launched it at the Nightfire Dragon.
SHING!
Time seemed to freeze for a moment.
The Nightfire Dragon was instantly frozen and shattered into
particles of light.
"We did it!"
"As expected, Leon!"
"It was thanks to the dragon being paralyzed!"
"Finally, the 90th floor..."
"It seems the 91st floor onward is solo only..."
"We have 46 people left!"
"It's a survival now!"
"We need to reach the 100th floor entrance as fast as possible!"
There were 10 days left.
"The monsters around here are seriously strong!"
"What's with this solo thing..."
The weaker ones were quickly eliminated.
Fights also broke out between examinees.
Harbel and the others fought their way up, each clearing
monsters.
When Leon reached the 100th floor, someone was already
challenging the boss.
They were defeated by the boss and eliminated.
Thanks to that, they still had challenge rights for the day.
"Oh, Harbel!"
"Garcia's here too."
"I hope everyone's okay."
More examinees arrived, but they were hesitant to approach
as the three stood guard near the entrance.
"What do we do?"
"I'll go last!"
"Then I'll stay too!"
"Me too!"
"If you're not going, let us challenge first!"
"No way!"
Garcia glared them down.
"Huff, huff, Harbel, sorry I'm late!"
"Sorry for the delay."
Nel and Clarissa arrived. Then came Alexia, Aali, Kasra, and
Gris.
"Just Tact left..."
"We don't need to wait for him!"
"Garcia, that's harsh! I made it, didn't I?"
"All ten are here!"
"Hey! We got here first!"
"Quiet!"
Garcia silenced them with a single word.
"Alright, who's going first?"
"The three of us will go last, everyone else go ahead!"
"Then I'll go!"
Aali stepped forward.
"Good luck, Aali!"
Aali opened the boss's door.
Inside, there was a pedestal with three orbs, and a message:
"Show your courage!"
Upon closer inspection, each orb had a symbol: a staff, a sword, and a shield.
Aali braced herself and picked up the staff orb.
The surroundings suddenly expanded, and a mage appeared
in the center.
"A magic duel, huh!"
Aali struck first. "Stone Prison!"
Walls of earth rose around the mage, encasing them in a network of stone pillars.
The mage shattered the stone prison with a wave of their large staff. Another wave, and "Meteor!"
A massive meteor fell from the sky.
