Akira stood on the unstable Sixteenth Floor, his sword glowing like a molten scarlet. The shadows had been dispersed—for now—but the air vibrated with tension. Every fiber of the tower pulsed with a strange energy, resonating with the Origin's awakening above.
He clenched his fists.
"System," Akira said, his voice calm but firm.
"I don't want to climb every single floor anymore. I want to face the final boss—the Origin—now."
The System hesitated, the familiar metallic chime faltering for a fraction of a second.
[QUERY RECEIVED… PROCESSING.]
Akira frowned.
"I'm not asking you to talk me out of it. Just tell me what will happen if I skip floors."
[WARNING: SKIPPING FLOORS IS HIGHLY UNSAFE.]
[POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES: UNPREDICTABLE ENEMY BEHAVIORS, ENVIRONMENTAL INSTABILITY, HIGH RISK OF FAILURE.]
Akira's eyes burned.
"I've survived everything so far. The tower wants to test me, I get it. But I know I can do this. Skip them."
[ CONFIRMATION REQUIRED, Good luck Master ]
Akira's voice hardened:
"I confirm. Skip floors. Take me to the top."
A low hum echoed through the tower. The walls of the Sixteenth Floor began to ripple violently, the cracks widening and glowing brighter with unstable energy.
[ EXECUTING FLOOR SKIP… CALCULATING JUMP TO FLOOR 20. ]
The air thickened. The room seemed to stretch, collapse, and reform all at once.
Akira closed his eyes, gripping his sword as the world around him dissolved.
He could feel them.
Seventeenth Floor: a jagged maze of black crystal. Energy pulsed in irregular patterns, shards floating mid-air like invisible strings of light. He could hear whispers, mocking his haste—but he ignored them.
Eighteenth Floor: a storm of shadow and light. Winds tore through the invisible hallways, and semi-corrupted creatures twisted through the air. They lunged, but Akira phased through them, sword blazing crimson.
Nineteenth Floor: a hall of mirrors, each reflection showing Akira's past battles, every failure he had ever endured. The floor shimmered, trying to trap him in self-doubt, but he shook his head. He focused on the singular goal—the twentieth floor, the final confrontation.
The transition was instantaneous. Akira landed on solid ground.
The floor stretched endlessly, circular and perfect, like a coliseum floating in a void. The walls were impossibly high, and a golden light shone from the center of the floor. But something dark twisted through that light—like smoke that had a will of its own.
Akira inhaled sharply.
[WARNING: ORIGIN-CLASS ENTITY DETECTED. PROXIMITY: MAXIMUM.]
He stepped forward, sword ready. Every heartbeat matched the rhythm of the tower's instability. The walls themselves quivered as if recognizing the arrival of the challenger.
And then he saw it.
A colossal figure floated in the center of the floor. Its form was human-like, but impossible—too tall, too thin, limbs stretching unnaturally. Its head was obscured in swirling energy, and its eyes… Akira couldn't look directly at them.
"Akira."
The voice was everywhere and nowhere. It was the tower itself speaking, ancient, commanding, infinite.
"You climb too quickly."
"I climb because I must," Akira said.
"You rush… but you will see only the surface of the truth."
Akira stepped forward.
"I don't care about the truth. I'll face it anyway."
The Origin laughed—an echoing sound that made the very floor ripple.
"Bold. Brave. Or foolish. Perhaps all three. You will see if your courage is enough."
And with a sudden motion, the Origin's energy flared violently. The floor cracked beneath Akira's feet. The air shimmered, and the arena seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions.
The Battle Begins
The Origin moved—faster than Akira could process. Energy lashes tore through the void, each strike like the swing of a colossal sword. Akira dodged, rolling and slashing as his sword blazed with Dragon's Breath energy.
The battle was unlike any floor he had faced.
The Origin didn't just attack. It manipulated the floor itself, shifting walls, creating new platforms, warping space to keep Akira off-balance.
Akira jumped onto a floating shard of floor, narrowly avoiding a lashing energy strike.
It's not just physical… it's controlling the environment itself.
[SYSTEM ALERT: ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD LEVEL EXTREME.]
Akira's eyes flared. He drew on the unstable tower energy coursing through him—the same energy that had allowed him to survive the Sixteenth Floor. His tattoos glowed brighter, circuits burning red across his arms.
"Dragon's Breath—Overload!" he shouted, releasing a massive wave of energy at the Origin.
The figure laughed—softly at first, then as if amused by a child's attempt.
"Clever. But insufficient."
A wave of energy exploded outward. Akira was thrown back, skidding across the floating shards, but he gritted his teeth.
I've come too far to fail here.
He leaped back to the center, dodging blasts and energy strikes.
And then, as he landed, he felt it—something shifting inside him, a power he hadn't fully realized.
The tower… it's unstable. The Origin is feeding from it. But I can feed too.
Akira closed his eyes. He let the tower's energy flood him—not just his own power, but the chaotic, unmeasured energy of the skipped floors.
His sword flared white-hot, circuits glowing like molten red veins.
"Dragon's Breath—Final Form!" he shouted.
The energy exploded outward, burning through the void, colliding with the Origin's attacks.
For the first time, the Origin hesitated.
Akira's eyes burned with determination.
"I'm not here to survive anymore," he growled. "I'm here to end this!"
The Origin's energy flared violently, the void around them tearing apart. But Akira didn't stop. He surged forward, each step resonating with the tower's unstable heartbeat.