Tower 1 — Floor Fourteen, The Ravenous Bloom
The staircase opened into a world that should not exist inside stone walls—
A vast, lush garden stretching out endlessly under a false emerald sky.
The air buzzed with the hum of insects.
Leaves glowed with green bioluminescence.
Massive flowers swayed in an invisible wind, petals shaped like open jaws.
And every plant…
watched.
Ragnor shuddered.
"Nope. No. I don't like ANY of this."
Lyra inhaled slowly.
"It's… beautiful. But wrong."
Aetherion crouched and touched the glowing soil.
"Living mana.
This entire floor is sentient."
Iris covered her mouth.
"T-The plants are… breathing…"
Lyra gestured toward one of the giant flowers.
"It's staring at us."
Ragnor groaned.
"I KNEW IT—THE PLANTS ARE ALIVE—!!"
Aetherion shook his head.
"Alive is an understatement. These things are predators."
The ground throbbed beneath them—
a slow, hungry pulse.
Like a stomach rumbling.
Lyra's Constellar Mark pulsed faintly in warning.
She whispered:
"This floor hates our presence."
Iris whispered back:
"This floor hates its OWN presence…"
Aetherion nodded, eyes wide.
"It's starving."
The Garden Reacts
The floor vibrated.
The vines shivered.
Flowers snapped open like wet jaws.
Ragnor raised his fists.
"Oh GREAT—THE FLORA WANT US FOR DINNER—!!"
Aetherion shouted:
"DON'T MOVE! THEY SENSE MOTION LIKE ANIMALS—!!"
Lyra froze.
Iris held her breath.
DRM stood still as a statue, mask tilted back faintly.
The garden hesitated at him.
Leaves curled inward.
Flowers dimmed their glow.
Vines shrank slightly.
But not in fear—
In confusion.
Aetherion whispered:
"It doesn't recognize him as prey… or threat…
it can't categorize him."
Ragnor snorted.
"Well good for him—what about US?!"
A vine shot from the ground—
fast as a whip—
Ragnor blocked—
Only for the vine to bite into his aura and drain it.
"HEY—!! STOP EATING MY ENERGY—!!"
Lyra fired a starlight arrow—
It hit a flower—
The flower devoured the light and glowed brighter.
Aetherion cursed.
"It absorbs magic too—!!"
Iris tried a time-slow—
The moment the spell left her hand—
The vines snatched it and consumed it.
"W-Why are they eating EVERYTHING—?!"
Aetherion's voice cracked.
"Because this floor is an ecosystem of hunger.
It evolves by devouring anything it touches."
Lyra hissed:
"Then how do we kill it?"
A deep rumble shook the garden.
The flowers bent inward.
The vines twisted violently.
The ground pulsed like a heartbeat accelerating.
Ragnor froze.
"…uh—Aetherion? Why is the garden ANGRY NOW?!"
Because a colossal shape rose from the earth.
A flower.
Bigger than a house.
Petals dripping with acidic nectar.
Dozens of vine-tongues lashing outward like whips.
A system prompt materialized:
[FLOOR FOURTEEN: UNENDING HUNGER]
[BOSS: THE DEVOURING BLOOM]
[WARNING: CONTACT = CONSUMPTION]
The Bloom roared—
a wet, screeching roar that rattled every leaf in the garden.
Iris fell to her knees, trembling.
"I-I can't handle this—!!"
Lyra raised her bow.
"We have to keep it away from her!"
Ragnor sprinted forward.
"FINE—TIME TO MAKE SALAD—!!"
The vines shot forward to swallow him whole.
Aetherion threw a cosmic blast—
The vines devoured it instantly.
"No magic—!! It EATS magic—!!"
Lyra shot another arrow—
It ate the arrow too.
Ragnor yelled:
"It's eating EVERYTHING—!! WHAT DO WE DO?!"
Aetherion's voice broke.
"We can only do physical—"
A vine stabbed through his shoulder.
Aetherion gasped.
Ragnor roared and punched it away.
Lyra grabbed Iris and dragged her back.
"What do we do—WHAT DO WE DO—?!"
Iris screamed:
"DRM—!!! HELP US—!!!"
DRM walked forward.
Silent.
Unhurried.
The vines froze mid-whip.
Every plant stopped breathing.
And the Devouring Bloom—
The colossal apex predator of the garden—
lowered itself.
Not bowing.
Not submitting.
It shrank away from DRM like a child caught stealing.
Aetherion's eyes widened.
"It's… refusing… to fight him."
Ragnor staggered.
"Kid…
you wanna tag in ANYTIME NOW—???"
DRM tilted his head.
Then he flexed his aura—
Stage 3.2 — "Hunger-Ender Pulse."
A single wave.
Barely a ripple.
Every plant in the garden convulsed.
The Devouring Bloom shrieked—
And then—
Collapsed.
Its vines shriveled.
Petals rotted instantly.
Leaves turned black and blew away like ash.
The entire garden died.
All at once.
Silence.
Ragnor sat down immediately.
"I'm DONE.
I'm so done."
Lyra leaned against a dead vine, shaking.
"I hate this place…"
Iris sobbed quietly.
Aetherion clutched his shoulder wound, breathing heavily.
He glared at DRM.
"Why do you wait… until the last second?"
DRM did not answer.
He simply turned toward the far end of the garden.
A new staircase had formed—
made of bone-white petals.
Ragnor stood up.
"Well…
who's ready to suffer on Floor Fifteen?"
Aetherion exhaled shakily.
"We don't have a choice…"
But DRM paused.
A small shadow flickered behind him.
Watching.
Smirking.
[Shadow Presence Detected]
[Name — ████]
[Comment: "Heh… he saved you again."]
The shadow vanished before anyone noticed.
DRM stared at the stairs a moment longer.
Then ascended.
CHAPTER 26 — STATUS REPORT
Ragnor
Level: 20
EXP: +710
Physical: Heavy aura drain
Mental: Exhausted
Notes: Floor 14 traumatized him with aura-consumption
Lyra
Level: 17
EXP: +560
Constellar Mark: Node II awakened to Astral Vein
Mental: Shaken but determined
Notes: Her mark flared during the boss fight
Iris
Level: 12
EXP: +310
Mental: Edge of breakdown
Notes: Floor 14 nearly overwhelmed her
Aetherion
Level: 18
EXP: +480
Physical: Wounded
Mental: Terrified of DRM's timing
Notes: Realizes DRM tests them on purpose
Boss — Devouring Bloom
Status: Killed instantly by DRM
Notes: Apex predator of Floor 14; refused to attack DRM
DRM
Level: ERROR
Mask Sync: 97%
Aura: Stage 3.2 — "Hunger-Ender Pulse"
Emotional State: Neutral
Notes: Allowed the fight to reach near-fatal levels