[Aiden's POV]
Moving at a speed that could easily rival a Grandmaster-rank cultivator, I punched through the bone defense of the Warden of the Twentieth Step. Slamming my fist into the core of the monster, with a cracking it finally broke into pieces. With it, the final monster of the 20th floor turned to dust.
After constantly fighting for more than 2 days with little to no rest. It looked like fatigue was finally catching up with me.
I took a deep breath and exhaled as I felt my body move through the space to the 21st floor, a floor filled with master-rank monsters.
"System, can I use my free use of Gacha on undead summoning? I should have 2 or 3; I haven't used any of them yet." I voiced my thoughts.
[No, Host. Free use of Gacha is not stackable; if you don't use it on the same day, it will expire.]
"What!? That's news to me. Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, feeling bad about the lost chances.
[Neither you asked nor were you available. You were constantly on the move after obtaining the system, Host.]
[You just got attacked while talking on the 12th floor. So I decided it was best not to disturb you during the fight.]
"Ahh… Okay, we'll leave that behind. Can I do it now?" I asked; there was no time to think over lost chances.
[Yes, but if you do a single pull on the first try, you would lose the chance to obtain an SSS-rank summon.]
"It doesn't matter for now. I can't use SS or SSS-rank summons in this dungeon due to rank ceiling and there is no guarantee that an undead summon will come from remaining 9 cards."
"Besides, I think summoning an undead will be the best in this situation. So let's do it while I try to avoid the monster for now." I relayed my thoughts.
[Wise choice, Host.]
[Commencing free gacha pull on Temporary Undead Summoning banner]
While the system, went on ahead with the pull. I hide behind the walls of this floor, luckily this floor setting is something like maze, making hiding more possible.
The number of monster had decreased considerably, around 270 on this floor but I was not complaining.
After regularly fighting for this long, even the improvements I was hoping for through the dungeon run stopped a few floors ago. Now I just wanted to clear this dungeon and truly rest for a while.
Trying to hide from monsters, I couldn't witness the addicting scene of a gacha pull. However, the next second, the system panel chimed in with a successful pull.
[You have obtained an S-rank Undead Summon]
There was slight guilt about losing the chance to get the higher-rank summon, but that was not the need of the hour. The azure card materialized in my hands with an image of a skull on it.
Holding the card in hand, I immediately focused on using it. The card shredded itself, and a summoning circle appeared in front of me.
The circle pulsed with ominous energy; the environment seemed to be helping the process.
A cluster of bones started to form in the center, and the next second, the summoning was completed as the magic circle dissolved itself.
In place of the circle, floated a being made from interlocking bones carved with runes, clad in the attire of a mage.
His eye sockets were replaced by azure light orbs, and his ribcage looked like it enclosed something powerful radiating strong energy waves and bluish light.
His eyes or socket locked with my eyes. He spoke first, "You are alive?"
"Thanks for the confirmation," I replied and looked at the information provided by the system.
[Name – Thane Asmond]
[Race – Human (Undead)]
[Rank – S]
[Class – Boneframe Architect]
[Title – None]
[Trust – 100% (all undead have absolute loyalty)]
"So you are Thane. I know this seems a bit abrupt, but I need your help in fighting some monsters. What can you do?" I asked immediately; I couldn't hide here forever.
"Ohh… In a rush, are we? You are using an undead like me to fight against undead. Nice, I like your tactics," Thane answered.
"Well, since you brought me back from nothingness, I guess I should help out. It looks like you are in luck; combat and support are my specialties," he explained.
"Okay, control the monsters' approach as I kill them. Don't kill any of them unless you are threatened; just incapacitate them," I ordered as I moved from my position to clear this floor.
"Weird but okay. Master Aiden—I think that's the name I got from that strange screen," he responded while following me.
As soon as I actively searched for monsters on this floor, a group charged at us. Insight Eye provided information as always.
[Name: Echo Ghost]
[Rank: Master]
[Threat: High]
[Emotional State: KILL! KILL!]
"System, can you just like not show the emotional state unless I ask for it? It serves no use currently," I asked as I charged forward.
[Affirmative, Host]
However, before I could reach them, their semisolid bodies got caught up in the bone field that appeared from the ground. I looked behind at the possible source of it.
He smiled, likely because I could see his jaw opening wide. "You can thank me later."
Ignoring his remark for now, I focused on the monsters ahead as they tried to free themselves.
Activating the three skills: Absolute Read, Kinetic Frame-shift, and Adaptive Combat Mastery. These skills helped me a great deal in dealing with Ascendant-rank monsters.
Two monsters that were able to break from the binding met with charged fists coated in the layer of my 'Nullification' ability. They lodged in the wall behind and just dropped dead.
"What is that layer on your fist?" Thane asked from behind.
"Focus on the fight first; ask what you want later," I shouted as tens of master-ranked monsters tried to encircle us.
"As you wish. You are very interesting," he commented.
We got better at coordination as I killed more monsters. Thane would bind them or slow their approach or sometimes even disorient them. This made hunting them easier; with fewer monsters, our hunting speed increased.
In less than an hour, we cleared the 21st floor, moving forward. I even got to take a breather with Thane holding off the monsters. During the fight, he still would comment sometimes, but I didn't focus on his words much.
After continuously eliminating the monster for another 10 hours, I finally stood in front of the gate of the boss of the dungeon.
The blue screen flickered alive in front of me.
[You have reached the gate of the final boss monster]
[You met the condition to clear the dungeon]
[Do you want to exit the dungeon?]
[Y / N]
Turning to Thane floating beside me, I asked, "Ready for one last fight before we rest?"
"I am always up for a good fight, and I might be able to use the loot obtained after killing it." He agreed.
Pressing on the 'NO,' I pushed open the gate; however, as soon as the gate opened, my instincts went to alarm mode like never before. A feeling of dread rose in my heart as I entered.