Chapter 280: Third Season (5)

I left Leon to Lin and left Lin's workshop. Considering their personalities, it seemed I didn't need to worry about them. Since I left my accessories with Lin, I'll check on Leon when I come back in a week to collect them.

With that taken care of, I now had time to work on personal business. Of course, to me, personal business only meant one thing.

It was to finally break through Beyond's 30th floor.

The First Dungeon's 55th Floor Master was the Twin-headed Ogre and the 60th Floor Master was the Superior Doppelganger. Just what did they have in common!? I was slightly worried about what kind of a monster would pop out, but when I entered Beyond, I was met with a strange scene.

"There's no one here...?"

I looked around. It was undoubtedly the battle room. The environment had transformed into a dense forest, but it was eerily quiet without a single chirp of a bird. Most importantly, the Floor Master wasn't here.

"What is it now?"

I stood still and fell in thought. One thing I was sure of was that this was the Floor Master battle room and that there was a Floor Master on every Floor Master battle room. In that case, I didn't need to think too much about it. I held up my spear and shouted as I struck down on the ground.

"Gaia Buster!"

I can't tell what's going on, so I'll just destroy everything! Immediately, the ground began to quake, and the forest's trees, rocks, and plants began to be uprooted. The world seemed to be crumbling down. Meanwhile, there was something flying towards me.

[Critical Hit!]

"So that's what it was."

Everything I broke was in my control. Before I could even confirm the identity of the flying object, pieces of rocks clashed against it and sent it flying a different direction. That was only the start. Now that a target had been acquired, pieces of land carrying black lightning began to all hurl towards it. It was a complete bombardment! The flying object changed continuously changed directions in a seemingly desperate attempt to dodge the incoming barrage.

Eventually, the object manifested in the form of a giant beast.

[Guooooooo— Kak!]

In the middle of roaring furiously, it screamed. The entirety of Gaia Buster's firepower was targeting it. There was no way it could be safe after making its body bigger. In the end, the beast shrunk in size and continued to flee.

'Is that a doppelganger skill...?'

Considering how it was freely changing its form, I seemed to have the correct assumption. If that was the only skill it had, it would only be a Superior Doppelganger. It surely had something inherited from the Twin-headed Ogre. Could it be incredibly strong, and I just didn't know about it because I was never hit?

If I wanted to confirm my suspicion, I could let it hit me, but there was no reason to seek out an unnecessary pain. I would end it with this Gaia Buster!

[Critical Hit!]

"Kuk!"

In the next moment, however, I was flying in the sky. I couldn't comprehend what just happened. Wasn't I watching that monster get pummeled by Gaia Buster!?

If anything, I was able to confirm my suspicion. It really did have a powerful punch. I felt like I lost a tenth of my HP. Considering Pure Black Desire's defensive power and how my HP surpassed 250,000 points, it was terrifying even if it was a critical hit.

"Ku...! Peika, Ruyue, Sharana!"

[Call me earlier!]

[Yay!]

[Master, what are your commands!?]

I regretted not having my elementals out earlier and quickly infused them inside me. At the same time, I thought back to what just happened. Then, I immediately found out.

[Guaaaaa!]

"There wasn't just one."

A Twin-headed Ogre had two heads. However, these guys even had two bodies! One had already revealed itself to draw my attention and lower my guard. Meanwhile, the other had sneaked an attack. Though it was a simple plan, it was effective.

[Be careful, our defense might not hold!]

"I know. Let's not get hit from now."

I released Lightning God's power and held up my spear. Gaia Buster had also run out of steam. The pieces of land that were following my will to attack the enemy were now falling down, and the two enemies disappeared like they were never here. If they could hide from me, their concealment ability was worthy of praise.

"These guys have a transformation ability, but they're not doppelgangers or ogres. They're just something in between."

Two bosses with strength and stealth. I took a deep breath and roused Peruta Circuit to its limit. A whirlpool of mana rose up and even the fallen debris reacted. In the end, the two bosses had to attack me. I just had to notice them and attack first!

Skills that needed time to prepare weren't any good right now. What I needed was chaos flames strengthened by Sharana's power.

Black flames ignited on my spear. I grabbed it with my eyes closed and waited. I couldn't detect any presence. Still, when they attacked me, they were bound to reveal themselves.

[Master!]

"Haa!"

I didn't even need to change my stance. In the same position I was in before, I simply thrust forward with my spear. With the sound of air being cut to pieces, I felt a definite touch on my spear tip. A scream rang out.

[Kiaaaaaaak!]

"Ruyue!"

[I know!]

While I attacked one, the other one was sure to attack me. Without me having to order her, Ruyue encased my armor in an extra layer of ice. An attack then struck the abdominal area of my armor and fell after being frozen. I immediately crushed it with my foot.

"Does it want a psychological battle?"

What flew at me was an ordinary fruit. Its goal was simple. It was trying to make me lower my guard by repeatedly attacking with fake attacks. It was a good strategy, especially in a situation like this where it was hard to pinpoint the enemy's location. However, it was naïve.

"I already know where one of you is! Heroic Strike!"

I shot spear forward. Chaos Spear struck the flames burning in the air and detonated its energy. By strengthening Peika with Lightning God's lightning, a huge blinding light exploded.

[Kyaaaaak!]

A death throe that even gave its listener chills rang out. Immediately afterward, the chaos flames disappeared from the air. As long as I didn't extinguish on my own, the only way to extinguish it was for its target to die. Someone with a highest rank curse magic or a highest rank holy magic might be able to get rid of it, but there was no way these bosses had such magic. In other words, one of them had been killed.

"Now there's one left."

I wondered if the other one would attack when I killed its partner, but there was no attack. I quickly retrieved Chaotic Spear and took up my stance. But no matter how much I waited, nothing happened. It seemed the remaining boss monster wanted a drawn-out battle.

"But I don't want that. I want to go see Loretta, you see..."

I never thought I would need to look for Floor Masters in a Floor Master fight. Not to mention, two Floor Masters had appeared this time. It seemed I couldn't blindly trust the knowledge and experience I gained. With a bitter smile, I deactivated Spirit Aura.

"Peika, Ruyue, Sharana, probe around."

[Will Master be okay?]

"Don't worry. There's only one left. I wouldn't lose to it."

Its attack was certainly powerful, but it only helped to raise my guard. After entrusting the three elements to search for the hiding boss, I closed my eyes and stood still. I had already gained something from this fight. Knowing one's weakness and overcoming it was how one got stronger. Every attack I took from a monster was a valuable lesson.

With my eyes closed, I looked for a presence that didn't belong to my elementals. I could feel the presence of the egg in my pocket, but I excluded it too. Then, the world became silent. It was normal for Floor Master battle rooms to have no life other than the Floor Master. In truth, this was the perfect place to meditate.

Enough time passed that I was starting to get sleepy. It was then that I finally caught his presence. In that instant, a chill went down my back. It had been hiding in my throat.

'I almost died.'

When? Obviously, it was when I attacked the other one. That was the only opening I had. Still, I would have never thought it could shrink enough to fly inside my mouth unnoticed.

It was undoubtedly waiting for the moment I let go of my tension. But even my elementals couldn't detect it, just how good was its concealment skill?

Of course, now that I'd noticed it, it was my win. No matter how capable it was at hiding itself, it couldn't possibly be better than me!

"Sky God's Play!"

What did I transform into? It was simple. I had transformed into the Lava King's lava.

[Amazing! You are the first in Beyond's history to succeed in soloing the Twin Ethuria on your first try! You obtained 3 skill point as a reward. Current skill points: 24]

[You obtained the title, 'Ethuria Master.' All stats increase by 2. This effect will apply even if the title is not equipped.]

[You cleared Beyond's 30th floor. You obtained the qualification to challenge the dungeon's 81st

floor.]

[Your maximum HP and MP increase by 2%. You obtained 5 bonus stats.]

[Experience has been added to skills you frequently used to progress through Beyond's 30th floor.]

[You received the only reward left hidden for the First Explorer. Congratulations! Your luck stat increases by 10.]

[Secret. World Deception Technique Book]

When I heard the flurry of messages, I immediately transformed back. I could transform into liquid or even gas with Sky God's Play, but if even a single drop separated from my body, it was tricky to transform back. It was best to cancel the skill as soon as I achieved my goal.

"Damn, to think it went in my body."

[Sorry, Master. It's my fault...]

"No, I was just lacking."

I consoled Peika who was sullen. This time, however, I really might have died. Even though my body had gone through a transformation, I was far from invincible. I had been overconfident.

This Floor Master had entered my body using the single moment of an opening when I attacked its partner. From then, it was only waiting for me to let my guard down. It was a very Floor Master-like method, but there couldn't be a more fearful method to kill an enemy.

"Huu... Good. I obtained many things from this battle."

I slapped my cheeks to snap myself out. I was lucky that this didn't happen on Earth. I was lucky that I got through it without making any fatal mistakes.

From now on, I wouldn't let my enemy enter my body easily. Now that I was in the position of teaching others, I couldn't let them see me make such stupid mistakes, especially if the mistake led to death.

"I shouldn't look down on the dungeon. I was tricked by how easy it had been recently."

When I imagined Sherafina snickering seeing me fight the Floor Master, I subconsciously pouted. But still, maybe I should thank her for letting me grow.

Twin Ethuria, two assassins with a powerful punch, the ability to conceal themselves perfectly, and the ability to transform into anything. I couldn't confirm what they looked like, but I told myself to remember the name.

"I'll leave my self-reflection to here. Let's look at the reward."

If possible, I wanted an item that the worlds' enemies would have a hard time nullifying. Of course, what I got wasn't an item, but a skill. That said, when I saw the words 'World Deception', I became excited. It had to be a skill related to the Ethuria's stealth and transformation!

As a skill created by the dungeon, it couldn't escape the fate of being nullified by the worlds' enemies, but I had experience overcoming this limitation with Divine Speed. I planned on going further in this realm. If I could make my own World Deception using this skill as a basis...!

I reached out without hesitation and learned the skill. World Deception's information flowed into me.

[You learned World Deception (Active)! World Deception has two abilities. First, you can transform into monsters you've defeated and use their special attacks. Note that you cannot use attacks that are beyond your league. Second, you can perfectly conceal your presence. When the skill reaches its peak, you can also conceal the presence of others.]

"Ooooooh!"

The first ability was honestly a downgraded version of Sky God's Play. The second ability, however, was exactly what I wanted. I clenched my fists and hollered. If I used this power well, it could become a much fatal weapon than what I suffered from!

"Good, now..."

Now, I had to get some rest. I undoubtedly had difficult busy days ahead. Even if it was just for today, I wanted to relax with Loretta and rest. With that in mind, I jumped into the gate that opened up in midair.

Loretta then scolded me for coming to see her after Lin.