As soon as I crossed the stone arch of the new floor, I felt the immediate change in the environment. There was no crushing weight like the previous levels, nor the sensation of multiple hidden presences. There was space. A wide circular hall of smooth stone, illuminated by clear crystals embedded in the walls. The floor showed long, parallel cuts, as if something extremely sharp had crossed that arena countless times.
I raised my hand and everyone stopped.
Liriel stood slightly in front of me, posture firm.
Rai'kanna and Lyannis adjusted their positions at the sides, balanced.
Vespera closed her eyes for a moment, analyzing the magical flow.
Elara kept the bow relaxed, but ready.
"A single presence," said Vespera. "But it's moving at high speed."
Before I could respond, the air to the right distorted. It was not a slow appearance. It was an instant tear in perception, a dark line cutting across the space and disappearing behind us.
Elara turned first.
The shot was clean.
The arrow struck something invisible and a dry metallic sound echoed through the arena. The creature revealed itself for a brief moment.
It was tall, slender, with long limbs and thin plates covering its arms and legs. The hands ended in narrow, elongated blades. The face was smooth, expressionless.
In the same second, it disappeared again.
"Extremely fast," murmured Rai'kanna.
The distortion appeared behind Lyannis.
I was already advancing, but Elara fired another arrow before I completed the movement. The creature dodged at the last moment, but was forced to alter its trajectory.
It was testing.
It did not attack with fury. It evaluated reactions.
"It's looking for the weakest point," I said.
As if confirming it, the presence came directly toward me and, a few centimeters away, shifted its axis and advanced toward Elara.
She did not retreat.
She released the bow.
The demon materialized in front of her with a descending strike. The narrow blade cut the air in a straight line.
Elara took half a step to the side.
The attack passed by centimeters.
She pulled the short dagger from her waist and deflected the demon's blade using his own momentum. There was no frontal clash. There was redirection.
The creature disappeared again.
Elara already had the bow back in her hands.
She fired.
The arrow struck the demon's leg at the exact moment he reappeared. It did not pierce deeply, but it altered the balance.
He retreated in a short displacement and vanished again.
Now there was a difference.
The movement was no longer perfectly fluid.
"He's adjusting to eliminate first the one who reacts best," said Lyannis.
"Then let him come," I replied.
I looked at Elara.
She nodded slightly.
The group stepped back a few paces, opening space. We maintained a support position, but without interfering.
The arena became silent again.
The distortion appeared on the left, then on the right, then behind. Short sequences, almost impossible to predict.
Elara did not rotate her body excessively.
She listened.
The slight displacement of air before the materialization.
When the presence appeared directly above her, descending in a vertical cut, Elara was already moving. She slid her right foot, leaned her body, and fired from below upward.
The arrow pierced the plate of the creature's left arm.
The demon landed a few meters away, this time visible for longer.
It attempted a new assault, alternating positions at extreme speed, creating multiple successive distortions.
I could intervene.
But it was not necessary.
Elara had already understood the pattern.
It was not random.
There were three recurring reappearance points, forming an invisible triangle around her.
When the distortion appeared at the first point, she did not shoot.
She waited.
At the second, she did not either.
At the third, she fired before the form even completed.
The arrow pierced the center of the torso at the exact moment of materialization.
The creature faltered.
It tried to disappear again, but there was a delay.
Elara had already drawn the next arrow.
The second shot struck the base of the neck.
The demon fell to its knees.
It still tried to raise the blade.
Elara approached two steps and fired at close distance.
The core was pierced.
The presence dissipated slowly, like smoke being absorbed by the ground.
Silence.
The arena returned to its initial stillness.
I approached Elara.
She was breathing in a controlled manner. There was no euphoria. Only concentration gradually fading.
"Read the pattern in less than a minute," I said.
She stored the bow calmly.
"Speed does not mean unpredictability."
Liriel smiled discreetly.
Rai'kanna crossed her arms, satisfied.
Lyannis nodded.
Vespera was observing the spot where the creature had disappeared.
"This floor was a test of precision under pressure."
I looked again at the marks on the ground.
They made sense now.
The dungeon had created an environment favorable to extreme mobility.
But speed alone did not win.
Precision won.
We moved toward the staircase that revealed itself at the back of the arena.
As we descended, I felt something different.
It was not only confidence.
It was clarity.
Each of them had overcome an individual challenge within that dungeon.
Liriel in technique.
Rai'kanna and Lyannis in coordination.
Vespera in control.
Now Elara in reading and execution.
The Abyss was raising the level.
And we were responding accordingly.
The next test would probably not allow isolation.
But that was not a concern.
Because, at that moment, I was certain of something simple.
Elara was no longer just long-range support.
She was a decisive force by her own merit.
And the seventh floor was completed.