Shojiro didn't move.
The skeletal giant's arm came crashing down like a guillotine of pure bone and wrath. The impact hit square across his chest, flattening him into the ground.
The entire floor shook, bone dust bursting into the air like white ash.
Pain screamed through his ribs — his entire torso cracked, every nerve lit aflame.
But… there was no explosion.
No bone shards. No detonation.
Only silence.
Shojiro gasped, blinking through the agony.
It didn't explode.
The giant skeleton withdrew its arm, rising again, head tilting slightly as if watching him think.
Shojiro coughed up blood and forced himself to stand. His chest glowed faintly as Yggdrasil's healing filled the cracks in his ribs, muscles reforming with wet, grinding noises.
He spat a glob of crimson onto the floor and laughed breathlessly.
"So that's it, huh…? The tower punishes cowards… and now it punishes fear."
The skeleton lunged again, its claw whistling through the air. Every instinct screamed for him to dodge — but he gritted his teeth and took a step forward instead.
The strike connected.
He blocked with his forearm, bone meeting flesh — his skin split open, muscle tearing apart from the force. But he didn't fall.
The explosion never came.
He grinned through the blood.
"Got you."
The creature recoiled slightly, its massive skull tilting back. Shojiro could almost feel its confusion — or maybe its approval.
He clenched his fists, the faint pulse of Vythra stirring again beneath his sternum, stronger this time. Every beat of his heart made his veins flicker faintly red.
"You want me to stand my ground?"
He took another step forward, dragging his feet through the crimson dust.
"Fine. I'll become the wall that doesn't break."
The skeleton swung again. Shojiro didn't dodge.
He caught the arm this time. His muscles screamed, bones straining — but the momentum stopped.
He twisted, the echo of his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. The pulse of crimson light flared from his chest and spread into his arm.
For the briefest second — the tingling returned.
Vythra.
The skeletal limb began to crack beneath his grip, fractures glowing red before shattering completely. The creature howled — a deep, echoing sound that shook the chamber.
Shojiro didn't hesitate. He charged in, fists flying. Every strike met bone and broke it apart. The Vythra inside him burned hotter with each impact, syncing perfectly with his rage.
He roared, the sound tearing from his throat — half agony, half exhilaration.
"COME ON! I'M NOT DODGING!"
He slammed his glowing fist into the skeleton's skull.
The head exploded into shards of white dust and crimson light.
The body fell apart, disintegrating into a storm of fading fragments.
For a long, heavy moment, Shojiro just stood there — chest heaving, sweat and blood dripping onto the bone floor.
Shojiro wiped the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.
The shattered remains of the giant skeleton were scattered across the bone floor, dissolving into a fine white dust. The stairway still shimmered ahead, waiting.
He exhaled slowly.
"Guess that's—"
The ground trembled.
Once.
Twice.
Then violently.
The dust didn't fade. It rose.
Tiny fragments of bone started swirling through the air, moving with impossible purpose — orbiting each other like planets caught in gravitational pull. The storm gathered mass, density, and intent.
Shojiro's eyes widened.
"What the hell…?"
The cyclone of bone split — cleanly, violently.
Two separate vortices formed side by side, spinning faster and faster until the air itself began to tear.
From the chaos, two forms emerged.
Both skeletal giants — mirror images of the first one, but slimmer, sharper, their joints reinforced by a lattice of crimson light that pulsed like arteries. The sockets of their skulls burned with pale red fire, empty yet furious.
The air pressure dropped.
Shojiro's lungs constricted; even breathing hurt.
He took a single step back out of instinct—
and froze.
The moment his heel scraped the ground behind him, both skeletons moved.
Instantly.
Their heads snapped toward him, the crimson fires flaring brighter — almost mocking him.
Like the tower itself was laughing.
He spat blood again, his chest rising with a grin that didn't reach his eyes.
"Guess you just want me to die here, huh?"
The two skeletons let out an inhuman shriek — a sound like stone grinding against bone. Then they charged.
The impact was earth-shattering. Shojiro ducked under the first swing, spun, and caught the second's elbow with his forearm. His muscles screamed. The hit was heavy enough to send cracks through the floor.
He barely managed to twist free — his body moving on instinct, his heartbeat pounding faster, harder.
Each throb sent a flicker of crimson light up his veins.
He felt it this time — the rhythm. The tower was testing his pulse, not just his strength.
One of the skeletons swung down again, and Shojiro met it head-on — a collision of raw force.
Bone shattered, flesh tore, but he didn't fall.
The second giant's hand came from the side, slamming into him with a thunderous crack. He was thrown backward, smashing through a pillar of fused vertebrae.
He groaned, dragging himself to his feet as Yggdrasil's healing filled his broken ribs.
He spat out blood and bone dust, then grinned again — eyes burning like embers.
"Alright… two of you then."
He rolled his shoulders, the faint hum of Vythra vibrating just beneath his skin.
"Good. Let's make this interesting."
The skeletons roared in answer — soundless yet deafening.
And then, they charged again, both in perfect sync — like the tower itself had decided this floor wasn't over until Shojiro earned it.