Shojiro staggered, blood dripping from his mouth, sweat pouring down his face, but his eyes were sharp, focused.
He lunged at the first giant skeleton, closing the distance with a roar, and wrapped his arms around its neck in a desperate choke hold.
For a moment, it seemed like he might gain control.
But the skeleton's neck was unyielding — harder than any bone he had ever encountered. He felt the grinding resistance under his hands, then a sudden, agonizing snap of pain as his forearm began to crack under the strain.
Shojiro screamed, teeth gritting, red flashing behind his eyes. His grip faltered for just a fraction — enough.
The skeleton twisted, violent and precise, ramming Shojiro into the nearest wall of the tower. The impact was monstrous, sending shards of bone and stone exploding outward, leaving Shojiro in a crater carved into the wall. Dust rained down as he coughed and shook, tasting the acrid tang of blood and stone in his throat.
The second giant skeleton didn't hesitate. Its fists rained down into the crater, smashing with relentless force. Shojiro could have twisted away, could have dodged… but he remembered the floor's rule. Never dodge.
Instead, he clenched his teeth and took it head-on.
Pain lanced through his body, and for a heartbeat, his vision blurred. But then — deep in his chest, his life point flared.
The familiar tingle erupted, coursing through his veins and exploding outward. Vythra — raw, unfiltered, infinite — surged through him, coating his muscles, his skin, every fiber in a radiant crimson sheen. It wrapped around him like living armor, pulsing with each heartbeat.
The second skeleton's fist crashed into him again.
And for the first time, he felt nothing.
No pain. No impact. Only the steady, controlled rhythm of power flowing through him.
Shojiro's eyes glowed brighter, his heartbeat syncing with the pulsing of the Vythra coating. He could feel the skeleton's strength, its intent, every fiber of its being — and he smiled through the blood on his lips.
"Now… let's see who's stronger."
The air around him vibrated, the echoes of bone and stone colliding like thunder. The two giants roared in unison, but Shojiro didn't flinch.
With his arms now bristling with Vythra, he lunged forward, the crimson energy arcing off his fists as he prepared to strike the first skeleton again.
Shojiro steadied himself in the crater, crimson Vythra thrumming over his body, an aura like molten steel radiating from him. The skeletal giants loomed, fists raised, their bones grinding with anticipation. This time, there would be no holding back.
He surged forward like a crimson storm. His first strike was a spinning knee aimed at the first skeleton's ribs — CRACK! — the impact echoed like a hammer on stone, shards of bone flying like shrapnel. The skeleton staggered but didn't fall. Shojiro pivoted, delivering a savage right hook straight to its jaw. Bones shattered, teeth clattering to the floor, jaw hanging useless. Without pause, he followed with a spinning back-elbow into its temple, splintering skull fragments outward.
Before the skeleton could recover, Shojiro leapt onto its chest. He drove his elbows downward in rapid succession, Vythra surging through every strike. One — ribs crushed like dry twigs. Two — collarbones splintering. Three — vertebrae cracking audibly beneath his assault. With a final downward smash, the skeleton's torso split down the middle, jagged bones snapping apart like brittle wood. He grabbed the top half and hurled it like a javelin at the second skeleton, impaling its ribcage with a sickening crunch.
The second skeleton roared, swinging wildly, but Shojiro didn't flinch. Instead, he jumped onto its arm, slamming both fists into the shoulder joint repeatedly until the limb fractured and dangled uselessly. He climbed up the torso and landed a Vythra-infused knee into the skull — CRUNCH! — splitting it in half, bloodless shards scattering like shattered porcelain.
Shojiro didn't stop. He yanked out the fractured jaw of the first skeleton from his back, using it like a bludgeon, smashing into the second skeleton's ribcage. He followed with a spinning elbow into the back, crushing vertebrae until the bones splintered like dry twigs. With a vicious grin, he grabbed the remaining leg bone and drove it upward into the spine like a spear, snapping it entirely. The giant reeled backward, dust erupting from its broken frame.
But Shojiro's most brutal display came next. He dropped low, wrapping both arms around the first skeleton's neck in a Vythra-charged choke hold. Energy pulsed through his arms like molten iron. With one violent twist, the neck snapped audibly, vertebrae cracking like gunfire. He slammed the lifeless body into the ground repeatedly — THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! — until shards of bone jutted into the floor, and the head separated completely from the spine with a final CRACK!
The second skeleton, enraged and unbalanced, swung with both arms. Shojiro smirked, letting it hit — and then channeled his life pulse fully, coating himself in Vythra. Its fists struck nothing but an impervious, crimson shield. Pain bounced off him, leaving him unharmed, and in one fluid motion, Shojiro grabbed its jaw, yanked the head backward, and slammed it into the ground. He twisted violently, snapping the spine at the base, and ripped the remaining arms clean off, throwing them like clubs into the dust-strewn floor.
The final sequence was merciless. Shojiro leapt into the air, spinning like a red comet, his Vythra aura glowing brighter than ever. He slammed both feet into the second skeleton's chest repeatedly, each impact resonating like drumbeats of doom. Bones shattered, splintered ribs piercing the ground, and the skull finally exploded under the force, fragments spraying across the floor like shrapnel. Shojiro landed gracefully, chest heaving, crimson aura flickering across his frame.
When the dust settled, the two skeletal giants were no more — reduced to shattered, smoking remains. Their fragments twisted unnaturally, then dissolved into nothing, leaving behind a silence that pressed on the chamber. The first floor of the tower had been cleared — brutally, irreversibly cleared.
Then, with a groan of ancient bones forming anew, a staircase made of fused skeletal fragments emerged from the dust, spiraling upward. The third floor awaited, rules unknown, trials yet deadlier.
Shojiro inhaled sharply, the echo of the destruction still ringing in his ears. Every heartbeat sent waves of Vythra through his veins. He was alive. He was whole. And he was ready for the next level.