After the battle in the dungeon, they rested for a while before stepping into the glowing magic circle. The air shimmered around them, the sigils pulsing with a rhythm like a heartbeat. Lior, still exhausted, took a deep breath. "Everyone ready?"
Ignis smirked, his flame burning low but steady. "As ready as we'll ever be."
The light consumed them.
When Lior and the others emerged, the first thing they noticed was the chill — a deep, piercing cold that wasn't physical but rather… spiritual. It crawled beneath their skin, pressing against their souls. The dungeon around them was different — the walls weren't made of stone anymore but of polished obsidian, engraved with golden runes that shifted and pulsed like living veins.
The 76th floor.
It felt like stepping into another realm.
Before they could even adjust, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the mist ahead — dozens, then hundreds. From the fog emerged a horde of massive figures, each covered in black armor carved with glowing red inscriptions. Their eyes gleamed like molten lava, and in their hands, they carried rune-blades that hummed with cursed energy.
"Rune Orcs…" Orion muttered, gripping his sword. "Their levels… over 600. A full battalion."
Lior's expression hardened. "Aqua, Sylph—" He paused, realizing their presence wasn't with him. Aqua and Sylph were still recovering in the void; their injuries from the battle with Orion's trial were too deep to risk summoning them again.
That left Terra, Ignis, Solaris, Night, and Orion.
The five stood ready as the Rune Orcs roared and charged, shaking the floor beneath their feet.
"Lior," Orion said calmly, stepping forward, "rest for now. You've fought enough. We will hold the line."
Before Lior could argue, Ignis slammed his flaming fists together. "Yeah, boss. Let us handle this one."
Terra roared, summoning earthen spikes across the battlefield, while Solaris and Night dashed forward in perfect sync — beams of light and streaks of darkness weaving together as they cut through the first wave. The battle was chaos — explosions of fire, bursts of shadow, slashes of divine light.
But even with their power, the Rune Orcs' numbers kept growing.
"Damn it…" Lior muttered, checking the system interface hovering beside him. "There's too many."
As he scanned through his skills, something caught his attention — Fusion Skill: Level 2 Unlocked.His eyes widened. "It evolved…"
The new description read:
[Fusion Lv.2 — Allows summoner to merge two elemental entities simultaneously.][Compatibility rates determine success. Mana consumption increases exponentially.]
Lior scrolled quickly through the list of his companions.The fusion compatibility readings flickered before him:
Ignis + Terra → 92.1%
Aqua + Sylph → 88.5%
Solaris + Night → 99.7%
"Solaris and Night…" Lior whispered. "That's almost perfect."
Without hesitation, he activated the skill."System — initiate dual fusion. Solaris and Night!"
The system chimed, "Fusion Initiated — Compatibility: 99.7%. Mana drain: Extreme."
A surge of blinding light and darkness engulfed the field. The Rune Orcs halted, shielding their faces as the two opposing forces twisted and intertwined. Light bled into shadow, shadow bled into light, until the two became one.
When the brilliance faded, a new being stood at the center — a tall figure cloaked in shifting light and shadow, his eyes like twin eclipses. A blade of black and gold rested on his shoulder, humming with cosmic energy.
Lior felt the mana signature and nearly staggered. "W–who… what are you?"
The being turned, his voice calm but resonant, carrying both warmth and menace."I am Eclipse, the balance of light and shadow. The reflection of all that exists between dawn and dusk."
The air cracked around him as he raised his sword.With a single slash, the space in front of him distorted — a void-like black hole spiraled open, pulling hundreds of Rune Orcs into it. Their screams echoed briefly before being silenced completely. When the vortex closed, nothing remained but a smooth, glassy crater where the monsters had stood.
Ignis let out a low whistle. "Well… that's new."
Orion sheathed his blade, impressed. "He wields the equilibrium of creation itself."
The battle was over in seconds. But Lior was gasping for breath, falling to one knee as his mana plummeted. The system alerts flashed violently.
[Warning: Mana Drain Critical!][Summoner's capacity below 5%. Elementals at risk of instability.]
Eclipse turned his head, watching Lior with quiet concern before dissolving into twin spheres — one of golden light, one of black flame — both returning to the void.
As the others gathered, Lior checked his status window again. His heart sank.Orion alone consumed five times the mana all his other elementals used combined. Summoning all six at once was impossible now.
He clenched his fist. "I'll need to train my mana… or else we're going nowhere."
But before he could plan further, a new notification appeared:
[System Notice: Floor Completion Time Limit — 7 Days Remaining][Failure to clear before deadline will result in forced ejection to upper floors.]
Lior frowned. "Less than a week…"
Moving back up would take too long, and if the system expelled them, all their progress could be lost. He looked at his companions — battered, tired, but determined. "We move forward. No turning back."
The group nodded, and they advanced deeper into the unknown.
The deeper they went, the thicker the fog became. Their voices echoed faintly, and shadows danced across the walls like living things. Just as Lior began to sense something ahead, a massive surge of mana exploded through the air.
"Ambush!" Orion roared.
Out of the fog burst a colossal creature — a Draconic Centaur, a high-class hybrid beast covered in scales and armor, its crimson eyes glowing with intelligence. It swung its halberd, shattering the ground and scattering the party.
A violent quake shook the dungeon.Lior felt himself being thrown, his body hitting cold stone. His vision blurred as he heard the cries of his elementals being separated.
Ignis and Aqua fell into one direction, Terra, Solaris, and Sylph into another. Night crashed beside Lior, shielding him with a wave of shadow. Orion had already been in the void, out of range to defend.
When Lior opened his eyes again, all was silent. The air was thick with static mana. Night was sitting beside him, his obsidian hair drifting weightlessly.
"You're finally awake," he said calmly.
Lior sat up, groaning. "Where are the others?"
Night shook his head. "Scattered. This floor… it's divided into layers. Different dimensional spaces."
Lior tried to summon a tracking spell — Trace, Mana Sense, even Echo Search — but every attempt fizzled instantly.
"It's not working…" he muttered. "Something's suppressing our abilities."
Night's eyes narrowed as he looked around. "Then we're trapped."
Lior clenched his fists. "No. We're not staying here. We'll find them."
But deep within the cold, black corridors of the 76th floor, unseen eyes were already watching them — waiting for the moment to strike again.
And far away, in another layer of the dungeon, Ignis looked up from the burning crater where he and Aqua had landed. "Looks like we're not alone here either…"