Chapter 131: The Real Test

Reiji listened quietly as the demon finished explaining everything it knew about Ander and the missing men. There were still countless questions swirling through his mind, but one thing was already certain. The information he had obtained was far more valuable than he had expected when he first entered this strange world. However, when Reiji asked why the demons were here, the demon immediately fell silent.

"Why are you here?" Reiji asked, his gaze fixed on the demon.

The demon refused to answer.

Reiji waited for several seconds, but the demon remained stubbornly silent, its eyes filled with defiance. Seeing that he wasn’t going to get anything else from it, Reiji’s expression became indifferent.

"Then I have no use for you."

Before the demon could react, Reiji’s figure vanished. A sharp flash passed through the air, and the demon’s head separated from its body before it could even realize that Reiji had moved. The body collapsed to the ground, and Reiji didn’t spare it another glance as he turned toward the staircase.

He continued climbing.

Several more floors passed as Reiji moved through the building, and every floor brought another group of demons or mutated beasts. None of them were capable of stopping him for long. His movements had become frighteningly fast, and the longer he fought, the more naturally his body seemed to respond to his thoughts.

The strange sensation from his bloodlines continued to ring inside his head. It wasn’t a voice, nor was it something he could properly describe. It felt more like an instinct that was slowly awakening within him. The Imperial Dragon Bloodline made him crave battle, while the Twin Nine-Tailed Fox Bloodline seemed to sharpen his thoughts, senses, and ability to adapt.

Several more monster cores dropped along the way, and Reiji collected them all. Among the cores was an Earth Core, which granted him the Earth-type skill Rumbling Earthquake. Another core gave him a lightning-based skill known as Lightning of the Gods. Reiji didn’t stop for long to examine either skill before continuing upward, as he was more interested in discovering just how far the power inside his body could take him.

Floor after floor disappeared behind him.

The monsters became stronger.

Reiji became faster.

By the time he finally reached Floor 35, he had already fought through countless demons and mutated beasts. He stepped onto the floor expecting another battle, but the moment he entered, he sensed something different.

A woman stood alone in the distance.

Unlike the other demons Reiji had encountered, she looked almost completely human. Her appearance was that of a beautiful woman, with nothing particularly monstrous about her body or face. There was, however, one feature that immediately stood out.

Her eyes were completely black.

The woman stared at Reiji for several seconds before a faint smile appeared on her face.

"So you’re the intruder who’s been killing the other Floor Guardians."

Reiji didn’t bother answering.

The moment the woman raised her hand, the entire floor changed.

The walls twisted.

The ground beneath Reiji’s feet disappeared.

Countless copies of the woman appeared around him, surrounding him from every direction. The scenery itself began changing, creating an endless maze of distorted images that made it impossible to distinguish reality from illusion.

Reiji narrowed his eyes.

The Twin Nine-Tailed Fox Bloodline immediately reacted.

His vision sharpened, and the false scenery began revealing subtle inconsistencies. Reiji could sense the distortion in the air and identify the points where the illusion was being manipulated.

’So this is another ability of the fox bloodline.’

He focused his mind and broke through the illusion.

The demoness’s expression changed.

"What?"

Reiji didn’t give her time to recover. His body vanished, and he appeared directly in front of her as flames erupted from his mouth, carrying the terrifying force of both dragonfire and sound.

[Dragonfire Sound Resonance!]

The attack struck the demoness with tremendous force, but instead of being overwhelmed, she raised her hand and created another illusion. The attack collided with it, yet the powerful flames and sound were somehow prevented from reaching her.

Reiji’s eyes widened slightly.

She had blocked it.

The demoness smiled. "My illusions aren’t limited to fooling your eyes. I can use them to interfere with attacks as well. Strong spells, skills, even physical attacks can be rendered useless if I manipulate the illusion around them properly."

Reiji stared at her for a moment before understanding the problem.

’So my skills won’t work against her.’

That wasn’t necessarily bad.

If his skills couldn’t reach her, then he simply wouldn’t use them.

Reiji’s body suddenly vanished, and he appeared behind the demoness with his fist already descending toward her head. However, his attack passed straight through her body.

Puff!

The demoness disappeared into smoke.

Reiji’s eyes narrowed.

’An illusion.’

What surprised him wasn’t that she had used one. It was the fact that he hadn’t been able to see through it.

His fox bloodline had allowed him to break through her previous illusion almost instantly, yet this time, she had successfully deceived his senses.

’She’s stronger than I thought.’

Instead of becoming frustrated, Reiji smiled.

The battle was beginning to excite him.

Something about the Imperial Dragon Bloodline seemed to be changing his personality. Dragons were powerful creatures that stood at the peak of strength, and the bloodline seemed to carry that instinct within him. The stronger his opponent became, the more Reiji wanted to fight.

He rushed forward again.

His fist smashed into the demoness’s side, sending her several meters backward. Before she could stabilize herself, Reiji appeared above her and brought his leg down. The demoness created another illusion to intercept the attack, but Reiji’s kick broke through it and struck her body.

Blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

She immediately created several copies of herself and scattered across the floor.

Reiji watched carefully.

This time, he wasn’t simply trying to break through her illusions.

He was studying them.

He watched how she created them, how they moved, and how she used them to deceive his senses. The longer he observed, the more he understood.

Then an idea appeared in his mind.

Reiji closed his eyes for a moment before the power of the Twin Nine-Tailed Fox Bloodline flowed through his body. When he opened them again, several copies of himself had appeared around the demoness.

The demoness stared at the illusions before laughing.

"Fufu, are you copying me now? How pathetic. Your illusions can’t possibly compare to mine."

Reiji ignored her.

His illusions suddenly rushed forward from every direction.

The demoness’s expression became serious as she immediately surrounded herself with dozens of illusions of her own. Her copies overlapped one another, forming a defensive formation that made it impossible to determine which figure was real.

The two sides collided.

Reiji’s illusions attacked from every direction, but the demoness’s illusions countered them just as quickly. Several of Reiji’s copies were destroyed, while the demoness continued moving between her own illusions to avoid the attacks.

Yet Reiji wasn’t surprised.

He was smiling.

The more he fought, the more clearly he could feel the power of his bloodlines awakening.

He rushed forward again, and this time his fist struck the demoness directly in the ribs. A second attack slammed into her shoulder, followed by a powerful kick that sent her crashing into the wall.

The damage wasn’t ordinary.

Every physical attack carried an overwhelming amount of force.

The demoness desperately tried to escape through her illusions, but Reiji continued adapting. His movements became faster, his attacks became more precise, and his understanding of the fox bloodline continued deepening.

The demoness could barely keep up.

His fists became blurs in her vision, his kicks arrived before she could properly react, and every attempt to escape through an illusion ended with Reiji finding her again.

She was being overwhelmed.

’This bastard...’

The demoness’s expression filled with fear as Reiji appeared directly in front of her once again.

She thought this was the end.

Then several figures suddenly appeared around Reiji.

Four demons attacked simultaneously.

Before Reiji could turn around, one of them struck his neck.

His head flew from his body.

Blood sprayed across the floor as his body collapsed, and his severed head landed several meters away. His vision became inverted as he stared toward the four demons standing in the distance, their faces hidden from his current angle.

"So this is the intruder who’s been killing all the other Floor Guardians," one of the demons said. "I didn’t think he was this weak. He actually struggled against her."

The demoness immediately shouted, "He’s not weak! He almost killed me!"

Reiji suddenly laughed.

"So the four of you are strong enough to cut my neck?"

The four demons froze.

Reiji’s body began regenerating.

Flesh rapidly formed around his severed neck, bones reconnected, and his body restored itself with terrifying speed. His dragon bloodline, combined with Mana Manipulation and his regeneration ability, allowed his body to recover completely in moments.

The demons stared at him in disbelief.

Reiji slowly stood upright and rolled his neck before looking at the five demons surrounding him.

His eyes were filled with excitement.

’This fight will be good.’

A grin spread across his face as he felt the two bloodlines stirring within him.

’With five powerful opponents in front of me, I might even be able to tap into the full potential of these two bloodlines.’

Reiji clenched his fists and looked at the demons.

"Come at me."