Chapter 228: Can you swim?

[Your lobby has gone live on the Sixth Floor]

"Uhh... gotta go. See you later," Kaelen said quickly and dissolved his shadow clone to return to the elevator just as the angel’s gate slid open.

He didn’t give Lysandra a reply, as he didn’t know what she was thinking and, for some reason, didn’t want to know.

What reward could she possibly want at an inn?

A Happy Meal? A hot bath?

It could be anything, but there was that one thing he wanted to ignore that kept grinning at him from the back of his mind.

Lysandra was innocent, and it was just his intrusive thoughts sprinkling those things into his mind.

He was inclined to treat her to whatever she wanted because she had helped him a great deal. But until then, his only focus should be reaching the Ninth Floor by sunrise.

"Rise."

Swoosh—

The Sixth Floor was a dark castle plagued by ghouls and spectres.

Kaelen’s lips curled up.

Without stepping out of the elevator this time, his shadow dragons, led by SKD, moved at an incredible speed, spewing flames from the top to the bottom, across each corridor, from the inside out and vice versa.

The final bosses were the duke of the estate and his wife, who were also undead but intelligent. But as strong as they were, they were no match for the supreme flames.

[Your lobby has become the first party to clear the Sixth Floor]

Kaelen’s smile widened as he commanded Elsa to keep the elevator rolling.

[You have gone live on the Seventh Floor]

The Seventh Floor was unique. It was a ruin crawling with all kinds of dangerous beasts, but in the heart of the ruins was a mummified colossal dragon that sprang into action as soon as it detected intruders.

It didn’t spew flames or magma. What came out of its throat was poisonous gas that melted everything it came into contact with. Not even his shadow summons or SKD could escape its poisonous damage.

But there was one loophole Kaelen discovered almost immediately:

The poisonous gas was highly flammable.

As a Slime who spent most of his battles blowing up everything with flammable gas, Kaelen had a great idea.

He used himself as bait, and, using the natural speed of a Tier 100 lifeform, he ran around the ruins while the enraged dragon chased after him, spewing its poisonous gas everywhere.

He made sure to reach every corner of the ruins, which resulted in the entire area being covered in gas. Then, he made a run for a dilapidated window, and just as the dragon caught up to him, spewing its poisonous gas that swallowed him, Kaelen managed to jump out of the window in time for SKD, who was already waiting at a corner, to step out and let out a single dry cough.

The effect was instant and immense.

Booooooom—!!!

Obsidian flames covered the entire ruins in an instant and rose into the sky in a mushroom cloud.

A series of kill notifications flashed across Kaelen’s vision, and among them was the dragon because, of course, nothing came out unscathed from the blast.

Kaelen’s skin, which was covered in blisters, began healing slowly. He didn’t have any more Health Potions and had to make do with the natural healing process of a Tier 100.

That was when SKD approached him with a Health Potion.

Kaelen was surprised as he stared at the potion.

"Where’d you get this?" he asked in surprise.

"It’s from Kenora, milord."

"Kenora? But how..." Kaelen’s eyes widened as he immediately understood. "It worked...?"

His plan to smuggle items from his castle through SKD had worked. The Supreme Elder Dragon had used a Health Potion to cross over, which made it possible for him to carry anything in as well.

With this revelation, Kaelen could go back to crafting all his potions and many more through Kenora, who had access to her world.

He quickly downed the mid-grade Health Elixir and watched as his healing process was instantly boosted.

He jumped to his feet in excitement when SKD handed him another item.

It was an envelope.

"She asked me to hand this to you as well," SKD said.

"Huh? What’s inside?" he asked as he accepted the flimsy envelope.

"It’s a letter, milord. I didn’t look inside."

Kaelen stared at the envelope for a moment. "A letter? What could she be writing to me?"

He folded it and threw it into his inventory for later.

[Your lobby has become the first party to clear the Seventh Floor]

"Let’s go!"

One more floor to the Ninth.

Kaelen shadow-stepped back to the elevator and immediately began heading for the Eighth Floor with a grin.

He was certain the poison dragon would hold the other lobbies up for a while, which should be enough for him to achieve the first clear of the Eighth Floor as well.

Since the tower rankings would go live on the Ninth Floor, that should be enough to put Kaelen at number one.

[You are live on the Eighth Floor]

The elevator shook slightly, and the angel’s gate slowly slid open.

[Lobby #111 has gone live on the Eighth Floor]

"What the hell?" Kaelen blurted out in surprise.

She had already caught up with him so quickly?

Don’t tell me that lady from her party used a flute to control the poison dragon.

[Lobby #001 has gone live on the Eighth Floor]

"Oh, just great," Kaelen mumbled to himself sarcastically.

Even if they caught up, none of it mattered because his dragons would simply blow the entire floor up and definitely give him the first—

Kaelen trailed off when his eyes landed on what lay beyond the angel’s gate.

"What the..." Saha mumbled to the side as all their attention was fixed on the same thing.

The ocean.

Surrounding the elevator was an endless body of ocean water with no land in sight. Above it raged a storm that turned the sky black, with occasional flickers of lightning and the rumbling of thunder.

The waves were also so enormous that water poured into the elevator and almost swept them off their feet, attempting to pull them into the storm.

Kaelen caught himself in time, steadying his balance in the storm, while Elsa grabbed onto the edge of the gate and caught Saha’s hand just before the waves could take her.

From the looks of it, the Eighth Floor challenge was likely underwater, in a storm that could drown even a professional swimmer.

"SKD, can you swim?" Kaelen immediately asked.

The Supreme Elder Dragon was silent for a moment. "I’m sorry, milord. My domain is the sky, and I have never been underwater."

"...Neither have I," Kaelen mumbled to himself with a sense of dread.

Shit.