Chapter 306: Ironstorm Fortress (Part 2)

The massive iron gate opened slowly, metal scraping against metal in a sound that echoed through the whole fortress. Beyond it lay an enormous chamber, broken weapons scattered across the floor, old armor piled everywhere, headless statues lining the walls.

Raze looked around. "Where are the monsters?"

"There aren’t any," Elden said, studying the space.

Kai didn’t relax. Something about the room felt wrong. He scanned upward, then toward the distant walls. Nothing.

BOOM!

The chamber shook, dust falling from the ceiling. Raze’s grin vanished. "Okay."

BOOM!

Kai’s hand moved toward the Fractured Blade. "Something’s coming."

"Yes," Tiamat said quietly.

"Strong?"

"Stronger than what you’ve fought so far."

He smiled faintly. "Good."

A massive shadow emerged from the darkness, iron scraping stone as a gigantic creature stepped forward. Its body resembled living armor, four arms, two massive legs, a glowing core visible inside its chest, lightning crawling through cracks along its plating.

[Ironstorm Overlord — Level: 65.]

Raze’s eyes lit up. "Level sixty-five."

"The highest we’ve encountered so far," Elden said.

Kai studied it. Dense mana. Heavy movement, but controlled. "Don’t underestimate it."

"Wouldn’t dream of it," Raze said, raising the Ruinbreaker.

The Overlord vanished.

"Move!" Kai shouted.

BOOM!

The spot where Raze had stood exploded. He was already several meters clear, grinning. "Fast too."

The Overlord raised one arm, lightning gathering around it. Elden raised his staff, seven magic circles forming, overlapping, merging.

"Barrier."

A massive wall formed just as the lightning cannon fired.

BOOOOOOM!

The chamber flashed white, the barrier shaking violently, Elden’s boots sliding backward under the strain.

"That’s powerful," he said, jaw tight.

"Need help?" Raze called.

"Not yet."

Elden rotated the staff, and the barrier’s shape shifted, bending the lightning upward instead of blocking it outright. The bolt tore through the ceiling.

CRACK!

"You redirected it," Kai said.

"The staff can modify the structure of active spells."

"Useful."

"Very."

Raze charged, and the Overlord swung all four arms. He blocked the first, CLANG!, blocked the second, BOOM!, took the third against his armor, BOOM!, sliding backward as the Berserker’s Aegis flared red.

"There it is," he said, grinning.

The Overlord attacked again, and Raze didn’t dodge, raising Ruinbreaker to catch it head-on.

BOOM!

The blade glowed brighter.

"Keep hitting me," he said.

"That’s a terrible strategy," Elden called over.

"It’s working."

Another hit landed. Raze absorbed it fully, then swung.

"My turn."

BOOOOOOOM!

The pressure wave tore across the chamber, launching the Overlord through several pillars.

Kai whistled. "That’s considerably stronger than before."

"Exactly," Raze said, pleased.

The Overlord recovered instantly, charging toward Elden. Kai moved fast, not reaching for a major Class Emulation, simply activating Stormcall, wind wrapping his body, lightning gathering along his blade. He cut sideways, and the strike caught its leg.

BOOM!

Its movement stuttered.

"Opening," Elden said immediately, seven circles blooming around him. "Sevenfold Lance."

Seven concentrated beams tore into its exposed armor.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Raze surged through the gap, and Kai deliberately held back. This one belonged to them.

The Overlord started attacking wildly, and Elden set several Mana Anchors around the battlefield, a barrier, a binding field, a lance, a gravity well, restricting its movement piece by piece.

"You prepared all of that already?" Raze asked.

"The staff lets me store spells inside the Anchors."

"That’s terrifying."

"You say that like your sword isn’t capable of leveling buildings."

"That’s different."

Kai laughed. "How?"

Raze paused. "...It just is."

The Overlord slammed all four fists into the ground.

BOOOOOOM!

The fortress trembled, the floor splitting, massive iron pillars rising through the cracks, lightning racing along the fissures. Gravity shifted without warning.

Kai’s feet left the ground. Raze grabbed a pillar. Elden conjured a floating platform. Kai used Air Step to catch himself.

"It can change the dungeon?" Raze asked.

"It’s activating the fortress," Elden said.

"Then the dungeon itself is part of its weapon," Kai said, looking around.

The Overlord roared, and the whole fortress answered, hundreds of lightning bolts descending at once. The three of them scattered, Elden left, Raze right, Kai holding the center.

Kai noticed it happening even mid-fight, the Overlord deliberately separating them.

Of course, Tiamat said, unprompted.

"You sound unsurprised."

"Disasters learn."

His expression hardened. "Don’t let it isolate you!" he shouted.

"Got it!" Raze called back.

Elden began building something bigger. One circle. Three. Seven. Fourteen, and still climbing.

"How many?" Raze asked.

"Enough."

"That’s still not a number."

Elden ignored him, the circles converging, the staff glowing bright with the accumulated mana.

He has improved, Tiamat observed.

"You noticed too?"

"His control is much better than before."

The spell finally stabilized. "Convergence."

A massive lattice of light descended, pinning the Overlord’s arms, slowing it entirely.

"Now," Elden said, exhaling.

Raze stepped forward, armor glowing intensely, the Ruinbreaker overflowing with stored force.

"I’ve been waiting for this."

He charged as the Overlord fought the binding spell, jumping and raising the blade overhead.

"Ruinbreaker!"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The attack tore straight through its chest, the armor cracking, then breaking outright, the glowing core exposed underneath.

Raze landed heavily. "There’s your opening."

Kai nodded, stepping forward, no need for anything beyond the Fractured Blade. Distortion activated, the world slowing by a fraction, the exact point revealing itself, the exact angle.

One step. One slash.

SHING!

The blade pierced straight into the core. The Overlord froze, lightning dying across its body, all four arms dropping.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

It collapsed entirely.

Silence.

Raze looked at the wreckage. "That was satisfying."

"Agreed," Elden said, lowering his staff.

"Good fight," Kai said, smiling.

[Boss Defeated.]

[Dungeon Cleared.]

[Experience Acquired.]

Kai felt the surge move through him.

[Level Up.]

[Level: 72.]

He exhaled. "...Seventy-two."

The feeling landed differently than his last breakthrough, his body settling deeper, his mana feeling more layered, Stormcall responding a fraction smoother than before.

"Your body is adapting," Tiamat said.

"To your Authority?"

"Among other things."

Kai smiled. "Then I’ll keep going."

The Overlord’s remains began breaking apart, several items falling loose.

[Distortion Applied.]

[Drop Quality: Optimized.]

Kai gathered them by hand. High-grade mana cores. Rare materials. A strange ring. A dark-blue crystal humming with faint contained lightning.

He picked it up. [Stormheart Crystal.]

"Useful," Tiamat said immediately.

"For what?"

A pause. "You’ll find out."

He sighed. "You really enjoy saying that."

"Yes."

He laughed, stowing everything.

Raze eyed the ring. "Anything useful?"

Kai checked it. [Fortress Barrier Ring — Legendary.] [Creates a temporary defensive barrier around the wearer.]

"I’ll take one," Raze said.

"We can distribute the rest when we get back," Elden said.

The fortress began shaking around them.

"Not again," Raze groaned.

"Dungeon collapse," Elden confirmed.

Walls crumbled inward as they ran, a bridge collapsing ahead of them. Elden conjured a platform on the fly, Raze leaping across it, Kai clearing the gap with Air Step. Another wall gave way, and Raze cleared it with a single swing.

BOOM!

"Clear!"

Kai laughed. "You’re enjoying this."

"Of course."

They reached the entrance and crossed together, and the instant the last of them cleared the threshold—

BOOOOOOM!

The gate collapsed, blue fragments scattering across the street before fading entirely.

"Another one," Raze said, glancing back.

Elden checked his status. "And we’re all closer to the next breakthrough."

"Then we keep going," Kai said.

"Another dungeon?" Raze asked, grinning.

"Another dungeon."

They started walking back toward Mythal, the city still under construction around them, new relay towers going up, hunters training in every open street, Astral Church members working alongside them all.

Kai suddenly remembered the countdown, the Candidate’s voice, the Six Calamities, the locked city, his own place at the center of it.

He stopped.

Raze glanced back. "Kai?"

Kai looked toward the horizon. "...Only twenty days left."

Elden’s expression sobered. "It’ll pass quickly."

"I know."

Raze gripped the Ruinbreaker, grinning. "I can’t wait!"