Chapter 97: Phase Resonance

The descent through the floors below nineties-five felt like a swift, silent execution. The passages of cracked obsidian narrowed, the sulfurous miasma giving way to the thick, almost pitch-black pressure of the deep dungeon. Shnee and Karys led the vanguard with lethal precision, wasting not a single motion. Shnee's Celestial Silver rapier froze the mana conduits of incoming constructs, while Karys's Abyss Claws shattered their stone armor before they could form up. Perched on Shnee's shoulder, Kaede tracked enemy movements with sharp senses, barking concise commands in crisp English.

— "Two stalkers on the left flank! Shnee, freeze the ground!" Kaede called out, occasionally flicking her legs.

Dave walked a pace behind them, hands tucked deep into his trouser pockets, overcoat draped over his shoulders. His gaze rested casually on the structure of the walls. He refrained from intervening as long as the girls maintained their fluid momentum. It was only on the ninety-eighth floor, when an environmental quarantine tried to trap them in a localized gravity loop, that Dave sent a brief, invisible kinetic impulse into the runic node above the archway. The stone shattered with a dull crack, and the loop dissolved into dust, clearing their path to the absolute edge of the abyss.

As they crossed the threshold of the ninety-ninth floor, the chamber ahead opened into a colossal, circular amphitheater lined with dark violet basalt. In the very center of the room, hovering above a cracked floor grate, floated a slender figure.

The Floor 99 Boss: The Phase Resonator.

A four-meter-tall guardian carved from dark violet, polished obsidian. Its body lacked a fixed outline — afterimages vibrated around its armor as if the construct were constantly shifting through physical space. In its hands rested a heavy, two-handed basalt greatsword pulsing with violet discharges.

Karys charged immediately. Vaulting into the air, she delivered a ferocious horizontal slash with her Abyss Claws aimed straight at the monster's chest.

WHISH!

The black claws passed right through the Resonator's chest as if cutting through smoke. The monster's armor didn't suffer a single scratch, and Karys flew right through its transparent silhouette, landing on bent knees behind it.

— "What the...?" Karys hissed, spinning around in a low crouch. — "I passed right through him like mist!"

Shnee lunged at the boss from the flank, executing a lightning-fast rapier thrust toward its shoulder joint. The transparent blade of Celestial Silver slipped through empty space, meeting no physical resistance. The Resonator didn't even flinch — its armor vibrated at high frequency, remaining entirely outside the physical phase.

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On Shnee's shoulder, Kaede stiffened, her multiple eyes narrowing in focus.

— "Shnee, stop! He's not physical right now! His frequency is shifting phase!" she called out in English.

The Resonator swung its heavy basalt greatsword. At the exact moment of the swing, the phase vibrations around its arm abruptly ceased. A deep, resonant whistle cut through the air as the blade came crashing down toward Shnee with crushing momentum.

CLANG!

Shnee barely managed to form a frost barrier, which shattered into thousands of shards under the sheer tonnage. The force of the impact drove her back several meters.

Dave, standing at the edge of the chamber with his hands in his pockets, observed the exchange with a slight raise of his eyebrow. There was no panic in his mind — only a calm, analytical breakdown of the problem.

— "Conservation of mass and momentum," Dave muttered under his breath, scratching the back of his neck with a thumb. — "To land a physical blow, he needs mass. And to have mass, he has to become one hundred percent solid in our phase for that split second. Pure logic."

Dave stepped forward, his coat remaining steady on his shoulders.

— "Girls, change of tactics," he said in a calm, confident voice. — "Don't hit him when he dodges. Wait until he tries to strike you. Karys, take his swing on your armor. Shnee, drive your frost directly into the point of contact."

Karys understood in a fraction of a second. She bared her fangs, planting her feet firmly on the basalt floor, hardening her black basilisk armor and crossing her claws before her chest.

The Resonator spotted the exposed target. It lunged forward, pouring all its momentum into a heavy, overhead vertical swing.

As the basalt sword descended, the phase vibrations around the monster vanished. The construct solidified completely in the physical world.

BOOM!

The heavy blade slammed into Karys's crossed claws. The stone floor beneath her cracked, but her black leather armor held against the impetuous blow.

— "Now, Shnee!" Kaede shouted in English. — "Lock his blade!"

Shnee didn't hesitate. She drove her rapier straight into the contact point between the basalt greatsword and Karys's claws. A wave of absolute frost erupted from the Celestial Silver blade. Within a split second, a thick layer of ice encased the hilt and shoulder joint of the Resonator, pinning it to its weapon and preventing it from shifting phase again.

The Resonator froze, locked to the floor.

Dave appeared directly in front of it. He executed Lynx Footwork so silently that the monster didn't even register his presence. Dave's hands were still in his trouser pockets.

— "Thanks for the show, but we're in a hurry for Floor 100," he said quietly.

In the final split second, Dave pulled his right hand from his pocket, compressed his material of will over his knuckles, and delivered a short, silent zero-distance strike directly into the trapped monster's chest.

THUD!

The concentrated force surged through the violet armor. Internal resonance tore the construct apart from the inside. A spiderweb of glowing fractures spread across the Resonator's body before the four-meter titan shattered into a torrential shower of violet dust and crystal shards.

Silence fell over the chamber. In the center of the room, behind the remains of the boss, a pair of monumental black gates carved with abyss runes groaned and swung open.

Dave slid his hand back into his pocket, straightened his collar, and smiled at Karys and Shnee.

— "Smooth work, girls. Floor 100 is right behind those doors."