Chapter 512: Reaching the Exit

"It worked!" Emilia exclaimed, her eyes widening as she read the message. "My sub-talent evolved to S-Level Soul Protection!"

"Damn..."

Just like that, the matter was settled, and they had no reason to remain in the chamber any longer.

After storing the remaining rewards in his inventory, Leon turned toward the enormous section of the wall that the Soul Warden had destroyed.

"That thing destroyed so much stuff that we can pretty much access any hallway in that direction," he explained, pointing toward the newly exposed passages. "If I had to guess, it probably came from the direction of the exit. It would have been roaming around near there until it sensed you."

It was only a hypothesis, but he believed his explanation seemed reasonable.

If he was right, following the trail of destruction might save them a considerable amount of time.

Emilia nodded, and the two of them began walking toward the damaged corridors.

Leon’s theory was proven correct far sooner than he had expected.

After following the trail of destruction left behind by the Soul Warden, he and Emilia reached the end of the broken corridors and entered a hall that looked noticeably different from the others they had encountered on the third floor.

The walls around them were still damaged in several places, but the structure of this chamber was much more orderly.

It only took them a few seconds to discover an opening that connected the hall to another enormous chamber: it was the exit chamber.

At the far end stood the gate leading to the top of the Tower of Souls, completely unguarded.

Leon examined the area carefully before nodding in satisfaction.

"So I guess I was right," he said. "The Soul Warden wanders around the gate unless it senses another soul, in which case it immediately charges toward them."

Once it sensed a target, it would abandon its usual route and rush toward the source, destroying anything that happened to stand in its way.

However, this also meant there probably wasn’t another floor boss.

If another player wanted to clear the third floor, they would need to collect five [Gate Fragments] from the chambers scattered throughout the area while avoiding the Soul Warden at all costs.

Once they gathered enough fragments, they could reach the exit and proceed to the top without ever fighting the monster.

At least, that was how the floor seemed to have been designed.

The problem was that avoiding the Soul Warden would be incredibly difficult if it could detect souls from considerable distances.

The third floor was enormous, and although its size provided plenty of places to hide, it didn’t really matter for the Soul Warden.

Even if someone managed to escape its attention for a while, there was no guarantee they would remain safe long enough to gather the necessary fragments.

’I’m guessing a lot of the souls from the first god-rank assessment fell to this floor.’

Leon couldn’t help wondering how many people had reached the third floor during previous assessments, only to encounter the Soul Warden and lose their lives before they could find the exit.

Some might have been strong enough to survive a direct encounter, but that didn’t mean they could defeat a monster with more than twenty-eight million combat power.

Perhaps one or two souls had managed to reach the top of the Tower of Souls, though Leon couldn’t know what had happened to them afterward.

’Hm.’

He dismissed the thought for now.

They needed five [Gate Fragments], and although Leon already had several, he couldn’t open the gate without the remaining pieces.

For the moment, their best option was to wait for Celeste and Violet to find their way to the chamber.

"It’ll probably be difficult for them since this floor is much larger than any of the others," Leon mumbled as he looked toward the surrounding corridors. "But thanks to the trail the Soul Warden left behind, they might be able to find us much more easily."

Emilia tilted her head, "How?"

"With this."

Leon pulled out the [Soulsworn Hammer], gripping its handle before approaching one of the chamber’s walls.

Without wasting any time, he raised the weapon and swung it against the stone.

BOOM!

The impact echoed throughout the chamber, producing a deep rumble that traveled into the surrounding corridors.

Leon immediately followed with another strike, then another, deliberately targeting the same area until cracks began spreading across the surface.

"Oh...!" Emilia’s eyes widened as she finally understood what he was doing. "You’re doing the same thing you did before!"

"Yes."

Leon continued smashing the wall with the hammer, making as much noise as possible.

If Celeste or Violet managed to get close enough to one of the broken corridors, they would have a much easier time figuring out where the sounds were coming from.

Even if they couldn’t see the exit chamber directly, the repeated impacts should be loud enough to guide them in the right direction.

He continued striking the wall for several minutes, gradually breaking apart large sections of stone.

The hammer’s power made the work relatively easy.

Emilia stayed nearby, keeping watch over the corridors while Leon continued his efforts.

Then, just as he was preparing to deliver another blow, a series of sounds echoed from somewhere in the distance.

Bam! Bam!

Leon immediately stopped swinging the hammer and turned toward the noise.

The sounds were coming from one of the long corridors leading into the chamber.

Emilia pointed toward the passage, her expression changing as a figure appeared at the far end.

"Someone’s coming! It’s... Violet!"

Violet was rushing toward them at full speed, her expression tense as she repeatedly glanced over her shoulder.

She seemed to have been running for quite some time, and even from a distance, Leon could tell that she was struggling to maintain her pace.

For a moment, he and Emilia wondered what had frightened her so badly, but the answer quickly became obvious: a horde of monsters was chasing her.

They filled much of the corridor behind her, their bodies crowding together as they charged forward.

Some were already attacking, sending projectiles and other abilities toward Violet, while the rest continued pursuing her without giving her an opportunity to slow down.

"THEY COULD HEAR THAT TOO!" Violet shouted as she rushed toward the chamber.

Leon’s attempt to attract the girls’ attention had apparently attracted these monsters as well.

It was an unfortunate side effect, but there was no time to worry about it now.

Violet continued freezing the ground behind her, creating slippery patches and walls of ice that slowed some of the pursuing monsters.

She also twisted her body to avoid incoming attacks whenever possible, but the horde was too large, and she couldn’t dodge everything while maintaining her speed.

If she continued running like this, it wouldn’t be long before she was overwhelmed.