Within a mirror maze composed of countless mirrors, a figure clad in gray-black soft armor and wielding dual swords collapsed to the ground, his body pierced by various mirror cards.
The joints of his soft armor were dented and damaged.
The fatal wound was a card that had penetrated his brain directly.
Aruka emerged from the mirror behind him.
He gazed at the now-dead enemy.
This dual-swords-wielding enemy was the opponent Aruka had faced on the second floor.
Just as he had imagined.
This opponent possessed a Six Helix power.
However, the pressure of power meant that Alka easily overcame it.
But he was still in awe of his strength.
The surroundings vanished once more, transforming into the place he had entered from.
He pushed open the heavy door once more.
After opening it, his condition returned to normal.
The enemy Alka was about to face was a Nine Spiral, a Nine Spiral with perfect strength.
Based on the previous two battles, this one was definitely a top-tier foe.
Alka still remembered his Nine Spiral strength vividly; he had only recently advanced from that level.
He was somewhat anticipating it.
What kind of power could the enemy unleash at this stage?
As Alka entered, massive trees rose one after another, and boulders, dirt, and weeds emerged from the surroundings.
In a flash, Alka was in a primeval jungle.
It felt strangely real.
He could even smell the scent of vegetation and the earthy odor in the air.
It felt as if it had just rained.
"Is the terrain even being tailored this time?"
Alka couldn't help but grumble, leaping up a tree along the branches.
He surveyed his surroundings but didn't notice any suspicious movements or enemies.
He leaped once more onto another large tree.
Alka moved between the trees like a monkey.
This time, the enemy didn't attack.
Every movement left a mirror in the corners of some tree branches.
To help him observe the movements here.
However, after most of the day, Alka still hadn't found any trace of the enemy in the jungle.
He began to slow down his pace, conserving his energy and condition. He began to strategically place mirrors in various places to observe and control the entire environment.
The entire jungle was dead silent, and apart from the gentle sound of wind blowing through the leaves, nothing could be heard. There was a sound of wind behind him.
Aluka reacted quickly, and the mirror behind him also gave him a hint.
Instantly, he leaped from the tree branch.
After landing lightly, he glanced at his thigh, where three bloody streaks had appeared.
The enemy was too fast.
The bloodstains were tinged with dark green, clearly poisonous.
A dagger appeared in his hand, and without hesitation, he slashed away the flesh from his thigh. The liquid mirror enveloped the bleeding wound.
The pain irritated his spirit.
Aluka frowned, vigilantly sensing his surroundings.
A large amount of pink mist began to spread around him.
The enemy was hiding in the shadows, possessing exceptional concealment, making it difficult to detect.
The attack also contained poison.
A hidden jungle hunter?
Clearly, judging by the attack just now, it wasn't a humanoid enemy.
He hadn't noticed any trace of the enemy around him; he had been observing himself, intentionally avoiding the mirror.
Cleverly, he only revealed himself at the moment of the attack, then immediately retreated.
Alka crouched and slowly moved forward.
Suddenly, an explosion sounded behind him.
A mirror card hidden by Alka exploded, binding the enemy with several chains of water, allowing Alka to see what had ambushed him.
It was a cheetah-like creature, draped in emerald green, effortlessly blending in with its surroundings.
Three sharp claws jutted from the tips of its front paws, emitting a pale green glow.
A trigger mine card seemed to be particularly effective at this moment.
Alka couldn't help but smile.
As the enemy was bound, he instantly vanished from his position, the chains that had bound him waving in confusion.
That cheetah-like creature, bound tightly by them just moments ago, suddenly vanished.
Watching the creature vanish from its place,
Alka narrowed his eyes slightly. Good thing, it actually possessed the ability to teleport, and it looked like its priority was quite high.
What kind of second-stage cultivator could master such a power?
He couldn't help but silently grumble inwardly.
The forest environment had severely impacted the performance of his mirror maze.
Clearly, the mirror maze he had used in the previous round had been targeted.
A mirror image appeared on his face.
Alka remained motionless, as if he was determined to put the mirror on his face.
The mirrors he'd hidden throughout the forest began to slowly rotate, helping him survey his surroundings.
The surrounding branches were especially covered in mirrors.
The mechanism of this trial wouldn't allow this creature to escape; it was definitely still trying to figure out how to kill him.
Aurka frowned at the stinging pain from the wound on his thigh.
The poison seemed to be spreading again; even though the wound had healed quickly, a trace of it had remained.
This poison...
It was so disgusting. All I could feel was the poison paralyzing my nerves.
If only Matrisha were here.
He could feel a slight numbness creeping up his right thigh, and the numbness was spreading.
Not only was it preventing him from better controlling his body, it also prevented him from accurately understanding the toxin's effects.
How insidious!
Three enemies, two of them poisoned.
Looks like a quick victory is necessary.
The enemies seemed to be waiting for the poison to spread.
The figure of the Dream Reaper appeared in the mirror.
Alka's entire body instantly transformed, a robe of light and shadow enveloping him, and a black sickle appeared in his hand.
He was now capable of transforming into a creature with exceptional resistance to toxins, transforming parts of his digits into his legs.
The problem was that this creature was just an ordinary one, offering no improvement to Alka.
In fact, the incoordination of its limbs might even weaken Alka's strength.
A pink mist began to spread across the forest.
Alka, recklessly expending his magic power,
This time, Alka quickly spotted the enemy.
He used Flash, appearing beside the cheetah, and slashed at it with his sickle.
The cheetah vanished with incredible speed, and Alka threw his sickle the instant it vanished.
This time, he had to destroy his enemy. A massive pink mist spread out, rapidly draining his magic power even with the Dreamcatcher's protection.
The surrounding pink mist erupted simultaneously.
The cheetah that had just appeared in the distance was immediately dragged into the dream.
The thrown sickle spiraled towards him and struck him directly, its tip piercing through his body and engulfing him.
Alka vanished once again.
He reappeared with the sickle in hand, but the cheetah had vanished, leaving only a pool of blood still clinging to the tree branch.
"I smell it," Alka said with a smile. Although the enemy had vanished, the scent of blood was already lingering.
This was the best way to track him.
A mirror appeared at Alka's feet, and he immediately vanished.
When he reappeared, he was behind the cheetah.
There was the mirror Alka had left behind when he had passed by earlier.
Watching Alka pursue him once more.
The cheetah seemed to have given up on escaping and turned to charge at Alka.
At the same time, Alka had already swung his sickle.
Watching his sickle about to strike the enemy.
The cheetah suddenly lunged through the air, its front paws catching Alka's robe of light and shadow.
A rip appeared in the robe, proving the cloak's defensive capabilities were still reliable.
But several cards flew out and pierced the cheetah's body.
Water chains and flames exploded simultaneously, with one silver card even severing one of its hind legs.
The explosion and water chains instantly incapacitated it, sending it plummeting from midair.
Alka plummeted from the sky, his sickle, having missed its previous attack, thrust downward once more, piercing the cheetah.
After penetrating, it gave a sharp tug.
The cheetah died instantly.
Alka also sat on the ground, his right leg completely numb.
If he hadn't left the cheetah behind this time,
He would have almost lost the ability to attack.
The cheetah disappeared, and with it the forest.
Alka reappeared in the room.
Taking advantage of the slightest feeling still in his right leg,
Alka immediately dragged himself to the door.
He pressed his shoulder against the door, pushing forward with all his might.
Using the cautious feeling of his numb right leg, he exerted force.
Finally, in the final stage, he pushed the door open.
Sweeping force.
The numbness in Alka's right leg instantly disappeared, and along with it, the wound healed.
The mana and stamina he had consumed were instantly replenished, and his spirit, slightly fatigued by the pain, became refreshed.
It was as if the battle just now had never happened.
This feeling came over him instantly, leaving him feeling refreshed.
"This feels really good," Alka said, clenching his fists.
Although his strength had returned, he didn't immediately pass through the crack in the door and head to the fourth floor.
Because the enemy he would face ahead would be one of equal strength.
Based on the battles on the previous floors,
He would only have a few more spirals of power than his enemy, calculated based on the full loadout of the enemies in the Trial Grounds.
These few spirals of power wouldn't give him any advantage.
The enemy with nine spirals, aside from lacking a treasure, essentially possessed the best equipment to counter Alka.
But treasures are treasures after all, and the advantage they bring isn't easily compensated.
Although Alka paid a price.
An enemy tailored to his environment and his attack methods.
So, if he were to face an enemy of equal strength, would he still make a targeted choice based on his own situation? Thinking this, Alka entered the crack of the door.
What greeted him was an endless wasteland. Beneath his feet lay hard stone, not even a blade of grass.
On the ground, only a few rubbles were imprinted.
There, on the wasteland, stood the enemy before him.
Is that... a skeleton?
Alka had expected an animal or a human, but unexpectedly, it was a ghost.
Is there anything special about this?
He must bring his full strength to bear on this level. Ever since he realized that the next level would respond based on his performance on the previous level,
he had deliberately begun to conceal his abilities, especially those that were crucial. Because once you use it, the next level will counter it, preventing it from achieving its intended effect.
Alka didn't know if this happened to everyone, or if it was a countermeasure because he possessed a treasure.
So he watched the skeleton warily.
In the skeleton's hand, a massive axe, as tall as his body, appeared.
The axe was covered in spells, and the appearance alone told you it was a powerful weapon.
He probably couldn't withstand it, so it was best to stay hidden.
Alka waved his hand, and mirrors appeared one after another, forming a maze of mirrors.
From the distant skeleton, they began to swirl around.
Alka also vanished from the spot, passing through the mirrors and reaching the outer perimeter of the maze.
Facing the mirrors that surrounded him,
The skeleton grasped its great axe and swung it fiercely.
A huge circle of blade-like attacks swirled around it.
"Crack!"
The resounding sound of shattering glass echoed continuously.
With just one strike, at least three or four layers of mirrors surrounding it were completely emptied.
Instantly, most of the mirror maze was destroyed.
Seeing this, Alka immediately dismantled the entire mirror maze.
Keeping it there would be a waste of time.
"They're targeting me at the same level!" Alka couldn't help but sigh.
He still left several mirrors around for quick teleportation.
Two cards shot toward the enemy.
They arced in two directions.
Facing the incoming cards, the skeleton simply glanced at them with its eye sockets ablaze with a faint green flame.
The cards seemed to lose momentum, erupting in a faint green flame as they fell to the ground.
"They won't force melee, will they?"
As Alka finished speaking, the skeleton looked directly at him, and Alka's body immediately erupted in a faint green flame.
Fortunately, he always had a protective shield.
Facing this unexpected attack, the shield immediately deployed.
The flames weren't scorching hot, but rather piercingly cold.
Though the flames were blocked,
His original strength had already clung to them.
Alka felt his movements slow, even his spirit affected.
But fortunately, his soul was different from that of an ordinary person, and his spirit even more so.
The essence of his spirit was far stronger than his body.
The dark green flames that had slowed his spirit had no effect on it.
His thoughts continued to race.
He controlled his heavy body and rolled to the side.
"Clang!"
A loud cracking sound came from the side. The skeleton had already brought its axe down where Alka had been standing.
A pale shadow still trailed behind it.
Watching Alka duck, he raised his own axe and stood still.
As the axe swung downward, his entire body suddenly lunged forward, a long white shadow trailing behind him. He instantly appeared in front of Alka.
The axe blade slashed downward.
Alka, having just regained his balance, immediately rolled backward. The wind pressure from the falling axe stung his cheek.
But at least he had avoided the attack.
What a wolf!
The flames on my body brought a delayed effect, finally
It was consumed by his magic.
Feeling his body lighten, Alka immediately threw a full eight cards at the enemy.
These eight cards flew around from all corners.
The skull's rotation finally stopped only four cards.
He couldn't see that many.
The other four exploded beside him.
This time, the explosion was no longer of flames, but of pure holy light.
The spells attached to Alka's cards were no longer limited to those three.
However, those three combinations were very useful under normal circumstances.
The exploding holy light immediately damaged him.
The pristine white bones appeared pitted, as if corroded. Even the soul fire within his skull began to dim and flicker.
"Ahhhhh!"
A piercing howl echoed as a dark green skeletal soul surged from his chest, crashing into the spot where the holy light had erupted.
The soul and the holy light collided, both being simultaneously annihilated.
Unhesitatingly, the skeleton once again raised its axe to strike Alka, bringing it down.
His body once again vanished into a white shadow.
This was the third time this had happened; Alka had become accustomed to his movements.
The beginning of each attack was all too obvious.
Without the suppression of the soul fire, he immediately rolled backwards.
However, this time he failed.
Just as he was about to roll back to evade the attack, his body was frozen in midair.
It was as if the surrounding space had been frozen.
Alka's eyes widened, his mind the only thing that remained.
He felt a sudden pain as his entire body, from the chest down, was split in two.
The skeleton's axe, now stained with blood, pierced his body.
This was a fatal blow.
And the reason Alka wasn't teleported away was because this wasn't his original body.
His cautious mind was still pondering.
He possessed the ability to freeze space, but not much.
In less than a second, just enough time for him to strike from afar.
The mangled body collapsed to the ground, but Alka remained alive, his body instantly restored as if refreshed.
Alka used his dream double to aid him in the early stages of the battle, gathering information about the enemy.
Clearly, this tactic was highly effective.
After refreshing, a mirror image immediately appeared on his face.
In a fraction of a second, Alka transformed into the dreamlike Grim Reaper, a vast expanse of pink mist emanating from him.
Instantly, the surroundings became a world shrouded in pink mist.
The skeleton immediately felt its movements slow, even the trembling of its soul began to falter.
Mirrors appeared around it once again.
A mirror appeared at Alka's feet, and Alka, now transformed into the form of a dreamlike reaper, vanished from the spot.
The skeleton held its great axe high, observing its surroundings warily.
A large number of soul skulls surged from its chest again, circling the area in a trail of dark green mist.
Simultaneously, its mouth opened, emitting a shrill howl.
A black sickle spiraled from behind it.
The skeleton, seemingly slow to move, immediately turned, swung its greataxe in a semicircle, and clashed with the sickle.
However, the expected crashing sound was absent; the sickle passed right through the greataxe.
Only the curved tip of the blade struck the enemy's shoulder blade.
A large gaping hole immediately appeared in the shoulder blade, the bone there reduced to slag.
Seizing this opportunity, several cards flew out, exploding once again in the surroundings.
Holy light flashed.
The surrounding souls, as if finding their target, charged towards the flickering holy light.
In that instant, the skeleton's pace slowed.
A pink mist erupted.
The skeleton, still suffocated by the soul fire within its skull, fell into a deep slumber.
Arka emerged from a nearby mirror and, in a flash, appeared beside the skeleton. Holding the swirling sickle, he struck directly at the skull.
The skeleton's head instantly transformed into a metallic black sickle, striking with a resounding sound.
Then he was once again frozen in mid-air.
This long-planned attack had no effect.
Instead, it awoke the enemy from his slumber.
But the instant the enemy awoke, the freezing effect had already worn off.
The axe immediately slashed upwards.
Arka was forced to vanish in a flash, casting a flash of white light before leaving.
Good, at least he had tricked the enemy into freezing once again.
This ability clearly couldn't be used casually.
A pale throwing knife pierced the enemy's spine.
Arka appeared in the distance and suddenly reached out to grab it.
The throwing knife immediately transformed, with numerous bone spurs protruding from its other side.
It merged with the skeleton's bones.
The changes in his bones caused his movements to drastically change, becoming extremely stiff.
He struggled to change the changes in his bones.
Arka flashed before him again, the continuous flashes increasing the second surge of magic power.
This time, the sickle struck from the bottom up, the curved tip piercing his soul fire directly through his jaw.
That was a weak spot, a spot Alka had been eyeing for a long time.
Add to that the wiggling white edge of the sickle, and it pierced through easily.
The struggling skeleton immediately fell still, its bones drooping.