Floor fifteen. Final floor.
The chamber was massive. Cathedral sized. Ancient.
And in the center a throne.
Something sat on it.
**[ANALYZING…]**
**[VERDANT SAGE MONKEY DUNGEON OVERLORD]**
**[RANK: S]**
**[AFFINITIES: EARTH, WIND, LIFE (PRIMARY)]**
**[TALENTS: 400+ DETECTED]**
**[MANIFESTATIONS: 7 ACTIVE]**
**[SPECIAL ABILITY: QUAD CLONE TECHNIQUE]**
**[SPEED: 47.3 UNITS. POWER: 58.9 UNITS. DURABILITY: 61.2 UNITS]**
**[VICTORY PROBABILITY: 0.001%]**
The monkey opened its eyes.
Four clones materialized instantly. All identical. All real.
"Run," Vance said.
Too late.
The monkey moved.
All five. Simultaneously.
Marcus raised his Earth Titan Armor. The first clone's staff shattered it. One hit.
He flew backward. Unconscious before he hit the wall.
"MARCUS!"
Zain charged. Stone gauntlets blazing.
The second clone caught his punch. Twisted. Bones cracked.
Zain screamed.
Elena launched ice spears. Dozens.
The third clone batted them aside like flies.
Cinna threw barriers. Healing fields. Everything.
The fourth clone walked through them. Grabbed her throat.
"NO!"
Jayden Shadow Stepped. Black lightning erupting.
The original monkey caught him mid teleport.
Impossible.
Its hand wrapped around his neck. Lifted him.
**[SPEED INSUFFICIENT]**
**[POWER INSUFFICIENT]**
**[ANALYZING ESCAPE ROUTES… NONE FOUND]**
Vance's scythe slashed. Death essence flooding.
The monkey's fifth hand it grew a fifth hand blocked.
"You're all children," it said. Voice ancient. Tired. "Leave or die."
"Let them go," Jayden choked out.
"No." The monkey's eyes gleamed. "You invaded my home. Face the consequence."
It threw Jayden. He crashed through three stone pillars.
His ribs shattered. Lung collapsed. Regeneration kicked in but too slow.
The monkey turned to the others.
Vance stepped forward. "I'll buy time. Run."
"We don't leave "
"RUN!"
She engaged. Master rank power versus Sage.
Lasted twelve seconds.
The monkey's staff crushed her shoulder. She fell.
Jayden tried to stand. Couldn't. Blood everywhere.
His team. His friends. All broken.
Marcus unconscious. Zain's arm bent wrong. Cinna gasping. Elena barely standing.
All because of him.
*Not enough.*
*Never enough.*
*Always too weak when it matters.*
Something inside him snapped.
Not broke.
*Shattered.*
His eye exploded crimson.
**[CRITICAL EMOTIONAL THRESHOLD EXCEEDED]**
**[ENRAGE MODE: ACTIVATING]**
**[WARNING: HOST CONSCIOUSNESS MAY BE COMPROMISED]**
**[ACCEPT? Y/N]**
"Yes."
Power flooded him.
Raw. Uncontrolled. Violent.
His body convulsed. Black lightning erupted like a sun. Shadow consumed everything within ten feet.
**[ENRAGE MODE: ACTIVE]**
**[ALL LIMITERS: REMOVED]**
**[SPEED: 31.2 → 45.8 → 60.1 UNITS]**
**[ATTACK POWER: 32.8 → 40.3 UNITS]**
Jayden stood. Bones cracking back into place. Wounds sealing instantly.
The monkey turned. Interest flickering.
"Better."
Jayden moved.
Faster than thought. Faster than sight.
Shadow Step. Strike. Black lightning tearing.
The monkey blocked. But stumbled.
First time it moved defensively.
Jayden pressed. No thought. Pure instinct.
His blade became a storm. Each strike leaving black scorch marks. Each hit faster than the last.
The clones engaged.
He fought all five.
Simultaneously.
His speed made it possible. His rage made it real.
**[BLACK LIGHTNING EMERGENCY EVOLUTION]**
**[NEW EFFECT: ENRAGE AURA]**
**[+35% SPEED WHILE ACTIVE]**
**[+15% ATTACK POWER WHILE ACTIVE]**
Black lightning wrapped around him like armor. Permanent. Burning.
His speed jumped again. 60.1 with the aura became 81.1 effective.
The monkey's eyes widened.
"Impossible."
Jayden roared. Not words. Pure violence.
He crashed through a wall. Dragon composite. Made to withstand Sage level attacks.
It exploded like paper.
The monkey actually retreated.
Jayden followed. Relentless.
Black lightning chained between the clones. Disrupting. Burning.
One clone fell. Dissolved.
Two.
Three.
Only the original and one clone remained.
But Jayden's body was failing. Too much power. Too fast.
Blood leaked from his eyes. His skin cracked. Essence burning him from inside.
**[WARNING: HOST INTEGRITY AT 34%]**
**[ENRAGE MODE UNSUSTAINABLE]**
**[SHUTDOWN IN: 47 SECONDS]**
Not enough time.
The monkey recovered. Staff spinning.
It struck. Once.
Jayden flew backward. Crashed. Coughed blood.
The rage faltered.
Speed dropping. 81.1 to 75.4 to 68.2.
Fading.
*Not enough.*
*Still not enough.*
The monkey approached. Staff raised.
"Impressive. But insufficient."
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"
Elena.
Standing. Barely. Ice rapier trembling.
"You can't "
"SHUT UP!"
Her essence exploded.
Blue light. Blinding.
**[ELENA NORTHSTAR BREAKTHROUGH DETECTED]**
**[DUAL AFFINITY EVOLUTION: ICE + LIGHT = FROZEN RADIANCE]**
**[NEW MANIFESTATION UNLOCKED: GLACIAL ETERNITY BLADE]**
**[RANK: A+]**
Her rapier dissolved. Reformed.
Massive. Beautiful. Crystalline.
The blade radiated absolute zero. Light and ice merged perfectly.
**[SPEED: 14.8 → 24.8 UNITS]**
**[POWER: 21.8 → 31.8 UNITS]**
**[SPECIAL ABILITY: CHRONOSTASIS FREEZE LOCKS TARGET FOR 30 SECONDS]**
Elena moved. Not as fast as Jayden. But fast enough.
The monkey turned. Too slow.
Her blade touched its chest.
Ice spread. Not normal ice. Temporal ice.
The monkey froze. Completely. Down to the molecular level.
Time itself stopped around it.
"JAYDEN! NOW!"
He forced himself up. Enrage mode sputtering. 47 seconds already gone.
Five seconds left.
He Shadow Stepped. Behind the monkey.
Black lightning flooded his blade. Everything he had. Everything he was.
**[BLACK LIGHTNING: TIER 3 EMERGENCY UNLOCK]**
**[FINAL STRIKE PROTOCOL]**
His blade pierced through.
The monkey's frozen body cracked.
Black lightning exploded inside it.
Thirty seconds passed.
The freeze ended.
The monkey fell.
Shattered.
Dissolved.
Dead.
Jayden collapsed.
Enrage mode ended.
His body shut down. Completely.
Darkness.
Marcus checked the monkey's corpse. Nothing.
"Where's the essence?" Elena searched the area. "There should be something. Staff. Resources. Anything."
Zain kicked rubble. "S rank boss drops nothing? That's wrong."
Cinna knelt beside Jayden. Still unconscious. "We need to move him."
"Back to camp," Vance said. "I'll investigate the anomaly."
They carried him out.
Day one. Jayden didn't wake.
Cinna's healing did nothing. His body was fine. Perfect even.
But he wouldn't open his eyes.
Day two. His breathing changed. Faster. Distressed.
"Nightmares," Marcus said.
Day three. His freeforms started changing.
The roots. Turning white.
"What the hell?" Zain stared.
Cinna checked his vitals. "Everything's normal. But his hair "
More white. Spreading from the roots down.
Elena touched a strand. "Trauma. Physical regeneration doesn't heal mental damage."
By evening, half his hair was white. Elegant. Striking. Wrong.
"He's breaking," Cinna whispered.
Marcus gripped his fists. "Wake up, man. Please."
Day four.
Dawn.
Jayden's eye flickered. Crimson. Then brown.
His hair was completely white now.
Still unconscious.
"Why isn't he waking up?" Cinna's voice cracked.
They all stared.
Waiting.
The white haired boy who'd killed a Sage.
Still dreaming.
Still trapped.
"Why is this happening?"