The transition from the cold, damp stone of the dungeon's 50th floor to this hellish, reddish-black void was a shock that nearly made my heart stop. One moment, I was processing the sight of our fallen classmates and the terrifying orb holding Sir Vael; the next, the very concept of a floor had vanished. I stood on nothingness, suspended in a dimension that felt like it was made of stagnant blood and ancient, dying stars. Above us, the masked man sat on his obsidian throne with the casual posture of a bored king, his presence exerting a pressure that made every breath feel like I was inhaling lead.
After the masked man said to Tokine to have fun and she suddenly attacked me, the world became a blur of missing seconds.
I didn't even see her draw a weapon. I didn't see her move. The air just rippled, and suddenly, a heavy impact slammed into my ribs. I stumbled back, my boots catching on the invisible surface of the dimension. I tried to steady my breathing, my black katana and black dagger held in a defensive cross-guard. I looked for her, but there was nothing—just the reddish-black mist swirling around me. Then, another blow hit my shoulder. Then my thigh. She kept disappearing and hitting me. It was like fighting a ghost that only chose to be solid at the moment of impact. I could feel my mana reserves twitching, my dual spirits vibrating with a restless, defensive energy. The crowned entity—the God of Spirits—hovered behind me, its white and black aura flickering against the darkness. And my book spirit floated and boosted me,
"Stop running!" I hissed, my eyes darting frantically. I said to her that her time magic is annoying.
A soft, mocking sound echoed through the void. She just smirked as she manifested ten feet away from me, her posture relaxed, her eyes filled with a terrifyingly calm curiosity. And she asked me on how do I have dual spirit which is impossible cause a spirit is a person's potential.
I looked at the spirits manifesting around me—the book spirit's essence and the regal, crowned God of Spirits. Even I didn't fully understand the mechanics of my own soul. I said that I don't know. My honesty didn't earn me any mercy. She disappeared and attacked me from behind. The force of the strike was astronomical. It felt like a mountain had been dropped on my spine. And I got sent far, my body skipping across the invisible floor like a stone across a pond. As I tumbled through the air, struggling to regain my footing, I got a glimpse of Sogha and Euphyne fighting their own battles. Sogha was a beacon of emerald light, his form merged with Elphyete's, his elf ear a sharp contrast against his grim expression as he faced off against the assassin, Zarha. Euphyne was a golden sun in the distance, his arrogance unyielding as he stood before the colossal, terrifying frame of the Demonking Zaltraf. They were locked in their own hells, and I was locked in mine.
I managed to plant my feet, skidding to a halt just as the air behind me curdled. Tokine summoned a scythe—a wicked, curved blade of dark energy that seemed to drink the light of the dimension. And she started attacking me. The strikes were relentless, a whirlwind of steel and time-warped momentum. While I parried her attacks with my katana and dagger, the vibrations of the impacts traveled through my bones, threatening to shatter my wrists.
She was playing with me. Every time our blades clashed, I could feel the time around her slowing, twisting, and snapping back. Then, she decided to end the games.
The world went silent. I saw the scythe move, but my body felt like it was trapped in amber. She disappeared and cuts me on my stomach vertically. I didn't feel the pain immediately; there was only a sudden, cold vacuum where my torso used to be. My top half fell to the ground. I saw the reddish-black floor coming closer, saw my own legs still standing several feet away, blood spraying in a macabre arc.
This was death. I knew it. But the God of Spirits behind me roared, a silent, celestial sound that shook the void. Till my body got healed by my spirit the God of Spirits healed me. In a flash of blinding white and black light, the two halves of my body were pulled back together. The flesh knitted, the bone fused, and the blood flowed back into my veins. I stood up, gasping for air, my hands trembling as I gripped my weapons.
Tokine froze. She looked at me and seemed surprised and happy she said, "Dual spirits and RSA... interesting..."
The term "RSA" meant nothing to me in that moment, but the look in her eyes was one of a scientist discovering a new species to dissect. She disappeared and cuts me into dust. It wasn't just a slice this time; it was a thousand strikes in a single heartbeat. My body was atomized, reduced to a cloud of red mist and fragmented bone. But the Crowned Spirit wouldn't let me go. Again, the light erupted, and my spirit regenerated me. I knelt on the floor, I'm sweating profusely, my heart hammering against my ribs so hard it felt like it would break through. The mental toll of dying and being reconstructed twice in a minute was starting to fray my nerves.
She looks at me and a grim smile came from her and she said interesting.... seemed like your spirit can't do this forever....
She was right. I could feel the God of Spirits flickering, the aura around the crown dimmed by the sheer exertion of pulling me back from total annihilation. I needed a way to hit her, to stop the cycle before she found the limit of my immortality. She disappeared and started attacking me while I parried her attacks and I'm thinking of a solution.
I was desperate. My movements were becoming sloppy. In a moment of frantic defense, I accidentally threw my dagger. I watched the black blade spin through the air, heading toward the empty void. I instinctively teleported to the dagger to retrieve it, and as I reappeared in mid-air, a spark of realization lit up my mind.
I realized that I can counter her time magic. Tokine's time-stop was perfect, but it relied on her knowing exactly where I was the moment time resumed. If I could create multiple points of potential arrival, I could force her into a gamble.
Suddenly I threw my katana and dagger to her left and right. The weapons flew through the air, whistling as they cut through the crimson mist. She saw them coming, but she didn't realize the trap. But before she disappeared and I teleported, I felt the familiar tug of the void. I knew that when she stopped time she won't see where I am but she can only guess on if I'll teleport to my katana or dagger.
I chose the katana.
As time resumed for the rest of the world, I materialized in the air, my hand gripping the hilt of the black katana. Tokine had reappeared near the dagger, her scythe ready to strike the empty air where she thought I would be. She was fast, but she had guessed wrong. I teleported to my katana and on pure luck I hit her.
The blade bit deep. She held her left shoulder as she was bleeding. Her eyes widened, the first sign of genuine shock crossing her face. She tried to flicker away again, to reset the flow of time and regain her advantage.
I didn't give her the chance. I threw my dagger and katana as she was about to disappear. Again, the two blades flew wide, flanking her position. I focused my will, feeling the teleportation magic surge through my feet. And I teleported to my katana and hit her right shoulder. Blood splattered onto the invisible floor. She stumbled, the scythe wavering in her grip. I had her. The momentum had shifted. I reached deep into my grimoire, pulling forth the dark, volatile energy I had recorded from the cosmic horrors of the 10,000th floor.
I used the magic that I copied from the boss and blasted her with a purple pure destruction beam.
The energy erupted from my palm, a roaring pillar of violet light that threatened to consume everything in its path. It was a fragment of the power that had almost ended us in the deep dungeon. And she disappeared and dodged it.
She was back to her games. The beam tore through the empty void, disappearing into the infinite reddish-black distance. I stood there, panting, my eyes scanning the darkness for any sign of her. The silence returned, heavy and mocking.
Every time she disappeared she stopped time and it's completely annoying.
I could feel her presence everywhere and nowhere at once. I was trapped in a duel against the clock itself, and though I had drawn blood, the God of Spirits was growing weaker with every passing second. I gripped my katana tighter, waiting for the next ripple in the air, knowing that the next time I died, I might not come back.