On the other side, Silas breathed out and let his divine elements wake up.
He lifted his left hand and the space around three of the generals twisted.
" Space Element: Confine ! "
Invisible walls slammed down, locking their legs and pinning their swords mid-swing. They rattled against it, violet eyes flaring.
Silas didn't wait. Lightning crackled up his right arm and poured into the Blade of Life. He stepped in, and his sword sang. One clean arc, lightning and life qi together, and the level 41 general's head separated from its shoulders. The violet fire snuffed out instantly, and the black robes collapsed to the floor with a soft thud.
[Ding! General defeated. Experience gained.]
[Ding! Congratulations, host. You have reached Level 22.]
Silas barely heard it. The other five generals he had chosen were still trapped in his space cage, and all five turned their skulls toward him at the same time. Their violet eyes burned fiercer, and their blades started to hum louder, cutting into the edges of his confinement.
Draven laughed from across the hall, blood on his cheek, six generals already in disadvantage around him. "Babe, I think you made them mad!"
Silas chuckled, his dark eyes narrowing as he looked at the other five skeleton generals. His method changed.
He opened his status in a blink and dumped all fifty free stat points he had just gained straight into mana.
Then he raised his hand and shouted, "Lightning Descend!"
The air above the generals tore open. Terrifying level 42 lightning fell straight out of the void, five thick white bolts slamming down on their skulls at once. The generals shrieked as the lightning burned through black robes and bone armor. The sound was so loud and sharp that the whole hall shook, dust falling from the ceiling.
They were still twitching when Silas moved.
He used the Valerius footwork, precise and quiet, and slipped between them with the Sword of Life in his hand. One cut, then another, then another. The lightning had cracked their defenses, and his blade finished the work, slicing through spine and soul-fire in clean arcs.
One by one, all the generals on Silas's side fell dead.
At the same time, Draven finished on his side too. The last of his six generals collapsed in pieces around his boots, both his swords still humming.
For a second the hall was silent except for their breathing.
Then the drops appeared on the cold stone, piles of glowing loot where the twelve generals had stood.
Silas waved his hand and swept everything into his space pouch without even looking.
Silas and Draven stopped in front of the huge castle doors. The black iron doors were twice their height, carved with the open jaw of the Gashadokuro, and they were the only thing separating them from the main hall. From the other side, Silas could still feel it. That faint, steady calling, like a pulse under his skin.
He got nervous all of a sudden. He turned his head and looked at Draven, who hadn't let go of him once. Draven's arm was still around his waist, solid and warm.
Silas's heart was beating loud with excitement. "Drav," he whispered. "I still feel the calling."
Draven frowned. He pulled Silas in tighter against his side. "Let's do this together," he said. "We'll know why after we go in."
They put their hands on the doors together and pushed. The hinges screamed, a long, low creak that echoed down the empty hallway.
Inside was the throne room.
It was massive and completely empty. The floor was polished black marble that reflected the cold white flames burning in tall braziers along the walls. Tattered war banners hung from the vaulted ceiling, so high up they barely moved. There were no guards, no servants, no court. Just rows of broken stone pillars leading to a single dais at the far end.
And on the dais, on a throne made of fused bones and black steel, sat the boss.
The Gashadokuro was enormous. Even sitting down, it was easily fifteen feet tall. It wore the rotting remains of royal clothes, a high-collared black and gold imperial robe draped over its ribcage, with a heavy, tarnished crown resting crooked on its massive skull. A tattered cloak of deep crimson hung from its shoulders and pooled around the throne's steps. Its bony hands, each finger as long as a short sword, rested on the armrests. It wasn't moving. It looked like a statue that had been sitting there for a hundred years.
Then Silas and Draven stepped onto the marble.
The Gashadokuro's eyes lit up. Two points of deep violet flame ignited in its empty sockets, and it lifted its massive skull and looked straight across the hall, not at Draven, but directly at Silas.
A dark, deep voice rang out through the entire throne room, vibrating the stone under their feet.
"Greetings... Owner of the Book."
Silas froze. His whole body went stiff.
Draven felt it instantly and looked down at him, confused. Silas was sweating, sweat beading on his forehead and running down his temples, his breath short.
His heartbeat hammered faster and faster.
He had never told anyone about that book in his entire life. Not his family, not his friends, not even Draven. So how did this monster know about it?
Draven looked at Silas, his grip tightening. "Babe! Are you okay?"
Silas didn't answer him. His eyes were locked straight ahead on the thing on the throne. His voice came out loud, shaking a little.
"How? How do you know about the Book?"
The Gashadokuro slowly stood up. The movement made its royal robes rustle and its bones creak. It was even taller standing, its crown almost brushing the vaulted ceiling. It clasped its huge hands behind its back, tilted its massive skull up toward the tattered flags, and let out a sigh that sounded like wind through a graveyard.
"I am just a mere servant," it said, its deep voice rolling across the marble, "of the last owner of that Book."
Silas felt his mind go blank. That wasn't possible. The last owner was his family on Earth. He had carried it his whole life. He opened his mouth to ask, but the monster looked down at him again before he could speak.
"Perhaps you are thinking, how is this possible? Was the Book not with you all this time?"
Silas could only nod. Beside him, Draven hadn't let go of his waist once.
The Gashadokuro's violet eyes burned steadier. "You will know it later, new owner. I have been waiting here for you to appear."
Then its gaze sharpened. The air in the room dropped ten degrees.
"But if you want me to submit to you," it said, "you need to prove yourself first."
It released its aura.
A level 50 pressure slammed down like a mountain. The black marble floor cracked under its feet. The torches flared and then almost went out. The whole broken castle shook, dust and shards of bone falling from the high ceiling, the tattered banners ripping free from their poles, the throne of bones groaning as the shockwave rolled through the hall.
Draven reacted instantly. He pulled away from Silas and drew both his swords, the Sword of Destruction and the Sword of Life humming to life in his hands.
Silas put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "No, Draven. There are things I want to know from him."
Draven let out a frustrated sigh and slid both swords back into their sheaths. "Babe, this boss is powerful. How could you..."
Before he could finish, Silas looked back at the monster. His voice was calmer now. "He doesn't want to kill me. He just wants to test me. I don't know why, but I need to know about him."
Draven didn't argue again. He just stepped up beside Silas, shoulder to shoulder, and turned his amber eyes on the Gashadokuro, ready to intervene at any times.
At silas's order Draven stepped back from the center and gave them space, his hand still resting on the pommel of his sword.
The Gashadokuro moved. It reached to its waist and drew a katana that matched its size, a massive black blade as long as a tall man. The moment it cleared the sheath, death qi poured off it like cold smoke.
Silas didn't hesitate. He drew his own sword and met it head on.
They clashed, again and again and again. The sound of steel on bone rang through the throne room like a bell. Silas switched stances mid-fight, sometimes letting the Sword of Life hum with green light, sometimes letting it flip to the Sword of Death, the edge turning black and hungry. He flowed into his family's Valerius swordsmanship, pushing all the way to the fourth form he had mastered. His feet found the rhythm of the Valerius footwork, precise, light steps that let him slip under the giant katana by inches.
But he couldn't land a hit. Not one.
The monster was too fast for something so big. Every time Silas cut for a joint, the Gashadokuro tilted its wrist and turned the blow aside. Every time he feinted, the violet eyes tracked him perfectly. His blade sparked off black bone and left nothing behind.
Silas gritted his teeth. He changed his method again.
He called on his divine elements. Space twisted around the katana to try and slow it. Lightning cracked down his arm and into his sword. Gale surged around his feet for speed, water wrapped his blade to make it sharper, and ice formed along the edge to freeze on contact.
He threw everything he had at the monster's defense.
It still wasn't enough. The space warp shattered, the lightning grounded out on the black armor, the water hissed away, the gale scattered, and the ice cracked and fell. The Gashadokuro stood there untouched, not a single scratch on its bones, and watched him with those calm violet flames...
The Gashadokuro let out a low laugh that shook the dust from the pillars.
"Hahaha! New owner, you are as interesting as my master was."
Silas didn't laugh back. His face was dark, his jaw tight. He was breathing hard, but his mind was cold and fast, running calculations. What angle, what timing, what element would let him land just one hit on this thing? The monster hadn't even used a single skill yet. It was just swinging that massive katana with basic cuts, and Silas still couldn't touch its massive body.
The Gashadokuro tilted its crowned skull, the violet fire in its eyes bright with amusement.
"New owner!" it said again, its voice booming. "You have not used your full power yet. Use your full power to fight me... hahahaha!"
It didn't wait for an answer. As it laughed, it brought the giant katana down in a simple, brutal arc and clashed against Silas's sword again. The impact sent a shockwave across the marble and forced Silas back three steps, his boots skidding.