Floor 36 of the Celestial Tower was not a room.
It was a wilderness.
A living plane compressed into a chamber, filled with towering trees made of stone bark, flowing rivers of blue fire, and creatures born from remnants of forgotten universes. The air hummed with nature spirit energy—wild, uncontained, and waiting for a challenger.
Fighters who made it this far tended to be planners, tacticians, monks, mages, or prodigies.
But this floor was not made for people who thought.
It was made for people who hunted.
Julian Breadstone somersaulted above the arena, almost dropping his hat as he screamed:
"OHHHHH HO HO! LOOK AT THAT! LOOK AT IT! VIEWERS, NOW WE TURN OUR ATTENTION TO A DIFFERENT SORT OF COMPETITOR! A PRIMAL FORCE! A CREATURE WHO PROBABLY HAS NEVER BALANCED A CHECKBOOK IN ITS LIFE!"
Jimmy sighed. "Julian, creatures don't balance checkbooks."
"EXACTLY! AND THAT IS THE POINT!"
The scene zoomed in across the starlit screens as a shape darted through the trees—fast, silent, and low to the ground.
Claws scraped stone.
Branches shuddered.
A pair of glowing amber eyes flashed beneath heavy shadows.
A beast stepped into view.
Six feet tall at the shoulder.
Wreathed in swirling fog-fur.
Tail tipped with a crescent claw.
Teeth like silver knives, breath steaming cold in a room that shouldn't have had temperature at all.
Gravemane, the Impossible Beast.
A creature from a world that no longer existed—
a predator that hunted things no one believed could be hunted.
Julian clutched Jimmy's shoulder.
"Jimmy. JIMMY. Look at it. LOOK. AT. IT."
Jimmy nodded. "Yes. I see it. Please stop squeezing my shoulder."
The crowd murmured, rippling with excitement and dread.
Gravemane sniffed the air.
Then moved.
Not walking.
Not running.
Flowing.
Every motion silent.
Every leap precise.
Every pivot a death sentence for anything too slow.
Fighters on the floor froze when they sensed it.
A spear-wielder whispered, "Is that—an apex predator?!"
A mage whispered, "Why is it HERE?!"
A trickster thief whispered, "No no no no no—"
They scattered.
Gravemane didn't chase them.
Not yet.
It simply padded forward, scanning the environment, reading the entire floor like a map written in scent and shadow.
Jimmy leaned into the mic.
"Julian… what exactly is that thing?"
Julian waved his hands dramatically.
"An Impossible Beast! A species born from gravity ruptures and cosmic storms! They can only exist on worlds with unstable metaphysical layers! Most died out! The rest were too dangerous to let roam!"
He grinned.
"And THIS one climbed onto the sign-up platform by accident. I watched it. It followed a sandwich someone dropped."
Jimmy blinked. "You let that qualify?!"
"It filled out the form with claw marks! Which DEFINITELY counts!"
Gravemane's presence changed the floor.
Lesser tower-spawn monsters backed away from it automatically.
A stone-boar beast snarled at Gravemane, charging with tusks sharp enough to pierce enchanted steel.
Gravemane sidestepped.
One motion.
Then bit the boar's throat.
Not deeply—
just enough to disable the creature's essence core.
The boar dissolved into stardust.
Julian flapped his hands excitedly.
"A VERY CLEAN DISMANTLING! GREAT FORM! GREAT ENERGY! WONDERFUL PREDATORY INITIATIVE!"
Jimmy whispered, "I think you're cheering for a wild animal."
"I CHEER FOR EXCELLENCE IN ALL FORMS!"
Gravemane sniffed again.
This time, its head snapped upward.
It had found something.
Someone.
A fighter hiding in the branches—a shapeshifter who blended into the stone canopy. The shapeshifter froze, sure their camouflage was perfect.
It wasn't.
Gravemane lunged straight upward.
The shapeshifter shrieked, tumbling backward.
Gravemane pinned them with one paw—
gently.
Shockingly gently.
As if saying:
I could kill you.
But I don't need to.
Run.
The shapeshifter scrambled away at full speed, teleported through a safety sigil, and vanished.
Julian sighed dreamily.
"Even its mercy is violent. BEAUTIFUL."
Meanwhile, another trio of fighters attempted to get past the beast by using teamwork.
A sword mage summoned blades of light to distract it.
A stone warrior swung a hammer ten times heavier than Gravemane.
A psion tried to attack its mind.
The tower held its breath.
Jimmy whispered, "This… could be dangerous."
Julian nodded. "For THEM."
The sword mage's blades flew toward Gravemane in dazzling arcs.
Gravemane ducked beneath them effortlessly.
The stone warrior leaped, hammer raised.
Gravemane slid sideways, claws leaving shallow grooves in the stone floor.
The psion focused and sent a psychic bolt toward the beast.
Gravemane stopped moving.
The chamber grew silent.
The psion smirked.
"I have you—"
Gravemane exhaled.
A low, rumbling growl.
The psion's eyes widened.
His mental assault shattered like glass.
He stumbled backward, clutching his temples.
Julian exclaimed:
"OOOOH! A BEAST WITH PSIONIC RESISTANCE! OF COURSE! OF COURSE THE UNIVERSE MUST GIVE US AN OVERACHIEVER!"
The sword mage attacked again.
Gravemane caught the blade in its jaws.
Not to break it.
To hold it still.
It pinned the stone warrior with a forepaw—
then released him unharmed.
It turned to the psion—
snorted in annoyance—
and flicked the psychic fighter away with its tail.
They landed safely in the eject sigil.
Gravemane was not interested in harming them.
Not when the climb continued above.
The Tower had other prey far more interesting than the desperate.
The beast turned upward again.
A group of delicate butterfly-dragons flitted past, shimmering with soft gold trails.
They chirped cheerfully at Gravemane in greeting.
Gravemane blinked.
Sniffed.
Then allowed them to perch on its horns.
Julian gasped, clutching Jimmy's arm.
"JIMMY—JIMMY LOOK—THE BEAST HAS FRIENDS."
Jimmy whispered, "Friends? Or snacks?"
"Friends!" Julian insisted.
(He was wrong.)
The butterflies flew away unharmed.
(He was right.)
Gravemane resumed climbing.
Floor 37:
A rotating cyclone with wind blades sharp enough to slice enchanted armor.
Fighters clung to walls, screaming.
A stone-skinned brute attempted to crawl along a ledge.
The wind lifted him and flung him through a portal.
Gravemane stood at the edge, tail flicking.
Then it leapt.
Into the storm.
The winds howled.
The blades sliced.
The pressure roared.
Gravemane moved through it all like water around rocks.
Sometimes the beast curled into a ball to let the wind roll it upward.
Sometimes it stretched its limbs, gripping the cyclone walls with claws that dug into enchanted stone.
Sometimes it simply let the gale lift it, twisting gracefully to avoid blade edges.
Julian screamed louder than anyone.
"THE BEAST HAS MASTERED WEATHER.
ITS GRACE IS ILLEGAL.
ITS TALENT OFFENSIVE.
ITS FORM—CHEF'S KISS!"
Jimmy asked, "How is this allowed?"
Julian answered, "I don't care!"
Floor 38:
Living vines that tried to constrict intruders.
Gravemane bit one.
It recoiled like a frightened snake and retreated into the wall.
The rest followed.
Jimmy blinked.
"Did it just… intimidate a plant?"
Julian nodded.
"With great success!"
Floor 39:
Echo wolves made of starlight attacked on sight.
Gravemane snarled at them.
They recognized a higher predator.
They whimpered and fled.
Julian threw his hat into the air.
"It dominates EVERY ECOSYSTEM IT ENTERS! A TRUE CHAMPION OF NATURE'S MOST DANGEROUS RULE: 'IF I AM BIGGER, YOU RUN.'"
Jimmy sighed.
"That's not the rule."
"It IS NOW!"
Gravemane climbed to Floor 40.
One more floor.
One more ecosystem.
One more challenge.
The chamber shimmered—
a star meadow beneath a false sky filled with drifting constellations.
Most fighters here paused to rest.
To recover.
Not Gravemane.
It stopped.
Sniffed.
Looked toward the ceiling where the Wolf King had passed earlier.
Something primal shuddered through its frame.
A challenge.
A predator beyond predators.
Gravemane howled.
It echoed through the tower.
Through the stadium.
Through the hearts of every fighter.
Julian's eyes sparkled.
"OH.
OHHHHHH.
AND HERE WE SEE WHY THE BEAST IS CALLED 'IMPOSSIBLE.' IT SEEKS TO HUNT THE UNHUNTABLE."
Jimmy whispered:
"It's going after the Wolf King."
Julian nodded.
"And it might be the only creature here reckless enough to try."
The Impossible Beast continued upward—
silent
deadly
fearless
another fighter destined to reach the Top 500.
Another threat in a tower full of monsters.
Another legend in the making.