Floor Forty Nine was a kingdom of ruin.
Blackened plains stretched endlessly beneath a crimson sky of molten haze. Jagged rock formations pierced upward like broken blades, and rivers of magma carved glowing veins through the land. The air itself felt heavy, oppressive, as though the Dungeon here possessed a will of its own.
And at the center of it all
It walked.
"I can see it already," Damien said quietly.
Beyond a ridge of scorched stone, the towering figure moved with slow, sovereign steps. Massive. Muscled. A giant wrapped in dark crimson hide and layered armor grown from its own flesh. One eye burned with a baleful light beneath a horned brow, the other socket sealed in ancient scar tissue.
Balor.
The Monster Rex of Floor Forty Nine.
It roamed as if it owned the world.
"The path to Floor Fifty is beyond that hill," Finn said, voice low and measured. "We can slip around while it's facing the eastern plateau. Just as planned."
"And you should," Damien replied calmly.
Finn's eyes shifted to him.
"I'll distract it."
Silence fell over their immediate circle.
Gareth exhaled through his nose. "You were serious."
Damien didn't look away from the giant in the distance. "Dead serious."
"I would ask if you're sure," Finn said slowly, studying him. "But you look like you've already decided."
Damien's lips curved slightly.
"Yeah."
There was something different in his gaze.
Not recklessness.
Not arrogance.
Hunger.
"That thing…" Damien continued, voice softer now. "I want to take it down. No. I have to take it down. I don't know why. But it looks different."
Riveria's eyes narrowed as she studied the massive silhouette. "You are not mistaken."
Finn nodded once. "Balor is unique. It is the only Monster Rex we know that does not drop loot upon death. The only one without a fixed domain. It roams. Adapts."
He paused briefly.
"No one has soloed it."
Gareth crossed his arms. "Not Loki Familia. Not Freya Familia."
Finn's voice remained calm, but the weight behind it was unmistakable. "I believe even Ottar failed to defeat it alone and was forced to retreat. I cannot speak for Zeus or Hera's era with certainty. But in current Orario… no one has ever brought it down by themselves."
The wind howled across the plateau.
"To attempt this alone," Finn continued, "is considered impossible."
Damien rose to his feet.
A grin spread across his face.
Not forced.
Not tense.
Pure.
Absolute excitement.
"But," Finn finished quietly, "you've always done what others considered impossible."
Gareth smirked. "And with that army of yours? Hah. Maybe impossible just hasn't met you yet."
Damien rolled his shoulders once, shadows stirring faintly at his feet.
"All right," he said lightly. "You guys head on."
He turned toward Riveria.
For a brief moment, the hunger in his eyes softened.
"See you in a bit."
Riveria held his gaze. She did not smile.
"Return," she said simply.
Not a request.
A command.
Damien chuckled.
Then he vanished.
A flicker of movement.
A distortion in the air.
And he was gone.
Far ahead, Balor stopped walking.
Its massive head turned slowly.
The single blazing eye narrowed.
It had felt him.
Damien reappeared atop a jagged outcrop of stone,
He looked down at the Monster Rex.
And grinned wider.
"Let's see," he murmured to himself. "If you're really as impossible as they say."
Balor roared.
The sound tore across Floor Forty Nine like the sky itself had split open.
The ground cracked.
Magma surged.
And Damien leapt forward.
Toward the apex predator of the lower floors.
....
Balor did not anticipate the first strike.
The Monster Rex had sensed Damien's presence, yes. It had turned. It had roared.
But it had not expected the blade.
A massive black sword tore across its face before its single eye could even fully focus. The strike landed cleanly, steel carving through hardened crimson flesh. Blood splashed across the scorched stone.
Igris landed in front of the giant, cloak billowing behind him like the wings of a fallen king.
Balor flinched.
For the first time.
Its massive hand swept sideways, claws large enough to cleave a fortress wall. But Damien was already there.
A blur.
A flicker of motion.
Twin daggers flashed like lightning as he darted across Balor's chest. One strike. Three. Ten. Twenty. In less than a heartbeat, steel rang against hide again and again, sparks flying with every impact. Damien moved across the Monster Rex's torso as if running along a battlefield of his own design.
But Balor did not scream.
It roared.
Not in pain.
In fury.
A violent red aura erupted from its body, a shockwave of raw magical force that blasted outward. The ground shattered beneath its feet. Damien was forced back mid assault, boots carving lines into the stone as he skidded. Igris was thrown through a ridge of rock, cloak snapping in the air as he regained his footing instantly.
Balor stood tall.
Blood trickled down its cheek.
Its expression did not change.
Yet something in its single burning eye shifted.
It had accepted the challenge.
The earth trembled.
Behind Balor, the ground split open and shapes crawled from the darkness. Massive forms with twisted horns and monstrous frames, their bodies armored in thick hide and warped muscle.
Formoires.
Dozens.
They emerged in a widening circle around their king, their growls echoing across the plains of Floor Forty Nine.
Balor's presence alone had summoned an army.
Damien wiped blood from the corner of his lip where the shockwave had grazed him.
He grinned.
"I can do that too."
The shadows at his feet surged outward like a living ocean.
"Arise."
The darkness expanded across the cracked battlefield, swallowing the ground itself before rising upward.
Adventurers stepped forth in silent formation. Ice Elves emerged with bows of frozen crystal. Massive Ice Bears thundered into existence, their breath freezing the air. Minotaurs roared as they slammed their weapons into the ground. Elite Lizardmen unsheathed curved blades, eyes glowing with unwavering loyalty.
An army answered its king.
And Damien wasn't finished.
"Go. Diana. Adonis."
Two presences stepped forward from the sea of black.
Diana, blade already in hand, silent and lethal.
Adonis, towering and composed
The two shadows he had left behind in Orario had been recalled.
This was no longer a duel.
It was war.
Balor roared again.
The Formoires charged.
Damien lifted a dagger and pointed it forward.
"Advance."
The battlefield exploded.
Minotaurs collided with Formoires in bone crushing impacts. Ice Bears barreled through enemy ranks, freezing limbs before shattering them beneath massive paws. Ice Elf arrows rained down like a storm of crystalline death, piercing thick hides with precision.
Igris moved first among the elite, blade sweeping in wide arcs that carved through multiple monsters at once. Diana blurred between enemies, decapitating one, then another, before their bodies even hit the ground. Adonis intercepted a charging Formoire twice his size and split it from shoulder to hip in a single motion.
And through it all
Balor watched Damien.
The two rulers of their respective armies locked eyes across the chaos.
Then they moved at the same time.
...
Far above.
In Orario.
A single shadow rose from the ground before Hestia.
It did not speak.
It only knelt as it placed a folded letter at her desk.
Hestia blinked in surprise before bending down and picking it up.
She opened it carefully.
'Hey love.
Hope you're doing well.
I'll be borrowing Diana and Adonis for a bit.
Shouldn't be too long.
Wish me luck.... About to fight a big one.
Oh, and… I love you, Hestia.'
Her hands trembled slightly.
For a moment she closed her eyes.
Not in fear.
In trust.
When she opened them again, they were soft but steady.
"Good luck, Damien," she whispered.
A faint smile formed despite the worry lingering in her chest.
"And I love you too."
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