The transition from the humid, decaying Swamp of Whispers to the Fourth Floor was like a physical blow to the senses. Arthur stepped through the glowing blue gateway and was instantly hit by a blast of air so cold it felt like a thousand tiny needles piercing his skin.
[Ding!]
[You have entered the Fourth Floor: The Fortress of Eternal Frost.]
[Danger Level: S-Rank (Lower Tier).]
[Environmental Effect: 'Absolute Zero' - Movement speed decreased by 30%. Mana regeneration slowed.]
Arthur looked around. This wasn't a cave or a forest. It was a massive, sprawling fortress made entirely of jagged, sapphire-colored ice. The walls reached so high they were lost in the swirling white blizzard above. This was the first floor that felt truly "god-like" in scale.
"S-Rank danger," Arthur whispered, his breath visible as a thick cloud of steam. "In the outside world, this floor would require a team of ten S-Rank hunters and a month of preparation. But I'm doing this solo."
He looked at his new legendary item, 'The Sovereign's Command Staff'. It hummed with a dark, pulsating energy, resonating with the shadow army hiding in his feet.
Suddenly, the ground began to vibrate. From the icy walls of the fortress, massive shapes began to detach themselves. They were Ice Golems—fifteen feet tall, made of compressed frost that was harder than steel, with eyes that glowed like cold blue stars.
[Warning! Ancient Ice Golem Horde detected.]
[Quantity: 500]
[Rank: B+ to A-.]
"Five hundred?" Arthur smiled, his eyes glowing with a violet light that seemed to melt the falling snowflakes around him. "That's exactly five hundred opportunities to grow my army."
Arthur didn't pull out his dagger. Instead, he slammed his Command Staff into the icy floor. "Arise! My Shadow Legion!"
The liquid shadow beneath Arthur erupted. It was no longer just Igris and a few ghouls. A wave of darkness spread across the blue ice, and from it, five hundred Shadow Ghouls and Igris himself rose in unison.
With the 'Sovereign's Command Staff' active, the Shadow Soldiers were twice as large and radiated a terrifying aura of necrotic power.
"Crush them," Arthur commanded.
The clash was thunderous. The Shadow Ghouls threw themselves at the Ice Golems, their smoky claws carving deep grooves into the frozen bodies of the giants. Igris was a blur of violet fire, leaping from the head of one golem to another, his spectral blade shattering their icy cores with a single strike.
Arthur walked through the chaos, calm and composed. Whenever a golem tried to attack him, he simply raised a hand. "Void Slash."
A wave of pure spatial energy would erupt from his fingertips, slicing through the Golems as if they were made of glass.
[Ding! Host has killed an Ancient Ice Golem x20.]
[Base EXP: 200,000]
[100x Multiplier Activated: 20,000,000 EXP gained!]
The system notifications were constant, a beautiful symphony of power. But Arthur's attention was drawn to something at the far end of the fortress courtyard. A massive throne made of frozen skulls sat atop a flight of stairs. And sitting on that throne was a creature that made even Igris pause.
[Ding! Target Identified: The Frost Giant King (S-Rank Boss).]
The King stood up. He was thirty feet tall, draped in the furs of legendary monsters, and he held a club made from the femur of a dragon. When he spoke, the very air seemed to freeze solid.
"Who dares invade my fortress? A mortal with the stench of the dead?"
The Frost Giant King swung his massive club. The force of the swing created a shockwave that sent Arthur's Shadow Ghouls flying. The King was fast—too fast for his size.
Arthur narrowed his eyes. "A mortal? No. I am the Shadow Monarch."
Arthur activated his evolved skill, 'Eternal Sovereign's Wrath'. His aura exploded, a pillar of dark violet light that pushed back the blizzard for miles. He felt his Strength and Agility stats triple in an instant.
The Frost Giant King roared, his club coming down like a falling mountain. Arthur didn't dodge. He caught the club with his bare left hand.
BOOM!
The ice floor beneath Arthur shattered for a hundred yards, but Arthur himself didn't move an inch. His feet were planted firmly.
The Giant King's eyes widened in horror. "Impossible! No mortal has the strength to—"
"I'm done listening to your stories," Arthur said.
He gripped the club and swung it, throwing the thirty-foot King off his feet. While the King was in the air, Arthur appeared above him, his sovereign dagger glowing with the power of the void.
"100x Multiplier... Absolute Strike!"
SHATTER!
The strike didn't just kill the King; it disintegrated him. The S-Rank boss was turned into a cloud of ice dust and mana fragments.
[Ding!]
[Host has successfully slain an S-Rank Boss: The Frost Giant King!]
[Base Experience gained: 5,000,000 EXP]
[Base Loot: Crown of the Frozen North x1, Heart of Frost x1, 500,000 Gold Coins]
[Passive Skill '100x Multiplier' Activated!]
[Experience gained: 500,000,000 EXP!]
[Loot gained: Crown of the Frozen North x100, Heart of Frost x100, 50,000,000 Gold Coins!]
[Ding! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP! LEVEL UP!...]
[Host has leveled up to Level 100!]
[MAX LEVEL FOR B-RANK REACHED!]
[Ding! Evolution to A-Rank Shadow Monarch available.]
Arthur stood in the center of the silent fortress, the blizzard finally dying down. He looked at his inventory. Fifty million gold. A hundred S-Rank crowns. He was now, without question, the wealthiest and most powerful individual in the entire dungeon system.
But then, the system gave him a notification that made his blood run cold.
[Ding! Global Announcement:]
[The 'Sovereign of the Shadows' has cleared the Fourth Floor in record time.]
[The World Hunter Association has raised the Dungeon Danger Level to 'Calamity Class'.]
[All S-Rank Hunters from the US, China, and Europe are being deployed to your location.]
Arthur looked up at the swirling blue portal leading to the Fifth Floor. He could feel them coming—the strongest men and women on Earth, the ones who had lived like gods while he was starving in the slums.
"They're coming to 'suppress' me," Arthur whispered, a chilling smile spreading across his face.
He looked at his legion of shadows, which now included the spectral form of the Frost Giant King.
"Let them come. I need more soldiers for my army anyway."
Arthur stepped into the portal, leaving the frozen fortress behind. The world was about to learn a very painful lesson: When you push the weakest man to the edge, don't be surprised when he comes back to push you into the abyss.