'Come out.' Mark ordered as he stared at a certain red gem.
Immediately, a being made of ferocious flames appeared.
He, who used to be the Second Floor's Guardian, now, known as nothing more than a Fire Spirit, looked around.
'What do you think?' Mark asked telepathically.
The Fire Spirit's burning eyes started shining.
"Wood... Grass... I can't wait..." He whispered.
As if lifted by the wind, his burning body started rising into the air.
"So much to burn..."
A grin appeared on Mark's face.
Having the ferocious Fire Spirit by his side was definitely a great addition.
Levi and the rest of the Underlings eagerly waited for their Master's order.
A gentle and peaceful breeze passed over the vibrant plain field.
Mark turned away from a certain location.
His Typhoon Wolf Underling's eyes gleamed.
'Burn everything in this direction.'
A silent second followed the Master's order.
A silence that was broken by...
"Well then..." The Fire Spirit shouted as he extended his arms forward. "Don't mind me getting the festivities started!"
A humongous ball of raging fire appeared in front of those extended arms right away.
'My Scorching Star from before... With more of those Flames Of Chaos... A bit less of my original Fire to keep it stable... I'll condense it, and then-'
The attack was fired.
'Almost like...' Mark stared.
The Fire Spirit's attack had been so thoroughly condensed that it looked more like a ball of light than a fireball.
'A shooting star.'
Fwoosh-
What looked like a minuscule star flew across the grassy field with great speed.
Aq the magic attack approached the target, time seemed to stop.
The shining star hit one of the numerous trees that covered the forest.
A blinding flash ensued.
BOOM-
An explosion of a scale none of the forest's inhabitants had ever witnessed occurred.
A devilish smile appeared on Mark's face, as overwhelming excitement made shivers go down his spine.
It only took one moment.
One attack.
Dozens of unsuspecting Beasts were burnt to a crisp.
The trees surrounding the point of impact were torched.
No.
Obliterated.
'Like a sun...' Mark thought, as he stared at the dome of fire that had appeared in the middle of the forest, his eyes wide open.
The Ex-Guardian started clapping his hands as he laughed hysterically.
The Fire Spirit felt euphoric.
Truly delighted by his attack's destructive impact on the forest.
The raging and burning dome disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared.
Violent winds ruled part of the forest. Extremely violent winds.
The shockwave that followed the explosion was so powerful rhat it tore the surrounding trees and pulled their firm roots right out of the ground.
The next second, a deadly silence fell over the Floor.
In the middle of the forest, a circular area with a diameter of at least eighty meters had been obliterated, leaving the scorched ground covered by nothing more than dust, and burning ashes.
"THIS..." The Fire Spirit exclaimed. "Is what Fire is capable of."
At those words, Mark felt inclined to recreate the Fire Spirit's attack.
But it wasn't that simple.
'The difference in Mana reserves is too large. Right now, what we need is...'
Seconds later, Fiery's mandibles twitched.
In response, thousands of legs hit the ground.
Hundreds of Insect Monsters trampled over each other to reach the forest as quickly as possible.
Their whole existence served one purpose, and one purpose only.
And so, the Insect Monsters ran over the grassy plain.
Mindlessly.
Fearlessly.
With one single objective in mind.
To obey their queen's order.
And thus, their sole objective was destruction.
As soon as the swarm's front line penetrated the forest, its layout quickly started changing.
Fiery hadn't ordered them to kill.
But rather, to destroy.
With only mayhem on their minds, the Insect Monsters used their sickle-like legs to cut trees down, their Fire-Type Magic Skills to burn everything to a crisp, and their sheer advantage in numbers to kill all living beings on sight.
...
A Tempest Saber-Toothed Tiger immediately ran towards a Monster of a Species it had never encountered before.
With a single hit, it decapitated the target.
But the next second, five similar Monsters approached.
Despite their weakness, they used their sharp legs to injure the Tempest Saber-Toothed Tiger.
Still, the latter was unphased.
The attacks were weak and could barely penetrate the feline's thick muscles.
Seconds later, the ground started shaking.
The Tempest Saber-Toothed Tiger turned in the direction the group of Insect Monsters had come from.
Dozens if not hundreds of them used their numerous limbs to make their way through the forest.
It only took a handful of seconds for the petrified and overwhelmed Tempest Saber-Toothed Tiger's body to be drown under the swarm of Insect-Type Monsters.
Seconds later, the swarm continued its expedition through the forest, leaving an unmoving corpse behind.
Insatiable and ravenous.
The insect swarm's movements truly resembled that of a great and unstoppable wave making its way across the ocean.
'Guess it'll take some time to clear this part. The sooner we find the limit, the better...' Mark thought.
"Well then, I'll go the other way. These ants don't leave behind much to burn."
Mark stared sternly.
"Huh? There's nothing for me to burn if I stay here. Ugh... Whatever. I'm done here." The Fire Spirit complained, before entering the "Fire Spirit Core" once more.
[The Fire Spirit falls back into a slumber.]
'Tsk. Impatient as always. Guess I'll call him out later...' Mark thought. 'Anyway, this Territory is more than manageable. I'm guessing the Guardian is on the other one, right?'
[Would you like to be guided towards the Final Floor's Guardian?]
Surprise-
'Well, yeah. I can neither evolve nor gain Skills, so what's the point? I just need to find some strong Underlings, and... That's it. That's all I can do really.'
[The System nods.]
'So? Just tell me about it so I don't waste time clearing the whole-'
Floating words interrupted Mark's thoughts.
[Where would be the fun in that?]
[The Final Floor's Guardian protects the Dungeon's Exit.]
[What kind of Final Trial would this Floor be if you were told everything?]
Mark started walking.
'Where would be the fun in that, you say? Tsk... There's no fun to be found here anyway. All the Monsters I've encountered weren't particularly strong. If this is just about Wind Magic, then I've already gotten a Wind-Type Magic Skill. If it's about getting used to things, then I've done that already.'
[The System chuckles.]
Just as Mark was about to retort,
"My Lord." Levi called out.
Only then, did Mark notice the piles of Insect Monster corpses in front of him.
'It's no wonder that Monsters from the Sixth Floor would be no match for those of the Final Floor, but... There are a lot more corpses than before. Did we finally get to the good part?'
Mark immediately spread his wings and took off.
'Good progress...' He commented, looking at the advancing swarm's frontline.
'But there's less than a third of them left. Still can't see an end to this damn forest...'
With a flap of his wings, Mark advanced and found himself above the swarm.
He positioned himself dozens of meters ahead of the swarm's frontline.
'Let's make this easier on them...'
Mark activated two Magic Skills.
"Venomous Wings[C-]", coupled with "Venom Regulation[B+]".
With each movement of Mark's wings, hundreds of purple particles were released into the air.
The wind made the venomous particles move erratically as they fell down.
'Let's hope the wind doesn't make them land on Fiery's Offspring...'
Only once Mark had used up most of his Mana Points, did he go back to his Underlings' side.
"My Lord, how does the army's progress look?" Levi asked.
Mark chuckled lightly at his Underling's war general-like attitude.
'Good. Not as fast as I would like but we should be approaching the limit. Now that the venom will slow down the Monsters ahead, it should keep on going smoothly.' The Master answered telepathically, as he landed on the ground.
Surrounded by his Underlings, Mark couldn't help but feel like his overall firepower was slightly lacking.
'The Final Floor. I didn't gain much strength for now. This is difficult...'
Light, a Monster originally from the Tenth Floor.
Fiery, a Monster from the Sixth.
Krista, the Moonlit Feline, a Monster from the Fifth.
Levi, the Third Floor's Guardian.
The Typhoon Wolf, a Monster from the First Floor.
These were the Underlings at Mark's side.
Of course, the Fire Spirit could also be counted as additional firepower.
ραпdα Йᴏνêl(сòm) 'I still have some Skills Points, but... I'd prefer waiting for a fight during which I feel an aspect of my power lacking. Using those Skill Points at the right time to upgrade the Skills needed could get me out of a tough spot.' Mark thought as he walked away from his Underlings.
"Are we leaving, my Lord?" Levi asked.
'Yeah. Let's wait for the insects to die out. I need to replenish my Mana too. They've cleared a path that'll lead directly to... Well, whatever it is that's lurking.'
As Mark and his Underlings turned around and started walking away, two yellow eyes stared at their backs.
Hidden amidst the trees, more than two hundred meters away, was a single Monster.
It was part of the Species that originally ruled over the Final Floor.
A Species that only fights or hunts when necessary.
Its yellow eyes shined brightly.
The Monsters it was staring at, were definitely a threat that needed to be eradicated.
***
"Agh..." Draconia sighed heavily.
Watching over Mark's condition and progress wasn't a simple job.
Nia considered the task both stressful and tiring.
"Master doesn't want me to get involved in any way. I can neither help nor protect him but... If he were to die now, it would be... Ugh. Let's just hope all this work won't result in a disappointing outcome. There's still a lot for this Mark to do..." Draconia whispered, as she stared at a screen.
It showed a certain Territory inside the Final Floor's forest.
Hidden under a dome of Mana that made it invisible, was what looked like a village.
The layer of Mana acted as a veil and a barrier.
It restricted both entry and exit.
'I only activated it once Mark entered the Final Floor. There should be two or three of them in the forest but... It would require insane luck to randomly find them. They should be at the limits but... Mm.'
The village's inhabitants looked similar.
After all, they all belonged to the same Monster Species.
Standing at about 180 centimeters tall, they had four limbs, yellow eyes, white hair, and two pointy long ears that twitched with the wind.
Their skin was dark, greyish.
They were part of a Monster Species that lived in groups.
Groups that could contain as many as hundreds of members.
The Monster Species was [A] Ranked.
"Should I unveil them? Or..." Nia asked herself as she watched over Mark.
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