The Steel Scarab was completely unaffected by the Bulldozer’s charge that could have run straight through a series of brick walls with ease.

And now it was its turn to attack.

Its massive body twisted with unnatural speed, its armoured shell grinding as it spun before striking.

Boom!

The impact was instantaneous.

The Bulldozer was launched like a ragdoll, his body tearing through rocks, trees, and ancient ruins as if they were paper.

He didn’t even have time to react.

Crash after crash echoed as he bounced across the terrain before finally slamming into a thick stone structure that collapsed on impact.

Dust filled the air, and silence followed.

"Yeah," Ethan exhaled slowly. "That’s not good."

At the same time, Dave opened his eyes.

They glowed pure white, and without hesitation, he gathered energy in an instant. He focused and condensed it; as he did, Ethan couldn’t help but notice that the attack was similar to Elara’s Crimson Flash, just white and from his eyes.

But just as Dave was about to unleash the laser beams, he suddenly froze.

The light in his eyes flickered and his expression... blanked, like he was an android that had suddenly been switched off.

"Huh?" Ethan’s head snapped toward him, instantly feeling that something was wrong.

He only realised how wrong when Dave turned away from the butterfly he had been targeting and towards him.

"Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me."

Ethan had already seen how powerful Dave’s laser beams were and knew that, as fast as he was, there was no dodging it once it had been fired.

’I’m not faster than a bullet, at least not yet, but I can be faster than the guy with the gun. I can move before they can fire or I can-"

His body reacted before his mind could even finish the thought.

Thankfully, he was assimilated with Talon.

His chest expanded sharply, his throat burned, and then...

"AAAAARRRGGHH-!" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Skyshatter Cry erupted from him.

A violent, concussive blast of sound tore through the air, distorting everything in its path as it slammed directly into Dave.

The ground cracked beneath Ethan’s feet from the recoil alone as the sonic wave hit Dave like a truck, disrupting him and breaking his focus. All the energy he had condensed flickered before misfiring, still in Ethan’s direction.

Boom!

Twin beams of pure mana narrowly shot past the man assimilated with a Griffling and slammed into the Steel Scarab. The impact was violent and explosive, burning into the metallic armour, carving into it and leaving two small, smoking holes.

But that was it.

It didn’t pierce through like it had with the Ironclad Beetle, not even close.

Didn’t even come close.

"That was too fucking close," Ethan rasped.

His voice came out rough, each word scraping against his throat like broken glass.

He swallowed, wincing slightly as the soreness lingered.

"Snap out of it!" he added, his voice strained and uneven.

Dave staggered.

The glow in his eyes flickered, then he blinked rapidly, his expression shifting from blank confusion to sharp awareness.

"What just happened?"

Ethan didn’t answer.

He couldn’t, because the Rotwing Fly was already moving his way with its deafeningly loud buzzing. The air itself seemed to shake as the grotesque creature surged forward, its wings beating at a frequency that made Ethan’s head throb.

"Fuck off," Ethan muttered hoarsely, his voice lacking its usual ease.

He instantly backed away.

The Fly’s bloated abdomen pulsed, and then it fired his way.

Thick, disgusting globs of black-green substance shot toward him, splattering across the ground where he had been a split second before. The moment they landed, they hissed and corroded, the stone beneath them melting slightly as they rotted in real time.

"That’s definitely toxic," Ethan rasped, weaving between another volley, his movements graceful and fluid, like he was gliding on land.

It didn’t seem to be acid like what he was used to on Floor Twenty-One, but he definitely didn’t want that on his body, as he fired back with another Skyshatter Cry.

’This is like a fucked-up game of cat and mouse, but it’s giant shit fly and me.’

There were three beasts, and three of them, so naturally each of them took one on.

But Ethan couldn’t help but regret the one he had to face, which was the most disgusting out of the lot.

"I’d rather be crushed than hit with that smelly gunk."

The Bulldozer wasn’t sure he agreed and wouldn’t recommend getting crushed by a giant steel beetle-like beast. Dave, on the other hand, was in a mental battle with the giant Butterfly, and while he seemed to be standing there blankly, he was facing all kinds of horrors in his mind.

And this was before the beasts had used the full extent of their abilities.

But they weren’t the only ones having it tough...

-

Elsewhere, Kaela laughed.

Her body blurred as she leapt from one floating island to another, violet energy erupting around her like a storm.

"Now this is what I’m walking about!"

Above her, the three Odonata beasts circled.

Two B Rank damselfly-like creatures, and an A Rank dragonfly that was sleeker and smaller, but infinitely more dangerous.

Its wings didn’t buzz; each flap created invisible blades of compressed air that tore through the environment, slicing chunks of rock clean off the islands. The damselflies followed suit, launching razor-thin projectiles of condensed wind, cutting through trees and stone alike.

Kaela dodged, well, barely.

One strike grazed her side, blood spraying gruesomely.

Another sliced her arm deeply, her bone visible beneath the incision.

And yet she didn’t slow or even wince at the pain.

Instead, she grinned wider.

"That’s more like it!"

Her aura flared violently.

The damage to her body began to reverse almost instantly, flesh knitting back together as she launched herself upward again, meeting the damselflies mid-air.

Her fist connected with one...

BOOM!

It was sent spiralling downward, crashing into a distant island.

But the second one retaliated instantly, slashing across her back with a blade of air that tore through flesh and muscle.

She staggered, then laughed again.

"You two need to move," she muttered, eyes locking onto the A Rank beast above.

"Because I’m more interested in the main event."

But as much as she was laughing, getting rid of both B Ranks was proving difficult, let alone facing all three at once.

-

Meanwhile, across the range of floating islands, Liora’s hands trembled.

"This is why I don’t like gates!"

In front of her, a massive black wasp hovered, its body sleek and its stinger jet black. Dripping from it was something that made the air itself distort.

Darius stood beside her, gripping his spear tightly, flames flickering around it.

"You can’t just keep defending. Try to contain it and crush it like you did with the others," he said.

Liora nodded, forcing herself to focus.

A cube of shimmering barriers formed instantly around the wasp, sealing it inside.

She clenched her fists, and the cube compressed.

This technique strained her mind, as she had to actively manipulate an existing construct to apply force, but it was incredibly effective. It worked even on B Ranks, and it was essentially her only method of offence.

The wasp hovered calmly, then its stinger lashed out and touched the barrier.

But rather than piercing through it, the construct dissolved.

It didn’t crack or shatter; it simply ceased to exist.

"That’s not normal," Liora whispered, panic creeping into her voice.

Darius didn’t look much better.

"You said your constructs can’t break if you supply enough energy to them."

"They usually can’t!"

The spear-wielding man didn’t look concerned.

"Well, it just did."

They had exchanged information about their Titles when they had first come across each other in the gate. Of course, they had an idea of each other’s abilities, but specifics were essential if they were going to entrust their lives to one another.

Darius’ abilities were more obvious and known, but Liora’s were very unique.

"My Title is Aegis Architect," he recalled her stating, "It allows me to form constructs out of this mysterious material as long as I supply it with energy. They can have numerous functions, but the main one is acting as physical barriers."

She went on to explain that, although in theory her barriers could be invincible, she couldn’t feasibly supply them enough energy to endure the attacks of powerful opponents. Instead, she would stack weaker barriers and allow them to be broken to reduce the strain she experienced.

However, this was the first time a construct of hers had been destroyed so effortlessly.

And the beast wasn’t done just yet.

Zoom!

The wasp surged forward incredibly quickly, stinger first.

Liora threw up multiple barriers in rapid succession, layering them between them and the beast. But they all disintegrated as soon as they made contact, clearly ineffective against this creature.

Darius steeled his will and ignited his feet, launching forward in a burst of flame.

"Cover me!"

"I’ll try," she called back, which wasn’t exactly convincing.

But even as they moved and fought with all they had, it was clear that winning this was going to take a miracle.

And Elara’s group came to the same conclusion...