The Floor 6 portal sealed behind them, and the Tower closed in.

Nathan felt the shift immediately: corridors narrowing, ceiling dropping, walls pressing inward like a throat constricting around prey. The heat was Severe now. The Winterhart cloaks, which had kept them alive through five floors, were failing. Their enchantments flickered and struggled, overwhelmed by the volcanic intensity. Every breath scraped. Every movement cost.

But his mana was full. The Floor 5 level-up had flooded his reserves, and the Leyline Ring hummed steadily on his finger, a constant, reassuring current. A small mercy. The only one they were likely to get.

The party advanced in silence. All summons were materialized. Mirko in humanoid form at the front; Elise’s Frost Golem reduced but fighting; Dillon’s Cloud Serpent coiled around his shoulders, its crackle muted; Red padding beside Garrett, wool flickering between soft and armored states. No banter. No tactical commentary. Just the grim rhythm of combat and survival, beaten into them by weeks of climbing together.

Nathan’s [Hunter’s Insight] threaded the darkness ahead. The corridor was barely wide enough for two to walk abreast, walls weeping molten rock, ceiling dripping fire. Distant skittering echoed through the stone... too many legs, too close.

"Above us!" Nathan called. "Spread out where you can!"

They didn’t have room to spread. That was the problem.

The Magma Crawlers came skittering out of the darkness like termites from a disturbed nest. Insectoid, each the size of a large dog, bodies segmented and glistening with volcanic secretions. They clung to walls and ceiling with hooked legs, dropping onto the party in waves. Their mandibles dripped a viscous, pale venom that sizzled on stone.

Mirko’s [Impenetrable Fortress] flared, expanding into a moving shield that caught the first wave and sent them tumbling. Dillon’s katana flashed in the tight space, each [Quick Draw] severing legs and heads with surgical precision. Elise’s [Mana Bolts] picked off Crawlers on the ceiling. Garrett swung his mace in short, brutal arcs, [Impact Strike] doubling each blow’s force, crushing carapaces with the sound of breaking pottery.

But the venom took its toll.

A Crawler dropped from a shadowed crevice Nathan’s [Hunter’s Insight] had missed. It landed on Garrett’s shoulder, mandibles sinking deep before he could react. His mace swing went wide. His movements slowed. Red intercepted two more Crawlers before they could reach its master, but the Mad-Sheep was slower too. It was bitten and the venom affected the summon.

Nathan’s [Mana Arrow] took the Crawler off Garrett’s shoulder. Elise froze two more mid-leap. Dillon carved through the remaining swarm.

Then silence followed.

[Floor 6 Cleared.]

Garrett leaned heavily on his mace, face pale beneath sweat and heat-flush. Red stood beside him, panting, four black eyes half-closed.

"Garrett...."

"I’m fine." His voice was hoarse but steadier than Nathan expected. He pulled an antitoxin potion from his belt and drank it in one long swallow. "The venom’s fading. Just give me a minute."

Nathan checked his quiver. Fewer than a dozen arrows remained. His borrowed bow creaked when he drew it, a warning sound, limbs straining against heat and constant use.

"One minute," Nathan said. "Then Floor 7."

---

Floor 7 opened into a chamber falling apart.

The floor shattered into unstable platforms, sections tilting under their own weight. Lava bubbled up through fissures, bright and hungry. The heat ticked upward, Extreme now, the kind that made breathing feel like swallowing glass. The Winterhart cloaks shimmered desperately, enchantments on the verge of collapse.

The enemies came in mixed packs. Magma Serpents struck from the lava while Ember Hounds attacked the platforms directly, their coordination unnerving. The Tower was throwing combinations that forced the party to split attention.

Mirko held the center platform, [Impenetrable Fortress] flaring as she blocked a serpent’s lunge. [Aegis Strike] released the stored force, scattering two Hounds and cracking a serpent’s molten body. Elise froze sections of lava with her Frost Golem. Dillon harassed from the flanks. Nathan sniped from the rear.

And Garrett fought despite the lingering venom, despite his slowed movements, despite everything. Red fought beside him, wool armored but flickering, strength fading.

Then the platform under Garrett collapsed.

The floor groaned, tilted, crumbled. Garrett fell. The lava below glowed intensely.

Red lunged.

The Mad-Sheep caught its master’s arm on a horn, hauling him back onto solid ground with a desperate heave. Garrett stumbled, regained his footing.... and the Magma Serpent struck.

Its tail whip came from the side, a blur of molten rock and killing intent. It caught Red across the flank, and the Mad-Sheep’s wool which was already exhausted, flickered between armored and soft, pushing past every limit, then shattered.

Red dissolved into light and was absorbed into Garret’s summon mark.

Garrett screamed in grief. The sound ripped through the chamber, raw and broken. His summon mark pulsed erratically on his hand, the bond stretched to breaking. Red wasn’t dead. Summons couldn’t die per se. But it had been forced back into the mark in the worst possible way. Shattered. It would need seven full days to recover enough to be summoned again without external help.

"Garrett! Fall back!"

Garrett didn’t respond. He stared at his summon mark, face hollow, mace hanging limp. The mark flickered and dimmed.

Mirko covered his retreat. [Aegis Strike] scattered the remaining serpents. Elise froze the platform. Dillon cut down the last Ember Hound.

[Floor 7 Cleared.]

They’d cleared the floor. But the cost was mounting, and Nathan could feel it... the weight of Garret’s broken summon pressing down like the heat itself. But still, The party Stubbornly pushed forward.

---

Floor 8 was a vertical climb through hell.

The volcanic vent rose above them, walls slick with heat-slickened obsidian. Cinder Bats dove from above in relentless waves, detonating on impact. Magma Crawlers skittered up from below, venomous mandibles clicking. The heat was Critical... the Winterhart cloaks were failing entirely now, enchantments sputtering. The party climbed with bare hands on burning stone.

Dillon’s Cloud Serpent was grounded. Too exhausted to fly, scales dull, crackle reduced to faint, sporadic sparks. It coiled around Dillon’s shoulders like dead weight, a constant reminder of how far they’d fallen from the team that had entered this Tower.

The bats came in waves. Dillon fought with his katana, [Quick Draw] still sharp, still lethal. But his movements slowed. The heat. The exhaustion. The grief of watching Red shatter.

A bat dove, but it was Deflected. Another dove, and it was cut down. A third, Sidestepped.

The fourth detonated point-blank.

The explosion caught Dillon in the chest. His Winterhart cloak flash-burned, smoking, but held. The concussive force sent him tumbling backward, katana spinning from his grip, body slamming against the vent wall.

His Cloud Serpent took the shrapnel meant for its master. Its form flickered, once, twice and then shattered into static electricity and fading sparks.

Dillon hit the ground. His summon mark pulsed erratically. His katana clattered beside him.

"Dillon!"

Nathan’s [Mana Arrow] took out the bat diving toward Dillon’s prone form. Mirko leaped across the vent, [Impenetrable Fortress] flaring, covering him with her body. Elise’s [Mana Shield] layered over them both.

[Floor 8 Cleared.]

Dillon was conscious. That was the only mercy. His eyes were open, staring at his summon mark with the same hollow grief Garrett had worn. His Cloud Serpent was gone. His hand trembled on his katana.

"I’m... still in this" Dillon said. Hoarse, scraped raw by heat and smoke.

Nathan didn’t argue. There was nothing to argue about. They were all still stubbornly in this. That was the problem. A problem they were all too young to realised.