Ascension Overdrive — Floor 100
[WORLD FIRST CLEAR ATTEMPT IN PROGRESS]
[GUILD: THE RECLUSIVE AVENGERS]
[CURRENT BOSS: THE HARBINGER]
[BOSS HP: 25%]
A hundred floors. Three years of preparation. Thousands of hours spent fighting monsters, deciphering ancient puzzles, conquering impossible dungeons, and collecting equipment that most players could only dream of possessing. And it had all led to this moment. Across the world, millions of players knew the name The Reclusive Avengers. They were the undisputed number-one guild in Ascension Overdrive, the revolutionary virtual reality game that had taken the gaming industry by storm.
Ninety-nine floors had fallen before them. Legendary beasts, ancient guardians, and challenges that had reduced lesser guilds to tears had eventually crumbled beneath their combined strength. Only one obstacle remained. The Harbinger. The final guardian of the hundredth floor. No guild had ever defeated it.
And tonight, with thousands watching Tactical Klutz's livestream and countless others following the raid through gaming forums, the Reclusive Avengers stood closer to victory than anyone in the game's history. At the center of it all was their strategist. Soma.
Known throughout the gaming community as Tactical Klutz, he had earned a reputation for turning hopeless encounters into calculated victories. His unconventional strategies were studied, copied, and occasionally ridiculed by players who couldn't understand how his seemingly ridiculous plans kept working. His guildmates, however, knew better. They had followed him through ninety-nine floors of impossible odds. And tonight, they trusted him to lead them through one more.
Unfortunately, the Harbinger had other plans. Its scythe tore through the air, leaving a trail of black miasma that clung to the battlefield like smoke. Skeletal fingers tightened around the enormous weapon as an unnatural shriek echoed throughout the arena.
"HEAL! HEAL! I'M EATING DIRT OVER HERE!"
DaddyWarBucks's voice thundered through the guild's communication channel as the towering monstrosity sent him skidding across the stone floor. The guild's premier tank was currently being battered around the arena like a heavily armored cat toy.
"Buck, sweetheart, if you would stop trying to catch every attack with your face, I might actually be able to heal you!" Ella snapped.
"THAT'S LITERALLY MY JOB!"
"Your job is to block them with your shield!"
"SAME DIFFERENCE!"
Under normal circumstances, Soma would have laughed. Buck and Ella had been married for nearly twenty years, yet somehow they could turn even the simplest conversation into an argument worthy of a comedy show. But nothing about their current situation was normal. They were losing. The Harbinger had only twenty-five percent of its health remaining when its body suddenly erupted with crimson light.
[WARNING: FRENZY ACTIVATED]
Without warning, the creature turned its scythe against its own skeletal servants. One swing shattered three minions. Another reduced five more to fragments. And with every death, its health began climbing. Thirty percent. Thirty-five. Forty.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Lucifer69 shouted. "WHY IS THAT THING HEALING?!"
The guild's berserker charged forward, both axes blazing crimson as he struck the creature's armored legs. His attack barely scratched it.
"Oh, COME ON!"
Soma's eyes darted across his tactical interface. Something wasn't right. Thin streams of violet energy flowed from the fallen skeletons toward the Harbinger, disappearing beneath its decaying robes. But there was something else. Beneath the creature's feet, ancient markings carved into the arena floor flickered with each sacrifice. Soma barely registered them. His attention had already shifted toward the hundreds of messages racing through his livestream.
TACTICAL KLUTZ IS CHOKING!
WORLD'S BEST TACTICIAN? WHAT A JOKE.
RECLUSIVE AVENGERS ABOUT TO GET EXPOSED.
FLOOR 100 TOO HARD FOR THE NUMBER ONE GUILD?
His hands tightened around the controls. They had spent months preparing for this particular encounter. Hundreds of hours studying attack patterns, gathering equipment, and perfecting their coordination. Buck and Ella had rearranged their work schedules. Lucifer had practically lived inside the game for the past week. Even Shadow, who rarely complained about anything, had admitted she was exhausted. And Raven... Tomorrow, he would finally get to see her in person.
Not through a phone screen. Not during one of their countless late-night video calls. Actually see her. The thought should have made him happy. Instead, the mounting pressure tightened around his chest. Don't mess this up. He couldn't let them down. Not these people. Not the only family he had left. The overlapping shouts of his guildmates became a wall of noise. Warning indicators flashed across his vision, each demanding immediate attention. He was the tactician.
He was supposed to see the patterns, calculate the possibilities, and find the winning strategy. But for the first time in longer than he could remember, his mind had gone completely blank.
"Soma?"
Raven's voice slipped through the chaos. He didn't respond.
"Hey. Soma."
Her voice softened.
"Remember what I told you last night?"
He swallowed.
"Raven, I..."
"You don't have to prove anything to us. You know that, right?"
For a moment, he said nothing.
"Besides," she continued, her familiar teasing tone returning, "I didn't spend three hours listening to you explain boss mechanics over Discord just to watch you panic now."
Despite himself, Soma let out a short laugh.
"It was two hours."
"Three hours and seventeen minutes."
"You timed it?"
"Focus, genius."
"Oh, for the love of—" Buck groaned over the main channel. "Ella, remind me why we haven't just locked these two in a room together?"
"Because, dear, that would be kidnapping."
"Technically, only if they complain!"
"Buck!" Raven protested.
Soma laughed again, the tension in his chest finally beginning to loosen.
"Everybody, enough," Ella said. "Give him a second to think."
Then another voice entered the channel.
"Soma."
Shadow. The guild's assassin rarely spoke unless she had something important to say.
"We're still here."
Four simple words. Yet somehow, they cut through everything. Soma closed his eyes for half a second. When he opened them, the battlefield looked different. Not because anything had changed. Because he was finally paying attention. He dismissed the livestream chat and expanded his combat analysis display. The Harbinger stood among its remaining skeletal servants, each sacrifice sending another stream of violet energy toward the creature. Its health continued rising.
But the energy wasn't flowing directly into its body. Not all of it. Soma zoomed in. Three circular formations had been carved into the stone floor, forming an enormous triangle around the arena. Burial sigils. During their previous attempts, the guild had assumed the markings were merely decorative. Now, one of them flickered with a faint golden light. A skeleton had fallen across its boundary during the initial frenzy.
The energy released by its destruction had remained trapped beneath the stone instead of reaching the Harbinger. Interesting. Soma compared the recorded energy patterns. Outside the circles, the deaths strengthened the boss. Inside them, the energy appeared to remain contained. They're not decorations. A slow smile spread across his face. They're conduits.
"Guys," Soma said.
Nobody heard him over the shouting.
"GUYS!"
The communication channel fell silent.
"Stop attacking the boss."
"What?!" Lucifer demanded.
"The Harbinger isn't just healing. It's using the minions to charge something."
Soma enlarged the battlefield map for his guildmates.
"See these three circles? They're burial sigils. Death energy released inside them gets trapped instead of reaching the boss."
Raven examined the shared display.
"So if we kill the skeletons inside the circles..."
"We interrupt its absorption," Soma finished. "And if those markings work the way I think they do, we might be able to turn that energy against it."
"Wait," Lucifer interrupted. "You're telling me we just have to kill the skeletons in the creepy glowing circles?"
"Essentially."
"WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST SAY THAT?!"
"Because I like using words with more than two syllables."
"RUDE!"
Buck roared with laughter.
"Alright, kid. What's the plan?"
Soma studied the arena. Three sigils. Three positions. One boss that was becoming increasingly dangerous. They needed to separate the Harbinger from its minions and activate the circles before it could consume the remaining skeletons.
"First, Buck, I need you to stop fighting the Harbinger."
For the first time since the battle began, Buck went silent.
"...Come again?"
"Draw its attention and lead it toward the northern wall. Don't attack unless you absolutely have to. Just keep it occupied."
"Kid, I don't know if you've noticed, but this thing has a scythe the size of a fishing boat!"
"Then stop flirting with it and start running!"
Ella burst into laughter.
"Oh, I like this plan already."
"Of course you do," Buck grumbled. "You're not the one being chased by Death's ugly cousin!"
Despite his complaints, the armored tank slammed his shield against the stone floor.
"HEY, BONEHEAD! COME GET SOME!"
A thunderous metallic clang echoed through the chamber as his Taunt activated. The Harbinger's hollow eyes flashed crimson. With an enraged shriek, it abandoned the remaining skeletons and lunged toward Buck.
"Lucifer, Shadow, I need you two clearing minions, but listen carefully. Don't kill anything unless it's standing inside one of those three circles."
"Understood," Shadow replied.
"Finally!" Lucifer laughed. "A plan that involves smashing things!"
"Try not to smash the wrong things."
"No promises!"
Shadow vanished into a swirl of dark particles. A moment later, three skeletal warriors staggered backward as invisible strikes forced them into the western sigil. Her daggers flashed, severing joints and shattering bones with surgical precision. The circle erupted with golden light.
[SOUL ANCHOR ACTIVATED: 1/3]
Soma grinned. Got you. On the eastern side, Lucifer charged headlong into a pack of skeletons.
"COME HERE, YOU WALKING PILES OF GARBAGE!"
His axes swept outward, herding the creatures toward the second sigil.
"Lucifer!" Soma barked. "Don't kill them yet!"
"I KNOW!"
"You've already killed two!"
"THEY WERE LOOKING AT ME FUNNY!"
A skeleton stumbled into the circle. Lucifer's axes descended. Golden light surged through the floor.
[SOUL ANCHOR ACTIVATED: 2/3]
Then the entire arena trembled. The Harbinger stopped chasing Buck. Its crimson eyes shifted toward the illuminated sigils, and a terrible sound escaped its skeletal jaws. Not a scream. A laugh.
"Oh, that's not good," Buck muttered.
The Harbinger drove its scythe into the stone. Black fire erupted along the weapon's blade. Most of the remaining skeletal minions collapsed simultaneously, their bodies dissolving into streams of violet energy. Above the arena, an enormous magic circle began forming. Soma's interface flashed red.
[WARNING: REQUIEM COLLAPSE INITIATED]
[CAST TIME: 15 SECONDS]
"Uh, Klutz?" Raven asked, her voice suddenly tense. "Please tell me that's part of your plan."
Soma stared at the unfinished third sigil. They were close. So painfully close.
"Not exactly."
"That sounds suspiciously like a no," Buck said.
Soma checked the battlefield. Only a handful of skeletons remained, most already dissolving into the Harbinger's spell. Then he spotted one. A lone skeletal knight, stumbling near the southern edge of the arena.
"Shadow! South circle! There's one left!"
"On it."
"Lucifer, intercept that knight! Do not let the Harbinger consume it!"
"FINALLY! MY TIME TO SHINE!"
"Raven, keep Buck alive! Ella, start charging your strongest holy spell!"
Ella's voice sharpened immediately.
"How long do you need?"
Soma watched the countdown.
[12 SECONDS]
He tightened his grip on his staff.
"Ten seconds after the anchors activate."
A deafening roar shook the chamber as the Harbinger raised its scythe toward the growing vortex overhead. Buck glanced at the swirling mass of death energy.
"Kid..."
Soma didn't look away from his interface.
"Yeah?"
"Please tell me you've got something for that."
Soma raised his staff. Golden runes began spiraling around its head.
"Oh, I've got something."
[REQUIEM COLLAPSE: 8 SECONDS]
"But everybody better move fast."