Floor Thirty-Six began quietly.
That should have been their first warning.
Jax stepped out of the stairwell and into another enormous chamber within the World Tree.
The cavern stretched farther than he could see. Thick roots twisted through the stone beneath their feet while enormous trees rose toward a canopy nearly two hundred feet overhead.
Glowing amber sap flowed through channels in the ground, illuminating the forest from below.
Pixelle flew through the doorway behind him.
"Oh."
She looked upward.
"This one's beautiful."
Jax nodded.
"Definitely bigger."
Bunny stepped through next, World Breaker resting across her shoulder.
"Big enough for Dante?"
Jax studied the ceiling.
Technically?
Probably.
But the massive trees, roots and branches would make flying difficult.
"Maybe. But let's see what we're dealing with first."
Warden emerged with the Shadow Army.
The force following him was considerably larger than the one that had entered the World Tree the previous morning.
Eight Sap Behemoths now formed part of his heavy line.
Several Root Colossi followed behind them.
Cavern Trolls.
Shadow Knights.
Mages.
Archers.
Fang.
Gryph.
Loki.
Flower remained near Nyxian until her master gave her a small nod.
"Go on."
Flower moved toward Warden.
The General acknowledged her with the smallest tilt of his helmet before directing her toward the left side of the formation.
Grim and Steed remained close to Nyxian.
Warden didn't try to move them.
He had already learned something about the twin Shadow Bulls.
They fought harder when they were protecting her.
So he gave them something to protect.
Nyxian.
The Shadow Army moved forward.
For nearly twenty minutes, nothing happened.
Jax didn't like that.
Neither did Warden.
The General's head continuously moved from side to side.
Pixelle hovered beside Nyxian.
"Maybe this floor is empty."
"No," Nyxian said.
"How do you know?"
"Because that would be boring."
"That isn't evidence."
"It's enough for me."
The buzzing began.
Quietly.
Jax stopped.
Warden stopped at almost the exact same moment.
Bunny lowered World Breaker from her shoulder.
Llandra already had Starpiercer in her hand.
Zee raised Sanctaris.
Pixelle looked around.
"What is that?"
The buzzing grew louder.
The canopy moved.
Not the trees.
Something inside them.
Thousands of glowing points appeared between the branches.
Pixelle's eyes widened.
"Oh, Goddess."
Jax activated Inspect.
MANA HORNET — B RANK
One dropped from the canopy.
It was almost the size of Pixelle in her natural form.
Its translucent wings vibrated fast enough to blur. A glowing abdomen pulsed with unstable magical energy, and its stinger looked more like a dagger than anything belonging to an insect.
Then another appeared.
And another.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
Bunny looked up.
"Well, that's disgusting."
The first Mana Hornet attacked.
A Shadow Archer fired.
The arrow pierced its abdomen.
The Hornet exploded.
The blast destroyed the arrow and knocked two nearby Shadow Archers from their feet.
Jax's expression changed.
"Oh."
Another arrow flew.
Another explosion.
This time three Hornets were close enough to be caught in the blast.
They exploded too.
The chain reaction tore through part of the swarm.
Pixelle smiled.
"That worked!"
Then the entire canopy began moving.
Her smile disappeared.
"Oh."
The swarm descended.
Warden raised his sword.
The Shadow Army responded instantly.
Knights formed defensive lines.
Archers fired.
Mages unleashed spells.
The sky exploded.
Mana Hornets detonated everywhere.
Purple.
Gold.
Blue.
White.
Each blast triggered another.
And another.
The entire cavern became a storm of magical explosions.
Shadow Knights shattered.
Archers disappeared.
One of the Shadow Mages managed to destroy dozens before a Hornet broke through and detonated directly against him.
His form vanished.
Jax frowned.
He could resummon them.
That wasn't the problem.
The problem was efficiency.
Every Shadow he brought back cost mana.
His pool was enormous, but repeatedly throwing the same soldiers into thousands of exploding insects was stupid.
And beneath the swarm—
The forest moved.
Something enormous stepped between the trees.
Then another.
Then another.
Pixelle looked downward.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Ancient Root Guardians emerged from the forest.
Nearly twenty feet tall.
Massive wooden bodies covered in overlapping plates of enchanted bark. Each carried a spear made from an entire tree trunk.
Jax activated Inspect.
ANCIENT ROOT GUARDIAN — A RANK
The first Guardian charged.
Sap Behemoths met it.
The impact shook the cavern.
A massive spear swept sideways.
Two Behemoths were thrown backward.
Shadow Knights shattered.
Loki charged.
His club slammed into the Guardian's chest.
Frost spread across the bark.
The Guardian staggered.
But didn't fall.
Warden attacked from behind.
His sword struck the Guardian's back.
The blade cut into the outer bark.
Barely.
The Guardian turned.
Its spear came down.
Warden blocked.
The impact drove him several feet backward.
Above them, Mana Hornets continued exploding.
Jax watched the battlefield for several seconds.
The Shadows could probably win.
Eventually.
But they weren't going to win this floor for them.
Not efficiently.
Jax drew Peacemaker.
"Alright."
Bunny looked toward him.
Jax smiled.
"Enough sightseeing."
Bunny's grin widened.
"Finally."
Jax raised his voice.
"Vixens!"
Every woman looked toward him.
"Shadows aren't winning this floor for us."
Nyxian smiled.
Jax rested Peacemaker against his shoulder.
"So I guess we'll have to do it ourselves."
Bunny lifted World Breaker.
"Oh, I've been waiting for you to say that."
Warden turned toward Jax.
Jax pointed toward the Ancient Root Guardians.
"Break their armor."
Warden looked at the massive creatures.
"Then kill them."
The General immediately understood.
His sword rose.
The Shadow Army changed.
Sap Behemoths abandoned attempts to overpower the Guardians and began attacking individual armor plates.
Root Colossi joined them.
Knights attacked seams.
Loki's club hammered the same sections repeatedly.
Jax looked toward the others.
"Let's go."
Bunny disappeared.
She Air Walked straight upward.
World Breaker began spinning.
Once.
Twice.
Faster.
The magma-red energy surrounding the enormous hammer intensified.
Mana Hornets changed direction.
Hundreds descended toward her.
Bunny smiled.
"Come on!"
World Breaker spun faster.
Fire spiraled around her.
The air itself began rotating.
Pixelle stared.
"What is she doing?"
Bunny accelerated.
The vortex grew.
Flames twisted around her body.
She shot out a tornado of fire at the swarming hornets.
They exploded upon impact. Hundreds destroyed. Clearing a path way.
She climbed higher.
Hornets poured toward her.
She shot another.
They vanished into the storm.
Explosions rippled through the flames.
Bunny laughed.
Pixelle stared.
"She's insane."
Nyxian smiled.
"You're learning."
Llandra stepped forward.
Starpiercer appeared in her hands.
Then another Llandra appeared beside her.
Then another.
Four Astral Echoes spread through the forest.
Five Llandras raised five bows.
Five strings pulled backward.
The first volley launched.
Arrows filled the sky.
Not randomly.
Precisely.
One arrow struck a Hornet.
The explosion caught three others.
Another arrow detonated a Hornet in the center of a cluster.
Six disappeared.
The Echoes adjusted.
Another volley.
Then another.
Llandra wasn't simply killing them.
She was deciding where they exploded.
Chain reactions spread across the canopy in patterns.
Pixelle watched dozens disappear.
Then hundreds.
"Oh, that's beautiful."
Nyxian looked at her.
"You think that's beautiful?"
Pixelle nodded.
Nyxian smiled.
"Watch me."
A wave of Mana Hornets broke through Llandra's barrage.
They came directly toward them.
Nyxian looked at Pixelle.
Then toward the swarm.
Then back at Pixelle.
"You're with me."
"What?"
Nyxian grabbed her.
Pixelle disappeared.
"Nyxian!"
Lilith's Kiss appeared.
The whip split.
Two crimson-black lashes uncoiled from Nyxian's hands.
Pixelle's head appeared from the top of Nyxian's breast plate armor.
Her expression was deeply offended.
"You could have asked!"
"No time."
"There was absolutely time!"
The first Hornet arrived.
Nyxian moved.
Lilith's Kiss snapped upward.
The Hornet exploded.
Nyxian spun.
The second lash crossed behind her.
Two more detonated.
She ducked beneath another.
One whip wrapped around it.
Nyxian pulled.
The Hornet slammed into three others.
Four explosions erupted simultaneously.
Nyxian laughed.
She kept moving.
Turn.
Snap.
Duck.
Spin.
Cross.
Open.
Lilith's Kiss became an extension of her body.
The movements weren't random.
They flowed.
Jax had spent months of training compressed into his System learning to move with Infernal Requiem until fighting with the pistols resembled a dance.
Nyxian was beginning to discover something similar with her whips.
A deadly rhythm.
One lash defended.
The other attacked.
Then they reversed.
A Hornet dove toward her head.
Crack.
Explosion.
Another came from her left.
Crack.
Explosion.
Three descended together.
Both whips crossed.
BOOM.
Fire and mana surrounded her.
Nyxian emerged through the smoke smiling.
Grim and Steed charged into position around her.
Warden had never ordered them there.
He didn't need to.
Their master was under attack.
That was where they wanted to be.
Warden saw it.
And rather than fight their instinct, he used it.
His sword moved.
Shadow Knights shifted away from Nyxian's position and reinforced Zee instead.
Grim and Steed had Nyxian.
The General put his other soldiers where they were needed more.
A Mana Hornet dove toward Nyxian's back.
Grim intercepted it.
His horns caught the creature.
It exploded against his face.
Grim emerged from the smoke.
Unharmed.
Nyxian looked over her shoulder.
"Good boy!"
Grim charged another.
Steed went one better.
He opened his mouth.
Pixelle's eyes widened.
"Don't—"
Steed swallowed three Mana Hornets.
Nyxian stopped.
Everyone near her stopped.
Steed's cheeks expanded.
BOOM.
Smoke puffed from his mouth.
The Shadow Bull blinked.
Then snorted a cloud of black smoke from his nostrils.
Pixelle stared.
Steed looked around for another Hornet.
"What?!"
Nyxian laughed.
"Oh, I love them."
Pixelle looked up at her.
"That exploded inside him!"
"Yes."
"He ate an explosion!"
"Three."
"That doesn't make it better!"
Nyxian cracked both whips.
Two Hornets exploded.
Her smile widened.
Grim and Steed had grown.
Just as the Vixens had.
Just as Jax had.
Nyxian's experience.
Her iPoints.
Her connection to Jax.
Whatever strange rules governed the Shadows connected to them, Grim and Steed were no longer the creatures they had been when Nyxian first acquired them.
They were stronger.
Much stronger.
Nyxian spun beneath another attack.
Lilith's Kiss destroyed five Hornets in rapid succession.
Explosions surrounded her.
"Oh, Goddess…"
Pixelle looked up.
"What?"
Nyxian's eyes followed Jax across the battlefield.
He was fighting two Ancient Root Guardians at once.
She smiled.
"Give us another hot spring after this and one hour with Jax."
A whip cracked.
Another Hornet exploded.
"I promise I'll only need five minutes."
Pixelle's eyes widened.
"Nyxian!"
Nyxian laughed.
She adjusted the front of her armor.
Pixelle slipped several inches deeper.
"HEY!"
Nyxian looked down.
"Oh."
She adjusted it again.
Pixelle disappeared farther.
Nyxian shivered.
"That's surprisingly motivating."
"STOP THAT!"
Three Hornets dove toward her.
Nyxian's head snapped upward.
Her smile became feral.
"Oh, I am going to kill so many of you."
Lilith's Kiss exploded into motion.
Across the battlefield, Zee had her own problem.
Hundreds of Mana Hornets had discovered the healer.
Or thought they had.
Zee stood with Sanctaris planted beside her.
A golden barrier surrounded her position.
The first Hornet struck.
BOOM.
The barrier flashed.
Another hit.
BOOM.
Then ten.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Golden light disappeared beneath explosions.
Pixelle finally managed to pull her head free.
"Zee!"
Nyxian glanced over.
"She'll be fine."
"How do you know?"
The explosions intensified.
The entire area around Zee vanished beneath fire and magical energy.
Twenty Hornets.
Thirty.
More.
The ground shook.
Smoke rolled across the battlefield.
Then slowly cleared.
The golden barrier remained.
Zee stood inside it.
Sanctaris glowed.
Her green hair moved gently in the magical wind.
She looked upward.
More Hornets were coming.
Zee sighed.
"Oh, come on."
The next wave hit.
The barrier held.
Again.
And again.
Zee's Intelligence had grown enormously since joining Jax.
Her magic had grown with it.
What would once have exhausted her now barely moved her feet.
The Hornets kept trying.
Zee kept refusing to let them through.
And while they wasted themselves against her barrier—
Llandra killed them.
Arrow after arrow fell from above.
The Astral Echoes continued firing.
Hornets detonated before reaching Zee.
Bunny's flaming tornado carved through another section of the swarm.
Nyxian danced through the rest.
The sky was disappearing.
Jax saw it.
So did Warden.
Now the heavy infantry.
An Ancient Root Guardian swung its spear.
Jax jumped.
The weapon passed beneath him.
He landed on the shaft.
Ran along it.
The Guardian tried to pull back.
Too late.
Peacemaker came down.
The Godslayer blade struck the Guardian's shoulder.
Bark armor was cut straight through.
Jax twisted.
The second blade struck.
A massive plate tore free as the beast was cut in half.
"Now!"
A Shadow Mage fired.
Flame struck the exposed wood.
The Guardian ignited from within as the beast was severed into multiple chunks.
It roared.
Warden moved.
His sword drove between two armor plates on another Guardian.
He twisted.
The plate separated.
A Sap Behemoth grabbed it with both hands.
Ripped.
The armor tore away.
Loki's club struck the exposed section.
Frost exploded across living wood.
The Guardian froze.
Bunny dropped from the sky.
World Breaker came down.
The frozen Guardian shattered.
Bunny landed in the wreckage.
She looked at Jax.
"Was that one worth keeping?"
Jax looked at the pieces.
Then at her.
"No. Keep killing and we will figure it out later."
"Good."
She launched herself back into the air.
Jax laughed.
The battle continued.
But now the balance had changed.
The Mana Hornets were dying faster than they could attack.
The Ancient Root Guardians were losing their armor.
Warden understood exactly what Jax wanted.
Don't waste effort attacking what the armor protected.
Remove the armor.
Then kill what was underneath.
Jax had the ability and weapon that could kill on contact, but they did not.
The Shadow Army adapted.
Knights attacked seams.
Behemoths ripped plates away.
Root Colossi restrained arms.
Loki froze exposed sections.
Mages burned them.
The Vixens attacked wherever the formation needed help.
And Jax moved through everything.
Peacemaker flashed.
Infernal Requiem appeared.
He fired.
Holstered.
Caught Peacemaker.
Jumped.
Spun.
Cut.
Moved.
Another Guardian lost its chest plate.
Jax kicked away.
Fire consumed it.
Another fell.
Then another.
The swarm above them was almost gone.
Llandra's Echoes fired their final volley.
A hundred arrows climbed toward the canopy.
For one brief moment, the forest ceiling glittered.
Then the arrows struck.
The remaining Hornets detonated.
The canopy erupted with light.
Silence followed.
Bunny landed.
World Breaker struck the ground beside her.
Nyxian lowered Lilith's Kiss.
Zee released her barrier.
Llandra's Astral Echoes faded.
Pixelle finally climbed completely out of Nyxian's breast plate armor.
Her pink hair was a mess.
She pointed at Nyxian.
"Never again."
Nyxian looked at her.
"You were perfectly safe."
"That isn't the point!"
"You're right."
Nyxian smiled.
"It was also fun."
Pixelle's face turned red.
"I hate you."
"No, you don't."
Pixelle crossed her arms.
"No."
She didn't.
Jax looked around.
The floor was devastated.
Burning trees.
Shattered armor.
Dead Hornets.
Ancient Root Guardians scattered across the battlefield.
The Shadow Army had taken losses.
Nothing permanent.
But enough.
Jax walked toward one of the fallen Guardians.
Warden joined him.
Jax looked at the enormous corpse.
Then toward another.
Several were too damaged.
Others weren't.
Jax glanced at Warden.
The General was already studying them.
"How many?"
Warden continued looking.
"Six, my liege."
Jax smiled.
"Exactly what I was thinking."
He raised his hand.
"Come Forth."
Darkness spread.
One Ancient Root Guardian moved.
Then another.
Six massive bodies rose from the battlefield.
Their heavy bark armor darkened.
Cracks that had once glowed amber now burned violet.
Enormous Shadow Spears formed in their hands.
Pixelle watched them join the formation.
She looked at the destruction around her.
Then at the six new A-Rank Shadows.
"You know…"
Jax looked at her.
"What?"
"I think the World Tree is making you stronger."
Jax looked toward the growing Shadow Army.
"Seems rude not to accept the help."
Bunny laughed.
Warden raised his sword.
The army reorganized.
The six Ancient Root Guardians moved into the heavy line beside the Sap Behemoths.
Jax checked the time.
The fight had taken nearly forty-five minutes.
By far the longest battle of the raid.
And somehow—
Jax smiled.
It had been the most fun.
Pixelle flew toward him, growing as she crossed the distance.
By the time she reached him, she stood five-foot-six.
She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him.
Jax blinked.
Then kissed her back.
When she pulled away, she looked genuinely annoyed.
"I was worried about you."
"Why?"
Pixelle stared at him.
"You were fighting twenty-foot monsters!"
"So was Bunny."
"That doesn't help!"
Jax looked toward Bunny.
She was currently examining World Breaker for scratches.
"Fair."
Pixelle folded her arms.
"One day you're going to need me to save you."
Nyxian groaned from across the battlefield.
"We already discussed this!"
Pixelle ignored her.
Jax smiled.
"I'll look forward to it."
Pixelle nodded proudly.
Then shrank.
Seconds later she landed on Jax's shoulder.
Nyxian approached them.
Grim and Steed followed closely behind her.
Jax looked at the two Shadow Bulls.
Steed still had faint smoke drifting from his nostrils.
Jax pointed.
"Did he eat them?"
Nyxian smiled proudly.
"Three."
"Why?"
Steed snorted.
Nyxian shrugged.
"He was hungry."
Jax stared at her.
Then at Steed.
"Sure."
Warden passed them.
He looked briefly toward Grim and Steed.
Then toward Nyxian.
The two Bulls immediately moved closer to her.
Warden continued walking.
"So shouldn't he tell them where to go?"
Jax watched Warden reorganizing the formation.
"No."
"Why not?"
Jax thought about it.
"Because Warden isn't stupid."
Pixelle blinked.
Jax gestured toward the Bulls.
"They want to protect Nyxian."
Grim lowered his head beside her.
Nyxian scratched behind one horn.
Jax continued.
"They fight harder protecting Nyxian."
He pointed toward Warden.
"So he lets them."
Pixelle looked toward the General.
Shadow Knights moved away from Nyxian's position.
Archers filled gaps.
The new Guardians took the front.
Warden wasn't fighting the Bulls' loyalty.
He was building his formation around it.
Pixelle smiled.
"He's really good at this."
Jax nodded.
"Better than me."
Warden stopped.
His helmet slowly turned.
Jax looked at him.
"What?"
Warden stared.
Jax laughed.
"Fine. Definitely better than me."
Warden turned back toward the stairs.
Nyxian laughed.
Jax rested Peacemaker across his shoulder.
"Come on."
The Vixens gathered.
The Shadow Army moved.
Floor Thirty-Six had tried something new.
Heavy armor.
Swarm tactics.
Exploding enemies.
For the first time since entering the World Tree, the Vixens had been forced to show what they could really do.
And Jax had learned something.
The harder the World Tree pushed—
The stronger his army became.
He smiled as they entered the stairwell.
"Thirty-Seven."
Bunny lifted World Breaker onto her shoulder.
"Think it'll be harder?"
Jax looked toward the growing ranks behind them.
"I hope so."
Nyxian smiled.
"So do I."
From Jax's shoulder, Pixelle looked at her.
"You just want another hot spring."
"No. I need another hot spring moment."