The silence that followed was louder than anything. Reagan reached her just as the orc was pulling its axe back. With a roar of pure, unadulterated fury, He gabbed the orc by the throat and crushed its windpipe with his bare hand before cleaving its head from its shoulders.
He caught Valeria as she collapsed
Her bow clattered onto the stone, the string snapping - a final symbolic break. She looked up at Reagan, her hand clutching her neck but she was bleeding too much.
"No... no, no, no," Reagan whispered, pulling a High Grade Health Potion from his inventory. "Drink this Val. Please." Tears rolled down his cheeks, mixing with the dirt and blood on his face as he helped her chug down the potion.
[THE PLAYER'S HP IS ALREADY 0 - EFFECT NOT APPLIED]
The system's cold notification was a death sentence. She lifted her trembling blood stained hands and touched hiss armor. Her body was already disintegrating into shimmering pixels of light.
"Don't cry." She consoled him, her voice a fading whisper as she wiped a tear from his cheek.
"If only I didn't hesitate," Reagan sobbed. "You wouldn't be in this situation."
"Don't blame yourself...nobody knew this would happen." She looked at him with a final, lingering warmth. "Thank you for loving me. Don't die." She gave him one final ghostly kiss before her body completely vanished into the air.
[PARTY MEMBER: VALERIA POTTERSMITH HAS DIED]
[PARTY STRENGTH REDUCED BY 35%]
*******
Reagan and his party defeated the orcs, but the victory was hollow. It had cost him his two closest friends. Only four survivors walked out of that chamber. Since then, Reagan's heart turned to stone. He focused his entire dedication to clearing the Tower. He had only one goal, clear the Tower and get the final reward. Back then after clearing the first floor - the labyrinth, the curator told them that the final reward for clearing all tower floors, was a wish. One wish, they can wish anything they want. Reagan's only wish was to revert everything back. The towers, the quests, the monsters, he would wish everything never happened in the first place and the world to return how it was. As he walked the lonely path, he came to realize that he was the only player in the Tower. All those billion of souls that entered the Tower, Leonard, Liam, Valeria, all them never crossed the 75th floor. Twenty years in the Tower had passed since and now he was challenging the 99th floor boss.
**Floor 99, Year 90**
[FLOOR BOSS: NINE TAILED FOX]
The fight had gone for a total of two weeks. Well, the monster was a headache. It had an innate skill, doppelganger. Innate skills/ trait are skills inherited from one's lineage. The nine tailed fox innate trait, doppelganger allowed it to copy anyone's stat, skill, weapon etc as long as it can comprehend them.
Fighting his own version with the same stats as him, proved an obstacle. But this was the last day.
The room was in a mess. Debris were scattered on the uneven, destroyed floor. Dried blood were spattered on the floor, sword marks were etched into every walls as sound of weapons clashing echoed in the room.
In the air, Reagan's doppelganger hovered and on the floor stood Reagan. Wounds filled their body.
"Let's finish this." Reagan said with his ragged breaths. The doppelganger summoned three massive balls of fire and coating its blade in immense heat. Despite being exhausted and low of mana, the summoned fire was too hot that the floor beneath started melting into magma. The fire was launched finding its mark.
Boom.
The place where Reagan was standing exploded leaving a crater behind. The doppelganger didn't wait for the fire to dissipate, it charged through the fire. But Reagan was already moving. He leaped through the blazing inferno, caught the doppelganger mid - air, and sliced it in half.
[NINE TAILED FOX DEFEATED]
[GAINED TEN MILLION EXP | GAINED 1000000 G COINS | GAINED FOX HIDE x1 AND TAIL x1]
[Your level has already reached the 100 maximum cap]
[All EXPs is lost]
Huff. Huff
Reagan's breath came as he sat down near the doppelganger. It reverted back into its white fox form before dissipating into white light. Without further ado,
"System," he purchased health potions. His body was enveloped in a warm emerald light as he chugged down the bitter herb.
"Hah. Thank God the battle finally ended. I was out of potion and couldn't purchase them without coins. If the battle had continued for an hour I would have died."
[Would you like to enter the next floor?] The system asked.
"No. My fatigue is at it's limit. If I enter the next floor, I won't even survive a second. Let me take a rest.
[The Challenge Has Been Deferred]
***********
Two days later.
"My Fatigue is back to zero and my mana has been replenished after I slept. Let's see what the final boss looks like." He said as he pushed the massive door in front of him open. As soon as he stepped in, the fluctuating mana in the room was enough to make him fall on his knees. It was like standing on an area with amplified gravity.
His morale shattered as soon as he saw what type of monster he was about to face.
[FINAL FLOOR BOSS; RED DRAGON - DRACENA (LEVEL 200)]
The name was painted deep red.
"Are you kidding me? A 100 level difference... how am I supposed to even defeat it?"
His presence awakened the monster. It stood twenty feet tall towering him.
"So you're the one I was told to defeat." Dracaena rumbled, her voice shaking the foundations of the room. "I was promised if I defeated the one to challenge me I would be released, but I didn't expect a human. You are pretty strong so I won't go easy on you." She began to glow from within, a terrifying heat building up in her throat. "I will use my strongest attack to end this. You deserve it." The dragon opened its maw, and a torrent of primordial fire surged toward the lone challenger.