The next two floors passed in a blur.
Floor 8 and Floor 9 both tried to throw problems at the Divers, but by then, they were already moving like a team that had stopped reacting and started predicting.
Gun's new mirror-based offense turned every close fight into a slaughter.
Waver's crowd control gave them room to breathe.
Jack's lightning-based chain attacks kept enemies from regrouping.
And Luna's healing had become so absurd that it almost felt unfair whenever one of them got clipped.
Almost.
That was the important part.
They still get hit sometimes.
They still had to think.
But the tower no longer felt like it was dictating the pace.
The Divers were.
By the time they cleared Floors 8 and 9, Jack had also used the other two scrolls they had picked up from Floor 7.
The first one gave him Thunder Grab.
A lightning-fast rush that let him appear in front of an enemy, grab them by the neck, slam them to the ground, and finish with a falling bolt of electricity.
The second one unlocked Thundering Aura.
For thirty seconds, Jack's blades became wrapped in lightning, and every successful hit extended the skill's duration by half a second.
Gun had watched him test it once and immediately decided it was disgusting.
Jack, for his part, had just shrugged and said it was "fine."
The floors themselves had not been generous, but they had been profitable.
Between what they looted and what they sold once they found a rest point, the Divers ended up with five uncommon scrolls in total.
Far away, in the dark apartment with the cold lighting and the black suit, the mood was much less relaxed.
The man in black sat in the same chair as before, one leg crossed, fingers steepled.
Around him stood the remaining bodyguards.
The ones who had survived the failed raid.
The ones who had gone after Gun's boots and failed.
James Jones was dead.
That alone had already changed the atmosphere.
Now the man in black was listening to the report with a face so still it looked carved from stone.
"…So James was defeated."
One of the bodyguards lowered his head. "Yes, sir."
The man in black's eyes shifted slightly.
Not much.
Just enough to make the room feel colder.
The bodyguard continued, voice cautious, "The Divers were stronger than expected."
At that, the man in black gave a small, humorless smile.
"The Divers."
He repeated the name like he was tasting it.
Then he leaned back.
At last, he said, "At this point, The Architect should go personally."
The bodyguards stiffened.
He raised a hand.
"Gather the remaining four. Bring the ten servants."
Nobody questioned him.
No one wanted to.
The man in black stood slowly.
His posture was calm, but there was something sharp under it now.
Something annoyed.
Something dangerous.
"They've made this more troublesome than it needed to be," he said.
And then he turned toward the door.
The mission had changed.
So had the people hunting them.
Floor 10 was another test floor.
That much became obvious as soon as the Divers arrived.
The room was large, structured, and designed like an arena.
People were already gathering in groups and discussing the rules. Loud voices bounced off the high walls. Signs and system prompts floated overhead in bright text.
Gun read the announcement once.
Then again.
Then glanced at the others.
"A four versus four tournament," he said.
Luna folded her arms. "That's actually good for us."
Jack nodded. "Much better than a survival chaos floor."
Waver looked around the arena with quiet eyes.
Gun could tell he was already analyzing the layout.
That was enough for him to relax a little.
A direct team fight.
That was their kind of problem.
Not easy.
Just familiar.
Still, they were tired after the last two floors.
And nobody wanted to go into a tournament half awake.
So before they committed to anything, the group started looking for an inn nearby.
The city attached to the floor was bigger than it first looked. Shops were lined up along the arena district, and it did not take long before they ran into one of the local merchants willing to buy scrolls in bulk.
The five uncommon scrolls were sold quickly.
The sum came out to the two hundred thousand gold they had expected.
Gun pocketed the confirmation, then muttered, "Good. We'll deal with gear later."
Luna nodded. "I'm not complaining."
Jack looked around the street. "Let's find a place to sleep first."
Waver said, "Agreed."
So they headed toward the inn district.
And that was where the problem started.
The ambush came in the middle of the street.
At first it looked like a simple group of five thieves.
Then Gun sensed something wrong.
The tall one in white stood out immediately.
Not because of the clothes.
Because of the pressure.
His body moved differently than the other five.
The other thieves felt like rookies.
Annoying, but disposable.
The man in white felt like he could split the air with one swing if he wanted to.
Gun slowed slightly.
Waver's eyes narrowed too.
"Interesting," he said quietly.
Before Gun could answer, the thieves started running.
Not at them.
Away from them.
Gun frowned. "What?"
Jack's head turned. "They're bait."
The realization hit a second later.
Gun swore under his breath.
"Trap."
He moved to grab Luna and Jack, and Waver did the same from the other side, but by the time they tried to retreat, it was already too late.
The street opened around them like a closed fist.
Ten servants appeared from the shadows.
Four bodyguards stepped out behind them.
All directions.
All angles.
The Divers were surrounded.
Gun's eyes narrowed as he looked through the crowd.
Then he saw him.
The silver-haired man.
Around 179 centimeters tall.
Dressed in black.
A cold smile on his face like he had already won.
His presence hit the street like a verdict.
He looked at the Divers for a long moment, then let out a quiet laugh.
"You have made things quite troublesome for me."
Gun's jaw tightened.
Then the man spread one hand.
"I am The Architect."
The name hit the others immediately.
Gun, however, had already figured out the rest.
He looked from the bodyguards to the servants to the way they all moved around him.
Same organization.
The same people.
The same group that had been hunting them.
James Jones had not been acting alone.
Gun's anger sharpened into something colder.
"So you're the one behind all of this."
The Architect's smile deepened slightly.
"I prefer to think of it as management."
He glanced at Gun's boots.
Then at the Fang Staff in Luna's hand.
Then at Jack.
And finally back to Gun.
"Give me the boots," he said calmly. "And the staff as well."
His gaze shifted slightly.
"I may even spare the child."
Jack's expression immediately went rigid.
Luna glared.
Waver's expression didn't change, but the air around him did.
Gun's eye twitched.
"Kid?"
The Architect seemed amused by that.
"You carry useful things, but I am not interested in your sentimentality."
He took one slow step forward.
"True power is not being strong yourself."
He lifted a finger.
"It is being able to lead the strong."
Gun said nothing.
The Architect continued, voice smooth and confident.
"Strength is loud, but intelligence is the weapon that decides the outcome before the battle begins. A good leader doesn't need to be the blade. He needs to be the hand that points it."
Gun stared at him.
The Architect smiled.
"You cannot win this by force alone."
He gestured toward the circle of enemies around them.
"You are outnumbered. Outplanned. Outpositioned. So be sensible."
He tilted his head.
"Give up."
For a second, nobody spoke.
Then Waver moved.
Ice exploded from the ground in a sharp defensive surge, trying to box in the densest part of the enemy line.
But the moment the barrier formed, several of the bodyguards crushed it.
The ice shattered almost instantly.
Too much force.
Too many high-tier climbers at once.
Waver clicked his tongue softly.
The Architect noticed.
His smile widened a fraction.
"You see?" he said to Gun. "That is the problem with relying on isolated power. A single wall is nothing against a coordinated break."
Gun's grip tightened.
He could feel the pressure of the moment.
This was not a simple ambush.
It was a message.
The Architect wanted them to understand that he had already thought ahead.
He wanted them to panic.
Instead, Gun laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because the man had just said the exact wrong thing.
"You think this is about strength?" Gun asked.
The Architect said nothing.
Gun's eyes sharpened.
"It's about not letting you control the fight."
The Architect studied him for a second, then gave a small, amused sigh.
"And yet here you are, trapped."
Gun grinned faintly.
"Yeah."
Then the atmosphere around him changed.
Not because the trap had failed.
Because Gun had started thinking.
The Architect was right about one thing.
This was intelligence.
But Gun had never been stupid enough to think intelligence only belonged to one side.
He looked at the circle of enemies, then at Waver, then at Jack and Luna.
Then he spoke, calm and focused.
"Alright."
His expression hardened.
"Let's see how smart you really are."