The transition from the ancient, water-logged ruins of the Second Floor to the uncharted territory of the Third Floor was instantaneous. As the Z-Elites crossed the cosmic threshold, the camera lens on Carod's broadcast drone finally cleared, transferring the feed directly back to the orbital command center.
[The Command Deck — Carod's Spaceship]
High above the atmosphere of the dungeon planet, the main bridge of Captain Carod's mothership was buzzing with flashing monitors and rapidly climbing viewer metrics. Standing right in front of the primary broadcasting terminal was Carod's chief communications officer and trusted sidekick, holding a sleek silver microphone.
"Everyone, welcome back to our live stream for the Z+ rank dungeon raid!" the sidekick shouted into the console, gesturing enthusiastically toward the massive holographic screen behind him. "I am your announcer, SK! As everyone can see, our captain and the Z Elite have just survived the cataclysmic battle against Typhon and have officially entered the Third Floor! The network interference is completely gone, but the real question is: what kind of nightmarish monsters are waiting for them in this unexplored depth? Let's zoom in!"
[The Dead Zone — The Third Floor]
The moment the team stepped through the swirling violet vortex, the environment changed completely. There were no pillars, no water, and no stone walls. Instead, they found themselves standing on a vast, featureless plain of cold, metallic silver obsidian under a sky that looked like a bleeding nebula.
But before anyone could take a step to scout the perimeter, the atmospheric pressure dropped to absolute zero.
A silent, invisible vortex of negative energy swept across the plain. Instantly, the dungeon began draining everyone's mana at an ungodly velocity, pulling the energy straight out of their cores like a vacuum.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
One by one, the strongest warriors of the galaxy collapsed onto the cold metallic floor. Saina's drones dropped from the sky like dead flies, Ruta's magma hardened into brittle stone, and Gaia fell to her knees, clutching her chest as her silver energy evaporated.
Only three figures remained standing upright in the center of the sudden carnage: Yoru, Techyon, and Cynthia.
Cynthia looked around, her brilliant crystalline crown flickering but holding steady as she gritted her teeth against the invisible drag. "Why did everyone fall?! The gravity here isn't even high!"
In front of Techyon's vision, a sharp, crimson-bordered notification pane suddenly materialized, flashing rapidly alongside his internal system code.
[NOTIFICATION: SYSTEM BOUNDARY DETECTED]
WARNING: Ambient atmosphere is a High-Density Siphon Domain.
[MANA PROTECTION] has been automatically activated. Constant consumption rate locked at 0.02% per second.
"This dungeon is draining our mana this much fast," Techyon said, his voice dropping into a low, analytical tone as his white-blue lightning shifted into a thin, defensive shell around his skin. "My Mana Protection sub-routine activated automatically to isolate my core. If you don't have an automated barrier, your energy gets wiped out in seconds."
Beside him, Yoru didn't seem affected at all. She walked casually over to the massive, armored body of Captain Carod, who was sprawled out on the floor, his mechanical chest plate wheezing as his biological components panicked from the mana loss.
Yoru reached down, tapping loudly on the side of Carod's sleek helmet with her knuckles. "Come on, metalhead, stand up!—you can use your suit's backup battery as your mana supply instead of relying on your organic core!"
Carod gasped for a violent breath of air, his systems clicking loudly as the manual override initiated. He slowly pushed his massive frame off the ground, his faceplate glowing bright blue as the emergency cells kicked in. Turning his head away in deep embarrassment, he muttered over the comms, "I... I knew that! I was just checking if you knew that. A tactical test! But wait... if the siphon is this strong, why didn't it work on you, Yoru? You don't have a backup battery."
Yoru gave a small, dangerous smirk, her eyes reflecting the purple nebula above. "Because I can hide my mana completely, turning my presence to absolute shadow. This dungeon's mechanism thinks I already have zero mana, so there's nothing left for it to pull."
Techyon ignored the bickering, his sapphire eyes scanning the fallen vanguard. "Cynthia, check everyone. Everyone is in a very bad condition. If their cores empty completely, the siphon will start consuming their lifeforce."
Cynthia's expression turned fierce. She stepped into the center of the collapsed team and raised her right hand toward the sky, her pristine white light mana erupting upward like a beacon.
"[FLAMES OF PROTECTION]!"
With a majestic sweep of her arm, a wave of gentle, non-destructive solar fire washed over the group. Instead of burning, the white plasma wrapped around every single member of the Z-Elites like a warm, protective second skin, forming a solid insulation layer that completely blocked the dungeon's suction force.
Saina let out a long breath, her star-glasses rebooting as she forced herself up. "My... my mana is not draining anymore! The fire is acting as an external shield!"
[The Command Deck — Outside]
Back on the spaceship, the viewer counter on the screen was multiplying by the hundreds of thousands every second as the galaxy witnessed the recovery.
The announcer sidekick slammed his hands onto the desk, leaning closer to the microphone with wide eyes. "Unbelievable! As everyone can see across the broadcast networks, the Goddess of Flame saves everyone once again! With a single spell, she has neutralized the environmental penalty of the Third Floor! The Z-Elites are back on their feet, but the real mystery remains... what dwells within this dead zone?!"
The galactic broadcast networks were completely frozen in awe. The contrast between the fallen legends and the three standing figures on the screen had turned the live chat into a raging wildfire of speculation.
[The Command Deck — Carod's Spaceship]
SK gripped his microphone with both hands, his eyes practically glued to the transmission feed as he leaned so far over the console he nearly tripped.
"What can everyone see?!" SK screamed into the broadcast channel, his voice cracking with pure hype. "Look at the screens, citizens of the galaxy! I want you to notice that the one and only Captain Carod is still standing tall on his feet after a quick system bypass, when others—even the planetary Archons—failed to their knees from that terrifying mana drain! This is the peak of our captain's engineering! But wait... the Goddess of Flame has stabilized the field! Let's listen in!"
[The Plain of the Nebula — Inside the Dungeon]
Inside the silent, cold expanse of the Third Floor, the white flames of Cynthia's protection continued to hum softly around the Z-Elites, acting as an artificial atmosphere that kept the heavy mana siphon at bay.
Neweland gripped his trident, forcing his knees to straighten as the residual weakness from the drain finally left his muscles. "This tension... it is just too much. It feels like we aren't even inside a dungeon anymore, but walking on the surface of a dying star."
Ruta nodded, his obsidian skin smoking slightly as his core began to regenerate its thermal capacity. "Thanks, Goddess of Flame, for saving us. If those flames hadn't covered us when they did, my core would have cracked from the vacuum."
Gaia stepped forward, her silver mana humming quietly under the white fire shield as she stared out at the infinite, metallic horizon. "Look at the sheer scale of this place. The infrastructure... the negative pressure... looks like this is the final floor."
"I don't think so," Lapis cut in, his spinning purple eyes scanning the dimensional coordinates of the sky above them. He shook his head, his face taut with grim calculation. "An average S-rank dungeon has at least 90 floors before you even glimpse the true core. A Z+ rank dungeon of this magnitude cannot end on the third level."
Nefa laughed dryly, tossing one of her daggers into the air and catching it effortlessly. "Yeah. Lapis is right. Don't let the numbering fool you. In these high-tier rifts, a single floor is an entire dimension itself. We've just stepped into a different world."
"Guys, this is not the time to talk about the structure of this floor!" Fraxy interrupted, her hands still glowing with emerald stabilization mana as she checked the team's vital signatures. "The environment is stable for now, but the siphon is still trying to eat through Cynthia's flames. We need to find the core path."
Cynthia didn't say a word. Her crystalline solar crown flared with absolute authority as she drew her burning spear, her eyes fixed on a distant distortion in the dark sky. She started walking forward, her boots leaving glowing white footprints on the silver-obsidian ground.
"Everyone, follow me," Cynthia commanded.
The Z-Elites fell into a tight formation behind the siblings, marching deeper into the silent void of the Third Floor.
[The Abyss — The Null Dimension]
Meanwhile, infinitely far away from the dungeon planet, deep within a space where time, light, and reality itself went to die, lay the true heart of the void.
There was no sky here—only a terrifying, claustrophobic expanse governed by a trillion overlapping black holes, their gravitational fields crushing the fabric of space into static dust. Suspended directly in the epicenter of this cosmic graveyard was a colossal throne made of dead matter.
Bound to the throne by billions of heavy, pulsing Void Chains that hummed with administrative decay, a lone figure sat shrouded in the dark.
Suddenly, the chains rattled violently. The entity slowly lifted his head, breaking a slumber that had lasted for eons.
Two piercing, blood-red eyes opened in the dark. They didn't reflect the light; they consumed it.
"So..." a voice rumbled, vibrating through the trillions of black holes like a dark symphony, filled with a terrifying, ancient amusement. "They actually managed to kill Typhon? I am impressed. The insects have grown sharper claws."
The Void Sovereign's lips curled into a cold, lethal smirk as his gaze seemed to pierce through the dimensions, looking directly toward the coordinates of the Third Floor.
"But now... I will see how they can defeat my strongest General."