The silent countdown of the Third Floor had officially begun, and the pressure inside the siphoning dimension was no longer just draining their mana—it was draining their remaining seconds.
[The 15-Minute Crucible]
The silver-obsidian ground seemed to stretch infinitely under the bleeding nebula, but the true threat wasn't the scenery. Cynthia kept her palm raised, her Flames of Protection flickering under the constant, aggressive suction of the atmosphere. She turned her head toward the rear line, her voice sharp with sudden urgency.
"Fraxy! How much time do we have to defeat the boss until this dungeon breaks apart and traps us in the void?!"
Fraxy checked her glowing medical interface, her emerald mana wavering as her eyes went wide with panic. "Goddess of Flame... this is a big problem! The temporal instability of this floor is accelerating! We only have fifteen minutes left!"
"WHAT?!"
The shout erupted from the entire vanguard simultaneously. Every member of the Z-Elites froze, a cold shockwave of adrenaline hitting their chests.
"Only fifteen minutes?!" Cynthia's crystalline crown flared with absolute disbelief. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?!"
Fraxy bit her lip, her hands trembling as she forced more stabilization energy into the team. "We were fighting the entire time against Typhon and trying to survive the mana drain! I didn't notice the timer until the coordinate clock started flashing red!"
Cynthia gripped her burning spear, her teeth gritted as she calculated their odds. "We can't defeat a high-tier Z+ boss under fifteen minutes... it's mathematically impossible to break that much density in time."
"Sister, look over there," Techyon interrupted, his voice a calm, chilling anchor amidst the panic. He pointed his dual blades toward a massive, architectural distortion on the horizon. "There are stairs."
Emerging directly from the seamless silver ground was a colossal staircase made of dark, unreflective matter, winding upward into the heart of the bleeding nebula. Without waiting for a command, the team fell into a desperate sprint, their boots slamming against the heavy steps as they rapidly climbed the stairs, chasing the fading seconds of the countdown.
[The Dragon's Seal]
As they reached the summit of the structure, the stairs abruptly ended at a massive, seamless gate of absolute darkness that blocked the sky.
Saina sprinted to the edge, her star-glasses scanning the perimeter as her mechanical cannon hissed. "There is nothing here! The path is dead! What should we do now?!"
"Look at that," Gaia said, her silver mana pointing toward the central seam of the giant gate.
Embedded into the dark material was a heavy, metallic mechanism—a prominent button intricately carved into the shape of a roaring Dragon's Head, its eyes glowing with a faint, dormant purple spark.
Neweland stepped up, his fluid trident lowered. "I think we have to press this button to challenge the boss and open the door. It's an activation trigger."
But before a single hand could reach out to touch the metallic dragon—
"Everyone, look above!" Yoru barked, her dual-colored aura flaring to life as her instincts screamed.
[The Myth of Hell]
A low, subterranean growl vibrated down from the top of the giant gate. Sitting majestically upon the upper ledge of the frame was a monstrous, three-headed silhouette that completely blocked out the light of the nebula. Six crimson eyes ignited in the dark, staring down at the invaders with divine disdain.
The legendary beast leaped from the ledge, slamming onto the platform before them with a force that made the silver obsidian crack.
"[CERBERUS]," the central head rumbled, its voice carrying the telepathic weight of the abyss. "Show me your worthiness before challenging the High Commander!"
Nefa slipped into her low crouch, her emerald daggers spinning between her fingers as she stared at the three-headed horror. "A Cerberus? But I thought they were the gatekeepers of hell according to the ancient Earth files... am I right?"
Ruta stepped beside her, his arms turning into solid, glowing magma as he locked eyes with the beast. "You are right, Nefa. But this dungeon is different... this is something entirely separate from standard mythology. This thing belongs to the Null Sovereign."
Lapis dropped into a flawless, relaxed fighting pose, his purple eyes spinning with a casual indifference. "Let's end this quickly. I need snacks after this raid, and we are losing precious seconds."
Captain Carod raised his massive, black-red plasma cannon, his backup battery humming at 100% efficiency as he aimed directly at the central head. "Relax, team! This multi-headed dog is not as big a problem as the Second Floor's Boss! If we could delete Typhon, this gatekeeper is nothing but a warm-up!"
[The Command Deck — The Live Broadcast]
Up on the mothership, SK slammed his hand onto the desk, leaning so close to the microphone his breath fogged the glass.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the galaxy, the stakes have just gone through the roof!" SK roared into the feed. "A fifteen-minute time limit until total dimensional collapse! And just when our Elites find the door, a mythical Cerberus descends to block the path! Captain Carod says it's not a problem, but look at the energy output of those three heads! Let's see what the galaxy thinks!"
The live chat stream on the side of the screen was moving so fast it was almost a blur of text:
User_SolarFlare99: "FIFTEEN MINUTES?! Bro, Carod better stop talking and start shooting! "
ManhwaFan_01: "A Cerberus as a regular gatekeeper?! If the gatekeeper looks like a myth, how terrifying is this 'High Commander' inside?! "
Z_Rank_Watcher: "Lapis asking for snacks while facing a three-headed hellhound is the peak Elite energy I paid to see!"
Light_Clan_Stan: "Cynthia's flame shield is holding, but if they don't clear this dog in 2 minutes, they are cooked!"
[The captain's challenge]
Carod's internal warning lights flashed green as his mechanical core perfectly synchronized with the backup battery cells. He wasn't going to let the galaxy down a second time, not while the live stream counter was ticking and his pride was on the line.
[The Hurricane Vanguard]
"Watch the master at work, viewers!" Captain boomed over the broadcast channel, his mechanical armor clicking and sliding as the internal gears completely rerouted his elemental pathways.
"[TYPE SWITCH: WIND LEVEL 2 — HURRICANE FORM]!"
The black-red lightning arcs around his chassis vanished, replaced instantly by a hyper-pressurized, emerald-green vortex of kinetic wind energy. The air around his massive frame began to scream, the sheer velocity of the currents lifting his heavy titanium boots a few inches off the silver-obsidian platform.
"I am going to fight with this dog myself!" Carod roared, his thrusters igniting with a deafening blast. "Keep the clock running, team! I'll clear this path in thirty seconds!"
The Cerberus didn't waste its breath on a reply. Seeing the mechanical insect challenge its authority, all three of its massive heads let out a synchronized, blood-curdling roar that shook the very foundation of the stairs. With a terrifying burst of speed, the three-headed hellhound charged directly at Carod, its massive paws tearing up the dark metal of the platform, its six crimson eyes locked onto the captain's chest core.
The distance between the two titans closed in a microsecond.
"[HURRICANE DRILL]!" Carod bellowed.
The howling wind currents spinning around his right arm suddenly condensed, tightening into a hyper-focused, cone-shaped spiral that rotated at millions of revolutions per second. The localized tempest looked like a diamond-shattering drill of solid wind, screaming with enough kinetic friction to pierce through a tectonic plate.
Without an ounce of hesitation, Carod threw himself forward, his thrusters burning at maximum capacity as he charged head-on into the jaw of the leaping Cerberus, aiming his spinning hurricane drill straight at the beast's central chest!