Chapter 15: Trial Of Ascension 4 Hollow Dungeon – Third Floor
The moment Lucian stepped through the gate, the entire world changed.
Wind.
A deafening howl, sharp and alive, tore past his ears. The floor below was gone—replaced by crumbling ruins floating in a dark sky that shimmered with falling stars. Suspended platforms, glowing with ancient glyphs, hovered over a bottomless void. The air pulsed with mana. Every breath buzzed in his lungs.
Above, clouds circled like a vortex. Lightning flickered deep within them, silver and violet, but never struck. The silence between flashes felt...watchful.
Lucian landed on the first platform, his boots sending a small shockwave across the rune-covered stone. He looked up.
Three more platforms ahead. And at the very center—
A figure waited.
Massive. Cloaked in violet-black robes that moved like smoke. It wore no armor, no crown—just a skeletal mask that hovered an inch from its face, held in place by some invisible force. Long arms hung at its sides, claws trailing trails of etheric flame.
A name burned into Lucian’s vision.
[Floor Guardian: Warden of Starlight – Tier B-]
Lucian exhaled once. "B-rank... this early?"
Cael’s voice echoed calmly.
[This is the true gate. Survive, and your body will be reborn into E-rank. Fall, and your system will seal for thirty days.]
Lucian cracked his neck.
"Then let’s dance."
He dashed forward—leaping across the floating ruins. Mana surged through his legs. His shadow stretched behind him, pulled by the warping space between platforms.
[Fold Step: Activated]
He blinked forward—platform to platform—wind screaming past his ears. As he neared the third stone, a thin beam of violet light tore across the air in front of him, slicing clean through the ruin’s edge.
Lucian folded mid-air, reappearing just beside it. The moment he landed, the Warden moved.
No sound.
No warning.
Just presence.
It vanished from the center platform—then reappeared behind Lucian, its claw already swinging down.
[Chrono Sense – Auto Triggered]
[Danger Proximity: Critical]
Lucian dropped low—slid under the strike. A crater of pure starlight exploded behind him as the claw touched stone.
He spun, summoned a sphere of spatial distortion in his hand.
[Spatial Collapse – Tier 1]
He hurled it point-blank.
The sphere pulsed—imploded.
The Warden staggered back, cloak rippling violently.
Lucian didn’t pause.
He leapt forward—both hands surging with energy.
[Dimensional Claw – Full Activation]
A pair of glowing, translucent claws burst from his arms, tracing overlapping arcs through the air.
He slashed twice—one upward, one diagonal.
The first tore into the Warden’s shoulder. The second grazed its mask.
The air around them cracked.
The Warden screeched—its voice a chorus of dead stars.
Lucian jumped back. "Got you."
But the Warden didn’t fall. It lifted both hands—and the world bent.
The sky above shattered like glass, and hundreds of tiny fragments—each glowing with burning runes—rained down toward him.
[New Skill Detected: Starfall Cage – Tier B Spell]
Lucian’s heart pounded.
He launched into the air with a Fold Step—but one of the shards clipped his side.
He twisted mid-air, wincing.
[Damage Taken: Moderate]
[Reinforcement Stability: 64%]
Lucian hit a platform and rolled—then slammed both palms into the stone.