Here are Chapters 10 and 11. We are diving straight into the radioactive Boss Room, where the girls team up to show off for Yuto, and the Vault pressure hits a terrifying new milestone!
Chapter 10: The Cobalt Goliath
[Current Stack: 60 Common, 5 Uncommon, 3 Rare, 1 Boss Chest, 3 Milestones.] [Multiplier: 149.9%] [Vault Pressure: 92%. Warning: Muscle fibers tearing under code-weight.]
The heavy steel blast doors to the Floor 10 Boss Room didn't open; Kurenai kicked them off their massive hydraulic hinges.
"Let's go, pretty boy! Watch how the Oni-Tribe clears a room!" Kurenai yelled, charging into the cavernous, glowing green chamber.
Yuto followed slowly, his boots leaving dented footprints in the solid steel floor. The sheer density of his unspent stats was making him weigh roughly as much as a small car. Ayase walked closely at his side, her katana drawn, eyes scanning the shadows with practiced, deadly precision.
The center of the room was dominated by a massive pool of glowing, toxic sludge. From the center of the radioactive lake, the Boss rose.
It was a Cobalt Goliath—a terrifying amalgamation of a mutated silverback gorilla and a ruined nuclear reactor. Glowing green control rods protruded from its back like metallic spines, and its chest was a literal furnace of radioactive fire.
The beast roared, a sound like grinding metal and a Geiger counter dialed up to maximum, and slammed its massive fists into the toxic lake, sending a wave of acid flying toward the party.
"Scatter!" Ayase commanded, her white kimono fluttering as she dashed to the left.
"Don't tell me what to do, Samurai!" Kurenai barked, dashing to the right.
Yuto didn't scatter. He couldn't. His legs felt like they were encased in concrete. The wave of radioactive acid splashed directly over him.
"Kurosawa-dono!" Ayase screamed in horror.
But as the steam cleared, Yuto was still standing there. His cheap jacket was completely dissolved, but his skin was perfectly intact. The crimson mist leaking from his Babel-Stigma was acting as a high-density kinetic shield, instantly vaporizing the acid before it could touch his skin. Yuto just stood there, completely shirtless, his lean, scarred torso radiating an intense, terrifying heat.
"Whoa," Kurenai muttered, her cheeks flushing red as she stared at his glowing chest. "Okay, Alpha. Leave the grunt work to us."
The two girls launched a synchronized, devastating assault. Kurenai was a force of raw destruction, her crimson nodachi trailing fire as she hacked at the Goliath's thick hydraulic legs. Ayase was the complete opposite—a ghost of silver light, her blade finding the microscopic gaps in the beast's armor to sever power cables and coolant lines.
They were incredible. They were a perfect vanguard.
And Yuto was currently ignoring the fight entirely because a massive, glowing blue timer was ticking down in the center of his vision.
Three seconds. Two seconds. One... [System Notification: Vault Timer Rolled Over.] [Current Multiplier: 150%] [Milestone Reached! Exponential Growth Phase II Unlocked. Compound Interest increased!] [Warning: Vault Pressure has reached 95%. Lethal code-density achieved.]
Yuto choked, coughing up a spatter of dark blood onto the steel floor. The pain was astronomical. It felt like his skeleton was trying to explode out of his body. The 150% multiplier didn't just boost his stats; it multiplied the physical agony of holding them.
The Cobalt Goliath, sensing the massive spike in magical energy radiating from Yuto, completely ignored the two girls attacking it. Its glowing green eyes locked onto the glowing red teenager.
The beast opened its mechanical maw, charging a blinding, concentrated beam of radioactive plasma aimed directly at Yuto's chest.