Following that majestic victory, the System's voice echoed within Novarion's mind, steady and cold as ever:
[Opponent Defeated.]
[Power Absorbed.]
[Leveled Up to Level 84.]
Novarion opened his eyes amidst the devastation left by the battle. He breathed deeply, raising his sword which was stained with a strange energy flickering like starlight. His body was weary, yet his features showed no trace of exhaustion; he moved like a combat machine that knew no stopping. He looked up at the grey sky within the dimension and whispered:
"I still have a long way to go..."
He moved slowly toward the passage leading to the next floor. With every step, the ground trembled slightly beneath his feet, as if the world itself acknowledged his newfound strength. As he ascended, the air grew heavier and the shadows darker. On the subsequent floors, he faced beings far superior to goblins—creatures born solely to test the limits of his power. Small drakes with black scales and wings that beat through the darkness with lightning speed attacked from all directions, but he showed no hesitation.
Moving with confident strides, his eyes tracked every motion. In an instant, he vanished, reappearing behind one of them to sever its wing with a half-swing of his blade. The air exploded around him with every strike, and the stones vibrated as if the walls were screaming under the sheer pressure. Another drake attempted a rear attack, but Novarion spun his body with unbelievable grace, striking backward without even looking. The drake vanished like ash in a storm.
Battles followed in succession like a continuous trial—each floor harder than the last, each opponent stronger than the one before. Yet, Novarion did not falter; instead, he seemed to grow calmer as the danger intensified. Days passed inside the gate, or perhaps they were hours, for time in this dimension had lost its meaning.
Finally, he reached the thirty-sixth floor. The atmosphere here was different—heavy and suffocating. The sky was a blood-red hue, as if the firmament itself were boiling. It was the silence before the storm. Novarion stood in the center of the arena, watching dense shadows dance upon the stone walls. There was no sound... until a distant explosion roared, followed by a massive thundering as if the world were collapsing.
At that same moment, in a vast palace deep within the Dragon Dimension, the Dragon King sat upon a massive throne of black bone. His eyes burned like twin suns, and his cosmic aura saturated the entire palace. A guard entered, kneeling with a trembling voice:
"My Lord... Tharos, the guardian of the eleventh floor, has been defeated by an unknown adversary."
A stifling silence took hold for seconds before a wave of dark energy erupted from the King's body, making the entire palace shudder. The air became too heavy to breathe, and the surrounding soldiers fell to their knees under the pressure. One of his followers stepped forward—a massive figure covered in grey scales, carrying a sword nearly longer than his own body. He knelt before the King and spoke firmly despite the visible fear in his eyes:
"My Lord... allow me to go. I will eliminate him myself."
The King raised his head slowly, his voice emerging deep as if from the depths of hell: "And do you guarantee you are capable of that, Arcturus?"
"Yes, my Lord," he answered without hesitation. "I promise he will not leave that gate alive."
The King smiled—not a smile of satisfaction, but the smile of one awaiting a bloodbath. "Go then... and prove you deserve to remain by my side."
Arcturus departed with slow steps, each leaving a trail of searing energy on the ground, as if hell itself moved with him.
In the outside world, the city of Eldraon was unusually quiet. Inside the guild building, Zayn, Ray, and Lina sat around a wooden table, their faces weary from the long wait.
"Novarion is very late," Lina said, looking anxiously out the window. "It's been over two weeks and he hasn't returned."
"He doesn't know the meaning of failure," Zayn replied with calm confidence. "If anyone can return from that gate, it's Novarion."
Ray chimed in, fiddling with his dagger: "But we can't sit here forever. If he doesn't return in the coming days, I'm going into that gate myself."
Zayn looked at him with a half-smile. "You're going in? After seeing what that aura did just by appearing? Even you aren't that crazy."
Lina laughed softly despite her worry. "Maybe you're both crazy. One entered a gate with no known end, and the other thinks of chasing him."
Zayn looked away, his eyes fixed on the sky which had begun to flicker with a strange light from afar, as if the dimension itself were screaming.
"No... it's not madness," he said quietly. "It's the beginning of something much bigger than we think."
The scene ended on that heavy note, as the three continued to gaze at the burning horizon, while deep within the gate... Arcturus approached Novarion with the footsteps of hell.
To be continued...