The dungeon did not hesitate.
It did not wait.
It did not test gently.
It overwhelmed.
Ryota — Trial of the Crusade
The seven elemental breaths collided—
And swallowed everything.
Fire burned across his skin.
Ice froze over his arms.
Lightning tore through the air around him.
Wind crushed against his body.
Water surged like a collapsing ocean.
Earth shattered beneath his feet.
Darkness wrapped around everything—
Suffocating.
"—GH!"
Ryota planted his feet.
Barely.
His body shook violently under the pressure.
His HP dropped—
Fast.
"…No… way…"
He raised his sword instinctively—
Not to block—
But to endure.
Then—
Something changed.
The pressure didn't vanish—
But it shifted.
"…Right…"
A breath.
"…Scalular Impact…"
The force pressing against him—
He felt it.
Understood it.
Not consciously.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
The crushing weight—
Lessened.
Not gone—
But manageable.
"…Okay…"
He gritted his teeth.
"…I can take this."
The elemental storm faded—
Exploding outward—
Leaving destruction behind.
Ryota stood.
Burned.
Frost-covered.
Breathing heavily.
"…Heh…"
A weak grin.
"…Still alive."
The dragons didn't wait.
The earth dragon slammed its claws down—
And vanished.
"…Huh—?"
Too late.
BOOM
The ground beneath Ryota exploded upward.
A massive maw burst from below—
And swallowed him whole.
"…—WHAT THE—?!"
Darkness.
Heat.
Pressure.
Inside.
"…You've gotta be kidding me—!"
The walls around him tightened—
Muscle.
Flesh.
Grinding.
"…Alright…"
He raised his sword.
"…Then I'll just—"
SLASH
Iron Steve tore through the inside of the dragon.
Blood erupted.
The creature roared from within—
Its body convulsing violently.
Ryota didn't stop.
Slash.
Cut.
Drive forward.
Until—
RIP
Light burst in.
He tore his way out—
Bursting from the dragon's side.
Covered in blood.
"…That was disgusting—!"
The dragon collapsed—
Crashing into the ground.
But Ryota didn't land cleanly.
He grabbed it.
Mid-fall.
"…Wait—"
His grip tightened.
"…Wait a second…"
A thought.
A stupid one.
A Ryota thought.
"…What if—"
He twisted his body—
"…THIS WORKS?!"
With everything he had—
He threw it.
The massive dragon—
Launched through the air.
Straight toward—
The techno-centaur.
The centaur turned—
Too late—
BOOOOOOM
The dragon slammed into it.
Metal screeched.
The centaur staggered back—
Its massive blade digging into the ground to stabilize.
Ryota landed.
Sliding across the battlefield.
"…HA—!"
A grin.
"…Okay that worked!"
The remaining dragons roared.
Anger.
Now—
They were serious.
Rio — Trial of Knightmares
The chamber burned.
Heat surged.
Electricity cracked.
Stone trembled.
Light distorted.
And at the center—
Rio moved.
Not fast.
Not reckless.
Precise.
Every step calculated.
The gryphon descended—
Lightning tearing through the air—
Rio sidestepped.
A single movement.
The strike missed—
By inches.
The cerberus followed—
Three heads lunging at once—
She pivoted.
Her blade moved.
CLANG—CLANG—CLANG
Each jaw—
Deflected.
Not blocked.
Not stopped.
Redirected.
The golem's fist came next—
She stepped back—
Just enough—
The ground shattered where she stood.
"…Slow."
Her voice was calm.
Unbothered.
The unicorn charged—
A beam of golden light—
Rio raised her musket—
BANG
The shot collided with its charge—
Just enough to shift its path—
It missed.
Barely.
Then—
The sky ignited.
The phoenix.
It rose above everything.
Wings spread wide.
Flames gathered—
Massive.
Then—
It unleashed them.
A rain of fire.
Hundreds—
No—
Thousands of blazing fireballs descended.
"…Tch."
Rio stepped forward.
Not back.
Her grip tightened on the Crimson Bloodmoon.
The blade pulsed.
"…Fine."
The first fireball struck—
CLANG
Blocked.
The second—
Deflected.
The third—
Fourth—
Fifth—
Her blade moved.
Fast.
Faster than the eye could follow.
Each strike—
Perfect.
Each movement—
Exact.
Fireballs shattered.
Split.
Deflected.
Explosions filled the chamber.
Smoke.
Flames.
Heat.
And yet—
She stood.
Untouched.
"…Is that it?"
The phoenix screamed.
Enraged.
It gathered power—
A massive blast of flame—
Condensed into a single point—
Then fired.
A beam of destruction.
Rio didn't dodge.
She stepped into it.
Her blade raised—
CLANG—!
The impact shook the entire chamber.
Her feet slid back—
Stone cracking beneath her.
But she held.
"…Too slow."
Her eyes sharpened.
Her stance shifted.
And then—
She cut.
Not the flame—
But the flow of it.
The beam split.
Redirected.
And sent back.
Straight toward the phoenix.
"…What—"
It didn't have time.
BOOOOOOM
The blast collided with it mid-air.
Flames exploded outward.
The phoenix let out a piercing scream—
And crashed.
Slamming into the ground.
The chamber shook.
Silence—
For a fraction of a second.
Then—
The other monsters roared.
And the knights—
Moved.
All at once.
Rio exhaled slowly.
"…Good."
Her blade lowered slightly.
"…Now it begins."
Two Trials. One Truth.
Ryota stood against overwhelming force.
Rio stood against perfect coordination.
Different battles.
Different enemies.
But the same truth.
Neither of them—
Were meant to win.
And yet—
They were still standing.
And that alone—
Was already breaking the rules.
The darkness below swallowed everything.
Sound.
Light.
Even the sense of direction.
And yet—
The battle didn't stop.
The moment Ryota regained his footing—
Steel screamed.
A massive blade descended from above.
The techno-centaur.
Its mechanical lower body anchored itself mid-fall, stabilizing unnaturally as gravity seemed almost optional to it. Its upper half twisted—
And swung.
A strike meant to split him in half.
Ryota's eyes widened—
But his body moved.
CLANG
Iron Steve met the massive sword.
The impact rang out like a bell in a void.
For a split second—
Everything froze.
Then—
The force came.
A crushing weight surged through his arms—
Enough to shatter bones.
Enough to send him flying.
But—
"…Not happening."
His grip tightened.
A faint distortion wrapped around his arms.
Scalular Impact.
The incoming force—
Reduced.
Minimized.
Redirected.
Instead of being blown away—
He stood his ground.
But the world beneath him—
Didn't.
BOOOOM
The ground shattered.
Cracks spread like spiderwebs beneath his feet as the residual force transferred downward, breaking the already unstable floor apart.
Chunks of stone collapsed into the abyss.
The centaur's eyes flickered.
Analyzing.
Adjusting.
"…Yeah."
Ryota grinned slightly.
"…You hit hard."
He pushed forward.
Just enough to break the clash—
Then twisted away.
A roar split the air.
Seven shadows moved at once.
The dragons.
Even in freefall—
They hunted.
One lunged first.
A blazing inferno erupted from its jaws.
Fire swallowed the space where Ryota stood—
But he moved.
Barely.
The flames grazed his side—
HP dropping—
But not enough.
Then—
Lightning.
A second dragon struck.
A bolt tore through the darkness, illuminating everything in a blinding flash.
Ryota raised his sword—
Not to block—
But to endure.
The current surged through him—
His muscles spasming—
Vision flickering—
"…Tch—!"
Before he could recover—
Something slammed into him from the side.
A massive claw.
He was sent spinning—
Then caught.
Another dragon.
Its jaws clamped around him—
Crushing.
Pain exploded through his body.
HP dropped again.
Fast.
Too fast.
"…Not—done—yet—!"
He forced his arm to move.
Iron Steve shifted.
Then—
SLASH
Inside the dragon's mouth—
He cut.
The blade tore through flesh.
The dragon recoiled—
Roaring—
Releasing him.
Ryota dropped—
Spinning mid-air—
And then—
He smiled.
"…My turn."
He reached down mid-fall.
Grabbed—
A pebble.
Small.
Insignificant.
Worthless.
To anyone else.
But not to him.
He flicked it upward.
Scalular Impact.
Not defense this time.
Offense.
Force—
Amplified.
The pebble vanished.
A blur.
Then—
BOOM
It struck a flying dragon.
The impact exploded across its scales.
The creature jerked violently—
Its trajectory broken.
"…No way…"
Ryota laughed.
"…That actually works."
Another pebble.
Then another.
Each one—
A bullet.
Each hit—
A shockwave.
The dragons staggered mid-air.
Their formation breaking.
One dove toward him—
Wings wide—
Claws extended.
Ryota didn't dodge.
He jumped.
Straight at it.
His foot landed on its head—
Using it as a platform.
Then—
He ran.
Up its neck.
Across its back.
The dragon twisted violently—
Trying to shake him off—
Too late.
"Got you."
Iron Steve rose—
Then fell.
SLASH
Its wing—
Gone.
Severed clean.
The dragon screamed—
Spinning out of control—
Falling into the abyss below.
Ryota jumped.
Using the collapsing body as momentum—
Launching himself toward the centaur.
The centaur saw him.
Adjusted.
Its blade rose again—
Preparing another strike.
But Ryota was faster.
He pulled his arm back.
"…Let's see you tank this."
His fist clenched.
Scalular Impact activated.
Not reducing—
Not redirecting—
But maximizing.
All the force.
All the energy.
Condensed.
Focused.
Then—
He punched.
BOOOOOOM
The impact was monstrous.
The centaur's upper body snapped backward.
Its massive frame lifted—
If only slightly—
But enough.
The shockwave spread outward—
Cracking what little ground remained.
The already fractured floor—
Couldn't hold anymore.
CRACK
A single sound.
Quiet.
Final.
Then—
Everything gave way.
The battlefield collapsed.
Stone.
Monsters.
Ryota—
All of them—
Fell.
Into darkness.
No light.
No sound.
No ground.
Just—
Falling.
Ryota exhaled slowly.
"…Man…"
A small grin formed on his face.
"…This game's insane."
Above him—
The dragons roared.
The centaur stabilized mid-air once more.
Even now—
They weren't done.
And neither was he.
His grip tightened around Iron Steve.
Eyes sharp.
Focused.
"…Round two."
And in the endless dark—
The fight continued.