Want to read ahead? Join my Patreon for just $7 to get early access to all upcoming chapters!
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations
─────
Chapter 34: Deep Floors (True Dead Line)
Having effortlessly neutralized the Iguazu's suicidal barrage, Tsuna descended gracefully, his boots touching down on the wet stone.
"Thanks, Natsu."
"Gau."
As Tsuna thanked his partner, the black cloak dissolved into orange flames, reforming into the small lion cub that happily reclaimed its spot on his shoulder.
Natsu possessed the ability to transform into specialized armaments. The defensive form, the Mantle of Vongola Primo, utilized the Harmony characteristic of the Sky Flame to synchronize anything it touched with its surroundings. In this case, Tsuna had used the cloak to harmonize the attacking Iguazu with the torrential water of the Great Fall, instantly turning their physical bodies into liquid.
"Eh!? Eh!? The animal just turned into a cape!? How does that even work!?" Tiona yelled, her brain completely short-circuiting. The rest of the Vanguard nodded frantically in agreement, equally utterly bewildered.
"It's my skill. No prying, remember?"
"What kind of completely broken skill is that...?" Tione groaned, forced to accept the ridiculous excuse.
With the ambush thwarted, the Vanguard resumed their march. They tore through the 27th Floor and the rest of the Lower Floors, finally arriving at a Safety Point where they set up camp for the night.
.....
The next day.
Having conquered the Lower Floors, the expeditionary force finally breached the 37th Floor. The environment shifted drastically. The walls were a sickening, milky white, stretching endlessly into a labyrinthine structure so massive that the ceiling was completely swallowed by darkness. Because of its pale, bone-like aesthetic, it was known as the White Palace. The sheer scale of the corridors and rooms made the previous floors look like cramped tunnels.
"The 37th Floor marks the true beginning of the Deep Floors. The difficulty spike from here on out is completely unforgiving. Are you prepared?" Finn asked.
"Not a problem. I made my resolve the moment I agreed to join this expedition."
"A foolish question on my part, then."
"So? What's the plan from here?"
"We'll proceed with you at the vanguard, just as before. However, I must ask you not to rush ahead. Keep your pace matched with ours."
"Understood."
Falling into formation, Tsuna led the group deeper into the White Palace.
"Something's coming."
Tsuna felt a sinister presence. From the oppressive darkness ahead, a bizarre creature emerged. It possessed the skull of a sheep draped in a thin layer of ghghastly skin. It was an undead monster that moved despite completely lacking underlying flesh, hide, or organs. This was a Skull Sheep. A terrifying undead monster classified as a skeleton-type.
Suddenly, the Skull Sheep vanished into thin air.
Camouflage...
Realizing the monster hadn't teleported but had used its skin to seamlessly blend into the white walls, Tsuna closed his eyes and expanded his sensory network. His assumption was correct. The Skull Sheep's primary hunting tactic was to induce panic through its invisibility, circling its prey before launching a fatal ambush from their blind spots.
"There."
Kicking off the floor, Tsuna sidestepped to the left and threw a blindingly fast right hook into the empty air. A sickening crunch echoed through the hall as the Skull Sheep's skull shattered upon impact. The monster instantly turned to ash. Thanks to his grueling battles against elite illusionists in the future, fighting opponents who manipulated his vision was practically second nature to him.
Suddenly, a second presence flared directly behind him. Another Skull Sheep materialized.
(What is that?)
Tsuna twisted around. Unlike the first, this Skull Sheep's torso was grotesquely swollen. His Hyper Intuition flared with a subtle warning. With a sickening tear, a massive bone spear erupted from its flesh, rocketing straight toward his chest like a ballistic missile.
It can extend its own bones?
Remaining perfectly calm, Tsuna raised his right hand, projecting a localized barrier of flames to catch the bone spear mid-flight, gripping it tightly. Before he could crush it, a third Skull Sheep launched a suicidal dive from his blind spot.
Releasing his grip on the bone spear, Tsuna leaped straight up, cleanly evading the rear ambush. Propelled by its own momentum, the third Skull Sheep slammed headfirst into the suspended bone spear, impaling itself through the skull and dissolving into ash.
(So this is the Deep Floors...)
Unlike the mindless beasts of the upper levels, Tsuna realized these monsters possessed highly coordinated, predatory intelligence. Landing softly, Tsuna turned his open palm toward the remaining Skull Sheep.
"!?"
The moment it saw his hand point toward it, the Skull Sheep instantly camouflaged itself.
Did it run?
Tsuna scanned the area, confirming the beast's presence was completely gone. This had been his exact intention. By watching its comrades die effortlessly and seeing Tsuna "prepare" an attack, the Skull Sheep's heightened intelligence calculated that victory was impossible, triggering a retreat. Tsuna had weaponized its own intelligence against it.
"A smart call. As you've just witnessed, the monsters in the Deep Floors possess exceptional intellect alongside their raw power. Engaging every single one of them will only exhaust us," Finn noted, stepping up beside him.
"Makes sense. Now I see why you told me to stick close to the group."
Tsuna finally understood why Finn had restricted his movements. In an environment where the enemies used pack tactics, traps, and strategic retreats, rushing in blindly was a death sentence.
Resuming their march, they pushed deeper into the 37th Floor.
The difference really is night and day...
The spawn rates and sheer volume of monsters dwarfed everything they had faced thus far. Yet, Tsuna continued to dispatch them with casual precision.
Though it looks like some of the others are starting to struggle...
Glancing over his shoulder, Tsuna assessed the Vanguard. While the executives were holding their own, the younger, less experienced members were beginning to sweat. The lethal difficulty spike was pushing them to their absolute limits.
"Hah... hah..."
Near the rear of the formation, a young male adventurer was hyperventilating, his eyes darting frantically across the white walls. Unable to track the camouflaged Skull Sheep, terror and desperation were clearly written across his face. Completely undetected, a Skull Sheep materialized directly behind him, rearing back for a lethal strike.
"Eh!?"
The man sensed a presence and whipped around—only to see Tsuna standing there, his right hand firmly clamped over the Skull Sheep's face. With a sickening crunch, Tsuna crushed the skull, reducing the monster to ash.
"Are you okay?"
"T-Thank you so much..." The young adventurer stammered, tears welling in his eyes as he realized he had been milliseconds away from death.
"Calm down. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's gone. It's circling you, waiting for a guaranteed kill. Stop relying solely on your eyes. Focus your nerves and feel for the shifts in the air around you," Tsuna instructed gently.
"Y-Yes, sir..."
Taking Tsuna's advice to heart, the adventurer gripped his blade. Almost immediately, another Skull Sheep materialized in the distance.
"Here it comes."
Tsuna stepped forward to intercept, but the adventurer spoke up.
"Let me fight it!!"
Seeing the fierce resolve burning in the boy's eyes, Tsuna stopped.
"Alright." Tsuna nodded, stepping back to let the adventurer take the lead. "If things go south, I'll step in. Fight with your dying will."
"Right!!"
The adventurer raised his katana, dropping into a combat stance. A second later, the Skull Sheep vanished.
Feel the presence...
The boy closed his eyes, shutting out the deceptive visual data, and focused entirely on the microscopic shifts in the atmosphere.
Right!!
Sensing a disruption in the air, the boy lunged to his right, executing a blindingly fast thrust. His katana pierced straight through empty space—until a sickening crunch echoed. The Skull Sheep's camouflage broke as the blade penetrated its skull, and it dissolved into ash.
"I... I did it..."
A triumphant smile spread across the boy's face as he realized he had conquered the beast on his own.
Then—
"Look out!!" Tsuna barked.
A massive web of cracks violently spiderwebbed across the ceiling directly above them. Tsuna grabbed the boy by the wrist and violently yanked him backward. The ceiling catastrophically collapsed, and a colossal, deep-blue serpentine monster plummeted from the darkness, crashing into the exact spot they had just occupied.
"T-Thank you... Wait, a Worm Well!?" The boy gasped, his relief instantly replaced by sheer terror at the sight of the behemoth.
"A Worm Well?"
"It's a rare species known as the Lambton... It burrows through the earth and freely travels between floors!!"
As the boy shrieked the explanation, the Worm Well coiled its massive body and launched itself into the air, spinning like a massive, armor-piercing drill as it plummeted straight toward Tsuna.
"That's some serious kinetic force."
(H-He caught it!?)
The boy's legs gave out from the shock, tears welling in his eyes as he witnessed the impossible feat. Tsuna had aimed his left hand downward for propulsion, raised his right hand, and literally caught the spinning behemoth mid-air, bringing its apocalyptic charge to a dead halt with sheer, unadulterated physical strength.
Realizing its drill attack had failed, the enraged Worm Well unhinged its massive jaws, lunging forward to swallow Tsuna whole.
"X-Cannon."
"Gyashaaaaaaaa!?"
Without shifting his stance, Tsuna fired a hyper-condensed sphere of Dying Will Flames directly down the beast's throat. The internal detonation completely vaporized the Worm Well from the inside out, reducing the massive leviathan to a shower of harmless ash.
(I learned a lot from you, Bell.)
Having watched Bell perfectly execute an internal detonation with Firebolt against the Minotaur, Tsuna had seamlessly adapted the strategy. Turning his gaze upward, through the miles of stone separating him from the surface, Tsuna thought of his friends waiting for his return.
─────
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations