You promised to wreak havoc on the dungeon, but instead you've got Dragon Slime!

The well was still trembling, as if something was struggling below. Cracks in the well wall widened, and blood seeped out, forming thin streams.

Not long after, heavy footsteps echoed from the well. It wasn't the ethereal movement of a spirit, but a real, tangible weight.

“They’re out…” a soldier’s voice trembled, but it was immediately drowned out by Viser’s roar.

Black mist gushed from the well's center, and from within the mist, a disproportionately tall figure slowly emerged.

It was a human-shaped body, but entirely pieced together from bones. The surface of the bones was engraved with sacrificial inscriptions, like chains binding the body. The space where the head should have been was empty, but a ball of black fire floated above it, within which the shadows of countless remnant souls writhed.

The master of the well.

Its appearance caused the entire bone tower to tremble. Its surface cracked, the bone pillars surrounding the plaza lit up again, the blood troughs reignited, and all the runes burned together.

The soldiers immediately moved up, but as soon as the first rank raised their shields, the priest slapped them down.

boom!

Dozens of people, shields and all, were crushed to pieces, their flesh and armor mixed together in a muddy mess.

Viser roared and lunged forward, his greatsword slashing towards the priest's knee. The sword energy exploded, cracking the bone, but the next moment, the runes within the crack lit up, instantly healing it. The priest swung his hand back, sending Viser flying several meters, a large section of his heavy armor dented in.

Claudia hurled her talismans one by one, the flames of which burned on the bones, causing black fire to leap wildly. But the priestess merely raised her hand and shook it, extinguishing the flames instantly. She was also jolted to her knees by the shock, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Ron raised his sword, and blood shot into the sky.

[Annihilation Mimicry - Third Form - Forced Extension].

The blade flashed in a hundred-foot arc, slashing straight at the priest's chest.

boom!

The priest was forced back half a step, the inscription on his chest cracking open to reveal a hollow space. Countless remnant souls writhed within, like wild beasts trapped in a cage. They shrieked and thrashed, trying to break free.

But the tear closed up quickly.

The priest let out a deafening roar and slammed his hand down on the ground.

The entire plaza collapsed instantly, its surface bursting open with countless cracks, and blood gushed out, engulfing the soldiers. Ghostly figures rose from the blood, tearing at the living. Dozens of soldiers were dragged into pools of blood, their bodies sinking to the bottom.

The remaining soldiers number less than thirty.

Viser scrambled to his feet, swung his greatsword again, and shattered a bone arm. But the bone wriggled for a few moments before rejoining the priest's body.

“This thing…can’t be killed!” Viser roared.

Ron didn't reply; he knew this was the core guardian of the well. Unless the priest was killed, the tower's core would never be opened.

He took a deep breath, and a system notification flashed in his mind:

[WARNING: Annihilation simulation forced overdrive, host lifespan will be reduced to single digits years]

Should it be executed?

Ron's throat tightened, and blood trickled down between his teeth.

He whispered, "Execute."

The blade instantly turned black and transparent, with countless cracks appearing inside, as if it were about to break.

[Annihilation Simulation - Fourth Form]

In an instant, the entire square went dark.

Ron charged forward, transforming into a streak of black light, his blade slashing straight at the priest's chest.

boom! ! ! !

This time, the priest's chest shattered completely, and his remnant souls gushed out all at once. They shrieked and lunged at Ron, only to be swallowed up layer by layer by the black blade and annihilated.

The priest let out a final roar, his body exploded, bones scattered everywhere, and the black fire gradually died down.

The square fell silent once more.

The remaining soldiers were few in number, with fewer than twenty still able to stand.

Ron knelt on one knee, his knife planted in his throat, his breathing rapid. Black markings had spread to half of his face.

A system notification appears:

[The core of the instance, the Wellhearted Priest, has been destroyed.]

[Current Progress: Abyss Bone Tower 92%]

He looked up at the stone door that was slowly opening deeper inside the tower.

"Walk."

After the well-hearted priest was shattered, the stone gate in the center of the square slowly appeared.

It was a bone gate hundreds of feet tall, its entire surface pieced together from countless skulls, each mouth opening and closing as if breathing softly. The runes inlaid on the gate were not fixed, but constantly flowing, as if they were alive.

The remaining soldiers stood silently in the distance. There were fewer than twenty of them, all wounded, their bodies either covered in gashes or their souls damaged, their eyes clouded. But none dared to retreat; they knew that having come this far, there was no turning back.

The drums sounded again.

Ron stood at the front of the group, his knife stuck in his throat. He looked like he was about to collapse at any moment, yet he stubbornly kept his back straight. The black markings on his body were multiplying, and even the flesh on his arms was splitting open, exposing his bones to the air.

He looked up at the door.

"open."

His voice was deep, yet it sent a shiver down everyone's spine.

The few remaining craftsmen, their bodies mangled, hammered the last talisman nails into the crack in the door. The runes spread, igniting the blood groove. The skulls on the door screamed in unison, their piercing cries so loud they seemed to explode in one's head.

Ron raised his sword, and blood covered the entire doorway.

[Annihilation Simulation - Fourth Form - Gatekeeper].

boom!

The blade struck the bone gate, causing it to tremble violently. The talisman was torn apart, and blood seeped in through the crack.

Countless skulls on the door began to howl madly, spewing gray mist from their mouths. The mist enveloped several soldiers in the front row, turning them into skeletons on the spot.

Viser, dragging his wounded body, charged forward, his greatsword cleaving through a cloud of gray mist, but he was still forced to kneel by the impact.

Claudia, barely holding on, stuck the last talisman to the crack in the door. The talisman's flame burned, pressing down along with Ron's bloody light.

The roar lasted for a full quarter of an hour.

The stone gate finally cracked open with a huge fissure.

Black wind spewed from the crevice, carrying countless phantoms—not individual souls, but the accumulated resentment of the entire lower city over centuries. The wind blew, and several wounded soldiers collapsed instantly, their souls drained, leaving only empty shells.

Ron pressed down hard on the knife, stepped into the crevice, and forced the opening to widen.

System prompts flashed through my mind:

[The core of the dungeon, the Gate to the Heart of the Tower, is now open]

[Warning: Host lifespan reduced to three years]

[Current Progress: Abyss Bone Tower 99%]

The door opened completely, revealing a pitch-black void. From the depths of the void came deep breathing sounds, each breath like a drumbeat from the heavens, making one's blood surge.

The remaining soldiers numbered only a dozen or so, their eyes unfocused, but they still instinctively followed Ron's footsteps.

Ron raised the knife, his voice hoarse:

"Enter."

The drums sounded once more, carrying their last breath, echoing throughout the entire interior of the tower.

They stepped into the darkness.

The moment you step through the stone gate, all sounds are silenced.

Before me lay a pitch-black void, devoid of walls or surfaces, with only a bottomless bone bridge floating beneath my feet. This bone bridge, composed of countless white bones, stretched into the distance, its end nowhere in sight.

Heavy breathing filled the air. With each breath, the bony bridge vibrated as if it were about to collapse.

The remaining dozen or so soldiers walked across the bridge, their steps stiff, as if carrying their own coffins. They had no way out, their faces deathly still.

Ron walked at the front. Black lines covered half his face, blood seeped from the corners of his eyes, and the knife in his hand was riddled with cracks, as if it might break at any moment. But he didn't stop; he knew this was the heart of the tower.

The breathing sounds became clearer and clearer.

"Boom-"

It felt like my chest had been hit by a hammer.

"Boom-"

Blood rushed back into my head, and my ears were ringing.

The soldiers fell one after another, their souls sucked away by their breath, their bodies instantly stiffening. In less than fifteen minutes, only seven of the dozen or so remained.

Claudia struggled to maintain the Shadow Scales, enveloping herself and a few survivors within them. The Shadow Scales shattered layer by layer, and her aura grew weaker and weaker.

Viser gritted his teeth, his greatsword planted firmly on the ground. With each step he took, cracks appeared on the surface of the sword. He felt as if he were being crushed by a thousand pounds; his knees bent, but he refused to kneel.

Ron looked up.

In the distant void, that thing finally appeared.

A heart.

Enormous beyond belief, it hung in the center of the void, pulsating slowly. With each pulsation, the entire bone bridge trembled, and the sound of its breathing was its own.

Countless black chains were wrapped around the surface of the heart, and on these chains crawled faces—the remnants of souls trapped within. Their empty eye sockets opened, and they seemed to breathe as the heart pounded.

Ron understood that this was the core of the tower.

"Boom-"

With another heartbeat, a section of the bone bridge shattered. The three soldiers fell into the void, screaming as they were swallowed by the darkness.

There are four people left.

Claudia trembled all over, her Shadowscale completely collapsed, blood spurted from the corner of her mouth, and she was only pulled back by Viser to avoid falling.

Viser roared hoarsely, "Ron—one step later, and we'd all be dead here!"

Ron didn't reply; he stared at the heart in front of him, raising the knife in his hand.

A system notification appears: