After clearing the 29th floor, I made my way back to the clearing where Lilith had been watching everything unfold. The battle was over. The harpies, once proud and dominant in their territory, now lay defeated, their icy feathers scattered like ash in the wind. The air still smelled of mana and frost.
Lilith stood a few paces from the edge of the clearing, her hair catching the faint breeze that blew down from the higher cliffs. Her eyes met mine, but there was no usual spark of wonder or admiration—just a soft smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
"I think that was enough for a demonstration," I said with a smirk, wiping blood from the side of my mouth. I had gone all out for that one. If I didn’t get at least a word of praise, I’d seriously be offended.
She nodded slowly, that smile still lingering. But she didn’t speak. No congratulations. No snarky retort. Nothing.
It wasn’t hard to guess what she was thinking. Now that I’d proven myself, now that I’d made it clear I could handle everything on my own, it must’ve seemed like I was trying to push her away. That wasn’t the intention. But... maybe it had ended up that way.
We walked back to the cave in silence. The moonlight filtered down through the tree canopy, tracing soft silver lines across the forest floor. The tension between us was thick. Not angry—just... sad.
That night, we said nothing. She lay quietly on her side of the fire, and I sat against the wall, unable to sleep. I kept glancing at her, wanting to say something, anything—but every word I thought of felt like it would only make things worse.
Morning came like a blade. It cut cleanly through the quiet, announcing the inevitable.
"I’m leaving," she said simply, her voice low.
She didn’t need to say why. Her father—the Devil King—was still locked away. If there was even a chance to free him, she had to take it.
"It might be the last time we see each other," I said, trying to keep my tone steady. "So..."
"Don’t say goodbye," she whispered. "We’ll meet again."
And just like that, she turned away using the teleportation scroll for exit and vanished into portal
She left... and for the first time in a long while, I was truly alone again.
The emptiness gnawed at my chest. But I didn’t let it break me, I was used to it . I buried it deep beneath my training. I spent every waking hour honing my control, scouting the surrounding area, preparing for what lay ahead. Floors 30 and beyond weren’t going to be easy. I had known that since the start.
And I wasn’t going to be careless again.
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The 30th floor was a marshland. Thick, humid air. Murky waters that bubbled unnaturally. The monsters here weren’t as visually intimidating as the harpies or vultures before—but they were far more cunning. Amphibious creatures with invisibility and ambush predators that used mimicry to disguise themselves as part of the environment.
I moved slowly, keeping my senses sharp.
One of them—a swamp crawler—lunged from the water, aiming for my throat.
I sidestepped and drove my blade upward, slicing through its soft underbelly, I was prepared for it.
Another followed, shooting a blast of acidic water.
"Too slow," I muttered, dodging and freezing the projectile mid-air with a snap of my fingers. I shattered it with a palm strike and turned to skewer the attacker with a spear of ice.
I avoided unnecessary confrontations. I mapped the floor in layers, scouted at different times of the day, waited, observed. After nearly a month of meticulous work, I finally located the floor boss: a massive toad-like creature whose body secreted paralytic toxins.
A frontal assault would’ve been suicide.
When I finally faced it, I kept my distance, relying on ranged magic and frost traps. It thrashed, poisoned the entire marsh in its rage—but I had laid cryo bombs across the marsh weeks prior. One detonation after another froze its legs, slowing it just long enough for me to get in close and end it with a strike to the eye.
The boss’s body crashed into the swamp with a sickening splash. Floor 30—cleared.
Floor 31, however... that was a different story altogether.
The terrain was volcanic—cracked stone, molten rivers, sulfur in the air. The oppressive heat was enough to weaken weaker mages just by existing. My frost spells were half as effective, melting before they even hit their target unless I poured more mana into them.
Monsters here were fire elementals, lava drakes, and worst of all—red-scaled lizard beasts with immense strength and near-immunity to fire. Their leader, a giant crimson lizard, bore the crest of the floor boss. Its scales shimmered like burning steel, and every breath it took ignited the air.
I tried everything. Its rank must have been S+ or even higher.
"Wrath of the Dragon," I shouted during one attempt, releasing a massive fire torrent.
The flames rolled off its body like a warm breeze. And my mana drained almost half of what I had in full health.
Its scales were too thick. Ice spells worked to some extent, but not enough. The deeper I fought, the more I realized—I was outclassed here.
Even when I combined shadow arts and frost, the damage I dealt was too little. I’d wound it, but the thing would regenerate by absorbing heat from the surroundings. It was like fighting a living forge.
For nearly a month, I tried. I trained, observed, and attacked in different intervals. But nothing changed. Every time I got close to a breakthrough, the boss adapted. My strength wasn’t enough.
The final attempt ended with me nearly crushed by a collapsing cliff. My mana reserves were dangerously low. The damage to my body couldn’t be ignored. Even my healing potions were all used up.
I looked up at the beast, still breathing heavily, still standing tall.
"That’s it..." I murmured. "This is my limit for now"
This wasn’t weakness—it was caution. I wasn’t going to waste myself trying to win a losing battle. Growth didn’t mean suicide.
I reached into my storage ring and pulled out the teleportation scroll I had kept since the start of the Tower.
As the scroll began to activate, glowing faintly, I took one last glance at the crimson lizard. It roared triumphantly. it hurt my pride but I knew better than to kill myself