Chapter 269 – Floor 59: Part 1

  Floor 59: The Demigod’s Fall

  Objective: Defeat Eryn, the Progenitor, and absorb her Aether.

  Reward: All existing Essences will be upgraded by one tier. The Wrathful Blade will ascend, transforming into the Godslaying Blade of Wrath.

  The portal rippled like oil on water; its edges shimmered with colours that defied comprehension. Even Mathew, with all of his power, stood frozen for a moment as she emerged.

  Eryn, a Progenitor, stepped through with a grace that was almost inhuman. Her movements were too deliberate, too measured to belong to a mortal being. The air seemed to thicken around her, pressing against him with an unseen weight. Her arrival wasn’t loud or violent but carried the force of presence that could not be ignored.

  She was tall and impossibly composed; her figure was cloaked in dark, flowing garments that whispered against the ground as she walked. The fabric shimmered faintly as if it drank in the light and held it captive within the cloth. Silver threads wove intricate patterns across her sleeves and collar, designs that seemed to shift and twist when Mathew tried to focus on them.

  Her face was the kind of beauty that did not invite admiration but demanded awe from those who looked upon her. Angular features were framed by jet-black hair that caught in the glow of the portal behind her, casting shadows that accentuated her sharp, imperious gaze.

  Mathew recognized her immediately from the book the gray-suited young woman from the Tower had shown him before he arrived on this world.

  Eryn’s eyes were the colour of molten gold as they scanned her temple quickly before locking onto Mathew and Adelaide. They seemed to pierce through him, stripping away any protections and seeing into his soul.

  It was clear to Mathew that she possessed the ‘Farsense’ Essence that allowed the user to enhance their vision to see things such as a person’s aura. But he wasn’t sure what else she was capable of.

  For a moment, Mathew felt exposed, as if she could see every thought he’d ever had, every secret that he tried to bury deep inside. He couldn’t look away; her gaze wasn’t just commanding; it was crushing. It made him feel small and insignificant, like a speck of dust beneath her feet.

  Then, Mathew felt a surge of anger and revulsion at what she was doing to him. The mana cycled within him, and he pushed against her aura on his own.

  For a fraction of a second, he could feel the two Essences clash, and the air between them crackled, charged with the collision of two titanic forces. Mathew’s Aura flared like a storm of wild, untamed energy that radiated defiance and raw power.

  His presence filled the room with heat and motion, an overwhelming surge of chaos barely restrained by his iron will. It screamed of rebellion, a blazing declaration that no god or progenitor could stand against him unchallenged.

  Eryn’s aura, by contrast, was eerily and deliberately silent. It didn’t surge; it descended. It enveloped the space with the oppressive weight of inevitability. Her presence was cold and unyielding, a suffocating tide that pressed down on everything it touched.

  It bore the authority of millennia; each ripple of her power was a reminder of how insignificant any resistance against her could be. Her golden gaze flared, and her aura was like an abyss swallowing the storm.

  Where the two auras met, the world seemed to warp and groan. Mathew’s fiery tempest clashed with Eryn’s glacial dominion, and the collision created a maelstrom of light and shadow. Sparks of golden radiance collided with arcs of searing crimson. Each impact released shockwaves that rattled the walls of the temple, and the ground beneath their feet fractured.

  Mathew gritted his teeth and pushed more mana into his aura as he pushed against hers. But Eryn remained calm, and her power didn’t rise to meet his. Instead, on the battlefield, which was a war of wills, Eryn seemed to be testing his as she held her ground.

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  Then, with a faint ‘pop’ and a rush of air, both Auras retracted, and the temple was calm once more. The two stared at each other for a moment before Eryn broke the silence.

  “Interesting. You have significant power for one so young.” Eryn’s voice was low, but it easily carried to every corner of the temple. Each syllable rolled off her tongue like it was a decree etched into stone. It carried no anger or urgency but the weight of absolute authority.

  Strangely, it had a slight seductive quality to it, and Mathew unconsciously found himself drawn to her. When he realized that this was also part of her power, he ruthlessly crushed the feeling and replaced it with calm.

  “I’m older than I look.” Mathew replied dryly. A flicker of amusement tugged at the corner of his lips at his statement. While he wasn’t as ancient as Eryn, he had centuries on Adelaide and the other Elders. His own experiences in the Tower of Avarice had left their scars on his soul while leaving his body untouched.

  Eryn’s gaze lingered on him, sharp and probing as if she could peel back the layers of his being with a glance.

  “There is something about you…” She murmured, her voice laced with curiosity.

  “You carry the scent of my lineage, as well as that of my siblings. But there is another….” Her words softened, trailing off as her golden eyes grew distant. For a fleeting moment, the piercing intensity of her stare faded and was replaced by frustration at her inability to identify what it was.

  Then, her expression shifted. Her eyes widened, and the blazing light of recognition showed on her face. The stillness around her shattered like glass as a ripple of energy coursed through the space around her.

  “You’ve been sent by Him!” Eryn exclaimed, her voice trembling with both fear and disbelief. Her aura surged, cold and unrelenting, as if the weight of her realization threatened to crush the very air between them.

  There was no need for her to explain to Mathew who ‘Him’ was. He could hear the capital ‘H’ in her voice, and there was only one ‘Him’ who would threaten a Primogenitor.

  Mathew nodded, and, with a single motion, he reached into the void of his inventory, and the air seemed to ripple as the Wrathful Blade emerged. The weapon had begun to change since he had begun to use it in this world. Whether it was part of the rewards from completing the Floors or the blade absorbed the Aether-Blood of his enemies, it started to feel more alive in his grip.

  The sword thrummed with barely contained energy, and the room visibly darkened. A hum filled the air, a sound of vengeance and an eagerness for violence. Mathew felt the blade’s magic begin to make him stronger, pushing his body beyond his previous limits.

  The battle began with a deafening roar as Mathew surged forward, and the Wrathful Blade blazed in his grip with a reddish-orange energy. The air around him was distorted by the force of his physical enhancements, and each step he took left cracks in the stone beneath his feet.

  Eryn stood her ground, and her aura flared to meet his charge. It was a cold, crushing tide that sapped the heat and energy from the room. She raised her hand, and strange, blood-red sigils flared into existence around her that, released a torrent of energy that crashed into Mathew like a tidal wave.

  Gritting his teeth, the blade in his hands cut through the crimson storm as he closed the distance. Their first exchange was brutal as Mathew swung the Wrathful Blade with ferocious speed, the blade carving arcs through the air that hissed against Eryn’s shimmering defences.

  The Primogenitor countered with fluid motion, her commands manifesting shields of radiant light that absorbed his strikes before shattering into glowing fragments.

  Each blow Mathew landed was met with an opposite force; all the while, her Aura was slowly sapping the strength from his limbs. To counter her Aura, Mathew’s body began to shift.

  Bones erupted from his skin, forming jagged and grotesque armour that covered his arms, chest and legs. His limbs stretched and thickened as claws grew where his fingers once were. His eyes burned with an unnatural blue light.

  The transformation fueled his attacks, and his monstrous strength tore through Eryn’s magical defences as if they were paper.

  But the Primogenitor didn’t falter. Her voice rang out, commanding and sharp. Her words lashed at Mathew like a whip, her abilities manifesting them into reality. Unable to control Mathew with her Essences, she sought to weaken or stop him.

  Seeing that he was growing stronger as he transformed, Eryn summoned her weapon from the portal behind her. It was an axe, the same weapon depicted in the statue beside them. It gleamed with an oily, red sheen, and each swing of the axe left a trail of crimson light.

  The two weapons clashed in an explosion of energy that sent sparks flying. Each blow reverberated through the temple, and Adelaide was driven backwards as the shockwaves themselves proved too much for her to withstand.

  Eryn moved with deadly precision, her strikes all aiming to exploit the gaps in Mathew’s bone armour, but his strength and sheer aggression began to overwhelm her.

  As their battle raged, the space around them crumbled. The raw force of their duel tore the temple apart. The floor splintered beneath their feet, and the walls cracked as waves of energy erupted from their every move.

  Adelaide cowered outside as she covered her head with her arms and closed her eyes. The sounds lasted for what felt like an eternity until they finally fell silent. After a few minutes of silence, Adelaide left her hiding place and entered the temple, only to be greeted with a scene of complete devastation.