This time, as Ray lost his footing and began to plummet, he recognized he wasn’t going to be saved by falling onto another shelf of rocks. There was no such thing beneath him. All he had was huge, open air that the rest of the island around him was crumbling into.

  In other words, the wings on his back weren’t going to help him. Ray might have evolved his Ascension Class, but it wasn’t like that had evolved the Soul Aspects he carried. Soaring Wings still needed solid ground somewhere reasonably close to his body to achieve any sort of elevation.

  Ray let them go. The wings did slow down his descent a bit, but the idea he had landed on was only going to be impeded by them.

  Next, Ray aimed both hands downwards at an angle. Aetheric Trace called up the Windbane heads around them. He wasted no time firing powerful lasers out of the maws, the sudden shift in momentum throwing him backwards. Throwing him upwards. It was only seconds before Ray was reaching his targeted location.

  As he had fallen, he had quickly looked around to see if he was royally screwed or not. That essentially involved determining if the entire dungeon island was unstable and falling apart or not.

  Technically, the answer to that was a resounding yes. Everything was unstable. But there were layers to it. The whole edifice wasn’t sinking to the bottom of the Third Floor at once. That was why Ray had been able to fight off and beat the Segmented Titan in the first place.

  His search had been quick. There was indeed a chunk of the island that was still floating, a spur of which was jutting out into the air.

  Ray’s Windbane blasts were aimed at it. He wasn’t an expert in that sort of manoeuvre by any means. Especially when the disparately aimed lasering breaths did weird things with rotational momentum and had his body twirling around in the air.

  So much for control.

  Ray shut off the draconic breaths. He had been flung upwards enough. Resummoning Soaring Wings back allowed him to regain control, and he was able to get himself to the spur of rock.

  He breathed out to settle the panicking beats of his heart. Those sudden plummets were not good for his blood pressure, that was for sure.

  Ray took a second to centre himself. A part of him was boiling over with the fact that Sameer had stolen the other dungeon treasure. But he couldn’t worry about that now. He had to focus. Had to get out before everything fell apart.

  Sending the treasure into his storage bag, he looked around again. As he did so, he tried to get more information.

  Ray: Are you guys already out of here?

  Gritty: Yeah. We’re fine. You’re the one I’m worried about, wingman. How are you getting out of there?

  Ray: I don’t see anyone yet. You said the Floor Lord was going to destroy the whole dungeon, right? No way this thing is putting anything in dan—oh shit.

  The expletive had come out when he realized Gritty was right. She had mentioned that the falling dungeon was putting Auction Island in danger, which was why the Floor Lord was apparently destroying the Tier 35 dungeon island.

  Gritty: You see it?

  Ray: Yeah. I see it. Auction Island is close…

  Not that it made Ray feel the aggression was justified. Although maybe he was a little biased, considering he was on the island at the moment. His opinions would probably have been different if he wasn’t in danger of being destroyed alongside the dungeon.

  Ray: I have a feeling the Floor Lord is going to enjoy destroying the dungeon a lot…

  Gritty: That’s why I’m telling you to get the fuck off it!

  Ray took a quick breath. He closed his eyes, trying to will his mind to find a proper idea. Everything his immediate thoughts tried to offer up were crazy plans about jumping off the dungeon island and somehow flying to the safety of the Auction Island. Insanity.

  When he opened his eyes, his breath caught in his throat. Was that… a cloud floating towards the dungeon?

  The cloud itself wasn’t the main problem, although the way it seemed wrapped with flickering red lightning and familiar curling, spiky growths was concerning. No, the real issue was the riders the cloud was bearing closer and closer to Ray’s location.

  Ray: Gritty… Are the Sylvans riding in on a cloud?

  Gritty: Stop staring and get outta there already!

  Well, that pretty much confirmed. Although, if Ray was looking for a second confirmation, it came soon after the first.

  As beams of blood-red lightning shooting at the dungeon.

  Ray yelled out and jumped backwards, aiming for a spot deeper inside the dungeon island that wasn’t falling yet. Just in time. The spur he had been was exploded to smithereens as one of the beaming red bolts struck. More of the crimson beams—the Floor Lord’s doing, no doubt—hammered in all over the dungeon, ruining what little structural integrity it had left.

  Alright, Ray was pretty sure the Floor Lord was here on purpose. He had seen an opportunity to take out Ray without going against the Tower Lord, and he was going to take it.

  Yeah well, Ray wasn’t going down that easily. His mind briefly replayed the desperate, irrepressible aggression the Segmented Titan had displayed till the very end of its life. He was now in the same position. Potentially overwhelmed, facing opponents who had more firepower than him.

  The difference was that he was not dying here.

  Ray crafted several flying Windbane constructs to take to the air. He sent a Scouring Eyeball after them, just to see how effective they were against the Floor Lord’s entourage.

  They never got close. A crackling forefield of red lightning sparked to life far, far out from the cloud. Ray actually froze in appreciation at how far the Floor Lord could cast that ability from his position.

  The net of red lightning caught his constructs, paralyzing them and holding them still in the air. Ray was still sure they would have been able to force their way through, but it wasn’t just lightning that had them trapped in place. Growth mana materialized from the sparks of lightning, enclosing around the constructs, piercing through their scaly exteriors to stab in.

  Essentially, Ray’s attack had failed. Pretty badly at that.

  That was alright. He wasn’t here to beat the Floor Lord in combat. His Windbane constructs had provided valuable distraction for the Scouring Eyeball to look at the remainder of the dungeon island.

  Ray found what he had been looking for. The dungeon was falling apart still, as was expected, but it was doing so in chunks. Rocks of various sizes were breaking off from the exterior of the dungeon island before plummeting down into the white abyss of the Third Floor’s cloudy bottom.

  Or rather, towards Auction Island now that the dungeon had floated closer to the central capital of the Sylvans on the Third Floor.

  Not that the Sylvans were about to let any rocks fall to the city there. That probably explained why chunks of the cloud were tearing apart. They raced towards the various falling rocks, towards the bottom section of the dungeon, each one bearing a Sylvan like they were some kind of a twisted elven version of Sun Wukong.

  But Ray recognized that was ticket out of here. It would be dangerous no doubt, and—

  He almost cursed but held himself back as the dungeon shook violently, nearly throwing him to his knees. Cursing would have put him in danger of biting off his tongue. The dungeon was falling apart around him as more of the red beaming bolts were crashing in around him.

  Cursed Floor Lord was relentless.

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  At least Ray knew what he had to do. He headed towards the lower sections of the dungeon island, seeking where the rocks were falling off piece by piece.

  Ray wasn’t so sure about making his way there in one piece. The bastard Floor Lord was still striking at the dungeon island from a distance. Rocks were avalanching around Ray, pulling the island closer and closer to complete annihilation.

  Honestly, it felt like the Floor Lord was more interested in destroying everything and burying Ray along with it all. Saving Auction Island was the lamest excuse ever.

  Ray reached the lower section of the island without taking any hits, surprisingly. It helped that he had called up a couple more constructs to blast away any rocks that aimed for his skull. He probably shouldn’t have used more petrified vines to top off his Aeon Mana. The dungeon was already in a nearly destroyed state. He was making things worse.

  But he’d be off soon enough, so it didn’t matter.

  Ray jerked to a stop as a fissure snaked across his path with the speed of a runaway train. It widened as it progressed, forcing Ray to retreat. Then the chunk of the island that he would have rushed onto fell apart.

  A split-second decision came to him, but before he could act on it, one of the Sylvans shot in. He rode in on a chunk of the dark cloud, his eyes fixed on Ray as he brandished what almost looked like a fencing sword, just made of glass instead of metal.

  This would have been the moment of truth. If they really were here about stopping the collapsing dungeon only, then Ray should have been saved. Even if they didn’t stop their destruction of the dungeon itself, at least they would help Ray get out of here without getting destroyed along with the rest of the island.

  Unfortunately, considering they were the Floor Lord’s lackeys, that wasn’t the case. Ray supposed he ought to be thankful they were pretty clear about their intention from the get-go.

  The Sylvan’s fierce glare promised violence even when he was distant. As soon as his cloud carried him closer, he attacked. The thin sword stabbed into the air, fast as a striking viper, the Sylvan’s ability manifesting at the same instant.

  Growth Mana came to life on the glasslike blade. Then it leaped off, shooting at Ray as it stretched like a whip.

  Ray reacted by casting Mottling Aeonguard. He had the constructs flying close by, but they would serve better here as a deterrent, counterattacking the Sylvan instead of trying to protect Ray.

  Unfortunately, they didn’t have much luck. The Sylvan on the cloud was way too fast, zipping by before either of the flying draconic heads had a chance to blast him with their flames.

  Ray cursed. The Sylvan might have dashed away, taking his whipping sword along with him, but there were more of them swooping in. Bunch of mosquitoes zooming in at him like annoying gnats. It was probably highly arrogant to consider them insects, especially since at least some of them were likely higher level than him, but Ray couldn’t help but be frustrated.

  How could he not when he had the exact same experience with yet another Sylvan. This one fired an arrow laced with Growth Mana at him. Once again, the glowing orb of Mottling Aeonguard blocked it, but the Sylvan zoomed past before he could retaliate.

  At any other time, Ray might have even relished the challenge they were providing. He couldn’t recall any other time where he had fought opponents who were not only fast, but were actively using their far superior speed against him. Wouldn’t it have been glorious to see their faces when he could simply appear next to them with a quick teleportation?

  But he couldn’t focus on that. Not when the ground itself was cracking under his feet, about to give away and let him plummet.

  For the Floor Lord’s attacks were relentless. More beaming bolts thundered and hammered in, shattering the cliffsides and everything else around him. He was lucky he hadn’t already been crushed by the rocks, if he was being honest.

  Ray closed his eyes for a second to focus. He knew the gist of what was going on.

  The Sylvans were determined to overwhelm him. The distant assault from the Floor Lord, the ones shooting in closer, they were all bent on killing him by any means necessary.

  So, Ray opened his eyes and ran.

  He went back up, rushing higher up the island and deeper inside. Ray was too exposed when he was so close to the exterior. Even if there were broken rocks and boulders everywhere, he could just blast his way through. Pretty easy when he could command his Windbane constructs to crush the rocks further with their flames.

  Sure, that caused a chunk of the island to start falling off. He wasn’t helping the dungeon survive longer with his antics.

  But Ray had his wings. It didn’t take much effort to jump from one chunk of the island to another that was more stable, carried aloft by Soaring Wings.

  The Sylvans couldn’t continue targeting him. Even better, they couldn’t see him. Perfect opportunity for Ray to cast Resurrect Recollect again, calling on the services of his Imitator construct this time. He didn’t need it to take his form or distract his enemies. No. That was his purpose. What the mimic would do was get the hell away from this collapsing dungeon.

  Ray could see a lot of holes in his plans even as he set it in motion. Lots of failure points. But he was running out of options. Desperate times called for desperate measures and whatnot.

  Stakes of crimson lightning struck around him. They caged him in by ringing him with pillars of their sparking energy, forcing him to come to a stop. Cursed Floor Lord had trapped him.

  Ray wasted no time making his constructs attack the bolts. He cast Mottling Aeonguard again, making the orbs close around him and expand, holding time steady so that the explosions didn’t reach him. But there was a different problem with the blast that freed Ray. It also shattered the surrounding areas, exposing him to the flying Sylvans again.

  “Fucking—”

  Ray bit down on his curse as he got running again.

  More Sylvans had joined the first two that he had evaded. They were armed similarly. One was chucking javelins of Growth Mana that appeared to be able to change direction mid-air. Another was armed with not one but two of those glasslike swords that whipped Growth Mana in from the distance.

  Distance. That was the issue. They had all planned this out. They were aware that they’d have an easier time of beating Ray at range.

  Normally, Ray wouldn’t have had an issue countering. But because he was forced to run, to dodge and weave away to keep himself alive for just a little longer on the dungeon island, he couldn’t focus. He couldn’t retaliate.

  Even when he tried to partition his focus. Setting a Scouring Eyeball and a flying Windbane head construct on each Sylvan didn’t work either. Ferocious though his constructs were, the Sylvans were strong enough to take them. Plus, it was clear they had done their homework. They knew how Ray and his constructs operated. They were ready for him.

  At that point, he had to wonder how much of this they had planned. Had the Floor Lord always aimed to destroy the dungeon? Had he always possessed some method of keeping Ray away from the other competitors?

  Or had he simply been able to take advantage of a fortuitous circumstance with incredible adroitness?

  More crimson bolts beamed at Ray’s location. Oh yes, the Floor Lord was targeting him very specifically. The surviving Mottling Aeonguard orbs were enough to protect him for now.

  Ray was actually surprised they could stop the Floor Lord’s attacks. They were coming in with a huge amount of speed and power. That his Aeonguard orbs were able to stop them, despite not having their Tiers raised that high, was definitely noteworthy.

  Maybe his blasts got less effective the farther they got from his location. Or maybe, his Aeonguard orbs were better at combating pure energy than physical attacks.

  Whatever the case, Ray was thankful for the breather he received. He had a little more time to survive.

  At the top of the next shelf of rock, Ray came to a stop. It was time to make a stand. He had stable enough footing here. He could do this. The Sylvans swung upwards. They absolutely didn’t care about stopping the dungeon island anymore. They were here for Ray, and Ray only.

  He had to wonder if there was anyone else watching. Were there broadcasts of the dungeon’s collapse, or had Sridayne and every other broadcaster hightailed it out of there? Not that he blamed them for it. But it was clear the Floor Lord didn’t care about such minor things like having his crime witnessed.

  Whatever.

  Ray cast Aetheric Trace, calling on the petrified vines again. They lashed around him, dug into the earth, pulled it up and crushed it, converting matter to Mana for him to absorb. His soul danced with the Aeon Mana filling him up.

  The Sylvans shot in with their various attacks. What Ray wouldn’t have given to destroy the assholes, to give them a taste of what they were ostensibly trying to do to the dungeon.

  Another cast of Mottling Aeonguard took care of the Sylvan’s various attacks. Their javelins, their whips of Growth Mana, their arrows, none of them reached him.

  Interestingly, his second hypothesis was what proved to be correct. The Aeonguard defence was better at stopping pure energy than physical attacks. While Growth Mana was of course, as the name itself said, based on Mana, it was still present as a physical substance than as energy like lightning or fire.

  At least he was learning something from this stupid encounter.

  Nevertheless, with the Aeonguard orbs layered over one another, they could still stop everything the Sylvans threw at him. This gave Ray the opportunity to cast Aetheric Trace again, calling up Windbane heads on his hands. Just as they came to life, Ray aimed them, out and fired.

  Of course, he didn’t hit any of the Sylvans. Not directly. They were moving too fast, dodging and veering out of the way.

  Even when he swung his hands around, cutting through the Aeonguard shields and trying to hit all the cloud-riding jerks zooming about like flies, he missed them all. That was alright. Ray cast Temporal Passage.

  His teleportation definitely caught them off guard. The direction of the twin lasering blue blasts changed abruptly. While it was still too random for him to actually hit any of the Sylvans, they were forced to switch their motion abruptly. A couple nearly crashed into one another. Another flew past too close to Ray’s back, and all the petrified vines still on his back lashed out.

  The Sylvan’s scream fainted as he was flung off his cloud. He had tried to whip out Growth Mana to catch the edge of the dungeon island, but the edge itself broke apart.

  Ray, with Soaring Wings still on his back, floated back closer to the ground. He might have temporarily stopped the henchmen, but the boss of the mob was still unfazed. The Floor Lord had floated a lot closer with his giant cloud.

  “What an annoying little insect you are, Raymond Dominick,” the Floor Lord said. “I will take a vacation in your honour once you are truly dead.”

  “Funny you say that,” Ray said. “Didn’t you know? You only ever get a real vacation once—”

  Apparently, the Floor Lord was such a bastard, he didn’t even believe in last words. Before Ray could even finish his sentence, a storm of lightning bolts crashed around him. They fell upon him like meteors, artillery blasts thundering down from the heavens themselves, like he was being smitten by some insanely angered god.

  Well, now it was time. The moment before the bolts struck, Ray used Temporal Passage again.

  This time, he teleported to where his Imitator construct had gone. With all the Sylvans distracted by Ray himself, they had completely stopped tending to the rocks falling off the island. It was to one such rock that Ray’s Imitator construct had latched onto, where Ray appeared.

  And immediately held on for dear life as he fell away from the Tier 35 dungeon island and the squadron of angry Sylvans plus their Floor Lord who had tried to kill him.