Apocalypse with my SSS Harem Beauties-Chapter 161: Keep Going

The platform carried them upward again. Amber light swallowed them, then faded into another chamber.

Second Floor.

This time the room stretched wider and taller, its walls layered with jagged stone pillars and not smooth like before. The ground trembled before they even saw the enemy.

Massive quadrupeds emerged from between the pillars. Their bodies resembled armored rhinoceroses but their hides looked like overlapping basalt plates.

Cracks glowed faintly between those plates, leaking heat and dim red light.

When they charged, the floor shook.

"KILL THEM!" Myles roared.

"HYAAAAAHHH!!!" The others respond with the same spirit.

They scatter and attack whatever was in front of them.

George intercepted the first beast head-on but he was pushed back and slid backward several meters from the impact.

Ethan targeted the glowing cracks with rapid fire, forcing one creature to stumble. Samantha’s arrows struck into the thinner seams beneath their forelegs.

Daniel misjudged one charge and got clipped by a horned shoulder. He rolled across the stone and came up with a grimace.

"Don’t worry I’m still alive," he said, spitting dust.

They brought the beasts down one by one, shattering leg joints and splitting exposed seams until the chamber fell quiet again.

Then they proceed to the next floor.

Third Floor.

The air turned damp. The floor became slick with translucent slime.

From the ceiling there were pale, bloated creatures dropped without warning. Their bodies pulsed like sacks filled with murky liquid. When they attack, they burst and splattered everything nearby with thick, foul-smelling mucus.

Clara slipped when a wave of slime coated the ground. Ethan grabbed her arm before she hit the floor completely.

"Watch your footing!"

"I am watching my footing. But this damned mucus is everywhere!" replied Clara angrily.

George crushed one of the bloated monsters with excessive force and got drenched in rancid fluid from head to toe.

"This is fucking disgusting," he growled.

They adapted quickly, spacing themselves wider and using controlled strikes to prevent chain explosions. Soon, the chamber reeked of rot, but no enemy was alive.

Fourth Floor.

Winged predators circled in a vast open arena now. Their bodies were skeletal and elongated, with membranous wings stretched between bones that looked like blades. Their screams pierced the air.

They dove from above in coordinated attack when they appeared.

Samantha took command of the sky. Her arrows traced clean arcs upward, piercing wings and sending creatures spiraling down.

Myles leapt from broken stone to broken stone, meeting them midair.

One clipped Ethan’s shoulder with a talon when he aimed, drawing blood from him, but the wound remained shallow.

"Just a scratch," Ethan said, firing upward again.

Floor after floor, the place escalated.

The fifth floor brought them shadow-beasts that split into duplicates when struck incorrectly. The sixth floor forced them through a corridor of shifting walls that tried to crush them while stone golems attacked in narrow intervals.

Kade nearly got pinned between two sliding slabs there, but George dragged him free at the last second.

The seventh floor unleashed at them serpentine monsters with crystalline scales that reflected direct attacks. They learned to angle their strikes to shatter weak points instead of hitting flat surfaces.

Eighth floor drenched them in ankle-deep blood-like liquid as headless warriors rose endlessly from it until they located and destroyed a hidden core embedded in the ceiling.

Ninth floor tested their endurance. Dozens upon dozens of pretty strong creatures attacked in relentless succession without breaks or pause. Just sustained combat.

By the time the final enemy fell on the Ninth Floor, their breathing had grown heavier. Their armor bore scratches. Their clothes and hair stained with slime, dust, and blood.

But none of them suffered serious injuries.

They stepped onto the platform once more.

Amber light engulfed them and they arrived at the tenth Floor.

The chamber that received them was enormous. Vast enough to resemble an underground coliseum.

They stepped off the platform and scanned their surroundings.

The darkness at the far end shifted.

One figure emerged.

The two-headed Guardian from the First Floor. Then another.

The basalt-plated rhinoceros from the Second.

The bloated mucus creatures began to drip from above.

Winged predators descended in spirals.

Stone golems rose from the ground. Serpents slithered between cracks. Headless warriors dragged their weapons across the floor.

One by one, every Guardian they had faced before stepped into view.

All at the same time.

The chamber filled with layered growls, screeches, and grinding stone.

George let out a slow breath. "...You’ve got to be kidding me."

Myles tightened his grip on his two blades.

"Just do what we did before," he said calmly. His eyes sharpened as he looked at the gathered enemies. "We’ve already learned how to kill them, don’t we?"

—

Red walked through the narrow tunnel with steady steps. The walls around him were reinforced with carved support beams and faint Ether lanterns embedded at intervals.

His right-hand man followed half a step behind with straight posture and cautious expression.

The tunnel widened gradually.

Then it opened into a large underground chamber.

A massive black obelisk stood at the center, rising nearly to the ceiling. Strange runes spiraled along its surface in vertical lines. Pale amber light pulsed within the carved symbols.

Beside the obelisk lay a circular platform.

Runes were embedded along its outer rim, arranged in concentric rings identical in structure to the mechanism where Myles and the others were stepping.

The center plate glowed with thick amber light as a sign that it was active.

Red stopped in front of it and narrowed his eyes.

"They’re still on the thirteenth floor?" he asked without turning.

"Yes," his subordinate answered immediately. "Reports say their progress slowed there. The floor guardian and mechanics are complicated. Not many deaths, but advancement is slow."

Red clicked his tongue.

"I expected better."

He walked closer to the platform, watching the amber glow pulse rhythmically. The light occasionally flickered, indicating movement between layers.

"The twentieth floor should hold something good," he said calmly. "Perhaps even a core artifact."

He folded his arms behind his back.

"Should I go there myself and stop them from wasting time?"

The man behind him hesitated.

Red’s eyes shifted slightly.

"Just say it, Peter," he said sternly.

Peter took a deep breath before speaking.

"I think... it may be better to let them continue leveling for now. We are planning a large-scale raid soon. If they advance too quickly without proper consolidation their strength may be not enough."

He kept his tone respectful but firm.

"We need them stronger. Not reckless."

Red remained silent for a few seconds.

The amber light from the platform reflected faintly across his face.

Finally, he sighed slowly.

"Fine."

He turned away from the obelisk.

"I’ll give them three more days. After that, I’ll step in personally."

—