Ciara dragged herself through the crowded biome. She kicked and swing her sword in contempt. Her astral cloaking was taking damage and the only thing she could do was endure. She was getting closer to the surface and yet the labyrinth was getting harder. The enemy she faced were less stronger but they were spawning like droplets of water. The artificial lights of the labyrinth were gone. The fields that have been filled with life energy was drained.

Ciara was trapped in a quagmire of monsters. The enemy labyrinth was getting desperate and it abandoned quality over quantity. Ciara was walking towards the next floor when the area changed shape and monsters that craved for her flesh were warped around her. She was able to slay the first waves but they keep pouring in.

At that moment, she was trapped under five-foot of monster’s trying to kill her. She was able to hold due to her astral cloak mutilating everything that would come next to her. The room was dark and there was little light. Ciara’s vision was superb and thus was able to see through the enemy and turn any monster into mincemeat.

Of course, Ciara was struggling to make a move with her swings being hampered by monster flesh. Her sword cuts through the flesh of the monsters but yet their bones and flesh were making it hard for her to properly swing. Not to mention that it was akin to swimming on the jaws of the monster.

A monster tried to attack Ciara’s head but she swung her head back and destroyed the skull of a monster. It was extreme close-quarter combat that didn’t allow her for any extraneous movement. The gravity field that was pushing her down was enough to keep her from breaking the sound barrier. The tower was learning and every ability that allowed her mass slaughter was being countered by the tower.
All Ciara could hear was the screams of the monsters and their eyes were looking at her madly. To avoid being weighted down by the monsters, Ciara had to gather explosive energy around her skin and make it explode. This method worked but it also resulted to recoil harming her astral cloak. The portal was like a faucet of monsters and that act alone was enough for Ciara to develop hatred to the tower.
She didn’t know why this tower was after her. She didn’t know why a tower that this dangerous was allowed. She has already concluded that this was a man-made structure. She also found traces of humans by the tents and the letters they left. Their letters and language were not the same, however. She couldn’t understand the letters and she would need to take time to decipher. She has no time however, with the monsters trying to destroy.

“Sword of Salvatore!” She hammered her sword down and yet it only managed to blast the creatures away. The creatures immediately sprinted and started to surround her again. A creature was trying to stab her by the side, but she caught the sharp horn and used her armpit to break the horn.

The creatures were grotesque beings that had plastic-like skin and fish scales. Their bodies were covered in teeth and they have a giant purple located in the center of their heads. Killing the bastards were easy but their number and their fanatical charge were making it hard for Ciara to concentrate. Not to mention that their way of attacking was done by clinging to her limbs. It was maddening! She couldn’t help but feel her vision go red. She chucks her sword down and switched to hand-to-hand combat.

“I will tear all of you to pieces!”

She dives and tears the eyes of a few monsters. Her elbow became a spear and her legs like cannons that blasted enough space to maneuver around the desolated area. She wasn’t fond of a long spell but she casts a chain lightning spell and enhanced her movement by making use of the recoil of her kicks to lift off.

The red aura that was seeping on her body did not hold her back. The gravity field that weighs her down was bypassed through the use of the recoil. Each of her punches was sending the creatures back. She had a bit of mercy for the tower but with how it was being desperate to kill her. Ciara didn’t hold back and used one of the techniques she learned from an ascetic monk. It was a palm strike that gathered the energy around her surroundings and focusing it one palm strike.

“Heavenly Firmament Lotus Palm!”

A lotus-shaped magic circle bloomed on her palm. The area exploded into a black and white as the palm strike turned the area into a sea of gore and blood. She was not done yet. She raised her right leg and brought it down to the ground.

“Mountain Ox Cleaves the Earth!”

This time the whole ground that she stood was split into two. The tower floor that was beneath her broke and the monsters that surrounded her fell down the ravine she created. She inhaled cold air, and green magic circles secured her footing. She flicked her sword, poured astral cloak, and the blade of Salvatore on the blade.

“Empyrean Sword Lifts the Heavens and Shatters the Earth!”

An immaterial sword with the size of a mountain formed behind her. This sword thrusts down the ravine and she saw the floors beneath her rumbled and the stairs she used to climb crumbled. Before she could lose her footing, she pointed her sword up and carved the ceiling. The tower protected the ceiling, numerous magic circles appeared and vomited out legions of monsters again.

Ciara gave a crazed smile. She placed the flat of her sword on her shoulder and said, “Thunder Phoenix Rises within the Azure Sky!”

A wing of both fire and thunder grew on her back. She stomped on the air and swung her down at the ceiling! The ceiling resisted, however, it didn’t escape Ciara’s blow. Seeing the floor carved open, she stepped on the air and used her sky steps to ascend to the next floor.