Drax looked up at the Gedeon towering over the ruined city. Buildings lay shattered across the streets, smoke drifted through the air, and the enormous creature's presence alone made the remaining monsters tremble.
Yet Drax stood completely still. Nightmare rested in his hand as his crimson eyes narrowed.
"I don't care if you're a God-class monster or a god... Stand before me, and you will be devoured by my abyss."
The Gedeon answered with a deafening roar. It raised its right foot and brought it down toward Drax with enough force to crush everything beneath it.
Drax's eyes sharpened. He moved. His body shot forward as his sword essence gathered around Nightmare. He swung upward, aiming directly for the Gedeon's ankle.
The slash connected. Nothing happened. Drax's expression changed. There wasn't even a scratch. His sword essence had failed to penetrate the creature's body.
"Tch."
Drax pushed himself off the ground before the enormous foot could crush him.
He shot upward like a projectile, Nightmare held firmly in both hands as he accelerated toward the Gedeon's face. The Gedeon noticed him. Its enormous mouth opened. A roar erupted. The shockwave exploded outward.
Buildings several streets away were ripped apart instantly. The ground collapsed beneath the pressure, creating a crater nearly a mile wide. Drax forced himself through the shockwave. His body shook from the pressure, but he refused to stop. He reached the Gedeon's face.
"True Abyss."
Black sword energy erupted from Nightmare. Multiple slashes appeared across the Gedeon's face but once again, they were shallow. The Gedeon barely reacted. Its enormous hand swung sideways. Drax couldn't dodge in time. BOOM! His body was sent flying through the air.
He crashed through several buildings before slamming into the ground hard enough to create another crater. Dust filled the air. Drax slowly stood. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away with his thumb before spitting onto the ground.
"As expected of a God-class..."
His eyes remained fixed on the Gedeon.
"Even if I use sword essence and my abyssal techniques as they are now, I doubt they'll affect it."
For several seconds, there was silence. Then a familiar voice echoed through his Inner World.
"Are you sure you want to use that so soon?"
Mephilisto's voice carried a rare seriousness.
"The tower will surely try to resist. You're only on floor seven."
Drax tightened his grip around Nightmare.
"They have no other choice but to comply."
His crimson eyes slowly brightened.
"I'll turn this tower upside down."
Drax inhaled. The air around him suddenly became still.
"Inner World Release."
The moment those words left his mouth, darkness erupted from beneath his feet. The Black Sea of Death spread across the ruined landscape.
It swallowed streets. It swallowed buildings. It swallowed everything within its reach. The sky above the entire floor changed. The peaceful blue disappeared.
Darkness covered the heavens. Then a crimson moon appeared. An enormous eye opened within it. The Gedeon froze. Behind Drax, something enormous emerged from the darkness. The Black Tree.
Its branches stretched toward the sky as if the entire world belonged beneath its shadow. Then Drax emerged from the abyss.
He looked different. His black hair had grown longer and taller, moving gently despite the absence of wind. His eyes had become circular crimson orbs, deep and unnatural.
His body was partially covered in the dark bark of the Black Tree. His presence felt almost nonexistent. Not weak or empty. Absent. Deep. Majestic.
The Gedeon instinctively stepped backward. For the first time since entering the world, the God-class monster looked threatened. Drax raised Nightmare.
The entire floor trembled. The Black Sea continued expanding. Every living creature within the domain fell beneath Drax's perception. Every movement. Every breath.
Every fluctuation of essence. He could feel everything. This was no longer simply an Inner World being manifested into reality. This was his territory. His abyss. His domain.
Mephilisto appeared beside him. She stared at Drax for several seconds. For some reason, looking at him in this state stirred something within her. A strange nostalgia. She couldn't explain it.
"You have ten minutes before your muscles tear and begin to spasm out of control."
Drax didn't look at her. His eyes remained locked on the Gedeon.
"That's all I need."
The Gedeon suddenly opened its mouth. Energy began gathering inside its throat. The atmosphere distorted.
The pressure became overwhelming. Even the ruins beneath its feet began to crumble. Then a beam erupted. The attack was so powerful that the surrounding space distorted around it.
The beam possessed enough destructive force to devastate multiple continents and potentially tear through half of the planet. It raced toward Drax. Drax didn't move. He simply raised his right hand. The beam struck his palm. The entire floor shook.
Drax's feet didn't move an inch. The destructive energy spread around his body instead of passing through him. The beam scattered across the battlefield, obliterating everything it touched. Drax's crimson eyes remained calm. He slowly lowered his hand.
Then he raised Nightmare. The sword became completely black. No ordinary sword essence remained. Only the depth of the Abyss. Drax pointed the blade toward the Gedeon.
"Sword of the Abyssal God."
He didn't move. Not even a step. Yet the world around the Gedeon suddenly trembled.
A massive cross appeared across the monster's body. One vertical line. One horizontal line. Both formed from pure abyssal sword power. BOOM! The Gedeon's body split open.
Black blood exploded into the air. The God-class monster released a roar that shook the entire floor. Far away, Lex stood atop a ruined building.
For the first time since entering the tower, sweat rolled down the side of his face. Yet he was smiling. His eyes were fixed entirely on Drax.
"So you inherited a Monarch's World after all, Drax Magna..."
His smile widened.
"This will be good."
Lex stepped forward.
"I want to see the look on your face when I complete my grand plan."
Behind Drax, Mephilisto suddenly stopped. Her head turned. Her eyes focused on something in the distance.
Lex. For several seconds, she stared directly at him. Lex noticed. Their eyes met across the ruined battlefield.
Neither moved. Then Mephilisto slowly turned back toward Drax. Farther away, Isis and Alexis had finally finished dealing with the remaining monsters.
Isis stood among the wreckage, his twin blades still in his hands. Alexis lowered her staff. Both of them looked toward Drax.
Neither spoke. The sight before them was beyond anything they had expected. The Black Sea covered the battlefield. The crimson moon watched from above.
The enormous Black Tree dominated the sky and at the center of it all stood Drax. Not merely inside his Inner World. He was the center of it. Isis swallowed.
"That's Drax..."
Alexis stared at the transformed figure.
"I've never seen an Inner World like that."
Neither of them realized it yet but something had changed. The tower was no longer simply testing Drax. For the first time the tower itself seemed to be reacting to him.