**Chapter 14: The Pre-emptive Guillotine**
The Dullahan General was a masterpiece of intimidation.
It sat atop a Nightmare Steed—a skeletal horse wreathed in blue flame. The General wore full plate armor blacker than the void, and in its left hand, it held its own severed head by the hair. The head's eyes were closed.
[Target: Dullahan General (Floor 10 Gatekeeper)]
[Level: 30]
[HP: 25,000/25,000]
[State: Dormant (Awaiting Trigger Event)]
"25,000 HP," Zayne calculated. "And heavy plate armor that negates 80% of physical damage."
In a normal run, a player would enter the main gate. The General would wake up, give a monologue about duty and death, and then the fight would start. During the monologue, the Boss was invulnerable.
But Zayne wasn't in the cutscene zone.
"Mobility is the problem," Zayne noted. "The horse gives it charge attacks and trample damage."
He sheathed the *Fang of the Alpha*. It was too light for this.
He opened his inventory. He didn't have a warhammer. But he had *mass*.
"Void Pocket: Eject."
A large block of stone—part of the Labyrinth wall he had dismantled on Floor 1—materialized in his hands. It weighed at least two hundred kilograms.
Zayne stood on the balcony railing.
"Gravity Press."
He poured his mana into the stone, increasing its density. Then, he jumped.
He fell silently through the air, forty feet down, aiming not for the General, but for the horse's spine.
*...*
The Dullahan's head opened its eyes. It sensed the mana fluctuation above.
But it was too late. The cutscene script hadn't loaded. Its reaction speed was delayed by the System attempting to process an "Illegal Entry."
*CRUNCH.*
Zayne, riding the stone block like a meteor, slammed into the Nightmare Steed's back.
The sound was sickening—like a pile of dry wood being crushed by a hydraulic press. The skeletal horse didn't even have time to neigh. Its spine shattered instantly.
[Critical Hit (Sneak Attack).]
[Mobility Kill.]
[-2,500 HP]
The horse collapsed into a pile of blue dust. The General, robbed of its mount, crashed heavily onto the stone floor, its armor clattering.
Zayne rolled off the impact site, coming to a stop ten meters away.
"Rise," Zayne commanded coldly.
The Dullahan roared—a sound that came not from a throat, but from the severed head it was clutching.
"RAT! YOU DARE?!"
The General scrambled to its feet. Without the horse, it was shorter, but still a towering two-meter wall of steel. It drew a massive greatsword enveloped in ghostflame.
[Status: Enraged.]
[Speed increased by 30%.]
It charged.
Even on foot, it was fast. It swung the greatsword in a horizontal cleave that covered half the arena.
Zayne didn't block. You don't block a train.
*Phase Shift.*
He turned grey and intangible. The massive blade passed through his waist.
Zayne materialized instantly after the blade passed. He stepped *inside* the General's guard.
He drew his dagger.
*Dimensional Cut.*
The violet energy coated the blade. Zayne slashed upward at the arm holding the sword.
*Shing.*
The blade cut through the adamantite gauntlet like it was paper. But it didn't sever the arm completely—the bone was too thick.
[-800 HP]
[Bleed applied.]
The General didn't flinch. Undead felt no pain. It backhanded Zayne with its shield arm.
*Bam.*
Zayne blocked with crossed arms, but the force launched him backward. He skid across the floor, his boots smoking.
[HP: 110/160]
"Heavy," Zayne winced.
The General didn't let up. It raised the severed head. The head's mouth opened, glowing with blue light.
*Banshee Scream.*
A cone of sonic energy blasted toward Zayne.
Zayne recognized the tell. This attack caused [Stun] for 5 seconds. If he got stunned, he was dead.
He couldn't dodge the sound. It was too wide.
"Void Pocket!"
Zayne threw his left hand forward, opening a rift in the air directly in front of him.
The sonic wave hit the rift and was swallowed.
The vacuum silenced the scream instantly.
"My turn."
Zayne closed the pocket and sprinted.
The General, confused that its magic had vanished, hesitated. It tried to raise its sword again.
Zayne slid on his knees, going under the blade. He slashed the General's ankle tendon.
*Clink.* (Armor deflected).
"Tch. Only Dimensional Cut works."
Zayne rolled away as the sword smashed the ground where he had been.
He checked his Void Energy. [40/150].
He had enough for four more *Dimensional Cuts*. But the Boss had 21,000 HP left. The math didn't work. He couldn't kill it with damage.
He had to kill the mechanic.
He looked at the severed head the General was holding in its left hand. That was the core. The body was just a puppet.
"I need that head," Zayne decided.
The General charged again, swinging wildly.
Zayne began to run circles around the slow-turning boss. 55 Agility vs 20 Agility. He was a blur.
Slash at the back. (0 damage).
Slash at the knee. (0 damage).
He was taunting it. Making it angry.
"COME HERE!" the head screamed.
The General threw its sword at Zayne. A desperate ranged attack.
Zayne sidestepped the spinning blade easily.
But now the General was unarmed.
"Mistake," Zayne whispered.
He rushed in.
The General raised the severed head to scream again.
Zayne jumped. He didn't aim for the General. He aimed for the *hand* holding the head.
*Dimensional Cut.*
He poured double the energy into the strike. A 20-point burn.
The violet blade extended, turning into a meter-long scythe of void matter.
*SHING.*
Zayne cut through the wrist.
The General's left hand—still clutching the head—fell to the ground.
The body froze.
The connection was severed.
The body, now headless and headless-less, stood perfectly still. It was just an empty suit of armor now.
On the floor, the severed head rolled, its eyes wide with panic.
"NO! MY BODY! MOVE!"
Zayne landed softly. He walked over to the screaming head.
The body behind him collapsed into a pile of scrap metal.
Zayne looked down at the head.
[Target: Dullahan Core.]
[HP: 500/500]
[Defense: 0]
"Game over," Zayne said.
He raised his boot and stomped.
*SPLAT.*
[You have slain the Floor 10 Boss: Dullahan General.]
[Achievement Unlocked: The Phantom Slayer.]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[World Announcement: Player 'Zayne' has cleared the 10th Floor.]
[Time Elapsed: 45 Minutes (from Tower Entry).]
Zayne ignored the notifications. He looked at the loot chest spawning in the center of the arena.
But before he could open it, the air in the room grew heavy.
A projection appeared. A giant, holographic face in the sky.
It wasn't Ticket the Pixie.
It was a woman with eyes like stars and a veil of nebulas.
**[Administrator of the Lower Tower: Athena.]**
"Zayne," her voice boomed, shaking the dust from the walls. "You are moving too fast. You are breaking the script."
Zayne looked up, his expression bored.
"Fix your bugs then," he replied.
Athena's eyes narrowed.
"Challenge accepted. Let us see if you can survive the *real* game."