The staircase finally opened.
Gun stepped through first.
The familiar sensation of the tower transporting them from one floor to another washed over his body for a moment.
Then his boots touched stone.
He looked up.
And immediately stopped.
"…What?"
The others emerged behind him.
Jack looked around.
Luna stared.
Even Waver seemed slightly surprised.
Floor 13 looked like a medieval kingdom that had somehow been stretched into infinity.
A gigantic castle city surrounded them, its towers disappearing into the clouds far above. Stone bridges connected enormous districts, banners hung from buildings that looked centuries old, and streets filled with people who clearly weren't climbers.
Different races walked through the streets. Some had pointed ears. Others had strange skin colors, horns, tails, scales, or completely unfamiliar features. Some carried magical staffs, others wore armor, and merchants shouted from stalls selling weapons, food, potions, clothing, and objects Gun couldn't even identify.
Jack slowly looked around.
"…This place looks pretty damn cool."
Gun nodded.
"Yeah."
He turned his head.
"It's basically an endless medieval castle."
Luna pointed toward a market.
"And people actually live here."
"Yeah," Gun said. "Which makes it another safe floor?"
Waver shook his head.
"No."
Gun looked at him.
"How do you know?"
"The atmosphere."
Waver's eyes moved across the streets.
"This place is peaceful, but it doesn't have the same feeling as Floor 6. There are too many armed people, and the tower's energy is still active."
Gun nodded.
"So it's not a safe floor."
"Exactly."
They continued walking through the enormous city, taking in their surroundings.
The tower was becoming stranger with every floor.
First a massive continent-sized jungle.
Then an impossible elven forest.
Now an endless medieval kingdom full of races Gun had never seen before.
At some point he was starting to wonder whether the tower even had a limit to what it could create.
Eventually Gun stopped.
"Alright."
He looked at the others.
"We still haven't decided who gets the rewards."
Jack immediately grinned.
"Finally."
Gun opened the Mantle of Waving and pulled out the remaining rewards from the previous floor.
One Mastery Scroll.
One Epic Scroll.
The four of them gathered around.
Luna looked at the two items.
"We should probably use the mastery scroll on whatever ability the epic scroll gives."
Waver nodded.
"That's the most efficient option."
Gun agreed.
"The question is who gets it."
They all went quiet.
Gun looked at Luna.
She already had incredible healing and support.
Waver had crowd control, information, and his ridiculous Conjoined Nexus compatibility.
Gun himself had become their main frontline fighter with Devourer, Mirror Slashes, Flash Step, and Avenger's Cut.
Jack was the obvious choice.
Gun looked toward him.
"You."
Jack blinked.
"Me?"
Gun nodded.
"You haven't gotten nearly as much from the rewards as the rest of us."
Jack frowned.
"You sure?"
Luna smiled.
"He's right."
Waver nodded.
"You've been consistently useful, but your personal progression has fallen behind ours."
Jack looked down at the scroll.
Then back at Gun.
"…Alright."
He smiled.
"My turn."
He crushed the Epic Scroll.
A burst of lightning erupted around him.
The energy spiraled through his body, then exploded outward into a humanoid shape.
A second Jack appeared.
Except this one wasn't human.
It was made entirely out of condensed lightning.
Electrical arcs traveled across its body, making it easy to tell which was the real one.
Jack stared.
"…What the hell?"
Thundering Ego
Summons a lightning clone of the user.
The clone can act independently within a 10-meter radius of the caster.
The clone copies the user's weapon.
Clone Abilities:
Thunder Beam: Fires an extremely fast lightning beam that stuns targets for 1 second upon contact.
Rapid Lightning: The clone teleports behind every enemy within the 10-meter radius and performs two lightning-enhanced slashes.
Each slash deals 25% of the caster's damage and applies an Electrified stun for 0.2 seconds.
Silence.
Gun stared at the clone.
Then looked at Jack.
"…That's an epic ability?"
Jack's mouth slowly opened into a grin.
"This is fucking insane."
Luna laughed.
"You can literally make another fighter."
Waver's eyes narrowed.
"And it has its own abilities."
Gun folded his arms.
"Okay. Yeah. We definitely made the right choice."
Jack summoned his weapon-copy.
The lightning clone copied his blades exactly, except they were wrapped in electrical energy.
Jack took one step forward.
The clone mirrored the movement.
Then Jack looked toward a nearby training post and grinned.
"Watch this."
The clone suddenly vanished.
Rapid Lightning.
It appeared behind the training target, slashing twice in rapid succession.
Then Jack himself moved.
The clone fired Thunder Beam.
The training post exploded under the combined attack.
Jack stared at the destruction.
"…I love this."
Gun laughed.
"You look like a kid who just got his first legendary weapon."
Jack turned toward him.
"Shut up."
Then he looked at the Mastery Scroll.
He crushed it.
A wave of energy passed through the lightning clone.
The ability changed.
Thundering Ego — Mastery II
The caster now mirrors the clone's abilities.
Whenever the clone uses an ability, the caster also uses that ability.
Additionally, every three abilities used by the caster causes the clone to use one of the caster's abilities.
Everyone went silent again.
Gun's smile disappeared.
"…Wait."
Jack looked at the description again.
"So every time my clone uses an ability…"
"You use it too," Waver finished.
Jack's grin returned.
"And every three abilities I use…"
"The clone copies you."
Luna's expression changed.
"That is disgusting."
Jack laughed.
Gun looked genuinely impressed.
"Yeah."
He nodded slowly.
"That might actually put you above me in raw DPS."
Jack immediately pointed at him.
"Did you hear that?"
Gun rolled his eyes.
"Don't get excited."
"Too late."
Jack was practically vibrating with excitement now.
He summoned the clone again.
The two stood beside each other.
Gun looked at them.
"Alright."
He crossed his arms.
"This team is getting stupid."
Luna smiled.
"You mean strong."
"Same thing."
Waver looked around the enormous city.
"Let's calculate this."
He started listing their strengths.
"Gun has the highest defensive consistency and one of the highest single-target outputs."
Gun nodded.
"Devourer makes parrying even stronger; with this, he might be one of the best tanks in the tower without even being a tank."
Waver continued.
"Jack now has arguably the highest sustained offensive output."
Jack smiled.
"Definitely."
"Luna provides healing, defense, and support through Graceful Flame and Ashen Veil."
Luna raised a hand.
"And I'm getting better at controlling the field too."
Waver nodded.
"And I provide information, crowd control, defensive structures, and Conjoined Nexus synchronization."
Gun leaned against a wall.
"So…"
He looked at the others.
"We've basically got everything."
Luna nodded.
"We're missing one thing."
Gun raised an eyebrow.
"A debuffer."
Waver looked thoughtful.
"Someone who can reduce enemy defenses, weaken their attacks, or impose negative statuses."
Jack's lightning clone crackled beside him.
"Then we'd actually be ridiculous."
Gun smiled.
"Give us enough time…"
He looked deeper into the endless city.
"…and maybe we can actually stand among the strongest climbers."
Waver's expression became serious.
"Not yet."
Gun looked at him.
"We're still far below people like Slax."
"Obviously."
Waver glanced toward the massive towers surrounding them.
"But eventually."
Gun smiled.
"Eventually."
Their confidence was higher than it had ever been.
They had survived the tower's early floors.
They had survived the Architect.
They had trained with Slax.
They had begun developing skills that were no longer normal.
And now every member of the Divers had become dangerous in their own way.
They just needed to figure out how to move upward.
They began asking around.
Several merchants pointed them toward the inner castle.
Eventually, a large shopkeeper with four arms gave them the answer they were looking for.
"If you want to ascend," he said, "speak to the King."
Gun blinked.
"The King?"
The merchant nodded.
"He controls access to the next floor."
Jack shrugged.
"Easy enough."
Gun stared at him.
"Why did you say that?"
"Because we're strong."
Gun sighed.
"You just got your new ability five minutes ago and already think you're invincible."
Jack grinned.
"Maybe."
They entered the main castle.
The interior was enormous.
Long hallways.
Massive pillars.
Golden chandeliers.
Guards stationed everywhere.
Eventually they reached a large throne room.
At the end sat the King of Floor 13.
He looked down at them.
The Divers approached.
Gun stepped forward.
"We want to go to the next floor."
The King smiled.
"I know."
Gun frowned.
"You know?"
"Your arrival has been noticed."
He leaned forward slightly.
"Few climbers reach this floor."
Gun nodded.
"So what do we need?"
The King answered immediately.
"An assassination."
Silence.
Gun's smile disappeared.
Jack stopped moving.
Luna stared at the King.
Even Waver's expression hardened.
The King continued.
"To reach Floor 14, each member of your party must assassinate one climber."
Nobody spoke.
The throne room felt suddenly colder.
Gun slowly looked at his teammates.
None of them looked comfortable.
They had fought monsters.
They had killed thieves.
They had killed the Architect's bodyguards when attacked.
But another climber who had done nothing wrong?
That was different.
Gun finally spoke.
"You're telling us…"
He paused.
"We need to hunt four climbers and kill them."
The King nodded.
"Yes."
Gun's jaw tightened.
"We don't kill other climbers."
The King's smile disappeared.
"That is not your choice."
Gun stared at him.
The King continued.
"The tower decides."
Luna's hands tightened around her staff.
Jack looked down.
Waver remained silent.
Gun suddenly remembered Radiance.
The burning capital.
The missing Orb.
The climber who had slaughtered innocent people because it was easier.
At the time, Gun had hated him.
He had called him disgusting.
But now…
He understood something he wished he didn't.
Maybe the man hadn't chosen violence because he wanted to.
Maybe the tower had simply given him no choice.
Gun's expression darkened.
"The tower really is fucking cruel."
The King tilted his head.
"Cruel?"
Gun looked up at him.
"You force climbers to kill each other…"
His voice became quieter.
"Then you act surprised when they become monsters."
Nobody answered.
The King simply stared.
Gun looked at Jack, Luna, and Waver.
The four of them had built their entire journey around one principle:
They fought when they had to.
They never attacked climbers without reason.
They never murdered people simply because they were weaker.
And now the tower was asking them to throw that away.
Gun clenched his fists.
He finally understood what the tower wanted.
It didn't just want stronger climbers.
It wanted stronger monsters.
Gun stared at the throne.
For the first time since he entered the tower, he wasn't thinking about how to win.
He was thinking about whether winning was worth becoming the kind of person the tower wanted him to be.