Meanwhile…
Sylas stood before a massive, ancient-looking door.
He ascended the stone steps cautiously, his gaze never leaving the statues looming on either side of the entrance. Their seemingly lifeless forms radiated an intimidating presence.
Reaching the top, Sylas placed his hand against the door and pushed, channeling his Nen into it.
Crumble
The instant pressure was applied, a powerful force rebounded. Sylas was hurled backward, skidding several meters across the stone floor.
At the same time, the statues began to crack.
Stone shattered and fell away in chunks, revealing what lay beneath.
Two monsters emerged—one blue, one red—each bearing a single, unblinking eye.
"Gotta take out one of the cyclops before they gang up on me." Sylas burst forward, targeting the red cyclops.
"Ken."
He fused Ten and Ren, forming a constant layer of aura around his entire body, granting him balanced defense and offense from all directions.
'Quickstep.'
He vanished.
In the next instant, Sylas appeared directly in front of the cyclops's eye. As he closed in, he shifted all of his aura into his right hand at the exact moment of impact.
'Ko.'
The Nen-infused strike smashed into the creature's eye with devastating force. There was almost no resistance—the cyclops collapsed instantly, its lifeless body crashing onto the labyrinth floor.
The blue cyclops remained still, guarding the door. It raised both forearms, conjuring a translucent barrier that shimmered faintly in the dim light.
"You're not going to attack me?"
Sylas calmly began forming an aura sphere in his hand, steadily increasing its power. "Let's see which of us is stronger—your barrier, or my Nen sphere."
He charged the sphere for twenty seconds, pouring twenty percent of his total aura into the condensed mass.
"Let's see if you can take this." Sylas hurled the sphere.
The moment it collided with the barrier, a massive explosion erupted. Smoke swallowed the cyclops's upper body entirely.
When the smoke finally dispersed, the monster was barely standing. Most of its skin had been completely destroyed, exposing raw muscle beneath.
Sylas didn't hesitate. He formed another Nen sphere—this time charging it for only two seconds—before he threw it.
The instant it made contact, the cyclops's head detonated, obliterated into fragments.
…
Rummaging through the remains, Sylas found two spherical orbs—each perfectly sized to fit the indentations in the ancient door.
He climbed the stairs once more and inserted the orbs one by one.
With a heavy rumble, the door unlocked and slowly began to open.
Inside, glowing green vines illuminated the chamber. Along the walkway, several pairs of two purple lights—one on each side—formed a clear path forward as he stepped inside.
Near the end of the path, a massive glowing yellow cube hovered in midair, slowly rotating a full one hundred eighty degrees.
Inside it—
Was a girl.
A pale, malnourished young girl with long blonde hair.
Hearing footsteps, her eyes fluttered open. She slowly lifted her head toward the source of the sound, a faint flicker of hope igniting within her red eyes.
Sylas had entered the chamber for only one reason.
The scorpion-crab monster lurking above, waiting to ambush intruders.
He wanted its skills. Its body. He intended to use it to create a new Nen beast—he was tired of endlessly wandering the dungeon on his own two legs.
If his memory served him right, the scorpion was hiding on the ceiling, waiting for anyone foolish enough to attempt freeing her. He knew its body hardened the more mana it absorbed—but he didn't use mana.
He used Nen.
"Wait," a weak voice called out.
Sylas ignored her, beginning to charge another aura sphere—the same ability he had used to kill the blue cyclops.
"Please," the girl pleaded desperately. "Help me. I'll do anything."
Sylas finally glanced at her, placing a finger over his lips in a silent command to stay quiet.
The scorpion would only attack once she was freed. Knowing that, Sylas took his time, carefully charging the sphere to its limit—just short of losing control.
Forty seconds passed.
'Thirty-five percent of my current total, huh.' Any more than that, and the sphere would destabilize—potentially injuring him. 'It'll have to do.'
He activated En, expanding his aura outward thirty meters. Instantly, he pinpointed the scorpion's exact location.
He braced himself.
'Quickstep.'
Sylas reappeared midair. Using another one of his newly acquired skills—
'Aerodynamics.'
He hovered roughly eight meters from the scorpion.
"Take—" He hurled the sphere forward, pushing it even further. "—this!"
The sphere shot out at terrifying speed.
Just before impact, the scorpion did something unexpected—it sacrificed both pincers, crossing them to block the blast.
'Didn't expect that.'
Sylas was momentarily stunned by the creature's decision.
The instant the attack landed, the entrance door slammed shut as if mimicking a boss fight.
Now fully aware of Sylas's presence, the scorpion dropped from the ceiling, crashing onto the stone floor and preparing for battle.
"Ken."
Sylas's aura erupted outward, coating his body in a dense layer of Nen.
The clash was far more intense than he anticipated. He had assumed the fight would be easy with the scorpion missing a large portion of its offensive power.
He was wrong.
Losing its pincers had driven the monster into a frenzy. Its attacks became wild—far more violent and powerful than anything he remembered from the anime.
'Guess I can't judge things based on the anime.'
His thoughts were interrupted as violet poison mist burst from the scorpion's stinger, spreading unnaturally fast—rolling across the chamber, targeting him like a living entity.
"Tch—!"
Sylas kicked off the ground, twisting midair as the mist swept beneath him. The stone floor hissed where it touched, faintly corroding.
'Didn't see that in the anime either.'
He landed atop one of the glowing vines, aura flaring around his feet to maintain balance. Below, the scorpion skittered erratically, its chitin scraping against the stone. Its segmented tail reared back before shooting forward.
'Quickstep.'
Sylas vanished.
The stinger pierced empty air, shattering the stone behind it. He reappeared at the creature's side, aura surging as he shifted everything into his right leg.
'Gyo.'
His kick slammed into the scorpion's carapace with a thunderous crack, sending it skidding across the chamber. Even so—it didn't break.
"…You're way tougher than I thought you'd be."
The scorpion screeched. Its body glowed faintly as its defense hardened further. Its tail lashed out wildly, striking walls, floors—anywhere Sylas might appear.
Sylas narrowed his eyes.
He expanded En again, carefully threading it through the room. The scorpion's chaotic movements came into focus
"There." He vanished—then reappeared directly above it.
Using Aerodynamics, he halted mid-fall for a split second, compressing his aura into a dense point at his fingertips.
'Ko… hand thrust.'
He drove his hand downward.
The Nen strike pierced straight through the hardened shell, punching deep into the scorpion's back. Cracks spiderwebbed across its carapace as orange blood sprayed outward.
The tail whipped around, grazing Sylas's side before he could retreat. A burning pain tore through his ribs as he was flung backward, crashing into the stone wall.
Sylas coughed, gritting his teeth as he pushed himself upright.
The scorpion staggered, its movements slowing, its body trembling from internal damage.
"Enough." He raised his hand one final time, forming a compact Nen sphere—small, but razor-dense.
'Ten… Ren… Ko.'
With a flick of his wrist, he released it.
The sphere drilled straight through the scorpion's core.
The monster froze mid-motion—then collapsed.
Silence filled the chamber.
Sylas exhaled slowly, dispersing his aura.
"Finally." He flopped on top of the corpse, allowing himself a moment of rest.
"Sylas?" A voice jolted him awake.
He snapped his head toward the entrance.
A white-haired young man standing there. A massive backpack rested on his back. One arm was missing, and in his remaining hand he was holding a black-and-red revolver.
To Be Continued…