Sam did not respond, instead gathering his power for another assault. Makaros grimaced, and prepared to receive the attack. So far, this battle had been almost as easy as the previous floors. Makaros was simply outclassed in every way.

Sam roared, and appeared above the lion man, his hammer glistening with light. Then he descended. Lightning flashed as the King of the Storm tried to teleport away, but Sam reached out with his Dao energy, canceling out the technique. Makaros was left standing in an awkward position, his arms stretched towards the sky. Then the hammer impacted.

There was a shockwave as the leonid was flattened into the ground, cracked spreading out from everywhere. As the dust settled, the man was revealed, pulped into an almost unrecognizable mess of flesh and bone.

However, the floor boss was still alive, and Sam watched as lightning began to flicker around the pile of flesh. Suddenly, he was blasted backwards by a wave of energy, knocked off his feet. When he teleported to a safe place, he witnessed Makaros’ rebirth. The pile of flesh began to smoke, turning from mundane material, as mundane as

E Rank flesh could be, into a construct of magic. Bones rebuilt themselves from crystalline lightning, and electricity formed the flesh.

Makaros did not speak, instead letting out a howl that resounded across the arena. Sam smiled. His body began to glow as Dao energy rippled through it, and his hammer burst into brilliant flame. Then he was off, streaking through the ether on a collision course with Makaros.

The reborn Storm King clawed at the air, a sudden eruption of thunder and lightning coming into being around his hands. The air was split into five pieces by crescents of broiling power, heading towards Sam.

He teleported above the assault, but was then beset by a barrage of vertical strikes, coming from the boiling skies above. Purple lightning flashed, casting the arena in stark light and shadow as Sam flitted through the air like a bird of prey.

Makaros conducted a grand orchestra of destruction with his hands, summoning the wrath of his elemental domain down upon Sam. However, Sam was still on top.

Every lightning strike did little more than singe his flesh, the damage quickly healing over. His Resilience and Constitution worked together to create an implacable wall of defense, too powerful by far for any mere lightning bolt to do damage.

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Then he descended, looking like a god of vengeance. Makaros roared his displeasure, thrusting his fingers out, creating a web of energy that streaked from each of them in unison. Sam was forced to plunge through the storm, his skin blackening. His body began to flake, but he mustered his will, relying on gravity and his sense of being to carry him through.

Makaros poured his entire essence into the strike, but in the end, it was futile. Sam’s hammer blasted the monster apart into fragments of energy, spelling an end to the King of the Storm. Shards of crystalline bone and diaphanous flesh scattered across the disc of stone, spelling an end to the floor. Sam grinned as essence rushed into him, and prepared for a change in scenery.

You have completed the Fulmination Fields: Layer 10! (Challenge Mode)

You have upgraded a title!

Ninth Floor Obliterator: Mythical-> Tenth Floor Obliterator: Ancient

Not content to breeze through the paltry difficulty of the base Tower of Transcendence, you have proven that you are capable of greater things. In defeating the tenth floor of Challenge Mode, you have overcome a hurdle that few could at your level.

Bonuses: +20% to all stats

The world faded around him as the message appeared, and he was depositing in the midst of a vast ocean, floating on top of a rickety raft. The skies above were dark, and three moons gazed down upon the seas below. The water was placid, but as far as Sam could tell, endlessly deep. His vision could only go so far.

You have entered the Endless Depths: Layer 1(Challenge Mode) Your objective is to kill a total of 1000 Elite Sea Monsters(Any type). Completion: 0/1000

Rewards: Title Upgrade

From what Sam could tell, there would be less order to the floors the further he traveled up. There was a greater degree of freedom, and also of variety.

There was no point in remaining on the raft, not when he could simply teleport. He quickly left the flimsy construction behind, traversing the dark waters. He found his first monster, or rather, group of them. About fifty fish swam in a small school. However, these were no ordinary fish. They were the size of vans, and were covered in spines that glowed faintly in the darkness of the water. Curved teeth lined their jaws, foreshadowing a terrible end to anyone who crossed them.

Sam teleported a few miles up into the air, and then inverted his fall, coating himself in Dao energy. His hammer acted like the head of a missile, and soon, he was descending at thousands of miles per hour.

The fish were utterly unprepared for what was essentially a meteor falling from orbit, and as he impacted, the water was vaporized by the intense heat. A depth charge of potency detonated, sending a tidal wave in every direction. The monsters, or what remained of them, floated to the surface after the waters had cleared. Chunks of scorched flesh and bone were the only indications that the origin of the pieces had once been alive.

All at once, his counter ticked up a few dozen times, and more essence poured into him. He was closing in on the halfway mark to the next level, and he could tell that the essence rate was slowly increasing.