The Acolyte of Spirits and Curses

A faint smile appeared on Klein’s lips ’Using a serpent technique against a serpent would be funny…’

His body loosened, and he rolled his shoulders as he settled into a lower posture.

The spear in his hands no longer moved in straight lines… it began to coil.

Calamity Serpent Style.

The enormous snake lunged again with its wide jaws.

Klein stepped into the strike, twisting his body like a living serpent.

The spear shaft slid along the inside of the snake’s upper jaw in a coiling motion, deflecting the fangs just enough for him to pass beneath the bite.

At the same time, the tip of the spear whipped upward in a reverse spiral and punched deep into the soft tissue of the serpent’s mouth.

*spleech* Black blood exploded outward.

Klein ripped the spear free in the same fluid turn, and the blade tore a long, ragged path through the roof of the snake’s mouth and out the side of its face.

Scales, flesh, and fang shards scattered across the platform.

The serpent reeled back with a wet, gurgling hiss with half its lower jaw hanging loosely.

It thrashed in rage.

The massive tail came around like a battering ram.

Klein met it with his ’Calamity Serpent Style- First Coil’ rotating his spear in a tight spiral.

Instead of blocking, he guided the impact along the curve of the motion and used the force to launch himself onto the snake’s back.

The moment his boots found purchase on the shifting scales, he drove the spear downward with both hands.

The tip sank between two plates of armor and kept going.

Klein put his full weight behind it, twisting savagely.

A wet *crack* echoed as the blade forced its way through muscle and rib.

Dark blood sprayed up around the shaft in thick jets, soaking his arms and chest.

The snake convulsed violently, trying to throw him off.

Klein ripped the spear free in a wide, coiling arc that opened a gaping wound nearly a meter long across the serpent’s spine.

Pale bone and pulsing organs flashed briefly in the torn flesh before blood flooded the opening.

Gale seized the chance. The jaguar spirit leapt onto the same wound and tore with both claws and fangs, ripping the injury even wider.

Chunks of dark meat and shattered scales flew across the platform.

Klein dropped from the thrashing body, landed cleanly, and immediately closed the distance again.

He drove the spear into the already ruined side of the neck, then tore sideways with a vicious twist of his entire body.

The blade exited in a spray of black blood and severed tissue, decapitating the guardian in a single continuous motion.

*THOOOM* The enormous snake’s head crashed onto the stone platform with a heavy, wet impact.

Its body continued to spasm for several long seconds, with its tail slamming mindlessly against the edge of the platform.

Blood poured freely from the wounds along its neck, spine, and jaw, pooling in thick, dark lakes across the suspended floor.

Klein raised his spear one final time and drove it straight down through the center of the snake’s skull.

The point punched through bone and brain with a muffled *crunch*. The massive body gave one last violent shudder, then finally went still.

Black blood continued to leak across the platform as the twentieth-floor guardian of the Hollow Crown Tower died beneath Klein’s spear.

Gale padded over, its muzzle and claws stained dark, and sat beside him without a sound.

Klein pulled the spear free with a wet scrape and rested it once more against his shoulder before turning his eyes toward the pale light bridge that led deeper into the floor.

Looking down at his clothes stained with blood, a soft sigh escaped his lips ’Good thing I have another set of clothes in my storage ring.’

’Wait, I should take a picture so I can show it to Orpheus and the others later.’

—

Outside the Hollow Crown Tower, Evelyne stood near the edge of the observation area with her arms loosely crossed as she kept her eyes on the massive leaderboard.

The glowing rankings had not changed for some time after Austin’s earlier breakthrough to the 33rd floor.

Most of the media crews had settled into a waiting pattern with their camera ready.

Then the board flickered again.

1st – Austin – 35th Floor

Reporters straightened immediately, and several cameras swung toward the tower entrance even before anything happened.

Evelyne’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“…He pushed further.”

Minutes later, the tower’s entrance opened and a figure stepped out into the open air.

Austin.

His academy uniform was torn in several places and stained with dried blood.

A deep cut ran along his left forearm, and there was a visible bruise darkening along the side of his jaw.

Despite the injuries, he walked with steady steps, with an unmistakable smile on his face.

The moment the media saw him, they surged forward.

*click* *click* Cameras flashed one after another.

Microphones and recording devices were thrust toward him as reporters spoke over one another.

“Austin! You just raised the record to the thirty-fifth floor,how do you feel?”

“Was the difficulty spike after the thirtieth floor as severe as the reports claim?”

“You’re a second-year Mythic-grade awakener at Grayhaven, did you enter this dive intending to break Shun Ming’s record?”

“How was the difficulty? What did you see after the 33rd tower?

Austin slowed his pace just enough to acknowledge the crowd, still wearing that same composed smile.

“I feel fine. The injuries look worse than they are. Nothing that won’t recover with proper treatment.”

He glanced once toward the massive leaderboard where his name now sat at the top, then back at the reporters.

“I didn’t enter specifically to break Shun Ming’s record. I entered to see how far I could go. The record breaking was a side effect.”

When the question about the floors beyond the 33rd came, his expression grew serious.

He looked directly at the nearest cameras for a moment.

“In my assessment, breaking through beyond the thirty-fifth floor is impossible with the standards we have right now.”

“The Hollow Crown Tower may be one of those Towers that cannot be fully conquered… at least not by anyone in this era.”

The statement caused an immediate stir among the reporters.

Several began speaking rapidly into their microphones, already framing the quote, leaving the media to digest the claim that the 35th floor might be the true ceiling of the Hollow Crown Tower.