The Dreamer's POV

Dark Flames, flames that I dubbed as 'hotter than hell fire.' The dark flames crept through every being of the ghostwave mutant, eating through its thick and bulbous flesh, undoing the essence that held it together,until Suphas, the boss of the Second Floor died.

For one of its caliber and strength, it died a terrible death, one that was brought forth by its ignorance.

"That's over." I blurted, arching forward and pressing against my knees as I levitated. This creature took all that I had to defeat it, and I was incredibly lucky that it was haughty, and it also seemed that I had the devil's luck by my side. Read exclusive content at empire

I levitated, expecting the notifications on my new win, but I got none.

'That's strange.'

I got on the surface that Suphas burned to nothing. Bits of the dark flames still burned on the tough ground. Some flames burned and undid the surface, seeking to an invisible bottom and the others remained atop, struggling to remain lit.

The surface where the flames had burnt and fizzled out blackened, and it wasn't the ash black color the common fire gave out. It was different. There was a more abysmal color to this one, in a sense, I felt pulled to it, but upon shaking my head, I dismissed the thought. Then the notifications came.

[System Notification]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[ You have defeated Suphas, the boss of the ??? Floor]

[You have gained experience points]

[For clearing this floor, you have received 10,000 coins(C)]

[You have obtained Energy Manipulation]

[You have received the key]

[Nightmare Key]

Suddenly, a black ancient looking key materialized with a dim glow meters away from where I sat. I levitated to it, and with absolute appraisal, I confirmed that it was the Nightmare Key.

'What purpose does this serve?' I bent and picked it up. It gave an ominous feeling, and with Dragon eyes, I saw an almost invisible and mild dark aura oozing from the key.

"Well it is related to my skill, it will certainly come in handy eventually."

I mentally willed it into my pocket dimension storage space, and once I did, I got another notification, a buzz in my mind in specific terms.

[You have slotted in the 'key' and have met all requirements to leave this floor]

[For completing the quests associated with this floor, you have received 5000 C]

"That's what I'm talking about!" I howled excitedly. My excitement was rather short lived however as I felt a disturbing quake through the city.

'Hmmm…' I looked to my left side where I suspected the vibration came. Immediately, I activated <Immersion> to get a sense of my surroundings ahead. The move covered thousands of meters, and I got a rather disturbing view. The inhabitants of the floor had suddenly gone crazy following the quake. I watched as they bit into each other, tore one another's flesh and were cannibalized, but the vast majority of them ran about in a frenzy, they were afraid of something, but what was it?

My eyes suddenly widened, I was frozen when I saw it.

'What the? What is that?'

Black blocks were present, transfixed above, like a box cut off from the sky. And I witnessed others being made. The sky vibrated, shook, almost like it was trying to get a piece off from it, and someone was banging from behind.

In the middle of my muddled thoughts, the door leading out of the floor appeared some meters in the sky. It was a large bright thing that hung up and the whiteness in it twisted, like it was siphoning an ever present white glow.

It seemed that I had overstayed my welcome and it was time to leave. I began drifting to the door, and I was rather slow with my flight as I was still curious and worried about the phenomenon that was taking place on this floor. It wasn't everyday you see creatures going wide and suddenly attacking each other, every other thing, and then running about, driven by paranoia. Nor was it everyday that the space holding a place together shatters, revealing a phenomenon almost unprecedented. I was very very intrigued, and I intended to stay back some more and watch things.

Then I sensed a wild thing afloat, coming at me. I turned to my back where the thing came, my eyes stern as it overflowed with killing intent. The Emoni monkey that came was rather fierce looking that I had remembered. It was like it got slightly demonified. Its face was contorted into a more fiercely looking thing, and strangely human, and it exposed its fangs as it came to me.

I sent my right hand down in a chop sealing its fate. It hung in the balance, and then, it spilled apart into halves, its entrails and blood painting the sky momentarily.

And then, I saw a whole bunch of them below, running crazily towards me like I was the elixir to cure whatever madness twisted their minds.

I was taken aback by this of course. I looked to the door, and the moment I did, it too shook–undulating at its edges and then it phased out of existence and suddenly phased back in.

'What is going on?' I was beginning to get very worried. Nothing about this was written previously, did I somehow enter a special event?

There was more of the quake again and I heard the floor's inhabitants yelp and run. And again, I saw the crumbling blocks of the floors, the images–the existence of the floor coming off from it and crumbling to the ground causing the quakes.

What the crumbled reality left in the place of its inexistence was a black emptiness, an hungry one, and I wondered if it was what the inhabitants feared for they were becoming more and more and it seemed like the terrain would fall to the encompassing darkness.

In the middle of the chaos, carnage and frenzy, the door appeared once more at where it was. That was my cue to leave and I immediately zoomed into it.