Episode 22: Floor 50 (5)
Creak—
BOOM!
The audience chamber’s door slammed shut.
Varg, cutting off their escape, thought quickly.
‘I must deal with them before they move!’
He knew Hertia’s presence meant he couldn’t attack directly first.
So, he opted for another method: the cursed blood in the chandelier.
No time to hesitate.
He activated the throne’s mechanism, unleashing a torrent of blood.
Splash!
It worked—too easily.
Varg could hardly believe his success.
“Ha, haha, hahaha!”
Varg laughed.
“Caught off guard, huh? Do you know what you’re drenched in?!”
But Lucifer, soaked in blood, didn’t lose his smile.
***
A blood shower right upon entering the audience chamber?
I hope this outfit doesn’t stain permanently.
‘It was whatever in the game, but facing it in reality? Vampires are filthy.’
The debuffs piling up on my summons confirmed this was a tough foe.
《Witch of Apocalypse Hertia enters ‘Corrupted Bloodflow’ state.》
…
《Flame Veil Temina enters ‘Corrupted Bloodflow’ state.》
This curse is a default penalty for entering the audience chamber.
It made Varg a brutal challenge.
I’d run countless simulations before this fight.
【Corrupted Bloodflow】
Description: Cursed blood crafted by noble vampires. Contact corrupts the blood, causing ‘Grievous Bleeding’. In this state, movement triggers blood explosions, dealing critical damage.
Max stacks: 50
A debuff that deals massive damage per action.
Worse still:
《Blood Subjugation effect activates on Liberator of Death Caligo.》
【Blood Subjugation】
Description: If a priest-class summon is in ‘Grievous Bleeding’, they lose control and cannot act during battle.
With my team drowning in debuffs, Caligo—the key player—got hit with this nasty status.
“Haha! Didn’t expect the cursed blood in the chandelier, did you?”
Varg taunted, thinking he’d seized the advantage.
“Caligo,” I called.
Sorry, Varg, but you never had the upper hand.
“Heh heh heh. I’ve been waiting for this moment,”
Caligo said, his eyes gleaming with madness as he stepped toward Varg.
Varg gaped in shock.
“How?!”
How? Gear, obviously.
《Artifact ‘Blood-Drinking Chalice’ effect activates.》
《Blood-Drinking Chalice protects Liberator of Death Caligo from Bleeding effects.》
“Hahaha!”
Cackling, Caligo summoned a massive magic circle.
A cubic rift appeared in the air, and he poured the cursed blood into its empty space.
“This is my lecture hall! Behold, vile creature, the Law of Exchange I, Caligo, discovered!”
He hurled the cubic vessel, and a magic circle drawn in cursed blood materialized in the air.
“Law Reversal! ‘Corrupted Bloodflow’ becomes ‘Purified Vitality’!”
Click! Clack! Click!
《Due to Caligo’s Law of Exchange, Corrupted Bloodflow debuff is transformed into ‘Enhanced Purified Vitality’ buff!》
A blue glow enveloped my summons.
《Enhanced Purified Vitality heals 20% of health per stack when hit!》
Freed from the curse, Hertia stretched and spoke.
“Sorry for the wait. I’ll be there soon.”
***
Varg was speechless with shock.
‘How did they escape Blood Subjugation?!’
The curse was crafted by high vampires specifically to neutralize Caligo.
It had preserved the vampire lineage, unlike the elves.
So why was this deranged butcher unaffected by the cursed blood?
Then, Varg’s eyes caught the ominous chalice at Caligo’s waist, greedily drinking the blood flowing over him.
“The… the Blood-Drinking Chalice! How do you have it?!”
“Shh.”
A cold voice cut through, and black threads pierced Varg’s body instantly.
“Don’t raise your voice, lowlife. This is the king’s court,” Hertia said.
“Urgh…!”
Excruciating pain and weakness tormented Varg.
But it wasn’t over.
“My fist’s moving on its own!” Iron shouted.
BOOM!
Iron’s fist smashed Varg’s left leg, sending his second limb crashing into the wall, throwing him off balance.
“Argh!”
Varg curled in pain, conjuring a magical web barrier from his body.
But—
“Oh? Remembering only three of us? I’m a bit hurt. I’m here too, you know. Those measly webs? I’ll melt them with my flames!”
Vrrr!
Temina’s attack stopped Varg’s web-spinning.
Varg quickly assessed.
‘Caligo! I need to target Caligo first! Without him, that cursed Law Reversal ends!’
Varg unleashed poison from the giant spider eyes on his head, dousing Caligo.
Splash!
The venom, capable of melting stone, engulfed him.
Thinking he’d seized the moment, Varg shouted.
“Ha, haha! That’s what you get for letting your guard down—!”
But something was off.
Caligo, melting with a sizzling sound, instantly restored himself.
“Too weak, too slow! This poison can’t kill me!”
The healing from Law Reversal far outpaced Varg’s poison damage.
Grinning wildly, Caligo pulled a shimmering green flask from his left pocket and tossed it at Varg after uncapping it.
Crash!
The flask shattered against Varg, green liquid soaking his spider body.
“Urk!”
Varg braced for agony, squeezing his eyes shut, but nothing happened.
Puzzled, he inspected himself.
“What trickery is this, Caligo?!”
“Oh? Still talking? The effect should kick in any moment.”
The liquid seeped into Varg’s skin through tiny gaps.
Moments later, nausea hit, and his body began to paralyze.
《’Bloom of Death’ Skill Effect 1 activates.》
《Poisonous seeds sprout in Varg’s body, causing neural paralysis for a set time!》
“This magic… it can’t be!”
“Oh, you remember it too!”
Caligo nodded toward Temina.
“Caligo, any part works, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then let’s make the flower of death bloom!”
Vrrr!
Flame bullets erupted from Temina’s parasol, and Varg writhed in agony as his body felt torn apart.
“Arghhh!”
《Bloom of Death Skill Effect 2 activates.》
《Poison fully blooms in Varg, dealing 50% of max health as damage.》
《Most Cruel Avenger skill activates!》
《Full Bloom of Poison damage significantly increases!》
“Grahh!”
The poisonous blooms in Varg’s body bore dark red fruit, expelling over half his blood.
Writhing in pain, he lost balance and collapsed forward.
“Already broken? Where’s the next test subject?”
“You… madman… I should’ve killed you and your mother back then…”
Caligo looked at Varg with a bored expression.
“I know. I think that sometimes too.”
He uncapped another flask from his belt and poured it into Varg’s mouth.
Ding!
《An unidentified adventurer has brutally vanquished the true boss of Floor 50, the King of the Palace of Blood!》
《As the first clear reward, all adventurers receive the Blood Festival blessing.》
《This blessing allows adventurers to automatically recover 20% health once per week upon receiving a fatal attack.》
***
‘What the…?’
Was there such a blessing in the game?
No way.
I’d have known if a buff this strong existed.
This must be another feature added as the game became reality…
‘…Something feels off.’
The buff itself was great.
Fewer adventurers would die in the Tower, and it’d help my runs immensely.
But it felt like a classic RPG handing out save points and consumables right before a boss fight…
‘…Whatever, not the time to dwell.’
First, I needed to check the loot.
《You have cleared Floor 50 of the Tower of Strife: Palace of Blood.》
《Unbelievable record!》
《Clear time: 30:45》
《You have broken the Clear Time Ranking #1.》
《Clear rank: SSS》
《You have broken the Clear Rank record.》
《Level up! Adventurer level is now 50.》
‘This is why I live!’
The flood of rewards was dazzling.
The standout?
《Received Unique-grade artifact ‘Varg’s Spider-Eye Shield’ as first clear reward.》
A Unique-grade artifact, one of a kind in the world!
I was about to check its stats when the message window flared again.
《Reviewing additional rewards for breaking records and scores…》
Oh, extra rewards!
My efforts paid off.
What would it be?
《…Review complete.》
《Received ‘Legacy of Apocalypse’ as additional first clear reward.》
THUD!
A massive chest, glowing with violet-black light, dropped before me.
Joy and confusion overwhelmed me.
It’s great, but…
‘The name… ‘Legacy of Apocalypse’?’