3rd Floor — Arctic Wasteland V

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NEWS: For those of you who liked my other story, Keep it in the Family. I've got news. I just published the re-written first chapter of that fiction on my Patreon! (It's NOT paywalled.). I've made a few, umh, critical changes, especially the ending, but the first part is the same. It'll most likely be incest, though to what blood-related degree, well... I'm still thinking about it. Anyway, if you're interested, hop on the website and please do leave some feedback. 

If you're unfamiliar with Patreon, just type Keep it in the Family in the search bar and press enter. 

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You can find Xylandra's illustration in the auxilary chapter... if it works, lmao. If it doesn't, you can see what she looks like on my Patreon (not paywalled) - just type Xylandra on the search bar.

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On with the chapter!

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With a mighty dash, Leandro launched off the ice floor, cracking it beneath his feet.

Chunks of ice shattered and scattered in all directions. The Yetis didn't even think of getting in the way. Abrais took off right after, blood spilling down his lips. They made contact halfway through the cave, the resounding clash sending icy debris all around. 

Abrais didn't have hands or fingers—his arms and legs elongated and ended in narrow, sharp points, like drills. The metal-plated limbs fended Leandro's sword off, but momentarily. Leandro's Aura was not as strong as Abrais, but Abrais was not in his best condition. 

Moonblade Style — Crater Impact.

Abrais was thrown across the cave in a cloud of ice dust. Leandro followed closely behind, until he was forced to narrowly dodge a beam of light—no, two beams. His head bobbed left and right. 

A thunderous series of explosions went off behind him. 

"Hey… I'd appreciate it if you didn't aim for my partymates." Leandro said, but his voice was slower than his feet, unexpectedly. With a quick tap the heel, his Breeze Step brought him in front of Abrais in a literal blink of the eye. 

His voice was still echoing out. 

Abrais lunged forward instead of waiting passively, his sharp limbs slicing through the air with deadly precision. Leandro danced out of reach, weaving and bobbing. Aura wreathed around him, like a wispy, white flame. He lashed out, his Moonlit Edge tracing a quick and short horizontal path.

Moonblade Style — Horizon. 

Abrais roared, quickly retaliating.

Silver Spiral Strike. 

He brought both of his drill-like hands forward. His Aura manifested into two spirals. Silver met White in an explosion of energies, their figures engulfed in a miniature whirlpool of flashing white lights and ice fragments.

The terrain around them was reshaped.

Abrais coughed, sliding across the ice and nearly falling; whatever Leandro fed him had messed him up good. Before the ice cloud even dissipated, Leandro burst through it, faster than before. 

There was a gaping hole in his shoulder. Good! Abrais whipped his arms in a criss-cross way, hurling an X-shaped crescent of sizzling, raw energy towards him. 

Silver Crescent Cross. 

The Moonlit Edge intercepted it, lashing at the weakest point of the technique's structure. The attack was shattered in harmless fragments of silver light, though Leandro didn't come out of it entirely unscathed. The edges of his clothes were tattered and aflame. 

"You can do better than that." Leandro encouraged, briefly disappearing from Abrais' visored view. 

Abrais twisted his neck out of the way—just in time. A whistling blade, capped in wispy, lunar flames, stabbed right where he had been. "You poisoned me!" Abrais, with impeccable footwork, pivoted out of another lunar-infused slash. 

A narrow trench split the ice floor. Leandro moved with grace. There was no urgency, almost as if he were floating and dancing with his sword. 

"I was simply trying to level the playing field. But…" Leandro remarked, his voice as smooth as silk. "I suppose balance isn't your forte, is it? For someone who's reached the 27th floor, you're… lackluster."

Abrais bristled at the comment. "Shut up! You don't know anything!"

"Oh, I know more than you think, boy."

Abrais clicked his tongue, tasting the metallic tang of his own blood. His Aura was in a disarray, his insides messed up. Tapping into his full power would see consequences far dire than what he was experiencing right now. 

He lashed out—a forward jab. Leandro readjusted. He repositioned the Moonlit Edge, so fast and so ridiculously precise that Abrais had to stop mid-way, shuffle around the whizzing blade, and go for a hook. 

Inertia didn't exist for Leandro. Sensing the attack, he relinquished his grip on the sword. Abrais' jab flew harmlessly past Leandro's head, but the latter was not content with simply dodging.

No. He moved in, planting his foot on Abrais' armored thigh, using it as a springboard.

With a fluid motion, Leandro soared upward, his body twisting gracefully in midair. Abrais barely had time to register the movement before he felt Leandro's legs wrap around his arm like a vice.

"W-What…?!"

The momentum carried them both to the ground.

Abrais struggled, but Leandro's armbar was unyielding. The pressure on his elbow increased. Pain shot up his arm, and he had to quickly encase it in Aura, lest it snapped. 

"You're tapping into some very dark stuff, Abrais. You know that there is a price to pay, don't you? There always is." Leandro pressed down a bit more on his arm and Abrais' metal encasing squeaked and creaked under the pressure. "You're opening forbidden doors. When they close, it'll be you left on the wrong side."

"I've already paid more than you can imagine! If you insist on stopping me, you'll be part of the sacrifice as well!"

Abrais shifted around with great effort and, through gritted metallic teeth—bellowed. 

Aura was imbued into his voice. 

The force of his shout rattled Leandro's bones and momentarily loosened his armbar, enough so that the latter could squirm free. Abrais spat a mouthful of blood as he backtracked, narrowly dodging Leandro's sudden launching spring kick. 

Ice splintered where his feet sank in. 

In a surprising show of core strength, Leandro swung his arms up, executed a back handspring, and torqued his body for a cartwheel kick. Aura enveloped his legs like the tail of a comet. Abrais shielded himself, and, upon impact, his feet penetrated the ice plates of the ground. His entire body jolted, trembling. 

Blood dribbled down his lips. With a burst of Aura, he pushed Leandro back, sending the man somersaulting through the air before gracefully landing on an stalactite, and using it as a launching pad, he sprung back towards Abrais.

Abrais moved to attack. 

Silver Spiral Strike.

Leandro rolled under it, grabbing his sword on the way.

Moonlit Edge in hand, a slash was imminent. He sketched a horizontal line mid-air.

Moonblade Style… 

Abrais predicted the path of Leandro's Horizon and moved accordingly. His metal arms and legs turned in a silver blur. There was a moment of delay whenever Leandro executed one of his annoying moves. Abrais capitalized on that, pushing himself as far as he could. 

A trail of blood left his lips as he exerted himself, moving so fast the world became a mishmash of colors. Abrais reappeared right next to Leandro, his arm drilling towards the side of his head. A Mach cone puffed up around his elbow as he broke the sound barrier. 

"Got you!"

Leandro's eyes, from beginning to end, followed Abrais. 

His lips lifted into a tiny smile. His Moonlit Edge flashed, shifting counterclockwise with lightning-fast precision. A curtain of white light trailed where Leandro's arm had been.

Abrais didn't have time to be surprised when the tip of Leandro's sword had suddenly found itself crashing towards his visored head. 

… — Crater Impact. 

A hissing beam of light interrupted Abrais' drilling assault. The explosion of force cratered his outer silver shell. He was catapulted straight out of the cave and into the snow, leaving a long, bloody trench behind, until a snow cornice arrested his momentum.

Abrais staggered to his feet, coughing up blood and ice, his vision blurred. His metal-plated limbs trembled, struggling to hold his weight. The cold bit into his wounds. His Aura was fizzling out, a flickering candle in the wind. 

Moonblade Style — Horizon.

A sweeping, parallel surge of lunar energy displaced the snow, hissing its way towards a stumbling Abrais. Leandro's hand didn't rest. His wrist flicked vertically, as if he were splattering paint on a canvas.

His sword traced a glowing, restless crescent arc. 

Moonblade Style — 2nd form — Waxing Crescent.

A translucent silver half-moon cleaved through the air. The dome of snow they stood on quaked and caved in as the Waxing Crescent intersected with Horizon. 

The interwoven attacks combined into a ┼ shape. Its combined might bore down on Abrais with unstoppable force.

An explosion of power and light erupted. A deafening roar filled the air as the shockwaves rippled outward. 

Abrais was punched through snow and solid ice in the blink of an eye, a ragdoll in the chaotic burst of scorching energy. It was only after he rolled and tumbled for a good few dozens of meters that he slammed into a mound of earth and ice, leaving a deep impression. 

"You had a chance, Abrais. More than one, in fact. The poison is debilitating, but not that lethal." 

Leandro stepped out of the cave, the Moonlit Edge glowing softly in his hand. He advanced with the calm of a predator who knew his prey had nowhere to run. 

However, his right arm was a complete mess. His sleeve was tattered, leaving only some frayed fringes that clung to his shoulder. 

Wounds and burn marks riddled every inch of his skin.

Snow crunched and dipped under his weight.

Slowly, he made his way over the bloody heap that was Abrais. 

Leandro's eyes glowed subtly.

"I could stand here and list all of your sins. But I've been judged before, and I know how irritating it is. I'll finish you off quietly."

"..."

Abrais moved, but fell. He tried to stand up, yet fell again. His visored face was planted on the snow. "Your sword style… I remember it…"

Leandro simply stared at him, impassively. "You remember it…?"

Abrais managed to drag himself up and face Leandro, barely. His armored plates fell off him and cracked in the snow, spilling more blood, and revealing the bruised, lacerated black flesh underneath. It was a gruesome sight. 

"How… can you be so strong…?" He wheezed out, frustrated. Years of planning, down the drain. That's why, even in his last breath, he powered through the pain and tilted his head up, staring at Leandro. "I don't understand… you're… just like him…"

"Like who?"

Leandro pressed, moving closer—he didn't even realize his voice had risen. 

"Like the one who destroyed us all…" Abrais gasped, his breath ragged, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. He coughed, spitting more blood onto the snow, the stark red contrasting against the white. "The… Moon Demon."

"..."

'That title… hah…'

Leandro held his breath, digesting the information. He had theorized it before, many times, about the likelihood of the Monolith being the same from his previous life. 

To think he'd hear the actual answer from a dying Silverborn. 

Abrais, unaware, continued. "He destroyed… our home. Bright day… turned to darkness. Then… Then came the devastation." He swayed a bit, his Aura dwindling. There was venom in his voice—an oath of vengeance. "He… wielded a sword like yours. He was a monster… brought… hell to our home."

"..."

"You carry the same style… same contempt. He shattered our world… like you're shattering… mine."

Leandro's face darkened, but he remained silent. 

Abrais's words hung in the air, heavy and somber. Leandro stepped closer, raising his sword, the Moonlit Edge glinting coldly in the dim light.

"What were you trying to achieve? Revenge?"

Abrais laughed weakly, a hollow sound. "Peace…"

"..." 

"Ah… I can't believe this… it's true what mama said… there's always a bigger monster."

The blade fell, swiftly, silencing Abrais quickly and painlessly. 

A visored head fell down, rolling in the snow. 

〔You have accomplished an incredible achievement!〕 

〔You have defeated a 3★ opponent!〕 

〔Aura +5〕 

〔Strength +3〕 

〔Physique +3〕 

A living, breathing entity, reduced to a mere reward for the system to dole out at a whim. Leandro was the same. Wouldn't he be a treasure chest to those who sought to kill him? The system was an impartial judge. Even Gods were not exempt from this rule. 

His lips curled in distaste, and his fingers twitched on the Moonlit Edge.

Leandro wiped the edge of his sword clean with some snow. Abrais would have been a higher threat had he not been drugged or poisoned or whatever. Nevertheless, the words Abrais said left an impact. In a way, that could be considered a small victory for the fallen Silverborn. 

That being said—Leandro cracked his neck as he made his way back into the cave.

He idly stared at the wreckage his fight had caused. The floor of the cave looked like the aftermath of a meteor crash. Snow and rocks and chunks of ice scattered all around, a trail of blood stained some of it red. 

And then he stumbled upon the carcasses of the Yetis, their fur matted in blood and riddled with arrows—Eileen's handiwork right there. Leandro smiled slightly.

His partymates were lying around the pillar of ice, resting. They looked battered and exhausted, but no one was dead. That in itself could be considered an admirable achievement. 

As soon as their eyes fell on Leandro, they all sprung up to their feet. "Leandro!"

Eileen quickly walked over, gasping at the gaping wound on his shoulder and arm. 

"What happened to you?"

"Abrais tried tickling me to death."

"..."

She moved to treat his injuries with a bit of salve she had procured from her inventory, but Leandro waved her away. It was just a flesh wound. Eileen was exasperated at such a blatant disregard for injury.

Leandro reassured her the entire time. Soren walked over with a smile on his face. 

"It's finally over… right?"

"There are no more monsters among us… right?" Wei Chen eyed each member of the team suspiciously. Griffin growled at him. 

"Everyone is in the clear, don't worry."

Leandro walked up to the pillar the woman was trapped in. She tried to speak to him, but the Imprint of Silence sent a jolt of pain through her. She winced, staring at Leandro exasperatedly. 

Her eyes were as unsettling as they were beautiful. 

With a preparatory sigh, he placed a hand on the pillar. To free her, he had to undo the runework—and there were three ways to go about it. 

You could either destabilize and dissolve the enhanced bonds with a overwhelmingly higher 'Mind' or 'Aura' attribute. You could undo the entire structure by unraveling its roots, like the laces of a tight knot; though it required incredible expertise in the field. Or, you could perform a counter rune—too time consuming. 

Naturally, as it was in Leandro's nature, he went with the former. 

He might not have been a skilled mage, but Abrais wasn't an outstanding one either. 

And Leandro had decisively more experience dealing with runes than Abrais ever had. 

Eyes closed, he began to get a feel of the overall web of runes. Aura swirled, the silver-tinted threads of light intersecting, curling, running from the tip of the pillar all the way to its foundation at the bottom. Leandro focused, sinking into the river of cold, sharp senses, attempting to get a hang of each individual rune.

The feeling of someone staring at him brought his attention back—it was the woman. 

Her brows rose into two arcs, watching him carefully, curiously. Was she feeling the subtle differences in the runes? 

Leandro wasn't bothered. He began to destabilize a single root of runes. Destabilize and weaken them, one by one, until their lights dim down. 

Eileen, Soren and the rest were watching quietly. 

Breaking apart a rune structure with brute force was highly frowned upon. In fact, in the eyes of most rune casters, this was blasphemy, but Leandro liked being heretic.

The ice floor beneath Leandro cracked under the weight of his Aura—it surged, flowed, and bombarded the failing runework. 

The pillar began to crack. When all the runes began to fizzle out, it caved in altogether. 

With a cloud of icy shards, it crashed upon the ground in a clustered, snowy explosion.

The woman's multicolored eyes widened in shock. The cloud of ice and snow dust billowed up like ripples of smoke. She was careful not to breathe it in, though she couldn't move properly and was in a perilous fall towards the gro—

The warm, comforting embrace of Aura arrested the momentum of her fall. 

A set of arms caught her. There was no impact; she was eased into Leandro's chest like a feather. 

Motes of snowflakes showered all around, like the fluttering of fairy dust, shimmering slightly in the dim lighting of the cave. 

The air around them crackled with quiet energy. 

She looked up at the man that held her, startled by intense and powerful green eyes. 

He tilted his head at her, and she did the same. 

"..."

〔You have rescued the main objective — Xylandra Dragonheart〕

〔Congratulations, you have successfully cleared the 3rd floor — Arctic Wasteland〕 

〔According to the records of all Monoliths, the clearing of this floor has been the fastest across all worlds. Rewards will be distributed accordingly.〕