Vincent entered the second floor of the monster tower. It was dark the moment he entered it. However, an instant later, it began to brighten up in dim fiery lights. He was finally able to take in his surroundings more clearly. He was in a corridor of some sort, and above him, bulbs were hanging from the ceilings, attached to thin wires.
Some of them weren't working; Some of them were blinking every one or two seconds, something he found disturbing; Some of them were releasing intense rays of light, and they were the main source of light, acting as the brightest source of illumination.
Thick metallic plating coated the walls, floor, and ceiling, making them appear sturdy and unbreakable.
Just as he finished determining where he had appeared in the monster tower, he heard something that sounded like a whistle.
Vincent looked over in a particular direction; the other end of the corridor. He was in the early levels of the intermediate-stage evolutionary stage, but his stats and physical capabilities were higher than one. His sight, hearing, and field of vision were stronger than monsters in the demonic realm. Once he focused his senses on the whistling sound, he realized that it was similar to the sound produced when a sharp weapon cut through the air.
No! It was the sound of several weapons cutting through the air at the same time.
He was sure of that because several arrows with tips shaped like wolf's fangs emerged in his field of vision, and all of them were rapidly charging towards him. These arrows were as long as his arm and as wide as his legs, big but sharp. They looked weird, no doubt about it. However, in a confined space like this, big but sharp weapons like them were the deadliest.
Dodging the incoming volley was out of questions, he determined, looking thoughtful for a moment.
He stood on his spot for a brief moment before stomping his foot on the ground, launching himself towards the several arrows.
Instead of waiting for them to gain more momentum while coming towards him, he had decided to put an end to them while they were still not at their best, something a typical person wouldn't even think of doing.
Before they reached near each other, waves of blood surged out of Vincent's back, immediately solidifying into nine tails with thick shovel-like ends.
Right at the very next moment, when it looked like some of the arrows would penetrate him, he stomped his other foot on the ground, launching himself backward. At the same time, he swung seven of his tails towards them.
Their shovel-like ends snapped the half of the arrows into two, causing them to drop to the ground with a dull thud as he gracefully slid several meters away from the rest of them with a posture straight and eyes bright.
Whoosh! Vincent kept himself in the middle as four of them passed by him and impaled the ground behind him. The last two, he coiled his eighth and ninth tail around their ends, causing them to immediately come to a halt and stop just an inch away from his shoulders.
"Have a taste of your own medicine." His last two tails swiped forward, releasing the arrows after gaining maximum momentum, yanking them back to the place from where they came.
"Clank! Clank!" Sounds of metal clashing against metal sounded, reaching even Vincent's ears, as he rushed forward.
He moved so fast, almost like a lightning panther, and charged out of the opposite end of the corridor, only taking three seconds to do so.
The moment he appeared in a room with two capsules with green liquid within them, six sharp arcs of blue swirled towards him. He maneuvered his body almost instinctively, dodging the ones coming from the front by ducking low.
They passed over his head as three arcs of sharpness came towards him from each side but, they weren't able to even graze him and only managed to kiss the surface of his tails that coiled around his body very protectively.
Vincent stood up after dodging all of the sneak attacks as his tails uncoiled picturesquely, looking like a flower that just blossomed.
[Demonic Twins of Wind & Moon]
Finally, he saw his enemy. A tall monster with a gigantic wolf's head and a human-like head stood in front of him. It looked a little disgusting as its skin was the same color as that of feces. It was 3-meter tall, having the lower body and the chest of a human, but two heads and six hands.
Its left hands held a bow, one each. But it didn't have a quiver, much less an arrow insight. The other hands held nothing in them.
Thanks to his spell matrix, he found out that its bow could manifest arrows, that its right hands could conjure arcs of sharpness.
"Human! Human! A delightful feast!" The two heads of the monstrous creature said at the same time, excitement flushing their two pair of eyes.
Vincent smirked. "At the end of the day, you guys are the ones that are going to end up on the table."
"Ignorant & weak," the wolf said, then the humanoid added, "Arrogant & foolish."
"We will tear you apart, limbs from limbs, and eat you alive!" They said this sentence, amazingly in sync with each other, which usually doesn't happen, and then they charged towards him, intent on doing what they just mentioned.
Vincent had no intention of backing down, not in front of these monsters from hell, and he dashed towards them as his eyes turned deep red.
Vincent and the twins exchanged dozens of moves before backing down. There wasn't a scratch on his face because the negative energy barrier absorbed all of the damage he took a hit.
However, there were many cracks on the twin's body.
As they say, two hands can't win against four. Similarly, six hands were destined to lose against nine tails and two hands.
"See, I told you so." He grinned like a child.
"Ugh, the fight still hasn't ended!" Wolf angrily stared at him. If looks could hurt, cuts would've already appeared all over Vincent's body; that's just how intense its murderous gaze happened to be at this moment.
"Shut up, Wind Wolf! Keep your cool." Moon scolded the dumb brat.
"I won't listen to you, Moon King." The younger of the twins retorted.
Suddenly, Vincent's voice sounded out.
"Hehe, the fight has ended alright!"
They could see a look of confidence on his face, one that announced their ends.
"Magic Technique: Mana Bullet!" Wordlessly and soundlessly, a large amount of mana had surged out of the tip of his forefinger, and a moment ago, it finished condensing into the shape of a blue bullet.
"Goodnight!"
While saying those words, he released the bullets towards them.
It cut through the air and reached them in the blink of an eye, reached them before they could even make sense of the situation, reached them before they could even try to move out of its way.
Bam! The bullet smashed on them with the force of a train, causing them to burst apart.
Chunks of metal fell down the air as Vincent saw a portal opening up in front of him and heard announcements filling his ears, ones that told him that he had completed the trial and also broke the record of six people, that entering the portal would lead him to the fifth floor while going through the crystal door would lead him to the third floor.
Intent on breaking records and earning the recognition of the leftover will of the Iron Clad Lady, Vincent chose the latter.
A moment later, he appeared on the third floor and found himself standing in the center of three monsters that could breathe out fire, wind, and ice!