31 Book 3 Chapter 27

Jason was at the front of a large gathering of ascenders. At his side were Peter and the others, while behind them stood the berserk division.

Further back, hundreds of ascenders surrounded a group of tradesmen, mainly engineers and carpenters. Unlike the combat-hardened ascenders, they wore expressions of dread, and many shifted uncomfortably on their feet. One even vomited.

Peter's voice abruptly rang through the air, "We move in thirty seconds!"

Everyone tensed, their eyes focusing on a portal at the front. Jason rubbed Tank's head affectionately before taking a stance. As the seconds ticked by, he heard Peter remind Andy. "Don't use your illusion energy until I say so."

"U-u-u-understood." Andy's teeth wouldn't stop clattering. This was the first time he'd be on the front lines, and if it wasn't because of the necessity of the situation, he would never have come. Even now, he wanted to portal away to safety.

Jason mentally counted the time as he felt numerous buffs fill him with strength. When three seconds remained, every ascender took out a vial and downed its contents. A recent invention – it was a berserk potion with no negative effects. The cost was absurd, even more so for an entire army to use it.

Jason interfaced with the portal in front of him, his eyes hardening upon reading the notification.

Warning: monsters will not attack the area on the other side of this portal for one week. The countdown begins upon using this portal. Prepare wisely.

A week had passed since this portal was found. Only now did they feel adequately prepared to face whatever came next. Jason was unsure what awaited them on the other side, yet there was nothing else he could do but move forward. When thirty seconds passed, he selected to teleport with his raid.

Everything went black, then, the world was dyed red.

Jason sensed for the presence of monsters. Feeling nothing, he was about relax, only for his heart to go cold.

A triangular silver structure was embedded in the ground in front of him. From it, a thin beam of blue energy shot into the air, which spread out to create a dome much like the mana barrier skill.

Jason's vision spun as a repressed memory surfaced. Scenes of death and destruction, monsters gorging on the essence of his friends and allies, hope dwindling with every passing day. This was the final floor.

Peter's face was grim as he took in his surroundings. He saw Jason standing motionless, his eyes unfocused. Peter reached out a hand, but stopped and decided to ignore him. Peter recalled everything about the abyss floor before shouting commands, "Sam, Rodrick, take two squads and scout our surroundings. I want a detailed map in two hours!"

"Got it." The rogue and ranger duo gathered their team before heading out.

After several more orders, Peter glanced up at the transparent blue barrier big enough to cover a small town. His gaze followed the resonating beam down to the silver structure, a notification informing him of its stats.

Tier 1 Mana Barrier

Mana stored: 1,000,000

Mana regenerated a second: 100

Prevents most demonic creatures from entering. Each point of damage blocked consumes 1 mana.

The stats were the same as Jason's report, which was good news. This floor wasn't supposed to appear for many years, so the more things stayed the same the better. Not the monster levels, of course, hopefully those were lowered significantly.

Unfortunately, even after Peter poked and prodded, he wasn't able to open the abyss store. Based on what Jason said, there was supposed to be a store baked into every mana barrier. The better the tier, the better the store. Peter furrowed his brows as he made his way to Jason, then shook him forcefully. "Yo, we got a problem."

The jolt shook Jason awake. Seeing this, Peter continued, "The haven doesn't come with a store."

"It doesn't? Are you sure?" Jason grew solemn. He understood the ramifications of not having a store.

"Try it, maybe I made a mistake." Peter pulled his friend over to the contraption.

The result was the same. Even after focusing on the mana barrier, Jason wasn't able to pull up the shop. His voice was hollow, "How will we upgrade the haven?"

"There must be a way. Right now, we need to gather as much info as we can, we only have a week before monsters begin to attack." Peter's brain worked overtime, forming ideas and hypotheses.

Just then, Peter saw an ascender belonging to Sam's squad run over with a pale face. It's only been a few minutes since he sent them away, so seeing a member return so soon gave him a bad feeling. When the scout approached, Peter asked. "Why not call me?"

"Doesn't work," The scout touched his necklace and shook his head. He gathered his thoughts before continuing, "Outside the barrier is a general-type mental suppression. It's strong."

Peter's expression fell. "How is it compared to Shenlong?"

"Maybe twice as strong," The scout wasn't certain.

"Damn." Peter sent the scout away before cursing. This was terrible. They'd just entered the floor and already encountered several fundamental changes to its rules. He could deal with the missing store, there was probably another method, but mental suppression covering the entire floor? That basically made most of his forces useless outside the barrier.

Shenlong was on standby not far away. Using his superhuman body, he was able to eavesdrop on Peter. After the scout left, he strode up to Peter, a firm glint in his eye. "I'm heading out."

Peter wanted to deny his request, but after seeing the look in Shenlong's eye, he nodded reluctantly.

"I'll come with." Jason said as he checked his equipment.

Shenlong turned to glance at Jason. "No, you aren't in the right the state of mind. Get yourself together."

Jason could only watch, stunned, as Shenlong sprinted off as soon as he said his piece. Jason looked to Peter, who only winced and nodded reluctantly before running to someplace else.

"Am I that unreliable?" Jason took a deep breath to relax his nerves. It was only then he realized his body was covered in sweat. Sighing emotionally, he found a place to himself and began to meditate.