The next floors fell quickly.
Not easily.
Quickly.
There was a difference.
Floor Thirty-Six.
Thirty-Seven.
Thirty-Eight.
The monsters grew stronger with every descent.
The Frostveil Raid Cave had stopped throwing beasts at them.
Now it was sending armies.
Entire battalions of Frostbound Yeti emerged from frozen tunnels.
Crystal Serpents attacked from beneath the ice.
Ice Wizards appeared in coordinated formations.
The dungeon was adapting.
Learning.
Responding.
And Jax loved every second of it.
"Now this feels like a raid."
Bunny grinned.
"Finally."
The deeper they pushed, the more the Vixens participated.
There were simply too many enemies for the shadows to monopolize everything.
Bunny became a wrecking ball.
Every swing of World Breaker sent shockwaves through the battlefield.
Nyxian danced between enemies like a beautiful disaster.
Lilith's Kiss moved differently now.
Almost alive.
The whip coiled around her arm.
Slithered around her shoulders.
Sometimes it moved before she consciously commanded it.
Not against her wishes.
With them.
Like a partner.
Like it understood.
It unnerved everyone except Nyxian.
She thought it was adorable.
Zee's staff glowed brighter with every floor.
Sanctaris had become something more than a weapon.
Healing magic flowed through it effortlessly.
Protective barriers formed faster.
Stronger.
Cleaner.
Llandra's bow practically sang when she drew it.
Crystal light followed every arrow.
Targets hundreds of feet away died before realizing they had been targeted.
And Warden...
Warden was becoming terrifying.
The General Knight walked calmly through battle.
Nothing hurried him.
Nothing surprised him.
Nothing moved him.
An Ice Behemoth charged Zee.
Warden intercepted.
Shield forward.
The collision shook the floor.
The Behemoth died.
Warden continued walking.
As if nothing unusual had happened.
"My liege."
Jax looked over.
"What is it?"
"The enemy appears motivated."
Silence.
Nyxian nearly choked laughing.
"The enemy appears motivated?"
"Indeed."
The knight looked toward a charging army.
"They seem quite determined."
Floor Thirty-Nine fell.
Then Forty.
Then Forty-One.
Finally they reached Floor Forty-Two.
Everyone stopped.
Carved into the wall were familiar names.
The Argent Vanguard.
Floor Forty-Two.
Stormbound Covenant.
Floor Thirty-Eight.
Obsidian Crown.
Floor Forty.
The best adventuring parties on the continent.
The legends.
The heroes.
The benchmark.
Jax studied the names quietly.
Then stepped past them.
No speech.
No grand declaration.
No dramatic moment.
He simply kept walking.
The Vixens followed.
That somehow felt more impressive.
Floor Forty-Two opened into a frozen cathedral.
Ice pillars stretched hundreds of feet into darkness.
Floating Ice Wizards chanted from elevated platforms.
Blizzards swirled.
Magic gathered.
The floor became a battlefield instantly.
"Forward."
The shadows surged.
Battle erupted.
Ice exploded.
Magic collided.
Requiem barked thunder.
The pistols felt different down here.
Alive.
Aware.
They almost seemed eager.
Every shot landed exactly where it needed to.
Jax never missed.
Floor Forty-Two became Floor Forty-Three.
Then Forty-Four.
Forty-Five.
The deeper they descended, the stranger things became.
Jax began noticing something.
Whenever he tried to summon certain defeated monsters...
Nothing happened.
No response.
No shadow.
No failure notification.
Just...
Nothing.
The Frostbound Yeti.
Nothing.
Crystal Serpents.
Nothing.
Ice Wizards.
Nothing.
Jax frowned.
That wasn't normal.
Even Warden noticed.
"My liege."
"Yeah?"
"Something is preventing your authority."
Jax looked at him.
That was an interesting choice of words.
Authority.
Not power.
Authority.
Almost as if Warden understood the mechanics better than anyone else.
The knight continued.
"The dead belong elsewhere."
The dead belong elsewhere.
Jax didn't like that.
Not one bit.
Floor Forty-Eight.
Forty-Nine.
Then finally...
The Golden Door.
Everyone became quiet.
The massive entrance stood nearly sixty feet tall.
Ancient runes glowed across its surface.
Frost gathered around its edges.
Waiting.
Watching.
Jax approached.
Placed his hand against it.
The seal dissolved immediately.
The doors began to open.
Slowly.
Reluctantly.
As if whatever waited beyond was deciding whether it wanted visitors.
The chamber beyond was enormous.
A palace.
An empire carved from ice.
And at the far end sat five Frost Giants.
Thirty feet tall.
Forty feet tall.
Ancient.
Powerful.
Watching.
The central giant wore a crown of frozen bone.
His eyes opened.
And immediately locked onto Jax.
Not Bunny.
Not Nyxian.
Not Warden.
Jax.
The giant leaned forward.
For several long seconds he simply stared.
Then something unexpected happened.
He frowned.
Confusion crossed his face.
Then concern.
Then recognition.
The Frost Giant King slowly rose from his throne.
His voice echoed through the chamber.
"You."
Jax blinked.
"...Me?"
The giant took another step forward.
The entire palace trembled.
And for the first time since entering the dungeon...
Jax felt uncertainty.
Because the Frost Giant wasn't looking at him like an enemy.
He was looking at him like he knew him.
Or worse.
Like he knew what was behind him.
The giant lowered his head.
And spoke a single sentence.
"You should not be here."
Silence.
Then every system warning Jax possessed erupted simultaneously.
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
WARNING
Warden immediately moved in front of him.
Shield raised.
Sword drawn.
The General Knight's voice echoed through the chamber.
Calm.
Formal.
Deadly serious.
"My liege."
Jax never looked away from the giant.
"Yeah?"
"I believe..."
Warden tightened his grip on his sword.
"...we have found the real boss."