Far as Somnus was concerned, this is what humans meant when they said, "time to face the music."

Indeed, the fatalistic sense of finality shadowed him forebodingly. It hounded him, lingering in his wake, approaching ever closer. The threat was not behind, however, it was in front. Respectable, Somnus thought. This is how it should be. He didn't mind the strategic game of chess that large-scale warfare provided, but he always had an appreciation for the barbaric and uncouth method of "guns front, fire at will".

When it came to violence, who could claim to be more generous with it than Somnus himself? No one. Not even the so called G.o.d of War. Clausewitz, a nineteenth century general, claimed that man was trying to make War serve their purpose, unknowingly, in doing so, serving the purpose of War itself—at least, that is how Somnus interpreted it. Was the G.o.d of War not the same as man, Somnus thought? If there is a single ent.i.ty in this world that could be called an avatar of War itself, it would be Somnus.

Before he knew it, he was standing in a large open chamber, much like floor 30. It was not as big, but it was still very large. Larger than a boss room. Somnus instantly knew that the Severn Dungeon Core had no sovereignty here. It was usurped by something else.

Somnus could not sense any mana either. There was no ether, no mana, no flow—nothing. This fact alone made Somnus wonder if he somehow ended up in yet another world, or another dimension. Ether and mana were fundamental principles of existence—how could they be gone? Could something have devoured it?

In the back of his mind, Somnus could sense someone watching him—stalking him—as if he was prey. Somnus drew his sword, which was an upgraded version of Lod's sword. As an adventurer, he did not want to give his ident.i.ty away by using the manbeam sword. It did not matter in a place like this, but the Magitech sword he created was on par, if not more powerful, than the beam sword. There was no reason to waste mana in a place that did not have any.

"Identify," Somnus heard a voice speak with a cold tone.

Usually, on a floor this big, the darkness would disappear to reveal the enemy. Not this time, however. The Dungeon Core did not control this level, therefore the darkness persisted. With that in mind, Somnus remained silent. He did not want to give his position away.

"State identification," the voice came once more from directly ahead of Somnus. Just beyond the darkness. "Final warning."

To be precise, it was not so much a darkness in this place, like it was in the tunnel. It was more like a mist. Somnus could tell general details about where he was—he could see the ceiling for example—but when it came to seeing anything else, he was all but blind.

The dark mist was suddenly lit up by something in the distance ahead of Somnus. He could just barely see a bright light source through the thick veil of fog of war—not a figurative one either.

A bright green line appeared in Somnus's vision as his magical eyes predicted the movement of the enemy, despite not being able to even see him. It was a useful skill.

Someone stepped to the side, just in time to see an orange, glowing blade pa.s.s right in front of him. The heat the blade outputted was enough to set Somnus's cloth garments on fire. The only reason why his hair survived was because of the resistance spells Somnus had on the mask.

Just as the blade cleared Somnus's neck, centimeters away from decapitating him, a bolt of lightning jumped off the blade and through the empty s.p.a.ce, striking Somnus. Thunder echoed.

You have taken damage. -1089HP

What the h.e.l.l was that? Somnus could discern faint magical symbols on the sword, but they were completely scrambled. It was not on the blade itself, but it seemed to be just outside the blade. In other words, that was not a sword created from magic—but plasma!

Somnus leaped backwards, holding his sword at the ready with one hand and drawing magical symbols with the other.

"Ultimate Limit Break," Somnus said and the magic circle expanded and then imprinted itself on his body. The mark was a miniature of the magic circle, as if painted on with white, luminous ink. It was under his armor, so it wasn't visible.

If Somnus had to guess, that sword was a hydrogen plasma at high pressure—equal to his mana beam sword, but still outputting immense heat unlike the beam sword. Of course, he had no way to verify that theory without proper spectral a.n.a.lysis.

In theory, Somnus could recreate that sword through magic, but it was exceedingly difficult. A barrier that could contain a plasma at high pressure would constantly devour a large reserve of mana. It was not impossible, merely impractical.

"Subject shows extreme resistance to molecule excitation," the voice came in from somewhere to Somnus's left, and slightly above. "Hypothesis: Subject is not match: Human."

Somnus narrowed his eyes.

Another green line popped into his field of vision and this time he reacted far more vigorously. He jumped away from that orange-red blade, clearly seeing that it was made of plasma. A tiny spark jumped from the sword and towards Somnus. Somnus realized that the blade created a tiny channel through which lightning could move.

A crash sounded once more, thunder echoing in the large chamber. This time, thankfully, it struck the ground.

That blade was dangerous. If Somnus stood too close, it would burn him to cinders. Yet even dodging it narrowly meant getting hit by lightning strikes. He was not enjoying this. Even though he was insulated from the ground, the lightning could still find a path by just burning through him.

Somnus scowled. "Identify," he called out.

A form approached Somnus through the mist and stepped into plain view.

A burning halo of black fire burned above its head. The jagged, crown-like, loop spewed black plasma into the air before reforming once more into a perfect ring—it was like the surface of a black sun.

The form before Somnus had wings which were made of blade-like struts, glowing with a white color, and a diffused blue mist glowed between the blades.

However, despite that, Somnus recognized the creature itself. It was made of metal. Entirely made of metal. It's head had an angular shape, like a diamond, and all of its contours were fairly straight. Hands and feet ended in tapered spikes and a blade made out of red-orange plasma hovered over its right hand.

The creature that hovered just a few centimeters above the ground was a Type 40 Hunter-Killer drone. It was created by Somnus, in fact, in the 30th century. That is why he recognized it. What was it doing here?

"Designation: Aeon, the Lost Era," the mechanical Archangel spoke. "Herald of the End."