Floor 6: Core Inversion

Ayane’s POV:
The moment the gates of the sixth-floor dungeon closed, a swarm of monsters descended on us. None of us had expected such an immediate assault. Umbra-type abyssal monsters rushed from every direction, their attacks unrelenting.

Players with Aether EtherCode unleashed spell after spell, trying to cut through the horde. It felt as if we were being devoured by a tide of insects. Hundreds of casters unleashed torrents of magic, while restorers and patchers poured every ounce of strength into buffing and shielding the raid. Izanami Ayaka and her fellow shrine maidens tirelessly healed the wounded.

I fought on the front lines alongside the other faction leaders, carving a path forward. Behind me, my Scarlet Sanctum guild members stayed close, fearless, refusing to abandon me.

“Hold the line and push forward! We’ll cut down these monsters and clear the way!” I shouted, preparing my skill.
“Tsukiyami, Zetsumei, Kurogane—break their formation from the front, left, and right! Tsukihana, shield us with your barrier skills!”

We charged. Zetsumei and I cut into the front, Kurogane swept the right flank, Tsukiyami crushed the left. Our combined assault pushed the monsters back, buying space. The raid members watched in awe as we fought, and after several minutes, the tide shifted. The enemy began to crumble beneath our assault.

But victory was draining. Many of our members collapsed from exhaustion, guzzling recovery items to stay on their feet. Just as we thought to rest, the system screamed a warning:

[WARNING!!! UNIQUE DUNGEON CONDITION HAS BEEN ACTIVATED!]
[CORE INVERSION HAS BEEN ENABLED!!!]

Our eyes widened. Core Inversion should only activate halfway through this floor, yet here we were, barely a quarter in. The device—a massive sphere of gravitational and magnetic energy—glowed ominously above us. Then the dungeon itself began to twist.

The world flipped. What was once floor became ceiling, what was once ceiling became the ground. Gravity turned traitor, hurling over two thousand of us into chaos. Screams filled the air.

“Casters, restorers, miko—activate protective wards!” I ordered desperately. Shields flared, but they weren’t enough. Just as panic began to spread, Kurogane and his Machina Legion acted. His SystemCore Engineers cobbled together a gravity jammer. The crushing force weakened, and we drifted safely to the floor.

“You saved us, Kurogane,” I told him, breathless.

He grinned, brandishing his massive machine gun. “I planned for this. Don’t worry! As long as I’m here, we can bend gravity to our will!”

But Tsukihana’s sharp cry cut through his laughter. “Too soon to celebrate! Look!”

From the darkness, monsters surged once again—this time faster, stronger, empowered by the Core Inversion.

“Damn pests!” Tsukiyami cursed, blade flashing.
“We just need to slaughter them,” Zetsumei said coldly.
“Everyone, hold your ground!” Tsukihana shouted, blessing us with stronger buffs.

A hulking figure tore through the horde. A mini-boss. It resembled a humanoid insect, armored in black, wielding a deadly spear. It crashed into our defenses, skewering a dozen players before reaching my guild.

“Bastard!” Akutsu intercepted its spear, barely holding. Maiko rushed in to heal, Yukihana fired support shots, and Kagurazaka hurled his [Ignis Javelin]. Useless. The creature roared, scattering my guild with terrifying ease.

Just as its spear descended to finish Akutsu, I surged forward, ceding the front to Zetsumei.

“[Fire Prominence Strike!]”

My blade exploded in fire, cleaving through the monster’s armor. Flames erupted.

“Leader!” my guild cried out, relief flooding their voices.

“You dare harm my people? I’ll burn you to ash!” My EtherCode surged, ascending. Flames of gold erupted as my Ascendant EtherCode, [Golden Fire], consumed me. With it, I could burn through any other element. My SystemCore transformed as well: [Data Slayer], a unique evolution of Striker that allowed me to cut through anything, even data itself.

The insect monster regenerated, its armor knitting back together. With a furious shriek, it lunged, spear aimed at my chest.

“Ignite… [Golden Ashes]!” My sword ignited, wrapped in radiant golden fire.
“Cut everything… [Data Slayer activated]!” My blade shimmered, boundless, capable of severing even the laws of this world.

The monster spun, spear cloaked in Umbra EtherCode, its body a whirling drill of death. I raised my sword high, flames roaring.

“Take this! [EtherCode Skill: Slash of the Golden Blaze!]”

Steel and flame collided with the force of an explosion. My golden fire cut through not just the monster, but the swarm surrounding us. In a blaze of light, the mini-boss disintegrated into ash.

Cheers erupted. “Captain, you’re amazing!” Maiko threw her arms around me.
“Hahaha! You’re incredible, Ayane!” Kagurazaka grinned.
Akutsu, grinning fiercely, declared, “Next time, I’ll be the one to take it down!”

But joy was short-lived. Dozens of our comrades had already fallen. Their deaths weighed heavily on us.

“We can’t stop here. Their sacrifice won’t be in vain,” I said, rallying the survivors forward.

Then the floor itself glowed beneath us.

“Ayane!” Kurogane’s alarm rang out. “The anti-gravity devices are failing! Gravity is spiraling out of control again!”

“Hold on!” I cried. But this time, we weren’t being thrown upward—we were being pulled forward, straight into the boss chamber.

“Damn it!” Tsukihana cast barriers, Izanami Ayaka bolstered her, while Kurogane frantically recalibrated his devices. Kagurazaka activated his Hacker SystemCore, wrapping us in a data shield that nullified incoming damage. We clung to one another as the dungeon itself hurled us into the abyss.

[THE SIXTH-FLOOR BOSS HAS AWAKENED!]
[ALL GRAVITY IS BEING PULLED TOWARD HIM!]
[ALL INTRUDERS WILL BE ANNIHILATED!]

We crashed into the chamber, landing hard but alive. Hundreds of others weren’t so lucky, their bodies flung mercilessly against the dungeon walls.

And then we saw him.

The air froze. Floating above us, clad in black and gold, was a towering insectoid figure, armored and crowned with wings of midnight. In his chest pulsed a gravitational core that radiated with crushing power.

[FLOOR 6 BOSS HAS APPEARED!]
[YOU ARE NOW FIGHTING A BOSS!]

《COREAS, THE GRAVITY LORD》
[BOSS LEVEL 8]

This was no remnant of the past. His white armor was gone, replaced by obsidian steel. His aura twisted the air with darkness. Twelve health bars loomed above him.

Coreas’s voice reverberated like the dungeon itself was speaking. “Humans. Vermin unfit to exist. Now, perish.”

I tightened my grip on my blade and shouted, “Everyone, stand! It’s now or never. We fight Coreas here, or we die!”

The raid roared with me, their fear burning into resolve. The battle had begun.