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Black letters appeared above us, made of darkness and phantasmal energy. It was a floor clear message. Drakda just killed this intimidating challenger in less than a minute. No, less than thirty seconds.
[The [Phantom Dragonoid Dark Knight General] has been defeated by his chosen opponent Party Member: [Drakda]!]
[Congratulations! Your Party has Cleared the Fourth Floor of the [Phantom Dragon's Abandoned Castle]!]
[It is now your choice to either battle evenly the rest of the knights to gain more rewards, or advance forwards!]
[Now that the Boss has been defeated, the Gate to the Fifth Floor has been opened.]
[Once you touch the gate to the next Floor, the Rewards will be distributed.]
"Raarrr!" Drakda roared, celebrating his victory.
"H-He won?!" Miranda screamed. "Wow, okay… Okay, maybe we've underestimated him. Well done my son! I totally see that coming! I'm so sorry for doubting you!" Miranda ran towards Drakda and hugged him.
"I guess I owe you an apology too, I might have gotten stupidly mad for no reason." Benladann sighed.
"It's fine, I can understand the anger." I laughed. "It was fine, you were worried, I was also worried. This is a surprise to me as well… I did think he might win but not like this!"
"He's really strong, your child!" Svartalf said. "W-Well done, I guess you may advance or stay to kill more monsters. Your choice."
"Then let's stay, papa, let's hunt them all for Soul Gear!" Said Benladra. "Also Kate needs the meat for her soul!"
"Yeah." Kate nodded.
"Okay, sure, I was about to take that decision anyways." I nodded. "Let's begin!"
Drakda wasn't tired at all after that, so we continued to fight happily. The knights came in groups, as we fought them and defeated them with as much ease as before. Benladra and Kate showed they were even mightier than their little brother, killing the nights in seconds this time, instead of using them as practice dummies for their weapon techniques.
And once we were ready, we touched the Gate leading to the fifth floor, the last one before the Boss, which I assume rests within the sixth floor, or the castle's rooftop. A new message popped up, giving us our rewards.
[Congratulations on clearing Floor 4/5 of the [Phantom Dragon's Abandoned Castle] as a Party!]
[Rewards will be distributed evenly based on contribution and total monster slain.]
[Rewards given have increased based on performance of each individual fight and also for defeating all foes within the floor.]
[You gained: [+300.000.000 Divine Power] [Dark Dragon Blood Elixir (SS Grade)] x2 [Crystalized Phantom Heart (SS Grade)] x2 [Darkness Divinity Fragment] x10 [Phantom Divinity Fragment] x10 [Random Divine Ability Ticket (SSS Grade)] x1]
"Oh, the rewards are even more generous than before!" I said. "No Marbles for Divine Ability Fusion this time, but we got tickets to gain a random one? Now that's interesting… Well, for now we should keep moving, we can check the rewards in detail once we're done with this."
"Yeah, let's go. I am eager to end this damn thing already." Miranda nodded.
We stepped into the fifth floor without further ado. This time, there weren't knights, nor a throne, nor some sort of arena either. In fact, the place seemed completely empty. Yet I could sense the presence of living beings, many, somewhere. But somehow, they were completely invisible, ignoring all my senses, everything, other than the vague sense there was something here.
What the hell is this floor?
[Welcome to the Fifth Floor of the [Phantom Dragon's Abandoned Castle], challenger!]
[This is a wide area, where twenty different Soul Beasts hide. They are completely invisible to all your senses except your Soul Senses.]
[This is a Trial to test the strength and sensibility of your soul, and how strong you have made it since the beginnings of your journey.]
[To pass this Floor's Trial and advance to the Rooftop of the Castle and confront the Final Boss, you must find and defeat all twenty Invisible Foes within 10 Minutes.]
[If you fail to find them and slay them in that estimated time, you will be expelled from the Castle.]
[As of now, they're simply hiding and waiting for you to move. If you accept this challenge, the invisible monsters will immediately come to attack you.]
"Huh, so a Challenge to refine the Soul Senses?" I wondered.
"Yes! It is quite a hard one, I know! But I also know my grandson is strong, so I am hoping for your swift victory, my dear Drake!" Svartalf said eagerly.
"Oh, for sure, this is going to be pretty easy actually. Our Souls are strong." I smiled. "Right, family?"
"Yeah!" Benladann giggled.
"It shouldn't be hard." Miranda nodded.
"Nn, yes." Kate nodded cutely.
"Raarrr!" Drakda wagged his tails in anticipation.
"Let's just blast it all." Benladra said. "Can you let me, dad?"
"Sure, go ahead." I nodded. "We accept the challenge."
[You have accepted the challenge of the fifth floor! Twenty powerful Invisible Divine Soul Beasts will now begin attacking you and sneaking away!]
[You have 10 Minutes to slay them all before you're expelled from the Castle.]
[Based in how fast you defeat your foes, bonus rewards will be given.]
"Benladra, go ahead." I said, as my daughter nodded.
As I felt the presences approach from somewhere, Benladra released all her might. Her Divinity and Divine Abilities activating at once, as her entire body became a momentary flash of pure heavenly and holy light.
It was as if she had become a star herself.
FLAAASH!
Her flash of light was so strong and potent that it quickly revealed the silhouettes of the Divine Soul Beasts, burning them. A few of them screamed in agony and died. Their bodies become visible once they became charred corpses.
However, only five ended dying out of twenty. So I quickly conjured ice magic, a very strong spell. Fimbulvinter, a potent snowstorm consumed the room, quickly freezing everything. Eleven statues appeared, the other four were quickly blasted into smithereens as Benladann and Miranda released shockwaves of chaos.
The Fifth Floor was a breeze, Svartalf was rather shocked after seeing how easily we dealt with the challenge. Well, there wasn't any need to use Soul Senses or whatever, when you can just spam AoE Spells until everything dies anyways, right?
