novelraw Chapter 251: Entering The Final Layer - Fighting Superheroes
Chapter 251: Entering The Final Layer - Fighting Superheroes
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As they finally reached the Tenth Layer, Anastasia couldn't help but ask one question. "Why... does every layer feel like a world on its own?"
"Because they are," Louis explained. "The Academy Dungeon was likely made in a similar way to the Dimensional Labyrinth. You could say it is a miniature version. The Divine Dragons in charge of creating it manipulated several Fantasy Fields or Realms, fragments of ancient parallel worlds, and stacked them together. They transformed the ten-layered dimension into a dungeon by placing several dungeon cores and modifying how it all worked."
"I see..." Zorba nodded, his aura flickering as he summoned a giant bone scythe. It served as both one of his permanently bonded Undead Familiars and his Soul Treasure, the Scythe of Death, Thanatos. "So who is the enemy here? Who are the monsters we must slay?"
"..." Timothy remained silent as he glared at Louis, who stayed quiet for some reason. "Wait, don't tell me..."
"They have not seen us because we are all the way up here," Louis said. "But this entire Dungeon Layer is the largest of them all. It is as big as half our planet, covering the entire continent of America."
"What?!" Anastasia cried.
"S-So big?!" Agustina asked.
"And who is the boss anyway?" Mirai asked. "Wait, where are the monsters?"
"..." Louis prepared himself. "Well, like in the Immortal Mountains where Cultivators were the 'monsters' as well as the Martial Beasts, it is the same here. Everything here can be considered a monster. These humans... are not really humans. They would have already tried to escape this world, or they would have already learned it was fake, right? They exist in a constant sort of self-contained story that loops itself endlessly."
"Is this a world made by that Venerable too?" Mirai asked.
"Yeah," Louis said. "Even though he is now dead, everything he made remains."
"So do we...?" Timothy asked. "No way, right? Are the humans going to attack us?"
"They have guardians," Louis explained. "Come, I will show you how this Layer works."
Louis stepped out of the skyscraper and dropped to the ground, shaking the streets and shattering the pavement. People panicked and screamed, running away.
Some stayed behind in awe as Louis's friends followed, smashing into the pavement one after another. The people used their smartphones to take pictures and film videos.
"What the hell?"
"Who are they?!"
"What is going on?"
"Look how they fell from the sky!"
"H-How is that possible?! Who are they?!"
"The pavement shattered when they landed, but they are completely fine!"
"Are they superhuman?!"
As the people panicked and spoke to one another, most of Louis's friends felt a surge of unease. They did not want so much attention and dreaded the thought of killing these innocent-looking people, even if they were actually Entities in disguise.
"Calm down, everyone. We come in peace," Louis said. "We have no intention to harm you."
"What!"
"I don't understand a thing!"
"What are they saying?!"
"I have no idea, but it is utterly incomprehensible!"
"Run!!!"
"Where are our guardians?!"
"Are they monsters? Villains?"
"They speak a language I don't know. Maybe terrorists?"
"Run already!"
Louis remained silent after that. His friends were nervous but relieved that he did not seem intent on killing these people.
And then...
"Well then, let us begin. Zorba."
"Yes, Master Louis."
"...?!"
"Wait!"
"Huh?"
"Louis?!"
Everyone else panicked as Louis stepped forward, summoning Gungnir and thrusting it forward.
"The only way the Mid-Bosses that will allow us to advance will come out is if we kill them after all," Louis said.
"What?!" Mirai panicked as Louis thrust his spear. "W-Wait!"
TRUUUM!
RUMBLE!
A giant pillar of light pierced through the entire city. Three skyscrapers collapsed as blinding yellow light flooded everywhere, followed by dozens of explosions.
All those caught in the attack exploded and vanished into ashes amid agonizing screams of disbelief and agony.
BOOOMMM!!!
Smoke covered the city. Entire buildings collapsed. People who were not dying from Louis's attack were crushed by the falling boulders.
Louis stared in silence, without feeling any guilt.
Mirai and the rest, in that moment, quickly remembered that despite his kindness toward his people, Louis...
Louis was not a hero.
He was only empathetic to those he chose. Everything else?
It did not matter to him. They were all means to an end.
Perhaps this was what made him so different from his heroic grandfather or his saintly mother, both of whom would have never done this, even if they knew these were not really humans but Entities.
"What?" Louis looked at them as Zorba expanded his Shadow Realm, summoning hundreds of giant skeletons, zombies, and specters to attack all the humans. "This is a Dungeon after all. And look."
Louis grabbed the corpse of a person and tore off their skull to reveal a large rainbow crystal inside its brain. "This is a Fantasium Core. They are Entities." Louis crushed the crystal with his hands, making the struggling woman—no older than twenty—die on the spot. She stopped moving entirely.
Unlike the Immortal Mountain, they did not die and become golden statues. With the Venerable dead, the immortalizing effect was gone, so they turned into corpses but slowly began to crystallize into Fantasium Crystals and fade away into multi-colored dust. This was how Entities and Grievances' corpses usually reacted once their cores were destroyed.
"They are Entities created entirely from Fantasium," Louis dropped the corpse. It shattered into Fantasium Crystal dust and dissolved with the breeze and the flames surrounding the ruined city. "Do you understand now?"
"A-Ah... yeah..." Mirai sighed, gripping her fists tightly. She furrowed her eyebrows, steeling her resolve. "I am sorry... I panicked again. I am stupid..."
"It is fine," Louis said. "Timothy, do not look at me like that."
"I know..." he clicked his tongue. "But I am not participating in this massacre... even if they are fake, they still look like humans, act like humans... think like humans... What makes them so different besides their interior?"
"That they are not," Louis said mercilessly.
"Fool, once more daring to go against Lord Louis's orders?" Zorba asked in disbelief. "If the Sinner Academy sent us to such a dungeon, they should have expected us to learn the hard way to differentiate Entities from real people. Listen, Timothy, these Entities are merely embodiments of records. They are no different than machines constantly reproducing the same information over and over."
"Shut up!" Timothy roared angrily, running away.
"And there he goes..." Anastasia sighed, shaking her head. "I am sorry... I will go look for him."
"Fine," Louis nodded, shaking his head. "Agustina, Melisa, Selene, you do not have to fight if you do not want to."
"I-I honestly do not know how you can do this with such a plain face..." Agustina muttered. "A-Aren't you disgusted? I... kind of want to vomit now, ugh."
"If they are Entities then I will not have mercy," Selene nodded, transforming into her beastly form. "I do not fear them! They smell fake to me!"
"I also can see they are completely soulless beings," Melisa said. "Yeah, they are akin to golems made of hardened Fantasium reproducing records of people that once existed... I guess that is what the Venerable did, right?"
"Indeed," Louis smiled.
In these two years the girls had been taught a lot and were now in their teens, able to speak more eloquently and think a lot more about themselves. Melisa especially showcased an incredible level of mental maturity, perhaps sharpened by her harsh childhood.
"Master, these humans die quite easily and do not fight back," Louis said. "Is this really just free EXP? How come this is the last layer of the dungeon?"
"No, humans are just bait. The real challengers are coming right now," Louis said. "This Layer is divided by Cities. To reach the Capital, Central City, we have to push through five different Cities, each one guarded by... well, here they are."
RUMBLE!
The skies trembled as five figures appeared, glaring down at everyone while flying using either magic, abilities, or technology.
"Huh? Who are they?!" Agustina asked.
The figures descended, landing in front of Louis and his group. Each one of these people wore skintight suits of various colors and usually covered their faces with masks as well.
They all exuded different powers, which were somewhat magical in nature but also psionic like Espers.
"Stop right there, evildoers!"
"Villains! How much do you wish to massacre?!"
"YOU WILL PAY!"
"We will drown you!"
"Everyone, I do not feel so good about these ones. Stay together and do not separate... they are definitely not normal villains!"
Indeed, they were not normal people. They were not Espers or Awakened. They were...
Something that once thrived in the ancient earth's fiction.
"Superheroes, right?" Louis wondered, rubbing his chin. "It is a little hilarious, but these are our foes."
Louis's system showed him information about them. One thing was for certain though: they were almost as strong as Level 5 Entities. Although, unlike Entities or Grievances, they had no mind-corrupting powers, so they were Entities with the bodies of Anomalies.
[Captain Sunshine (Level 4.5 Entity)]
Born and raised in Florida, Jason Stern accidentally gained the ability to absorb sunlight after he was hit with a direct Sun Flare in an area where the ozone layer was thinnest. Instead of dying, his body miraculously absorbed the Sun Flare itself, transforming him into a Metahuman.
Now, known as Captain Sunshine, the young man could empower his body physically by absorbing sunlight while also developing Flight, Sunlight Vision, and Fire Manipulation as his main abilities.
He was known as a beacon of hope for America, Leader of the Justice Five.
[Wooden Soldier (Level 4.2 Entity)]
Jay Woo, an Asian American young man, one day woke up with his body turning into endlessly growing wood. To his horror, he ended up rampaging through the city but was stopped by Captain Sunshine. After undergoing rehabilitation, he became the hero known as Wooden Soldier, employing his powers for justice.
Later, he discovered these powers originated from an Ancient Chinese Curse that one of his ancestors had taken, which would only ever affect a descendant in the distant future.
While using his powers for heroism, he was constantly seeking a cure for his curse, as it had inhibited his ability to live a normal life.
[Starlight Girl (Level 4.1 Entity)]
Emma Stern, a young and energetic sixteen-year-old girl and niece of Captain Sunshine. She developed her abilities after she absorbed Starlight when she accidentally was lifted higher into the sky by Captain Sunshine after she begged him to let her see the stars from up close.
Ever since then, she had developed the ability to fly and channel cosmic radiation to fight foes like her uncle. Although still highly inexperienced, she possessed a heroic heart and was very popular on social media, ranking millions of views daily on her TikTok account.
[The Red Menace (Level 4.5 Entity)]
Professor Nicholas Riviera was a biology researcher who sought to cure cancer by experimenting on the DNA of various animals. However, after an accident where the components of his latest compound poured over him during an earthquake, he underwent a monstrous mutation. He gained the ability to shift from his normal form into a giant red-skinned and golden-furred lion-headed warrior, the Red Menace.
Known as a respectable scientist and biologist but also as a monstrous beast, Nicholas constantly battled against his alter ego, the Red Menace, for control over his body. Lately, however, he had managed to reach stability.
[Sea Woman (Level 4.1 Entity)]
Born in the coastal city of Miami, Sofia Alvarez was a marine biologist studying deep-sea ecosystems when she was caught in an experimental underwater energy pulse meant to map ocean trenches. The pulse fused her DNA with bioluminescent jellyfish and deep-sea cephalopod traits.
Now she could breathe underwater indefinitely, manipulate water and pressure at will, summon tentacles of pure hydrokinetic force, and generate bioluminescent toxins that could paralyze or dissolve matter. She served as the team's strategist and moral compass, often tempering the more aggressive members of the Justice Five.
Yeah, they were indeed knockoffs of more popular superheroes that Louis—or rather, William—had read about in his past life.
The five heroes hovered in the air, their capes and suits fluttering dramatically in the wind generated by their own powers. Captain Sunshine's body glowed with golden solar energy. Wooden Soldier's limbs were already sprouting thick wooden vines and branches. Starlight Girl's hands crackled with sparkling cosmic particles. The Red Menace growled as golden fur began to ripple across his bulging muscles. Sea Woman's hair floated as if she were submerged, water swirling around her in elegant spirals.
"You have already caused enough destruction!" Captain Sunshine shouted, his voice booming with righteous authority. "Surrender now and we might show you mercy!"
Louis tilted his head, a faint, almost amused smile tugging at his lips. He could feel the weight of their "heroic" auras, artificial constructs of justice and hope woven from Fantasium threads. They were well-made, he had to admit. Almost convincing.
"Mercy?" Louis echoed, his voice calm yet carrying across the ruined street like rolling thunder. "You speak of mercy while standing guard over a cage of illusions. How noble."
Wooden Soldier stepped forward, his wooden armor creaking. "We protect the innocent! Whatever you are—demon, monster, whatever—you will not harm another soul in our city!"
Zorba chuckled darkly from behind Louis, his bone scythe resting on his shoulder. "Innocent? These puppets? Master, shall I begin the harvest?"
"Not yet," Louis said, raising a hand. He glanced at his remaining companions. Agustina looked pale but determined, gripping her metallic gauntlets. Selene's ears twitched in her partial werewolf form, fangs bared. Melisa floated slightly off the ground, avian wings of light shimmering behind her back. Mirai stood at his side, her chaos aura flickering with restrained power.
"These are not the real threats," Louis continued quietly to his group. "They are mid-bosses. Strong, but not the final guardian of this layer. If we defeat them, the path to Central City opens. The true boss… is something else entirely."
Starlight Girl pointed dramatically, her voice youthful and fierce. "You are talking like we are not even here! That is so rude! Also I do not even understand their words! How were you able to tell, Wooden Soldier?"
"I could not understand them either, but I could 'feel' their intentions, somewhat," Wooden Soldier said. "It might be thanks to my own unique abilities..."
Sea Woman narrowed her eyes, water condensing into sharp blades around her. "Their power signatures are off the charts. This is not normal villain activity. Be careful, team."
The Red Menace roared, his voice a mix of human frustration and beastly rage. "Enough talk! Let us take them down!"
The Justice Five charged.
Captain Sunshine blasted forward in a streak of blazing sunlight, fists glowing like miniature suns. Wooden Soldier surged behind him, roots and branches exploding from the cracked pavement to ensnare Louis and his allies. Starlight Girl rained down sparkling cosmic beams from above, while Sea Woman summoned a towering wave that crashed toward them from the side streets. The Red Menace leaped high, transforming mid-air into his full lion-headed warrior form, claws extended.
"Take them down as quickly as possible!" Louis said.
Mirai transformed instantly, her body expanding into her towering eight-armed chaos demon form. Wings flaring, she met Sea Woman's wave head-on with a chaotic palm strike that shattered the water into harmless mist.
Selene howled and charged the Red Menace, her werewolf body growing larger. Fur rippled with beastly power as she clashed claws against claws in a furious exchange of raw strength.
Agustina slammed her fists together, metallic armor spreading across her body as she met Wooden Soldier's vines with reinforced steel limbs. Sparks flew as she tore through the living wood.
Melisa took to the skies, her avian form glowing with radiant light as she weaved through Starlight Girl's cosmic beams, countering with precise bursts of purifying holy light beams and blazing feather projectiles.
Louis faced Captain Sunshine directly.
BOOOM!
The hero's sunlight-enhanced punch collided with Louis's open palm. The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the street, shattering windows for blocks around. Though Louis remained unmoved by the attack, Captain Sunshine, as the strongest of the Justice Five, had never faced such a powerful and tough opponent before.
"You are strong," Captain Sunshine grunted, eyes blazing. "But evil always falls before the light of justice!"
FLAAASH!
Louis was battered with explosive punches. Sunlight bombarded him while solar flames constantly attempted to burn him.
If he had not had the time to evolve as a dragon, he would have likely been killed by this powerful Entity. It was incredibly strong.
However...
"Light of justice?" Louis's thirteen eyes—now visible even in his humanoid form—gleamed with cold amusement. "Well, let us see whose light is the brightest."
He activated Radiant Ember.
White-gold flames erupted from his body, not burning with heat but with pure conceptual despair. The moment the flames touched Captain Sunshine, the hero's eyes widened in sudden horror.
"W-What… is this…?" Captain Sunshine gasped, his solar aura flickering.
Visions—countless pruned timelines, erased lives, the endless suffering the Venerable had caused—flooded the hero's mind through the Fantasium connection that bound him to his creator.
"A-Aaaaaggh! W-What is this?!"
As he screamed, he fired giant solar flares everywhere, bombarding his surroundings. Louis tanked most blows with his bare body, completely unscathed as he went into his Dragonoid form to channel some of his true dragon form's power.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
"Enough is enough."
Louis did not waste the opening. His claw, wreathed in time-distorted energy from the Heart of Time, slashed forward. The strike did not just cut flesh. It unraveled the hero's very Fantasium structure, making the "death" feel instantaneous across the layered time bubble Louis had subtly woven around them.
"AAAAAGGGHHH!"
The beacon of hope and justice did not even get to fight properly. His entire body disintegrated in mere seconds. Not even ashes were left behind. His torn-apart clothes fell to the ground, made of a tough enough material to resist his own powers, and were the only thing that survived.
One down.
The remaining heroes faltered for a split second. Disbelief flashed across their faces, their mouths wide open as their eyes widened in horror.
Just like that, their leader and strongest figure had died, perished in an instant!
These enemies...
They were far stronger than any other menace they had ever encountered before.
"Uncle!" Starlight Girl screamed, tears streaming from her eyes. "Nooooo!!!"
"You monster!" Wooden Soldier roared, vines exploding toward Louis in a frenzy.
But it was already too late for them.
Zorba's shadows swallowed the battlefield. His undead legions rose in waves. Mirai's chaos demons poured from her Gates, clashing with the heroes' powers in spectacular bursts of light and darkness. Agustina, Selene, and Melisa fought with growing confidence, their two years of relentless training showing in every precise, powerful movement.
Screaming in both anger and disbelief, Starlight Girl fired dozens of cosmic beams against Louis. The Dragonoid laughed, tanking them with his bare body as Agustina closed in, smashing her head down with her metallic gauntlets.
"Gaaaah?! W-Who are you?!"
"I am sorry, but you are just an Entity at the end."
Agustina had grown ruthless. Her powerful blacksmithing abilities now allowed her to mold and reshape her metallic armor and tools at will.
She bombarded Starlight Girl with attacks. Sharp divine spirit weapons pierced her body as blood gushed out of her wounds.
"G-Guuuh?! W-Wh... Why...?"
Starlight Girl cried, falling to her knees coughing as her body trembled.
"E-EMMA!!!"
Wooden Soldier, who saw the young girl agonizingly dying, ran to defend her, only for a giant ghostly scythe to cut through his body dozens of times, burning him with will-o'-the-wisps.
"GUUAAAAAHHH!"
In agony, he saw Zorba laughing with delight, burning his soul and body until the Wooden Soldier collapsed into a pile of coal.
"Heheh, what a great source of Soul Essence and Fantasium! You will make a great Undead!" Zorba laughed.
"W-Wooden Soldier...!!!"
Starlight Girl screamed in panic, beginning to fly and run away as she saw them being defeated. Agustina was unable to give chase as cosmic beams bombarded her constantly.
"Hey, wait!"
However, someone else awaited Starlight Girl in her route of escape: a blue-skinned woman with gray rabbit ears and a gleaming azure sword.
"I am sorry."
"Eh?"
SLAAASH!
"A-Aaahh!"
Starlight Girl screamed as Anastasia cut her into two halves with a single slashing motion, appearing behind her in the sky. Starlight Girl's eyes watched her floating while she fell, her entire body viscerally split into two, splattering into a bloody mess on the pavement down below.
SPLAT!
"WRAAAAHHHHH! RED MENACE! SMASH!!! DIE!! DIE!! DIE!!! HOW DARE YOU KILL FRIENDS! PLANT GUY! STAR GIRL!!! WRAAAHHHH! DIE! DIE! DIE!!!"
The Red Menace grew more and more berserk as he saw his comrades falling one after another. Raging tears streamed down his lion eyes. Fighting side by side with Sea Woman, the two remaining heroes roared and fought as one.
"T-This is ridiculous! W-Who are they?! There have never been reports of such powerful villains ever appearing before! Where do they come from?! Who are you all?!"
"We are the real people from the surface! You are just fakes!" Selene said, slashing against the Red Menace and growing to match his size in both beastly prowess and musculature.
"DIVINE BEAST CLAW!"
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
"GRUUAAAARRGHH!"
The Red Menace screamed in pain. His arms were slashed off and the rest of his body covered in deep slashes. Selene followed by kicking him in the chest, caving his thorax with her hind legs and sending him flying across several skyscrapers. She killed him on the spot as the skyscraper he landed on exploded and fell over his entire body, crushing him.
BOOOMMM!!!
"A-Ah...!" Sea Woman remained as the sole survivor. Her water magic and her other powers constantly expanded her oceanic domain, but her hands trembled as she faltered.
It felt completely hopeless.
Even more so when she could not even understand their language at all. It was hopeless to even establish peace with these beings, the only option after learning how ridiculously powerful they truly were.
"Nnnggh...!" She clenched her teeth, fighting for her life. "I do not want to die! Not yet!!!"
RUMBLE!
Her powers were unleashed at full force, turning her into a giant kraken made of flowing azure water. The entire city rumbled as her tentacles attacked all her foes, pillars of water surging and bombarding them.
"She got gigantic!" Agustina muttered. "This is ridiculous!"
"Huh, it seems she was the strongest?" Zorba wondered.
"She had the greatest potential perhaps," Louis said. "However... strongest? Not at all."
FLAAASH!
Louis transformed into his True Dragon Form, which did not really cost him any energy, and descended toward her.
"G-GO AWAY!!!"
Sea Woman screamed and panicked, but Louis pressed onto her aquatic body with his massive height, crushing her and then, using his powerful aura, gleaming claws, and breath, completely evaporating her.
"Die."
"Uuuaaaaaaaeeegghhh!"
BOOOMMM!!!
To the disbelief of all bystanders watching from afar, filming with their smartphones, the Justice Five, guardians of Florida City, were all exterminated in less than an hour.
"We are done here," Louis said, gathering everyone to him. "Where is Timothy, Anastasia?"
"He is over there," sighed Anastasia. "After he tried to save someone and was suddenly stabbed and realized the people here were indeed Entities when they distorted into horrible things, he learned not to trust them."
"Haaa... well, call him over," Louis sighed.
Anastasia nodded, bringing Timothy over. The young man apologized to Louis. "I am sorry, Lord Louis... I did not really... I should begin to believe in you more. I am always a dumbass that does whatever he thinks is right..."
"Perhaps," Louis said. "But sometimes that is also appreciated. I keep you around not only because of your strength, but because you offer me a different perspective. Anyway, let us move. There are four more cities to go through."
"Four more?!" Timothy gasped. "Ugh... Are we going to fight superheroes in these too?"
"Of course," Louis nodded. "Each city is guarded by up to seven superheroes. To advance, we have to take them down one by one. Only then will the path to Central City open."
House Frostbane continued their endless massacre of the masses, killing thousands and then millions of human-like Entities, while luring their guardians, the powerful Superheroes, and taking them down one by one.
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