Chapter 49: Into the 8th Floor Part II - Wave of Arcane Aberrations
[Wave Two Incoming...]
The air shimmered.
This time, there was no silence before the storm—just an instant lurch in the fabric of space, like the Labyrinth itself braced for what was coming next.
[Wave Two: Arcane Aberrations, Tier II—Manifested Constructs Detected.]
The six rift portals above twisted violently, coiling into tight vortexes of runes before vomiting out their next horrors.
They didn’t just fall this time.
They descended like gods of ruin.
First came the Veilsplitters—humanoid aberrants, thin as bone and three meters tall, draped in torn caster robes made of flickering arcane script. They hovered slightly off the ground, eyeless, their faces split down the middle with vertical gashes of glowing glyphlight. Each held a grimoire, but the pages turned on their own—chantless spellcasting, automated and synchronized.
Then came the Aetherhounds, rippling with translucent flesh and visible mana veins. Four-legged, serpentine jaws, and silent. They didn’t growl. Didn’t snarl. They simply watched, twitching like broken familiars, their tails humming with pre-loaded elemental bursts.
And finally—materializing dead center of the arena—the Manablade Gargant.
A fusion of sword and spell. Four arms, two holding massive blades that phased between physical and pure energy. Its body was etched with battle runes and active counterspells—designed to dismantle fighters, especially ones that relied on rhythm and chaining attacks.