Read Novel Full Chapter 575: Wait... what?
Chapter 575: Wait... what?
His awareness cataloged every detail of the inverted first floor as his eyes adjusted to the warped physics.
The trees growing downward from what should have been the ceiling created a disorienting visual framework that made normal spatial reasoning useless.
Purple mist clung to the inverted canopy overhead, dense fog defying gravity with the same casual disregard the entire dungeon seemed to have for natural law.
The silver veins on his right arm continued to pulse faintly.
He tentatively moved his fingers, ensuring complete flexibility despite the visible effect extending from his fingertips to his shoulder.
Father Caelen had rolled off the bound serpent’s back during their impact with the new floor, the old priest regaining his feet with surprising agility for someone his age.
His seasoned demeanor reflected a professional assessment rather than alarm, as decades of experience in challenging environments enabled him to adapt to unusual circumstances while maintaining composure.
"The entrance is sealed," Jack stated, his yellow and orange eyes tracking the solid stone wall where the archway had existed moments ago.
"Understood," Father Caelen replied, producing his flask for a quick sip before tucking it away. "What’s our approach?"
Movement in the inverted forest answered the question before Jack could respond.
Serpents emerged from the twisted vegetation, dozens of them, ranging in size from creatures no larger than Jack’s boot to massive forms comparable to the Disaster-class monster he’d bound.
The scales of these creatures exhibited diverse elemental affinities, including fire serpents radiating internal heat, aquatic beings with fluid-like forms, and earth snakes appearing as if sculpted from living stone.
Terror-ranked threats primarily, with several Dread-class mixed throughout and at least three Nightmare-ranked serpents whose sheer size dominated the battlefield.
Jack’s right hand moved to summon lightning, electricity gathering between his fingers as he prepared to eliminate the closest serpent with his standard cascade of abilities.
Thunder Mantle activated automatically, crackling energy wreathing his form as he channeled power into a devastating strike.
The lightning bolt crossed the distance instantaneously, striking a Terror-ranked fire serpent directly in its skull with force that should have vaporized the creature’s brain.
Green light flashed across the serpent’s scales as the wound Jack had just inflicted... healed.
The creature’s damaged tissue regenerated faster than Jack could process, flesh knitting back together as if his attack had been a restoration spell rather than a destructive force.
[+19,304 HP]
Jack’s eyes narrowed as understanding clicked into place.
"The floor reverses damage," he stated flatly, watching the serpent he’d just "healed" charge toward his position with renewed vigor.
Father Caelen’s expression shifted into recognition, his priestly awareness cataloging the implication immediately. "Then only healing magic will function as a weapon here. Offensive spells become restorative, which means..."
"You are our primary damage dealer," Jack interjected, his strategy already adapting. "Your blessing abilities can be inverted into offensive techniques. Radiant Heal will be instrumental on this floor."
The old priest’s lips curved into a slight smile despite the concerning situation.
"I’ve blessed thousands of warriors over four decades of service. Never thought I’d use Caelora’s gifts to actually kill things directly."
He raised both hands, golden light gathering around his weathered fingers as he channeled divine energy. "But I suppose there’s a first time for everything."
"Radiant Heal!" Father Caelen’s voice carried power that transcended his elderly appearance.
Golden radiance erupted from his position, washing across the charging serpents in waves that would normally have healed his allies.
But in this inverted floor, the blessing’s nature is reversed completely.
What should have strengthened instead destroyed, divine energy burning through corrupted flesh with devastating efficiency.
The Terror-ranked fire serpent that Jack had accidentally healed moments ago took the blessing’s full force directly to its face.
Its scales blackened and cracked, flesh dissolving as holy energy consumed tissue, unable to withstand the reversed divine power.
The creature’s scream was cut short as its entire head disintegrated, and its body collapsed as the System registered successful elimination.
[Terror-Ranked Fire Serpent Eliminated]
[+1,750 EXP]
[+525 Death Tokens]
[+1 Terror Core]
More serpents charged forward, their various elemental affinities creating a rainbow of colors as they closed the distance.
Jack’s bound Disaster-class serpent tried to engage, its massive jaws snapping at smaller creatures attempting to flank their position. But every bite, every crushing impact of its bulk against enemy bodies, healed the targets rather than harming them.
The bound serpent was useless on this floor, its entire combat capability reduced to accidentally providing medical support to enemies.
"Focus fire on the Nightmare-ranked threats first," Jack commanded, his tactical assessment prioritizing targets even as he adjusted to his suddenly support-oriented role.
"I’ll direct you toward high-value eliminations. You execute them with your blessings."
Father Caelen nodded, golden light continuing to gather around his hands as he prepared another invocation. "This is the strangest combat I’ve experienced in forty years of dungeon clearing, but I can work with it."
A Nightmare-ranked earth serpent, a massive creature whose scales looked carved from granite, easily thirty feet long with a bulk that created tremors as it moved.
Lunged toward their position with speed that belied its enormous size.
"There!" Jack pointed, his enhanced perception tracking the creature’s trajectory. "Searing Chains to immobilize, then execute with blessing!"
Father Caelen’s hands moved in complex gestures, divine energy shifting configuration as he channeled a different technique. "Searing Chains!"
Flaming bindings erupted around the earth serpent’s massive form, wrapping its body in restraints that burned corrupted flesh on contact.
The creature thrashed violently, its considerable strength straining against the holy magic, but the chains held long enough for Father Caelen to deliver a killing strike.
"Radiant Heal!"
The blessing washed across the immobilized Nightmare-ranked serpent with force that made the air itself shimmer.
The creature’s granite-like scales cracked and shattered, chunks of its body dissolving as reversed divine energy overwhelmed its enhanced durability.
Its death wasn’t as swift as the Terror-ranked threats, but it still took several seconds; the Nightmare classification provided enough resistance to withstand what would have instantly killed weaker creatures.
[Nightmare-Ranked Earth Serpent Eliminated]
[+50,000 EXP]
[+2,700 Death Tokens]
[+1 Nightmare Core]
The battle continued for several minutes, Father Caelen systematically eliminating serpents while Jack directed targets and managed positioning.
The old priest’s decades of combat experience showed in his efficient mana management, using lower-cost techniques for Terror and Dread-ranked threats while reserving his more powerful abilities for the Nightmare-classified enemies.
Jack’s bound serpent served primarily as a mobile platform, carrying both warriors across the inverted battlefield while its bulk prevented smaller enemies from overwhelming their position through sheer numbers.
Dozens of serpents fell to the reversed blessings, their bodies dissolving under holy energy that functioned as a deadly weapon rather than a supportive enhancement.
The System notifications accumulated steadily as Father Caelen’s kill count climbed.
[+1,750 EXP]
[+525 Death Tokens]
[+1 Terror Core]
[+2,500 EXP]
[+750 Death Tokens]
[+1 Dread Core]
[+1,750 EXP]
[+525 Death Tokens]
[+1 Terror Core]
[+50,000an EXP]
[+2,700 Death Tokens]
[+1 Nightmare Core]
The final Nightmare-ranked serpent.
A lightning-affinity creature whose scales crackled with electrical discharge, attempted to flee when it recognized the losing battle.
But Jack’s speed let him intercept, his body moving through Lightning Steps to block the escape route while Father Caelen delivered an execution through his blessing that dissolved the creature mid-retreat.
[Nightmare-Ranked Lightning Serpent Eliminated]
[+50,000 EXP]
[+2,700 Death Tokens]
[+1 Nightmare Core]
Then silence fell across the inverted forest, the last enemy eliminated, and no reinforcements emerged from the twisted vegetation.
Jack’s awareness swept the area methodically, confirming there were no remaining threats before he relaxed slightly.
"Exit should be visible now," he stated, his eyes tracking the environment for architectural anomalies that would indicate passage to the next floor.
Father Caelen pointed toward where the inverted tree canopy grew thickest, golden light from his recent blessing usage illuminating the structure that hadn’t been visible during combat.
A stone archway, similar to the entrance they’d used, stood among the roots extending into empty air above.
"There," the old priest confirmed. "Leads upward, which I assume means downward given this floor’s inverted nature."
They approached the archway, Jack’s bound serpent following obediently.
The passage led to a stone staircase that defied normal architectural logic, steps ascending toward what should have been the ceiling but functioned as a pathway deeper into the dungeon’s structure.
Jack stepped through first, his enhanced awareness cataloging the transition as gravity remained inverted despite changing floors.
The staircase continued upward for fifty feet before opening into the second floor’s environment.
This level maintained the inverted forest aesthetic but felt subtly different.
Almost as if it were less oppressive, the purple mist thinner, the twisted vegetation spaced further apart to create a more open combat arena.
Serpents emerged immediately, thirty-seven of them ranging across the same classification spread as the previous floor.
Terror, Dread, and Nightmare-ranked threats moving with coordinated precision.
They clearly had a higher level of intelligence compared to the first floor’s more straightforward assault.
Jack stomped his foot, and lightning traveled through the floor before erupting from the ground, striking three serpents.
[-14 HP]
"Wait, what..."