Wolf

Out of nowhere, as we’re passing through a spaceship, everything begins to tremble. The air, the spaceship, even the damned gravity element that’s jam packed into this floor. But the shaking doesn’t last long before a very powerful presence appears, does something I have no idea what is, and vanishes again. Leaving the shaking to come to an end.

“What the ever flipping hell was that?!” I shout, more than a little annoyed by it. Seeing as the shaking has roused all of the damned monsters on the floor.

Oh, and there’s the fact that it shook in the first place. Which probably shouldn’t have happened.

Makes me wonder if something’s happening in the void.

I glance down at my shadow where Sapphire is currently sleeping. Then I raise my head, search the System Forums a little without finding anything of note, and continue on through the spaceship.

Well, whatever is happening, it’s not my problem.

Someone else can deal with it.

I just want to get out of this hellscape of a floor theme.

Void Stream

A couple weeks later

The various stadiums all across the Void Stream are filled to the brim as Mikaela grins, floating next to the screen. Meanwhile the void creature in charge of the void stream is nowhere to be found, having vanished the moment the strange tremors began shaking the Void Stream.

As if on cue, the Void Stream begins to tremble again. A sensation that is only barely noticeable for those in the audience who are perceptive enough to spot it.

But none of them care as all of them have their eyes glued to the screen, and Mikaela is no exception.

Because on the screen, the Reaper of the Blue Moon and his daughter, Sapphire, can be seen standing in front of an exit. One glowing with a black and gold light.

An exit leading to the 250th floor, allowing the two to leave behind the bizarre floor that is the 249th floor. A floor filled to the brim with nature elemental energy, with trees floating around on clumps of soil, massive boulders, random plants, and various types of vines connecting spaceships together.

And the massive, green planet beneath it all.

A few minutes pass as the audience anxiously watches the Reaper of the Blue Moon and his daughter double and triple check everything. Then, at last, the duo reach for and touch the exit, making a bright gold and black light shine outwards, blinding everyone, even in the viewing room.

As soon as the light fades, an incredibly loud roar echoes throughout the viewing room, and all of the viewers catch a glimpse of the 250th floor.

A floor that appears to have absolutely nothing in it.

No matter how far Wolf and the viewers look, nothing but absolute darkness meets their gazes.

There are no spaceships, no spiders, no black holes, and not even any elements.

“Are they just in the void?” Mikaela can’t help but ask, feeling slightly confused by this turn of events. Then his eyes widen with a hint of horror, “Wait, how’re they going to level up if there’s nothing on the floor?! Isn’t this just feeding them to the event boss?!”

A loud roar echoes out from the screen again. One matched by the audience’s roar of anger at the one who designed the Beta Dungeon, making it so difficult.

“But, wait, where’s the roar coming from?” Mikaela asks, bringing up a question many of the viewers are wondering as well. But no matter how hard the viewers and Wolf search for the source of the roar, no one ever finds it.

So the Reaper of the Blue Moon proceeds to move through the floor, seemingly unperturbed by the strange events going on within the floor. In fact, Mikaela can see a spark of hope on his face.

I guess if there aren’t any monsters nearby, and The Winter Wolf can’t sense the event boss right away, that gives him time to search for a regular boss. He may have a chance to take one of those out.

Everyone watches as the father and daughter duo progress through the endless darkness. And the longer they walk, the worse Mikaela feels.

Minutes pass by in silence, and throughout that time, roars continue to echo out across the floor. But no matter how long the two walk, they never run into anything.

Eventually Mikaela feels himself frowning as a memory tickles the back of his mind. One wanting to be remembered, but not quite making it.

What am I forgetting…

He and the audience, who is growing stiff and silent from anxiety, continue watching for several more minutes as the roaring slowly begins to grow louder.

Wait… everything’s gone, no elements, no living beings, no spaceships… that sounds familiar…

Mikaela’s frown grows deeper as he tries hard to remember what it is that he’s, well, remembering.

Mutters begin to break the silence in the stadium as some people grow a little bored by the anticlimactic entering of the floor. An entry that they were expecting to be full of excitement and combat.

Then the roar echoes out again, but this time it has Mikaela frowning as he notices a difference in it now that it’s louder.

Is that… someone speaking?

Mikaela can’t help but feel that the roar is actually something trying to speak or say something, but being too far away to be understood.

More time passes and the audience becomes more active again, just like they were before Wolf had entered the floor.

Just what is it that I’m forgetting…

The roar continues growing louder and louder until more people in the audience begin to notice the oddity that Mikaela noticed, and more conversations break out.

“That thing sure is loud…” Wolf mutters, his voice echoing across the stadium.

Then the roar comes back once more, even louder than before.

And this time it’s clear as day what the source is saying.

“WHERE ARE YOU REAPER OF THE BLUE MOON!!?!??!”

Absolute silence fills the Void Stream. Meanwhile Mikaela’s eyes widen in shock as he finally remembers what it is he was trying to remember.

“A being that can devour anything and grow stronger from it, whether from life force or the elements within what it devours…” Mikaela slowly mutters, his voice resonating within the silence of the stadium. “One of the most feared beings in the universe.”

A dark atmosphere fills the stadium at his words as more than a few people reach the same conclusion as him.

I forgot entirely that it was also a void creature since we’ve known about them before the void started making moves…

It doesn’t take long before a massive creature finally begins to be visible in the distance. One as large as a planet with pitch black, draconic scales coating its entire body, a massive mouth similar to a lamprey’s mouth, and a single pair of legs and arms.

“A devourer…” Mikaela mutters, feeling a chill run down his spine. “The Reaper really brought a devourer into the Beta Dungeon as an event boss…”

“SHOW YOURSELF REAPER!!!!”