Chapter 72 - 71:<Ferro-Resonant Stalker (B)>

The transition this time wasn’t a stretch or a snap, it was a heavy, metallic thud that reverberated straight through the soles of my boots.

As the light of the teleportation circle died down, I wasn’t greeted by a swamp or a void, but by the cold, oppressive interior of a massive subterranean cathedral made entirely of reinforced, matte-black iron.

The architecture was industrial and suffocating. Towering pillars of dark metal rose into a ceiling lost in a haze of yellow sulfurous fog, connected by thick, pulsing copper conduits and vertical cooling fins that hissed with escaping steam. The air here was thick—not with pressure, but with a fine metallic dust that tasted like old pennies and ozone. Every breath felt like I was inhaling iron filings, and a low-frequency hum rippled through the floor, settling into my joints like lead.

The ground beneath me wasn’t stone. It was a series of smooth, interlocking iron plates that acted as a kinetic superconductor. I could feel the very weight of my footsteps being pulled away, rippling out in faint, glowing blue waves of energy that the floor seemed to "swallow."

That’s when I saw the residents.

They were clinging to the iron pillars like jagged, 12-foot gargoyles. Their skin wasn’t solid, it was covered in a "

Living

Ferrofluid

"—an oily, black liquid metal that constantly shivered , spiked , and rippled in rhythm with the room’s hum. They didn’t have eyes. Instead, they had massive, tuning-fork-like horns that began to glow with a dull, predatory orange the moment they "

locked

on

" to the aura I was radiating..

[MUTATED][ELITE]<Ferro-Resonant Stalker(B)>

They didn’t move with individual autonomy. Instead, As one, they tapped their clawed feet against the iron, sending a synchronized, metallic thrum through the cathedral.

I didn’t know just what the hell it was I was looking it, but I wasn’t confused for too long..

[Ding]

[Chaotic comprehension activating..]

....

[You have gained insight into kinetic resonance...

[You have gained insight into kinetic resonance..

.....

.....

[You have comprehended <Kinetic Link Protocol(S)>...

...

I just stared, speechless..

An

S-rank

ability on a group of

B-rank

creatures?..

The tower wasn’t even trying to hid the fact that it’s just pulling out way over the top creatures, nerfing them down a then sending them to mark me..

Honestly, I was surprised it hadn’t sent the real things after me, cause I was pretty sure it’d be contemplating it..

And from the knowledge I’d just siphoned from the ability

<Kinetic Link Protocol>,

it would seem the Tower wasn’t even trying to dodge me anymore. It just turned the entire floor into a biological circuit. The "Kinetic Link" meant that these things were tethered to the very structure of the spire—any blow I land wouldn’t just hit one of them.

No!

It’ll be instantly distributed across the entire iron network.

The Tower had effectively stopped trying to out-muscle me. Now, it was trying to turn me into a lightning rod and "ground" my power into the earth...

"Heh...really? Redirection and grounding? That’s the best you got?" You’d have something this ancient would learn from its previous mistakes quiet easily, yet it seems I’d overestimated the brightness of a non-living entity Due to its level of sentience.

Or maybe the tower just didn’t have any other options left if it wanted to maintain any form of dignity? After all, the creatures this thing was pulling out weren’t anything recorded in the books I’ve read..

So they were either too insignificant or too significant, more likely the latter case, which would make sense since the general public wouldn’t be able to identify just what rank they belonged to, hence unable to call it out on its foul play..

"Nevertheless, it’s all nothing but a futile endeavor in the end"

"You can link one hundred dumb rocks, you can link one thousand dumb statues, the results remain the same..

"I Am Inevitable!!!"

The tower seemed to have forgotten something in its haste to prepare a counter..

It forgot to thin the atmosphere this time around..

I didn’t need it to level floors, but the joy I got from essentially

wielding the weight of the world?

Addicting!!

So, right here, right now, facing a horde of over a hundred

B-rank Elite mutated creatures,

things that felt profoundly more powerful than some A-rank creatures out there, I took my stance, raised my right arm, poised for the first strike..

The creatures didn’t wait, they tower’s experience kicking it...

Hummmmmmmmm!!!!!!

In one synchronized motion, they slammed their feet into the iron floor, the forks on their heads vibrating with a resonance thrumming sound that traveled straight through my bones..

It didn’t matter what defensive measure I’d set up earlier, the attack seemed to bypass it all, settling into my bones like static, the shock was unpleasant...

"Blerghhhhhh!!!!"

A mouthful of blood poured out my mouth before I could stop it..

I’d been injured...

<Chaotic Denial>

immediately

denied

any form of damage, but the reality remained..

These things had done what no other monster could do until now, they landed a hit, and it didn’t feel pleasant, not at all...

But then...

[Ding]

[Chaotic Adaptation activating...]

I smiled....

********

Outside the spire...

The moment Dante coughed up a mouthful of blood, the entire audience went crazy..

"He’s injured!!!!!

"He finally took a hit.. OH MY GOODNESS!!!

"What the hell is the tower spawning even? What the hell are those things??"

The people couldn’t take it anymore, the tower was very clearly cheating and breaking its own rules, just what sort of creature had attacks that worked on vibrational frequencies?

"Everyone!! Don’t panic, the

one-punch maestro

is yet to meet a foe he cannot vanquish, these few will not be any different!!!" A rallying voice stopped the spiraling crowds.

"He’s right.. Dante will surely land another devastating hit to that petty tower..

"Yea.. go Dante, we support you.."

"DANTE!!!! DANTE!!! DANTE!!!"

The cheers began once more..

Somehow, during the course of this prestigious event, the

tower of ascension,

an ancient landmark of incredible renown, usually spoke about in awe and reverence, had somehow become the target of public outrage all because of a young white haired menace that decided to turn a trial into a demolition derby...

....

"

Ferro-Resonant Stalkers,

it’s spawning

Ferro-Resonant Stalkers

now....

"This is getting our hand a bit no?...

The supervisors looked pale as they saw the hundred+ army of metallic black gargoyle like monsters surrounding Dante, their daunting an jarring appearance seeming to have brought traumatic memories...

Valen shook his head,

’boy, it’s really taken a liking to you huh?’

He couldn’t help chuckling quietly...

*************

[Chaotic Adaptation completed...

[Integration successful....

"Alright, tower, you couldn’t handle the heat and now you want me to spread the love? Well who am I to be disrespectful to my elders?" I grinned..

The type that anyone who’d been aware of the proceedings could easily recognize..

It was a grin that said quite clearly "I see your hand, so let me raise you mine"

Still within my punching stance, I willed the surrounding atmosphere to condense around my fist..

I felt the difference immediately..

The atmosphere here was

Heavier,

more

Weighted...

The stalkers didn’t wait, they slammed their feet again, that same resonant hum thrumming through my bones...

Nothing..

No blood, no quakes...Nothing...

"Heh, nice try"..

Once the

weight

on my hands got too heavy,

"Fine. Let’s see how much ’burden’ your little network can handle before the whole circuit fries." I muttered softly as I let the punch fly...

Crack!!!

Booooooommmmmm!!

The punch collided with the horde of monsters in a sickening crack, a thrumming hum threatening to rip me apart as the entire monster horde and floor met the same fate as the 40 others before it...

That made the score a daunting..

Me 4 v tower 0

I could honestly understand why it was tweaking, not that I cared though, because right now all that was on my mind was...

"Next..."

********

A/N: 41 floors and you still ain’t getting the gist? Man gotta admire the tower’s determination lol....

PS: if you noticed any typing errors, please notify me, this is one of them drowsiness types..

*********

Thanks for reading...