CHAPTER 281: PIONEER OF BLOOD

They had barely taken a step when a crisp notification exploded in everyone’s vision.

---

[GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT!]

[The Adventurer Guild has cleared Floor 1 of the Blood Tower!]

[Title ’Pioneer of Blood (Sector Variant)’ has been awarded to: Adventurer Guild (Valerian Branch)!]

[All Adventurer Guild members currently inside the Tower will receive +10% Tower Rewards (First 3 Floors).]

---

The system message rolled across the sky like a banner.

Outside the tower — in the cities, viewing halls, and barracks — people cheered.

"In less than five minutes?!"

"That’s the Adventurer Guild for you!"

"Scarlet did it again!"

Inside Broken Dawn’s portal zone, Bunny clicked her tongue. "Tch. They really rushed it."

Sophie glanced sideways and mumbled under her breath, "We could have taken it."

"We could, but like I said before, the first few floors don’t have that many treasures, so it’s not worth it," Gabriel said without looking back.

He didn’t even slow down.

He stepped through the portal.

The others followed.

The world warped.

For a moment, everything turned red and black, like they were trapped inside blood-colored fog. Spatial power pulled at them — not painfully, but with an eerie chill.

Then their feet hit stone.

When their eyes adjusted to the new environment, a holographic screen flashed across their retinas.

---

[BLOOD TOWER — FLOOR 1]

---

The place was exactly as Gabriel remembered — a circular hall, about thirty meters wide, made of dark red stone. Four entrances led deeper into the floor. Red torches burned without smoke, the air humid and faintly metallic.

And yes — monsters were already wandering.

Not a horde, but scattered groups of blood ghouls, blood slimes clinging to the walls, and a few tower sentry skeletons with glowing red sigils carved into their skulls.

"Let’s clear it fast," Gabriel said, stepping forward.

The gunslingers, armed with their Hellfire Turrets, stepped up and opened fire.

Ragnarok99 dashed ahead, his movement cracking the ground slightly.

Gabriel frowned. He could tell the warrior was putting in more strength than necessary for such weak monsters.

Ragnarok didn’t drag it out — he simply approached the nearest group of sentry skeletons and swung his sword once.

SHING!

Three skeletons collapsed instantly.

Green-blue runes flashed across his arm, announcing the kills.

Without hesitation, he charged the next group and drew their aggro.

"Come at me!"

Four blood ghouls screeched and lunged, claws slashing wildly. He blocked all their attacks with ease.

Sophie flicked her fingers and sprinkled seeds into the air. In an instant, vines wrapped in green flames erupted, devouring the blood monsters. The sound of crushing bones echoed through the hall.

At the same time, Samantha finished her chant.

Two knight skeletons rose behind her and charged forward.

They clashed with the ghouls and pinned them down.

Gabriel continued to observe, unmoving. He simply watched as his guild members handled the mobs.

It was that easy.

Floor 1 didn’t deserve to be called a challenge.

---

Meanwhile, in the real world...

A live broadcast was currently streaming.

---

"And that, folks, is the Adventurer Guild taking the FIRST TITLE of the Blood Tower descent!" a familiar, overly excited voice shouted. "I’m your host, DOODLE BRAMBLETON, joined by my sleepy co-host who didn’t believe they’d clear it that fast!"

Another voice grumbled, "I said ten minutes, not five..."

Doodle laughed. "You said the Tower would slow them down! But guess what — they had Scarlet, they had Lilly, and they had Brunt just smashing everything! Floor One is GONE!"

The feed displayed clips from the Adventurer Guild’s POV — Scarlet dashing gracefully through enemies, slicing monsters apart; Alice vanishing and reappearing between attacks; and Brunt punching a blood slime so hard it splattered across the wall.

Doodle kept talking.

"Now, now, now, I know what you’re all waiting for — you’re waiting for the other guild..."

The chat spammed wildly:

BROKEEEEEN

SIR BROKEN POV

WHERE HE AT

DID HE ENTER?!

Doodle grinned into the camera. "Don’t worry, don’t worry, I got you! Reports from our field watchers say Broken Dawn just entered not too long ago! Don’t panic — we should get a livestream POV from Bunny anytime soon!"

---

Back inside the Tower...

They had already cleared the first room.

Gabriel pointed toward the staircase.

There was no magical formation to teleport them to the next floor — they had to walk.

It wasn’t exactly difficult, but over time, it would wear even the strongest adventurers down.

A wide stairway spiraled upward on the opposite side of the hall. No boss. No guardian. Just simple mobs.

"Wait, that’s it?" Ragnarok said. "We didn’t even—"

"Like I said, no need for the treasures here," Gabriel cut him off as he began climbing.

"You won’t even find any treasure to begin with."

Even the mobs were so weak that he didn’t bother using his Extraction talent — it wasn’t worth it.

They ascended.

The transition was instant.

---

[BLOOD TOWER — FLOOR 2]

---

This time, the hall was narrower — more of a corridor network. Red chains dangled from the ceiling. The sound of steady dripping echoed through the area.

Cassie wrinkled her nose.

"Smells like iron."

"Blood slimes," Gabriel said calmly, glancing upward. "And leech bats. Watch the ceiling."

The moment he spoke, three bat-like creatures made of pulsing blood dropped down screeching.

Ragnarok swung his greatsword upward.

BAM!

All three bats exploded into red pulp, smearing the floor and walls.

"Ew," Samantha’s expression twitched.

Ragnarok rolled his eyes. "Coming from a necromancer of all people, tch."

"Gunslingers," Gabriel called out calmly. His voice was low, firm, and confident.

They stepped forward. The turrets whirled red and unleashed bursts of flame at the slimes. For some reason, the fire worked especially well — the creatures melted instantly.

---

Meanwhile, on the third floor, three individuals stood behind a group of fighters currently battling blood-type monsters.

They were members of the Adventurer Guild — and the trio behind them was none other than Andrew, Garth, and Yumi.

Andrew pressed a hand to the small earpiece in his ear. He seemed to be receiving an update. Moments later, a grin spread across his face.

’He’s in.’

...

It’s A New Month Don’t Forgot to Vote!!!!!