My Overpowered Bunny Girls

Chapter 41: 41. The Veiled Colosseum: Floors 6–9

A spiral staircase led down into darkness filled with whispers.

Stone mouths lined the walls, their lips moving silently. As the party descended, the whispers grew louder and crueler.

"You’re still a mid-tier climber. You almost died on Floor 3. What happens when they realize you’re not worth the slot?"

Garrett stopped.

Nathan turned. The sheep Climber stood rigid, mace loose in his grip. Red bleated worriedly. The whispers weren’t just in Garrett’s head... the veil projected them for all to hear.

"You’re dead weight. The party carries you. When the real fight comes, you’ll fall first. You know it. They know it."

"Garrett." Nathan’s voice cut through. "They’re lying. That’s now what we think."

"Are they?" Garrett’s voice was hollow. "I’m Level 32. I almost died to Crawlers. I needed saving on Floor 3 and the bridge, from a fresh climber!. When have I ever carried my own weight?"

"On Floor 5," Nathan said. "You held the left flank alone. You didn’t break. You fought."

"That’s not—"

"You saved me on the bridge too," Dillon added, serious for once. "I grabbed you, but you grabbed me back. That’s not dead weight. That’s a teammate."

The whispers grew desperate. A monster called a Feeder emerged from the wall... a shifting mass of mouths and shadow, fed by Garrett’s doubt. It lunged.

Red intercepted, armored wool and horns driving into the creature. But the Feeder was strong... Garrett’s fear made it swell.

"Garrett!" Nathan called. "You’re here because I chose you. Not for numbers. Because you showed up injured on Floor 3 and kept fighting. Because you volunteered. Because you never quit. You’re my comrade! Now fight!"

Garrett’s grip tightened. His eyes hardened. "Yes... I’m here because I earned it," he said, louder. "I earned it!"

He swung. The mace struck the Feeder’s core. Red’s horns followed. The creature shrieked and dissolved, starved of doubt.

The whispers faded. Silence returned.

[Ding! Floor 6 Cleared!]

[Progress: Maintaining lead.]

---

Floor 7 was a frozen garden.

Crystalline flowers glittered under silver mist. Fountains stood still, water caught mid-splash as ice. Among the plants stood statues... Climbers who had failed, their faces frozen in despair.

"Beautiful," Elise murmured.

"Beautiful and creepy," Dillon said. "My favorite mix."

Frost Wraiths appeared silently from the ice. Barely visible... ripples in cold air. Their touch didn’t wound. It stole memories.

One Wraith passed through Dillon. He stumbled, clutching his head. "I can’t remember my first sword instructor’s name. I know he mattered, but..."

"Don’t let them touch you," Nathan ordered. "Elise, can you freeze them?"

Elise raised her staff. [Mana Bolt] fired... but the Wraith phased through. She adjusted. She layered [Mana Shield] as a curved wall in front of the Wraith. It recoiled, its phasing disrupted. Then she collapsed the shield inward, trapping the Wraith in frozen mana. It shattered.

"That’s a unique way to use that skill," Nathan said, impressed.

"It’s still a shield. Just applied differently." Elise’s eyes showed satisfaction. "They can’t phase through mana-dense barriers."

But the Wraiths learned. The next wave came faster. One passed through Mirko... "I can’t remember the first song I composed for Master." Another passed through Nathan... for a terrible moment he couldn’t picture Lucy’s face, only her shape.

Then the Wraiths turned on Elise.

They didn’t attack. They hovered and whispered.

"You are your mother’s daughter. Cold. Distant. Your summon is a frost Golem because it matched your heart, Frozen, no warmth. What will you do when they all leave? When Nathan finds someone warmer...."

Elise’s [Mana Bolts] wavered. Her Frost Golem slowed. Ice at her feet cracked.

Nathan stepped forward, but Mirko held him back. "Mastee, I think She needs to face this alone."

"Elise," Nathan said steadily. "Whatever they’re showing you... it’s not real. You’re not cold. You gave me an Elixir and insisted on my rest. You joined a party when you could have stepped aside and watched me failed. You’ve saved all of us. That’s not cold. That’s... a warm choice."

Elise was silent. The Wraiths pressed closer.

Then the temperature plummeted.

Frost exploded outward from Elise in a radial wave. Crystals shattered. Fountains cracked. The Wraiths shrieked as the cold surpassed anything they could phase through... this was winter distilled into absolute cold.

At the center, Elise’s eyes blazed pale blue.

"I... am not my mother," she said quietly. "I am Elise Winterhart. I am not cold. I am focused. There is... a difference!."

She raised her staff. New mana gathered, a spear of crystallized frost, denser and brighter than any bolt. The skill formed fully in her mind.

[Glacial Lance lv.1]

She released. The spear punched through a Wraith, and it evaporated... unmade by a cold so pure it left nothing behind. The rest fled.

[Ding! Floor 7 Cleared!]

Dillon exhaled. "Terrifying. In a good way."

Elise lowered her staff. "I... lost control."

"No," Nathan said. "You seemed pretty much in control to me"

Elise met his eyes, a flicker of warmth in her expression. Then she turned to the exit. "We’re still ahead. Let’s keep it that way."

---

Floor 8 was a burning theater.

The auditorium stretched around them... velvet and wood in flames. The stage was a platform ringed by fire curtains. In the balconies, shadowed figures sat watching.

Pyre Actors emerged from the flames... humanoid fire, moving like dancers. Their strikes were choreographed, spinning and leaping.

Dillon met them blade-first. [Quick Draw] cut through one, then another. But the audience laughed, and the flames burned brighter, and the Actors sped up... feeding on attention.

"The samurai chasing a woman who doesn’t want him. The second son always performing. When will you stop pretending?"

The whispers came from the audience’s laughter, from the flames, from the Actors mocking his moves.

Dillon’s strikes grew wilder. Flashier. He tried to out-perform them, but every flourish made them stronger.

"You’re trying too hard," Nathan called. "Stop performing and Just fight."

"I am fighting!"

"No. You’re putting on a show." Nathan tracked the Actors... strongest when Dillon looked at the audience, weakest when he focused on the enemy. "Stop caring what they think. Just be yourself."

"Be myself?" Dillon laughed, but it was strained. "I don’t... know who that is."

"Then you better find out or you’re dead."

An Actor lunged. Dillon’s katana came up and stopped. No flourish. No spin. He just stepped forward and cut, a clean strike, faster than any [Quick Draw] he’d done. The Actor dissolved.

Dillon stared at his blade. "Huh."

Another Actor. Same result. Clean. Efficient.

"You know what?" Dillon said quietly. "I’ve been trying to impress everyone. My family. Elise. Even myself." He sheathed his katana. The audience leaned in. Then he drew again... no showmanship, just a fluid arc. [Quick Draw]. Three Actors fell.

"Maybe I don’t need to impress anyone," he said. "Maybe just fighting well is enough, maybe I am just impressive as I am... Naturally" he grinned.

The audience fell silent. The flames dimmed. The remaining Actors collapsed, starved.

[Ding! Floor 8 Cleared!]

---

Floor 9 was a bridge and a pre-final reckoning.

The span crossed a chasm of silver light. Along it stood shadow versions of each party member, waiting.

Nathan’s Shadow Self stood at the midpoint. It looked exactly like him... same build, same tired eyes. But its gaze was knowing.

"You died pathetically."

The words hit Nathan like a blow.

"This body isn’t yours. This life isn’t yours. Lucy isn’t really your sister... you simply inherited her. When they find out what you really are... a dead man wearing a another’s skin... will they still follow you? Will Mirko still call you Master? Will Kuro trust you? Will Elise think you’re worth saving?"

Nathan stopped. His bow hung loose.

Further along the bridge, the others faced their shadows. Garrett’s sneering, Dillon’s mocking, Elise’s cold. But Nathan could only see his own.

"I know...." he said quietly. "...I know I’m not the original Nathan Cross. I’m an impostor in a life I didn’t earn... Or even deserve."

The Shadow smiled.

"Then why keep fighting? Why not—"

"Because none of that matters."

Nathan’s voice grew steady.

"I died. I don’t know why I woke up here. But I did. Since then, I’ve fought for Lucy. I’ve fought with Mirko. I’ve trained Kuro. I’ve built a party that trusts me... not because I’m planned to replace the original, but because of what I’ve simply done. You can whisper every doubt you want into my ears. But I’m still here, still gonna be here. And I’m not giving this life up, not for you, not for anybody!"

He stepped forward.

’Master.’ Mirko’s voice through the link was fierce. ’That thing is not real. I am real. Kuro is real. Lucy is real. The party is real. Whatever you were before... you are Our Nathan Cross now. And That is enough. It has always been enough... For me’

Nathan walked through his Shadow. It dissolved like mist.

At the bridge’s end, the exit portal pulsed. Beyond it, another portal which was larger, darker, led to Floor 10.

Derek’s party emerged from the far side at the same moment. Derek looked pale. Tyler and Reid shaken. Even Marcus Kade’s expression had shifted, not shaken, but something had gotten under his skin. He met Nathan’s eyes. ƒreewebɳovel.com

"Floor 10, Bunny Boy" Kade said. "No more running. Just us."

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, Just us."

He checked Kuro’s status. Floor 9 had no enemies, only shadows so no xp was gained for a level up. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

’The boss floor will provide,’ Kuro said. ’And when the Berserker falls, I will rise.’

"Let’s not get ahead of ourselves."

’I never do. Its just a simple calculatiom.’

---

The Floor 10 portal loomed as a massive arch of obsidian and silver. The veil around it was almost liquid, swirling in strange colors.

Nathan’s party gathered at the threshold. Garrett, resolute. Dillon, quiet. Elise, calm. Mirko, blade drawn. Kuro, a shadow on his shoulder, 97% of the way to her next level up threshold.

Across the chamber, Derek’s party did the same. Derek’s Salamander hissed steam. Tyler’s Rock Hound had stopped trembling. Reid’s Sky Fairy glowed steady.

And Marcus smiled. Small and Anticipatory. The smile of a man who’d found something worth breaking.

"See you on the other side, Cross."

Nathan met his eyes. "You will."

Both parties stepped through.