Karl advanced toward the [Floral Guardian] and extended his arm toward its chest.

From the very first moment he had seen that thing, he had noticed it, the small key embedded in the guardian's chest, jutting out just enough to be visible.

It wasn't obvious at first glance, but once you saw it, you couldn't unsee it. It looked almost deliberate, as if it had been placed there on purpose, waiting.

He crouched down beside the guardian's scorched remains and wrapped his fingers around the key lodged in its chest.

The material around it was cold. Unnatural. Karl pulled.

Fwoosh!

He put real strength into it this time, leaning back and tightening his grip, veins standing out in his arm. The key didn't move. Not even a millimeter.

He frowned and tried again, this time bracing his foot against the guardian's remains. Nothing.

"Well," Karl muttered, straightening up, "guess I'll do the same thing I did against the [Flower Behemoth]."

A grin crept onto his face as he backed away and raised his staff, pointing it directly at the guardian's corpse.

Blazing Meteor!

The spell formed instantly.

BOOM!

A massive meteor crashed down from above, slamming into the remains and exploding outward. Flames surged in every direction, engulfing the guardian in heat and light. The ground trembled, and ash was thrown into the air.

Karl didn't stop at only that though, because the moment the cooldown ended, he launched another Blazing Meteor. Then another.

Every five seconds, a meteor fell, each one crashing into the same spot with relentless force. Fire layered over fire, heat over heat. The guardian's body burned, cracked, and crumbled. Stone-like petals shattered. Thick vines turned to blackened dust.

Karl kept going. Ten meteors. Maybe more.

He didn't bother counting. He only stopped when the entire clearing was nothing but scorched earth and drifting ash.

After a moment, Karl lowered his staff and stepped forward.

And as the mist slowly cleared. Everything else was gone.

The [Floral Guardian] had been completely annihilated, reduced to nothing but ash and fragments scattered across the ground, just like what he had done to the [Flower Behemoth].

But the small section of its chest remained. Perfectly intact.

"…What?"

The piece of chest that held the key was untouched, not even scratched. The key itself still sat there, embedded exactly as before.

Karl stared at it.

"…."

For a few seconds, he said nothing. He simply looked at it, his expression blank.

Blazing Meteor! Storm of Lightning! Permafrost Crystals! Eclipse Beam!

He cast them one after another without pause.

Boom! Zap! Bam! BOOM!

Fire scorched it. Lightning struck it. Crystals shattered into it. A beam of condensed darkness slammed into it with overwhelming force.

And after every spell, Karl stepped closer to check. Nothing. Not even dust.

"I see," Karl sighed, lowering his staff. "So that thing's impossible to destroy."

He looked down at the key again.

"I actually have to pull it out."

Karl grabbed the key once more and pulled. Harder this time.

He strained, muscles screaming as he put everything he had into it. He pulled from different angles, tried twisting it, yanking it, even bracing himself with both feet planted firmly into the ground.

Five minutes passed. Still nothing. Karl let go and exhaled slowly.

His strength wasn't weak, but it wasn't overwhelming either. Compared to heavy melee-focused builds, he was still lacking.

"…Maybe I'm just not strong enough," he muttered, "But that doesn't make sense, cause [Gods Ascension] is supposed to be fair to all."

He turned his head slightly.

"Moonless," Karl said, pointing toward the intact chest piece, "Destroy that thing, try not to eat it though."

Moonless reacted instantly.

She leapt forward, claws flashing as she slashed at the chest piece with full force.

SLASH! SLASH!

Her claws struck again and again, sparks flying as they collided with the surface. She hit it dozens of times, faster and harder, frustration clearly building.

Then she bit into it. Her jaws clamped down with all her strength. Nothing.

Moonless growled, backing away for a moment before lunging again. She attacked from another angle, claws, fangs, sheer brute force.

Still nothing. Her annoyance boiled over.

Ignoring Karl's order, she snapped the chest piece up and swallowed it whole.

Karl's eyes widened.

"…Moonless."

A second later, she gagged and spat it back out, the piece landing on the ground with a dull thud. It looked exactly the same as before. Completely unharmed.

"…Yeah," Karl said slowly, his expression tightening. "That confirms it."

He looked down at the key again.

"That thing can't be taken out with raw strength. There has to be a condition."

And he didn't have unlimited time to figure it out.

Right in front of the gate behind the guardian, a timer appeared.

[23 hours, 55 minutes and 27 seconds left.]

Karl's gaze lingered on it.

Once that timer hit zero, the [Floral Guardian] would revive. And when it did, the chest piece in front of him would disappear.

Of course, he could kill it again. That part wasn't the issue.

The problem was that he had a bad feeling about repeating this process without understanding what was really going on.

Karl sat down on the ground and picked up the chest piece, turning it over in his hands.

"Maybe only someone at level 50 can obtain it," he said out loud. "Or maybe I really do need more strength."

He stared at the key, then at the gate, then back at the massive flower structure looming nearby.

He ran through every possibility he could think of: perhaps a level requirement or hidden condition

The level 50 theory made the most sense. He was level 47 right now, close, but not there yet.

If the system locked this behind a strict threshold, then no amount of brute force would matter.

It would take time to level up, but it was doable.

And then—

"Wait."

Karl froze. His eyes sharpened.

"The [Floral King]."

The thought hit him all at once. The strongest being in the entire [Blooming Lands].

Stronger than the [Flower Behemoth]. Stronger than the [Blooming Witch]. Stronger even than the [Floral Guardian].

He was on an entirely different level. So strong, in fact, that no one had ever truly killed him.

And there was a reason for that: you couldn't enter the [Floral Castle] if you were above or below level 50. The restriction was absolute.

Just like the [Moon Tower], once you passed that level range, you were locked out permanently. It was the system's way of enforcing progression.

Karl had already seen how that worked.

And just like the tower, the castle likely tied directly into the path toward the [Gods Continent].

The difference was that even players below level 50 couldn't enter the castle either.

Only level 50 players, and exactly 50, could enter the [Floral Castle].

In fact, most players met the [Floral King] once in their entire lives. Then never again.

That was why this being was such a mystery, and he only came out of his castle once in a while. And it would only be for extremely important matters.

Karl knew from his past life he only ever came out if things were REALLY bad.

"Well," Karl thought, slowly nodding, "guess I'll have to level up… and talk to the [Floral King]."

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