The tenth floor felt different the moment they stepped out of the portal. The air was heavy and thick, and it smelled like a storm was about to break. They found themselves at one end of a wide, rocky valley. The ground was cracked and dry, and the sky above was a swirling, angry gray. In the distance, they could see the portal to the next floor, glowing faintly.

But between them and that exit stood the guardians of this floor.

There were three of them. They were Two-Headed Giants, each one as tall as a small castle tower. Their skin was like tough, gray leather, and they were built of nothing but thick muscle. Each giant had two heads on a thick neck, and each head had a mind of its own. One head on each giant was a Brute, its small eyes filled with a simple, burning rage. The other head was a Caster, its eyes glowing with a nasty, green magical energy. One giant carried a tree trunk as a club. Another had a massive chain with a boulder tied to the end. The third just had fists the size of small cars.

The moment Alex and Saeko appeared, all six heads turned to look at them. The Brute heads roared, a sound so deep it made the ground shake. The Caster heads began to chant in a low, rumbling language, and green fire started to dance around their claws.

"This is not going to be like the swamp," Alex said, his voice low and serious. His sword appeared in his hand with a flash of dark light.

Saeko pulled her katana, the wind immediately whipping around her. "I'll take the one on the left. You take the one on the right. We meet in the middle."

"No," Alex said, his eyes scanning the giants. "We stick together. They're too strong to split up. We break them one at a time. Go for the Caster heads first. They're the real threat."

Before they could move, the giant in the middle, the one with the chain, swung its boulder. It wasn't aiming for them. It smashed the boulder into the ground right in front of them.

BOOM!

The impact was enormous. The ground exploded, sending a wave of shattered rock and dust flying toward them like a shotgun blast.

Alex didn't flinch. He slammed his foot down, and a wall of solid earth erupted from the ground in front of them, absorbing the deadly spray of stones.

"Now!" he yelled.

They burst out from behind the earth wall. Saeko was a green and silver blur, the wind carrying her straight toward the giant on the left. The giant's Caster head saw her coming and spat a glob of sizzling, green acid. Saeko twisted in mid-air, the wind pushing her just enough so the acid splattered on the ground beside her, eating a hole right through the rock.

She landed on the giant's leg, stabbing her katana deep into its thigh for a handhold. It roared in pain and tried to swat her like a bug. But she was already gone, scrambling up its back like a squirrel, heading for the Caster head.

Meanwhile, Alex ran straight at the giant with the tree-trunk club. The giant swung the trunk down, trying to crush him. Alex didn't dodge. He met the blow head-on. His dark sword, now covered in roaring red flames, met the falling tree trunk.

CRACK-OOM!

The tree trunk didn't just break; it exploded into a thousand burning splinters. The giant stared in shock with both its heads, looking at its now-empty hands.

That moment of shock was all Alex needed. He jumped, using a burst of fire from his feet to launch himself straight up, level with the giant's chest. The Caster head was already gathering another spell. Alex thrust his sword forward, and a thin, white-hot beam of fire shot from the tip. It pierced straight through the Caster head's glowing green eye.

The head screamed, a horrible, high-pitched sound, and then went limp, lolling to the side. The giant was now just a dumb Brute.

The third giant, the one with the massive fists, was almost on top of Saeko's giant, trying to grab her. Alex saw this and acted fast. He threw his sword. It spun through the air like a deadly top and sliced clean through the chain holding the boulder on the middle giant's weapon. The heavy boulder dropped, landing right on the foot of the third giant.

The giant howled in pain and stumbled, its attack on Saeko ruined.

Back on the first giant's shoulders, Saeko was having her own battle. The Caster head was trying to bite her, while its Brute partner was shaking its whole body, trying to throw her off. She held on tight with one hand, her katana in the other.

"Hold still!" she muttered. She saw her chance and took it. As the Caster head lunged to bite her, she didn't retreat. She leaned forward and thrust her katana straight into its open mouth, driving the blade deep into its brain.

The head made a gurgling sound and stopped moving. Now, only the Brute head was left on that giant, and it was furious. It reached back with a massive hand to pluck her off.

But Saeko was already jumping. She pushed off the giant's shoulder, flipping backward through the air. As she fell, she looked at Alex. He had his sword back in his hand and was pointing at the one-headed giant in front of him.

She understood.

As she landed lightly on the ground, she focused all her wind. It wasn't a gentle breeze anymore. It became a hurricane force, all directed into a single point at the tip of her katana. She swung her blade in a wide arc, and a crescent of invisible, compressed air shot forward.

At the exact same time, Alex swung his flaming sword. A wave of crimson fire, shaped like a dragon's claw, roared across the valley.

The wind and the fire met at the same giant.

The wind sliced into its chest, cutting a deep gash through its tough hide. A split second later, the fire hit the exact same spot, exploding inside the wound.

The giant didn't have time to scream. Its chest burst open from the inside. It stood still for a second, then crashed to the ground like a fallen mountain.

One down.

The remaining two giants, both now missing a Caster head, were just big, dumb, and angry. The fight was still dangerous, but the clever, magical part of the threat was gone.

The next ten minutes were a display of pure, overwhelming power. Alex and Saeko worked together perfectly. She would use her speed to distract a giant, cutting at its ankles and legs, making it stumble. While it was focused on her, Alex would deliver a finishing blow with his sword, cutting through its neck or driving his blade into its heart.

It was hard, brutal work. The giants were tough, and their blows could still have flattened either of them. But Alex and Saeko were faster and smarter. They were a perfect team.

Finally, the last giant fell with a ground-shaking thud. The valley was silent again, except for the crackle of the fading magical fires and their own heavy breathing.

Saeko leaned on her katana, wiping sweat from her forehead. "They were strong," she panted.

"They were," Alex agreed, his sword disappearing. He looked at the fallen giants and then at her. A small, tired smile appeared on his face. "But we were better."

He walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You did good. Taking out that Caster head was the key."

She smiled back, the tension of the fight finally leaving her body. "You weren't so bad yourself."

Together, they turned and walked toward the glowing portal, leaving the Valley of the Twin-Headed behind. They were tired, but they were unbroken. Floor by floor, they were getting closer to the bottom. And they knew that as long as they fought together, there was nothing in the Frozen Sepulcher that could stop them.