The bottom of the Great Fall was a vast expanse of water.
Here, water thundered down from hundreds of meters above, filling the air with a constant booming roar. At the same time, the mist it kicked up spread across the surroundings, forming an environment similar to the White Mist Forest of the Upper Floors.
Visibility was terrible.
This place was, without question, the perfect environment for an ambush.
Of course, the ones being ambushed… were adventurers.
Monsters were born and spawned here, giving them full terrain advantage.
At this moment, Renjiro (Aether) and Lumine glided down using Wings of Wind, both wrapped in layers of Water Sprite Veil Cloth.
Just like Fire Sprite Wool Cloth, this was special environmental gear.
Normally, the Water Sprite Veil Cloth allowed adventurers to breathe longer underwater and increased their swimming speed.
Without it, entering the Water Labyrinth would be incredibly dangerous.
But even with the Veil Cloth, this place was anything but safe.
Right now,
"The mist near the waterfall is too thick, visibility is terrible, and there's nowhere solid to land. Let's go down near the shallow edge instead."
"Alright."
After a brief exchange over their mental link, the two adjusted their flight paths and prepared to land in a shallow area.
At this point, Renjiro (Aether) had already spotted the twin-headed dragon below.
Floor Bosses were always massive, Goliath, Udaeus, Balor… all over dozens of meters tall.
Amphisbaena was no exception.
If anything,
"This thing is basically a two-headed recolor of Ghidorah… just missing one head."
Sure, Amphisbaena wasn't quite as large as the legendary King Ghidorah.
But calling it a kaiju was still perfectly reasonable.
Even from above, with the terrain advantage, the sight of it sent a shiver through Renjiro (Aether)'s chest.
The Worm Well was big… but this? This was different.
There was pressure, real pressure.
As expected of a Floor Boss.
"If I had the choice, I'd really rather not be fighting something of this scale right now…"
But even so,
After a deep breath, his eyes sharpened.
To become stronger, adventurers had to push their limits.
The Genshin System offered him immense support, but it also raised the standard of what he needed to achieve.
The heroic feat recognized by the gods was the radiance born from giving everything.
If leveling up were as simple as playing it safe, then the Sword Princess would have already chopped Goliath apart with a hand strike.
The gods wanted heroes, not clowns.
Renjiro understood this, he knew the hidden truths of this era, knew of the Promised Day to come.
So naturally, his path to leveling would be absurdly difficult.
His main body would need to defeat the Twin-Headed Dragon just to reach Lv.2.
"…One step at a time. Fight first, think later."
Driving away distracting thoughts, he focused.
The moment he and Lumine landed,
BOOM BOOM,
The Twin-Headed Dragon did not react yet.
But the surrounding lesser monsters instantly stirred, hostility igniting like wildfire.
Red arrows filled his vision.
Perfect.
"Let's say hello with something big."
Renjiro (Aether) and Lumine exchanged a look, then leapt upward together.
[Drift With the Wind]
[Drift With the Wind]
Two massive tornadoes infused with elemental power burst into being, turning water vapor into spiraling waterspouts as they swept up every nearby monster, and surged straight toward Amphisbaena.
The enormous creature finally stirred.
From above, it was clear:
The left head had azure eyes.
The right head had red eyes.
Azure represented Incendiary Azure Flame.
Red represents Anti-Magic Crimson Miasma.
But instead of using either ability, the creature simply moved.
A single motion, its body surged out of the water, wings spread, and it slipped past the twin tornadoes with ease.
Its attention fixed instantly on the two small figures at the shore.
Suddenly,
SPLASH,
A surprise strike from the side.
But the Floor Boss's reflexes were sharp, it barely avoided it in time.
In the left head's peripheral vision, a streak of obsidian light had darted toward its blind spot.
The attacker's intent was clear, eliminate one of Amphisbaena's heads' shared field of view.
But it failed.
Not far away,
"Told you, Floor Bosses aren't dumb. Even sending Xiao to blink in didn't land the hit immediately."
"But that's fine. I expected this."
"Phase one, complete."
Renjiro (Aether) and Lumine turned and sprinted, entering full retreat formation.
Behind them,
ROOOOAR!!
A furious roar echoed through the entire floor.
"Ah, there we go. Get angry. Chase us."
Honestly, if the Twin-Headed Dragon stayed in the water, the fight would be unwinnable.
They couldn't afford to burn Diona's entire mana bar just to freeze the lake.
The only way to win was if Amphisbaena abandoned its terrain advantage.
Which it had just done.
High above,
FWOOOOSH,
Despite its massive size, the dragon moved with explosive speed.
In just seconds,
HAAAH,
The left head inhaled deeply, preparing to unleash Azure Flame.
But,
Another spike of killing intent.
The right head snapped around instantly to intercept.
Yet this time,
CRUNCH,
It bit down on something.
BOOOOOOM!!
The explosive blast tore the entire red-eyed head apart.
The massive creature lost balance and began to fall, Azure Flame canceled mid-charge.
Not far away,
"Heh. Paimon + Flare Stones really is a great combo."
"…It's just…"
Renjiro (Aether)'s expression twitched.
"It's damn expensive."
=============
129+ Advance Chapters Available on Patreon! Patreon.com/Veltoria