· Splitting the Army

"Below?"

Finn heard Lu Qiming's words and looked down through the hole leading directly to the 58th floor. At the bottom, Wyvern circled in the sky, while red Cannon Dragon on the ground opened their massive maws, aiming straight at the group above.

"Move!"

Finn shouted, leading everyone to scramble away from their original position; the ground they had been standing on was already locked onto by the monsters.

BOOM!

A pillar of crimson light erupted, and the surrounding ground melted into flowing liquid from the intense heat.

"Captain, let me go down and finish them off!"

Bete clenched his fists, glaring at the spot where they had just been. Even they couldn't ignore attacks of that magnitude, and if they continued to descend level by level, they would only serve as sitting ducks.

"Fine. We'll split into two teams. Qiming, you take Tione and her sister, along with Bete, Lefiya, and Gareth, and head straight for the 58th floor. The rest will proceed via the normal route."

Finn looked down and nodded, agreeing with Bete's proposal. After all, continuing to act as target practice would inevitably lead to disaster.

"OK, we're heading down then."

Lu Qiming finished speaking, grabbed Lefiya, and jumped directly into the hole leading to the 58th floor.

"Ahhhhh, I'm not ready yet!"

Lefiya suddenly felt the sensation of weightlessness and, terrified, clung tightly to Lu Qiming, screaming.

Bete and the others exchanged glances and jumped down after them.

At this moment, the monsters on the 58th floor sensed Lu Qiming and the others falling. The Cannon Dragon on the ground opened their giant maws, and red breath began to gather.

ROAR!

The raging crimson breath surged toward the group in the passage, leaving them with nowhere to dodge.

"Damn it!"

A shout came from behind. Tione accelerated her descent, brandishing her greatsword to strike at the incoming breath.

"Tione?"

Lefiya looked ahead with concern. Tione had slashed through the breath, but she was now engulfed in the raging flames.

"That burns!"

As the flames receded, Tione appeared before them, protected by a pale green magic shield.

Tione raised her hand, looking at the magic shield; had it not been for this, she surely would have been severely injured.

"As expected of Riveria, this magic is truly incredible!"

"What are you doing? Don't space out, here comes another wave!"

Beside them, Bete shouted, his expression grim as he looked below. Perhaps sensing that the previous attack had failed, ten Cannon Dragon launched an attack simultaneously this time.

"Tch! Leave it to me. Lefiya, prepare to chant."

Lu Qiming tossed Lefiya into Tione's arms, kicked off the air with his left foot, and transformed into a black shadow, charging head-on into the breath.

Spiral Pierce: Modified: Tornado Destroys Parking Lot!

Lu Qiming held Divine Judgment high, his body spinning at high speed. The wind was whipped into a frenzy, and as he rotated, a massive tornado formed at the vanguard, piercing through and shattering the incoming breath.

Behind him, seeing the crisis averted, Lefiya closed her eyes and began to chant.

"Proud warriors, archers of the forest, face—"

At this moment, on the dim ground of the 58th floor, countless Cannon Dragon and Green Caterpillar gathered beneath the passage, while gray-blue Wyvern circled in the dark red sky.

Below, several Cannon Dragon gathered red light in their maws, eyes fixed on the passage exit.

BOOM!

A massive explosion erupted at the tunnel entrance, the rising dust obscuring the vision of the monsters below.

The Cannon Dragon that had initiated the attack paused, then began gathering energy again, intending to strike once more.

"Eat this!"

BOOM!

A roar echoed from the dust in the sky. Bete, shimmering with a magic shield, landed a foot on the head of a Cannon Dragon mid-attack. The immense impact drove the monster's head into its own stomach, causing the gathered breath to explode inside the beast.

"I can do that too!"

Following closely, Tione wielded her greatsword and brought it down on another Cannon Dragon. The sharp blade, driven by tremendous force, cleaved the monster in two; blood splattered, and the creature dissolved into black ash.

"Hmph! I've arrived, you bunch of trash!"

Bete jumped beside Tione, looking arrogantly at the surrounding monsters and taunting them.

"Finish them off, Lefiya!"

Tione shouted toward the passage in the sky.

Rain of Fire Arrows!

In the sky, Tione held Lefiya as they landed in front of the two. Dozens of red magic circles appeared around Lefiya, and a second later, countless fire arrows flew out from them.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A ceaseless roar echoed out as all the monsters in the sky and on the ground near the group were swept away.

"I... I really thought I was going to die."

Lefiya patted her chest, looking around weakly.

"To think you can say such a thing after unleashing a spell with that much power. The Cannon Dragon, Wyvern, and the new variants were all burned to a crisp by you."

Tione smiled and pulled Lefiya to her feet. Their mage was just a bit timid, but if given the time to chant, the power she unleashed was truly immense.

Lefiya looked shyly at her teammates, only to suddenly realize someone was missing.

"Sister Tione, where is Lu Qiming?"

"Lu Qiming? Look, over there."

Tione pointed speechlessly toward a large crater not far away, where Lu Qiming could be seen repeatedly trying to stand up, taking a few steps, falling back down, and then trying to rise again.

"What's wrong with Lu Qiming?"

Lefiya watched Lu Qiming, struggling to hold back her laughter as she asked.

"That guy just spun his head into a daze. Don't worry about him; he'll be fine in a moment."

Inside the crater, Lu Qiming lay on the ground like a salted fish. He had just had a sudden whim to modify Spiral Pierce; instead of using Divine Judgment to trigger the move, he had used his own body to execute it.

He had kept spinning and spinning until he finally became dizzy, lost control, and slammed headfirst into the ground. Now, he couldn't even tell north from south as he stood up, feeling as if the entire world were spinning.

"This move, Tornado Destroys Parking Lot, must be sealed. I can never use it again!"

Muttering to himself, Lu Qiming forced his body to crawl up once more. It was fortunate that his physique and five senses had been enhanced a hundredfold, or even crawling on the ground would have been an issue right now.

Rumble!

Suddenly, the earth began to tremble. A massive Cannon Dragon, over ten meters tall with a wingspan of nearly fifty meters, appeared right at the edge of the crater where Lu Qiming was located.

"ROAR!"

The giant Cannon Dragon let out a roar directed at Bete and the others, glaring at them with fury.

"So... so big."

"But it shouldn't be a Floor Boss, right?"

The Tione sisters murmured as they stared at the monster, which was several times larger than the Cannon Dragons from before.

Suddenly, the giant Cannon Dragon opened its maw slightly, sucking in a massive amount of air. It raised its head, aimed at Tione and the others, and a crimson light began to glow within its mouth.

"Damn it! Dodge!"

Bete noticed the giant Cannon Dragon's movement and was just about to call for the others behind him to dodge when, in the next second, Lu Qiming's swaying figure appeared right beside the giant Cannon Dragon's mouth, and he kicked the beast squarely on the chin.

"BOOM-ROAR!"

The breath attack detonated inside the giant Cannon Dragon's mouth. Half of its massive head was blown away, and the remaining half began to roar frantically.

"What are you roaring for! I went through so much trouble to stand up, and you just knocked me back down again!"

The more Lu Qiming spoke, the angrier he became. He raised Divine Judgment and finished it off with a single strike.