169 Amphisbaena

Phew!

Hey everyone, the week is over, and it's time to get ready and go back to the story.

During this week, apart from studying, I also finished 3 side chapters, one explaining a few things related to the final part of the Volume, and the other two were merely for fun and character development, one of them was the New year special.

I have to see how I'll post each, and yes, one of them is Hephaestus' side chapter.

Also, they're all pretty big, all over 5K, and one is even 10K long.

As I said before, I had my exams, 5 to be exact, and I'll have to see if I stayed for finals, I likely did as I had some nasty exams.

Anyway, that's that, I've also been playing with the Ai to make more art, and I did get some things, I plan on passing the AI to discord, I found that it was indeed possible, the problem is that you all can't use it unless you have an account for it.

But at least you can see me play around, perhaps even give me ideas in real-time.

That's it from me, I have to edit P@treon's chapter and also Zero fate.

Enjoy!

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/Several hours later…/

'His time in the camp was short but fulfilling.'

'Several interesting things happened during his time there, such as when some of the guys tried to peek into the girls bathing...'

'Their end wasn't very pretty.'

'Silver also got to know several people of the Loki Familia, and had fun by showing off his abilities and exchanging stories with them as he waited for time to pass.'

'Although after his talk with Ais and the others, the atmosphere around them became a bit awkward...'

'Regardless, since the vanguard group returned faster than expected, this meant they would also return earlier than usual, at least a week faster, all thanks to him.'

'Within a few hours, they would make their way to fight Amphisbaena… After a short night of sleep.'

'The ones who would fight her would be the Executives, the same people who just came from the 37th floor after fighting Udaeus, so they needed all the rest they could get.'

/Twinkle.../

'As the lights in the ceiling flared up indicating that it was daytime, the Loki Familia's children drowsily departed under the sounds of loud horns and wooden carts, their banner hung high in the sky.'

'Today, they would take down another Tyrant of the Dungeon, the Amphisbaena, the Monster Rex of the 27th floor!'

'Though that would only last a month as all other monsters, Amphisbaena would eventually return upon death…'

'And luckily, they would be there to take it down once more.'

…

/An hour later…/

'On his way, Silver did almost nothing, under the unstoppable power of this army, all monsters were exterminated before Silver even had the chance to see them.'

'Sometimes, he would be lucky and see one, then again, someone else from the rear would take care of it, much to his disappointment.'

/Shuaaaa…/

/Splash splash…/

"We're here, finally." Silver muttered as the sounds of falling water echoed all around

The bottom of the Great Fall.

/Chatter!/

'But the sound of water wasn't the only thing hitting his ears at this moment…'

"Move move move! Don't stop your sorry asses for a moment!" Someone screamed as they pointed at a group of supporters

"You! Move those boxes! You! What are you doing?! Did you dig a trench properly?!"

'People were giving orders all around, and the hundred people of the Loki Familia moved around in coordination like ants in a colony, even if a few mishaps ended up happening here and there.'

'All entrances to the bottom of the Great Fall had been blocked, not only because of the adventurers but also so monsters from outside wouldn't affect the main fight that would take place soon enough.'

'Not all entrances could be blocked though, as the Great Fall covered a massive area from the 24th floor to the 27th, so there were many entrances from top to bottom…'

'But those near the foot of the waterfall had all been blocked, barricades having been raised, and the monsters up above were currently being cleared out.'

'Even those damned birds, the Iguazu, that live near the waterfall were erased, all so they wouldn't affect the fight, even if the chances of that were low.'

'To make sure no more monsters appeared, the walls of the Dungeon were broken and marked in strategic points studied over dozens of Expeditions to maximize the effects of the Dungeon self-repair mechanism, and cover the most space possible…'

'As such, no monsters would spawn during the fight.'

'And they needed to do all of this fast, as it was unknown when the floor Boss would surge out of the water.'

'This time, they were way ahead of schedule, so they had the leverage to build fortifications all around, as previously, they were planning on leaving the Boss monster alone until the Executives came back.'

'There are many risks for that, but their orders were clear, to not engage it under any circumstances and be clear of its spawn time.'

'Albeit the time for it to come back from the dead is one month, it could increase or decrease within a certain margin without as much of a warning.'

'It wasn't like they always managed to defeat it the moment it was born, rather frequently, the time of these Monsters was off, resulting in severe loses such as a few unsuspecting groups of adventurers being affected…'

'Some surviving, but honestly, most didn't.'

'It was all to the will of the Dungeon, so at least, they had to have the basics laid down so the Executives could fight without having to worry about their surroundings.'

'If an emergency was to arise, taking it down within a few minutes wouldn't be a problem, that is why the Loki Familia is one of the strongest.'

'But this wouldn't be worth it, the purpose of these Expeditions more often than not is to strengthen the power of the Familia, from the Level 1s to the Level 5s, and not to have their High-Level 6s kill everything.'

'And considering the recent increase in the strength of the Executives due to past events, this time, Finn, together with Gareth and Riveria decided that Ais, Tione, Tiona, Bete, and Lefiya would take care of it… Alone.'

'Yes, Lefiya was included despite just being Level 3 for a bit over half a year.'

'Honestly speaking, this group was more than strong enough to take it down, and they knew that what they wanted to test wasn't their strength, but rather, their ability to coordinate with each other...'

...

"Let's drop this bag first..." Silver said as he untied his bag

/Thud!/

'His heavy bag hit the ground with a loud thud, and with a small grunt, he sat on a rock as he looked at everyone.'

'Silver was very impressed with their level of coordination.'

'They acted as if they had done this many times, sitting around a bonfire, sharpening their weapons, inspecting their gear... They were relaxed, yet at the same time, tense.'

'And apart from a few newbies that seemed a bit out of place, everyone was doing their task with a straight face.'

'Well... Not him of course, he had nothing to do.'

'So he just turned to the edge of the lake, staring at the blue abyss beneath his foot.'

'The lake formed by the Great Fall was at least a kilometer wide, and over a hundred meters deep in some areas, a rather large lake to be found underground, yet small if taken by above ground standards.'

(Image?)

'Perhaps even a bit too small considering how many waterfalls feed it, but things such as erosion due to time are unnecessary to consider here in the Dungeon.'

'Inside the lake were a few underwater tunnels, sucking in water with rather strong currents, another reason why entering the lake is dangerous, and albeit those entrances were deeper down, it was never a good idea to risk your safety…'

'These passages were one of the means Amphisbaena used to move across the Water city, some had been mapped, and those areas were marked as danger zones for any adventuring party, even for the Loki Familia.'

'But funny enough, most of the time, those danger zones were pretty safe because Amphisbaena would rarely be alive for over a week, someone would always take it upon themselves to cut it down.'

'It was a very profitable deal at the end of the day.'

'Amphisbaena could also swim up the Main Waterfall, so you would be very much in the wrong to think it was safe to stare down at the lake from up above...'

'There were little to no monsters in the Lake itself, with the only ones nearby being the Iguazu living behind the waterfalls.'

'The Boss Monster completely took it as its exclusive territory, its nest, so there was little to no effort from the Loki Familia side to clean and investigate it, they knew only one creature would be inside it…'

'And there it was, a large blue crystal growing in the middle of the lake, dozens of meters beneath the surface of the water.'

'Just by taking a look at the humongous shadow contained within, Silver already understood that this double-headed Dragon was a bit over his paycheck...'

'Although… Was it really that far from his reach?'

'Firstly, monsters don't have Levels, the commonly used ratings are all but Human creations made so people could have a better understanding of how to effectively gauge the danger within, and outside of the Dungeon as well.'

'Amphisbaena was technically Level 5 in terms of power, just a tad stronger than the Tyrant he fought on the 36th floor, and his Status had just been updated...'

'It was a similar case to the Goliath where its true strength was lower than its actual rating given by the Guild, due to some of its aspects that make fighting it difficult…'

'And also because the Guild wants to prevent adventurers from killing themselves in the goal of having an "adventure".'

'Honestly, all Boss Monsters are like this.'

'The Goliath is tall and has hard skin so normal iron/steel weapons would have some difficulty in breaking it unless they were really well made, so fighting it is really difficult for Low-Level adventurers.'

'Use a bow? Hard, most bow users wouldn't have the proper bow to deal enough damage to its face from the lower ground.'

'Magic? Level 1 and 2 adventurers wouldn't be able to do it either unless they had some sort of Unique magic or Irregular abilities...'

'Like Ais explosive combination of Ariel and Avenger, a combination so destructive she could blow up a Troll in a single sword swing even when she was a Level 1... And she was less than 10 years old at the time.'

'Technically, the Goliath's skin isn't that much stronger than a Minotaur, and its strength has the same proportion as that of a Level 3 adventurer or a stronger Level 2 adventurer, but due to its size, each of its movements has quite the impact on its surroundings.'

'Even if they can damage it... Go on, try to hit its legs... If you're too slow, you'll be stomped by a 20 M tall monster, even if you can evade it, then you'll experience a minor earthquake, and a momentary lapse of judgment can lead to death.'

'Amphisbaena is similar as due to its high mobility on water, fighting it while in its zone is near suicide if the proper precautions aren't taken.'

'It was classified as a Level 6 because fighting a monster in the Water isn't exactly ideal.'

'It isn't the only example of this phenomenon, other monsters on the Lower Floors such as the Merman get stronger while inside the water, receiving a different rating when in and out of it.'

'So as long as he could remove the water factor… Perhaps there was a possibility for him to take it down…'

'But in the first place, Amphisbaena was a monster born within water... Why leave it to fight him on land?'

'Is he supposed to make a lake disappear? He certainly can remove large sections of it, but the sheer amount of water coming from up above would make his efforts a pipe dream.'

'It would be simpler to just directly move it to land, but Amphisbaena would never let it be thrown around like a sac of sand that simply...'

'Many questions… But not that many answers.'

'In the end, a theory, words would only take him so far.'

'There was only one way to find out...'

"..."

/Splash.../

"The sound of water is soothing..."

'Silver enjoyed the calmness of this exotic environment, even if he was aware of the monstrosity lurking beneath him...'

'The air in this place was surprisingly fresh, a surprise considering he was likely a few Km beneath the earth.'

/Screams!/

"...?"

'Silver looked behind him, noticing Ais and her group preparing themselves to fight.'

"Where is my swimsuit?!" Tione exclaimed in anger

"HUH?! Who put this... This is just a strap!"

"..."

It was you...

'Tione screamed while her sister looked at her with a helpless expression, knowing full well she was the one who grabbed that swimsuit... And the reason behind it as well.'

"Sigh..."

They're full of energy.

'Ignoring the sounds coming from the back, Silver turned his expression to the waterfall, thinking:'

Let's see...

Goliath comes from the wall, guarding the passage to the first 'safe' area.

Amphisbaena sleeps in the lake, preying on those it lays its eyes upon throughout its city of water.

Udaeus sits upon his Throne, ruling his palace of white stone for eternity, awaiting a worthy challenger to come to it as it cannot move.

Balor lurks within the cradle of a Volcano where no life can proliferate…

Is there a pattern to this? If so, where does the Dungeon takes inspiration from?

If you take a look, all Boss monsters have some sort of "Space" one that increases over time as you descend deeper.

Goliath has the entire 17th floor dedicated to it, a simple rectangular passage where it acts as a guard, it's likely the smallest floor in the entire Dungeon.

And although I may be wrong, it's definitely around the size of the upper floors in terms of total volume.

Amphisbaena has access to all of the floors within the Water City, but this is due to the fact these floors are special... They are interconnected.

Udaeus also has the entire 37th floor built around his room, with most paths leading deeper and deeper into it, eventually arriving at where he is located.

There is one thing all of these have in common, which is that you are forced to pass through the floor Boss if you wish to move, it may be possible to pass through Amphisbaena, but she's always on the move...

You'll likely not go to her, she'll go to you.

Hm... Perhaps not Udaeus as well.

Balor is similar to Udaeus, he has an entire floor to him, and other monsters appear all around.

But what lies next?

It's definitely there, beyond the 59th floor, perhaps on the 60th floor, guarding the entrance to the next section of the Dungeon, something that would be very proper.

How strong would it be?

Following the trend...

Goliath is a Level 2-4 monster, depending mostly on what you excel at it may be an impossible challenge or something simple to take down.

Amphisbaena is a Level 5 monster, 6 if in the water.

Udaeus is Level 6, high 6 if we consider his army of Level 4 undead monsters.

Balor is Level 7...

So whatever next would have to be Level 8, or at the very least, give you some sort of challenge near that.

I once asked for the records of the floors from the Guild, Fels in particular since I wanted to see if there were any records of the creatures that prowl deeper.

But everything they showed me went only as far as the 59th floor, and even that had little to no information, with the only one saying that the 59th floor was the start of the "Glacier zone".

Are they hiding something? Most likely. Do I mind? A little bit.

"Should I just look for that old man?..."

If there's one person that knows... It's a certain perverted God of thunder...

/Chuckle.../

Well, whatever is down there, right now, it is a tad too far from my reach, so I'll hold myself for a bit.

One day I'll find out, either through the Guild or by myself.

'He closed his eyes, thinking about what he knew about the Deep floors.'

From the extreme temperatures of the 44th floor to the extreme heat of the 49th floor, followed by a complex labyrinth that goes from the 50th floor to the 57th floor.

Following those three is the 58th floor, a large square room with its corners being miles apart from each other… A place so huge that a country could be established inside.

And at the very bottom, the Dungeon displays its ferocity with one of its mightiest creations, the Valgang Dragons, monsters that have a breath attack so strong, they put the Tyrant to shame, as if it was less than a child.

They are the very reason why the 52nd to the 58th floor is called the Dragon's vase…

Because they can breathe fire across multiple floors, essentially snipping anyone that dares take a single step past the 52nd floor's entrance.

Also, the reason why the Loki Familia Executives never went deeper.

Technically, what lies at the bottom is unexplored space to the world, the Loki Familia being at the forefront of all exploration teams, the number of reports on the 58th floor are so few they that may as well count as rumors.

But it is true that ever since Zeus and Hera's Familias disappearance, no one ever went beyond that place, at most, gazing at it from afar from the holes the Valgang Dragons made with their breath attacks.

If someone went there, then it was Ottar and the Freya Familia.

Ottar is someone who's always seeking a challenge so he can improve himself, his desire for strength is large even when he's the strongest, so the chance of him going there once or twice is large.

I say there's a high chance because just like he's strong, he has some responsibilities... Such as protecting Freya.

He can't really do it when it takes 2-3 weeks to reach that deep, as such, a lone venture into the depths of the Dungeon might take an entire month, even for him.

Perhaps... He's the only active adventurer who saw what the floor Boss beyond the 59th floor looks like.

From everything I've researched, Ottar is extremely respected, and he seems to have a pretty clean record of incredible feats.

Some of these include clashing constantly against the Hera and Zeus Familias, experiencing their power firsthand.

That also being the reason for his constant drive for strength, as he likely understands the severity of what their disappearance means.

Albeit, I don't know much about the man himself to say much more, so I'll leave it at that.

As for other Familias, after Zeus and Hera's disappearance, chaos started to brew within the city, and the Dark age fell into the streets.

Murder and destruction were commonplace as everyone fought against these Dark Gods and their psycho children that wanted nothing but to cause some sort of destruction for their own twisted reasons.

"There sure is still a lot of ground to cover." He said awkwardly as he kicked the water lightly

/Tremble…/

"... Heh."

'Smiling slightly, he looked at the water.'

"Yet it seems… The Dungeon really wants me to move forward."

/Tremble… Splash… Splash…/

"Everyone! To your positions!"

"The Floor Bo…"

'Amidst the screams, Silver laughed.'

"Did you have a good nap?"

/TREMBLE!/

"Well then, welcome back."

/CRACK!/

'Inside the crystal, the faint contour of the giant Dragon moved, and two pairs of eyes glimmered, staring at the ceiling.'

/CRACK!/

'The Floor Boss was awakening!'

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Notes

Yay, we're back, and what else but some good old cliffhangers?

That was why I said that regardless of what I did, you all would receive a cliff, at least with the last chapter, we stopped at a good point, had we stopped here... Imagine the pain of waiting over a week to see the continuation of this fight?

Yeah, pain.

Anyway, welcome back everyone, we'll continue from here.

There are a few things to go over, but we'll do that later.

Peace!