Chapter 349: Successful Subjugation
Then, without hesitation, Aiden plunged the burning longsword—which looked as if it could melt anything—viciously into the lake beneath his feet.
"Ssssss—————!!!"
That wasn't the sound of water and fire mixing; it was the shrill shriek of water being instantly and utterly evaporated and obliterated.
Centered around the tip of the sword, a visibly massive void formed in the water. The surrounding lake water boiled and vaporized madly, yet it was pinned down by an invisible force, unable to spread outward even an inch.
For a brief moment, the entire lake fell eerily silent.
Then, Aiden unleashed his original ultimate technique.
"Unsheathed Heavenly Fire."
In that split second, a single point lit up in the deepest depths of the lake.
A pure, untainted point of white light.
That point of light expanded at a speed beyond comprehension. It swallowed sound, it swallowed light, it swallowed everything around it.
The lake water didn't splash outward; instead, defying the laws of physics, it was "pushed" upward by this internal force.
The entire surface of the lake swelled up like a giant balloon, forming a massive, mirror-smooth water dome hundreds of meters in diameter.
When the force expanded to its absolute limit, the extreme suppressed energy was finally detonated in the most primal, violent manner possible.
BOOM—
Endless light and heat were instantaneously released within the enclosed liquid environment.
Tens of thousands of tons of lake water were forcibly transitioned from liquid to gas in less than a thousandth of a second.
The massive water dome shattered spectacularly under the peerless internal pressure.
A white pillar of light, over a hundred meters in diameter and composed of a mixture of supersaturated steam and boiling water, shot up from the center of the lake like the spear of divine retribution piercing the heavens. It crashed violently into the high, cracked ceiling of the cavern.
A terrifying shockwave followed closely behind.
The group on the shore felt a crushing force capable of pulverizing bones sweep over them. Jeanne immediately planted her battle standard in front of her, putting all her might into a defensive barrier, barely keeping them from being blown away entirely.
The ceiling, taking the full brunt of the white light pillar, groaned under the impossible strain. Countless, even larger fissures spread outward, as massive crystals and boulders rained down like a torrential downpour, plunging into the boiling hellscape of the lake below.
The Amphisbaena, having just sunk to the bottom, was caught dead-on by the unavoidable underwater explosion before it could even utter a complete wail of agony.
Its colossal body, like a ragged toy, was swept up by the terrifying pillar of white light and tossed powerlessly into the sky. It was a mangled mess of flesh and blood, large swathes of its dragon scales vaporized and stripped away by the extreme heat and impact. It looked utterly miserable.
The entirety of the 27th Floor had become a giant, perilous sauna. Scalding steam filled every inch of space, reducing visibility to near zero.
And the orchestrator of it all simply hovered quietly over the deep crater in the center of the lake, now cleared of water and filled only with boiling white mist, looking for all the world like a demon god holding the reins of destruction.
Scalding steam shrouded the 27th Floor, and the visibility was horrifyingly low.
Within this chaotic white world, a massive, mangled shadow was plummeting helplessly from the sky.
An opening.
Firefly's reaction was pushed to the absolute limit.
The Amphisbaena , blasted head-on by the Unsheathed Heavenly Fire and still airborne, was the perfect target.
A pair of emerald twin swords made of condensed energy instantly formed in the mech's hands.
Immediately after, a much more blinding emerald flame erupted from SAM's back.
The flames were no longer simple wings of light; they transformed into the ultimate thrusters, propelling the silver knight into a perfectly straight, blindingly green trajectory. She instantly caught up with the falling Floor Boss.
A flash of sword light.
Firefly's figure crossed paths with the Amphisbaena.
The dragon head, heavily wounded and covered in scorch marks from the Heavenly Fire explosion, stalled in mid-air for a second. Then, it detached from its massive neck, spewing dragon blood as it fell toward the boiling lake below.
"Roar—!!!"
The final, remaining head let out a roar mixed with agony and defiance.
However, its roar came to an abrupt halt.
Because a dark silhouette had appeared directly above its head, completely unnoticed.
It was Tifa.
The starlight-like points of light that had been swirling around her body all converged toward her right fist in that moment.
All the light compressed and condensed, finally forming a blinding white point in the palm of her hand.
Then, she threw a punch.
There were no extraneous movements—just a simple, pure punch.
A pillar of pure white light erupted from her fist. Because the speed and power were pushed to the absolute extreme, the friction between the light pillar and the air sparked with crackling electricity.
The white light swept outward, kicking up a massive shockwave storm that completely engulfed the final dragon head.
Within the light capable of purifying everything, the massive dragon head couldn't even maintain its silhouette. It crumbled inch by inch; from its flesh to its bones, down to the Magic Stone hidden deep within, everything was blasted into primal dust.
Stripped of its two heads, the Amphisbaena was thoroughly drained of all life force.
The mountain-like white body twitched weakly a few times in the air before going completely still. Like a giant boulder, it crashed heavily into the boiling lake cooked by Aiden, kicking up one final, insignificant splash.
With the final dragon head reduced to stardust, the battle finally drew to a close.
Pieces of metal peeled back and vanished into the air, revealing Firefly's figure.
Panting softly, she drifted down from the sky.
The moment her feet touched the ground, faint green, circuit-like patterns crept up her pale neck, extending all the way to her cheek, emitting an ominous glow.
"Firefly!"
Aiden's voice carried a trace of urgency.
His heart clenched, and he immediately turned around and shouted:
"Quick, Hyacine , the Elixir!"
Before his voice even settled, Hyacine was already sprinting over with the pink little Pegasus in her arms.
Without hesitation, she pulled a small vial filled with iridescent liquid from her satchel and brought it to Firefly's lips.
Firefly obediently drank the potion. In tandem, Hyacine and Little Ica both extended their hands, enveloping Firefly in the gentle glow of healing magic.
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