The chamber opened to them as they approached, revealing a space unlike any they had seen so far. It was absolutely massive, stretching for an entire kilometer in every direction. The ceiling arched so high above that the crystal formations looked like distant stars against a stone sky. Their footsteps echoed across the vast emptiness, each sound traveling farther than seemed natural in the thin air.

And on the opposite side stood a beast that truly deserved such a playpen.

'Is that why all the enemies have been weirdly snake-like?' Nova felt a chill run down his spine at the sight that greeted them.

A wyrm, coiled up into a giant ball of itself, slowly moved to look at the two small creatures entering its lair. The beast was immense beyond reason, with wings stretching from its body a dozen times before reaching the end.

Armored scales, the color of corroded silver, overlapped like metal plates, catching the blue crystal light and reflecting it with cold intensity. It seemed like it would be able to stretch across the entire room if it tried.

The beast unfurled slightly, revealing a row of crystalline spines running along its back. Each spine stood taller than Nova in his adult form, pulsing with the same blue light as the dungeon crystals. Its massive head rose from the coils, supported by a neck that could wrap around a city wall. Its obsidian eyes fixed on the intruders, but that was the only reaction they got.

"A sky-wyrm... I don't think my sword will be able to handle that thing..." Anny whispered. The shield on her arm suddenly seemed like a child's toy compared to the scales of their opponent.

"It would feel like a splinter... I did not expect to meet something so big here." Nova assessed the beast, calculating their odds against such a formidable opponent. The monster dwarfed anything they had faced in the dungeon so far, making even the troll guardian look like a minor nuisance by comparison.

"But you can handle it?"

"I can try. But to move such a giant body, it would need physical aspects far surpassing ours." Nova frowned, mentally reviewing the spells he would need against something of this scale.

"No, sky-wyrms are extremely light and float high up in the air. It's probably not as strong as you think." Anny adjusted her stance, preparing for battle. Her eyes never left the massive beast as she spoke, tracking every subtle movement of its coils.

"Extremely light, you say? Is that why the dungeon made the air so thin here? To let it move normally?"

"That seems very likely, now that you mention it. Can we use that somehow?"

"Maybe. What would we do without your books, huh?" Nova smiled, grateful for her knowledge. The wyrm continued watching them, swaying slightly as if studying their conversation with interest.

"Be careful, I guess?" Anny replied with a smirk.

Nova chuckled. "Well, let's get to it. You can just dodge anything it throws at you for now."

[Soul of Nova Regis equipped.]

The power came to him like an old friend, spreading through his body like a gentle storm. The air around him seemed to bow as his presence expanded, acknowledging the king that once was.

Right away, he could feel his capacity for magic increase greatly, taking his mental aspects from forty thousand to nearly two hundred thousand. It was an incredible increase, letting him use more familiar spells.

His sylph wings activated, lifting him from the ground and into the vast space of the chamber.

The wyrm simply looked at him, unbothered. It was a behavior very unlike what Nova had seen up to this point. Usually, the guardians would charge or stand ready to challenge them, but this one seemed almost bored.

'Well, I won't complain. It does feel wrong to attack without it being ready, but it can only blame itself at this point. We need to get past it.'

His first action was to create a formation in mid-air, expanding around him in all directions. It covered an area of nearly thirty meters in diameter, much greater than any formation he had made before.

'I would suggest defending yourself against this. I know you're big, but that doesn't mean you're invincible. And the greatest weakness of snakes is that they're so easily severed compared to anything else of equal size.'

The formation continued expanding for a second longer, but then it stopped, instead starting to curl in on itself around the edges. It slowly filled with light as Nova continued supplying it with essence.

And then it started to spin. With Nova at the center of its axis, the entire formation began rotating faster and faster with every moment. The air around it warped visibly, compressed by the sheer force of the motion.

'This is one of my personal inventions, mister sky-wyrm. Essence does have a level of mass, you see. And with the right speed, that mass can become quite destructive. Especially if you add a spin on top of it, and make the edges razor sharp.'

Nova felt the familiar rush of pride that came with perfecting a technique. This spell had been the result of countless hours of experimentation in his past life, combining principles of physics with magical theory to create something entirely new. Few mages had ever imagined using a formation itself as a weapon, but once it was invented, the possibilities were endless.

A low whirling sound started coming from the formation as it reached its maximum speed, spinning at nearly a thousand rotations per minute. The outer rim of the disk was going many times faster than the speed of sound, but due to the perfectly circular shape, it barely made a sound. The air near the edges became superheated, creating a faint shimmer around the perimeter like a mirage in the desert.

The only thing keeping it together was the incredibly light mass of the essence, and its incredible ability to stick to its shape. Had it been made of physical matter, it would have torn itself apart instantly under such forces. But essence obeyed different rules when properly guided, acting as both energy and matter at once.

Anny stared up at the formation in wonder. She had backed further away, instinctively sensing the destructive potential of what Nova had created.

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Meanwhile, the wyrm kept looking in Nova's direction with no hint of fear. Its obsidian eyes reflected the spinning disk without emotion or concern. It remained motionless, watching the display with what almost seemed like curiosity. The lack of response felt deliberate, taunting even, as if the ancient creature had seen such attacks before and found them wanting.

'Fine, let's see how you enjoy a bit of pain. More than a bit, I hope. This has cost me a quarter of my essence already.'

The formation was ready, spinning in near silence around his body. Bands of light pulsed through the disk in rhythmic waves, signaling its readiness for deployment. Nova lifted his hands, bringing the formation with them above his head. His fingers splayed wide, directing the final burst of essence into the formation to stabilize it for what would come next.

Then he hurled them forward in a sharp, decisive gesture.

[You have learned the skill: Formation of Destructo (Grandmaster - 100%) {Grade 10}]

[A formation that compresses essence into a rapidly spinning disk with edges sharp enough to cut through nearly any material. The formation maintains its integrity through precise balancing of rotational forces and essence density, allowing it to travel vast distances while maintaining its destructive potential. The disk can be controlled remotely, changing direction to pursue targets or make multiple attacks.]

The disk launched with incredible speed, crossing half the vast chamber in an instant. It moved faster than the eye could track, leaving a trail of distorted air in its wake. The weapon didn't fly straight but instead curled in a wide circle toward the wyrm, allowing the spinning edge to maintain its orientation toward the target throughout its approach.

And finally, the wyrm responded.

The massive creature uncoiled with shocking speed, unfurling like a spring released from tension. What had appeared to be a mountain of flesh suddenly transformed into a serpentine missile, shooting upward toward the ceiling of the chamber. The movement created a gust of wind strong enough to stagger Anny, despite her distance from the beast.

The disk missed its initial target, passing through empty space where the wyrm's coiled body had been moments before. But Nova had anticipated such a reaction. With a flex of his will, he altered the disk's trajectory, sending it curving upward in pursuit.

The wyrm twisted in mid-air, dodging around the spell with seemingly impossible dexterity. Its drake-like head turned to face the approaching threat, opening its jaws to reveal rows of crystal teeth that matched the spines along its back.

From its maw erupted a stream of blue energy—similar to the crystal light that illuminated the dungeon, but concentrated into a beam of destructive force. The attack struck the spinning disk dead center, creating a spectacular collision of energies that filled the chamber with blinding light.

For a moment, it seemed the two forces would cancel each other out. The disk slowed its rotation as the wyrm's breath weapon pushed against it. Cracks appeared in the formation, spreading outward from the point of impact like fractures in glass.

Nova gritted his teeth, pouring more essence into the spell to maintain its integrity. The effort strained his concentration, but the fragment's enhanced mental aspects allowed him to compensate on the fly, reinforcing the weakened sections of the formation.

The disk slowly folded in on itself, sacrificing destuctive power for torque. Then it began accelerating again, pushing through the wyrm's attack. It sliced the blue energy beam in half and continued its relentless advance. The wyrm's eyes widened, finally showing a sign of surprise, as the disk closed the final distance.

Contact.

The spinning edge struck the wyrm along its underbelly, where the scales were smallest and thinnest. The formation cut through the armored hide with surprising ease, sending a spray of silvery blood into the air. The wyrm's body convulsed, twisting violently away from the attack, but the damage was done.

A wound nearly twenty meters long opened along its underside, cauterized by the heat of the disk's passage. The creature roared, a sound so deep it seemed to resonate with the bedrock itself. The crystal spines along its back flared with light, pulsing in rhythm with its massive heart.

Nova didn't stop there. With a gesture, he changed the disk's course again, sending it arcing back toward the wounded guardian. The wyrm's eyes narrowed, focusing on him with newfound respect.

The beast dove toward him with jaws wide open, abandoning defense for a direct assault. Its speed was terrifying for something so large, crossing half the chamber in seconds. The air pressure changed as it approached, increasing in density with every flap of its many wings.

'Figured you would do that.'

Nova held his ground, waiting until the last possible moment. The wyrm's jaws were close enough that he could feel the cold emanating from within its maw.

Then he dropped straight down, folding his wings against his back. The massive head passed over him, close enough that he could feel the wind blast into him. As the wyrm's body continued past him, Nova sent the disk directly into its path.

'Had you taken me seriously, this might have been a tough fight.'

The spinning formation struck the wyrm's body just behind its head, where neck met torso. The disk cut deep, cleaving through scales, muscle, and bone with ease. The wyrm's forward momentum worked against it, driving its body further into the cutting edge before it could change course.

Blue-silver blood erupted from the wound in a fountain as the disk continued its work. The wyrm thrashed wildly, desperation evident in every movement. Its tail whipped across the chamber, smashing into pillars and walls with enough force to shatter stone.

Nova maintained his concentration, guiding the disk deeper, pushing it with every ounce of mental strength granted by the fragment. The formation began to destabilize under the strain, starting to warp as it tore through the guardian's massive body.

With a final surge of effort, Nova completed the cut. The disk burst through the other side of the wyrm's neck, shattering into motes of light.

The wyrm's roar transformed into a gurgling howl. Its movements became erratic, uncoordinated. The massive head swayed from side to side as life ebbed from the lethal wound.

The creature crashed to the chamber floor with an impact that shook the entire level. Its body continued to twitch and thrash, but with diminishing force. The crystal spines along its back flickered, growing weaker with each passing second.

Nova descended slowly, wings beating gently against the thin air. He landed beside Anny, who stood with her sword still drawn but unused.

"That was..." she began, searching for words adequate to describe what she had just witnessed.

"Effective," Nova finished for her, watching as the wyrm's movements stilled completely. "And necessary."

A familiar blue message appeared before them, glowing against the backdrop of the slain guardian.

[Congratulations! You've completed Floor 8!]

[The reward will be evenly split between both party members.]

[Do you wish to continue to the next floor?]

Nova took a deep breath, feeling the fragment's power still coursing through him. The spinning disk had required more essence than he anticipated, but the results spoke for themselves. Another floor conquered, another step closer to Millie.

"No," he answered the floating message without hesitation. "We will take a break… A well deserved one."

The wall behind the fallen wyrm rumbled open, revealing a stairway filled with sunlight. The ninth floor would have to wait a few more days. Together with Millie, wherever she was.

"Nice work," Anny said, sheathing her sword with a smooth motion. "I didn't even have to get my clothes dirty this time."

Nova smiled tiredly. "Enjoy it while it lasts. Something tells me the next level will be… quite a challenge. Even normal enemies will be stronger than you in physical aspects, and far above you in others."

"We'll see about that, as soon as I get my new set of beast powers. I might not need this drake form anymore."

"Oh? Now I'm even more curious."

"You'll just have to wait and see," she replied with a smile, clapping his shoulder.

Together, they approached the stairway, stepping over the cooling body of the wyrm. The path before them descended into darkness, promising greater dangers but also bringing them closer to their goal.

'Time to check out the rewards… We will need some time to prepare before our next dive. But then we're coming after you, Millie.'

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