Owing to its lack of combat experience, Drifblim did not react in advance the moment that eye within the flower's pistil opened.
By the time it became aware, it was already far too late to dodge.
Only the trigger-mechanism set within its mind was activated, and this allowed it, just before being struck, to successfully unleash that mutually-destructive Ultimate Move—"Shared Fate"!
The next instant...
The pitch-black beam of light that suddenly assailed it pierced clean through its body in an instant, and the portion below the red gem outright vanished from sight.
A full two thousand seven hundred points of mana drained away in a single moment.
It could not even use "Share Pain"; only the successfully laid "Shared Fate" was triggered.
That portion of mana which had drained and dissipated from Drifblim was, the very instant it scattered, drawn back and gathered together, forming a deep-purple vortex of mana beneath its vanished body.
In the blink of an eye, that mana vortex expanded to its very limit, even exceeding the coverage range of the "Nightmare Space," as if it meant to devour everything into itself.
A mysterious and terrifying aura erupted abruptly along with it!
The essence of "Shared Fate" was a curse involving the power of fate itself, which would make the opponent who brought it to the brink of death or grievous injury suffer that very same fate.
To put it in Buddhist terms, it was the so-called "karmic retribution."
This curse, near to a law of the world, ranked exceedingly high in sequence.
That third tentacle, blossoming with its flower of flesh and blood, drew slightly inward after releasing the beam of light, as if gathering its strength anew; while that second tentacle, located within the "Nightmare Space," was clearly affected by the mana vortex and abruptly ceased its writhing.
"Boom!"
Under the gaze of the two tentacles, the deep-purple mana vortex, after the eruption of that aura, suddenly vanished without a trace.
In that instant, both inside and outside the abyss fell deathly silent.
By now Drifblim had already sunk into its dying moments, relying entirely on the nature of a Ghost-type Magic Guide Spirit to sustain its last sliver of consciousness.
The part of its body above the red gem swayed in the wind, its eyes turning toward the abyss as the mana vortex disappeared.
It was looking neither at this second tentacle close at hand,
nor at that third tentacle far away,
but rather straight down toward the bottom of that black-mist-shrouded abyss!
The two streaks of red light shining out from beneath the black mist were like two enormous eyes.
Each time, before a tentacle bored its way out, these "eyes" would open, releasing a glaring red light.
But at this very moment, those two streaks of red light had already vanished.
Beneath the abyss was pitch-black darkness.
The black mist covering the top suddenly began to roll, growing ever more violent.
The two tentacles still on the outside also stirred abnormally at the same time.
That second tentacle, which had been regaining its speed as the "Nightmare Space" gradually faded, suddenly retracted like a snake back into the black mist.
That third tentacle, blossoming with its flower of flesh and blood, swayed its body in the air, the eyeball at the pistil portion giving off a flickering, uncertain light.
But immediately afterward,
it suddenly went rigid and motionless!
On the contrary,
the walls all around abruptly began to quake.
Every wall and passage within sight throughout the entire space began to shake violently, as though they might collapse at any moment.
And that layer of black mist covering the abyss was suddenly torn open by black water surging up from below, revealing the pitch-black watery pool beneath.
Through the surface of the pool, one could faintly make out a horrifyingly enormous black shadow bobbing and sinking within the water.
A massive mana vortex suddenly burst open right above that terrifying black shadow's head!
The pool was stirred into a thousand waves.
The colossal monster that had originally slumbered underground awoke with a start; in its terror it raised its body, surfacing above the water, and instinctively let out a hoarse, grating howl.
That howl filling the space grew, at a visible rate, ever more fearful and pained.
With its brain, it likely could not, no matter what, comprehend it.
It had merely been peacefully slumbering within this abyss—why had it suddenly been struck by this baseless calamity?
As for the tentacles...those were the tentacles' personal conduct, what did that have to do with it, the main body?
Supported by countless tentacles, the colossal monster surged out of the water's surface.
This wall-enclosed water outlet seemed just barely able to contain it.
Its diameter approached a hundred meters, and once its body reared up it stood two or three hundred meters tall.
The shape of its entire body differed enormously from the octopus, squid, or Hydra that Dark had guessed.
Its outward form more closely resembled a jellyfish!
The surface of its mushroom-shaped body was covered all over with ring-shaped protrusions.
When it surged out of the water, a slit split open within each of those ring-shaped protrusions, squeezing out one moist, glistening scarlet eyeball after another.
The rolling, darting eyeballs emitted a glaring red light, and at this moment that light twisted and writhed, like a horde of demons dancing in chaos.
And beneath the mushroom-shaped body were hundreds upon thousands of terrifying tentacles!
These tentacles, while it slumbered, possessed an independent, autonomous will to act on their own.
But once the main body awoke and took over control, the tentacles were nothing more than tentacles.
Yet this could not constitute a reason for it to sever the tentacles from its main body.
The tentacles had done the deed, and it, as the main body, must inevitably bear the curse of fate as well!
Sadly, at this very moment,
no one witnessed this stunning spectacle.
This colossal monster that had only just bored out of the water—its body, starting from the top of the mushroom shape, split open toward both sides without the slightest warning.
Foul, dark-red blood spurted out from the gigantic gaping wound, dyeing the walls of the entire abyss crimson in an instant.
The blood gushed and surged, draining away at tremendous speed.
As the body of this monster so resembling a jellyfish split apart on both sides, it withered at a visible rate, countless eyeballs spinning madly, panic and bewilderment showing within those eyes.
"Boom!"
The blood-drained, withered body plunged into the water.
The densely packed tentacles writhed at the bottom of the water.
One enormous eyeball after another rolled out of its socket, congealing into stone.
The shrill, mournful wailing abruptly ceased, leaving only an extremely feeble gasping.
It had not died.
But it was very nearly at death's door.
The entire abyss had been dyed a crimson hue.
A bloody mist rose up from beneath the water's surface.
The monster lingered on its last breath.
But in the end it had not died after all.
The moment it awoke it began to absorb the mist and the water.
The eyeballs that had rolled into the water were drawn into its mouth along with the current, and after passing through one cycle, grew anew from the surface of its body.
From the cross-sections of its body, split into two halves, countless tendrils extended; these tendrils tangled and intertwined, forcibly dragging the two sides of the body back together again.
Once it had managed a makeshift suturing,
this terrifying monster, in a panicked fluster, fled into the depths of the water, escaping swiftly through another opening at the bottom of the pool.
The tremors intensified.
This hidden space, now without this monster to anchor it, finally began to collapse.
...
The moment Drifblim was attacked.
Dark, who had already fled some distance away, abruptly halted his steps; brows tightly knit, he drew the "Drifblim" Magic Guide Card out from his sleeve.
As mana was injected, some basic information flowed back to him.
"Almost no mana left."
"It was attacked."
"'Shared Fate' was triggered."
After only a brief moment.
Upon the originally blank card face, the outline of "Drifblim" quietly surfaced.
But this Drifblim resurfacing upon the card face had lost its color.
This was the manifestation of a Magic Guide Spirit after death.
To restore its color required meticulous mana-replenishment.
And to summon it forth once more would require still more time to wait.
Dark traced a mana-replenishment array with his fingertip, injecting mana steadily and calmly.
Drifblim being attacked was, more or less, within expectations.
It was only the reality of it being instantly slain in a single stroke that fell outside expectations.
And the triggering of "Shared Fate" was within reason.
Far from being flustered, he was instead intensely curious—just which poor wretch would be the one to trigger "Shared Fate"?
"Was it one of the tentacles?"
Thinking this, Dark cast a glance toward the direction of the abyss.
No matter which poor wretch it was, it had nothing more to do with him now.
Once he left this hidden space, today's encounter would become nothing more than pictures in a storybook.
But all of a sudden, everything around began to quake violently.
He hurriedly braced himself against the wall.
Gatomon and Devimon immediately raised their guard.
And then, before long,
this entire passage collapsed.
...
Devimon abruptly spread its wings, attempting to use its own body to serve as an umbrella to shield its master.
Yet those bricks tumbling down in the collapse passed straight through upon touching solid matter.
Devimon raised its head in astonishment and could not help extending its great, sharp demon claws to poke at the falling bricks.
Its fingers naturally passed right through.
"This big already, and still so innocent."
Gatomon seized the chance to hug Dark's arm, sparing not the slightest regard for Devimon's childish behavior.
But Dark felt a warmth rise in his heart at Devimon's act of voluntarily serving as an umbrella.
Light glimmered in his eyes as he quietly watched the entire passage collapse.
It was as if he were gazing upon the end of the world.
...
The range of the passage's collapse soon radiated out to the place where Diana and Rose were.
After summoning their Magic Guide Spirits to defend themselves, the two of them likewise discovered that the bricks posed no threat whatsoever.
And so they too came to a stop, watching curiously.
...
As for Virt and the other two in the passage on the other side, in the end they did not court death once more.
They rested for a short while at the spot where they had stopped, and thus awaited the moment of this passage's collapse.
...
Amid the thousand twisting threads of emotion swelling within the six of them,
the passage's collapse continued for a full three minutes.
After that, every structure within sight turned into fine, scattered specks of light.
With just a slight reach of the hand, one could feel the sensation of the specks of light slipping away from one's palm.
Though it was the sorrow of objects passing away, it carried a dreamlike, exquisite beauty.
Dark Demon leaned back, propping himself against Devimon's body.
Gatomon, having seized the chance to grab his arm, never let go again.
Though time was slipping by, it made one's heart conceive of eternity.
Involuntarily, a thought surfaced.
If one could remain forever in this very moment, that wouldn't be so bad after all.
...
But all things must eventually pass.
The utter disappearance of the hidden space exposed the true form of this region that lay only on the second floor of the dungeon.
Walls riddled with desolation after being eroded by time.
Vines growing within the cracks of the walls.
Glowing moss covering the ceiling.
Weeds in the corners and crevices.
Such obvious differences, and yet,
it was not until the hidden space vanished that they were perceived.
"What do we do next?"
Dark continued to inject mana, sensing "Drifloon" gradually awakening, and a few threads of an idea formed in his heart.
"Gatomon, go bring Diana and Rose back."
The master's command could not be disobeyed.
Gatomon reluctantly let go and then sped off at a swift pace toward the direction of Diana and Rose.
It dashed along walls and across eaves within the passage, not slowing even as it rounded the corners.
Before long, it encountered Diana and Rose, who were also hurrying over this way.
The three of them quickly reunited.
When Diana, with a face full of cuteness, asked what had happened,
Dark had already learned a bit of information from Drifloon's mouth.
Weighing his words, he said, "It's possible that the main body of the monster hidden at the bottom of the abyss suffered a backlash, and so the hidden space that existed because of it utterly collapsed. I'm now planning to head to where the abyss was located, following our earlier route. What are your thoughts?"
"Backlash—what does that mean?" Rose asked curiously.
Dark gave a brief explanation: "An Ultimate Move that can make someone suffer the same injury. I didn't expect it to actually work on a monster of that rank."
Rose then lowered her head, lost in thought.
Diana, meanwhile, thought for a while and then chirped happily, "I get it—we're going to scoop up treasure, right?"
Only then did Dark smile and nod: "Yes. We'll go see whether that monster left anything behind as it fled on the brink of death. If it leaked out even the tiniest bit, that would be an unexpected delight for us."
Having said that, the three of them began feeling their way forward toward the direction where the abyss had originally been.
Returning once more into the second-floor labyrinth of the dungeon, the appearance of monsters became inevitable.
But under Gatomon's [Cat Punch], not a single monster could survive even one strike.
They swiftly harvested the monsters' materials, and before long arrived at the place where the abyss had originally been.
But someone had arrived a step ahead of them.
...
After the hidden space collapsed, Virt, Robert, and Emma had likewise chosen to feel their way back to this place.
The three of them emerged from another passage; the spot where the abyss had originally been had already reverted to an ordinary forked junction.
Passages extending in from all directions converged here, opening up a fairly spacious area.
The size of this open ground was, naturally, no match for that abyss.
But within a dungeon, it was still a place ample enough for a large troop to rest.
Feeling their way back once again, the three of them were as cautious as mice burrowing deep into a private home; relying on their Magic Guide Spirits to scout the way, they had come all this way and, luckily, had not encountered any monsters, thus arriving here ahead of Dark and his group.
"What is that?" Emma, the first to poke her head out, could not help but murmur softly.
Virt then poked his head out as well, and discovered there was a round stone in the open ground.
That stone was a full half a person tall, with a thin crack split open in the middle, and the scarlet bloody light shining out from within the crack was enough to strike one with terror!
...
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