The Adventurers' side was running on fumes, and the boss on the receiving end of justice wasn't doing much better. Amphisbaena's magic power and stamina were both spent, with virtually nothing left for a counterattack.
And at this point, the puny little Fireballs it had always dismissed as beneath its notice had become the straw that broke the camel's back. Faced with Leon's relentless output, it was forced to squeeze out its last drops of magic power to deploy Crimson Mist over the areas under fire, barely maintaining a defense.
Otherwise, in its current state, it wouldn't survive more than a few volleys before...
"Hm?"
Leon raised an eyebrow.
"Running on fumes and still forcing out Crimson Mist on willpower alone? Amphisbaena, you stubborn bastard."
He felt a grudging respect for this Monster Rex.
So he decided to end the fight.
He drew a deep breath, planted his feet wide, thrust his staff forward, and the magic circle blazed to life once more.
"Fireball Fireball Fireball Fireball Fireball Fireball Fireball Fireball Fireball Fireball!"
Every Adventurer present was seasoned enough to see that the two-headed dragon was on its last legs.
If not for that stubborn wall of Crimson Mist still blocking Leon's Fireballs, this fight would have ended long ago under his tireless carpet-bombing.
Leon caught the brief gap that appeared when Amphisbaena cycled its Crimson Mist. No way he was letting that opening pass.
Zero hesitation. He went all-in, dumping everything into one final burst.
A chain of explosions erupted across the water's surface, a raging inferno swallowing the Monster Rex whole.
Its deafening screech cut off mid-cry, and then...
That massive dragon body seized up, as if every last ounce of strength had been drained from it. It staggered forward a few steps, swaying, before finally crashing down with a thunderous splash that sent towering waves surging in every direction.
Everyone raised their arms against the wall of water raining down from above, staring blankly at the enormous dragon carcass floating on the surface.
Silence.
For a long moment, every single person stood frozen, eyes fixed on the fallen dragon, saying nothing.
The Astraea Familia members wore a kaleidoscope of expressions. Some looked conflicted, some had eyes darting back and forth, some had their jaws hanging open in a vacant daze.
The juniors, Laurier and Aura, weren't much better. The usually bubbly Laurier sucked in a sharp breath and opened her mouth, but caught the strange mood in the air and wisely kept quiet.
Aura looked calm on the surface, but kept running her fingers through her silver hair over and over.
It wasn't until Leon exhaled a long breath and let a grin spread across his face that...
The very next second, someone in the Astraea squad dumbly asked the wide-eyed companion beside them:
"Did we... did we just... win?"
"We... won!"
"We won!?"
"For real?"
"Legit!"
"WE WON!!!"
"Hahahaha!"
"We won! We actually took down the Floor 27 Monster Rex! The two-headed dragon Amphisbaena!!!"
After the silence came an eruption of deafening cheers.
Even though every last one of them was soaked to the bone like drowned rats, drenched clothes and hair plastered to their foreheads couldn't dampen the fire burning inside them. The Astraea Familia side exploded into ecstatic cheering and screaming.
Alise and her group threw their arms around each other, jumping up and down. The wild wolf-girl and the dwarf even hurled their weapons into the air, letting loose all the pent-up emotion they'd been holding back.
By contrast, Leon's squad was noticeably calmer.
Not because they weren't happy, but because their threshold for "shock" had been raised sky-high by their captain time and time again. When your leader was someone who routinely shattered common sense and upended expectations, merely taking down a Lower Floors Monster Rex wasn't enough to faze Jeanne and the others anymore.
Put simply, they'd been through so much insanity that beating a Monster Rex barely registered as exciting anymore.
...
...
After the brief celebration died down, the Astraea girls gradually collected themselves and remembered they were still on the 27th floor of the Water City.
Even with the Monster Rex dead, lingering in this massive three-floor cavern was still extremely dangerous, especially with those elusive flying monsters like Iguazu and Song Birds lurking around.
"Leon, I know this is a bit late... but I need to thank you for saving my people."
Alise stepped forward and extended her hand, expression solemn.
"On top of that, since the heavy lifting in this raid was done by your Demeter Familia, we in the Astraea Familia are willing to forfeit all the spoils."
Faced with the justice captain's gratitude and concession, Leon didn't play humble. The Astraea Familia really had been saved by them, and on top of the massive risk they'd shouldered, plus carrying the raid as the main fighting force, taking the lion's share was only fair.
Killed Monster Rex. Excelia +100.
Spotting the new line in his System notification, that measly Excelia payout, and then noticing the "+" icon flickering again on his freshly promoted Level 4 status panel, Leon's mouth curled into an uncontrollable grin.
He fought down the urge to cackle like a maniac, forced himself into a composed smile to maintain his image, and elegantly shook Alise's hand. His tone was brisk.
"Then we'll help ourselves."
And without another word, forget catching up with the Astraea girls. What Leon wanted to know right now, more than anything, was how much gold the Monster Rex had dropped for him.
Especially the Drop Treasure Chest he'd been dreaming about. Sure, he already had one, but who'd ever turn down more? The more the merrier. And besides, Amphisbaena was a gatekeeper boss, and with the "first clear" bonus on top of that, Leon's years of gaming experience told him the drop rates for this payout had to be boosted.
He was one hundred percent sure of it.
That anticipation was exactly why he ignored the bewildered stares from Alise, Lyra, and the others, turning on his heel and charging toward Amphisbaena's massive carcass like a treasure-crazed looter.
Jeanne, Rose, and the rest watched Leon abandon his guests and bolt straight for the corpse, and it took zero guessing to figure out what was going through his head. They exchanged wry smiles before Jeanne and a few others stepped forward to handle the pleasantries with the Astraea Familia on his behalf.
"Alise, Kaguya, Lyra, Ryuu... it's been a while, everyone."
...
...