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(DHF)Chapter 188: Amphisbaena(2)
🕑 Added 2025-05-12 14:32:56 +0000 UTCThe vast majority of adventurers and gods don't care to truly understand the dungeon and the monsters within it. I was different, I loved learning about these things that are so often overlooked. For example how the monsters made by the dungeon weren't just random things but had very specific designs to them. Form and function combined to create the thing the we adventurers fight and kill. The easiest way to prove this idea is the simple fact that none of the monsters that the dungeon makes are anatomically unfeasible so long as you ignored the square cubed rule. -
Whether the skeletal system or musculature each monster was designed in such a way that even if it were a normal animal it would still function without much issue. In terms of abilities outside the normal as well the dungeon uses specialized organs or just straight up magic. In the later case the monsters with it could absolutely function if it were removed with no problems at all. In the case of Amphisbaena here I could tell that the flames it made were purely biological in nature. It likely had a gland or special organ that was filled with that oil that it spat out while creating a spark somewhere within it to ignite it.-
It was also possible the oil was simply of some sort that reacts to air to ignite in a chemical reaction. Whichever the case it was a smart design as it meant that the big lizard wasn't actually burning through it's mana to use these flames. This also meant that trying to interrupt it's magic would probably fail since it wasn't actually using any. I wasn't sure if the red mist it spat out with it's right most head(the one I crushed) was magical in nature or also biological but either way it was an excellent compliment to the flames since the mist blocked magic and the flames weren't.-
While I was appreciating the design of Amphisbaena it was trying it's damnedest to kill my ass. I was sprinting across the surface of the lake by creating small pieces of ice the moment my feet touched the waters surface and kicking off them. I couldn't move at full speed like this but simply not being stationary was more than enough to case trouble for the big lizard.-
The problem with being so large was that the big lizard was not exact very nimble. It certainly wasn't helpless though as I had no choice but to leap straight up into the air as it's long tail swept forward at me bringing a tall wave of water with it. While I was mid air the remaining head sent a dense pillar of lame at me forcing me to use my own flames to evacuate the area. I won't lie and say my heart wasn't pumping though as I felt the heat of those flames VIVIDLY.-
This was all the reminder I needed that this was not a fight I could afford to take easily. Whether it was stats or level Amphisbaena was above me and I only had my wit and skill to grant me victory. I narrowed my gaze and focused fully on watching how the beast moved as I blasted through the air. Holding my weapon to my left side I went for a powerful wound up backhanded smash only for the beast to avoid it by rolling under the water last moment. That heft was not for show so the moment the beast chose to sink there was no real delay.-
This repositioning left me not only missing my strike but overextended as well. When the thick tail of the beast smashed into me I barely managed to block with my weapon at the cost of my arms and some of my ribs breaking from the impact while I shot through the air and into the water. RCT fixed the damage in an instant and I was forced to defend as the beasts long neck shot through the water at my clearly intending to eat me. I pushed my RCT to the limit and created a boulder of ice that the jaws of the beast clamped down on with a sharp "CRACK!".-
I didn't stop there but continued pushing my energy to expand the ice and cause it to creep over the beasts head sealing it's mouth entirely. I couldn't do much more than this however as it thrashed it's head reactively at the blockage smacking me in the process and sending me rolling through the water. The beast surfaced and I saw a glow in it's throat flare up for the briefest moment before the thing started to violently shake and thrash about.-
The blue glow coming from it's throat told me exactly what it had attempted like a dumbass. What exactly happens when you try to pour gasoline while the lid was clogged? In this case the beast had attempted the same thing with it's oil but like an idiot ignited the stuff internally, with nowhere to escape. While the thing obviously had a resistance inside it's body to it's flames that same resistance was probably designed for short term exposure, not the stuff burning inside it constantly. Even worse the flames were burning away the oxygen it had inside it causing it to rapidly suffocate.-
I didn't dare get close to the thing with it at this point as it was in full blown panic mode and that was a fast way to get fucked up. Unfortunately the heat from the flames in it's throat melted my ice just enough to allow it to spit the flaming oil out through the gap and inhale a deep desperate breath of air. If looks could kill I'd be very fucking dead with the glare I got. Not that I could blame it really as that had to have sucked something fierce.-
"I don't suppose you'd just let me kill you without anymore fuss right?" I asked and the ice cracked and shattered as it clenched it's jaws around the weakened stuff . "Going to say probably not." I muttered at that.
Comments
Christian Jeffress
Thanks for another entertaining chapter
Cole Bromley
Thanks for the chapter!
