"That snake actually came all the way here! Watch out!" Paimon shouted in panic.
The Ruin Serpent had no mouth, yet the gears on its face spun furiously—its power to grind through solid rock was far more terrifying than any meat grinder. At that moment, it was charging straight toward the falling Lumine.
Lumine, seasoned in battle, didn't know the meaning of "helpless in midair." A gust of wind burst forth exactly in the direction she needed, pushing her aside just in time to avoid the serpent's direct strike.
Even though it missed, the Ruin Serpent continued its spiral ascent. Every section of its enormous body whirled violently, emanating an aura of stay away or die. With it moving so close and fast, Lumine found no opening to counterattack. When the serpent finally pulled itself completely out of the ground, streams of black mud erupted from the holes it created like a fountain. The entire ground turned treacherous, and Lumine barely avoided a splatter that nearly drenched her.
Taking advantage of her distraction, the Ruin Serpent swung its tail, the pointed tip stabbing toward Lumine. Though she managed to parry the drill-like tail with her sword, the sheer force of the blow sent her flying backward.
All of this happened in the instant Lumine hit the ground. From above, Victor Wang was still searching for the perfect moment to drop the Nail and crush the serpent—but fearing he might strike Lumine, he held back. By the time he was ready to act, the serpent had already shifted position, moving out of range.
"Let's go down there and help Lumine!"
"Uh…"
"'Uh'? Don't tell me you're planning to just watch her fight that huge thing alone?"
"The serpent's massive—attacking it head-on is like scratching an itch. But the Nail above us is just as huge. If we dropped it on the serpent, it might actually work, don't you think?"
Paimon compared the Nail's size to the serpent's, thinking it over. "That… kinda makes sense, but there's no way! That crystal floats—how are you gonna make it drop?"
"Maybe… by attacking it again?"
"How do you even know that'll make it fall? We've seen the same kind of crystal in Dragonspine, and it never comes down."
Dripping with sweat from her questions, Victor Wang sighed and nodded. "Alright, fine—we'll go help Lumine."
Anyway, they could still hit the Nail from below.
While they talked, the battlefield had turned into chaos. Huge holes riddled the ground where the Ruin Serpent had burrowed through, and as the tunnels connected and hollowed out, the earth began to collapse. The surface was coated in thick Dark Mud—"black lava" if you wanted to sound poetic, or "sticky black snot" if you didn't. It flowed everywhere, always following gravity's pull.
Lumine struggled to find firm footing while using her Lumenstone to purify the surrounding sludge—all while facing that colossal machine.
When Victor Wang finally joined her, she called out, "This thing's too agile! Normal attacks won't work on something this big. We need to hit it hard."
"I was thinking the same thing." Victor pointed upward. "What about that crystal?"
"You mean dropping it on the serpent? No way—it's floating, we can't bring it down."
"…Then… what do you have in mind?"
"I have an idea—"
The Ruin Serpent suddenly coiled its body tight, rolling forward like a massive drill covered in black mud, cutting her off.
After dodging that attack, it didn't pause. Its enormous body looped into the air, and the Khaenri'ahn energy within it fused with the energy of the surrounding sludge. Both began to surge and expand, preparing a massive strike.
"Purify the Dark Mud!"
"Purify the Dark Mud!"
Victor Wang glanced toward Lumine, who had been separated by the serpent's last attack. Their eyes met, and no words were needed—they both moved to purify the Abyssal sludge nodes feeding energy into the serpent.
Victor looked back up at the Nail, but the serpent had already shifted too far from it. Still, once they purified all the sludge, it would be paralyzed for a while—then they could strike together—
"Eh?"
Before they could finish, the serpent abruptly stopped charging its attack, as if sensing danger. It dove straight into the pitted ground again. Moments later, it erupted right beneath Lumine, coating the earth once more in thick black mud.
Then it unleashed a series of wild charges, sweeping attacks, and body slams—furious but inaccurate. Its overwhelming power was wasted on empty space, like firing a cannon at a mosquito. No matter how fierce its assaults, Victor Wang and Lumine were quicker, slipping out of reach each time. If the serpent knew shame, it would've been drowning in it.
After another failed assault, it dove underground again. The earth rumbled violently, rocks and black sludge swirling together into a powerful vortex that pulled everything toward its center.
The vortex dragged at Victor Wang and Lumine; the spinning black mud obscured their sight, while rocks shot through the air at bullet speed, hammering against Victor's jade shield with flashes of strain. Maintaining his Lumenstone's energy output, his mental focus was gradually wearing thin.
When they finally broke free of the vortex, Lumine gasped for breath. "I've got an idea. I'll trap the serpent—keep it from diving again. When that happens, you hit it with everything you've got."
"It's huge. Can you really manage that?"
"I can. But I'll only get one shot, so we have to coordinate."
Victor opened his mouth, hesitating. He could recover energy by standing in the sludge, while Lumine's stamina drained far faster. His only restraining skill was a borrowed chain that could bind enemies—but it was useless if the serpent could burrow underground.
"Alright," he sighed. "I'll give it everything."
"Good. I'm counting on you this time."
This time… last time, during the Bloodbranch Coral mission, their roles had been reversed.
As that thought crossed Victor Wang's mind, the ground vortex suddenly stopped spinning. Whether it was an intended mechanism or a coincidence, the holes left by the serpent filled in as the swirling debris settled, though the entire surface had sunken lower than before...
The next moment, the Ruin Serpent burst from below, its massive head lunging straight at them.
"Here it comes!"
Lumine didn't dodge. Instead, she raised her right foot slightly, then stomped down hard with a sharp cry, "Quake!"
Within a dozen meters, the Geo energy deep underground awoke. Shockwaves rippled outward, and as if refusing to stay buried beneath the sludge, the Geo elements surged upward—gathering, hardening, and solidifying into flawless amber crystal. It first covered the ground, then rose along the edges, the jagged amber spines forming towering walls that enclosed the serpent completely.
Victor Wang wasted no time. Against a creature that large, his options were limited—relying on his Erosion Blast for a raw burst might not even last five seconds. So, he chose something else entirely.
"Starfall!"
Above the serpent, a black star condensed out of thin air—its surface rough and cratered, like a fragment of a true meteorite. It was the same celestial mass that had shattered Leonhard's fate, a reconstruction from Victor Wang's vivid psychic memory of that cosmic encounter.
Under his guidance, the dark star plummeted, and the air grew heavy. The Ruin Serpent sensed danger, but trapped inside Lumine's amber "bowl," it couldn't escape. It spun its facial gears desperately in defense.
Then, something unexpected happened. As the star passed the Nail, the remaining Dark Mud clinging to it reacted violently. The energy within the Dark Mud and inside the serpent surged upward—both drawn into the falling meteor. Purple-black flames erupted across its surface, transforming it into a true comet.
Victor Wang's heart tightened. Thankfully, the "bowl's" walls were tall, and only he saw what was happening. The star fell obediently, striking true—shattering the Abyssal serpent into countless fragments.