The tunnel Ignis led them down opened into a colossal, spherical cavern. At its center, suspended over a lake of pure, bubbling magma, was their target. It was a Magma Serpent, but unlike any Adam had seen. Its body was a chain of interlocking, obsidian-like segments, and it moved with a fluid, menacing grace.

Most strikingly, three jagged, black stones orbited its head like malevolent moons, humming with dense, gravitational energy. This felt like a hidden boss, a guardian of a deeper secret.

"This is the place," Ignis confirmed, his simple thought tinged with a mix of fear and excitement.

"Good. Now, We observe first," Adam commanded, his Deep Camouflage already activating, blending his obsidian scales with the dark, shimmering cavern walls. Alice vanished into the shadows.

But Ignis, fueled by eagerness to prove himself, misinterpreted. Seeing the serpent, she let out a challenging screech and launched himself forward, a living fireball using Cinder Dash.

The Obsidian Coil's head snapped up. Its three orbiting stones pulsed with dark light. The element of surprise was utterly lost.

"You idiot lizard!" Alice's shriek of pure frustration echoed in Adam's mind.

There was no choice now. With a sigh of exasperation, Adam shed his camouflage and surged into the open cavern, Alice appearing in a flash of violet beside him.

The fight was chaotic from the start. Adam tried to coordinate. "Alice, bind it! Ignis, aim for its—"

But Ignis was already unleashing a Solar Flare that the serpent easily dodged. Alice tried to use Void Bind, but one of the black stones moved with impossible speed, intercepting the spatial energy and causing it to dissipate with a pop.

The Obsidian Coil was not just strong, it was intelligent and agile. It moved through the air with a speed that rivaled Adam's own Aerial Dominance, its segmented body whipping around to avoid his Cyclone Cutter. The devastating vortex of wind and force only managed to shear off a few obsidian segments before the serpent twisted away.

Then, one of the orbiting stones shot towards Adam. He braced, expecting a physical impact. Instead, the stone detonated a few feet away. There was no fire, only a concussive wave of pure force that felt like a physical blow, staggering him in mid-air and rattling his bones.

"It's not just rock! It's some kind of force explosion!" he warned.

Alice, seeing an opening, tried to pounce on the serpent's back. But the Coil was too fast. It twisted its body, and a second orbiting stone shot towards her. She Void Stepped away just in time, the resulting explosion shaking the cavern and sending a hail of sharp rock fragments flying.

They were on the back foot. Ignis's reckless charge had ruined their initial strategy, and the Coil's combination of agility, powerful melee strikes from its tail, and the devastating ranged attacks from its orbiting stones made it a nightmare to pin down.

Adam was strong, but this creature was his equal in speed and its attacks were unpredictable. The fight was a dizzying, high-stakes dance, and they were struggling to find the rhythm.

The Obsidian Coil was a whirlwind of deadly precision. Adam's Volcanic Hide deflected the worst of its physical strikes, the serpent's fangs scraping harmlessly against his obsidian scales, but the concussive blasts from the orbiting stones were a different matter. They bypassed his physical defense, each explosion sending jarring waves of force through his body.

"We need to break its rhythm!" Adam projected, banking hard to avoid another stone. "Alice, don't bind the serpent, bind the stones! Just for a second! Ignis, when it's open, hit it with everything!"

It was a desperate gamble. Alice, understanding instantly, teleported to a high stalactite. As the next black stone shot towards Adam, she focused and unleashed Void Bind directly on the projectile itself. The stone shuddered mid-air, its trajectory faltering for a crucial moment.

That was the opening. "NOW, Ignis!"

Ignis, who had been harrying the Coil with Cinder Dashes, saw his chance. He gathered all his power and unleashed a Solar Flare directly into the serpent's side. The blast of superheated light and fire scorched the obsidian segments, and the Coil let out a pained, sibilant hiss.

Adam didn't waste the moment. He used Phantom Onslaught, teleporting behind the disoriented serpent. He didn't use his costlier skills. Instead, he wrapped his powerful coils around the Coil's body, activating Constrict. The sound of grinding obsidian filled the cavern as he squeezed, trying to crush the life out of it.

For a moment, it seemed to work. The serpent thrashed, but Adam's evolved Strength and Draconic Affinity held it fast. One of its orbiting stones, trying to defend its master, detonated against Adam's back. The force was brutal, but his Scale Fortification and massive Vitality allowed him to weather it, his health dipping but his grip unrelenting.

"We're doing it!" Ignis chirped excitedly.

But the Obsidian Coil was not so easily defeated. Enraged and trapped, it did something unexpected. It stopped struggling. Its body, still in Adam's constricting grip, began to pulse with a deep, black light. The two remaining orbiting stones shot not at Adam, but into the serpent's own body.

A shockwave of dark energy erupted from the Coil, not an explosion of force, but a wave of pure, crushing gravity. The effect was instantaneous and devastating.

Adam's grip was torn open as if by an invisible giant. He was flung backward, slamming into the cavern wall. Alice was ripped from her perch, crying out as she tumbled through the air. Ignis was driven into the ground, pinned by the immense pressure.

The wave passed, leaving them stunned and battered. As they struggled to their feet, they watched in horror as the Obsidian Coil began to change. The two stones that had merged with it now glowed from within its segments, and a third eye, burning with the same dark energy, opened on its forehead. Its body seemed denser, heavier, and the very air around it warped with gravitational force.

The serpent rose, now surrounded by a visible, shimmering aura that distorted light and space. It fixed its three eyes upon them, no longer just a beast, but a true master of the deep earth's most fundamental force.

The air around it thickened with gravitational force, making every movement feel like wading through tar. It unleashed its magma breath, a torrent of liquid rock that was slower but far wider and more devastating than before. Adam, Alice, and Ignis were forced into a frantic, continuous evasion, dancing at the edge of incineration.

"We can't just keep dodging!" Adam roared over their mental link, beating his wings hard to escape a wave of magma. "Alice, your senses are the sharpest! Find a weakness! There has to be a core, a source to its power!"

"On it!" Alice replied, her form flickering as she used Void Step to maintain a safe, observational distance, her Mana Sense stretched to its limit, probing the distorted energy field around the serpent.

The Coil, seeing them scattered and on the defensive, prepared another cataclysmic magma breath, its maw glowing with intense heat. It was a slow, telegraphed attack, but its scale made it nearly impossible to avoid completely.

But Adam saw an opportunity. "Ignis! Be my shield! Get in close and draw its aggression! Make it focus on you!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Ignis charged. She became a blazing beacon, using Cinder Dash to circle the Coil's head, her Molten Armor flaring brightly. She was a gnat to a titan, but an infuriatingly bright and painful one. She unleashed a Solar Flare directly into the side of its head just as it was about to fire.

The Coil flinched, its aim disrupted. The magma breath erupted, but it was a wild, uncontrolled spray.

"NOW, ADAM!" Alice's voice was a triumphant shriek. "The third eye! It's not just an eye, it's a gravitational lens! It's the core controlling the stones and the aura! Shatter it!"

The moment had come. As the Coil was momentarily unbalanced from its botched attack and Ignis's harassment, Adam acted. He didn't use the costly Cyclone Cutter. He needed precision.

He used Phantom Onslaught, appearing directly in front of the Coil's massive head. The gravitational aura pressed down on him like a mountain, but he pushed through. He focused, ignoring the searing heat and the crushing pressure, and unleashed a point-blank Crystal Shard Shot, empowered to its limit.

The shard, sharpened by his Chitin Fracture passive, flew true. It didn't aim for the skull, but for the small, burning, dark third eye.

There was a sound like shattering glass. The dark eye exploded into a shower of black fragments.

The effect was instantaneous. The oppressive gravitational aura vanished. The two glowing stones embedded in the Coil's body dimmed and fell out, clattering uselessly to the ground. The serpent let out a final, agonized shriek, its body convulsing before it crashed down, lifeless, into the magma lake below.

[ Defeated: The Obsidian Coil (Hidden Boss) ]

[ +180 EXP | +280 EP ]

[ Ding! Level Up! ]

[ You are now Level 33! ]

[ Next Level: 10/170 ]

[ Skill Point: +1 ]

[ Evolution Points: 379 -> 659/3000 ]

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