"Dodge!" Jyorta bellowed, constantly sending mental inputs to the River Whale to steer it. Hot geysers slammed into it, their pollution seeping into the film of water surrounding it. The River Whale tried its best to filter out the pollution, but the rate of pollution surpassed its filtering speed.

Jyorta felt the film of water become hotter as time passed while a faint tinge of yellow suffused it, thickening as time passed. He gritted his teeth, watching more than five Lava Turtles peak out of the water and attack.

The Lava Turtles placed their tails well within the water, siphoning the water into their bodies. Then, the water absorbed the tremendous heat their body contained—generated by their Trait—and was ejected from their mouths. Each geyser contained a lot of force behind it, adding onto the heat and aura carried within it, the attacks became deadly.

The River Whale had reached the ceiling now, rolling about in the air to dodge the geysers. Even if it dodged the incident attacks, once the geysers hit the ceiling, they spread out and fell as rain, falling onto the film of water anyway.

The Lava Turtles also knew of this fact, spamming their attacks without rest. They weren't even expending much energy to launch an attack. After all, they were just using whatever was already available plenty in the area, using their terrain advantage to the max.

These five Lava Turtles had been slacking at the entrance of Layer 4. The moment they spotted the River Whale, they began attacking it immediately. Jyorta couldn't even adapt to the environment when he was attacked, left with no other choice but to evade.

'The Rigordile is a burden to carry.' Jyorta looked at the difficulty the River Whale was facing. The Rigordile was a heavy being, its flesh density being one of the highest at Tier 2. Jyorta looked at the situation, noticing his psychic energy expenditure become greater than before.

The aura in the air was already trying to eat away at him. He not only had to guard himself, but also the Rigordile and the Bundle Flea. Even they weren't exempt from being damaged by the aura. Thanks to the Essence of Frenzy in them, they would be able to manage surviving in the area for a short while, but any longer, and they would be severely damaged.

The aura in the layer was a boon to the Lava Turtles but a bane to every other Frenzy Beasts. It seemed they had completely morphed the terrain to their advantage. While attacking the River Whale, the Lava Turtles sometimes seemed to be playing, judging by their disorderly attacks. Clearly, they hadn't perceived the River Whale as a threat yet.

'If I am put in this passive situation any longer, then the energy expenditure would be too much and I would have to retreat.' Jyorta gazed at the Rigordile, nodding at it once, "Don't breathe too much of this air, don't drink the water, and don't try to bite the Lava Turtles. Even you won't be able to endure the heat and poison."

The Rigordile slapped its tail on the River Whale's back once, brandishing its claws to show that it had understood. With a minor leap, it slithered through the water like a fish and arrived at the River Whale's underside.

It watched the geysers flying in the air, with some of them slamming onto the film of water. Timing its position right, the Rigordile exited the film of water with a plop. It fell, accelerating during its fall as it watched the geysers with caution.

One of the Lava Turtles aimed its way, unleashing a geyser. The Rigordile slammed its hands together, defending against the geyser. The force behind the geyser slowed its fall to a minimum but failed to break past its defences.

The Rigordile was a Frenzy Beast boasting strength and defence. Now, its skin was fully covered by the Shoe Fishes, elevating its defence to a higher level. Moreover, the Shoe Fishes seemed to have a property of insulation as they prevented the heat from affecting it.

The Rigordile had cleverly used the geyser to negate the momentum of its fall, arriving at the bottom without any damage. When it had approached closer, the Lava Turtle realised its plan, slightly tilting its head to vary the angle of the geyser while it moved its body accordingly.

It pushed the Rigordile away from it while creating enough distance to keep itself safe. The Rigordile fell into the water with a plop and swam through it, showing its dexterity underwater. It activated its Tier 2 Skill, rapidly raising its speed as it leaped out of the water.

Tier 2 Skill—Lunge Burst!

Recalling Jyorta's reminder, it didn't try to clamp using its jaws, but instead brandished its claws, using the momentum behind its weight to attack. The Lava Turtle turned its head and unleashed the geyser once again, negating most of the momentum behind its lunge.

The Rigordile swayed its body using the clash between the forces, varying its centre of mass to tide through the geyser while expending as little momentum as possible. It soon arrived before the Lava Turtle, slashing with its claws.

A jelly-like tentacle appeared, lashing out like a whip on its hand, stopping its attack. Numerous jelly-like tentacles followed suit, slamming attacks onto it that sent it crashing into the water beside.

"Hunter Clams," Jyorta frowned, making the River Whale evade a couple more attacks. "As expected, they are here too. That means, this layer has been monopolised by the Lava Turtles."

Hunter Clams were Frenzy Beasts that lived on the backs of the Lava Turtles, creating a symbiotic relationship. As the Lava Turtle was a being lacking flexibility and speed, they were prone to attacks and deaths. But, the existence of the Hunter Clams prevented this from happening.

The Hunter Clams defended the Lava Turtle against any harm, even going to the extent of sacrificing their lives to protect it. Most Hunter Clams treated the Lava Turtle they lived on as their homes, and as territorial creatures, they defended their homes to their last.

The Rigordile wasn't disappointed, swimming underwater as it tried to attack the limbs of the Lava Turtle. But, when it neared its target, the Lava Turtle craned its neck within the water and unleashed the geyser once again. Underwater, it became a stream that served to push it back.

The Rigordile increased its speed, trying to beat against the flow. It was slowly moving towards the Lava Turtle when three other streams appeared, joining together into a powerful stream. From high up in the air, Jyorta noticed a tremendously powerful geyser erupt from the water, sending the Rigordile flying.

"Faster!" Jyorta shouted, making the River Whale fly forward, intercepting the Rigordile's momentum, cushioning its impact using the film of water. The River Whale then moved forward, going past the range of the powerful geyser.

If not for its swift action, the Rigordile would have slammed into the ceiling and become fairly injured. Moreover, the force of the impact would cause it to rebound, and crash into the walls on the side, further injuring it.

And if left as it, it would fall helplessly into the water and be ganged upon by the Lava Turtles. Just when Jyorta was thinking, the Lava Turtles made use of the situation when the River Whale's speed was impeded by the weight of the Rigordile, directing the combined geyser towards it.

The geyser slammed onto its underside, the force toppling it. Ripples formed along the film of water, ejecting the water in it from the River Whale's control. The hot water slammed onto its body while the water in the film of water fell off as rain.

With the decrease in its water levels, the River Whale's difficulty in maintaining flight increased. Jyorta was almost thrown out if not for the Bundle Flea's help that coiled its hair around the River Whale's horn and pulled him back.

When it toppled, Jyorta was subjected to the surface. There was still a thin layer of water in his place, so he didn't have to face the brunt of the attack, taking the chance to direct his palm towards the attackers.

Aura Beam!

Jyorta watched his presence form a drill with the spirals rotating at rapid speeds as it slammed into the Lava Turtles. The Lava Turtles lost their balance, the force of the impact pushing them into the water. The attacks stopped as the River Whale used the chance to reorient itself.

But, as it had lost too much water, it was unable to maintain its flight, steadily descending towards the surface.

"Swat them away!" Jyorta shouted, watching the River Whale turn its body mid-air, waving its tail over the water surface, rotating from the entrance towards the other end. It activated its Trait, manipulating the water, creating a tide.

The tide was two metres high, and was driven by strong undercurrents. The Lava Turtles had no other choice but to be swept away. The Hunter Clams on their backs used their jelly-like tentacles as a paddle to orient their respective Lava Turtles, trying to keep them in balance.

Even then, the River Whale vertically spun in the air, with every time its tail moved over the water creating a tide that washed away the Lava Turtles further. Also, while in the loop, it pulled out some water from the surface, filtering it while adding it to the film of water around it, reinforcing itself.

The Rigordile jumped into the water and rode the tides, zooming in towards the Lava Turtles. The Bundle Flea made a jump and landed on its back, hissing once as it gazed at the Lava Turtles. They had probed each other enough by now, their actual fight had just begun.