Levi's swarm of bladefins poured out to form a shield in front of him. The dinosaur lunged, clearly intending to eat Levi whole, and Bladefin dove straight into its mouth to buy him the split-second he needed to leap free of the dying boss.

By now, the room was so filled with snarling, snapping, roaring, and screeching monsters intent on tearing Levi apart, there was nowhere safe to land. He twisted in midair, lashing out with one foot to push himself off a dinosaur's snout, desperately scanning for anywhere remotely non-deadly to--

A roc-lobster - not one of his - flew into him at full speed. It snapped down on his sword arm in one claw, his leg in another, yanking him out of the air with a scream of triumph.

Against It was all Levi could do to surge health strongly enough to prevent his limbs being torn off, and that wouldn't last long.

Crackle and his last backup Bladefin copy flew out, attacking the claw holding Levi's sword arm. Tink's mana fell as he tried to do... something, but whatever he'd attempted didn't make visible progress.

The enemy bladefins were closing in fast, Levi's health dropping too fast as he burned through it, where are you Snap?

As though summoned by his thought, the roc-lobster in question dove into the fray with a squawk of challenge. Snap clamped pincers down on those of Levi's captor with an audible crunch.

Three enemies followed right on his tail, but Snap was still faster. He twisted in midair, talons and beak coming up to force the other's claws to open.

Levi dropped out of its grip toward the roiling mass of furious monsters below.

Snap hurled the first lobsteroc into the three pursuing him, then dove to catch Levi in his bird talons. Just in time. One of the sabercats had leaped into the air, its extended claws missed by inches.

Levi clambered up Snap's back to the harness. He grabbed the first straps he reached and threw them over himself just enough that he wouldn't fall, aimed his Destruction sword at their pursuers, then downed two mana elixirs in quick succession.

He'd known from the beginning that his plan was pure desperation from start to finish. Now wasn't the time to start playing it safe. That would only be a slower way of dooming his family and the other prisoners he'd rescued. If he was going to save anyone, he had to carry this through all the way.

The overload of mana sent roaring through his ears as the world went dark and bright at once, sparking and tingling, his body going numb and prickly at the same time. He pushed the mana back out by sheer instinct through where he knew his sword would be, though he felt nothing.

Fortunately, the very nature of the Destruction essence came to his aid. It wanted an excuse to burn, it wanted to surge down the slightest mana pathway and destroy anything it could touch. The power flowed readily, eager to seek any outlet rather than be subsumed into his body.

Orange light gradually replaced the sparking dissonance flooding his vision, then clarity returned. Jagged lines of Destruction power had speared out, vaguely reminiscent of the blade-slash attacks he'd used with his Control sword back in the first timeline, decimating their pursuit.

He glanced at his hand, still glowing, not notably dimmed yet. But that was about the only thing they had going for them.

Snap was running low on stamina, the constant surge running him close to empty. He used his last Pulse to throw them past the pursuing lobsterocs and flying turkeys, but they were going to run out of mobility very soon.

Levi had calculated their speed to get through the dungeon before running out, but his plan hadn't allowed for being trapped circling in a boss room.

He instructed Snap to slow down, shifting out of full stamina burn. Immediately, their pursuit closed in. Levi drew his sword again. He surged the mana low and steady this time, just enough to leave the slashes lingering in the air, not strongly enough to drain his entire reserves in seconds.

Snap circled and climbed. The lobsterocs they'd tangled up a moment ago had disentangled themselves and rejoined the pursuit.

Fish swam through the air after them, then began to drop as they ran afoul of the corrosive effects Levi's blade left behind. The power Levi drew across the air would be enough to fell any ordinary boss, amplified as it was by the Destruction essence, but spread out as it was it wouldn't linger for long. Already the oldest lines began to fade.

The fish succumbed to its power almost at once, but the lobsterocs had enough armor and sufficient health to weather the corrosive effect. Their pursuit wasn't even slowed.

Levi glanced back downward a single time, but the spider-skunk boss was still hanging on at 2% health, and it had retreated to its web down one of the chasms. He had no chance of getting through to it again, not without losing his remaining health in the process, and without the exit door open there was only one way out.

"Back."

Snap turned to swoop down at the portal that would return them to the second floor. With the nearest fish temporarily cleared away, this was as good a shot as he was going to get.

He spun his blade a few extra times as they neared the exit, additional lines of Destruction painted in the air just enough to slow down any pursuit.

They burst out of the portal back into the nearly-empty second floor, but he knew his maneuver had only bought him seconds.

He needed a plan and he needed a plan right now.

Something moved in his periphery, too fast for him to track. Then he was falling.

Snap shrieked a warning, too late.

Levi twisted to look up. Snap was gripped in the giganto gorillagus's remaining massive fist. It had been at the back of the line, behind the remaining sabercats and kalvex who hadn't yet made it through into the first floor, leaving it in the perfect position to snatch Levi's mount out of the air as they backtracked.

Levi fell, and Snap was in no position to catch him. Below, the army of monsters he'd provoked into chasing him raced to meet him. Apart from thinning out the fish swarms, he seemed to have done little if any damage to the rest of them.

He scanned the crowd for a target.

Nothing within taming range. Nothing even close.

Destruction power hummed in his hand, still eager to be used, and the excess mana he'd consumed still sparkled in his blood. He could tear into them, cut a path of blood and vengeance.

A tyrannosaur snapped at him with its massive jaws, trying to bite him in half.

Levi twisted at the last second, whipping out his Beast sword and snagging the lower jaw with Bristle. His fall came to an abrupt halt, hanging from the mouth of a giant dinosaur, just out of reach of the smaller creatures, but well within range of the second, third, fifth, and eighth tyrannosaurs quickly closing in.

Levels 17+, 21, 18, 20+, 21, 18... a random mix of boss and non-boss, all different levels within the dungeon's range, no pattern to them. United together in their unrelenting rage at Levi's destructive presence.

Snap's health dropped to zero, his lifeless body falling from the gorilla's hand as it turned its attention back to Levi himself.

"You'll pay for that."

But, priorities. Survive first, avenge later.

Levi swung himself at an angle, releasing his sword's bristles just in time to evade a second tyrannosaur's attempted bite. This one was an 18, non-plus, so Levi snagged it in the nose with a second Bristle. He flipped himself up and over the giant nose, using the sword to anchor himself. Released the attack as he landed and ran along its snout, sheathing his Beast sword as he went.

Then he drove his Destruction sword down straight into the back of its skull, overcharged Destruction power pulsing down its length and straight into the dinosaur beneath him.

"You're in luck. I need a new ride."